[Paper 1] [Paper 2] [Midterm] [Paper 3] [Paper 4] [Portfolio/Cover Letter]
When I talk to first-year students about why they wanted to come to college, they tend to say things like "To get a good job" or "To help me learn what I need to know for my career." The first set of essays we've been reading, however, seem to argue that college ought to be something more than job and career training; the question is what that "something more" should be.
For your first paper this term I'd like you to tackle this question. What is your idea of a university? What place does it play in your life, your world, your society, the grander scheme of things? Do you agree with people like Newman and Bloom that it ought to be about connecting you to some bigger, shared intellectual heritage? Like Rose, Rich, Steele, and hooks, do you see it as being tied to who you are by race, gender, ethnicity, or class? Or do you see it as possibly shutting people like you out? What kinds of experiences-personal or otherwise-shape your idea of the university? The questions that Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz ask on pp. 37-38 should get you started thinking about your paper, but you don't need to answer all these questions in the paper if they don't fit with what you want to say.
There is obviously no right or wrong answer to a topic like this; the papers will be as individual as you are. They should be about 4 typed pages long (see Harris p. 280 for proper page formatting). You will probably want to use strategies like analyzing, defining, describing, exploring, and narrating. If you want to use material from any of the essays in the book in your paper, you will need to do these things:
For this essay only, you don't need a list of Works Cited at the end of the paper.
Bring 3 copies of the rough draft of the introduction of your paper to class on Sept. 8/9 for a workshop; if you print or type the draft and skip lines (doublespace), things will work better. The finished paper is due on September 12/14 (a slight extension from the date on the syllabus).
Paper 2: Summary and Critique
This paper will ask you to work on another very important college writing skill, the ability to summarize accurately the work of others and to critique or evaluate what you find. You=ll use this skill in papers that ask you to review books or articles, for instance, or Areview the literature,@ or Acontrast the positions of X and Y.@ And it=s the kind of question that frequently comes up on college essay exams. So it=s a very very useful skill to practice early in your college writing career.
For this paper you may choose any pair of nonfiction essays in Parts II, III, or IV of Lunsford, except for the ones we practice on in class. These cover a wide range of subjects or interests and it shouldn=t be too hard for you to find a pair to work on. You should pick a pair that have a fair bit of contrast in viewpoint to make your task easier. In about four typed pages, you should:
Accurately summarize the content of each essay in about 250 words/essay (not more than a page for eachBwatch your length!)
Evaluate what makes the essays differentBboth in content and in writer=s style. Pick three or four key points to focus on so that you can give specific examples; don=t try to provide a catalog of all the ways they are different. Remember that you are looking for the most important points of contrast.
End your paper with a critique that tells me which essay you think is more successful at what it is trying to prove, and why.
You=ll want to use the Tips for Reading very carefully on your two essays; they will help you find the most important points of contrast. Harris chapter 44b (beginning on p. 241) has some very good tips on writing a summary; see especially the HINT box on p. 241. Remember to use parenthetical documentation (e.g. Birketts 253) when you are citing (quoting, paraphrasing, or pointing to particular passages) the essays from the text. Again, for this essay only, no Works Cited Page is needed.
You will need to bring 3 copies of your rough draft to class on Sept. 27/28. It will help your rough draft review team if the paper is double- or triple-spaced and very legible. The paper itself is due on September 29/30.
Midterm In-Class Writing Assignment
You have 75 minutes to complete this writing task. You may use your 4x6" index card, your handbook, and a dictionary or thesaurus if you like. Write your essay in a blue book.
In his essay AWhat is an American?@ Hector St. Jean de Crevecouer writes:
What then is an American, this new man? He is either a European, or the descendant of a European, hence that strange mixture of blood, which you will find in no other country. I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was an Englishman, whose wife was Dutch, whose son married a French woman, and whose present four sons have now four wives of different nations. He is an American, who, leaving behind him all his ancient prejudices and manners, receives new ones from the new mode of life he has embraced, the new government he obeys, and the new rank he holds. He becomes an American by being received in the great lap of our Alma Mater. Here individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men, whose labors and posterity will one day cause great changes in the world. Americans are the western pilgrims, who are carrying along with them the great mass of arts, sciences, vigor, and industry which began long since in the east; they will finish the great circle. The Americans were once scattered all over Europe; here they are incorporated into one of the finest systems of population which has ever appeared, and which will hereafter become distinct by the power of the different climates they inhabit. The American ought therefore to love this county much better than that wherein either he or his forefathers were born.
In a unified essay, respond to de Crevecouer=s claim. Your essay should
- summarize his argument
- analyze the strengths and weaknesses of his definition of AAmerican@
- tell me whether you agree or disagree with him, and why. Support your answer by giving examples from your own experience.
Make sure you leave enough time to revise and edit your essay so that you can present it as a unified and complete whole. Remember that a unified essay will have a thesis, transitions, and responds at appropriate length to all three parts of the writing task.
Papers 3 & 4
These two papers will be linked together. Their purpose will be to teach you to gather, synthesize, digest, respond to, and document correctly the information you find: in other words, to make sure that you are ready for almost any of the further writing tasks that will be required of you in college. They will also be slightly longer papers than the 3- 4 page papers you’ve done so far, to help build endurance in your writing muscles so that you can write the seven- or even ten-page papers your future classes will require.
TOPIC: You will pick a controversial subject of your own choice–though it should be one that reasonable people can discuss with an open mind. "Abortion is murder" or "The earth is flat" and similar subjects are not good choices for this paper because people generally don’t change their minds on such subjects. You’re looking for a subject that people can be persuaded about. I will be happy to discuss potential topics with you in class or in my office and you may certainly choose one from the reader (in fact, that will give you some ready-made research material to use: hint, hint.) DUE DATE: You must give me a written paragraph that describes your topic, the kinds of research material you know will be out there, and why I should let you write about this topic on October 6/7 in class. I will e-mail you if your topic cannot be approved and we can then have a conference on what to do.
PAPER 3: Review of the Literature This 5-7 paper will be a "review of the literature" on your topic, which means you read as much as you can about an issue and explain it thoroughly, in your own terms and organization, to an academic audience. In it you will discuss what the current state of knowledge is about your topic, the various sides to the arguments about it, and where the discussion seems likely to lead next. You will need to work in at least 6 sources for this paper and no more than half can be web pages or other Internet material (excluding journal and newspaper articles you retrieve using the web). We will have a library orientation to finding this material on Oct. 18 & 20/ 19 & 21; we will meet in the library downstairs classrooms these days and the librarians will help you conduct research on your specific topic while we are there. Attendance at these sessions is mandatory. We will spend at least two classes discussing how to document the material you find correctly in MLA style; the session on plagiarism, October 25/26, is mandatory. Failure to attend this class will mean "F" grades for the writing component of your final grade. Rough draft sessions will be held November 1 & 2 in class, and the DUE DATE is November 3 & 4.
PAPER 4: Position Paper This 5-7 page paper will present your stance on the topic you have chosen: you will be presenting your own thoughts and opinions, and backing them up with evidence from the "witnesses" you have found in your research. In other words, you’ll be attempting to persuade an academic audience to agree with your position on the topic. You may use more, fewer, or different sources for this paper than you do in Paper 3, and you are not limited as to how many Internet sources you may use. We will discuss in class a variety of strategies for organizing material depending on who your audience is. This paper must also be documented in the MLA documentation style correctly and will have a rough draft conference (rather than class workshop) in the second week of November. DUE DATE: November 15/16.
The portfolio is designed to show me three things: first, that you have improved as a writer over the course of the semester; second, that you have learned to revise what you write in response to what an audience (me) tells you about your papers; and third, that you have learned to reflect on what you do as a writer so that you are making your writing decisions consciously.
Your final portfolio will consist of three papers selected by you from the five you
=ve worked on during the semester (position statement, summary/analysis, midterm, review of literature, argument), and a detailed cover letter describing your work as a writer in developing these three papers. This collection must include a paper of at least five full pages that incorporates secondary sources and is documented in the MLA format. The portfolios are due in class on Weds. December 1/ Thursday December 2. Your grade for the portfolio counts as 50% of your grade for the course. (See the syllabus for the percent the early versions and the midterm count.)=ve tried, what seemed to work and what didn=t, what nifty tricks from class or the book you tried to incorporate, etc. What was easiest and hardest for you to do? What do you feel more confident about now, and what still gives you trouble? What will you take away from this class, and what will you still need to work on? Look at the Rubric for Freshman CompositionBwhat letter grade would you assign your portfolio? The letter should reflect on these kind of issues; it is a kind of guide for me to help me interpret the three revised papers I will find in your portfolio. The length is up to you, but most are two pages (typed) or more. They can be in MLA form or typed as a double-spaced letter.For each paper you include in the portfolio, include ALL THE MATERIALS AND DRAFTS that lead up to the revised version. Put them in reverse order, with the final version on top. Clip all the materials for each paper together.
Accompany the three papers with a COVER LETTER addressed to me, which describes what you have done to revise the papers since I first read them. Tell me about the kinds of questions you asked yourself, the kinds of new techniques and approaches you
Physically the portfolio can be a binder, a folder (closable), a big envelope, or any other form that you feel is appropriate. Decorating it, adding cartoons or graffiti, etc., is entirely up to you. So is adding a tape or
Asound track.@ Computer viruses are definitely OUT.After you turn in your final exam you
=ll have a chance to look over your portfolio, and there will be a note from me to you that tells what my assessment of the portfolio is. But the portfolios themselves are stored by the department for a year, then destroyed, to reduce the possibilities of plagiarism. So make a Xerox copy of anything in the portfolio that you want to keep permanently.Feel free to bring any of your revisions by my office during office hours, and of course during your portfolio conference. You should also feel free to take revised papers or your cover letter to the Writing Center if you want an outside reader=s help in making them even more outstanding than I expect they will be. This is a busy time of the year for the Writing Center, so make your appointments early and make sure you keep them!