Essay Assignment #3: Profile Writing

Plan and conduct an interview with a classmate. You should use questions that we’ve developed in class, but you should be sure to let the interview flow like a conversation. Observe your classmate and record your impressions. Consider facial expressions, body language, and appearance as you observe.

One of the purposes of this assignment is to practice field research methods like observing, interviewing, notetaking, and synthesizing information. These are essential skills in all disciplines.

Write a 2 page profile of your classmate.  Create a vivid picture of this person from a particular angle. Include at least one photograph of your subject in your profile.

While a profile’s purpose is to inform the reader about the subject, it is also meant entertain and engage the reader. Present your subject in an interesting light. Present him or her from your own unique perspective.

Your profile should include:

• an introduction
• a description of the subject
• background of the subject
• anecdotes
• direct quotes from the subject
• information about their reading, writing, education, or cultural background
• goals for college and the future

The profile is due at 9:00 AM on Thursday (8/22) morning

• E-mail it as an attachment to Andrew (andrewahn27@gmail.com), Stephanie (sjean127@gmail.com), and to the classmate you’re writing about

Homework for Tuesday August 20th

• Read 198-204 in The Norton Field Guide to Writing

• Read “A Pickpocket’s Tale” by Adam Green

• Complete and submit the final draft of “Essay Assignment #1: Analyzing and Evaluating an Advertisement”
• E-mail it as an attachment to Andrew (andrewahn27@gmail.com) and Stephanie (sjean127@gmail.com)
• In the subject line you should write “Essay Assignment #1 - Final Draft”

• Work on the first draft of Essay Assignment #2: Literary Analysis
• Use pages 81-86 in The Norton Field Guide to Writing as a reference
• Use pages 50-53 in The Little Seagull Handbook as a reference
• Submit a very rough first draft on Tuesday, August 20th

Essay Assignment #2: Literary Analysis

Choose a work of literature, and write a 3 page essay in which you discuss how the author negotiates the tension between assimilation, alienation, belonging, and cultural identity. How does the author speak to the complexity and ambiguity of what it means to be American? How does the work reflect the idea of being an outsider? How is the author able to recognize the ways in which his or her differences are both assets and burdens? Analyze the work of literature and explore the meaning and construction of the piece.

Read about Literary Analyses on pages 50-54 in The Little Seagull Handbook.

Read about Literary Analyses on pages 81-86 in The Norton Field Guide to Writing.

From The Norton Field Guide to Writing (85):

Other Essay Requirements:

• Follow the conventions for a college writing assignment (See page 524 in Field Guide)
• Come up with an interesting title
• 3 pages
• Typed, double spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font

Putting Texts in Conversation

Compare “Invierno” to “Persimmons.” Choose specific ideas, themes, or patterns, and consider how they are treated in the two texts. How do the two texts relate to each other? Put the two texts in conversation. How does one author’s idea complicate, add to, or intersect with the ideas of the other author? In your response, include at least one quote from each piece. Post your response in the Comments section. Then respond to a classmate's post. 

"Persimmons" Response

Persimmons by Li-Young Lee

Select a line from “Persimmons” that you find most important to the meaning or possibly the most interesting or puzzling in the context of the entire piece. Discuss that line and explain its role in the poem and why you find it so important or interesting or puzzling. Post your response in the Comments section. Then respond to a classmate's post. 

Sentences, Fragments, and Run-on/Fused Sentences

Practice what you have learned about sentences with the following exercises:

• Recognizing comma splices and fused sentences
• Fixing comma splices and fused sentences
• Identifying fragments
• Sentence or fragment?
• Fixing fragments

You can use the handout on sentences to review and help you answer the questions. Each exercise also allows you to review the concepts before beginning and get an explanation of any answers you get wrong.

 Grammar Bytes on chompchomp.com provides a fun and interactive way to learn, review, and practice English grammar.You'll find tons of presentations, interactive exercises, quick tips, and even YouTube videos on any area of grammar you would like to work on. Go ahead and put this website to good use!

Response to "Invierno"

Junot Diaz

Respond to any two of the following prompts. Type your responses as a blog comment. Then respond to one of your classmate’s posts.

1. Did any characters change during the course of the book? How did they change? Was this positive or negative? What forces in the story caused this change?

2. Do you think the title fits the story told in the book? Explain why or why not. If you had to create a title for this book, what would it be and why would you choose this title?

3. What, in your opinion, has the author done well in this book? Explain fully and give examples.

4. What life lessons did you learn or take away from reading this book? How has it changed you or your way of thinking?

5. Would you have liked a different ending? Why? Write the ending.

6. Analyze the author’s style, tone, or word choice.