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.

Homework for Wednesday, August 14

Continue revising and editing Essay Assignment #1. The final draft is due on Tuesday, August 20th. Along with your final draft, you will submit the two previous drafts and the “reverse outline” on this day.

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.

Read “Invierno" by Junot Diaz

Complete the two Reading Response Questions for "Invierno" and post your responses as a blog comment. Then respond to one of your classmate’s posts.

Homework Update

You do not have to read "Invierno" for homework tonight. I will give you time during class to read it.

Links for Rhetorical Appeals

Ethos, Logos, Pathos, and Kairos

http://writingcommons.org/rhetorical-analysis/rhetorical-appeals

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/588/04/

Homework for Tuesday, August 13

Revise and Edit “Essay Assignment #1: Analyzing and Evaluating  an Advertisement”

• Read about textual analysis in pages in 36-41 in The Little Seagull Handbook. Use this as an additional resource for revision.
• Incorporate a discussion of at least two of the rhetorical appeals/strategies (ethos, pathos, logos, kairos) into your essay. Use writingcommons.org as a resource (http://writingcommons.org/rhetorical-analysis/rhetorical-appeals).

E-mail the second draft of your essay as an attachment to Andrew (andrewahn27@gmail.com) and Stephanie (sjean127@gmail.com)

• In the subject line you should write “Essay Assignment #1 - Second Draft”.

Homework for Monday, August 12

Essay Assignment #1: Analyzing and Evaluating an Advertisement

Revise your abstracts for “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

Read:

The Norton Guide to Field Writing

• In Part 2 Genres: #8 Analyzing Texts" (52-86)
• In Part 4 Strategies: #30 Beginning and Ending" (299-311)
• "31 Guiding Your Reader" (312-317)
• #33 Arguing" (323-341)

Essay Assignment #1: Analyzing and Evaluating an Advertisement

Compose a 3 to 4 page essay in which you analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of the Apple’s current “Our Signature” commercial. Do you think that the advertisement is an effective way to market Apple products? Or is the advertisement ineffective, unclear, or off-putting? Does the commercial fulfill its intended purpose? How? How does it not? In your essay, you should:

• provide a summary of what is happening in the commercial. Imagine that your reader/audience has never seen the commercial before.
• consider who the audience is for the ad. How do you know? How would you desribe the audience? What assumptions are made about the people who make up the audience? How is the ad designed to appeal to that particular audience? What is it “really” saying?
• consider the other elements of a rhetorical situation.
• incorporate opinions and findings from outside sources. But make sure to provide your own analysis and evaluation.
• consider the various aspects of the commercial, including the language, message, images, tone, etc.
• compare the commercial to Apple’s other commercials and ad campaigns.
• discuss what makes an advertisement effective, and how the commercial achieves or fails to achieve its goal.
• cite specific moments or quotations from the commercial and carefully analyze the details.

What will a good essay look like?

A good essay will communicate strong critical thinking. It will demonstrate an awareness of your audience. It will have clearly articulated and well developed ideas. It will pay attention to the specifics of the assignment. It will be well-organized.

While there are other elements of a good essay, I want you to really focus on these as you write.

Other Essay Requirements:

• Follow the conventions for a college writing assignment (See page 524 in Field Guide)
• Come up with an interesting title
• Use at least two different source materials to support your ideas
• 3-4 pages
• Typed, double spaced, and in 12 pt. Times New Roman font

Essay Resources

Apple "Our Signature" Commercial


Apple "1984" Commercial


TED Talk: Simon Sinek

Forbes and Business Insider articles about Apple's advertising campaign

Response to "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" by Nicholas Carr

Write a short response (two to three paragraphs) to Nicholas Carr's "Is Google Making us Stupid?" Submit your response in the Comments section of this post. It is recommended that you first type your response in a separate document and then copy and paste it into the post.

You may use the following questions/prompts to guide your response:

• Put the chart and the article in conversation with each other
• Does the chart refute what Carr seems to be arguing? Does the chart support it any way?
• Were you surprised by something you read in this article?
• Do you agree or disagree with something you read in this article?
• Was anything unclear to you? Why?
• What questions do you have after reading this text?
• Did you learn something from this reading experience?
• Was this reading experience enjoyable for you? Why or why not?
• Make a connection between the reading and your life 
• State whether you like or dislike the reading and why 
• Talk about how the essay met, or failed to meet, your expectations
• Critique the text 
• Take one part of the text and expand on that idea
• Analyze the author's style, tone, or word choice

In your response, you should:

• mention the title and author of the work you are discussing
• provide a very short summary at the beginning (one or two sentences)
• provide at least one quote from the article

After you've submitted your response, read your classmates' posts. Then choose one and respond to it. You may want to pose additional questions, respectfully disagree with a point, or point to interesting ideas. The purpose of this task is to create a dialogue around a text using an online forum. 

Student Questionnaire 8/7

Please complete the questionnaire the questionnaire during out time in the computer lab. The link is below:

 https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/writingpilot2013

Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr

You can read "Is Google Making Us Stupid" online by using this link:

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/306868/

Homework Assignment #2

Homework for Wed. August 7

Read The Norton Field Guide to Writing Part 4 Section 41 Reading Strategies (396-413) and read about abstracts on pp. 150 – 154.

 

Read about quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing in Field Guide (464-474).

Read “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr. As you read, be sure to annotate the text.

 

Writing: Working with the article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” by Nicholas Carr, write an informative abstract (a one-paragraph summary).

See formatting for a college writing assignment in Field Guide (524 - 532)

Pay special attention to conventions for page one

Use A Summary of "Is Google Making Us Stupid?"  as the title of this assignment. The title should be centered above the abstract.

*Do not italicize, underline, or quote your own title for a writing assignment. 

Read "Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization" by Andrew Leonard in The Norton Field Guide to Writing (131-135)

Homework Assignment #1

Write a letter of introduction to your instructor and course assistant.

In the letter, introduce yourself and provide information about current & past reading experiences (What do you like to read? How often to you read? Where do you read?), writing preferences (do you enjoy writing? What do you like to write?), language expertise (Do you speak/read/write more than one language?), education (Where and when did you graduate from high school?), and work experience. To learn about letter-writing genres, you should practice using a formal letter format, as shown on page 231 of The Norton Field Guide. These letters should be typed and printed out for submission in class on August 6^th. They should be single-spaced with one extra space left between paragraphs. Print your letter on white paper with one inch margins on top, bottom, right and left sides.

Length: 2 to 4 pages, single-sided.  Submit two copies.

Letters will be submitted to instructor & course assistant on Tuesday August 6^th.

If you do not want to write your own address into the letter, you can use the City College address both for the instructor’s address and for a personal address.

For you (student):

                        Summer Pilot Project

                        Administration Building 3^rd Floor

                        City College of New York

                        New York, NY 10031

For the addressees (instructor & course assistant):

                        English Department

                        NAC 6/219

                        City College of New York

                        New York, NY 10031

Welcome to the City College Summer Writing Workshop!