English 205z:

Intro to Writing for English Majors

Assignments

In addition to the weekly reading(s) here is information on what you need to do for the week. I will cover assignments in class but this should serve as a reminder and provide additional info.

    Week Fourteen Tuesday

  1. Finish your Wikipedia Assignment, come to class ready to present.
  2. Also, bring any questions you might have regarding your final papers.

    3. Week Thirteen Thursday

    We will be back in the CETL classroom-LEG 61.

  3. Your assignment is either to add an entry to Wikipeida or to substantially add to an existing page.
  4. You will present these in class on Thursday, you can work in groups of up to three for this assignment, although you can also work by yourself if you so prefer.
  5. Please post to the discussion forum by Wed. at midnight the names of the people in your group and a link to whatever page you choose to create/edit.

    Week Thirteen Tuesday

    Reminder we are meeting in the Library B15 (Basement of main library).

  1. Before class you need to rework your paper to roughly two pages, not a polished draft just a rough idea. This should help you to have a “focus” for your researching in class.
  2. You might want to also start the Wikipedia assignment (see below for Thursday).

    Week Twelve-Thursday

    We will be looking at Wikipedia and knowledge production. To begin this conversation you should read the following:

  1. First find a wikipedia page here which needs copy editing, and either edit it and email me the link, or print it out and edit it. This is to give you some practice on what we covered on Tues.
  2. Check out what Wikipedia has to say about itself. This is a lengthy article but read the whole thing.
  3. Next check out the review in Wired magazine. Note how this initial review is dated March 2005.
  4. Now read about the controversy started by Seigenthaler over the accuracy of Wikipedia, and read a comparison to Brittanica.
  5. See this short piece in Wired about Wikipedia.
  6. Finally check out this site whose purpose seems to be to attack Wikipedia.

    Week Twelve-Tuesday

  1. Read Writing Analytically Chp. 14
  2. If you have not already finish The Things They Carried and come to class prepared to discuss the whole text (this is going to be part of preparing for your final paper).
  3. And, for those who are interested, I just discovered this on lifehacker. It allows you to add to firefox a way to capture, edit and highlight web pages to your disk drive. This won't work on library computers, but you could use it on your home ones, or off a flash drive.

    Week Eleven-Thursday

    Reminder we will be in LEG61-In CETL-Located neat the entrance to Science Library

  1. Finish reading The Things They Carried.
  2. Bring the final copy of your second paper to class.

    3. Week Eleven-Tuesday

    Reminder we will be in LEG61-In CETL-Located neat the entrance to Science Library

  3. Work on your papers-due Thursday (if you would like feedback from me, email me before Tues).
  4. Read Writing Analytically Chp.12

    5. Week Ten-Thursday

  5. Come to class having read all the papers of those in your group ready to workshop.

    6. Week Ten-Tuesday

  6. Bring a copy of your current draft to class.
  7. Read Writing Analytically 10&11.
  8. Bring extra copies of your paper to class for your pier groups if you forgot on Thur.

    9. Week Nine-Thursday

  9. Bring four copies of your draft to class.
  10. Look at Chapter 8 of Writing Analytically.

    11. Week Nine-Tuesday

  11. Post to the discussion forum a thesis about A Very Long Engagement.
  12. Email to me by Monday 5:00pm a thesis statement for your second paper (first draft due on Thursday). If you need the paper topic you can get it here.

    13. Week Eight-Thursday

  13. Read the assigned chapters in Bennet and Royle and post a modified thesis to the discussion board (please type out the original and your new one).

    14. Week Eight

  14. Read Tim O'Brien up to page 130, and post to the discussion forum two thesisses. Make sure you check these against the problems in Writing Analytically Chp. 6.

    15. Week Seven-Thursday

  15. Read Chps 6&7 of Writing Analytically. Bring your final drafts to class.

    16. Week Seven-Tuesday

  16. Read Tim O' Brien's The Things They Carried pgs 1-66 and post to the discussion board.

    17. Week Six-Thursday

  17. Read the draft copies for your group and come prepared to workshop all of the papers in your group, please take time to carefully read the drafts, your classmates deserve this careful analysis.

    18. Week Six-Tuesday

  18. Finish Reading the University in Ruins.
  19. Download, Print, and Read, Patrick's paper. We will be going over this in class, and looking at the revision process. You need to have read the paper before class so you can comment on the paper, both to provide feedback on improving this paper for Patrick, and for your own understanding about the revision process. Please read carefully (this means read a couple of times-making marks and adding comments)
  20. And if you did not hand in four copies of your paper on Thursday, bring the extras with you on Tuesday so that you can give them to your classmates for review.

    21. Week Five-Thursday

  21. Complete the first draft of your paper and bring four copies to class.
  22. Read Chp. 5 of Writing Analytically, especially the two page summary at the end of the chapter.

    23. Week Five-Tuesday

  23. Make sure that you have read the paper assignment. If you lost yours you can download one here. Your first draft will be due on Thursday. Please come to class having begun to focus your thinking about the paper topic as we will spend some time on this.
  24. Also bring a copy of the Salon article we discussed in class regarding Vanity Fair. If you need a new one go to Salon and print another, we will also be using these in class.

    25. Extra Links

    Here are some links to style guides you might want to look at if you have questions:

    Week Four-Thursday

  25. Read Writing Analytically Chp 3. Read the summary on page 107-8 carefully, in fact read it at least twice-carefully (three times would be best). No need to post.

    26. Week Four-Tuesday

  26. Read The University in Ruins Chp. 6-8 and post a discussion question to the forum.
  27. Write a short essay (2 pages) using the method we discussed in class, focusing on what you thought to be the most consistent concept developed in The State of the Union speech. Remember you do not need an intro or a conclusion to your work (in fact it is better if you do not). If you need help/guidance look at Writing Analytically pages 57-67.

    28. Week Three-Thursday

  28. First for those who are curious, or needed the reference: list of prepositions.
  29. After reading Writing Analytically Chp 2 turn to page 48. Using the same commercial you wrote about for Tuesday (or a different one if you are so inclined) do the exercise on this page-Looking for Patterns or Repetition and Contrast. Type it, and bring it to class.

    30. Week Three-Tuesday

  30. Read Chp 3-5 (pp. 44-69) of University in Ruins
  31. Pick one paragraph you found to be particularly interesting in Readings book, now paraphrase x 3 (see Writing Analytically pp. 13), choose one of your pieces and post to the discussion board.
  32. Watch the Superbowl for a commercial (or just pick one-but the Superbowl always has some of the most interesting-you can see them on www.ifilm.com, after the game. Now do a focused freewrite (20 minutes) on the commercial (see Writing Analytically. pg 16), use the three questions on pg. 31 of Writing Analytically. That is, What did you find interesting, What did you find strange, What did you find revealing, avoid saying what you liked or did not like, or passing judgments. Type this and bring to class.
  33. Finally, one of the assignments for this class will be to interview a faculty member in the English department. We will cover questions, format, etc. on Tuesday. But, in the meantime you should think about which faculty member you would like to interview. You can see a list here, contact them and schedule a time either next week (after Tuesday) or the following week, you need to have the interview done by the end of the fourth week.

    34. Week Two-Feb 2nd

  34. Read Writing Analytically pp. 144-8 and Chp. 1

    35. Week Two-Jan 31st

  35. Read Bennet/Royle Chp. 20, and write (briefly-just one sentence for each item should do) what you think is the pitch, the complaint, and the moment of this piece. (See Writing Analytically pp. 112 if you need help) Post this to the discussion board.
  36. Read Chps 1, 2 of University in Ruins. Spend 20 minutes writing a summary (this does not need to be polished prose, a list will do), next look at that list and try to rank what you think are the most important ones, and justify why this is the case. This should be typed and brought to class.(See Writing Analytically pp. 120 if you need help.)

    37. Week One

  37. Purchase Books at Mary Jane's
  38. Register for the Class Discussion Board-You also need to post by 5:00pm on Wed a question regarding the reading for Thursday.
  39. Send me an email dp0711@albany.edu-Tell me 1. What year in school you are 2. What you feel you do well in writing, and what you would like to work on 3.What made you choose English as a Major?