assignments ENGL 101 Writing Rhetorically:
The Big Deal: Archival Ethnography of Bridgewater State
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Overview. For your first paper, we will read what is known as memoir. “Memoir” comes from the combination of the Latin roots for remembering and memory (MEM, obviously) and for “to write” (the OIRE—if you know French you can see that). So you are writing memory. what do you remember about a certain event and why? It is the “and why” part of that sentence that will give you the essay. You don’t remember things—and remember them in a certain way—for nothing. Tap in to the why, and you’ll have your essay.
Sometimes students think I'm asking them to write autobiographies. Autobiographies are attempting to chronicle every little tiny thing in your life, a memoir is interested in snap shots. So the focus of your writing should be on some parts of your life--even one story of your life--but not all of it. Don’t fall in to the trap of trying to tell me too much. This is particularly true in the short memoir, which you are writing. The tighter your focus the stronger your writing and analysis will be.
You will start to notice a pattern to how we write our papers in this class. I ask you to collect data--talk to a person, visit a place, research a topic--and then I ask you to formulate an opinion about it (your thesis) and then organize your data to prove your thesis (evidence). This paper is no different. We are writing what I call an artifact memoir in our class. Rather than just rely on your memory to do the work for you, you will spend time collecting information about your subject (you) to prove your point. Don’t think just because you haven’t been the victim of tragedy or illness or brutality that you have no story. Everybody has a story. All of the essays we will read feature a writer trying to figure something out about their lives. And that is what you are being asked to do here.
Details: Top Five Memoir. A quick search on the interwebs yields the following: Top 12 Most Unbelievable Celeb Prenups; Top 9 Things That Happy People Do; Twenty-three Things that Only New Englanders Understand; Top 15 Best Animal Smiles of All Time. Here is the thing about these lists: they've got a single focus (the title is the thesis).
Your job for the first paper is to write a Top Five Memoir. A Top Five is great for so many reasons, but, namely, you've got five pages of paper to write and five top things to write about. See how that works out?
Your job is to write a Top Five list based on your memories about one of the following:
The Rules of the Top Five Memoir
1. You will need to have an overall title to your Top Five list that reflects the thesis of your Top Five. For instance, my working title: "Top Five Songs That Tell You All About How My Family Turned me Into An English Professor."
Other options: "Top Five Books that Explain how I Ended Up Becoming an English Teacher;"
"Top Five Movies that Explains My Wonderful, Complicate, Super-Close Relationship with My Sister;"
or "Top Five TV Shows That Explain How I Got To Be A Nerd."
I can't do video games because that's just never been my thing. But I think you can see where I'm going with this.
2. You should number and bold each of your Top Five entries and you should only have five--no more or less.
3. You can't just have a title, and you can't just tell me something means a lot to you. I need a memory for each of your Top Five (we'll work on this in class). You have to SHOW me what you are trying to describe, rather than just TELLING ME. That's what you are aiming for here. Scenes.
5.You need to have an opening and a closing to your Top Five, like an introduction and a conclusion in a traditional essay. You need to set up your Top Five thesis in the opening paragraph. And, in your closing, you need to demonstrate how you've grown and developed your thesis throughout your Top Five.
As you can see, our first paper has a formula to it. This should make it easier in some ways and harder in other. It makes it easier because it gives a natural structure to the essay. Harder because if you don't pay attention to the rules, you'll mess up the paper.
OTHER THINGS
This paper is worth 10% of your grade. In order to earn a "B" on this paper, you need to turn in/show up for the following:
In order to earn an "A" on this paper, you need to complete all of the requirements for earning a "B" and
In order to earn a "C" on this paper, you must turn in/show up for the following:
Sometimes students think I'm asking them to write autobiographies. Autobiographies are attempting to chronicle every little tiny thing in your life, a memoir is interested in snap shots. So the focus of your writing should be on some parts of your life--even one story of your life--but not all of it. Don’t fall in to the trap of trying to tell me too much. This is particularly true in the short memoir, which you are writing. The tighter your focus the stronger your writing and analysis will be.
You will start to notice a pattern to how we write our papers in this class. I ask you to collect data--talk to a person, visit a place, research a topic--and then I ask you to formulate an opinion about it (your thesis) and then organize your data to prove your thesis (evidence). This paper is no different. We are writing what I call an artifact memoir in our class. Rather than just rely on your memory to do the work for you, you will spend time collecting information about your subject (you) to prove your point. Don’t think just because you haven’t been the victim of tragedy or illness or brutality that you have no story. Everybody has a story. All of the essays we will read feature a writer trying to figure something out about their lives. And that is what you are being asked to do here.
Details: Top Five Memoir. A quick search on the interwebs yields the following: Top 12 Most Unbelievable Celeb Prenups; Top 9 Things That Happy People Do; Twenty-three Things that Only New Englanders Understand; Top 15 Best Animal Smiles of All Time. Here is the thing about these lists: they've got a single focus (the title is the thesis).
Your job for the first paper is to write a Top Five Memoir. A Top Five is great for so many reasons, but, namely, you've got five pages of paper to write and five top things to write about. See how that works out?
Your job is to write a Top Five list based on your memories about one of the following:
- Top Five Songs
- Top Five Books
- Top Five Movies
- Top Five TV Shows
- Top Five Video Games
- Top Five Food Memories
The Rules of the Top Five Memoir
1. You will need to have an overall title to your Top Five list that reflects the thesis of your Top Five. For instance, my working title: "Top Five Songs That Tell You All About How My Family Turned me Into An English Professor."
Other options: "Top Five Books that Explain how I Ended Up Becoming an English Teacher;"
"Top Five Movies that Explains My Wonderful, Complicate, Super-Close Relationship with My Sister;"
or "Top Five TV Shows That Explain How I Got To Be A Nerd."
I can't do video games because that's just never been my thing. But I think you can see where I'm going with this.
2. You should number and bold each of your Top Five entries and you should only have five--no more or less.
3. You can't just have a title, and you can't just tell me something means a lot to you. I need a memory for each of your Top Five (we'll work on this in class). You have to SHOW me what you are trying to describe, rather than just TELLING ME. That's what you are aiming for here. Scenes.
5.You need to have an opening and a closing to your Top Five, like an introduction and a conclusion in a traditional essay. You need to set up your Top Five thesis in the opening paragraph. And, in your closing, you need to demonstrate how you've grown and developed your thesis throughout your Top Five.
As you can see, our first paper has a formula to it. This should make it easier in some ways and harder in other. It makes it easier because it gives a natural structure to the essay. Harder because if you don't pay attention to the rules, you'll mess up the paper.
OTHER THINGS
- Papers should be 1500 words about 5 pages, double-spaced, in 10 or 12 point fonts, with one inch margins all the way around.
- Do not use a cover page. Instead, put your name, date and ENGL101 in the upper left corner and call it a day.
- Always, always, always have a title. A good one--this one should start "Top Five Songs/Books/Video Games etc That Explains. . . "
- See syllabus for specific dates regarding the workshop for the draft of this paper and due date when you will turn it in to me.
- You will get feedback on the draft you turn in to me and will be expected to revise this piece for the midterm portfolio.
This paper is worth 10% of your grade. In order to earn a "B" on this paper, you need to turn in/show up for the following:
- Show up for your writing fellow meeting to discuss draft at least once.
- Show up for the workshop in class (see the syllabus for when that is) with a complete draft of your paper.
- Turn in the workshop worksheet your reader fills out during the workshop.
- Turn in your revision plan reflection that you completed in response to your reader's workshop comments
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me on the day it is due (see the syllabus for when that is) with reflection on what you feel is successful about the paper and what you want help with (NOTE: increased length will not make up for late or incomplete work) .
- A paper that follows the format exactly as described above and in class.
In order to earn an "A" on this paper, you need to complete all of the requirements for earning a "B" and
- Write thoughtfully about how you used your revision suggestions in your paper as part of your reflection on what you feel is successful about the paper and what you want help with.
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me that reflects the ideas we discuss in class about writing a good memoir: not just telling me what you remember but why you remember it; a strong, clear thesis that embodies the why; evidence that supports your thesis from the five songs/books/movies/etc that you focused on.
In order to earn a "C" on this paper, you must turn in/show up for the following:
- Show up for the workshop in class (see the syllabus for when that is) with a complete draft of your paper.
- Turn in a 1500 word draft to me on the day it is due (see the syllabus for when that is) with reflection on what you feel is successful about the paper and what you want help with.