The “I”: Who We Are

Aug. 31--Introductions

Sept. 2—David Sedaris p. 138“Ashes”, Syllabus Selection, Intake Writing

Sept. 7—“The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education” (handout); p. 2-31, Introduction in Convergences; How did you learn?

9—Message, Method, Medium; Judith Ortiz Cofer, “Silent Dancing” p. 43. How and why we see our surroundings.

Sept. 12—Anne Sexton, “Resume” p. 79

14—Dorothy Allison, “What Did You Expect?” p. 71

16—Pico Iyer, “Nowhere Man”, p. 265; First draft of Essay #1

Sept. 19—Peer Review

21—Conferences (no class)

23—Meet in Library

Issues in Society

Sept. 26—Essay #1 due; Sally Mann p. 90

28—“The Body” (all), p. 579; Begin Essay #2

30—“Selling America” (all) p. 536;

Oct. 3—“Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?” (handout)

5—Library time

7—Maya Lin, “Between Art and Architecture” p. 360

Oct. 10—Observation #1 due;

12—“How To Make an Ad” p. 503

14—Fall break—no classes

Oct. 17—Peer Review

19—Conferences (no class)

21—Essay #2 due

How We Fit Into Society

Oct. 24—Begin Essay #3; Reality TV (all) p. 165

26—“Celebrity” p. 565 (all)

28—“Seeking the Mona Lisa” p. 103 (reading and artwork)

Oct. 31—“Cyberspace” (all) p. 281

Nov. 2—Gender p. 440

5—Nicholas Howe, “Roadside Dining” p. 256

Nov. 7—Turf War p. 430

9—On the Margins p. 451

11—The Mall (all) p. 548

Nov. 14—Peer Review

16—Conferences (no class)

18—Essay #3 due

Nov. 21—Revising and Editing, working on the portfolio

Nov. 28—N. Scott Momaday, “The Way to Rainy Mountain” p. 271

30—Observation #2 due;

Dec. 2—Field Day

Dec. 5—

7—Last Day of Classes, turn in portfolios, discuss writing improvements

Portfolio: At the end of the semester, you will revise two of your essays and one of your observations to be included in your portfolio. You must submit a portfolio to pass the class. We will work on these the last few weeks of the semester.

Journals: Please keep track of daily and at home writing by placing your writing in a folder or keeping it in your notebook. They will be helpful for you in your essays and class discussion.

Readings: Each reading is due that day in class and will be discussed. You’ll need to look at the next class period to see what we are discussing that day.

Field Day: This is a day that you have to catch up on work or get ahead on a certain writing. These days are especially good for Observations.

Observations: This is a chance for you to be creative while telling us what happened, what you saw, how others reacted, how you reacted. These paper will be 2-3 pages long

Essays: We will complete three essays this semester between 4-5 pages long. Each essay will be based on the general theme of the readings at the time. You will develop a topic and thesis that fits your material depending on your ideas.

Attendance and Participation: Please make sure that you don’t miss more than two (2) classes that I don’t know where you are. Keep in contact and let me know why you have to miss a class and that you are able to make up work. Then you won’t be surprised at the end of the semester.

Grading Policy:

Each assignment will be given points so that you can keep track of your grade. I don’t always like to give points to writing, as it can be an arbitrary subject, but I want to make sure that you have some sort of means to gauge your improvement and grade throughout the semester.

Observations: 10 points each

Essay #1 10 points

Essay #2 15 points

Essay #3 15 points

Participation and

Attendance 20 points (this includes all in- and out-of-class writings; class

discussion, and feedback on peer reviews)

Portfolios 20 points

There may be a short optional writing at the end of the semester that will allow you to improve your grade.