WEEK 15 PROMPT (due Monday 11/29 at noon):
Respond to the discussion question on Salman Rushdie and Ngugi wa Thiong’o. In your response, quote both Rushdie and Ngugi (who offer an argument and counterargument on this question) at least once, and summarize at least one other portion of their passage. Introduce their arguments in a nuanced way, assuming an audience who is interested in the topic but hasn’t read the passages. Use (and bold) at least four signal verbs from Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz (175 JTC). 12+ sentences.
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WEEK 11 PROMPT (due Monday 11/1 at noon):
What effect is this course having on your personal life, your understandings, or your values? How does this course relate to your other courses? 8-10 sentences. Use at least three vocab words.
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WEEK 10 PROMPT (due Monday 10/25 at noon):
Write an analysis of a business in your neighborhood, or one of their products. Visit the business and/or examine the product closely; even buy the product if it’s helpful to you. To write your analysis, you’ll redo our college major activity: choose three numbers between 1 and 36, and visit this Google Doc to see which majors you chose. Use these three majors, as well as your own close observations of repetitions, strands, contrasts, and anomalies, to inform your analysis: what questions would a student, or an expert, in this subject ask about your text/cultural artifact? Two paragraphs of eight+ sentences each. At the bottom, list the majors and write two to three sentences reflecting on your process. Give yourself 90 minutes for this activity.
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WEEK 9 PROMPT (due Monday 10/18 at noon):
Post one scene or paragraph from your analysis (150-400 words).
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WEEK 8 PROMPT (due Monday 10/11 at noon):
Write an analysis of something in your home. Follow Sullivan’s procedure on page 1 to generate material, then write two paragraphs of 7-9 sentences each. Give yourself 90 minutes for this task. When you’re done, write two sentences under your completed blogpost about how it felt to do: what did you notice, what part was easiest/hardest, what surprised you?
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WEEK 7 PROMPT (due Monday 10/4 at noon):
Write, and post, a summary and analysis of something in your neighborhood. Write two paragraphs of 5-7 sentences each. In addition to closely observing your text/object of analysis aand considering its effects, consider this quote from 101: “Literally everything you encounter on a given day is making demands of you to take it in and act or think a certain way.” Apply this quote to your text/object of analysis: how is it demanding your intention? What kind of behavior or response does it want?
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WEEK 5 PROMPT (due Wednesday 9/22 at noon):
Post one scene from your literacy narrative, a portion that you feel proud of (between 100-400 words).
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WEEK 4 PROMPT (due Monday 9/13 at noon):
Introduce us to an important “literacy sponsor” (Liao 57) in your life so far. Who is someone who helped you open the door to a particular form of language or knowledge that was previously closed to you? Avoid clichés, generalizations, and vague reflections: instead, describe an important moment you shared with this person, including realistic dialogue, sensory description, and details that grab a reader. At least two paragraphs of five or more sentences each. Use five of your vocab words.
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WEEK 3 PROMPT (due Monday 9/6 at noon):
Tell a story about yourself through a single object in the world. Describe the object, and describe its relationship to you. You can place the object in a larger story, or focus more on its various emotional meanings. Feel free to think creatively. I highly encourage that you also look up a little bit of history and detail on your object online— gather some research as intel, and it’ll also give you more material to write about. At least two paragraphs of five or more sentences each. Use five of your vocab words.
(When you post, begin your title with your first name and last name and the current week. So, for this assignment I’d write “Jay Thompson Week 3, Writing Prompt” or any other title, “Jay Thompson Week 3, My Mom’s Jewelry Box” etc.)
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WEEK 2 PROMPT (due Monday 8/30 at noon):
Tell us about yourself. Then describe your writing process—how have you approached writing in the past? Please write eight sentences. Email me with this completed assignment, and I will post it here.