Author: CRowe

04/14/16

For Tuesday

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for a great style discussion today. Reminders:

1) Bring your rough draft of your research essay. Please bring the most complete rough draft you can bring.

2) Bring your excerpt from a piece of writing you particularly admire to class (the excerpts which we didn’t get to discuss today).

3) Look over the Strunk/White rules about style and put a check mark next to three of the rules that interest you. Perhaps you agree with the rule, perhaps you don’t. Either way, choose three rules that you will be prepared to discuss in class. And bring the Strunk/White chapter to class again.

Good luck!

04/12/16

For Thursday

Hi Everyone,

First, bring your proposal to class on Thursday. Click here to see a proposal template that many students have found useful. Please feel free to use it. Remember that you have a draft of your essay due next Tuesday (a week from today). So use this proposal to your advantage.

Second, please bring a brief excerpt from a piece of writing you particularly admire to class (no more than a paragraph). It could be an excerpt from a novel (any novel-it doesn’t have to be a “classic”), an excerpt from a poem, an essay, or perhaps even from a screenplay in a movie/tv show (or from a graphic novel/comic). Whatever it is, identify a brief excerpt that you really enjoy, type it/handwrite it, and be prepared to talk about why you chose it.

Third, please bring the “Approach to Style” chapter from Strunk & White that I handed out earlier this semester. If you misplaced it, you can find it here.

See you on Thursday!

04/8/16

For Tuesday

Hi Everyone,

For Tuesday:

1) Write your précis and bring it to class (printed!). Follow the template I showed you as best as you can. It is a very useful intellectual exercise, I swear.

2) Read “I Need You to Say I” by Kate Maddalena (available here you do not have to print it or bring it to class) and write down three reasons Maddalena gives for why you should say “I” in academic writing. We’ll talk about this in class.

Have a great weekend!

04/6/16

Tomorrow

Hi Everyone,

Tomorrow, I’m going to ask each of you to share what you think your essay topic is going to be. I strongly suggest that you commit to a topic as soon as possible (ideally by tomorrow). Please write down at least a sentence or two so that you’ll have something to say in class discussion.

Also, please bring to class the “Entering the Conversation” handout from They Say/I Say that I gave you a few weeks ago. If you’ve misplaced it, you can find a pdf here to print.

Finally, click here for a link to an excellent précis template.

See you tomorrow!

04/3/16

For Tuesday

Hi Everyone,

Almost all of you should have your graded essays by now. I enjoyed reading all of your essays!

We’re going to have a librarian visit our class on Tuesday. Please write down and be prepared to ask one question about the research resources at Baruch. For example: “How do I search for peer-reviewed journals in sociology?” Or, “What is the best way to customize a search process?” Any question about research is acceptable.

Also, I will bring the formal assignment for our research essay on Tuesday. Its format will be simple. You’ll have to write about one primary source from our course readings and three-four secondary sources that you find on your own. I will give you the option of either creating your own topic or responding to a prompt (which I’ll give you on Tuesday). Until Tuesday, I want you to think about this. You have to write a 7-8 page paper that engages with one of the many themes we’ve talked about this semester, What are you most excited about? What do you want to learn about? Pick something that will keep your voluntary attention engaged. We’ll brainstorm topics further in class but I want you to at least have a rough idea by Tuesday.

For the second half of class on Tuesday, we’ll be talking about possible topics so make sure you have written at least a sentence down.

03/30/16

For Thursday

Hi Everyone,

I’m glad you all enjoyed listening to the Freakonomics podcast about handwriting today (for those who missed class, click here or here to listen). I’m going to read over your essays promptly and get them back to you by no later than this weekend so  you can immediately get to work planning out/beginning to research your third essay.

For Thursday, please:

1) Research one topic/idea/controversy/pencil store or whatever else that came up in the Freakonomics podcast and write a brief (about one paragraph) summary of what you learned in your research. You’ll informally present your research to a small group on Thursday.

2) Read “What is Academic Writing?” by L. Lennie Irvin (available here) and write short (2-3 sentence) responses to these three questions/prompts: A) According to Irvin, what is the “Academic Writing Situation”? B) Summarize Irvin’s advice about how to “pick and limit” a writing topic. C) Write a one-sentence “translation” (i.e. voice the idea in your own words) of each of Irvin’s “three characteristics of academic writing” (14).