Reading for Tuesday, April 21st

Please read, "Black Hair" by Gary Soto for Tuesday.  Please bring in any questions, concerns, comments to class, and be prepared to discuss the essay, as well.  You can access the piece by clicking here.

Prompt for Tuesday, April 21st

Please complete the following on your own blog.  This is in lieu of in-class writing from Thursday, due to the Good Thunder Craft Talk.  

Write about the worst teacher you ever had.

-What was the situation? (year in school, name of class, outside factors [family, friends, work, geographical situation])

-Provide examples of why this teacher was the worst (what did s/he say? what did s/he do?)

-How did these situations make you feel?

-How did you respond, or want to respond?

Just write for ten to fifteen minutes and post it to your blog by our next class.  If you think you'd like to write about the worst job you've ever had (our in-class writing prompt for Tuesday), you can get started on it.  Otherwise, you can wait for the in-class time to work on it.

Worst Job

-Where did you work and what were your responsibilities?

-Who did you work with? (Bosses, co-workers, etc.)

-Provide descriptions of place, co-workers, or any other relevant info

-Were there any factors outside of work that made this experience especially tough? (relationships, school, family, geographical situation)

-What made this the worst job you've ever had?

Homework for Thursday, April 16th

Please read, "Me Talk Pretty One Day," by David Sedaris for Thursday. Be prepared to discuss the essay, and bring any questions you may have to class. You can access the text by clicking here. You do not have to worry about answering the questions that follow the essay.

Personal Narrative Assignment Sheet

Assignment: Personal Narrative
Due Date: Rough draft due Wednesday, April 22nd; Final draft due Thursday, April 30th
Page Requirements: 4-7 pages, double-spaced; MLA format; 12 point font, Times New Roman; Include page numbers in the right header; 1” margins.

Assignment Description: Write a personal narrative based on one of the prompts assigned in class. You can choose to write about a subject we’ve discussed from the readings—the most interesting person you know, the worst job you’ve ever worked, or the worst teacher you’ve ever had. You can also choose to write about an event based on any of the blog post prompts—summary responses, Good Thunder writers, your research topic, etc.—from this semester. If you’d like to write a personal narrative on some other event or idea, please let me know before you turn in your first draft.

Rough Drafts: You will be required to write at least one rough draft of the essay and submit it to the D2L dropbox—Personal Narrative—by 2:00pm on April 22nd. I will be conducting conferences from the 23rd till the 28th to go over your rough drafts, provide suggestions, and answer any questions you may have about the assignment.

Late Papers: The last day I will accept late papers is on our finals day—May 5th—with a penalty of 10% reduced from your paper’s final grade. If you turn in your paper late, I will most likely not have it graded by our finals day. You will be required to turn in a final draft via the D2L dropbox marked, Personal Narrative—Final Draft, and you will be required to turn in a hardcopy in class on the due date. This assignment counts for 15% of your overall grade, so it would be to your benefit to turn it in on time.

Plagiarism: If you decide you want to imitate the style or sentence structure of a writer whose work we have read, remember to replace their content with your own. MSU has a zero tolerance policy on plagiarism. Also, if you decide to incorporate newspaper articles or research, make sure to give credit where credit is due. If you feel unsure about whether you’re plagiarizing, feel free to ask for some assistance. I’m available to look over your work during my office hours.

If you have any questions regarding the assignment requirements, grading criteria (provided as a supplement to this sheet), or policies, please contact me via email, my office phone, or stop by during office hours. Please refer to your syllabus for contact information.

Questions for Consideration

The following questions will serve as criteria for your personal narrative essay.

-Does the writer narrate a single event, or a series of events? How does the writer handle the use of anecdote?
-Does the writer use concrete, specific details and description?
-Does the writer make a point?
-Does the writer reflect (i.e. is the question, “so what?” answered)?
-Do all of the examples (details, images, word choice) point to the essay’s primary focus?
-Does the introduction hook the reader?
-Does the conclusion end abruptly or trail off?
-Does the essay have a logical organization?
-Are the transitions from paragraph to paragraph clear?
-Does the writer maintain a consistent tone?
-Is the level of diction appropriate for the audience, the ethos, and the essay’s point?
-Is the prose readable?
-Does the writer use correct grammar/mechanics?
-Does the writer vary sentence length and structure?
-Is the text free from distracting surface errors?

Homework for Thursday, April 9th

Please read, "The American Male at Age 10," by Susan Orlean--we will discuss it on Thursday. You can access the essay by clicking here.