*You’ll have 10 minutes for your reading set, so keep that in mind as you select your piece (or combination of pieces). See previous post for scheduled readers. 

*Bring your final portfolios to class on Thurs., May 1st. 

*Enjoy this lovely weather. I heard a terrible rumor that it will rain on Saturday

–Harrison Candelaria Fletcher

Class Reading Schedule (Remember: N/A Champagne, Food, & Strobe Lights! Get Excited!)

Thursday, May 1:

Megan C., Cara, Grace, Bridgett, Adrienne, Paula, Allison, Susan, Meaghan P., Brianne

Wednesday, May 7:

Morgan, Mara, Michelle, John, Shaakira, Samantha, Elisa

(if your name appears not on the list, you’ll go on May 7.)

This is your captain speaking. We are flying at an altitude of zero so don’t expect any turbulence on this trip. Bring a notebook and pen to class on Thursday along with some pocket change (enough to buy a coffee, or snack); we will be venturing outside for a field trip.  We’ll meet in the classroom at the usual time and then who knows where we will end up! But I do know this, we will be doing a lot of freewriting.

Homework for Thursday is to find a blog or an essay that discusses travel (or the lyric essay) that captures your attention. Provide a link to that essay or blog in your post and briefly summarize the essay, explaining what drew you to that essay or blog. There will be no reading discussion for the next class, but I encourage you to browse around each other’s blogs to discover interesting essays and blogs about travel.

One of the things that happens when you give yourself permission to start writing is that you start thinking like a writer. You start seeing everything as material. Sometimes you’ll sit down or go walking and your thoughts will be on one aspect of your work, or one idea you have for a small scene, or a general portrait of one of the characters you are working with, or you’ll just be completely blocked and hopeless and wondering why you shouldn’t just go into the kitchen and have a nice glass of warm gin straight out of the cat dish. 

          –Anne Lamott

Class Update:

4/15: finish workshop

4/17: final draft due, persuasive essay

4/24: first draft travel essay due

5/1: final portfolio due (with final draft of travel essay) + first half of class reading

5/7: final portfolios returned, second half of class reading. Class meets from 1:30-4:00 p.m.

I decided that eighteenth-century philosopher Jean-Jacques Rouseau might have had a point: seeing a “noble savage” would rouse my spirit and reveal the primordial essence of my being. Of course, this outdated and arguably racist view ignores the fact that first contact has historically resulted in a deadly tsunami of disease, war, famine, slavery, and proselytization like those that engulfed nearly all of the world’s tribal societies following the arrival of European explorers. But I signed on for the three-week trip anyway. Someone needed to check out Woolford’s First Contact experience, which he was selling on the Web for$8,000.

            –Michael Behar from “The Selling of the Last Savage”

Draft #2  Jungle Workshop Sign-up:

Thursday, April 10^th, 11:45-12:50 (Post revised draft to blog by April 9^th, 9 p.m.)

Adrienne, Mara, Bridgette, Shaakira, Michelle, Grace, Brianne, Kaitlin

Tuesday, April 15^th, 11:45-12:50 (Post revised draft to blog by April 13^th, 7 p.m.)

Megan C., Paula, Susan, Allison, Elisa, Meaghan, Cara, Samantha, John, Morgan

Here is what is coming around the corner:

April 3^rd: Workshop first drafts of persuasive essay.

April 10: 2^nd draft due.

April 17^th: final draft due.

The essay is, and has been, all over the map. There’s nothing you cannot do with it; no subject matter forbidden, no structure is proscribed. You get to make up your own structure every time, a structure that arises from the materials and best contains them. The material is the world itself, which, so far, keeps on keeping on. The thinking mind will analyze, and the creative imagination will link instances, and time itself will churn out scenes—scenes unnoticed and lost, or scenes remembered, written, and saved.

–Annie Dillard

 “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.”

            –Oscar Wilde

“We read to know we are not alone.”

            –C.S. Lewis

“Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.”

            –P.J. O’Rourke

For your next blog post, revise your book review using the book review standards we talked about in class. Be sure to post it to your blog AND make the changes on DJR. This should be completed by next Wed. 7 pm.

The second part of this assignment is to comment on your selected person’s book review (on the blog). I’ll give you until Thurs. 7 pm for this, so you don’t feel rushed. Practice your argument style here, letting the person know whether you are convinced to read the book and why or why not.

For your next post, I’d like you to look closely at the specific word choices in Martin Luther King’s essay. What verbs does he use to introduce his arguments as well as counter claims? Identify 2 verbs from each of the following categories in King’s essay that make an impact:

Claim

Agreement

Disagreement

Recommendation

For example, instead of claiming: “The professor said revision is the key to better writing,” one could say “The professor insists that revision is the key to better writing.”

When we engage in argument or persuasion our position becomes urgent to us. We want to be heard, to make an impact, and one way to improve the strength of our argument is through our word selection.

Now that you’ve noticed how important verbs are, select one of your tentative topics and write a persuasive paragraph using strong verbs that first introduces what “they” say about this issue and then add your own opinion.

In addition to your post, please comment on two other posts, again using strong verbs to indicate your opinion about your peer’s topic.

Here’s a brief rundown of the happenings of our class:

Tues., March 18 is advisement day so there will be no class. For Thursday, March 20, please read Anne Fadiman’s Mail and Vicki Hearne’s What’s Wrong with Animal Rights. Instead of a RR, you will write a book review for Dust Jacket Review (web address is on sidebar), a terrific, blossoming book review website. I will let you decide what book you’d like to review, but please run it by me first, via email. You’ll need to sign up as a member, but don’t worry, it’s free and painless. Once you’ve signed up, you will be able to add your book review. I’d like you to copy your book review to your blog, so we can all enjoy it. I think this will be a good segway into the persuasive paper because you are convincing an audience to either read (or not read) the book. You may select any book, even our textbook, which I happen to know exists in that database J. This assignment is really a rolled together RR & blog post.

In addition to the reading and book review, your final draft of the reflection essay will be due on Thurs., March 20. Since we have gotten off track with our conferences etc., we will pick up the lead discussions where we left off (unless that poses problems in your life), in which case, let me know, and I’m sure we can tweak the schedule to meet your needs. This means that next up on the chopping block (oh, I’m so kidding) is Mara, Cara & Brianne.

And finally, your first draft of the persuasive paper will be due Thursday, April 3^rd, which means those of you scheduled to workshop will post your essays to your blogs on Tuesday, April 1^st by 7 pm. Remember, this time around I’m leaving it up to you to decide whether or not you wish to print the essays out, or take notes to give to the workshopee. If you choose to take notes, be sure they are GOOD notes with lots of constructive feedback for your peers. You also have the option of cutting and pasting the essays into a word doc and sending your comments to each other via email. Regardless, you are still responsible for coming to class full of helpful remarks to share during the workshop AND to provide some kind of written feedback. We don’t want to short-change our peers.

Any questions? Feel free to hunt me down via email.