Monday, Jan 26th - 'Obviously, you're not a golfer'

Free-writing at the start of class: Spend around 10 minutes trying to write out any and all problems or controversies you can come up with that relate to your field. If you are currently in one major and thinking of switching, write about your choice of one or both of these majors. If you're not sure of your major and can't even think of a field you MIGHT be into - then try and write about some CURRENT issue going on in the world right now. Some questions that might help you brainstorm issues - what does it mean to be a student of this field? What are potential jobs I could get after I get my degree? Are there any gender issues related to this field?


Homework: In preparation of our visits to the library this week, you'll be making a blog post explaining one or two issues you think you'd like to explore. First, read pages 147-158 and the sample student Exploratory essay on pages 163-167. Then make a post that details what you think you'd like to explore. Obviously, these aren't set in stone, but I want everybody to have something they can research. I'd like you to try and come to these things organically, but if all else fails and you can't come up with anything, try a google search for your field with terms like "issues" "controversy" or "problems".

January 20th - Thesis Exploration

Alright class, I asked for you to have some idea of what your thesis for Essay 1 will be for tomorrow. I understand you're still in the drafting stage, and the thesis won't necessarily be set in stone. Honestly, it shouldn't be, I don't expect it to be - though if it is, great. I want you to make a comment on this post tonight and paste your tentative thesis. I'll make a little bit of time tomorrow to go over as many of them as I can, and we'll talk about them as a class - what's working, what's not working, what could be improved.

January 13th: Rhetorical Appeals

Logos! Ethos! Pathos!

We're going to watch three short TV commercials in class today and analyze how they make use of the rhetorical appeals of logos, ethos, and pathos.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup spot:


Camel cigarettes ad:


ASPCA spot:


In your groups, talk about how each commercial uses the rhetorical appeals. Questions to answer for each commercial include: which appeal does this commercial make the most use of? Is it effective, or does it work against the goal of the commercial? What other appeals does this commercial employ? How could these appeals be more effective, considering the desired audience? One group member will take notes on what your group talks about, to be shared with the group as a whole.

Blog Post: Please title this "Cion Blog #1" or give it some other title that lets me know this post relates to Cion. Toloki is unfamiliar with the rituals of Halloween on Court Street and, as an outsider, his description is surprising and funny. With the first chapter of Cion and "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema" by Horace Miner (link here) in mind, write your own description of a ritual, sporting event, or gathering, in which you pretend to be an outsider unfamiliar with the customs of that event.

Homework for Monday, January 12th

For tonight's homework I would like you to read Chapter 6 in your Allyn & Bacon Guide. It's skipping ahead a bit, but Chapter 6 covers Summary and Strong Response writing, the focus of your first essay assignment. Pay particular attention to the criteria for an effective summary on page 119, the explanation of an Rhetorical Critique on page 122, and the explanation of a Ideas Critique on page 124. These are really the meat and potatoes of this chapter, though you'll want to take a good look at the example essays they sprinkle throughout, like Tony Chachere's on said meat and potatoes. Um, anyway.

After you've read the chapter, think back to Tannen and August's essays. Which do you think you feel more strongly about? As you'll notice when you read the chapter, that doesn't necessarily have to be the one you disagree with more - you can have a strong response that is in agreement with the essay you're responding to, but I'll warn you that those run the risk of simply repeating what the author has said. I think you'll have a tougher time writing a powerful strong response if you solely agree with the author. Start thinking about which of the three methods you might want to use for whichever essay you respond to: Ideas Critique, Rhetorical Critique, or the combination of both.

In a blog post, explain which of the two essays you think you'll write on, then look on pages 122 and 124 (at the big yellow boxes with Question-asking Strategies in them). Pick two questions from each group to answer. Spend a decent-sized paragraph on each question, and play around with it. Write whatever you can think of to answer the question and don't worry if what you write isn't that great. The point is to start thinking about the essay in ways you might not have before. Post your blog after you've written a response to a total of four questions - two from the Ideas Critique section and two from the Rhetorical Critique section. The deadline for this post is midnight tonight, please title it "Essay 1 Pre-write".

Questions for Summarizing Tannen

Class, I told you I would post some questions to help guide the summary of Tannen's essay I want you to post on your blog this weekend. However, I realize now that those questions are, in fact, part of the .pdf file that contains her essay already. So if you haven't already read her essay, go to the class blackboard and read it - and the last page of that file contains some questions which will help you summarize (I hope).

Again, post this summary on your blog by 10 pm on Sunday. The last blog was kind of a trial run and it seems like most people are doing a good job with them. So keep it up - and if you don't keep up with the blog posts, you'll start losing points. Thanks, and I'll see you on Monday.

Also, here is the publication information for Tannen's essay, I forgot to include it originally in this post: "There is no Unmarked Woman" was originally published in 50 Essays.

My letter of introduction

My name is Mike Jaynes. I've been interested in writing for a long time - I've always loved reading and when I was a kid, I used to write short stories. Well, tried to at least. However, I never really liked academic writing or English classes in high school. I liked the reading part, but papers were my worst nightmare. Of course I waited until the last minute to do them, which only made matters worse. I studied Computer Science when I started college, but soon realized I hated Calculus more than English. I started getting involved in writing creatively again after I left my first college, and switched to a degree in English & Creative Writing when I went back to school. Short stories, poems, personal essays and of course academic papers - I realized that putting effort into a paper could be rewarding. I graduated with my BFA in English and Creative Writing, the BFA meaning I had to write a book-length work of poetry to graduate. I tell you this not to toot my own horn, but to give you an idea of how much writing I've had to do in my time.

I'm from Texas and have lived there most of my life. I grew up in Houston, went to school in New Orleans for a bit, then finished my degree at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Pronounced Nack-oh-dough-chess. It's taking some getting used to living in a place with actual seasons. I'm working now on my MA from this lovely university, and eventually plan to get a PhD in English or an MFA in Creative Writing. After that, who knows? Maybe I'll make a career out of teaching, or maybe I'll get a book deal and live off my writing. Probably more likely that I'll win the lottery.

My favorite book is The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. It's dense, difficult to follow, and full of allusions to Indian and Islamic culture that are confusing, but I love it. It's such a cool blending of realistic fiction, magical realism, folklore and religion. Plus, Rushdie got a price put on his head by the Ayatollah for it so you know it's gotta be good.

As far as family goes, I've got an older brother and an older sister. My parents are divorced; my pops still lives in Houston with my sister, while my brother and mom live in Las Vegas. Visiting family since they moved out there has been pretty fun. And costly. I have no pets currently - sadly, I had to leave my cat George Washington in Texas. I saw him over break and he's doing great. In my free time, I read and write as well as play video games, watch TV - typical red-blooded American male stuff. I'm a big fan of travelling and road trips, as evidenced by the fact that I drove to Texas and back over break.

My goal for this class is to help you improve your writing, teach you some things that will be useful throughout your college career, and maybe, just maybe, some of you will like writing a little bit more after we're done.

Jan. 6th - Letter of Intro, Blog #1

For today's class, I would like you to write a letter of introduction to me, explaining your background as a writer and a student. I will give you about 30 minutes to work on this, so take your time. Make it legible if you can. Include the following information:

• Describe your background as a writer: what kinds of writing did you do during high school, for work, for yourself? For example, do you enjoy creative writing? What kind of academic papers have you had to write for class?
• Describe your field of study and professional goals. What led you to choose this area? (If you're not entirely sure about your major, what are you interested in doing?)
• Describe your library research skills. What kinds of databases do you use most often when you are assigned to write a research-based assignment? On a scale of 1-to-10, how confident do you feel about your research skills as an academic writer?
• What's your favorite book, and why? It can be a book from childhood, recent, whatever tickles your fancy.
• Provide some personal information about yourself and your family: for example, where did you grow up? What do your parents do for a living? Do you have any siblings? Pets? Imaginary friends? What do you like to do with your free time?
• Explain any obligations you have beyond academic work: a job, family responsibilities, membership in campus or off-campus groups.
• End by briefly describing what goals you have for this class. What do you want to improve about your writing, reading, and research skills?

Trying to be specific and concrete - make it engaging and informative! But most of all, just try and let your own voice come through the writing. This is about me getting to know you as a writer.

Blog #1: In Allyn and Bacon, read pages 5-25 in chapter one and pages 28-48 in chapter two. Try and make notes in your book or a notebook in response to the seven key concepts in these two chapters. Be sure to bring your book to class. Then, choose two "hotspots" from each of the chapters you have read and describe what they are, and then explain why you chose them. This means, a total of four hotspots. A "hotspot" is defined by the authors of A&B as "a quotation or passage that you especially notice because you agree or disagree with it or because... it strikes you as particularly thought provoking. Perhaps it raises a problem or is confusing" (130). Please label each blog post by number so I can easily find them. i.e. "Blog Post #1 - A&B chapters 1 & 2" or "Blog Post #1 - Michael Jaynes". This log should be around a double-spaced page long, though it'll be hard to figure out what that is in blogger - basically, don't half-ass it.