1. Daily Meditation:
We'll start each day by having one person share their thoughts
about one of the meditations in Walking on Alligators. When it's
your day, you need to select a meditation, practice reading it so that
your presentation is smooth and graceful. Follow up your reading with some
comments on how this meditation is important to your own writing life.
Then you need to lead us in a brief (5-7 minute) writing exercise that
"connects" to the meditation. Keep your responses to these meditations
in a manila folder or a three ring binder. Not completing and filing this
assignment will have an adverse affect on your grade.
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2. Papers:
a. A letter to the editor of the Daily Sentinel.
(This has to be submitted to the paper, by e-mail or by mail before the
end of the semester. I want us all to have been published in that column
before the end of the semester, but if we all send our letters in at the
same time, some of us will get nixed out. So, while one letter will be
due early in the semester, you don't have to submit that one to the paper.
You can submit a later to the paper later.) 5% -- 1 short page.
b. An editorial or opinion piece. 10% -- 3 pages
c. A book review. 12% -- 4 -5 pages
d. A feature article. 14% -- 6-8 pages
e. A piece of creative non-fiction. 19% -- 10 - 12 pages
The first draft will be read and responded to by two of your classmates.
The second draft will be read by me. This draft will be graded. The third
draft is part of your final portfolio.
Each piece must be accompanied by a writer's note. The note for the
first draft should perform the following tasks: 1) clearly state your thesis
or organizing idea and discuss HOW the piece is organized. 2) explain what
you were trying to accomplish (as in describe, persuade, argue, discuss,
explore, explain, compare, contrast) and why this is important. 3) discuss
areas that you feel are problematic or that you'd like specific feedback
about. The note for the second draft should include all of the above;,
it should also describe the changes you made to the piece in response to
the feedback you received from your classmates.
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3. Responses: Responses to drafts will
be the responsibility of editorial boards. The class will be divided into
groups and each group will be responsible for responding to three or four
essays for each assignment. Each group will read the essays, discuss the
positive and negative points of the essays, and compose a response to the
essays that will help the writer revise the piece. The responses will be
submitted to the writer. The writer will assign a grade to the response
that reflects how helpful the response was in helping her or him revise
the essay. The grade is a group grade; all members of the group will receive
the same grade for the response. The average of the grades on the responses
is worth 10% of your final grade.
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4. A Research/Writing/Reading Journal:
This journal is a record of all the work you do for the
semester. It reflects your commitment
to and your involvement in your writing projects. The journal should be
divided into three parts: a) bibliography -- where you record sources you've
discovered through your research, b) reading journal -- where you record
quotations and notes as you read, and c) ideas and drafts -- where you
jot down brainstorming, looping, clustering, exercises; ask questions;
sketch outlines; attempt initial drafts and record examples from your own
experience. Use loose-leaf paper and keep it organized in a 3 ring binder
or 3 separate manila folders. You don't have to cart the whole journal
around with you all the time, but you should be able to put it together
in the appropriate manner easily. The journal is worth 15% of your grade.
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5. Final
Portfolio -- Each editorial board will work with their
own texts for the semester to produce a journal or magazine of their own.
You need to select the texts, organize them in some way (think about theme,
genre, "departments," etc. ), edit the texts, make layout decisions,
put the whole thing together. The journal or magazine must include an editorial
piece that comments on your process and rationale for selection, organization,
and layout. Each individual member of the board must also submit a separate
letter which discusses what he or she has learned as a writer and a reader
over the course of the semester. The portfolio is worth 15% of your final
grade. The grade will be assigned to the entire group.
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