HW AND ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE
F 8/22. HW: Openers. Using yourself as the subject, write a series of five openers based on the strategies in the “Openers” reading. You may write five different openers to the same story or openers to five different stories, and you may use first- or third-person voice as necessary. Be sure, however, to use five different strategies and identify them.
M 8/25. HW: Discourse community exercise. A discourse community is a group of people with shared knowledge, values, interests and, most importantly, means of communication. Most of us belong to multiple discourse communities; someone might simultaneously be, say, a Phish fan, rock climber, Young Republican, banjo player, college student, heterosexual, barbeque expert and Presbyterian. Each of these communities has its own specialized discourse; this includes not only vocabulary and inside jokes but ways of speaking, including often unspoken rules for what can be said and how. For this exercise, you will 1) identify 5-7 discourse communities that you belong to and describe in detail the features that identify three of them; 2) identify 5-7 discourse communities that you know little about and describe in detail what is unfamiliar about three of them. The calendar pages of the Metro Pulse and Knoxville Voice are good places to look for ideas. Please note that the above will lead to a narrative due 9/26, so begin preparing for that assignment now.
F 8/29. Essay 1 topic proposal. Follow the instructions on the Essay 1 assignment sheet.
M 9/22. HW: Bios. Based on your interviews, write a 200-word bio of your peer, then write a 200-word bio of yourself in the third person.
F 10/10. HW: Queries Packet. Get started reading this, as you will need to read it before doing your topic proposal.
W 9/24. HW: Revised bios. Cut your 200-word bios to 100.
F 9/26. HW: Outsider narrative. This assignment will require preparation, so get started early. Participate in a cultural experience you have never had before. This may include attending a religious service, spending the day at a friend’s place of employment, or attending an unfamiliar art or cultural event. Whatever the experience, do not merely observe, but actively participate and engage with people from that culture, asking detailed questions. You must interview at least two people from that culture about the event or experience.
Write up a two-page recounting of your experience. What did you do? What happened? What did you learn? Were your preconceptions challenged? confirmed? How would you relate your experience to others, both participants in the culture and those unfamiliar with it? Bring your experience to life.
F 10/17. HW: Research narrative. 1) Read the excerpts and bibliographic notes from Timothy Egan’s The Worst Hard Time, paying attention to how he weaves various sources together. 2) Conduct research on something significant that happened during your birth month. Find 5-7 sources, with at least one each from the following categories: an eyewitness account from someone who experienced or remembered the event (such as an interview or oral history); a local newspaper or magazine; a national newspaper or magazine; a book. 3) Write a brief, dense narrative essay that captures the essence of the event. 4) Write a one-page reflective essay describing how you made use of the sources, particularly how you chose both what to use and leave out.