First Revision: No quizzes. Four essays: 250 each for total of 1,000 points.
January 6 Intro
January 7 Carver: “What We Talk About . . . “ 170
January 11 Carver: "Feathers" 332; “A Small Good Thing” 376
January 12 Carver: “Elephant” 472
January 13 Carver: “Cathedral” 356;
January 14 for first half of class; Turn in Humanities 121 P
January 18 Holiday (Remaining page numbers refer to Acting Out Culture)
January 19 “The Big Organic” 174; ESSAY 1 DUE FOR SECOND HALF OF CLASS IN CLASS, NOT THE OFFICE
January 20 “The Wages of Sin” 197; pronoun errors, mixed structure; citing works
January 21 “Add Cake, Subtract Self-Esteem”
January 25 and 26 Essay 2 due in my office Humanities 121
January 27 “Unspeakable Conversations” 92
January 28 “Watching Torture in Prime Time” 109; “AWOL in America” 358
February 1 and 2 Essay 3 due in my office Humanities 121
February 3 “Hopelessly Hooked on Help” 543; “Finding a Coach in the Land of Oz” 278
February 4 “Love and War in Cyberspace” 380; “The Consequences of Undoing Sanity” 299
February 8 and 9: Essay 4 due in my office Humanities 121
Winter 2010 1A Writing Assignments
Essay 1: The War Between the Ego and Empathy in Where I’m Calling From
In page one, profile someone who suffers “the type of swollen ego that results in solipsism and isolation from sanity, maturity, and the human race.” Then in your second page, profile someone who embodies the “sweet grace of empathy” and show how this person’s empathy connects him or her to others.
Then using an appropriate paragraph transition such as "Similarly" or "Likewise," you might start your thesis paragraph this way:
The above characters are antithetical to each other. Similarly, the stories pit characters at war between their egos and the liberation of empathy. Egotism in the stories (choose no fewer than 3) of Raymond Carver has grave consequences, which include _______________________, _________________________, ________________________, and ____________________________. In contrast, empathy has a healing effect on the downtrodden evidenced by _________________________, _______________________, __________________________, and ______________________________.
Your body paragraphs will correspond to the components you use to fill in the above blanks. Your conclusion will be one sentence, a brief, dramatic restatement of your thesis. Your final page, your Works Cited page, will show the sources you used from Where I’m Calling From, from my blog, from interviews, or from other helpful sources you find. Your Works Cited page and manuscript must conform to MLA format. Be sure to make your own catchy, creative title.
Essay 2: Our Dysfunctional Relationship with Food
In page one, write a profile of someone you know, you or someone else, who has a dysfunctional relationship with food. This pathological behavior may include one or more of the following: gluttony, mindless eating, bingeing and purging, yo-yo dieting, halo shopping in order to feel superior to others.
Then using an appropriate paragraph transition such as "Similarly" or "Likewise," you might start your thesis paragraph this way:
Likewise, the essays in the “How We Eat” chapter render us a dyspeptic nation trapped in a cycle of pathological eating evidenced by ______________________, ____________________________, _______________________________, __________________________________, and ____________________________________.
Your body paragraphs will correspond to the components you use to fill in the above blanks. Your conclusion will be one sentence, a brief, dramatic restatement of your thesis. Your final page, your Works Cited page, will show the sources you used from Acting Out Culture, from my blog, from interviews, or from other helpful sources you find. Your Works Cited page and manuscript must conform to MLA format. Be sure to make your own catchy, creative title.
Essay 3 Options
Option 1: Write a 5-page critique of Peter Singer’s philosophy as rendered in “Unspeakable Conversation” (92). In your first page, explain Peter Singer’s philosophy and the methods he uses to defend it. Then in your next page, begin a thesis paragraph that defends or refutes Singer. You must use a Works Cited page that has no fewer than 4 sources.
Option 2: Write a 5-page defense or refutation of the use of torture. In your first 2 pages, explain the position of your opponents and the justifications they use to defend their position. Then in the next 3 pages, argue, point by point, why your opponents are wrong. You must use a Works Cited page that has no fewer than 4 sources.
Option 3: Write a 5-page defense or refutation of the use of enforcing AWOL laws. In your first 2 pages, explain the position of your opponents and the justifications they use to defend their position. Then in the next 3 pages, argue, point by point, why your opponents are wrong. You must use a Works Cited page that has no fewer than 4 sources.
Essay 4 Options
Option 1: Write a 5-page essay that defends or refutes the contention that the self-help industry is wrought with charlatans and frauds who offer no concrete help to their clients and, worse, siphon money from them. Your Works Cited sources will include “Hopelessly Hooked on Help” (543), “Finding a Coach in the Land of Oz” (278), and 2 interviews with people who have employed the help of life coaches, therapists, personal trainers, etc.
Option 2: Write a 5-page profile of one or two people you know who are heavily involved in computers (Internet, gaming, etc.) and compare their behavior to the arrested social development and other pathologies rendered in “Love and War in Cyberspace” (380). You must have 4 sources minimum for your Works Cited page, which can include the two aforementioned essays and interviews with the people you profile.
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