Schedule

I. LITERACY

“I began to write stories using all the Englishes I grew up with”

-Amy Tan in “Mother Tongue”

2/10: Course Introduction. Ice Breaker on Writing Process. Introduce Online Component.

2/12: What is process? Discuss our reading and writing process.

-Wendy Bishop’s “Writers & Ways of Writing”

2/19: What is the Banking Education vs. Critical Thinking? Discuss educational obstacles. Education Interviews.

-Mike Rose’s “A Visit to Edwin Markham Intermediate School,” Mary Williams “Why I Write”

2/24: What is writing as invention? Discuss memory, descriptive writing, show vs. tell, 5 senses. —Santha Rau’s “By Any Other Name“; Christy Brown’s “The Letter A” (handout)

2/26: How does literacy affect out life? Discuss cultural artifacts and technology as literacy.

– Gregorio López y Fuentes’ “A Letter to God”; Luis Alfaro’s “Minnie Riperton Saved My Life”

3/3: What is craft? Discuss hook (inciting incident), Beginning/Middle/End, Present Tense, Round vs. Flat Character.

-Gish Jen’s “A Boy with His Hat over His Crotch”; Annie Lamott’s “Shitty First Drafts”

3/5: What is revision? Discuss peer-workshops, drafting, and executive summaries.

4 copies of Literacy Narrative Due.

-Rules for Writers “Global revisions” 27-29

 

II. EMPATHY

“We read to know that we are not alone” -C.S. Lewis

“Each character presents a different version of reality, and they aren’t necessarily reliable. You have to participate as a reader in this dialectic, which is really something you have to do in real life.”
-Social Researcher David Comer Kidd

3/10: What is satire? Assign “How-to-guide.”

-Junot Diaz “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie”; Art Buchwald’s “Fresh Air Will Kill You”

3/12: What is inference? Define characterization. Discuss thesis statements. Assign Thesis Essay. “How-to-Guide” Presentations due.

3/17: What is structure? Discuss topic sentences, signal phrases, evidence, and analysis.

-Rules for Writers (40-42; 421-23)

 

III. VOICE (grammar & style),

“A comma can let us hear a voice break, or a heart” -Isaac Babel

3/19: 4 copies of Thesis Essay due. Discuss Run-ons, & Comma Rules.

– Kurt Vonnegut’s “How to Write with Style”; Rules for Writers (148-151; 156-162)

3/24: What is grammar? Discuss comma usage. Assign ABC story. Comma homework due.

-Pico Iyer’s “In Praise of the Humble Comma”

3/26: What is point-of-view? Break into court teams. Review for midterm.

ABC assignment due. Comma homework due.

-Shiga Naoya “Han’s Crime”; Rules for Writers (360-364; 21-25).

3/31: Caesar Chavez Day. No class.

4/2: Work on court-trials. Assign IN-N-OUT essay. Midterm.

– Rules for Writers “Hooks” 21-22; “Conclusions” 26-27

4/7-4/13: Spring Break

 

IV. ETHICS

“They told me that you’d kill me. I came to find out. But killing isn’t easy. You can take my word for it.”  -Captain Torres in Hernando Téllez’ “Just Lather, That’s All”

4/14: What makes a hero? Discuss inference.
IN-N-OUT rewrite due. Court Presentations due.

– Hernando Téllez’ “Just Lather, That’s All”

4/16: Does wisdom or senility come with old age? Assign Hero or Zero Essay.

-Ernest Hemingway’s “Old Man at the Bridge”

4/21: Review thesis statements and structure.

4/23: Peer-Workshop. 4 copies of Hero or Zero Essay due.

 

V. CONNECTIVISM

“Writers are often lonely obsessives, especially the literary ones. It’s nice to be told what we write is of social value” -Louise Erdrich

4/28: What is an allegory? Discuss metaphor.

-Hans Christian Andersen “The Little Match Girl”; Maidu Indians’ “Butterfly Man”

4/30: What is a motif? Assign Research Paper.

-Catherine Hinchman “Frigga’s Necklace”

5/5: What is research? Discuss connectivism.

-Claus Stamm’s “Three Strong Women”

5/7: What is a social theme?

-Kurt Vonnegut’s “Harrison Bergeron”

 

VI. COMMUNITIES (Offline)

“The pursuit of full humanity, however, cannot be carried out in isolation or individualism, but only in fellowship and solidarity” -Paulo Freire

5/7: Discuss Annotated Bibliography. Database Orientation. Assign group author presentations.

5/12: Reading TBA by class

5/14: Annotated Bibliography due. Reading TBA by class

5/19: Discuss summary paragraph. Reading TBA by class

5/21: 4 copies of Research Paper due. Reading TBA by class

5/26: Memorial Day

5/28: Research Paper Due. -Reading TBA by class

6/2: Vote on author for final. Reading TBA by class

6/4: Final decided by class 5-7pm (Bring Green Book)