Visual Help with the Threaded Discussion Assignment

1. Go to eCompanion.
2. Click on "Weeks 1-4."
3. Click on "Threaded Discussion: Ueland." Read the overview.
4. Under Topics, select "Discussion Prompts (for the Friday class)." Read those discussion prompts.
5. Click on "Respond." Write your response to one, or all, of the discussion prompts.
6. After other students have responded to my discussion prompts, respond to one of those students' comments, as well.

Click on the images below to enlarge them.

Assignments for 9/1, 9/2 and 9/7

• Assignment for Saturday, 9/1 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• Read Brenda Ueland's essay "Everybody Is Original, Talented and Has Something Important to Say." Annotate the reading and look up unknown terms.
• By no later than 11:59 p.m., post at least two responses in the Ueland threaded discussion (in eCompanion): one response to me; another response to a classmate's post. You may ask questions or make comments. Be sure that your responses are meaningful, respectful and well-formatted (i.e., not written as tweets or text messages).
• Assignment for Sunday, 9/2 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
•  Post an entry in the eCompanion Journal. Title this post JE1: My Experience with Writing. For this entry, write at least three full paragraphs on your experiences with and feelings about writing. (To break for a new paragraph, hit the Enter button twice.)
• Some ideas to consider: 
• What are your feelings about writing? Do you like writing? If not, why not? Be specific. 
• What kinds of writing assignments have you done in past classes? Which assignment was your favorite, and which one was your least favorite? Explain why.
• How can writing benefit you in "the real world"? Do you have a career goal? If so, is writing important for that career?
• What do you find most challenging about writing? How can you overcome this challenge?
• In her essay, Brenda Ueland presents her thoughts on writing. Can you relate with any of the points that Ueland makes? 
• In what areas of writing do you hope to improve on during this semester?
• Assignment for Friday, 9/7 (to be completed before class):
• Read Anne Lamott's essay "Shitty First Drafts." Annotate the reading, look up unknown terms, and write down three discussion points for class.
• In "They Say / I Say" (TSIS), read the Introduction (1-14). Annotate the reading, look up unknown terms, and write down three discussion points for class. 
• Do Ex. 1 (14-15) in your notebook.

Assignment for 8/31

Hi, class:

Here is our English 21A blog, where you will find important class information—on homework, reading and essay assignments, library trips, etc.

For this class, you will need to stay on task, especially because we meet only once a week. In fact, it's a wise idea to keep ahead of the game—that means completing the assignments right away, not waiting until the night before they are due.

Here are the first tasks to do. Take care of these tasks today (Friday, 8/31), after our class ends. You will have other assignments for this weekend (those instructions are in the next post), so do these first tasks now.

• Purchase all required class items mentioned in the syllabus. Bring those items to class on Friday.
• Flash drive
• Notebook
• Three-ring binder
• Four large blue books
• Go to Doc Sharing on our eCompanion page. Download and print out all four readings in the "Starters" section (Ueland, Lamott, Tan, Vowell). Bring all four printouts to class on Friday.