Assignment for 10/5 (Work on This Assignment Immediately)

Note: On 10/5, meet at 8 a.m. in Drescher 203 (the computer lab).

• Assignment for Friday, 10/5 (to be completed before class):
• Go to OneLook (http://www.onelook.com/). Type in euthanasia. Explore the dictionary results (on the left). Study several definitions. Next, type in and explore the term assisted suicide.
• Click on this link to read more on euthanasia and assisted suicide. How do they differ?
• In Doc Sharing's "Physician-Assisted Suicide" section, print out, read and annotate these four texts: Kaveny's "Dignity & the End of Life," Huttmann's "A Crime of Compassion," Siegel's "Treating the Pain by Ending a Life" and Hendin's "Suicide, Assisted Suicide, and Mental Illness."
• For each reading, note in the margins where you find the Logos, Ethos and Pathos appeals at play.
• In TSIS, read and annotate Ch. 6 (pp. 78-90). Bring to class three discussion points.
• Do Ex. 1 (pp. 90-91) in your notebook. This exercise asks you to develop an additional paragraph for Schlosser's passage. In your paragraph, add an objection to Schlosser's argument (a naysayer), and then respond to that objection as Schlosser would.

Assignments for 9/28 and 9/29

Note: One typical assignment for readings is to prepare three discussion points (questions and comments about the readings). If you do not read, annotate and/or write down discussion points, then you will not be prepared for our class discussions. If I call on you (asking about your discussion points) and you have nothing to contribute, then you will lose participation points.

• Assignment for Friday, 9/28 (to be completed before class):
• Read and annotate the "Cluster Argument" packet, pp. 1-12 (including the first-page overview, Michael Alvear's, David Frum's and Jonathan Rauch's essays). Define all of the unknown terms in the "Vocabulary" sections (pp. 5, 8 and 12). Prepare discussion points for each essay.
• In TSIS, read and annotate Ch. 4-5 (pp. 55-75). Prepare three discussion points for each chapter.

• Assignment for Saturday, 9/29 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• Submit Essay 1, Draft 2 (E1D2) to the eCompanion Dropbox. Title your file E1D2 only: please don't write your name; write only E1D2. Be sure that the file has one of the following extensions: .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt.

Assignments for 9/23 and 9/24

• Assignment for Sunday, 9/23 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• In eCompanion, find and click on "Threaded Discussion: Gun Violence." Read the instructions; then click on your course section in "Topics." Respond to at least one of my discussion prompts and to at least one of your classmates' postings.
• Assignment for Monday, 9/24 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• In eCompanion, post a Journal entry based on the published text that you found and brought to class. (If you didn't do that assignment, find an online text now to use for this Journal entry.) Title your post JE4: Responding to a Source.
• For this entry, introduce your source (that is, the text/article you found online). Use your summarizing skills. Next, make a claim about some aspect of the source (that is, state your thesis). Then support your claim with reasoning and evidence. Use one quote from the source. Use two signal verbs from the list in TSIS (pp. 39-40); bold those signal verbs. This entry should be at least two well-developed paragraphs.
• Get a Head Start on E1D2:
• Review the feedback your classmate gave you for E1D1. Begin revising Essay 1 based on that feedback and on your own ideas. You will continue to develop your essay after receiving my comments. E1D2 (a three-page minimum) will be due on Saturday, 9/29, by 11:59 p.m., so it would be wise to dig into the second draft now.

Essay 1 - Instructions and Writing Prompts

For Essay 1, you will write a narrative essay that follows one of the below writing prompts. The requirement for this first draft is two full pages. Name the file E1D1 (for Essay 1, Draft 1), and place it in the eCompanion Dropbox for E1D1.  

As with all other essays in our class, Essay 1 must be MLA-formatted, double-spaced and written in Times New Roman, 12-point font. It must also have one of these file extensions: .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt.

Writing Prompts:

• In Amy Tan's narrative essay "Fish Cheeks," the writer describes a time when she was ashamed of her culture and ethnicity. Write a narrative essay (modeled after Tan's) about a time when you were ashamed of being different. What was the cause of your shame? Has your perspective changed since that experience?
• In Sarah Vowell's narrative essay "Shooting Dad," the writer presents her father's views and interests as antithetical to her own. In the end, Vowell realizes that she and her father are more alike than she'd thought. Write a narrative essay (modeled after Vowell's) about your trying/difficult relationship with a friend or family member. How did the two of you eventually find common ground? What did you learn about yourself from this relationship?

Assignments for 9/14, 9/18 and 9/21

• Assignment for Friday, 9/14 (to be completed before class):
• Do some Internet research on Sarah Vowell (for your own edification). 
• Read and annotate "Shooting Dad." Bring to class three discussion points.
• In TSIS, read and annotate Ch. 1 (pp. 19-28). Bring to class three discussion points.
• Do Ex. 1 (pp. 28-29) in your notebook. Choose three arguments to develop. This exercise asks you to develop the missing "they say" portions of the arguments.
• In TSIS, read and annotate Zinczenko's "Don't Blame the Eater" (pp. 195-97). Bring to class three discussion points.
• Consider these questions:
• How does Zinczenko's essay exemplify the ideas presented in the Introduction?
• What writing moves does Zinczenko use?
• Assignment for Tuesday, 9/18 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• Submit Essay 1, Draft 1 (E1D1) to the eCompanion Dropbox. (Specific assignment instructions to follow). Follow basic MLA format. Be sure that the file has one of the following extensions: .doc, .docx, .rtf or .odt.
• Assignment for Friday, 9/21 (to be completed before class):
• Print out a copy of E1D1. Bring the printout to class for peer review. (Do not wait till Friday, right before class, to print out your draft.)
• Go to the eCompanion Webliography; find the "Gun Violence" section. Read Cillizza's and Palmer's articles; watch Stein's video. Take notes on these texts (for class discussion).
• Print out the article "After Aurora" (also available via the Webliography, in the "Gun Violence" section). Read and annotate this text. Bring the printout to class, along with three discussion points.
• Print out the entire "Same-Sex Marriage" argument casebook (twelve pages), located in Doc Sharing. Bring the printout to class.
• In TSIS, read and annotate Ch. 2-3 (pp. 30-50). Bring to class three discussion points for each chapter.
• Do Ex. 1 (p. 50). Print out and bring to class a published text. In your notebook, write responses to the exercise questions.

Assignments for 9/8, 9/9 and 9/10

• Assignment for Saturday, 9/8 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• Upload the Practice Essay in the eCompanion Dropbox. (Most of you already completed this assignment in class.)
• Assignment for Sunday, 9/9 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• In the eCompanion Journal, post Ex. 1 (from pp. 14-15 in TSIS). This exercise asks you to use Emily Poe's paragraph as a model and to replace Poe's topic, vegetarianism, with your own topic. Title this post JE2: TSIS Introduction, Ex. 1.
• Assignment for Monday, 9/10 (due by 11:59 p.m.):
• Do Internet research on Amy Tan (to familiarize yourself with this writer).
• Read Amy Tan's essay "Fish Cheeks." Annotate the reading, and write down three discussion points for class.
• In the eCompanion Journal, post an entry titled JE3: On Being Different. For this entry, follow the journal writing prompt ("Suggestions for Writing," #1) at the end of the "Fish Cheeks" reading: "Think of an occasion when, for whatever reason, you were ashamed of being different. How did you react? Did you try to hide your difference in order to fit in, or did you reveal or celebrate your uniqueness?" For this entry, write at least three full paragraphs.
• Note: The type of writing you do here will be narration (telling a story). To enhance your story, consider using descriptive techniques, as Tan does (especially in the third paragraph of "Fish Cheeks"). You might use visual details and dialogue to bring your story to life.