When my wife got home this evening she showed me this article she came across today entitled "Reading the Past Against the Grain: The Shape of Memory Studies," by Barbie Zelizer (it's from the June 1995 issue of Review and Criticism if you want to look it up). This article is a very broad survey of what scholars in the humanities have to say about memory, but there's a section just on the sort of thing we're doing for Feeder 1. Here are some excerpts:
One of the most marked characteristics of collective memory is that it has texture. Memory exists in the world rather than in a person's head, and so is embodied in different cultural forms. We find memory in objects, narratives about the past, even the routines by which we structure our day. No memory is embodied in any of these artifacts, but instead bounces to and fro among all of them, on its way to gaining meaning. (232)
And another passage which is even more relevant:
Visual records stabilize the transient nature of memory itself, which, not unlike reality, is subject to continual reconstruction. From art to cinema to television to photography, the visual dimension of memory aids in the recall of things and events past. (233)
I don't really expect anything this academic from you guys just yet, but it will give you some hints about how to think about memory more deeply.
As you're thinking about your feeder one assignment, you may want to read the third letter from the top on this web page. The person writing in to this advice column seems to be grappling with some of the same issues you should be with your assignment (in fact, she would probably be well-served to do your assignment as well). Do you think the woman is being "over-sensitive?" Did anyone happen to write about an object that they had a negative sentimental attachment to rather than a positive one?
Class,
Based on a few questions I've gotten since our first meeting ended, let me clarify a few things:
1. If you already have your own blog that's great, but you'll need to create a new one that contains only the work for this class. However, you CAN use your existing blogger account if you have one, just create a new blog within that account.
2. If you consult the due dates section of this site you'll see that your first draft workshop is Thursday. Please bring a draft of your Unit 1, Feeder 1 assignment to class. If you have any trouble getting started please feel free to email me or drop by my office hours tomorrow.
3. If you are an athlete and there is a chance you may miss classes because of your sport please talk to me after class on Thursday.
4. Don't forget to email me links to your blogs!!!
If there's anything else I need to update you on or clarify it will be posted to this site, so check often.
In addition to your papers and class participation, each student in this section of English 11 will be required to create and maintain their own weblog. Each week, students will be required to make at least two substantial (i.e. 100+ words) posts to your own blog as well as one significant comment to a post on another student's blog. At the beginning of each week I will link to the highlights of these posts on the main course blog and give you subjects for your posts as well as smaller assignments that will build your web skills.
Since things will be hectic this first week of class and some of you may encounter issues setting up your blogs you will have only three goals for this week:
1. Get your blog up and running on your UNC personal web space
2. Update your blogger profile with a recent picture of yourself
3. Write a post (remember, at least 100 words!) introducing yourself to the class.
Here are some tips for this assignment:
First things first: go to blogger.com and sign up for an account. Please use your UNC email address or another account you check regularly for your contact information.
When you get to step 2, "Name Your Blog," click on the link near the bottom of the page that says "Advanced Blog Setup."
On the Advanced Blog Setup screen, after giving your blog the title of your choice, fill in "isis.unc.edu" for your FTP Server, FTP for the protocol "public_html/eng11" for the FTP path, index.html for the file name and for Blog URL type "http://www.unc.edu/~YOURONYEN/eng11", replacing YOURONYEN with your ONYEN login name. If you get this far it shouldn't matter what other settings you choose.
After your blog has been created, take a digital photo of yourself and put it in the folder public_html/eng11blog on your H:/ drive. Then while signed in to blogger.com go to http://www.blogger.com/edit-profile.g and type http://www.unc.edu/~YOURONYEN/eng11/YOURFILE.JPG, replacing YOURONYEN with your ONYEN login and YOURFILE with name of the file you placed in the folder.
If you run into any problem, please visit me during my office hours, Wednesday from 11AM until 1PM or Friday 12PM until 1PM or email me at dlupton@email.unc.edu
| English 11, Section 95 | Instructor: Daniel Lupton |
| Fall 2003 | Office: Greenlaw Hall 307 |
| 2:00 P.M.-3:15 P.M., TR | Office Hours: W 2PM-3PM, F 12-1PM, IM office hours M 7-8PM, screen name english1195 |
| Howell 107 | dlupton@email.unc.edu |
Course Description
For many of you this is your first semester at UNC. While you were all successful high school students, college is very different, especially when it comes to the type of writing you are expected to produce. Rather than regurgitating information presented in class, college students are called upon to formulate original ideas, support them with credible evidence and wrap the whole package up in readable, lively prose. Over the course of the semester this course will equip you with the skills necessary to create the type of writing you will produce for the rest of your tenure at UNC.
There will be three units of study in the course. In unit one, you will study popular culture, composing analytical essays that explore the ways in which mass media influences and informs public thought and opinion. In unit two you will select a public issue and formulate argumentative essays and persuasive speeches in an attempt to convince your classmates to pursue a particular course of action. Finally, in unit three, you will study the conventions of academic discourse.
Draft Workshops
Everyone in the class has a different background and brings different writing skills to the table, and a significant portion of class-time will be devoted to sharing these skills in draft workshops. Though everyone has something to contribute to these workshops no one’s skill set is totally complete, so enthusiastic participation in this aspect of the class is crucial, not to mention mandatory.
Required Texts (Available in Student Stores)
Student Guide to English 10, 11, and 12: 2004-2005
The St. Martin’s Handbook, 5th Edition
Attendance
Despite what the people you meet at frat parties might say, attendance in English 11 is mandatory. The members of your group depend on your feedback and presence in class is essential, thus my stringent attendance policy. More than two absences will aversely affect your grade and any student who accumulates more than seven absences over the course of the semester will receive a failing grade. If you have extreme circumstances which require you to miss several classes (i.e. mononucleosis, the death of a close relative, etc.) please let me know as soon as possible that there may be as little disruption to the operation of your group as possible. Please note that there is NO distinction between excused and unexcused absences.
Assignments
You will produce three finished products for each unit: two feeder assignments which will either develop skills you will need or help you put together preliminary research for your unit assignment and a more extensive unit project that will encompass all of the things we’ve studied in class. At the end of each unit you will turn in a portfolio that includes finished drafts of the two feeders and the unit assignment. This portfolio will be evaluated along with your participation in class to determine your grade for the unit.
All papers should be typed and double-spaced. Margins should not be larger than 1.25” on each side. Also, please use a reasonable font such as Arial or Times New Roman (or their Mac equivalents). I don’t want to spend hours attempting to interpret your pseudo-hieroglyphic font, and I don’t want to see a two-page paper stretched to three by unreasonably large fonts. Remember, I was an undergraduate once as well and I know all about Courier New.
Late papers are unacceptable. Not only are they unprofessional they are unfair to your fellow students who worked hard and turned their papers in on time. Papers are considered due by the end of class on the due date unless another time is specified by me. Late drafts will not be accepted unless prior arrangements are made with me. Late portfolios will be accepted, but will be strictly penalized. If you miss class on the paper’s due date and do not arrange to get it to me by the end of class your paper is considered late. Under no circumstances will I accept papers submitted electronically.
Even more unacceptable than late papers is plagiarism. All instances of plagiarism will be prosecuted in the honor court to the fullest extent allowable by university policy. If you are thinking of plagiarizing, remember that it’s not difficult to tell your writing from a professional’s and I can probably find the original source as easily as you did. You will get far more from the course if you do the work yourself, and your grade will always be better if you work hard on a mediocre assignment than if you plagiarize an excellent one.
Grading
Obsession with grades is a severe impediment to the writing process, and the perception that one must write to the teacher’s desires rather than one’s own artistic ambition is a key cause of bad writing. No one wants to read the kind of lifeless prose most people think will earn them an A, thus no piece of writing in this class will receive a grade. All drafts (including final drafts) will be evaluated and responded to by myself as well as your group members, but they will not be graded. Grades will only be assigned for your cumulative work in the unit, including final drafts, preliminary drafts and participation in draft workshops and in-class assignments.
Final grades for the course will be assigned with an eye toward each student’s individual progression toward better writing and a more comfortable and fruitful writing process. Unit one and two will each account for 30% of the final grade and unit three will account for 40%. I reserve the right to adjust grades when an extraordinary commitment to the class is apparent.
Speeches
All students will be required to give speeches in front of the class for unit two. If you have anxiety about this assignment please speak to me as soon as possible so that we can discuss the many options UNC offers for students with anxiety about public speaking. Under no circumstances will any student be exempt from this assignment.
The Writing Center (http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/)
Students are encouraged to visit the UNC Writing Center (located on the lower level of Phillips Annex). The tutors at the writing center will work with you one-on-one through problems or concerns about any stage of the writing process and can provide useful feedback between in-class draft workshops. Please note that the writing center tutors will not edit or proofread your papers.
Course Web Site (http://www.unc.edu/~dlupton/english11/)
This course’s web site will be an integral means of communication and it is expected that you check it regularly (i.e. at least several times per week). In addition to the main course web site, each student will be required to set up his or her own web site using your university-allotted web space.
Email Correspondence
If office hours are inconvenient students are encouraged to communicate with me via email with the caveat that I will respond at my convenience. I will not review drafts via email; if you are grappling with specific issues you may send a section of your paper, but no more than two paragraphs at a time.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined as the unattributed or unacknowledged use of another’s words or ideas and is a breach of the honor code. If I suspect you of a willful violation of the honor code, I will report you to the honor court. See your Student Guide for further information on plagiarism.
Goals
In Unit 3 our focus will finally move to the academic discourse community that you have entered. Specifically, we will examine the conventions of published academic discourse, a set of conventions that each of you will be expected to master by the time you leave UNC.
Feeder One: 2-3 pages
Draft due November 4
Draft due November 9
Over the past few years, blogging has become a popular means of disseminating information not just among communities of consumers and voters, but within the academy as well. For your feeder 1 assignment, find a blog written by a college professor or a group of college professors in your field of study (http://rhetorica.net/professors_who_blog.htm has an extensive list, but google searches should also be fruitful). If you’re undecided about your major, choose a field that you are currently considering for a major. If you can’t find a blog written by someone in your narrowly-defined discipline (such as exercise and sports medicine), find a blog written by someone in a related field such as a physician or a physical therapist. Also, make sure the blog deals with the professor’s academic work on a regular basis (though it might include off-topic and personal posts as well).
After familiarizing yourself with the blog, compose a 2-3 page letter in which you propose to the author of the blog that you would like to have privileges to post to his or her site. While you may have considerably less expertise than the person currently blogging, you should attempt to convey your enthusiasm for the subject as well as your understanding of the discourse conventions of the blog through analysis of a few recent posts.
Feeder Two: 2-3 pages
Draft due November 11
Draft due November 16
For Feeder Two you will find a recent article published in an academic journal or a recent book published by an academic press by one of the professors whose blog you studied in feeder 1. Read this article (or a section of it if you chose an entire book) and compose a 2-3 page essay outlining how this book or article advances research in the author’s field of study. Target your essay toward an audience who is well-educated, but may not have much expertise in this particular field. It may be appropriate or even necessary to bring up academic publications besides those published by the author you have chosen.
Unit Assignment: 4-7 pages
Draft due November 18
Draft due November 23
Draft due November 30
For your final unit assignment, write a 4-7 page essay arguing whether or not you think that blogging will be a significant part of academic life and discourse in your discipline in the 21st century. Use the author you studied in the first two feeder assignments as a case study, noting how blogging influenced or aided the author’s research and writing processes. In addition to the author you’ve studied, feel free to bring in any other significant research that you feel is pertinent to your argument including experiences you have had writing your own blogs this semester. A successful essay will not just comment on the blogging phenomenon in general, but will focus very tightly on how blogging helps or hinders the work expected of you in your own particular discipline.
Portfolio due December 2
Goals
In Unit One we examined the ways in which popular culture influences our lives. In Unit Two, the focus will move to issues that affect our lives more broadly as we study the ways in which rhetoric affects our viewpoints and how we can use rhetoric to influence others.
Feeder One: 2-3 pages
Draft due September 23
Draft due September 28
Browse the web sites for the two major party candidates for this November’s election, www.georgewbush.com and www.johnkerry.com. While each web site contains a wealth of information—biographies, blogs, campaign news and even screen savers—the centerpiece of each site is the candidate’s political platform. Choose an issue that is dealt with at length on both candidates’ web sites and compose a 2-3 page essay in which you analyze each candidate’s position on the issue with special attention to how the issue is talked about. What key words and phrases are used? Why? Is one candidate’s argument more powerful than the other’s? Explain your answers thoroughly.
Feeder Two: 2-3 pages
Draft due October 5
Draft due October 7
In Feeder Two, you will use the rhetorical strategies we’ve discussed in class to formulate a 2-3 page persuasive essay that argues for a particular course of action related to the issue you wrote about in feeder one. Your essay should make use of the argumentative strategies we have discussed in class in an attempt to persuade readers to agree with your position. This essay need not be balanced or objective, but it may include outside research if it furthers your argument (though the credibility of your sources WILL be taken into account). A successful essay will also be organized around a clear, concise thesis statement and will support any claims made with statistics, citations of reputable sources or other kinds of evidence.
When you’ve completed your essay, post it to your blog. In addition to writing the essay, each student is responsible for significant comments on at least two other students’ posts, concentrating especially on weaknesses or counterarguments that will be useful for the unit project.
Unit Assignment: 4-6 minute speech
Draft due October 19
Speeches given October 21-26
For this assignment, you will compose and deliver to the class a 4-6 minute speech in which you attempt to persuade your classmates against the course of action you wrote about in Feeder Two. Like the essay you wrote for Feeder Two, your speech should not be objective, but a successful speech will address and refute relevant counter-arguments to your claim (such as the ones you used in your Feeder Two assignment). Also, be conscious of your audience; lengthy lists of relevant but boring statistics should be dispensed with in favor of more attention-getting arguments.
In addition to displaying an understanding of the argumentative strategies we’ve studied in class and in Feeder Two, a successful speech will also be delivered in an appropriate manner. This need not necessarily correspond exactly to the traditionally stoic tenets of a well-delivered speech. However, no matter what your approach, your speech should be delivered clearly, audibly and comprehensibly.
In addition to performing the speech, you will also turn in any written aides used in your speech such as outlines, note cards, etc.
Portfolio due October 26
Your unit two portfolio should contain:
A newly revised draft of your feeder 1 assignment
Supporting materials and early drafts for feeder 1
Supporting materials and early drafts for feeder 2
Supporting materials and early drafts for your speech
These materials will be evaluated in conjunction with your feeder 2 blog and your speech to determine your grade for unit 2.
Goals
We are all consumers of popular culture (movies, television, magazines, books, music, etc.), and most of us define ourselves either in alliance with or in opposition to this culture or some aspect of it. In Unit One we will analyze the ways in which popular culture exerts influence over its audience, developing a set of analytical tools to identify and critique popular culture’s methods of influence, with particular attention to the fragmenting of popular culture into communities defined by interest, ideology and most importantly, language.
Feeder One: 2-3 pages
Draft due August 26
Draft due August 31
For your first assignment, select an object you own that you have a sentimental attachment to. It can be anything—an item of clothing you feel especially cool walking around in, the centerpiece of your comic book collection, an old concert ticket stub—the only catch is that it must be something that was mass produced. In other words, there are hundreds—maybe even thousands or millions—of people who have an object that is nearly identical to yours. Write a 2-3 page essay about how this item gained its significance: did you carry it on a special trip, was it given to you by someone close to you, or have you simply had it for a very long time? If you get stuck, imagine that your object was lost or destroyed. Would you replace it? Why or why not?
Feeder Two: 2-3 pages
Draft due September 2
Draft due September 7
Sometimes items aren’t significant to us because they’re unique, but precisely because they are not. In our culture, we often identify ourselves as members of a community by the things we own: clothes, shoes, automobiles, and (very often for young people) music. For your second feeder assignment, select a CD from your collection (if you don’t have any CDs with you at UNC buy one or borrow one from someone) with packaging that you find striking or interesting. Write a 2-3 page essay explaining why you were attracted to this CD’s packaging. Is the disc colorful or monochromatic? What kinds of fonts are used for the group or artist’s name and the other information on the disc? What kinds of ideas or emotions does the disc’s imagery evoke? While you should avoid talking about the disc’s music, it may be appropriate to write about what the artwork might suggest about the music to a person browsing the racks in a record store who hadn’t heard the group. Finally, ask yourself whether you consider yourself a part of the target demographic for this CD. Why or why not?
Unit Assignment: 5-6 pages
Draft due September 9
Draft due September 16
Draft due September 21
For your feeder 2 assignment you explored how marketers use visual cues to identify products to members of the communities they target. For your unit 1 project, you will explore how visual and verbal cues work together to identify multimedia projects as products of and for these communities. Begin by searching the internet for a blog that analyzes some aspect of popular culture that you enjoy: books, movies, music, television, comics, etc. Make sure the blog has a substantial number of significant posts (at least ten) and spend some time checking the latest additions to the blog as well as its archives.
Next, compose a 5-6 page essay in which you propose a set of changes that the bloggers could implement in order to make their analysis of this pop culture phenomenon more significant or substantial to the members of its community. First, you will need to establish what makes this community unique as well as why its members would read this blog and what they might expect to gain from reading it. Assess the bloggers’ degree of success in meeting these expectations, citing examples from multiple posts. Finally, explain in detail how your suggestions could help the bloggers meet these expectations.
Unit 1 Portfolio due October 5
On October 5 you will turn in your first unit portfolio. Your final grade for the unit will be based largely on the strength of this portfolio, which will consist of newly revised versions of your feeder one and feeder two assignments as well as the final version of your unit one project. The versions of these assignments that you turn in should not be the same versions that you turned in to me for earlier drafts; they should reflect whatever comments I and your classmates have given to date as well as an understanding of any new material we’ve covered in class.
Please turn in your portfolio to me in a 9” x 12” manila envelope with your name written clearly on the front. The envelope should contain all of the work you’ve done on your three assignments for unit one, including marked-up drafts from your draft workshops, draft workshop forms, drafts you handed in to me or conferences with me held outside of class. Please arrange your work in this order, from top to bottom:
- Final draft of Unit 1 final project
- Final draft of Unit 1 feeder 1
- Final draft of Unit 1 feeder 2
- Marked-up previous drafts for Unit 1 final project
- Marked-up previous drafts for Unit 1 feeder 1
- Marked-up previous drafts for Unit 1 feeder 2
Remember, all papers should follow the formatting specifications listed on the syllabus.
