blog assignment for thursday 16 october

By Thursday, you should have chosen a topic for the Unit 2 assignment. Your blog for Thursday should include:

• narrowing of your topic
• who has experience with this issue? who is impacted by it?
• who is talking about the issue? politicians? others? average people?
• what are some primary sources that would give you insight into the issue?
  

agenda for thursday 25 september

plan for class on Thursday:

• Turn in one hard copy of Op-Ed to me
  
• Workshop Op-Ed pieces using guidelines on eCollege

homework for Tuesday:

• read chapters 9 and 13 on Evaluations and Humor
• find a humorous argument related to the election to bring to class (if you watch something on TV, either bring notes about it or a link to the video)
• blog about the humorous argument and how it's working based on chapter 13
• begin thinking about what kind of humorous argument you would like to make about your topic and where you would present that argument

here are a few good places to start looking for humorous arguments (warning: some things on some of these sites may have cursing or other things you might find offensive. search with caution):

• written arguments that parody real articles at The Onion
• political cartoons at PoliticalCartoons.com, Daryl Cagle's collection at MSNBC, or the New Yorker (also, look at any daily newspaper)
  
• television clips from Saturday Night Live, the Colbert Report, the Late Show with David Letterman (this has top-10 lists and video), or the Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Obviously these are just a few starting points. There are lots of other television shows that handle politics in a humorous way and websites that cover the topics. Have fun with this.

agenda for tuesday 23 september

plan for class on Tuesday:

• Discussion of Chapter 8 on Arguments of Definition
• Example of Arguments of Fact and Definition

• Writing an Op-Ed
• Pre-writing for Op-Ed

homework due on Thursday:

• Complete draft of Op-Ed with Author's Note, bring copies for your group
• Post Op-Ed on your blog
  
• Read chapter 9 on Evaluations (just needs to be completed by next Tuesday)

agenda for tuesday 16 september

Plan for Tuesday's class meeting:

• Meet in Workshop Groups as assigned on Thursday
  
• Follow workshop instructions posted on eCollege, spending 20 minutes per essay in the workshop

Homework that's due on Thursday:

• Read chapters 6 and 7 (pp. 139-171, 174-194) of Everything's An Argument.
  
• Based on your reading of chapter 7, bring a sample argument of fact related to the election in some way.
• Blog about the argument of fact you're bringing to class. How does it fulfill the qualities of an argument of fact as presented in chapter 7? Is there anything interesting about the structure as described in chapter 6?
  

agenda for thursday 11 september

Plan for Thursday's class meeting:

• Class discussion of sample articles and letters to the editor
  
• Doing a rhetorical analysis and writing a letter to the editor
• Meet with workshop groups
  

Homework that's due on Tuesday:

• Read ea chapter 6 (pp.139-173) - by Thursday is fine, but you'll also be reading chapter 7 for next Thursday
  
• Write your Letter to the Editor and an Author's Note
• Bring enough copies of Letter and Author's Note for workshop
• Email your Letter and Author's Note to me (in Rich Text Format)
  
• Post original article and your letter to your blog
• Read the original articles for those in your workshop group
  
• Don't forget to do blog comments by the end of the day on Friday
  

agenda for tuesday 9 september, revision in reading schedule

First, here's the plan for Tuesday's class meeting:

• Chapter 5 - Group work on Rhetorical Analysis. Class discussion to follow.
• Discuss Unit 1 Assignment.
• Brainstorm topics for Unit 1.

Next, the homework that's due on Thursday (this is a change from the syllabus calendar):

• Read two "How to Write a Letter to the Editor" lists on eCollege (available to read under Unit One on the left navigation or in printer-friendly version under DocSharing, Unit 1)
• Read William Safire's "The Audacity of Hype" and Susan McHale's Letter to the Editor
  
• Read Mike Doogan's "She's Nice -- but Not Ready" and all of the Letters to the Editor under "The Debate over Sarah Palin" (note that there are three pages)
• Read Bob Kerrey's "McCain, a warrior, but..." and the two Letters to the Editor under "Kerrey on McCain"
• Choose a topic for your Unit 1 work
  
• Bring an editorial or article on your chosen topic - make sure it's something that invokes a reaction from you and was published between September 7 and 10
• Blog about your topic for Unit 1 and the editorial you have chosen (just a brief overview about it - what is it arguing? why did you choose it?)
  

announcement for 12.30-1.50 class

THIS POST ONLY APPLIES TO SECTION 046 (12:30-1:50)

After our minor room issues yesterday, the room for our course has been changed. I haven't seen the new room yet, but I have been assured that it is larger and has a computer.

For the remainder of the semester, section 046 (12:30-1:50) will be meeting in room 219 in Bass Hall. Please make note of the change in both room and building.

I will plan on meeting you in the new room for class tomorrow, but I'll make sure there's a note in the old room in case anyone doesn't read the blog or receive the email.