Course Schedule

Office hours: Wednesdays on Slack from 3pm-4pm for afternoon section; 5:30-6:30pm for evening section
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Unit 0: Course Introduction

This unit introduces the class and the technologies that we’ll use together this semester. You’ll meet your classmates and your instructor, learn more about the way that your work will be assessed, get to know the policies for this class, and preview the assignments that you’ll complete.

Monday, February 1 (Asynchronous Day – No Zoom class) 

Today, I will make myself available on our Zoom site from 12:15-1:30 for Section 2 and from 1:40-2:55 for Section 1 to answer any questions that you have about anything. We will not have a class meeting. Coming to this meeting is not required. Please do the following tasks: 

Wednesday, February 3rd (First Synchronous Day – Zoom class)

Before class today, please: 

Unit 1: The Personal Essay

In this unit, we’ll investigate the genre of the personal essay. What is a personal essay, and what makes it different from other genres of personal writing? You’ll also learn some ways for talking about other people’s writing, which will (hopefully) increase your awareness of how to talk and think about your own work. Throughout the unit, we’ll collaboratively build some tips for writing personal essays based on what we’re seeing in the essays that we read together. You’ll use these to compose and refine your own personal essay geared toward a particular audience.

Monday, February 8 (No Zoom Class) 

Please catch up on any tasks that you haven’t finished from Wednesday’s class:

You are also invited to select ONE task from the Weekly Work list to complete by 11:59pm tonight. I might recommend writing a recap for “Strange Lands,” writing a self-assessment, writing discussion questions, or putting together a tool spotlight presentation or resource, 

Wednesday, February 10 (Zoom Class) 

Before class: 

Monday, February 15th (No Zoom Class) 

Today is a school holiday. If you are going to submit weekly work for Wednesday’s class, you can do it up until Tuesday, February 16th at 11:59pm. Today would be a good day to try a Rhetorical Situation Analysis on Strange Lands, When Good Writing Means White Writing, or Facundo the Great. Remember that you may also write a Rhetorical Situation Reflection on a piece of writing that is similar to one that you’ll be writing for Essay Portfolio 1 (i.e. you can write an RSR on a personal statement if you’re going to be writing a personal statement.)

You could also / instead recap When Good Writing Means White Writing or Facundo the Great, or generate discussion questions for them. Or you could write a self-assessment. Or sign up for a tool spotlight presentation, or make a tool resource guide.

Wednesday, February 17th (Zoom Class) 

Before class: 

Monday, February 22nd (No Zoom Class) 

Select one Weekly Work task to complete by 11:59pm. Today would be a good day to write a Rhetorical Situation Reflection on either “When Good Writing Means White Writing,” “Facundo The Great,” or “The Ghost On the Zoom Call,” or on a piece of writing of your choice that relates to Essay Portfolio 1. Or you could write a recap or discussion questions for “The Ghost On the Zoom Call.” Or make a Writing Center appointment to talk about the personal essay assignment. Or you could write a self-assessment. Or sign up for a tool spotlight presentation, or make a tool resource guide.

Wednesday, February 24th (Zoom Class) 

Monday, March 1st (No Zoom Class)

Select one Weekly Work task to complete by 11:59pm.

Have you written an RSR yet? The Essay Portfolio 1 draft is getting closer. This might be a good time to write an RSR on a piece of writing that is related to your essay portfolio.  

Wednesday, March 3rd (Zoom Class)

As you watch and listen, consider: are these good examples of personal essays? Are they essays? Why or why not? Are these authors showing or telling? What are their rhetorical situations?

Monday, March 8th (No Zoom Class) 

The first draft of your personal essay is due to your personal channel by 11:59pm tonight. Please also turn in a short paragraph guiding the feedback that you would like from me and from your reviewer (you can include a longer reflection if you’d like). Also, let us know if you have any information about the specific venue (i.e. if you’re writing a scholarship essay, link us to the essay page and make sure to tell us what they want so we can help you look for these things.) 

You can share your draft in the #feedback channel with your 150-200 word request for feedback if you would like. If you have already done this, you could give feedback on the #feedback channel to someone else, or make a Writing Center appointment. Note that weekly work is not required this week if you just want to concentrate on your essay. 

Wednesday, March 10th (Zoom Class)

Today in class, we will set up for peer review, make appointments for midterm conferences, and discuss the next steps for the personal essay. We will also register for this (optional) upcoming event and discuss a few more newly added options for weekly work. 

Monday, March 15th (No Zoom Class) 

Peer review is due today at 11:59pm, unless you and your peer have worked out an alternative schedule.

 If you have extra time, you are also invited to complete a Weekly Work task, like sharing your draft and a feedback request in the #feedback channel, giving someone else feedback via the feedback form in the #feedback channel, or making a Writing Center appointment. Remember: if you would like to write a recap or an RSR on Claudia Rankine’s chapter in preparation for the event on March 17th, you are welcome to do that. 

Wednesday, March 17th (Zoom Class)

Today in class, you’ll discuss your peer review with your reviewer, and make a plan for remaining revisions on your personal essay. If you are in the evening section, we will meet very briefly to touch base, and then those of us who have registered for the free event with Claudia Rankine will attend that virtually. 

Monday, March 22nd (No Zoom Class)

Your final personal essay draft is due today by 11:59pm along with your 350-500 words reflection on what kind of feedback you’re requesting, the steps that you took to compose, edit, and revise your essay, which feedback you decided to take or ignore (from me, the peer review, and the Writing Center if you went), and what specific place you imagine publishing it. Be really specific. 

Note that you may also submit a reflection on attending the Claudia Rankine event for weekly work credit today or next Monday. Details on what you should include in the reflection are at the bottom of the Weekly Work page. 

Please note that if you are working toward an A or a B, half of your Weekly Work requirements must be finished by today.

Unit 2: The Review Essay

In this unit, we’ll investigate the genre of the review essay. You’ll build on the skills from the previous unit, continuing to refine your ability to discern the rhetorical situation in which a particular text is placed. Studying several types of reviews of different cultural objects, you’ll use these to compose and refine your own review essay. At the end of the review unit, you’ll compose a review of a piece of culture: an album, a song, a music video, a restaurant, a book, a video game, a movie, a TV show, or something else. Just like you did in the previous unit, you’ll decide on an audience to reach. This decision will guide the writing choices that you make, including your subject, your modality, your linguistic choices, and your level and variety of explanation.

Wednesday, March 24th (Zoom Class)

Monday, March 29th and Wednesday, March 31st (No Class – Spring Break😎)

Monday, April 5th (No Zoom Class)

Select one Weekly Work task to complete by 11:59pm. Select one Weekly Work task to complete by 11:59pm. Maybe you want to write a RSR for a piece related to the audience for whom you want to write your review essay? Just a thought! You are also able to submit your reflection from the Claudia Rankine event today as your Weekly Work task. 

Wednesday, April 7th (No Zoom Class Today)

A reminder: there is no synchronous class on Zoom today. To “participate” in class, please do the tasks below and answer the questions on the #april7 Slack channel by class time today. 

Monday, April 12th (No Zoom Class)

Select one Weekly Work task to complete by 11:59pm.

Wednesday, April 14th (Zoom Class)

  • Watch the music video for “This Is America” by Childish Gambino
  • Read “Childish Gambino Captures the Grim Surrealism of Being Black in America” (Jackson).
  • Think about the elements of this essay: its organization, the way it uses secondary sources and outside references, the personal framing device, the way that it does close analysis. What does this modality (print) offer us as readers that the other modalities don’t? What do the other modalities offer that this one doesn’t?

Monday, April 19th (No Zoom Class)

Select one Weekly Work task to complete by 11:59pm. Have you written an RSR yet? Remember that you need to complete two of them to work toward an A in the class. You might select a review of a cultural object that is similar to the one that you will review. 

Wednesday, April 21st (Zoom Class)

Monday, April 26th (No Zoom Class) 

Select one Weekly Work task to complete by 11:59pm. Have you written an RSR yet? Remember that you need to complete two of them to work toward an A in the class. You might complete an RSR for a review of a cultural object that is similar to the one that you will review, or choose a modality (e.g. a Twitter thread) that is similar to the modality in which you will compose. 

Wednesday, April 28th (Zoom Class)

  • Find a review of a song, album, music video, movie, TV show, art exhibition, restaurant or other cultural object that you find interesting. This review can be in any modality (i.e. Twitter thread, video, print medium, etc.) Post it to the #class-discussions channel by class time today.  
  • Contribute to our collaborative Review Tips doc, if you haven’t already, or add a new tip based on the review that you put on #class-discussions.  

Monday, May 3rd (No Zoom Class)

The first draft of your review essay is due to your personal channel by 11:59pm tonight. You can share your draft in the #feedback channel with your 150-200 word request for feedback if you would like.

Wednesday, May 5th (Zoom Class)

Today in class, we will set up for peer review, make appointments for end-of-term conferences, and discuss the next steps for the review essay.

Monday, May 10th (No Zoom Class)

Peer review for the review essay is due today at 11:59pm. If you have extra time, you are also invited to complete a Weekly Work task, like sharing your draft and a feedback request in the #feedback channel, giving someone else feedback via the feedback form in the #feedback channel, or making a Writing Center appointment. 

Wednesday, May 12th (Zoom Class)

Today in class, you’ll discuss your peer review with your reviewer, and make a plan for remaining revisions on your personal essay. We might workshop a draft on the #feedback channel. 

Monday, May 17th (No Zoom Class)

Final review essay is due today. 

This is also the last day to resubmit any Weekly Work that didn’t meet requirements, or components of Essay Portfolio 1 or Essay Portfolio 2 that didn’t meet requirements.

**Edit** To make more space for the review essay, there is no longer a final reflection requirement.

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