Hollywood Inference

Based upon the films listed on the index card you drew, what can you infer about the classmate who claims them as her/his favorites of all time?  Select one or two of the bullets below (no more than two, please), and answer the question(s)--but don't stop there: explain your conclusions by referring frequently and specifically to the films.  What about the film supports your claim, and how can you connect that claim to the assumptions that support it.

• If this person had to pick a fourth additional favorite movie, what would movie s/he list?  Is this a film your colleague would proudly recommend to others, or is this a secret, guilty-pleasure movie?

• Why is this person in college?  What major has this person declared, and on which career has this person set his/her sights?  In which job might this person find her/himself in twenty years?  (Please note that the final question asks a slightly different question than the one that preceeds it.)

• What cliché(s) might this person frequently invoke (for ideas, visit westegg.com or ClicheSite.com)?  What bumper stickers might his person affix to his/her primary mode of transportation?

• Describe the contents of this person's refrigerator / freezer / larder / pantry or of this person's attic / garage / spare bedroom / basement.

• Describe this person's relationship with / feelings about family--past, present, and/or future.  What are this person's beliefs about childrearing?

Please be aware that the classmate about whom you write will read your extended inference.

Rhetorical Précis

• Please note that each of the three RPs carries a different due date.  I am not asking you to complete three RPs in one sitting; instead, I am asking you to complete one RP in three different sittings.

• For your first two RPs, please select any essay from our text that the class has not yet read.  For the third RP, please select one of your own essays.

A rhetorical précis invites active readers to analyze an essay's content (the what) and delivery (the how).  It consists of four sentences only—sentences performing different roles, adhering to different requirements—that blend summary and analysis.  Please be sure to quote and cite specific textual references and to include a terminal bibliographic reference (see sample below).  (If you would like to see a sample response to this assignment, please visit me during my office hours.)

• The first sentence identifies the essay's author and title, provides the article's date in parenthesis, uses some form of the verb says (claims, asserts, suggests, argues—see Avoiding Oatmeal Verbs for additional verbs) followed by that, and the essay's thesis (paraphrased or quoted).

Example: In "The Ugly Truth about Beauty" (1998), Dave Barry argues that ". . . women generally do not think of their looks in the same way that men do" (110).

• The second sentence describes the author's support for the thesis, the way in which the author develops the essay.

Example: Barry illuminates this discrepancy by juxtaposing men's perceptions of their looks ("average-looking") with women's ("not good enough"), by contrasting female role models (Barbie, Cindy Crawford) with male role models (He-Man, Buzz-Off), and by comparing men's interests (the Super Bowl, lawn care) with women's (manicures) (110). 

• The third sentence analyzes the author's purpose using an in order to statement:

Example: He exaggerates and stereotypes these differences in order to prevent women from so eagerly accepting society's expectations; in fact, Barry claims that men who want women to "look like Cindy Crawford" are "idiots" (111).

• The fourth sentence describes the essay's target audience and characterizes the essay's tone (the author's relationship with that audience) and provides support for your assertions concerning audience and tone:

Example: Barry seems to address men in this essay because most of his yous refer to men (as in "If you're a man" on page 110); however, by using humor to poke fun at men's perceptions of themselves, Barry seems to want to address women and stop them from obsessively "trying to look like Cindy Crawford" (111).

• Please conclude your RP with the appropriate bibliographic citation:

Barry, Dave.  "The Ugly Truth about Beauty."  Mirror on America: Short Essays and Images from Popular Culture.  2nd ed.  Eds. Joan T. Mims and Elizabeth M. Nollen.  NY: Bedford, 2003.  109-12.

Selling Your Stance Assignment

This assignment asks you to transform one of your essays into a one-page print advertisement.  You may select a claim from an essay you have already drafted or use this assignment to help you visualize a future essay.  Either way, once you’ve articulated your claim for yourself--once you know what you’re selling--please consider audience.  Who will benefit most from the message you seek to convey?  Then think about this:

• To which publication might your audience subscribe?

• How can your knowledge of that publication help you craft your ad?

• How will you capture audience attention?  What icons, colors, fonts, phrasings, and layout might appeal most?

• What mood should you create?  How will you achieve that mood?

• What counterarguments might your audience launch, and how might you assuage those concerns?

• What prejudices do you anticipate?  How might you capitalize on those preconceptions (or warrants) to sell your stance?  While your essays must rely primarily on logic, your ad may incorporate emotional and/or ethical appeals.

Have fun with this assignment, please.  Play.  Get wild with glue and glitter and, well, whatever else will fit on the page:

• Drawings—pencils, crayons, markers, color pencils, etc.
• Collages using images from newspapers, magazines, etc.
• Clip art and computer graphics
• Surprise me!

Please note that you will be sharing your advertisement with a small group of your peers--maybe even the entire class.  Be prepared to explicate your handiwork: to explain the choices you made in constructing your masterpiece.  (If you would like to see a sample response to this assignment, please visit me during my office hours.)

Endorsement Group Request Assignment

• In a letter to me, please identify your first and second choices for your Endorsement Group assignment from the following list of four:

  • Comprehensive Issues: Thesis, Focus, Audience Awareness

  • Development Issues: Fallacies, Support, Source Use (Not Citation Conventions)

  • Organization Issues: Cohesion, Paragraph Focus, Sequence

  • Local Issues: Style, Grammar, Punctuation, Citation

• For both of your selections, please share with me what you know about the topics you request, and offer support of your expertise.  In other words, what specific proof can you provide that you can assist your colleagues with your selected topics?  Don't simply insist that you're good at organization, for instance; instead, provide proof for that claim.  Tell me about the strategies you use to color code your day planner, about how you test for paragraph focus, about how to gloss an essay, etc. 

• Please also identify the one group to which you should not be assigned, and share your reasons for this request.

• Note: you are selecting groups based upon your writing skills, not upon your own desire for improvement in these areas.

• As you can imagine, I simply must receive this assignment on time if I am to make effective EG assignments.  Please do not use your freebie late assignment on this one, and if you do, please get me an electronic or paper copy within 48 hours.  Thank you.
   

  

Unpacking Clichés Assignment

My favorite definition of cliché can be found on westegg.com, S. Morgan Friedman's website: "Cliché is a Grand truth that doesn't help anyone" (anonymous web visitor).   The assertion captures the essence of cliché so much more eloquently than Mirriam-Webster does: "a trite phrase or expression," "something . . . overly familiar or commonplace."  If they're so awful, why do they persist?  Because they serve as abbreviations for common experiences and accepted wisdom.  Your job in this assignment is to unpack that abbreviation, fleshing out the cliché to expose the warrant(s).

Please select a cliché, probably one that forms a complete sentence.  (For ideas, visit westegg.com or ClicheSite.com.)  Then unpack it: articulate the warrants, identify the implicit value judgments, and consider the situations in which the cliché is accurate and inaccurate.   Why, for instance, is penny saved a penny earned?  What fiscal values does the saying profess?  When is it true? untrue?

I need a full page for this assignment, so if you find yourself falling short with one cliché, select additional examples.  (If you would like to see a sample response to this assignment, please visit me during my office hours.)

Paper Prospectus Assignment

This assignment asks that you test drive your options by compiling an annotated bibliography for one of the essays you will write for this class and by performing some prewriting for the remaining three (yes, all three--even if you plan to write fewer).

1. First, please draft a claim for each of your four (potential) essays, and identify each claim by type: fact, value, policy.  Again, I urge you to attempt one of each and a definition piece.

2. Then, for your annotated bibliography, please provide an MLA-style citation and a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph for each source you can use in one paper.  Please include a minimum of five sources; please also feel free to exceed that minimum.  The annotation should inform readers of the source's significance (why the source is important to your essay) and accuracy (how the source is reliable).  For more information about annotated bibliographies, please refer to pages 430-431 in The Structure of Argument: "Compiling an Annotated Bibliography."   For an example of an annotated bibliography, please visit Cornell University library's online resource: How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography.

3. For each of your remaining three essay possibilities, please perform one of the prewriting strategies listed in "Prewriting" menu.

4. Finally, for each of the four essay possibilities, please identify an audience. 

Obviously, you will require more than a single page, so I hereby suspend the no-staple rule for this assignment.  I also urge you to use this assignment.  The work required is both time consuming and tedious, and if you simply go through the motions, it will devolve into busywork, but if you can invest your full attention, you will have crafted a strong foundation for your essays--or learn enough about them to abandon unfortunate topic choices.

Color Definition Assignment
Using all the methods of definition Rottenberg delineates in her chapter by the same name, please define any color of your choice.  You know me well enough by now to realize that if I were looking for a specific structure or shape for this assignment, I would detail that structure.  I am not, however, so please feel free to experiment and play.  (If you would like to see a sample response to this assignment, please visit me during my office hours.)

More Fun with Fallacies Redux Assignment

If you scored an "Incomplete" on your More Fun with Fallacies assignment--or if you scored a "Complete" and want a "Strong"--please explain why the correct answer is more correct than the one you gave for the designations on which we disagree.  Once I have returned the More Fun with Fallacies assignment, you may click here for a list of the correct answers.  Take more than a page if you need it; I suspend the no-staples rule for this assignment.  (If you would like to see a sample response to this assignment, please visit me during my office hours.)

Updated: 02.03.13