May 13, 2009
November 12, 2008
Fiction essay
Here’s the link to In Defense of Mrs Elton, which is mentioned on the Essay question sheet.
Essay questions (in case you lose them):
research-essay The questions are the same for both sections; just be sure to double check the due date on your course outline.
October 29, 2008
Comparison Essay
A couple of people were asking for the information for your comparison essay. Here’s the text of the requirements. Due dates are as indicated on your Course Outline.
Length: 1200 to 1500 words
For this essay, you are required to write about two texts. You must choose one story or novel from the list of required reading; the second may be any text you wish. Your essay should use the comparison to make an observation about the stories; in other words, you need a thesis. An essay that just says: “Story A is like this. Story B is like this…” will not receive a mark higher than a C.
The following questions are meant as guidelines or inspiration. Some of them suggest comparisons with works not found in your anthology. You are encouraged to develop your own topic; make sure you consult with Robyn about it.
1. “Clay” is a story from Joyce’s sequence, Dubliners “a representation of life in his native city of Dublin”. Choose one other story from this series, and explain how it and “Clay” portray Dublin life.
2. Compare “Dead Men’s Path” and “Everyday Use” as stories that examine the nature of culture and education.
3. Examine the use of household objects as symbols in “Everyday Use” and “I Stand Here Ironing”.
4. Can you argue that Foer is influenced by Barth?
5. “Meosis” is one of a series of three stories by Calvino. Does reading it in this context change its meaning?
6. “Recitatif” is a story that forces readers to confront their assumptions about race. Is this typical of Morrison’s work? Discuss with reference to one other text.
7. Write a comparison of “Funes the Memorious” and one other story from Borges’ collection, Labyrinths, focusing on how Borges’ plays with the shifting nature of reality and truth.
8. Is Weldon a feminist author? Discuss with reference to “Ind Aff…” and one other work.
9. Although there is a lot of speech in “Benny…” it is Benny’s silences which make up the story. Compare the nature of silence in “Benny…” and “Stones” by Findley.
10. Is “A&P” just a rewrite of “Araby”? Why or why not?
11. Take a literary concept we have discussed in class (Modernism, metafiction, unreliable narration) and discuss it with reference to two texts.
12. Develop a topic of your own and have it approved by your instructor.
All quotations from the text must be documented appropriately using MLA style. You are not required to do research for this essay, but you may if you wish (consult critical works on the story or the author, for example). When you consult other works, you must be sure to cite them appropriately in your essay, using MLA citation style. You must include a list of Works Cited with your essay.
October 1, 2008
Online Citation Assignment
Here is the assignment for English 1101 for Friday October 3 for the MF class. MW class will do this assignment on Monday, October 6.
All instructions for the assignment are in the document. Open it in Word, and remember to save it to your H: drive.
May 21, 2008
Update on Inconvenient Truth
Al Gore recently gave a talk for TED called “New Thinking on the Climate Crisis”. Check it out, and have a look at some of the other interesting talks while you are there.
Here’s the Global Footprint quiz we mentioned in class.
This week’s assignment is another rhetorical analysis; you can take your pick from the readings for this week, or use anything else from your Course Pack of Readings.
May 14, 2008
This week’s assignment
You may work with in a group of two or three. Download the document and then follow the instructions.
May 5, 2008
Analysis Assignment #1
This week’s in-class assignment will be to write an analysis of any ONE of the readings this week, except (obviously) the Jones article. You may write on Murray, Freyer or Coupland.
As well as discussing these articles in class, we will be talking in class about what constitutes a good analysis, and you also have the guidelines in your Course Pack of readings to help you.
I expect your analysis to be approximately 700 words long, and to contain both correct in-text citation and a Works Cited. We will go over these requirements in class.
You may bring a plan or outline to class on Thursday, but I would like you to try to do the bulk of the writing in class.
September 17, 2007
English 2210 Course Handouts
In case you lose them, you can download copies of the course outlines here. Be sure to grab the one for your section!
Section 002 (MWF classes)
MWF Course Outline
Section 003 (MW classes)
MW Course Outline
Here’s the info for the first Essay (due dates are the same for both classes):
Essay question sheet
Essay proposal worksheet
June 19, 2007
Final writing assignment.
Your task for Thursday is a descriptive piece.
Today at 6:45 pause, and take a moment to observe your surroundings. Think about what you see, hear, taste, smell, feel. You are to write a descriptive piece about this moment. This is not a narrative about what happened before or after this time, but simply what is happening at this moment. You can talk about what you are thinking, but I am not asking for a fantasy story or a philosophical treatise.
A good piece of writing on this topic will say something to the reader about this moment. Three examples:
- a piece which described the author having a smoke on his balcony; at the end of the piece, he commented that he had to go back inside and continue the fight he was having with his girlfriend.
- a piece which described some people having a relaxing drink in a bar; the end of the piece revealed the speaker as the waitress, rather than one of the people enjoying themselves.
- a description of a family having dinner; through the physical description, the writer explained her relationships with her family members.
June 5, 2007
Oral Presentations on Monday!
Just a reminder that you are presenting your Self Portrait Projects to the class on Monday.
You need to present an overview of the project, explain a bit about your goals for the project and why you chose your specific approach, and then read an excerpt from your work in progress (about 300 words). You will be marking each other, and to help you think about your presentations, here is the list of criteria you will be using:
- Was the purpose of the project clearly articulated?
- Was there a good explanation of why the format/approach was taken?
- Did the presenter read from the project?
- Was it an interesting project overall?
- Was the presentation good (loud enough, not too fast, etc)?
