| Lec # | TOPICS | ASSIGNMENTS DUE | IN-CLASS ACTIVITies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit One: First Essay; Writing Focus: Personal Narrative | |||
| 1 | Intro to the Class as a Writing Community Writing about Social and Ethical Issues | Distribute: Syllabus, Course Calendar, Writer's Letter assignment, Course information sheet, Exercise 1.1, Essay Assignment 1 | |
| 2 | Reasons to Believe: The Roots of Ethical and Social Values Introducing Personal Essays | Exercise 1.1, Notebook Exercise on Edelman, Writer's Letter | Discuss: Sample student essay |
| 3 | Reasons to Believe and Act | ||
| 4 | Developing and Sustaining Ethical and Social Values The Personal Essay: Crafting Engaging and Effective Introductions | 2 Notebook Exercises (lec 3, lec 4) | |
| 5 | The Writer as Social Activist: A Literary Tradition | Draft Essay 1 (2 copies + cover letter.) (Due two days after lec 5) Workshop students: email drafts (as Word documents) to classmates | Read/Discuss: Assigned readings Bring in: Introductions, Essay 1 (4 copies) Workshop Preparation; Distribute Workshopping Letter |
| 6 | Writing Workshop, Draft Essay 1; The Craft of Revision | Workshop letters to classmates. (Copies to instructor) | Distribute: Handouts on revision (3) |
| Unit Two: Second Essay; Writing Focus: Investigative Essay/Comparative Analysis | |||
| 7 | Representing Social Issues and Problems; Images | ||
| 8 | Narratives of Poverty and Homelessness | Notebook Exercise: Comment comparatively on the power of Marin's and Kozol's essays (1½-2 pp.) Revision, Essay 1. (2 copies + cover letter and marked-up Draft) (Due two days after lec 8) | Review: Essay 2 assignment. Introduction to Community Research |
| 9 | The Writer as Witness, Participant and Investigator: Inside the World of Poverty and Low-wage Labor | Proposals, Essay 2. (Five copies) Notebook Exercise on Ehrenreich | |
| 10 | The Writer as Interpreter of Social Issues: The Value Of Comparative Analysis: Research Strategies | Pairs Workshops: Proposals 2 Library Session | |
| 11 | Writers Engage With Media Culture and Beauty Imagery | Read/Discuss: Assigned readings (distributed in lec) | |
| 12 | Writers Address Contemporary Debates: Race, Gender and Issues of Equality Approaches to Comparative Analysis: Options in Introductions/Conclusions | Notebook Assignment: Compare Takaki and Faludi | |
| 13 | Writers Confront Contemporary: Educational Inequality, Past and Present: Individual Portraits | Notebook assignment: Compare Rose and Kozol or Angelou Draft, Essay 2 (2 copies + cover letter) (Due two days after lec 13) | Distribute: Workshop 2 letter |
| 14 | Writing Workshop, Draft, Essay 2 | Workshop Letters | |
| Unit Three: Third Essay; Writing Focus: Investigative/Advocacy Essay | |||
| 15 | Writers as Investigators and Advocates: Modern Classics in the Literature of Social Change | Notebook Exercise on Friedan or Carson | Review essay 3 assignments |
| 16 | Reading Films Critically | ||
| 17 | Writers Explore Contemporary Issues: Mental Health | Notebook Assignment: Girl, Interrupted Proposals, Essay 3 (5 copies) | |
| 18 | Writers Define Contemporary Issues and Advocate Solutions: Education | Notebook Assignment on Hirsch and Orwell Revision, Essay 2. (2 copies, coverletter + marked-up Draft) (Due two days after lec 18) | Small Workshops: Proposals, Essay 3 |
| 19 | View Dead Man Walking | ||
| 20 | Writers Debate Policy Issues: Capital Punishment Incorporating Personal and Public Voices | Notebook Exercise, Dead Man Walking Incorporating Interview Material and Secondary Sources Models of Advocacy Essays: Student Essay (MURJ) Conclusions | |
| 21 | Writers Debate Policy Issues: Capital Punishment Incorporating Personal and Public Voices (cont.) | ||
| 22 | Approaches To Advocacy | Oral presentations | |
| 23 | Writers as Visionaries: Fiction as a Laboratory for Utopian Ideas and Dystopian Critiques | Oral presentations | |
| 24 | Writers as Visionaries: Fiction as a Laboratory for Utopian Ideas and Dystopian Critiques | Notebook Exercise: Compare your own Visions of utopia and dystopia Drafts, Essay 3 (Due one day after lec 24) | |
| 25 | Revision Strategies for Advocacy Essays | ||
| 26 | Advanced Revision/Publication Workshop | Oral presentations | |
| 27 | Advanced Revision/Publication Workshop (cont.) | Workshop, Draft Essay 3 | |
| 28 | Presentations and Course Evaluations | Oral presentations Course Evaluations | |
| 29 | Last Class: Celebration | Portfolios due by end of day (with revision 3) | |