Everyone
listens to music, some perhaps more than others. As you have probably figured out, I absolutely love
music...most every genre. My first love is classic R&B and Motown
music...it is what my mom listened to when I was a kid and I still
thoroughly enjoy listening, especially to Sam Cooke. I am a huge AC/DC
fan. My kids bought me an AC/DC mug for mother's day a couple of years
ago. My head starts banging anytime I hear "Highway to Hell" or
"Thunderstruck". I think Angus Young is the best damn guitarist in
heavy metal. I love rap...especially the stuff from my generation
(after all hip hop really took off in the 80s when I was a teenager --I
remember Will Smith as part of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince way
before he was a movie star and Queen Latifah as a rapper before she was
an actress and a talk show host). I am a huge Public Enemy fan (I still have the
first cassette I bought of their Yo!Bum Rush the Show album) and as I shared in class, I
love Run D.M.C. I clearly prefer East Coast rap. I also enjoy jazz
music (in fact, I am listening to my Diana Krall station on Pandora
right now). Music not only makes our lives enjoyable; it makes our
lives meaningful. I
want you to select the top ten songs that represent your life, so don't
just focus on what you are currently listening to, but also what you
loved in the past. Along with listing your life playlist, you will need
to explain why you choose each song on this playlist (a detailed explanation...not a "just because I like it" explanation).
For this week's blog assignment, I would like you to watch the following video:
After watching the short film, briefly describe what happens. Then, I would like you to identify the author's purpose...why they chose to write and direct this video. Give a clear explanation as to your reasoning, how did you identify the author's purpose and why is that a good inference. Additionally, I would like you to identify the author's audience...for whom did the author make this video. Give a clear explanation as to why you think that is the audience; what clues/evidence do you have from the video to help you identify the audience. Finally, identify three ways that this video can teach people about community.
I want you to go back to Chapter One in Hjortshoj's The Transition to College Writing and reflect on the differences between High School and College. I would like you to elaborate on TWO of the five "basic, categorical differences" (on pp 10-12) that he highlights by summarizing his ideas as well as adding your own experiences and then add two original differences that
he didn't mention but you have experienced as you have transitioned to
college. Be sure to elaborate on these two original ideas. (So you
should have a total of four points of difference that you share with
your reader.) In addition, explain why we create these myths or
illusions (essentially lying to ourselves) about college and why this
kind of lying is not helpful. Your audience is a high school senior. You should write in epistolary format (like a letter).
Everyone
has some regrets, what is your biggest regret? Does your regret follow
the same "not" pattern? Explain what it is in detail and why you regret it. Could you "turn around" this regret so that you no longer feel regretful? If so, how?
How does having regrets relate to our course theme of community?
Both of these articles address a type of political community that may have great influence in the United States now. What is that political community - describe it and its doctrine? What might make this political community an unhealthy community? What might happen when an unhealthy community like this has the potential for a negative impact over society? How might other communities, otherwise healthy communities, be affected and what course of action should they take? Answer the questions thoughtfully and respectfully. Be sure to utilize information from the two articles in answering the questions.
Audience awareness is extremely important when writing because it influences everything from topic to word choice and sentence structure. As students, you often write only for your instructor. This can make your writing very dry and boring. Blogging is an excellent way to reinforce the need for audience awareness because you are writing for a "worldwide" audience not just your instructor.
Your blog assignment this week is to examine the advertisements below. View by simply clicking on each video. Who do you think the intended audience is and why for each ad? Be sure to utilize specific details from the ad to elaborate on your "why." Why should we be critical of intended audience in advertisements and other information that surrounds us?
Narration is just one of many strategies for developing an essay. Narrative writing is essentially telling a story, often relying on personal experience. Effective narrative writing:
is told from a particular point of view,
makes and supports a point (has a purpose),
is filled with precise detail,
uses vivid verbs and modifiers,
uses conflict and sequence as does any good plot,
may use dialogue.
For your blog assignment this week, you are to write a narrative consisting of about 400-500 words. I want you to choose a community that you have been or are currently a member. What is that community? How did you become part of this community and how long have you been a member? What actions does your community perform that demonstrates it is a community (this will involve you also providing your own definition of community)?
Welcome to the blogging (web log) experience! You will be keeping a blog as part of Composition this spring semester. Your blogging requirements:
You need to post to your blog at least one entry each week. This entry needs to be one complete paragraph following standards of good grammar and punctuation. Generally, your weekly entry will be based on a writing prompt that I will post for you on the class blog; however, sometimes your post will be based on a topic of your own choosing.
Once everyone has created their blog, you will be able to find a list (labeled "students") at the right hand side of this class blog page that will link you to everyone's blog, if you are interested in reading what your classmates post.
For your first blog today, I would like you to respond to the following prompt: You wake up in jail and have no memory of how you got there. As you pace around the cell, you find five items in your pocket from the night before. As you look at each piece, the night slowly comes back to you. Write about your night, why you have these five items (and give a detailed description of each of these five items), and how you ended up in jail.
