Calendar, Engl 1010, Spring 2020, O'Donnell, ETSU

Engl 1010 Critical Reading and Expository Writing, sec 5, O'Donnell, Spring 2020

Calendar
last update: March 20, 2020 -- Post-Apocalyptic Coronavirus Edition

Class meets on Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:10-4:30pm in Burleson Hall 304.

Week 1 -- Weds Jan 22

Wednesday

- Introductions. Writing process. Elements of writing.

- Read "Girl Meets Bluegill: How I (nearly) taught my daughter to love fishing." By Bill Heavey. Field and Stream, August 1, 2005.

Week 2 -- Mon Jan 27; Weds 29

Monday

- Browse the five narrative student essays on the course readings page. Read at least one of those five, and be prepared to discuss.

- Draft of essay 1, Narrative based on first-hand experience, is due. Bring at least 1,200 words, printed double-spaced in 12-point type, along with 2 extra copies (a total of 3 copies) for peer review.

- Click here for an ms word version of a writing response sheet. Print two copies of the sheet and bring those to class.

- At the UNC-Chapel Hill Writing Center web site, read "Responding to Other People's Writing"--writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/writing-groups/responding-to-other-peoples-writing/-- and read "Reacting to Other People's Responses to Your Writing"-- writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/writing-groups/reacting-to-other-peoples-responses-to-your-writing/.

Wednesday

Read "Murder on the Appalachian Trail." By Earl Swift. Outside Magazine, September 2, 2015.

Week 3 -- Mon Feb 3; Weds 5

Monday

- Revised version of essay 1 is due.

- Browse the three How-to (tech writing) student essays on the course readings page. Read at least one of those three, and be prepared to discuss.

Wednesday

Read these two articles:

- "36 Hours in Asheville, N. C." By Shaila Dewan. The New York Times online, Oct 13, 2016.

- "How to Pack a Suitcase." By Shivani Vora and Michelle Higgins. The New York Times online, no date. Accessed August 2019.

Watch this video, and be prepared to discuss: Why do you think this video has 37 million views?

- "How to Make LEGO Gummy Candy!" The King of Random YouTube channel. Posted May 2015. 37 million views as of January 2020. Running time--6:18.

Week 4 -- Mon Feb 10; Weds 12

Monday

- Draft of essay 2, How-to (tech writing), is due. Bring at least 1,200 words, printed double-spaced in 12-point type, along with 2 extra copies for peer review.

- Click here for an ms word version of a writing response sheet. Print two copies of the sheet and bring those to class.

Wednesday

At the following Amazon dot com website, browse the table of contents and read the introduction for Word 2013 for Dummies: www.amazon.com/Word-2013-Dummies-Dan-Gookin/dp/1118491238/

Also, read these two articles:

- "22 lessons from Stephen King on how to be a great writer." Business Insider, August 11, 2015.

- "Bacon: the Other White Heat." By Theodore Gray. Popular Science, April 15, 2009.

Week 5 -- Mon Feb 17; Weds 19

Monday

- Revised version of essay 2 is due.

- Bring your grammar handbook to class today.

- Browse the four review/ criticism student essays on the course readings page. Read at least one of those four, and be prepared to discuss.

Wednesday

Read "‘Taylor Swift: Miss Americana’ Review: A Star, Scathingly Alone." By Wesley Morris. The New York Times, January 30, 2020. (Click here for a cached version.)

Read "How 'When They See Us' and 'Chernobyl' Make Us Look." By Emily Nusbaum. The New Yorker, June 17, 2019. (Click here for a cached version.)

Read "Five Books to Make You Less Stupid About the Civil War." By Ta-Nehisi Coates. Atlantic Magazine, November 1, 2017. (Click here for a cached version.)

Week 6 -- Mon Feb 24; Weds 26

Monday

- Draft of essay 3, Review/ criticism, is due. Bring at least 1,200 words, printed double-spaced in 12-point type, along with 2 extra copies for peer review.

- Click here for an ms word version of a writing response sheet. Print two copies of the sheet and bring those to class.

Wednesday

In You, Writing!, read Chapter Five, "Writing a Thesis," pages 31-36.

Read these two review articles:

- "Lead Us Not Into Debt." By Megan Mcardle. Atlantic Magazine, December 2009.

- "Cancel All Your Weekend Plans and Binge-Watch Aziz Ansari’s Unbelievably Excellent Netflix Series ‘Master of None’." By Pilot Viruet. Flavorwire, November 6, 2015.

Week 7 -- Mon March 2; Weds 4

Monday

- Revised version of essay 3 is due.

- Bring your grammar handbook to class today.

- Browse the professional Op-ed/ viewpoint essays on the course readings page.

- Read "Why LeBron James is Better Than Michael Jordan: The Numbers Are Not the Whole Story." By Owen Kovacs. November 2019.

Wednesday

Read "An Animal’s Place." By Michael Pollan. The New York Times Magazine, November 10, 2002.

Read "Putting Down Your Phone May Help You Live Longer." By Catherine Price. The New York Times, April 24, 2019.

Week 8 -- Mon March 9; Weds 11

Monday

- Draft of essay 4, Op-ed/ viewpoint, is due. Bring at least 1,200 words, printed double-spaced in 12-point type, along with 2 extra copies for peer review.

- Click here for an ms word version of a writing response sheet. Print two copies of the sheet and bring those to class.

Wednesday

Read the following three viewpoint essays:

- "Black Exhaustion." By Pilot Viruet. Matter [the original flagship publication of Medium], April 28, 2015.

- "Consider the Lobster: For 56 years, the Maine Lobster Festival has been drawing crowds with the promise of sun, fun, and fine food. One visitor would argue that the celebration involves a whole lot more." By David Foster Wallace. Gourmet Magazine, August 2004. Pages 50-64.

- "Get a Dog, Get a Knife, But Get Rid of Guns." By Molly Ivins. Nothin' But Good Times Ahead: Essays. Random House, 1993.

SPRING BREAK: March 16 to 20

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CLASS HAS MOVED ONLINE, BEGINNING MONDAY, MARCH 23RD.

Week 9 -- Mon March 23; Weds 25

Monday

- Wikipedia writing exercise due: Edit a wikipedia article. Then write a concise memo, addressed to me, and to your Engl 3130 classmates, providing the exact information a reader would need in order to see what changes you made to the article.

- Read "The Insect Apocalypse Is Here: What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?" By Brooke Jarvis. The New York Times Magazine, November 27, 2018. 7,500 words.

Wednesday

- Choose one written source related to your essay 4, Op ed/ viewpoint. Write a memo, to me and your classmates, with a full citation and a brief description. Include, in this memo, the working title of the Op-ed/ viewpoint essay you are writing. If the source exists primarily online, include the url in your source. Today (Weds March 25) we will do our first Zoom teleconference, so be ready to present and discuss your source.

Week 10 -- Mon March 30; Weds Apr 1

Monday Revised version of essay 4, Op-ed/ viewpoint, is due.

Wednesday We will do a Zoom teleconference today, to brainstorm genres and topics for your 5th and final essay.

Week 11 -- Mon Apr 6; Weds 8

Monday

- Draft of essay 5, Writing in the nonfiction genre of your choice (travel writing, sports writing, food writing, etc), is due. Bring at least 1,200 words, printed double-spaced in 12-point type, along with 2 extra copies for peer review.

- I will try to set up writing groups using Zoom, for today.

Week 12 -- Mon Apr 13; Weds 15

Monday Revised version of essay 5 is due.

Wednesday Topic proposal memo due. Write a memo to me, proposing which of the 5 essays you've written this semester that you want to revise for the web. Give me the full title of the piece, and tell me what you plan to do to revise it for publication. If you're not sure which essay you want to revise for publication, tell me which essays you're considering, and what you're thinking.

Week 13 -- Mon Apr 20; Weds 22 Work on revising your essay this week. In the meantime, we'll read some great essays.

Monday

- Read "The Incredible True Story of the Henrietta C.: From miles out in the storm-ravaged Chesapeake Bay, the Tangier Island crab boat radioed a mayday, then fell silent." By Earl Swift. Outside Magazine, June 20, 2018.

Wednesday

- Read "Most dominant athlete of 2018: Simone Biles--This was the year that the greatest gymnast of all time showed that not a damn thing will ever stand in her way." By Danyel Smith. ESPN The Magazine [RIP!], December 11, 2018.

- Today we will have a Zoom teleconference to discuss both of the essays that you read this week.

Week 14 -- Mon Apr 27; Weds 29

Wednesday Your best essay of the semester, revised for publication on the web, is due. Submit a beautiful essay, suitable for posting on the world wide web. Send it to me in PDF format.

Final exam: Weds May 6, 10:30am to 12:30pm