Engl 3130 Advanced Composition, Fall 2021

---

[ Policies ] [ Calendar ] [ Model Student Essays ] [ Best Student Essays This Term ]

---

Calendar
last update: October 28, 2021

BAM = Best American Magazine Writing 2020

SS = The Sense of Style by Pinker

Week 1

Monday Aug 23: First day of class.

Wednesday Aug 25

Read the following:

- Waking Nightmares: Visits from My Sleep Paralysis Demons. By Harrison Pollitte

- Vacationing in Redneck Paradise: Lakewood Camping Resort in South Myrtle Beach, South Carolina--“Yee-Haw”. By Grace Roberts. Fall 2019.

- My Journey Through Hell; A Memoir of my First Marriage. By D. S. Black. Fall 2020.

Friday Aug 27

- In BAM, read "Epidemic of Fear" p67-98.

- 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/.

Week 2

Monday Aug 30: First draft Essay 1: Narrative due -- Peer review

Wednesday Sep 1

In SS, read the Prologue, p1-9, and Chapter 1 "Good Writing," p11-26.

Friday Sep 3

Class cancelled.

Week 3

Monday Sep 6: Labor Day holiday, no class.

Wednesday Sep 8

Revised Essay 1: Narrative due

Read the following student essays:

- Breaking My Father’s Heart: Understanding Atrial Fibrillation Catheter Ablation. By William R. Wight. Fall 2019.

- Cooking Like Mamaw: A Guide to Cooking Biscuits and Gravy; Boston Roast with Brown Gravy; and Blackberry Cobbler. By Kayla Welden. Fall 2017.

- A Guide to Caring for Your Pet Rats. By Anne-Marie Wilson. Fall 2019.

- Stop Fighting Your Curls: A Guide to Embracing Your Natural Hair Texture. By Tracy Ezel. Fall 2020.

Friday Sep 10

- In BAM, read "When Disability is a Toxic Legacy" by s.e. smith, p301-307.

Week 4

Monday Sep 13: First draft Essay 2: How To/ Tech due -- Peer review

Wednesday Sep 15

Online, read "36 Hours in Asheville, N.C." By Shaila Dewan. New York Times, Oct 13, 2016. www.nytimes.com/2010/10/24/travel/24hours.html

"36 Hours in Asheville, N.C." is also available through Sherrod Library. You may be required to login using your ETSU username and password to access the article. www.proquest.com/docview/1829311187?accountid=10771

Friday Sep 17

Class is on zoom today: etsu.zoom.us/j/95516875196.

In SS, read "Chapter 3: The Curse of Knowledge--the main cause of incomprehensible prose is the difficulty of imagining what it's like for someone else not to know something that you know," p57-76.

Week 5

Monday Sep 20: Revised Essay 2: How To/ Tech due

Wednesday Sep 22

- Billie Eilish Gives us a Glimpse of the Future of Pop Music: A Review of When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?  By Jordan Ayers. Fall 2020.

- More Than a Kid’s Show: A Review of Nickelodeon’s Hit Cartoon: Avatar: The Last Airbender. By Emily Bowens. Fall 2020.

- The Power of Interactive Narrative: A Review of What Remains of Edith Finch. By Cameron Davis. Fall 2019.

- The Pursuit of Happiness: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! By Carson Morgan. Fall 2019.

Friday Sep 24

Read the following, online:

- "Comfort Viewing: 3 Reasons I Love ‘Community’. This cult favorite comedy had a simple premise, but its mission was more complex: to deconstruct the modern sitcom." By Calum Marsh. The New York Times. July 23, 2021. www.nytimes.com/2021/07/23/arts/television/community-nbc-streaming.html

- "Subversive, queer and terrifyingly relevant: six reasons why Moby-Dick is the novel for our times. By Philip Hoare. The Guardian [Manchester, UK], July 30, 2019. amp.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/30/subversive-queer-and-terrifyingly-relevant-six-reasons-why-moby-dick-is-the-novel-for-our-times

Week 6

Monday Sep 27: First draft Essay 3: Review/ Critique due -- Peer review

Wednesday Sep 29

In BAM, read "Kanye West's Sunday Service is Full of Longing and Self Promotion," p322-327.

In BAM, read "Nothing Sacred," p339-347.

Friday Oct 1

Class is on zoom today: etsu.zoom.us/j/95516875196.

In SS, by Steven Pinker, read the intro to Chapter 6, "Telling Right from Wrong," p187-201. Also read the entry entitled "adjectives and adverbs," p201-203.

Week 7

Monday Oct 4: Revised Essay 3: Review/ Critique due

Wednesday Oct 6

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. 

Friday Oct 8

In BAM, read two selections by Jia Tolentino, p327-336; read two selections by Ligaya Mishan, p347-357.

In class today we will brainstorm topics for your Viewpoint essay.

Week 8

Monday Oct 11: Fall break. No class.

Wednesday Oct 13

- Bring to class 2 sources that you might use for your essay 4. If a given source is a published book, or if you have a printout (hard copy), bring the printed copy to class. If a source exists primarily online, bring the url and a hard copy of a full written citation; be ready to present and discuss. 

- Read the section entitled "Key differences in MLA 8th Edition," in A Complete Guide to MLA 8th Edition, here online at easybib dot com: www.easybib.com/guides/citation-guides/mla-8/ultimate-guide-mla-eighth-edition/. Also, browse the rest of that page. 

Friday Oct 15

Class is on zoom today: etsu.zoom.us/j/95516875196.

In BAM, read "Our Democracy's Founding Ideals Were False…" by Nikole Hannah-Jones, p359-381.

Week 9

Monday Oct 18: First draft Essay 4: Viewpoint due -- Peer review

Wednesday Oct 20: In SS, read Steven Pinker's Chapter 2, "A Window onto the World," about style.

Friday Oct 22: Bring your viewpoint draft to class. We'll do an outline workshop today.

Week 10 

Monday Oct 25: Revised Essay 4: Viewpoint due

Wednesday Oct 27

Read "David Haskell Speaks for the Trees," an award-winning profile of Haskell by Paul Kvinta, published in Outside Magazine on March 23, 2017. www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/david-haskell-speaks-trees/

*** Wednesday evening, 7pm: David George Haskell. The Songs of Trees.  A reading, lecture, and discussion. ***

https://etsu.zoom.us/j/99332499742  Meeting ID: 993 3249 9742

Friday Oct 29

In BAM, read "Elizabeth Warren's Classroom Strategy," p235-255. (We will hold class in person today, contrary to a previous announcement.)

Week 11

Monday Nov 1

First draft Essay 5: Genre of your choice due -- Peer review

Wednesday Nov 3

In BAM read "We've Normalized Prison," by Piper Kerman, p45-51.

Friday Nov 5

In BAM, read "Las Marthas," by Jordan Kisner, p101-133.

Week 12

Monday Nov 8

Revised Essay 5: Genre of your choice due

Wednesday Nov 10

In-class writing -- revision proposal.

Friday Nov 12

Class is on zoom today: etsu.zoom.us/j/95516875196.

Bring to zoom class the essay you plan to revise. If you are not yet sure, bring all the essays you are considering.

Week 13

Monday November 15

In SS, read, from Pinker's "Chapter 4: The Web, the Tree, and the String: Understanding Syntax Can Help a Writer Avoid Ungrammatical, Convoluted, and Misleading Prose": p77-115.

Wednesday November 17

In-class revision activities.

Friday November 19

In-class revision activities.

Week 14

Monday Nov 22: Read the following article, at least up to the section called "Site Architecture": "What Is SEO? (Learn How to Do It in 5 Minutes)." By Neil Patel, on neilpatel.com. No date. neilpatel.com/what-is-seo/

Wednesday and Friday, Nov 24 and 26: Thanksgiving break.

Week 15

Monday Nov 29: Best essay(s) revised for the web, due.

- Bring a hard copy to class, AND email me a pdf by classtime.

- The filename of the pdf should be based on key search terms for your essay.

- When you "save as" a pdf, put a complete title with all search terms into the title file.

- Also when you "save as" a pdf, include at least 3 search terms as "tags". In your email to me, tell me what your search terms are.

- Include an "about the author box," with a contact email address.

Wednesday Dec 1: No class meeting.

Friday Dec 3: Responding to 3 classmates' essays on the web: An out-of-class writing activity, due. Instructions will be announced. Bring hard copies of your responses to class today.

No class meeting during final exam week.