Engl 3130 Advanced Composition, Spring 2023

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[ Policies ] [ Calendar ] [ Model Student Essays ] [ Best Essays from This Semester ]

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Calendar
last update: April 23, 2023

Notes:

BAM = Best American Magazine Writing 2022

SS = The Sense of Style by Pinker

For a calendar overview, with all writing due dates for the semester, see "Policies," above.

Week 1

Wednesday Jan 18

Read the following:

- Waking Nightmares: Visits from My Sleep Paralysis Demons. By Harrison Pollitte, Fall 2020

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

- The Secret Heart: A Memoir of My Grandfather Thurman Cooper’s Life. By Samantha Matney, Fall 2021

Friday Jan 20

- Read "Killings: A New Essay From One of Our Favorite Southern Writers -- Daniel Wallace, Author of 'Big Fish' -- About an Elemental and Universal Dilemma." Story and Illustrations by Daniel Wallace. The Bitter Southerner, 2022. bittersoutherner.com/killings-by-daniel-wallace

- In BAM, read "Twelve Minutes and a Life" p477-495.

- 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 Jan 23

- First draft Essay 1: Narrative due -- Peer review

Wednesday Jan 25: Class cancelled.

Friday Jan 27

- Read "Child Bride: This is What Happens When You Go Snooping into Your Family's History." By Daniel Wallace. The Bitter Southerner, 2022. bittersoutherner.com/child-bride-daniel-wallace

- Read "Put on the Diamonds: Notes on Humiliation" by Vivian Gornick in BAM, p299-309.

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

- Bring your grammar handbook to class.

Week 3

Monday Jan 30

- Revised Essay 1: Narrative due

Wednesday Feb 1

Read the following student essays:

- 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

- How to Spend a Weekend in Johnson City, Tennessee: A Guide from a Local. By Taylor Harr, Fall 2021

Also read "Venus Rising" by Megan I. Gannon in BAM, p101-111.

Friday Feb 3: Class cancelled.

Week 4

Monday Feb 6

First draft Essay 2: How To/ Tech Writing due -- Peer review

Wednesday Feb 8

Read "The Methane Hunters" in BAM, p143-153.

Online, read "36 Hours in Asheville, N.C." By Jeremy Egner. New York Times, Oct 13, 2016. www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/10/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-asheville-north-carolina.html

Friday Feb 10

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 Feb 13

Revised Essay 2: How To/ Tech Writing due

Bring your grammar handbook to class.

Wednesday Feb 15

- The Album That Started Heavy Metal Music: A Review of Black Sabbath’s Black Sabbath Album. By Brett Strother, Fall 2021

- The Hideaway: 3 Reasons Why Johnson City, Tennessee Needs This Punk Sanctuary. By Kylee Phalen, Fall 2021

- Of Hope and White Wings: A Review of Hatoful Boyfriend. By Emma Sheedlo, Fall 2021

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

- 24 Hours of Sweetness: A Review of Blackbird Bakery, Bristol, VA, by Taylor Harr, Fall 2021

Friday Feb 17

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. Click here for a cached version.

- "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 Feb 20

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

Wednesday Feb 22

Read "What Do We Do About John James Audubon?" by J. Drew Lanham in BAM, p299-310.

Friday Feb 24

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 Feb 27

Revised Essay 3: Review/ Critique due

Bring your grammar handbook to class.

Wednesday March 1

- 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. 

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

Friday March 3

Read "Could an A.I. Chatbot Rewrite My Novel?" By Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, December 9, 2022. faculty.etsu.edu/odonnell/readings/chatgpt_newyorker.pdf

Week 8

Monday March 6

- 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. 

Wednesday March 8

In BAM, read the following:

- "We Need to Change How We Talk About Abortion" by Kristin Canning, p155-164.

- "The Games We Play" by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, p167-172

Also read these student essays:

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

- My Journey with Binge Eating Disorder: The Effects B.E.D. has on Myself and Others by Madison Grady, Spring 2022

- The Sacrifice of a Stray: Laika’s Mission to the Stars Aboard Sputnik 2, by Laken Greene, Fall 2021

Friday March 10

Spring Break -- March 13-17

Week 9

Monday, March 20

First draft Essay 4: Viewpoint/ Op-ed due -- Peer review

Wednesday, March 22

In BAM, read "We're Already Barreling Toward the Next Pandemic" by Ed Yong, p27-41.

Friday, March 24

In BAM, read "Beyond Britney…" by Heidi Blake and Katie J.M. Baker, p277-298.

Week 10

Monday, March 27

Revised Essay 4: Viewpoint/ Op-ed due.

Wednesday, March 29

In BAM, read the introduction by Jeffrey Goldberg, pxix-xiv; and read "Twenty Years Gone" by Jennifer Senior, p387-423.

Friday, March 31: Class cancelled.

Week 11

Monday, April 3

First draft Essay 5: Nonfiction Genre of Your Choice due -- Peer review

Wednesday, April 5: Class cancelled.

Friday, April 7: Good Friday. No classes.

Week 12

Monday, April 10

Revised Essay 5: Nonfiction Genre of Your Choice due.

Wednesday, April 12

Revision proposal memo due. Write a memo to me, proposing which one of your five essays you will revise for the web.

Also in class today, we will discuss this revision checklist. 

Friday, April 14

Class meets in the Culp Center Room 311 for a panel at SASCOL (The Tenth Annual Southern Appalachian Student Conference on Literature). Panel E: Literary Nonfiction: Narrating Selves, Understanding Others, Culp Forum Room 311.

Week 13

Monday, April 17

In BAM, read "The Collapse" by Matthieu Aikens, p325-384.

Class will meet at the University Woods Gazebo, which is at the top of parking lot #13 (see this map of campus). 

Directions: 

1. Immediately south of the Sherrod library and Governors Hall is the intersection of J. L. Seehorn, Jr. Rd. and Southwest Ave.

2. From that intersection, walk south, beneath the concrete railroad bypass.

3. On the other side of the bypass is the entrance to lot #13. At the top of that lot, at the edge of University Woods, is the University Woods Gazebo.

Wednesday, April 19

- Bring a working copy of the essay you are revising for the web, for in-class revision activities. 

- Also bring your copy of Steven Pinker's A Sense of Style.

Friday, April 21

Again:

- Bring a working copy of the essay you are revising for the web, for in-class revision activities. 

- Also bring your copy of Steven Pinker's A Sense of Style.

Week 14

Monday, April 24: Best essay 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. (We will discuss this in class.)

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

- 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. 

- You are welcome to publish under a pen name, if you don't want your real name on the web.

Wednesday, April 26: Responding to 2 classmates' essays on the web: An out-of-class writing activity, due. Click here for instructions.  Bring hard copies of your responses to class today.

Friday, April 28: Class cancelled.