Engl 3130 Advanced Composition, Spring 2025
[ Policies ] [ Calendar ] [ Model Student Essays ]
Calendar
last update: January 13, 2025
Notes:
BAM = Best American Magazine Writing 2023
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 22
Browse the titles of the all the narrative student essays under section I at the "Model Student Essays" page linked at the top of this page.
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 24
- 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 "Acid Church" p395-410.
- 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 27
- First draft Essay 1: Narrative due -- Peer review
Wednesday Jan 29
- In BAM, read "Introduction" pix-xvi, and "She Never Hurt Her Kids. So Why Is a Mother Serving More Time Than the Man Who Abused Her Daughter?" p35-57.
Friday Jan 31
- In SS, read the Prologue, p1-9, and Chapter 1 "Good Writing," p11-26.
Week 3
Monday Feb 3
- Revised Essay 1: Narrative due
Wednesday Feb 5
Browse the titles of the all the student essays under section II "Tech Writing/ How-to," on the page called "Model Student Essays" which is linked at the top of this page.
Read the following student essays:
- At-Home Atelier: How to Curate Your Own Sense of Clothing Style. By Raylee McKenzie
- 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
Friday Feb 7
- In BAM, read "The Militiamen, the Governor, and the Kidnapping That Wasn't" by Chris Heath, pages 331-361.
Week 4
Monday Feb 10
First draft Essay 2: How To/ Tech Writing due -- Peer review
Wednesday Feb 12
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 14
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 17
Revised Essay 2: How To/ Tech Writing due
Browse the titles of the all the review essays under section III "Review/ Criticism," on the page called "Model Student Essays" which is linked at the top of this page.
Read the following three review essays, online:
- "The Rock That Breaks and Breaks: A new book about the fracking boom hits close to home." [Review of Amity and Prosperity, by Eliza Griswold.]
By Erika Howsare. Los Angeles Review of Books, October 9, 2018. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-rock-that-breaks-and-breaks/
- "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
Wednesday Feb 19: Class cancelled
Friday Feb 21: Class cancelled
Week 6
Monday Feb 24
First draft Essay 3: Review/ Critique due -- Peer review
Wednesday Feb 26
Read "What Do We Do About John James Audubon?" by J. Drew Lanham in BAM, p299-310.
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.
Friday Feb 28: Class cancelled
Week 7
Monday March 3
Revised Essay 3: Review/ Critique due
Wednesday March 5
- 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.
- Browse the titles of the all the review essays under section IV "Viewpoint/ Writing from Sources," on the page called "Model Student Essays" which is linked at the top of this page.
- In class today we will brainstorm topics for your Viewpoint essay.
Friday March 7
Read the following, online:
- "AI’s Impact on Human Writing: Resource or Replacement?" By Aiden Magee. Medium, February 27, 2024. aidenblakemagee.medium.com/ais-impact-on-human-writing-resource-or-replacement-060d261b012f
- "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
- "I Tested the Read Aloud Feature on Word." By Ari Meghlen. February 18, 2022. arimeghlen.co.uk/2022/02/18/i-tested-the-read-aloud-feature-on-word/
- "The Case for Paper: Books vs. E-Readers -- Why a good old-fashioned book is better for your mental health." By Heather Rose Artushin. Psychology Today, February 2, 2024. www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/well-read/202402/the-case-for-paper-books-vs-e-readers
Week 8
Monday March 10
- 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 12
Read the following two article, here online:
- "An Incurable Disease Is Coming for Deer: It rots their brains, weakens their muscles, and can linger in the environment for years." By Erika Howsare. The Atlantic Monthly, December 30, 2023. www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2023/12/deer-chronic-wasting-disease-decline/676962/
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 14: Class cancelled
Spring Break -- March 13-17
Week 9
Monday, March 24
First draft Essay 4: Viewpoint/ Op-ed due -- Peer review
Wednesday, March 26
In BAM, read "The Time to Pass Paid Leave is Now," by Natasha Pearlman, pages 209-221.
Friday, March 28
In BAM, read "A Post-Roe Threat," by Jia Tolentino, pages 223-226; and "Monuments to the Unthinkable," by Clint Smith, pages 95-129
Week 10
Monday, March 31
Revised Essay 4: Viewpoint/ Op-ed due.
Wednesday, April 2
In BAM, read "Tinder Hearted," by Allison P. Davis, p377-394.
Friday, April 4
In BAM, read "Untold," by Tom Junod and Paula Lavigne, p499-580.
Week 11
Monday, April 7
First draft Essay 5: Nonfiction Genre of Your Choice due -- Peer review
Wednesday, April 9: Reading TBA.
Friday, April 11: Class cancelled.
Week 12
Monday, April 14
Revised Essay 5: Nonfiction Genre of Your Choice due.
Wednesday, April 16
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 18: Good Friday
Week 13
Monday, April 21
- 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.
Wednesday, April 23
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.
Thursday, April 24, in the Reece Museum
1:20-2:40: Nonfiction Writing, with Erika Howsare
as part of the ETSU Spring Literary Festival
Friday, April 25: Class cancelled
Week 14
Monday, April 28: Best essay revised for the web, due.
- Bring a hard copy to class, AND upload a pdf file to the D2L dropbox 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 a note on your dropbox submission, tell me what your search terms are.
- On the essay, 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 30: 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, May 2: ETSU Study Day -- no class.