Essay 2 Assignment

Essay 2 Assignment

In your second formal essay for this course, you will examine the uses and/or abuses of language, as the writers whose essays we have read for this unit have done. This assignment will require you to:
-- Choose one current issue, problem or controversy concerning spoken or written language, either in the United States or abroad
--research that issue, using at least one database (not Google Search)
-- at least one of these sources must be an “argument” source
-- at least one of these sources must be printed
-- Form an opinion of your own on the issue
-- Outline an argument in which you:
-- describe the issue, giving enough background information so that a reasonably intelligent but not very well-informed reader will understand it
--explain your opinion on the issue.
-- Support your argument using verifiable facts.
--You must explain how your position is similar to or different from that of your “argument” source
--You must correctly cite all facts, figures, and other sources using MLA documentation style.
-- Write an essay proposal, in which you explain what you want to write about, what your argument might be, and what sources you might use.
-- Write a full-length first draft.
-- Participate in an in-class writing workshop in which you share portions of your draft with your fellow classmates.
-- Substantially revise that draft, taking into account the constructive criticism of your peers and your teacher.
-- Polish the revised draft, editing for diction (word choice) and sentence clarity.

While evaluating your essay, I will pay special attention to transitions and to your conclusion, as well as to the clarity of your sentences.

Due dates:
Essay proposal: Thursday, 10/28
First draft: Tuesday, 11/9
Final draft: Thursday, 11/18

Blog post, week of 10/18

I had asked you to bring in an example of published prose that meets George Orwell's criteria for bad writing. Very few of you did so. I'd like you to complete that assignment now, and to post at least one sentence of bad writing, along with a brief explanation of how the piece violates Orwell's rules.

Because Orwell's essay is ultimately about politics, I'd especially like to see examples of bad political writing. That said, please don't insert your own political opinions into your comments. Remember, Orwell spreads the blame equally, among all the political figures of his day, and I'm sure we could do the same.

(Those of you who did complete the assignment on time can simply post a selection from what you brought to class.)

Readings for Tuesday, 10/26

Here are two brief informational articles on recent events in the "English-Only" debate -- one describing a ballot initiative in a large city, Nashville, and the other reporting on a very small town, Jackson, NY.

Please read them for Tuesday. We will read two argumentative essays -- one by a writer on each side of the debate -- later next week, but for now, these articles will give you the basic outlines of the issue. If you detect a bias towards one side or the other in these articles, do let me know in class!

Here is the article on Nashville,

and

here is the article on Jackson, NY.

Assignments, week of 10/18

10/19: Orwell, "Politics and the English Langauge" (in Fields); also, bring in a piece of published writing that Orwell would consider bad (at least one paragraph)

10/21: Amy Tan, "Mother Tongue" (in Fields)
Essay #2 assigned

By midnight on Sunday: Blog post on Orwell or Tan

Blog post, week of 10/11

In class, we read and discussed a recent news article about a school district in Virginia that is teaching African American English as a separate language, with its own grammatical structures, in order to help its mostly Black students better use standard English on tests and in other formal situations. (I also linked to this article in my last blog post.)

What is your opinion on the argument taking place in the district? Write your response to the article here, and include a paraphrase of some aspect of Baldwin's argument at some point in your post.

Assignments, week of 10/11

Tuesday, 10/12: James Baldwin, "If Black English Isn't a Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?" (in Fields)

Thursday, 10/14: George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" (in Fields)

By Sunday at midnight: Blog post on Baldwin

"Black English" in contemporary classrooms

A very recent article in The Virginian-Pilot that takes up the issue of "Black English" raised in Baldwin's essay.

On Anzaldúa (your comments, please)

As we discussed in class, Gloria Anzaldúa's essay makes a forceful argument that one's language and accent are strongly linked to one's self. "I am my language," she writes in one passage.

What languages do you speak and write? How do you speak/write them? What do they tell us about you, your family, the social groups of which you are a member, etc.? Provide an example of terms or expressions from one of your languages if you can.

Assignments, week of 10/4

10/5: Essay #1 due in class (hard copy)

10/7: Gloria Anzaldua, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue" (in Fields, p. 131-141) (read before class)
Preface from Dr. Johnson's Dictionary (to be read in class)

10/10: blog post due by midnight