Week Two Overview: Start Here

Welcome to Week Two!

This week we will be moving into the specific curriculum for the class, beginning by choosing a topic and starting the writing process for your first formal essay assignment.

Learning Outcomes for Week Two

• Read Essay Prompt, Rubric, and Sample Essays
• Create and Collaborate on Possible Essay Topics within the Discussion Board
• Review and Read Writing Modes
• Read Professional Essays that Discuss the Social Issue of Language and Identity
• Locate Writing Techniques Used in Language and Identity Essays
• Begin the Drafting and Writing Processes

Week Two: "Origins" Essay Assignment

Begin the week by becoming familiar with the first essay assignment, including the essay prompt, rubric, and sample essays. As you read the sample essays, consider how each meets the assignment but also takes a unique approach. This assignment is designed to move you away from the five paragraph essay and to use your knowledge and personal experiences as primary research to support a position. 

Week Two: Writing Modes

Instead of writing within a specific mode for an entire essay, this course focuses on using writing modes and techniques as the rhetorical situation requires. A quick refresher of common modes: 

• Narration: Telling the story. Including specific details and leading your reader through the events or thoughts in a step by step sequence. Similar to "process" writing, which is used when providing an overview of a science experiment or set of instructions. 

• Description: Adding in the details. Use all of your senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell (or the ones that apply to the content) to create a visual and sensory picture for your reader. Bring power to black words on what paper (or the screen) by adding descriptive details. 

• Definition: Explaining what you mean when using a word or phrase that could be subjective. For example, what does beautiful mean to you? Freedom? Success? Don't assume your reader has the same idea. Bridge the gap between writer and reader by defining key terms.

READ: "What is Poverty" by Jo Goodwin Parker. Consider the impact of her inclusion of narration, description, and definition. Goodwin Parker was not a professional writer; she wrote this essay to convey real events that impacted her life. In the decades since publication, her essay has informed and inspired many to articulate their beliefs as a way to inform and educate others. 

Week Two: Reading Assignments and Discussion Board 

The reading assignments for this week were selected as professional examples of your current writing assignment. As you read them and consider the content, also locate and contemplate the writing techniques used. As you do so, consider how you might include combinations of similar techniques in your essay. For example, do you want to begin your essay with an anecdote like Gloria Anzaldua or take on the strong tone of James Baldwin? 

• Read all of the attachments under "Week Two Readings: Language and Identity"
• Review Discussion Board Guidelines
• Post and Respond on the "Week Two Readings" Discussion Board

Week Two Wrap-Up: Begin the Writing Process

After completing the reading and discussion board assignments, make a (short) list of possible essay topics. As you do so, create sub-lists for each that include knowledge you have on the topic. This can include info from a class, a personal experience, something you learned in the news, etc. Choose the topic that you feel you will be most able to write about for four pages.