Calendar

Numbers in parentheses refer to the number of copies to be turned in by the student.

Lec # TOPICS ASSIGNMENTS DUE IN-CLASS ACTIVITies

Unit One: First Essay; Writing Focus: Personal Narrative

1

Intro to the Class as a Writing Community

Writing about Social and Ethical Issues

Distribute: Syllabus, Course Calendar, Writer's Letter assignment, Course information sheet, Exercise 1.1, Essay Assignment 1

2

Reasons to Believe: The Roots of Ethical and Social Values

Introducing Personal Essays

Exercise 1.1, Notebook Exercise on Edelman, Writer's Letter

Discuss: Sample student essay

3

Reasons to Believe and Act

4

Developing and Sustaining Ethical and Social Values

The Personal Essay: Crafting Engaging and Effective Introductions

2 Notebook Exercises (lec 3, lec 4)

5

The Writer as Social Activist: A Literary Tradition

Draft Essay 1 (2 copies + cover letter.) (Due two days after lec 5)

Workshop students: email drafts (as Word documents) to classmates

Read/Discuss: Assigned readings

Bring in: Introductions, Essay 1 (4 copies)

Workshop Preparation; Distribute Workshopping Letter

6

Writing Workshop, Draft Essay 1; The Craft of Revision

Workshop letters to classmates. (Copies to instructor)

Distribute: Handouts on revision (3)

Unit Two: Second Essay; Writing Focus: Investigative Essay/Comparative Analysis

7

Representing Social Issues and Problems; Images

8

Narratives of Poverty and Homelessness

Notebook Exercise: Comment comparatively on the power of Marin's and Kozol's essays (1½-2 pp.)

Revision, Essay 1. (2 copies + cover letter and marked-up Draft) (Due two days after lec 8)

Review: Essay 2 assignment.

Introduction to Community Research

9

The Writer as Witness, Participant and Investigator: Inside the World of Poverty and Low-wage Labor

Proposals, Essay 2. (Five copies)

Notebook Exercise on Ehrenreich

10

The Writer as Interpreter of Social Issues: The Value Of Comparative Analysis: Research Strategies

Pairs Workshops: Proposals 2

Library Session

11

Writers Engage With Media Culture and Beauty Imagery

Read/Discuss: Assigned readings (distributed in lec)

12

Writers Address Contemporary Debates: Race, Gender and Issues of Equality

Approaches to Comparative Analysis: Options in Introductions/Conclusions

Notebook Assignment: Compare Takaki and Faludi

13

Writers Confront Contemporary: Educational Inequality, Past and Present: Individual Portraits

Notebook assignment: Compare Rose and Kozol or Angelou

Draft, Essay 2 (2 copies + cover letter) (Due two days after lec 13)

Distribute: Workshop 2 letter

14

Writing Workshop, Draft, Essay 2

Workshop Letters

Unit Three: Third Essay; Writing Focus: Investigative/Advocacy Essay

15

Writers as Investigators and Advocates: Modern Classics in the Literature of Social Change

Notebook Exercise on Friedan or Carson

Review essay 3 assignments

16

Reading Films Critically

17

Writers Explore Contemporary Issues: Mental Health

Notebook Assignment: Girl, Interrupted

Proposals, Essay 3 (5 copies)

18

Writers Define Contemporary Issues and Advocate Solutions: Education

Notebook Assignment on Hirsch and Orwell

Revision, Essay 2. (2 copies, coverletter + marked-up Draft) (Due two days after lec 18)

Small Workshops: Proposals, Essay 3

19

View Dead Man Walking

20

Writers Debate Policy Issues: Capital Punishment

Incorporating Personal and Public Voices

Notebook Exercise, Dead Man Walking

Incorporating Interview Material and Secondary Sources

Models of Advocacy Essays: Student Essay (MURJ)

Conclusions

21

Writers Debate Policy Issues: Capital Punishment

Incorporating Personal and Public Voices (cont.)

22

Approaches To Advocacy

Oral presentations

23

Writers as Visionaries: Fiction as a Laboratory for Utopian Ideas and Dystopian Critiques

Oral presentations

24

Writers as Visionaries: Fiction as a Laboratory for Utopian Ideas and Dystopian Critiques

Notebook Exercise: Compare your own Visions of utopia and dystopia

Drafts, Essay 3 (Due one day after lec 24)

25

Revision Strategies for Advocacy Essays

26

Advanced Revision/Publication Workshop

Oral presentations

27

Advanced Revision/Publication Workshop (cont.)

Workshop, Draft Essay 3

28

Presentations and Course Evaluations

Oral presentations

Course Evaluations

29

Last Class: Celebration

Portfolios due by end of day (with revision 3)