Interview, in groups of three, one of your classmates and prepare
to report the following information to the rest of the class:
-
(Possible) major / area of concentration
-
Favorite reading and music
Course goals for College Writing
I: Intellectual Prose
- Writing strong, clear, analytic essays and thinking carefully about
complex issues
- Prepare students to negotiate the complex world of the university by
answering the question: “What is intellectual prose”?
- Introduce students early on in their career to writing as a process:
brainstorming, drafting, and editing (including peer review)
- Give students some experience in documenting their reading and
research
- 5 Thematic units discuss society and culture as they relate to race,
class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and national identity
Group Discussion (10-15 minutes)
Divide group according to tasks:
- Someone to record / report group answer
- Someone to keep track of time
- Someone to track how ideas relate to the text
- 2 Discussion leaders
******************************************************
1 and 2 = #3/Suggestions for Discussion
3 and 4 = “Suggested Assignment”
5 = #2/Suggestions for Discussion
1. and 2. At the end of the first paragraph, Williams recounts
traveling from Cambridge to the Black Mountains of Wales via bus. He
writes that it is “a journey . .. that in one form or another we have
all made.” What does he mean? What does this journey tell us about
culture?
3. and 4. Think of as many instances as you can where the terms culture
or cultured appears. When do you hear other people (family, friends,
coworkers, neighbors, teachers, etc.) use the terms? When do you use
them yourself? Where have you seen the terms in written texts or heard
them used on radio and television or in the movies. Make a list of
occasions when you have encountered or used the terms. Categorize the
various uses of the terms. Are they used in the same way in each
instance or do their meanings differ? Explain your answer. How do you
account for the similarities and differences in the use of the terms?
What is culture?
1. "We use the word culture in these two senses: to mean a whole
way of
life--the common meanings; to mean the arts and learning--the special
processes of discovery and creative effort. Some writers reserve the
word for one or other of these senses; I insist on both, and on the
significance of their conjunction." Raymond Williams
2. "A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in
which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus
perpetually changing the configuration of the whole." Jacques Barzun
3. "Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their
thoughts,
their models, the books they read and the speeches they hear, their
table-talk, gossip, controversies, historical sense and scientific
training, the values they appreciate, the quality of life they admire.
All communities have a culture. It is the climate of their
civilization." Walter Lippmann
Review of Lecture 1
1. Writing is a process; it builds on brainstorming, reading, and
editing.
- In other words, your writing will improve and become more rewarding
over time and with continuous practice.
2. Writing is thinking on paper.
- In other words, writing is part of your learning process. This is
especially evident in the way that your reading strategies carry over
to your writing skills.
3. Theme for Unit I: Popular Culture
- Raymond Williams: "Culture is ordinary."
- cf. notes 1 and 2: How we choose to define "culture" depends on our
points of view, response to reading (on text and in the media), and
analytical thought processes.
Terms for Critical Engagement
1. Genre
- Critical essay
- Short story
- Magazine/newspaper article
- Scholarly article
- Polemical piece
2. Argument / Thesis
-
Central/controlling idea of a paper
-
From Hacker: "A thesis states a claim that will be supported in
the body of a paper; it tells readers what to expect as they read on.
To be effective, a thesis must be a generalization, not a fact; limited
in scope, not too broad; and sharply focused, not too vague. Because a
thesis must prepare readers for facts and details, it cannot itself be
a fact. It must always be a generalization demanding proof or further
development . . . Although a thesis must be a generalization, it must
not be too general" (Hacker
15).
3. Types of student writing (cf. p. 19-22)
- Exploratory writing (writing journals, brainstorming)
- Analytical writing (analysis = taking something apart)
-
Summary: Restates the
argument/thesis of reading and outlines the main points in the writer's
own words.
-
Synthesis: Combination of summaries of texts. “Synthesis”
commonly refers to writing about printed texts, drawing together
particular themes or traits that you observe in those texts and
organizing
the material from each text according to those themes or traits.
-
-
It accurately reports information from the sources using
different phrases
and sentences;
-
it is organized in such a way that readers can immediately see
where the
information from the sources overlap;.
-
it makes sense of the sources and helps the reader understand
them in greater
depth.
Writing Workshop: Summary, Synthesis, and Creative
Deduction
Assignment #1: Summary
Group 1: W. Bennett (23-25)
Group 2: V. Abt and L. Mustazza (25-7)
Group 3: D. Gaines (29-33)
Group 4: W. Bennett (23-25)
Group 5: D. Gaines (29-33)
In groups, synthesize two authors' articles, highlighting a particular
theme or trait you noted in your journal writing.
Group 1: Bennett / Abt and Mustazza
Group 2: Gaines / Bennett
Group 3: Abt and Mustazza / Gaines
Group 4: Choose any two articles to synthesize
Group 5: Choose any two articles to synthesize
Assignment #3: Creative
Deduction
In groups, write a dialogue between two of the authors we read. Try to
recreate the tone and underline the main argument of each author in
your fictional dialogue, which takes place in the Red Hawk Diner on
campus.
Group 1: Bennett / Abt and Mustazza
Group 2: Gaines / Bennett
Group 3: Abt and Mustazza / Gaines
Group 4: Choose any two authors
Group 5: Choose any two authors
Types of Writing
1. Exploratory (journals, brainstorming)
2. Analytical (drafting, final essays)
-
Summary: Argument and main point
-
Synthesis: A comparison of writers' positions to see how
they work in relation to one another
Reading strategies
1. Note main points, arguments
2. Respond to reading in writing (margins)
3. Look up words outside vocabulary range
Review: Creative Deduction
Write a dialogue between any two of the three authors (Bennett,
Abt/Mustazza, Gaines) we read this week. Try to recreate the tone and
underline the main argument of each author in your fictional dialogue,
which takes place in the Red Hawk Diner on campus.
Qualities of Good Writing
- Clear, strong argument
- Illustrative support for main points
- Aware of audience
- Strong / appropriate vocabulary
- Persuasive
- Keeps reader’s interest
Sample Issues in “Problems in Popular Culture”
1. Commercialization: What are these daytime talk shows selling?
2. Depravity vs. Didactic Function: Do daytime talk shows teach their
audiences to behave in a more or less socially “acceptable manner”?
3. Production and Distraction: What do the talk shows leave out? How
does their restructuring of material (and emphasis on certain material)
distract the viewer from potentially dangerous issues? What are these
issues?
1. Computer Safety
- Always make backups in various forms (floppy, CD, upload to web
server, hard copies)
2. Reading strategies
- What are the author’s main points?
- What keywords underline the author’s mode of argument?
3. Introductory paragraph
- Lead-in sentence
- Main idea of essay
- Essay map
- Thesis / argument / controlling idea
1. Qualities of a good essay
- Should alert the reader to the paper’s thesis/argument/controlling
idea in the first paragraph
- In order to flow well, it should be clear in its structure
- In order to be argumentative, objective, and analytical, it should
explore both sides of a “problem in popular culture”
2. Editing strategies
- Where are main ideas located?
- What questions would the reader have at each sentence?
- Embrace WRITING AS A PROCESS
3. Citation strategies
- MLA Citation = (author page
#) for books
= (author
year) for internet pages
e.g.: Prof. Nielsen writes that an essay should have a clear
"structure" (Nielsen 2003).
- You must include a Works
Cited
- Use of others’ ideas without citing them = plagiarism
- Paraphrase main ideas
- Cite when wording, etc. captures an element you wish to discuss
Generation
1. All of the offspring that are at the same stage of descent from a
common ancestor: Mother and daughters represent two generations.
2. Biology. A form or stage in the life cycle of an
organism: asexual generation of a fern.
3. The average interval of time between the birth of
parents and the birth of their offspring.
4.
1. A group of
individuals born and living about the same time.
2. A group of
generally contemporaneous individuals regarded as having common
cultural or social characteristics and attitudes: “They're the
television generation” (Roger Enrico).
5.
1. A stage or period
of sequential technological development and innovation.
2. A class of objects
derived from a preceding class: a new generation of computers.
6. The formation of a line or geometric figure by the
movement of a point or line.
7. The act or process of generating; origination,
production, or procreation.
Discussion:
1 (Group-based). What are the characteristics of the Baby Boomers
according to Lawrence Grossberg? When were they born? What cultural
practices define the Baby Boomers?
‡ What aspects of his piece are claims, arguments, and matters of
interpretation (as opposed to fact)?
2 (Group-based). What are the characteristics of Gen X according to
Mike Pope? When were they born? What cultural objects define Gen X?
‡ What aspects of his piece are claims, arguments, and matters of
interpretation (as opposed to fact)?
3 (ALL). What are the characteristics of your generation? What should
your generation be called?
Generation: Biological group, time between parents and children
Baby Boomers: Born after WWII; teenage consumer culture; largest
generation America had yet seen
Gen X: 1963-1981; internet, Cold War, and a dead economy; "X" moniker
from Douglas Copeland's book of the same name
Your generation: 1982-?; Children of the Baby Boomers; quick
technology, single parent homes; largest (student) group since the
G.I.s returned from WWII
Lawrence Grossberg and Mike Pope's shared argument: Generations are
specifically marketed to by companies and receive their notion of
identity, in turn, from this marketing.
What is/are
media?
me·di·um (m
d-
m)
n. pl. me·di·a (-d-)
or me·di·ums()
- Something, such as an
intermediate course of action, that occupies a position or represents a
condition midway between extremes.
- An intervening substance through which something else
is transmitted or carried on.
- An agency by which something is accomplished,
conveyed, or transferred: The train was the usual medium of
transportation in those days.
- pl. media Usage Problem.
- A means of mass communication, such as
newpapers, magazines, radio, or television.
- media (used with a sing. or
pl. verb) The group of journalists and others who constitute the
communications industry and profession.
- pl. media Computer Science.
An object or device, such as a disk, on which data is stored.
- pl. mediums A person thought to have
the power to
communicate with the spirits of the dead or with agents of another
world or dimension. Also called psychic.
- pl. media
- A surrounding environment in which
something functions and thrives.
- The substance in which a specific
organism lives and thrives.
- A culture medium.
-
- A specific kind of artistic technique or
means of expression as determined by the materials used or the creative
methods involved: the medium of lithography.
- The materials used in a specific artistic
technique: oils as a medium.
- A solvent with which paint is thinned to the proper
consistency.
- Chemistry. A filtering substance, such
as filter paper.
What is art?
"It is through Art and through Art
only that we can realize our perfection;
through Art and Art only that we can
shield ourselves from the sordid perils
of actual existence."—Oscar Wilde
"Art for art’s sake, with no purpose,
for any purpose perverts art. But art
achieves a purpose which is not its own."
—Benjamin Constant
"Advertising is the greatest art form of the
twentieth century."—Marshall McLuhan
Review of L. 21
Political Implications of Advertising Analysis
1. Gender
- Woman as sex object or housewife (Kilbourne)
- Homogenous stereotype of ‘woman’ (Ad and the Ego)
- Unequal expectations (man as ‘breadwinner,’ woman as model)
2. Violence
- Dismemberment of the human subject into an object (Berger, Kilbourne,
Ad and the Ego)
- Disguise the violence of consumerism (diamonds, Nike shoes)
3. Loss of identity
- Re-branding of public space (Liu)
- Fashioning of young consumers into lifelong buyers (Crest toothpaste,
Snapple in NYC schools)
- Attempt to equate individuality with consumer ‘choice’
Strategy for Excellent Essay Writing: Focus on a single issue, link it
to broader (political, social, economic) implications
Goal for today: Articulate essay questions for Unit IV Essay/create an
essay topic
Review L. 25
What is intellectual prose? (not
complete!)
- a.k.a.: Academic writing, academic discourse,
research writing, college writing
- General qualities: argumentative, clear and
specific, cites reliable evidence
- Intellectual prose is based on critical thinking
and reading; conforms to accepted styles; uses
educated language; and is a result of many drafts and editing
- In research journals/in practice, intellectual prose
addresses current professional and political issues;
cites information in order to give readers tools to
address these issues themselves; may use differing
citation methods depending on the discipline; may
include other reviews of literature; and communicates
the latest research findings.
Remaining questions not
answered by discussion:
- What do these ‘rules’ tell us about the users of this
genre? What function do these rules play?
- How have you adapted your writing to become a
member of this writing community?
- What is the line between objectivity and subjectivity
in intellectual prose?
Goal for today:
- Practice articulating what academic discourse is
(portfolios + revised essays)
Free write: How does your writing show that you are
a member of a community that practices ‘intellectual prose’?
FREE WRITE: What do you feel you have learned from CW I:
Intellectual Prose?
Lessons from ENWR 105/Strategies for ENWR 106
Writing
- A process of drafting, revising, revising, and revising
- Easier when approached from the perspective of “community”
- What is the common vocabulary in your writing community? Which issues
are debatable? Which ‘values’ are shared, and which ones need to be
further articulated?
Reading
- Our focus: genre--Television, advertisements, intellectual
prose/academic writing
- How does a text defy and/or conform to certain rules of genre?
- Intimately related to success in writing: distrust, keywords, and
response