english

Composition Unit Class Assignments

Please email the assignments to me at [email protected]

“In all affairs, it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have taken for granted.” – Bertrand Russell

Read: Bunn, “How to Read Like a Writer”; Carroll, “Backpacks; Irvin, “What is ‘Academic’ Writing”; the two pieces by Zinsser; hooks, chapter 27 from Wounds of Passion. Write:

· Answer questions 1 and 2 on page 85 of Bunn’s essay.

· Answer question 1 on page 57 of Carroll’s essay.

· What is academic writing according to Irvin?

· What are the elements of academic writing?

· identify three passages from Zinsser that you think are significant.

· Why do you think they are significant?

· Pick out three passages that strike you as significant.

· Why do you think they are significant?

· What do you think of hooks’s association of writing with realization of the self and with feminism?

“To learn to write is to learn to have ideas.” – Robert Frost

Now that we have some concepts and a vocabulary for analyzing Composition, we can apply them to an analysis of three pieces.

President Obama delivers Eulogy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9IGyidtfGI

Read: Obama, Biden, and Gorman. Watch the video of Obama’s speech. Write:

· What is context in which the speech was written?

· Who is the audience for the speech?

· How does Obama establish common ground in the speech?

· Identify two writerly moves or choices Obama makes in the speech.

· Pick three passages from the speech that you find significant.

· Why are they significant?

· Briefly, discuss how Obama uses emotional language (pathos) and logical reasoning (logos)?

· Is the speech persuasive?

· How has watching the video altered or amplified your understanding and appreciation of his speech?

· Compare and contrast Obama’s speech with Biden’s. Questions you might consider could include these. Are the contexts different? Is the purpose different?

· How do you feel after reading Gorman’s poem?

· What is the context of her poem?

· Is there an argument in her poem?

· First Essay Assignment Given.

“How can I know what I think till I see what I say?” – E.M. Forster