College Writing 1: Monsters and/in Culture | Spring 2018
A COURSE SITE FOR ENGLISH 110, SECTIONS 3 & 26 | Professor Christopher Williams
Estimated time: 30 mins
Due by 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 22nd
As discussed in class, the formal draft of Essay 2 will not be due on Thursday. Instead, please read the Effective Paragraphing handout and the Model Lens Analysis essay in preparation for Thursday’s class.
Estimated time: 1 hour
Due by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 20th
There is no writing due for this homework assignment. Instead please re-read the essays “Monster Culture” and “Masters of Desire” and the reading titled “Linking Evidence and Claims.”
Estimated time: 2 hours
Due by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 13th
The goal of this exercise is to vividly describe your exhibit for your intended reader and to practice lens analysis.
First, review my comments about the potential exhibits you found for Exercise 2.2. If you need to find a different exhibit, you might check these websites: adsoftheworld.com, coloribus.com, adforum.com.
Review the Visual Analysis handout. Then, in one paragraph, vividly describe your exhibit. Start by stating what your exhibit is and when and where it was used (e.g. “This movie poster for King Kong was first released in print in America in 1933.”) Make sure that you focus on elements like: central image, composition, organization, setting, size, colors, shading, and text.
Review the Lens Analysis handout. Then, in one paragraph, argue clearly that some specific aspect or element of your exhibit can be considered a “monster” or “monstrous” according to Cohen.
Post your response as a comment below.
Estimated time: 1 hour
Due by 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 8th
The goal of this exercise is to identify two possible exhibits for your lens analysis essay.
Research
First review the instructions for Assignment 2. Then conduct some research to find two potential exhibits for your lens analysis essay. Remember that your “exhibit” is the advertisement that you will be analyzing in your essay. It must be a static advertisement (i.e. not a video); for example, a student could choose a highway billboard, a movie poster, an online advertisement, a subway advertisement, a newspaper or magazine advertisement, or even a flyer. However, the advertisement does not have to be in English. Strong advertisements for this assignment are usually primarily visual. You should find:
A great website to search for print advertisements is: http://www.adsoftheworld.com
Writing
Provide a copy of and/or link to each of your advertisements as a comment below.
The aim of this exercise is to identify the main idea of “Masters of Desire: The Culture of American Advertising.”
Estimated time: 30 minutes
Due by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 6th
Read the first 5 pages of “Masters of Desire.” Quote 1-2 sentences that you believe represent the thesis or main idea of the essay. Post your response as a comment below.
The aim of this exercise is to better understand the function and structure of an effective thesis.
Estimated time: 10 minutes
Due by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 27th
For class on Tuesday, please read the Effective Theses handout.
(No writing is due.)
The aim of this exercise is to evaluate the argumentation in your formal draft by identifying the claims you make and reviewing how well you support them.
Estimated time: 1.5 hours
Due by 9:30 a.m. Thursday, February 22nd
The aim of this exercise is to summarize “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” for a reader who has not read the essay.
Estimated time: 1 hour
Due by 9:30 a.m. Thursday, February 7th
An effective summary helps an unfamiliar reader to accurately understand the main ideas of a piece of writing. Typically, an effective summary includes:
1) the author’s full name
2) the name of the text
3) a description of the author’s analytical project (USEFUL VERBS: explores, examines, analyzes, investigates; NOT: says, writes, is about, looks into)
4) one or two quotes of the author’s main point (USEFUL VERBS: argues, asserts, states, proposes, hypothesizes, claims)
5) a paraphrase/explanation/example of the author’s main point (USEFUL PHRASES: for example, for instance, in other words)
6) a brief description of how author supports his/her main idea in the text
Here’s an example of a summary of a 25-page essay called “The Trouble with Wilderness”:
In his essay “The Trouble with Wilderness,” William Cronon, Professor of History, Geography, and Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, asks his readers to “rethink wilderness” (83). He criticizes mainstream environmentalism’s portrayal of wilderness as “sublime,” claiming that these “specific habits of thinking” have actually hindered the modern environmental movement by “underpinning other environmental concerns” (97-99). Cronon claims that this insistence on portraying the wilderness as separate from society inadvertently draws attention away from “most of our serious environmental problems” in “the landscape … that we call home” (103). Thus, he concludes that humankind should refrain from a “dualistic vision in which the human is entirely outside the natural” (97). Instead, he advocates that society be self-conscious of its actions in relation to nature everywhere, not just the locations perceived as the wilderness but also the environment that surrounds and permeates human civilization.
Write a one-paragraph summary of “Monster Culture (Seven Thesis)” following the above guidelines. Imagine that you want another freshman who has not read the essay to understand it. (Even though we are only reading up to Thesis IV for the first assignment, you know enough about the essay to be able to summarize it.)
The aim of this exercise is to better understand “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by identifying key terms, topic sentences and main ideas in sections of the essay.
Estimated time: 1.5 – 2 hours
Due by 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, February 5th
Part 1: Reading
Carefully read “Thesis III: The Monster is the Harbinger of Category Crisis” and “Thesis IV: The Monster Dwells at the Gates of Difference” in “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” In your class journal (hardcopy or online), take note of no more than four key terms you encounter in each section. Research and write down their definitions. Also try to write down ideas and questions that you have in response to specific parts of this section. Bring your annotated copy of this essay to class on Thursday, February 1st.
Part 2: Writing
In your own hard copy of “Monster Culture (Seven Theses),” underline the topic sentence of each paragraph in each thesis. In each section, select the topic sentence that you think expresses the main point. Write out each topic sentence and then explain what each means in your own words. Try to be as specific as possible. Post your response below as a COMMENT to this post.
The aim of this exercise is to better understand “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” by identifying the main idea in one section of the essay.
Estimated time: 30 minutes – 1 hour
Due by 9:30 a.m. Thursday, February 1st
Part 1: Reading
Carefully read “Thesis II: The Monster Always Escapes” in “Monster Culture (Seven Theses).” In your class journal (hardcopy or online), take note of no more than eight difficult but important words you encounter. “Important words” are words that might be often repeated or are located in places where it seems Cohen is explaining his main idea. Research and write down their definitions. Also try to write down ideas and questions that you have in response to specific parts of this section. Bring your annotated copy of this essay to class on Thursday, February 1st.
Part 2: Writing
Find one (1) sentence that you think expresses the main point of Thesis II. Write it out and then explain what it means in your own words. Try to be as specific as possible. Post your sentence and explanation below as a comment to this post. (To be able to post, you need to go to qwriting.org and sign up for an account using your QC email address ending in @qmail.cuny.edu. Once you have an account, join the site by using the link on the right.)
