Tentative weekly schedule

This schedule could be modified based on students’ needs and/or other emerging circumstances, but you will be informed of any change ahead of time.

Date	In class plan	Submissions/Readings/Preparations (submissions must be sent to me or posted online 24 hours before class session, unless otherwise noted)
Week 1
Monday August 29	Introductions Syllabus overview The writing process
Wednesday August 31	Intro to personal narratives In-class exercise: interviewing each other	Read George Orwell, “Why I Write”.   Read Shawna Coppola, Writing, Redefined
Week 2
Monday September 5	No Class (Labor Day)
Wednesday  September 7	Brainstorming session: Think of possible ideas and themes for your own personal narrative assignment. What would you like to reflect on through writing? Is there a specific story you would like to tell, or do you want to focus more on a theme, such as food, travel or certain events with wide sociopolitical bearings (the pandemic, for instance?)?	Watch Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED Talk, “The Danger of a Single Story”   Reading response 1 and peer comments/responses due: you may reflect on any of the readings (or video) we have gone over so far. Think about why a personal essay is so important. What does it establish that is different to what a novel or a formal research paper does? How have the essays we have read/listened to touched you? Do you relate to them, did they make you question or think deeply about something in your own lives?
Week 3
Monday September 12	In class workshop: write an outline.	Read The Language Desert: The Condition of Literacy and Reading in Contemporary America Come prepared to give an elevator pitch of your chosen topic for the personal narrative essay (2-3 minutes).
Wednesday September 14		Revise and submit the outline you worked on in class.   Reading response 2 and peer comments/responses due: Why is your story one worth telling? Tell us a bit about it. This is a pretty open prompt; the goal is to get you actively thinking and writing about your chosen topic. Use this response to introduce your topic, to narrate part of your story or to establish the importance of this event in your life and the lesson(s) it taught you. Keep in mind that this response may feed directly into your actual essay.
Week 4
Monday September 19		Read Anne Lamont, “Shitty First Drafts”.   Draft at least two pages of your narrative essay.
Wednesday September 21	In class peer review session. Bring 4+ drafted pages of your essay.   Revising and editing strategies.	Draft at least 4 pages (around 1000 words) of your essay. Bring a printed copy to class for a peer review session.
Sunday September 25		Submit your personal narrative essay by Sunday evening, before midnight.
Week 5
Monday September 26	No classes (Rosh Hashanah)
Wednesday September 28	In class reflection on the process of writing a personal narrative essay.   Does anyone want to read their essay (or parts of it) to the class?   Segue to next unit: what are the expectations for college writing?	You may wish to begin reading the assigned material for Thursday.
Thursday September 29	We will be having class (Classes follow Monday schedule)	Read “What is Academic Writing“
Week 6
Monday October 3	In class activity: Summary, thesis, main arguments	Read “How to Read Rhetorically” and “What is Rhetoric”
Wednesday October 5	No classes (Yom Kippur)
Week 7
Monday October 10	No classes (Indigenous People’s Day)
Wednesday October 12	In class brief presentation of individual essays.   Analysis of a poem.	Reading response 3 due: What will you write your essay on? Why have you chosen this work to analyze and write about? Why is it important to you? How are you connected to the ideas presented in this work, whether positively or negatively? Do you have personal experiences or memories that relate to it? Recreate that moment/memory in a paragraph or two (keep in mind that this can feed directly into your essay).   Come to class ready to give a brief presentation on what your critical analysis essay will be on (this will not need additional preparation once you’ve written reading response 3).
Week 8
Monday October 17	In class activity to begin developing your critical analysis essays: thesis, arguments, outline, introduction.	Read “I Need You to Say I”
Wednesday October 19		Make sure you have emailed me your in-class activity from October 17. This does NOT have to be a clean draft; I will not be looking at quality of writing. I just want to see if you are able to develop a thesis statement and an outline. Please keep in mind that your main argument may shift as you draft your essays, and that’s absolutely okay. You are not tied to what you submit in this outline.   Watch 3 Ways to Speak English Read “Moving Students towards Acceptance of ‘Other’ Englishes”
Week 9
Monday October 24	Individual conferences. More information to come.	Continue drafting essay
Wednesday October 26	In class writing session	Continue drafting essay
Sunday October 30		Submit your critical analysis essay by Sunday evening, before midnight.
Week 10
Monday October 31	In class reflection on the process of writing a critical analysis essay.   Does anyone want to read their essay (or parts of it) to the class?   Intro to next unit.
Wednesday November 2	Free write in class.	Read “Rebooting Research”
Week 11
Monday November 7	We will discuss choosing a topic	Begin thinking about the topic for your final writing project, the research paper
Wednesday November 9	In class writing session on abstract.	Come to class ready with an idea of what your final research paper will be about. We will do 1-2 minute elevator pitch presentations.   Read handout of Dalton Conley, “Tip Jars and the New Economy”
Week 12
Monday November 14		Reading Response 4 due. Prompt to follow.
Wednesday November 16	In class session: determining sources What is a literature review/annotated bibliography   How to cite?	Abstract draft due. Refine the abstract you worked on in class and email it to me.   Read “Reading Games: Strategies for Reading Scholarly Sources”
Week 13
Monday November 21	Working on annotated bibliography.	Read “Using Sources Ethically”
Wednesday November 23		Annotated bibliography due   Read “Paraphrasing and Summarizing” and “Quoting”
Week 14
Monday November 28	Forming questions and arguments	Read “Arguments”
Wednesday November 30		Individual conferences in lieu of class.
Week 15
Monday  December 5	Individual conferences	Draft at least 3 pages of your research paper and bring a copy to class for peer review.
Wednesday December 7	Individual conferences	Research paper tentative due date.
Week 16
Monday December 12		Final reflection (you will have time to submit this a few days after the last day of classes).   You will also have the chance to revise any or all of your 3 essays.