Journal Assignments
Dev Writ I 095
Spring 2000

Choose one topic from each of the following subheadings within the book Writing First: Practice in Context with Readings as listed below, and submit, on the dates assigned, a one-page, typed, double-spaced response to it.

Write them using these four criteria:
 
I. Introduce the author and title of the article
II. briefly summarize one particular aspect of the work read and tell me what the author means by it
III. tell me what you think of the author's message--this will be your longest section--in it, you are giving a critical analysis of the text (which means your own opinion based on how you view the world as opposed to how the author views the world)--what do you think this passage means in context with the message of the greater article?--that sort of thing
IV. tell me what impact this issue as a whole has on society
 
This will be your journal format for all the journals you do for the remainder of this class--about a page, typed and double-spaced.  Let me know if you have any questions on this. 

1) Tuesday, 18 January—"What is the most interesting thing I have ever done and why?"

2) Tuesday, 25 January—Exemplification, “Don’t Call Me a Hot Tamale” or “The Suspected Shopper” 

3) Tuesday, 1 February—Preacher, Chs. 1-4 (1-46)

4) Tuesday, 8 February—Narration, “The Sanctuary of School” (497-9) or “Thirty-Eight Who Saw Murder Didn’t Call the Police” (500-2)

5) Tuesday, 15 February—Description, “Graduation” (503-5) or “The Grandfather” (506-7)

6) Tuesday, 22 February—Process, “Slice of Life” (508-10) or “Indelible Marks” (511-2)

7) Tuesday, 29 February—Preacher, Chs. 5-9 (47-99)

8) Tuesday, 14 March—Cause and Effect, “The ‘Black Table’ is Still There” (513-5) or “The Old Block” (516-8)

9) Tuesday, 21 March—Comparison and Contrast, “How the Lawyers Stole Winter” (518-21) or “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” (522-5)

10) Tuesday, 28 March—Preacher, Chs. 10-15 (100-48)

11) Tuesday, 4 April—Classification, “Wait Divisions” (526-8) or “The Men We Carry in Our Minds” (528-32)

12) Tuesday, 11 April—Definition, “Tortillas” (532-4) or “Dyslexia” (535-8)

13) Tuesday, 18 April—Preacher, Chs. 16-21 (149-99)

14) Tuesday, 25 April—Argument, “In Defense of Talk Shows” (539-41) or “The New Prohibition” (541-3) or “I Have a Dream” (544-8)

15) Tuesday, 9 May—“What grade I should receive in this class, and why.  What was the most beneficial aspect about this course? the least?”

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