english class 3 assignments

1.) Read Chapter 9 in Argument Today to learn the particular considerations that we take into account when writing a narrative essay.  Then, read Eggers’ “The Long Road to Riyadh.”  One interesting element of this essay is the manner in which Eggers weaves his own travels through the Saudi desert with the larger geo-political make-up of the Middle East.  Identify at least two instances where he switches back and forth between “him time” and “global time.”  This is to say, how does he transition between discussing his own personal experience and the greater global concerns of the essay.  What technique(s) from the Argument Today reading does he use to transition?  How is this different from our understanding of a narrative as a, “first this, then that” chronological flow? Your initial post should be approximately 300 words and posted by Wednesday at 11:59 PM.

2.) Read Hughes’ “Salvation” and Lorde’s “The Fourth of July.”  Both are short “coming of age” stories about young African Americans.  However, the similarities end there.  Hughes focuses on the relationship between a young man and his church community.  Lorde focuses on a young girl experiencing her parents’ reaction to societal racism.  As usual, I just gave you the topic; now, you have to find the thesis.  What is the point of the stories being told?  Can you find a thesis that they both share?  You should post (briefly) what you believe the thesis is for each of the individual essays.  Then, use section 9.3 from your Argument Today reading from last week (the “Organizing and Drafting Your Narrative Argument” section.)  Using one of the essays, give a brief (one or two sentence) explanation of how the essay follows this trajectory.  For your convenience, here are the narrative elements from Chapter 9 Section 3:

• Set the Scene: Describe the Who, Where, What, Where
• Introduce a Complication:  Disrupt the Scene
• Evaluate the Complication:  The Characters React
• Resolve the Complication:  The Characters Figure It Out
• Offer a Lesson or a Call to Action: Explain What the Story Means

Your initial post should be approximately 300 words and be up by Wednesday night by 11:59pm.

3.)Read Chapter 6 in Argument Today to learn how we structure and execute a compare-contrast analysis.  Then, read Barry’s “The Ugly Truth About Beauty” and Tannen’s “Sex, Lies, and Conversation.” The discussion this week will require you to compare and contrast two compare and contrast essays.  Mind blown, right!?!

In your initial post, you should decide what the underlying thesis is for each essay.  Then, compare the two essays in terms of content (what is the author talking about?), tone (what is the author’s voice like?) and who you believe gets closer to a universal truth about gender.  The last point is a bit of an opinion; this should be a refreshing chance to “weigh in” after having to be so evidential and academic all semester.  You’ll also notice that this assignment is a preview for the pre-writing assignment as we will be using essentially the same skills and structure to form our own essay ideas.