Greg Klotz

Work in Progress
English 104:
Assignments

Interviews
Observation
Analysis and Evaluation
Argument Paper
Revision
Homework / Quizzes
Readings
Final Exam

Interviews due September 27^th
Find 2 of these 4 (professor, graduate student, senior, professional in your field, etc.) and interview them about the work they do and their interests in the field of study. Be sure to be thinking about how this paper can set up your Observation paper. Think about what kinds of things you want to know about your field of study:

• what will you learn about in your major?
• what types of classes will you be taking during your college days?
• what types of jobs can you get with your major?
• how competitive is your field?
• will you be required to learn new materials once at your job?

• is this job entirely ideal for you? or,
• are there parts of your job that you won't enjoy too much?

When you write your paper, don't just list the things that your interview subjects said; organize the responses you get from them. You may want to arrange your paper according to the topics they discussed, according to your interests in your field, etc. The paper should be 2-3 pages.

Observation due October 25^th
No matter which topic you choose to write about for this paper, be sure to use thorough details in your paper. The point of this paper, no matter your topic, is to provide complete and concrete details about the lab/process/(whatever) you observed so your readers will be able to visualize and understand the scene you describe:

• fully describe relevant people, settings, or objects that have specific characteristics that your readers need to know in order to understand the scene you observed
• fully describe people's facial expressions, reactions, and interactions so readers know how people acted/reacted in the scene you observed
• fully describe interaction and movement so readers know what happens in the scene you observed

Observation in Your Field of Study
Now that you have (hopefully) established some contacts within your field, arrange a time where you can observe one of these people in your field as he/she works. Make sure you are observing a part of this person's job that is more interactive and "hands-on."

• For example, if you arrange a time with a professor (or graduate TA or student) to observe him/her teaching in class, make sure it is not a lecture or classroom, but an upper-level lab-type class that would allow you to see what kinds of labs/experiments you would be doing in the future in your junior-/senior-level laboratory classes.
• If you observe a professional in your field, you probably don't want to watch him/her doing paperwork all afternoon; see if there is some field work you can watch, or design work, or manufacturing, etc. You could even see if your interview subject could arrange a tour of his/her office or plant, and write about a company process.

Observation of Art on Campus
The University Museums will be sponsoring the second annual essay Competition for English students in 104/105. Students can write about art on campus, the Farm House Museum, and the exhibits collections in the Brunnier Art Museum. In the late spring the museums will award five $100.00 awards for the top essays. The criteria include:

• good description
• personal analysis or interpretation
• evaluation of the artwork

Alternative Observation Topics
If you did not have an opportunity to arrange an observation of someone in your field of study (or your major wouldn't be overly exciting to sit and watch someone perform), you are welcome to write your Observation paper on one of these topics:

• Families in Ames Celebrating Ethnicities Festival—October 13^th, 7:00pm - Midnight in Downtown Ames
• ISU Homecoming Parade—October 20^th, 5:30pm starting at Towers and moving to the Campanile
• other topics approved by me before you begin writing the paper

Analysis and Evaluation due November 15^th
The overall goal of this assignment is to understand how an argument is constructed. Understanding your audience and why they believe what they believe will help you develop your own arguments in class.

Any good argument needs to understand the influences that change the way people view the issue. So we need to know what beliefs or situations might affect the way people feel about the issue. Once you choose a topic, I want you to fully explain how opinions are formed about that topic. For example:

• think about where and how people form their ideas about the issue you are choosing to analyze
• think about issues related to the topic being discussed in class and how those issues influence the way people feel about that topic
• think about how people argue: what techniques do they use, and how are those techniques effective? how do the techniques they use relate to the audiences they are trying to persuade?
• be sure to look at the notes on the Rhetorical Situation for more information about rhetorical analysis

Alternative Analysis Topic: Advertising Analysis
Choose any advertisement (from TV, a book, a magazine, etc.) and analyze the rhetorical situation of that ad. Be sure to state what ad you chose to analyze, and please staple a photocopy of your ad (if not from TV) to your paper; you do not have to rip it out of whatever magazine.

Any good advertisement takes into account the rhetorical situation. Once you choose an ad, I want you to fully explain the rhetorical situation surrounding that ad. You need to fully describe the audience, purpose, and context of the ad and tell me how these components your ad. How does the rhetorical situation influence or impact the ad?

When analyzing your advertisement, show me how particular components from the ad are affected by audience, purpose, or context. Don't just say, "It's a billboard"; fully explain how the fact that the ad is a billboard affects the way the message is presented (tell about its size, how will people see it, how much time the audience actually has to view it, etc.) Show how the audience, purpose and context affect each other; for example, we have seen that when you alter the context of a situation, the particular audience can also be affected (remember the class activity of moving class outside), so be sure to show how the components intertwine and are affected by one another.

This is a rhetorical analysis, so remember you do not summarize or evaluate the advertisement. I know what the ad is and I don't care whether you think it's good or bad; all I want is for you to tell me how the advertisement responds to its rhetorical situation.

The overall goal of this assignment is to understand the rhetorical situation. Understanding the effects of audience, purpose, and context will help you develop your own arguments later in the class. Specifically, the goals include:

• to develop our understanding of the rhetorical situation and its influence on arguments
• to learn how addressing audience, purpose, and context can shapes the way an argument presents its message (your advertisement is essentially an argument)
• to understand how advertisements influence their audiences; this is not something you need to address in your paper, but it is something I hope we will all gain from studying this material and analyzing audience, purpose, and context

Argument Paper due December 6^th
After studying and analyzing arguments all semester, you will write your own argumentative paper on a topic of your choice. You must have at least five sources for your research paper; only two of these may be internet sources. Yes, you have to go use the library.

The point of this paper is not just to do research; in this paper you should construct your own argument and support that argument with research.

Think about your Rhetorical Analysis papers and additional comments I gave you—these will help you understand how you need to write your argument.

When you write your argument, remember to think about the interaction between:

• the Rhetorical Situation (Audience, Purpose, and Context)
• the Rhetorical Tools (Logos, Ethos, and Pathos)
• and your entire topic, not just your side of the argument

Audience - Who is your audience? What do they believe? Why? How does this impact your argument? What types of arguments will they best respond to? Don't answer these in this paper, but make sure you follow them when addressing your audience.
Purpose - Why are you writing this paper? What is your goal? Stick to that goal; don't stray from this goal or add in unrelated ideas. Make sure everything you argue relates to this goal.
Context - What is the situation? How does it affect people (and your argument)? Be sure you understand what related issues affect your topic, and know why.
Logos - Does your audience need facts? Make sure you use the right kinds of support to persuade.
Ethos - Don't just think "testimonials"; think about your ethos. Showing you understand the whole topic and both sides of the argument will allow you to reach and hopefully persuade your audience.
Pathos - Does your audience respond to emotional appeals? If they need the facts, this may not work.
Your Topic - Show your audience you have a full understanding of the topic and both sides of the argument so they will be more likely to listen to what you have to say. Be sure to also achieve your purpose.

Do not answer the questions above in your research paper. Rather, consider the things above and use them to construct an argument of your own.

This paper is an example of what you will be writing in English 105. The overall goal of this paper is for you to prove your understanding of what we've discussed in class about analyzing, arguing, and fully understanding a topic in order to have an educated viewpoint on the matter. Specifically, the goals include:

• to be able to establish yourself as an "expert" on your topic and provide some additional insight into the current debate over your topic
• to understand the Rhetorical Situation in an argument, and to be able to address the Rhetorical Situation properly using Rhetorical Tools
• to learn how to appropriately (for your topic) address and persuade an audience

Revision due December 13^th
Revise one of your four papers. There is a distinct difference between editing and revising:

• Revise—(re + vis) or "again" + "see"; re-examine the thesis and main points of a paper; make sure it is organized in a logical way; look at the paper in its entirety (your thoughts are complete from beginning to end of the paper)
• Edit—correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation; make sure the sentences are complete and the text fits together with transitions; look at the individual components of the paper (sentences, paragraphs, etc.)

...and your paper must be REVISED. Do not just read through your paper and correct spelling and grammar errors. If you merely edit, you will not receive higher than a "C-"—you may even receive a lower grade if you just edit without revising. So try and really re-think your paper:

• what is the thesis of your paper?
• do all of the concepts or components in your paper support that single thesis?
• are your ideas complete; are there gaps in the presentation of your ideas?
• and so on...