Greg Klotz
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English 104:
Homework / Quizzes
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When we have minor writing assignments, I will put the details for these assignments here. In class, I will tell you when you have an assignment here, but you should probably check here frequently for updates.
Persuasion Analysis
Write a one-page analysis of observing and analyzing someone trying to persuade another person uses to persuade his/her audience. Don't just summarize the arguments, and don't argue your own position on the topic; understand how he/she addresses his/her audience and tries to persuade. Understand the Rhetorical Situation of the persuasion going on in the discussion you observe.
Basically, this journal is practice for the Analysis and Evaluation paper coming up, so be sure to look at the that assignment for more details about analysis papers. This paper is due Thursday, 11 / 1.
Class Expectations
Write a one-page reflection / analysis of the contrast in instructor personas in class. Don't just say things like, "Greg was a jerk the first week, then really awesome the second week." As true as this is (and as flattered as I would be), I already know this. I want to get some student feedback on this exercise; I want to know if this exercise was effective, and if so, why you thought it was, how it was affective, and how it achieved its purpose.
You could try responding to questions like these:
- What purpose do you feel the exercise best served?
- What did you find to be the most interesting aspect of this exercise?
- What lesson or theme do you think stands out most from this exercise?
- Did this exercise affect the way you view learning, or your classroom persona, or your thoughts about your field of study, etc., and how?
If you have another aspect of the exercise you would like to address / examine, you are more than welcome to write about that. This paper is due Tuesday, 9 / 11.
Student Discussions
Choose a controversial topic that interests you—something from current events, something that relates to you, etc.—and lead a class discussion on this subject. Be sure to choose a topic that will also interest your classmates and allow enough debate (the more heated, the better) about the topic. So don't choose topics like:
- "I think Peruvians are underpaid... The average Peruvian's salary in 1981 dollars adjusted for the revised tax base is $1,452.81 per annum, which is $836.07 before the mean gross poverty level." Who cares?
- "Hey, what about this: If you had a choice between being the top scientist in your field or getting Mad Cow Disease, what would it be?" Duh.
- "Hey, we all know that the Moon is not made of green cheese; but what if it were made of bar-b-qued spare-ribs, would you eat it then?" What?!?!?
In preparation for your class discussion, you should develop the following:
- a brief introduction (less than 5 minutes) to your topic that will provide your classmates with some background information (of course, you don't want to choose a topic that nobody knows about, so people will have interest in and opinions about the topic)
- a list of about 10-15 questions that would initiate discussion about your topic, possibly examining different aspects of that topic
- two sources per person in your group that discuss positions on your topic; you should have as many pro sources as you have con (so you can probably just each get one pro and one con source)
- OPTIONAL: you are welcome to develop a class activity, create an informational handout, assign a reading the day before your presentation (probably something relatively short), or do anything else you feel would accompany your class discussion well
- a one-page sheet with your brief introduction, list of questions, and bibliography of sources that you will hand in to me on the day we discuss your topic
Don't worry about conflicting with other people's opinions when we discuss. The more controversy that arises from these discussions, the more interesting and exciting they become (of course, we still want to be respectful and courteous to each other).
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