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| https://slate.com/culture/2015/07/between-the-world-and-me-by-ta-nehisi-coates-reviewed.html |
Hi readers, and many students, I am always going to take the opportunity to use material I am writing elsewhere for the blog. For instance, Park University has chosen me to be featured in a faculty spotlight, so as soon as they publish it (some time this month), I will share it here because, after all, I wrote it. Yes, I wrote my own spotlight feature.
And, I wrote this. Here's the first essay assignment that my students are completing in both sections of my English 101 course at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington.
While I type, I am listening to the podcast called The Monday Graveyard by Mark Shields. Check it out if you need a soundtrack.
I have been using this assignment for a few years back at WMU in Michigan. I started with the college stuff, and then later, when I adopted Ta-Nehisi Coates' book Between the World and Me, I added that book as part of the writing prompt.
For this semester, I scraped off the old paint, and I gave the assignment a new coat in a new color. I am pretty proud of what I have achieved, and I think it's fairly well written as assignment instructions go. I am proud of it, and so I share it here with imagery, dressed up from the version I put in the students' online classroom in Canvas.
Enjoy.
Comments?
NOTE: Image below from: https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/books/2015/07/11/between-world-and-nehisi-coates/1XbKIT9GRpvxEqenv6aRuJ/story.html
ESSAY ONE for ENGLISH 101 - Lower Columbia College - WINTER 2018
LETTER TO STUDENT - ESSAY FOR BTWM
DUE - Tuesday 1/29 on paper in class and ON CANVAS as Word doc.
MINIMUM LENGTH = 900 words. Exceed this minimum; no maximum.
MINIMUM SOURCE USE - Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, “White Privilege Backpack” by Peggy McIntosh, and “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo.
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As I explained in class, choose someone who will enter college in the next four years to whom you can write a letter of advice. Best to choose someone from your own family or a close friend. Factors of gender, race, and other identity concerns (yours and the other person’s) will shape how you present your advice and what it is.
Your letter-essay will supply advice for a prospective student on protecting the body, being a conscious citizen, and being a successful student. You will advise why one should go to college or not, and how to navigate the world of college when one arrives, interacting with a diverse community of different folks.
The “essay” should be thought of as a “letter,” though your instructor will often use these words (essay and letter) interchangeably. PLEASE NOTE the quotations around the word essay. This assignment is not an essay in any traditional sense but more of collection of parts that do not have to be tied together with transitions and will stand alone.
You may structure the work as you wish, and you may re-arrange the parts as long as you provide some labeling or clear indicator which part is which part to ease my grading burdens.
As you write and share advice, information, opinion, and analysis with your reader, think about what it means to “protect your body” as Ta-Nehisi Coates explains in Between the World and Me. Also, think and write about being a conscious citizen, which he also mentions frequently, as you share advice throughout your “essay” on how to be a successful student and the best human being you can be.
THE PARTS
COLLEGE DEFINITIONS: In your opinion, what is the purpose of college? How does your opinion agree with or differ from other opinions and why? Cite other opinions. What is liberal arts education? Why do schools seem to care about it? What’s the purpose of liberal arts education? How does this definition and purpose fit into your definition of the purpose of college? Cite at least two definitions of liberal arts education for comparison value. You’re writing a letter to someone, and so your text should be phrased in the form of advice and instruction. (Minimum length: two paragraphs: 300 words).
COLLEGE BRAND IDENTIFICATION: Since colleges have become big businesses, they have followed the capitalist and consumerism model in terms of defining and promoting their “brand.” Much like fashion companies, sports companies, and vacation destinations among other brands, colleges and universities inspire fierce brand loyalty among students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
Choose three different schools (one may be LCC) and analyze one of the school’s advertisements, slogans, memes, signs, billboards, or other promotional materials. Look for a logo or image that is paired with a short slogan, like the examples I will share in class as I instruct the material for this assignment.
Describe these methods of branding for each school (extra points if you include the images in your essay), and then analyze how the school is promoting itself and what about it is promoted. What’s the school’s image for itself? How is it regarded? How does the school want to be seen?
As you write this analysis, tie it in with your thoughts on the purpose of college and liberal arts education. Is there alignment in these ideas or polar opposites?
Don’t forget. You’re writing a letter to someone, and so your text should be phrased in the form of advice and instruction.
Provide web links to where you found the imagery from each school. (Minimum length: one paragraph: 250 words).
WHY ARE YOU IN COLLEGE? Why are you in college? What are your goals? If you haven’t declared a program of study yet, that’s okay. Explain why. Also, connect this content to your thoughts on the purpose of college. Remember, you’re writing TO someone. Keep that other person in mind as you write. Write TO that person.
(Minimum length: one paragraph: 50 words).
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| https://thefieldnegroessays.wordpress.com/2015/07/20/book-review-between-the-world-and-me-by-ta-nehisi-coates/ |
PEOPLE - RACE - WHITE PRIVILEGE - AND BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME
For the last part of the essay (though it does not have to be positioned last in the essay), write a short essay that begins with a thesis in the traditional thesis position as the last sentence of the introduction. The thesis should have as its core either your praise and recommendation for why your reader (and anyone) should read Between the World and Me (BTWM) by Ta-Nehisi Coates or why you do not recommend it. Remember opinions about books are not polar, either/or. You can praise it in some ways and criticize it in others. Write what you think and feel.
Though the core of your thesis forms your opinion of BTWM, the rest of the thesis speaks to your experiences with race, racism, and white privilege. Express three ideas about race, racism, and white privilege in an essay map in your thesis and then explore these ideas. One idea must directly target and cite BTWM (though all three can and should), and another must directly target white privilege and cite “White Privilege Backpack” by Peggy McIntosh and “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo, though these articles can be cited in other parts as well.
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| https://madmimi.com/s/97fc76 |
For example, if it were my essay, I would definitely recommend the book. I would focus on the idea that black people are not people as referenced by Coates first on page six and Coates’ claim of “people who believe themselves to be white.” I just saw the film Hidden Figures, and so I would write about separate drinking fountains, bathrooms, and even coffee makers as shown in the film (and as are historically accurate).
Next, I would write about the issues of Black Lives Matter and white privilege: as I already explored in this blog entry:
“Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #371 - I am not afraid of the police; but maybe you should be.”
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2016/07/hey-mom-talking-to-my-mother-371-i-am.html.
And lastly, I would write about my feelings on reparations for slaves, appropriation/co-optation, and the debt owed to the people who built this country while enslaved to those who believe themselves to be white, as I explored here,
A Sense of Doubt blog post #1390 - A Debt Not Paid - Appropriation and the Co-Opting of Modern Music
https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/2018/12/a-sense-of-doubt-blog-post-1390-debt.html.
This “essay” has an introduction, but it does not need a conclusion.
I will teach concepts for this assignment in multiple classes leading up to the due date.
INTRODUCTION: Consider starting it with something catchy.
SUMMARIZE: Prior to delivering the thesis, the introduction should summarize BTWM in no fewer than four and no more than eight sentences.
THESIS: ONE and one sentence only. Place it at the end of the introduction. Consider using my because-should form or a modified version of it. Thesis must include an opinion about BTWM and an essay map of topics about race, racism, and white privilege.
Cite all paraphrases AND direct quotations and provide references for this part on a Works Cited list for the entire essay, including previously used sources before this section.
MINIMUM LENGTH = Three paragraphs (four is more logical and better) = 300 words.
Even in this part, do not forget that you’re writing to someone; it’s all a letter.
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| https://share.social/item/4/Between-the-World-and-Me |
EXTRA CREDIT
- EXTRA STUFF - As with all assignments that I give, extra credit MAY BE awarded for extra content and extra source use. But the entire paper must be of high quality to reach this bonus phase. You can write 2500 words, but if you have not hit a home run with your work, you will not earn extra credit, or you might, but it will not be above and beyond an A if you have not earned an A.
- SLAVE REPARATIONS - If you add a section on the article Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote on reparations for the children of slaves (posted to CANVAS), you may earn extra points if the section meets a minimum length (300 words), cites the article frequently, and provides your opinion as well as enough cited material proving that you read and understood the article.
Do your best because you are a rock star!
Waggy tails and checks in the mail,
your friend in learning,
- chris tower
ENG 101, LCC, Winter 2019
“no one is a barber shop”
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1901.15 - 10:10
- Days ago = 1291 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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| https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Between-the-world-and-me/1104412/4363667/view |
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