“All biographies like all autobiographies like all narratives tell one story in place of another.”
Helen Cixous (Rootprints, 71)

On-line Questions for Discussion (DQ)

Roughly once a week, I will post a discussion question on Collab for you to consider and answer before 8 am the day of class. (See schedule for specific dates.) These questions are designed to prime and focus class discussion. Ideally, these will also provide material and direction for your essays as you discover topics you find interesting. I don't expect you to write mini-essays, just to provide thoughtful responses to the question that we can follow up on in class.

The following additional instructions are for the days when you are responsible for posting a question:
Throughout the semester, you will have the opportunity to post your own DQ. For the day(s) you are responsible for posting question(s), post the DQ by noon the day before the reading is due, to give your classmates time to read and respond.

Here are a few suggestions:

Generate two or three discussion questions in response to the reading. When selecting which to post, be sure they are complex, provocative or open-ended enough to promote discussion and that they engage with the readings. These should be real questions—i.e., questions you don’t have answers to but believe are important to pursue.

For each question you post, think about how you would answer it, and feel free to post this after your classmates have had a chance to weigh in.

Then, post your reply to at least one other question.

Evaluation: I'll evaluate your responses on a check plus/check/check minus basis. This assignment should be a place for you to develop your thoughts and respond to the texts, rather than a source for grade anxiety!
If you respond to at least 9 of the 11 DQ over the semester and meet the following criteria, you'll do fine.

• Appropriateness to topic : Do the posts (or questions) demonstrate an understanding of the reading(s)? Do the posts address the questions?
• Making connections: Do the responses make connections between reading(s) or between readings & class discussion? Do they engage with other classmates ideas/posts?
• Insight, Seriousness, or Creativity: Do the posts make serious efforts to grapple with an idea? Do they demonstrate reflection? original thought?
  

For the final portfolio, I'll ask you to select and include the Discussion Question post you think is the best example of your work along with a brief (100-200 word paragraph) explanation of why you think this is so.

Reading Journal

The purpose of the reading journal is to develop a regular practice of figuring out what you think of our course materials from different perspectives as well as how they connect to your life. Regular writing has been shown to deepen thinking, the ability to make connections and insights.

Your reading journals will be a place to explore ideas concerning our readings and discussions without worrying too much about being evaluated. Your journal is a place to experiment and to ask yourself, "How accurately can I explain or describe this idea?" The point of the journal is to develop a regular, habitual practice of figuring out what you think of our course materials. The point of the journal and the discussion questions is to develop a regular, habitual practice of figuring out what you think of our course materials, or to practice in a low-stakes way the kinds of writing you'll be doing in the more formal essay assignments. Ideally, the journal will also provide material and direction for your essays.

Below you'll find description of the specific assignments I'll ask you to write for your journal. I'd also recommend that you use the journal to take notes on the reading. It's an excellent way to prepare for class and to jot down ideas that might lead to an essay topic. As you read or at the end of each reading session, make a note of moments you find yourself responding to or questioning the text. Write down the page, the first few words of the passage, and note your thoughts, responses or questions.

Requirements: Each of the short assignments listed on the schedule should be dated, typed, and have a title or label. Unless otherwise specified, they should be 1-2 pages long. Feel free to write in the first person. Bring them to class on the date mentioned on the schedule. I'll collect them periodically and return them with feedback or ask you to share from them with your classmates.

The following descriptions are listed in the order they appear on the schedule. Unless otherwise noted, page length should equal 1-2 pages:

Close Reading Practice : Select a passage or passages from the readings that you think is significant. Write the passage at the top of your page, including page number(s). Briefly explain why you chose the passage and discuss your interpretation of it. Consult the checklist for a guide to what kinds of details to look for and include. Be sure to include your questions about the passage as well as your answers or interpretations. This is an appropriate place to explore possible meanings of ambiguous phrasings.

Plot Forecast: Based on the reading so far, summarize what has happened and predict what you think will happen and why. I don't expect that you will each focus on the same set of key events or come to the same conclusions about what is yet to come. I'm more interested in the why you think what you do -- What narrative or rhetorical clues lead you to anticipate what future events, conflicts, or resolutions? Why?

Plot Summary: Your task is to summarize the book as if you were writing to a class member with general knowledge about the genre, but who has not read the book. As you summarize, be conscious of your choices as to what to leave in and what to leave out.

Analysis of Everyday Autobiography: For this assignment, I'd like you to consider your own, everyday life writings, including what kinds of stories they tell (and what they leave out) and to whom. These may take a number of different forms: it could be short, but regular texts or emails to friends or family, Facebook (or other social media) status updates, diaries, journals, or so on. If you don't find yourself regularly writing about your life for any audience (including yourself), plan to do so for at least 2 weeks prior to the due date of this assignment. Looking back over 1-2 weeks (these can have occur any time within the past 6 months) of life writing, write a reading journal entry answering the following questions (You can choose to answer each in turn with a short paragraph or write a comprehensive entry that takes all of these into account):

• Who is the audience of these writings? How public or private is that audience?
• What kinds of story (or stories) about your life do these tell?
• If you were using these writings as the basis for a longer autobiography, what details would you add or remove? Why?
• Do these writings provide a complete version of your life during that week? What, if anything, is missing? Why?
• If you had to name a new subgenre of autobiography after the stories that emerge from your life writings, what would you call it? Why?

Text mapping: At the top of the page, write your answer to the following question in just one word:
“What is this novel about?” Use the rest of your entry to substantiate your claim with reasoning and evidence drawn from the text. Note passages that provide evidence for why you have chosen this word. This entry does not have to be written as a series of paragraphs (though you are welcome to do that if it makes the most sense to you). You can choose to "map" the text in whatever way seems most logical to you -- you could create a concept map of relevant passages & sub-themes and draw their relationships with arrows, etc. You could group relevant passages using columns or text blocks. You could even astound me with some creative approach I haven't thought of that would illustrate how you came up with this word using reasoning & evidence from the text.

Evaluation: I'll grade the journals on a check plus/check/check minus basis. When I am evaluating them, I'll be looking for these things:

•      Length: Do the entries meet the page or length requirement?
•      Appropriateness to topic : Are the entries relevant to the course? Do they address the      assignment?
•      Insight, Seriousness, or Creativity: Do the entries make serious efforts to grapple with an      idea? Do they demonstrate reflection? original thought?