Writing Assignments and Other
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This is a WATU-affiliated
course, so
students will be expected to do a number of writing projects and other
assignments concerned with the topic of popular conceptions of language:
- There will be for assignments, and
penalties for lateness. See Deadlines Summary
Page
here.
- Grading for this course will be weighted as follows: 10% will be
based
on the first project ("Three New Words"), 25% will be based on the "short"
paper (3 to 5 pages), 50% weight will be given to the long project (film),
and 15% for class participation.
- Throughout the course there will be opportunities for writing both in
class and before class that will not be graded for form but for
content.
- Requests to do In-class Writing about particular issues will
be assigned on the spur of the moment, and will be graded for content
(ideas, issues) not on their form .
- See the following general statement
about students' responsibilities in this class.
- FAQ
- A document called
'How to Ace College."
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1. New Words
Search
| The first
mini-task is to
bring to class (due-date Thursday of second
week) three examples of new words found in popular culture but
not yet in any
dictionary. For details of this assignment, look here.
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2. Print Medium Project
The second assignment is a smaller (5+ pages) project involving a
print-medium conception of (foreign or non-standard) language (such as
print advertising or cartoons). This will be about 5 pages in length, not
counting illustrations.
For resources specifically on advertising,
comics, comic books, funny papers, and for examples of good papers from
previous years, see the adjacent box:
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Stuff to keep in mind about the FORMAT of papers:
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- To understand the requirements for these writing projects, see
Helpful
Hints.
- For the format of all writing assignments (papers)
see this page.
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3. TV/Movie ProjectThere will be
one MAJOR
project, based on
linguistic material (standard or non-standard, human or non-human)
depicted or represented in electronic visual media
such as movies or television. (Science fiction
representations of human
and non-human language as well as pseudo-scientific representations (or
even tongue-in-cheek representations) of
animal communication are especially germane here.) This assignment will
consist of work in stages, with proposals, outlines, consultation, review,
rewriting, rewriting, and rewriting. It will be due in stages, the final
product due the last week of class. |
- For frequently asked questions see FAQ
- For ideas about how to cite material from webpages and electronic
sources, look here.
- Here are examples of some
good
papers
from previous years of this course.
- Here are some examples of media representations of animals "speaking"
in various ways.
- Here's a very useful and insightful quote from a Canadian-Armenian movie-maker
named Atom Egoyan about his making of a film about the
atrocity against Armenians in Turkey in the early part of the last century.
- Here's another insightful quote from Walter Benjamin about how photography (and
that includes
cinematography) can transfigure ordinary and mundane images.
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A WATU Assistant will be available to work with you in
the preparation of your written projects, and I will also consult with you
on occasion. The WATU office also has people available on a drop-in
basis, and other resources are available to help students learn how to do
expository writing.
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