Here you will be writing a response to “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” by Ambrose Bierce. This activity is designed to help you review narration and description. When reading note Bierce’s ability to both tell a story and describe its circumstances.
Read “An Occurrence at Owl Creek” by Ambrose Bierce here
Time is important in this story. Not the time in history, calendar time, watch time, or the time of day, but rather the way that people perceive time. We all know how some things can seem to last forever, like a bad cold, while other things seem to be over in a few minutes, like a great party.
In your essay, please concentrate on the role of perceived time.
Assignment Expectations
- After reading the essay, please write a two page essay that addresses how perceived time functions in the story.
- Your essay should mention the metaphors and themes which show us what Bierce was trying to say about time.
- Your essay should contain three quotes to illustrate how time works in the short story.
- Submit by the end of this module.
module 1 SLP
Read “To Build a Fire” by Jack London here
For this assignment you will write three-four pages that combines your skills in both narration and description. The readings from both the Case Assignment and the Session Long Project offer good examples of stories that utilize both good description and narration strategies. Write about a meaningful place or a place that has significance to you. Maybe there were people there that you remember, or your family was there. What was special about the place? What do you remember about the place? What can you remember hearing, smelling, seeing? Why was this particular place memorable or special to you?
Assignment Expectations
- Write three-four pages about a meaningful place
- Write well (consider your optional reading material to help you)
- Illustrate good descriptive and narrative strategies
- Submit your work by the end of this module
Welcome to Case 2: In this assignment, you will write about your use of literacy skills and communications technologies in your everyday life. The focus is on your present use — do NOT write about your PAST use of these skills and technologies , as that’s the topic for the next assignment, SLP 2.
Don’t forget that communication technology spans a wide spectrum, from wooden pencils to Skype.
Assignment:
- Write four or five pages describing your literacy practices today. How much do you read and write each day? What kinds of communication technologies are you using in your daily life? How frequently, and how much, do you use each of them?
Assignment Expectations
- Write four to five page essay that discusses your literacy practices and uses of communications technologies today (right now).
- Use the narrative strategies that you have already learned.
- Research your own literacy practices; in other words, look at your own behavior carefully, then report it accurately.
Submit your work by the end of this module.
module 2 SLP
The Session-Long Project builds from your Case assignment. Here you want to extend and expand your Case assignment by including more history of your literacy practices and prior uses to communication technologies. Read Dennis Baron’s piece: “From Pencils to Pixels.” Pay attention to how he describes the history of the pencil and telephone. Consider how technologies you have learned to use were once thought to be cumbersome or would never work and/or how they were received by the general public at their first inception. Think carefully about how you came to learn to read and write and how you came to use communication technology over the years. This essay should be different from the Case assignment in the sense that it should focus more on your history rather than on what communication technologies or literacy practices you are using today. This essay should focus on how those practices were shaped by your family, experiences, education, peers, etc. What was the culture in your home concerning literacy, reading, writing, and technology use? At some schools, students are making videos or creating visual presentations to represent their technological literacy narratives. Be sure to view the optional reading material (there are two videos to watch). Here you will write a four-five page technological literacy narrative.
Assignment:
- Read Baron’s “From Pencils to Pixels.”
- Write a four-five page technological literacy narrative
Assignment Expectations:
- Read “From Pencils to Pixels.”
- Write four-five page technological literacy narrative that discusses both how you have come to learn to read and write
- Consider both your present (drawing from your Case assignment) and past experiences with writing, literacy, and communication technologies
- Cite any outside sources you decide to use
Submit your work by the end of this module.
module 3 case study
For this case assignment, read both Prezi vs. Powerpoint articles by Daivd Wicks and Phil Bird. You will write a brief essay that summarizes their main points about prezi and powerpoint. What does each author say about prezi and powerpoint? Simply highlight the differences between the two applications/programs.
Assignment Expectations:
- Write two-three pages
- Include both the negatives and positives of each program
- Include both an introduction and conclusion
- Consider what each program would be best used for
Submit your work by the end of this module.
module 3 SLP
For the Session-Long project, you will write an analysis of which application, PowerPoint or Prezi, would be best for giving a presentation to your colleagues about an anticipated equipment upgrade.
Your analysis of the presentation software should consider its usefulness as a tool, which will be used to address the concerns of those involved, and to tell them how the equipment upgrade will impact various their jobs, enhance productivity, increase income, and improve corporate finances.
Your task is to decide which application would be better for presenting this information, and why. Write a three- or four-page analysis explaining your decision. Be sure to include the specific characteristics of the situation being presented to your colleagues– i.e., replacing equipment, the required training, etc. — and explain how those characteristics affected your choice of presentation software.
Assignment Expectations:
- Write three-four page Analysis
- Address the scenario/situation
- Determine which program/application would work best for the presentation of information
- Include reasons for your choice. Why did you choose one program as opposed to another, for instance?
- Cite any outside sources
Submit your work by the end of this module.
module 4case study
Identify the Claim
Read: “99.9% of Proper Grammar is Obsolete” by David Wertheimer (from Digital Web Magazine) here
The case assignment asks you to read and identify claims made by the author. The idea is for you to practice finding claims or arguments that the author makes. To prepare you to make your own claims it is imperative to experience reading how authors make their claims. Likewise, you want to use third person throughout the response. In other words, you want to serve as a reporter of the information in the article. Pretend you are working for a news station and just reporting what the article says. Consider reviewing paraphrasing and summarizing in the reading material. When writing research, you will want to show that you are unbiased in your explanations of sources. Using third person can increase your ethos (ethical credibility) and show audiences that you have done your homework (your research) on the topic. To practice citing in APA style, please provide a reference list that contains the article you have read (cite parenthetically in the text and include the article on a reference list using APA format). There will be only one “source” on your reference list because we have not asked you to do further research for this assignment.
Assignment Expectations
- Read the essay thoroughly
- Write two-three pages that identifies and expresses the claims made by the author
- Use the additional readings to learn about summarizing and paraphrasing
- Use third person writing throughout
- Cite the article in a reference list (you will only have one article on your reference list)
- Submit y
module 4 SLP
Identify the Claim
Read: “99.9% of Proper Grammar is Obsolete” by David Wertheimer (from Digital Web Magazine) here
The case assignment asks you to read and identify claims made by the author. The idea is for you to practice finding claims or arguments that the author makes. To prepare you to make your own claims it is imperative to experience reading how authors make their claims. Likewise, you want to use third person throughout the response. In other words, you want to serve as a reporter of the information in the article. Pretend you are working for a news station and just reporting what the article says. Consider reviewing paraphrasing and summarizing in the reading material. When writing research, you will want to show that you are unbiased in your explanations of sources. Using third person can increase your ethos (ethical credibility) and show audiences that you have done your homework (your research) on the topic. To practice citing in APA style, please provide a reference list that contains the article you have read (cite parenthetically in the text and include the article on a reference list using APA format). There will be only one “source” on your reference list because we have not asked you to do further research for this assignment.
Assignment Expectations
- Read the essay thoroughly
- Write two-three pages that identifies and expresses the claims made by the author
- Use the additional readings to learn about summarizing and paraphrasing
- Use third person writing throughout
- Cite the article in a reference list (you will only have one article on your reference list)
- Submit your work by the end of this module
module 5 case study
For this Session Long Project, you will write a five-page argument using any topic you would like. Controversial topics are often what people look for to write about, but using local issues, issues you are familiar with, or issues less controversial (whether to use a real Christmas tree or a fake one, for example) work just as well. Sometimes using less controversial topics are easier to work with than highly charged topics, but in any case, choose a topic you already know something about. The focus here will be on how well you can present your argument in writing.
When writing your research paper, use the annotated bibliography that you developed as part of the Case Assignment. You should have the research completed as a result of that assignment. Your sources should already be in APA format. As you write your research paper use the research you’ve already done to make the research paper a bit easier for you. Once you write the research paper, you will include the works cited or list of references in APA format. You will also cite those sources parenthetically in your research paper. Consult APA format (use our optional and required readings to help you)
Read/Review: APA Format: APA Formatting: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/15/
Writing a Research Paper: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/01/
Assignment Expectations:
- Use the topic and thesis from the Case Assignment
- Provide a coherent thesis statement or main point to your essay
- Cite parenthetically in the text using APA and provide a list of references in APA format
- Submit your work by the end of this module
module 5 SLP
For this Session Long Project, you will write a five-page argument using any topic you would like. Controversial topics are often what people look for to write about, but using local issues, issues you are familiar with, or issues less controversial (whether to use a real Christmas tree or a fake one, for example) work just as well. Sometimes using less controversial topics are easier to work with than highly charged topics, but in any case, choose a topic you already know something about. The focus here will be on how well you can present your argument in writing.
When writing your research paper, use the annotated bibliography that you developed as part of the Case Assignment. You should have the research completed as a result of that assignment. Your sources should already be in APA format. As you write your research paper use the research you’ve already done to make the research paper a bit easier for you. Once you write the research paper, you will include the works cited or list of references in APA format. You will also cite those sources parenthetically in your research paper. Consult APA format (use our optional and required readings to help you)
Read/Review: APA Format: APA Formatting: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/15/
Writing a Research Paper: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/658/01/
Assignment Expectations:
- Use the topic and thesis from the Case Assignment
- Provide a coherent thesis statement or main point to your essay
- Cite parenthetically in the text using APA and provide a list of references in APA format
- Submit your work by the end of this module
