Your first draft of Essay Two is due at 4:00 pm on Tues, 11/10. As you know, this essay is centered around a text you encountered in Odell and chose to read on your own. To help make sure you are off to a good start on this independent reading/writing project, I’d like to meet with you sometime on Wed, 11/04, Thurs, 11/05, or Fri, 11/06. (I will send out a Doodle poll shortly.) And to prepare for that conference, I’d like you to email me an update on your reading for Essay Two by 10:00 am on Wed, 11/04. Together our update and conference will count as Writing 14.
Make your subject line Essay Two Update. Your update should then have three parts:
- What does Odell have to say about the book? Where does her discussion of it appear in How to Do Nothing? What interested you in her discussion of it? Why is the book important to Odell? How does she make it part of her line of thinking?
- Tell me a little more about the book itself. Do a bit of background research into its author. What else have they written? What have readers and critics had to say about the book.
- In your reading so far, what have you noticed about the book that surprises or interests you? What questions does it raise for you?
Each of these sections should be at least a full ¶ long. I anticipate that your update will probably run 500 words or so. Remember that your goal in Essay Two will be to write about this text in a way that will interest other readers of How to Do Nothing—that will tell them something about the book or its author that they would not know simply from reading Odell. I am asking you to begin the research here that will help you write such an essay.
I’ll read your update, and will no doubt have some questions and ideas for your about the book and what you plan to write about it. You should also be ready to ask me questions as well.
I look forward to learning about the approach you plan to take in writing about the text you’ve chosen!
PS: You’ll notice that this assignment is due a day later in the week than usual. Use that extra time to make sure to vote in the most important Presidential election in our lifetime!
E110: Seminar in Composition 