January 29, 2008 Archives
Recent activity on the blogs of all members of this course. This page will update regularly, though it will often lag a few hours behind. To force an update, post a comment anywhere on this website or the NMJ website.50 Recent Peer Entries
WM Plato
This means the Plato selection in the anthology Writing Materials.
Brookfield (1-22)
This is the large, thin text that is simply called Book.
Ex 1: Of Books and Me
Write a personal essay (about 750 words) that makes a specific point about your relationship with books.
The whole essay will represent your opinion, so avoid overusing terms such as "I think" or "I feel." Avoid summarizing the plot of your favorite book, or giving a strictly chronological survey of your development as a writer.
A note on "the essay" as a literary genre:
As a means for communicating ideas, as a means of documenting the individual author's attempts to come to grips with an idea, and of being a potential vehicle for the reader to experience a personal intellectual journey, the essay is a relatively new form (closely related to the history of books).
The word "essay" comes from a French word meaning "to try," which in turn comes from a Latin word meaning "to sift, to weigh, to separate by getting rid of waste."
An essay, then, is a focused, thoughtful attempt to make a point, by introducing several different ways of solving a problem, and sifting through them in order to support the best alternative. (All this is accomplished through the careful weighing of evidence.)
Think of the essay as a tool for your reader to solve a problem, to make sense of a dilemma, to understand a complex issue -- not merely a vehicle to express your personal thoughts.
Recent Comments
David Cristello on WM Rheingold: Ok my blog for Wm is posted IM just waiting on it
Rachel Prichard on WM Rheingold: http://blogs.setonhill.edu/RachelPrichard/2008/02/
Kayla Sawyer on Havelock (63-97): “This word, with the concept it expresses, is take
Rachel Prichard on Havelock (63-97): http://blogs.setonhill.edu/RachelPrichard/2008/02/
ChrisU on WM Rheingold: "Amos, like many other Amish craftsmen, uses elect
ChrisU on Havelock (63-97): "Withdraw the use of the document from our lifesty
Jeremy Barrick on WM Rheingold: "Whenever you see an Amish woman sitting in the fi
Jeremy Barrick on Havelock (63-97): Here is the link to my blog: http://blogs.setonhil
Kayla Sawyer on WM Rheingold: “Despite the almost organic ebb and flow of this e