Week 10

Then it was as if suddenly I saw the secret beauty of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in the eyes of the Divine. If only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. . . . I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.

–Thomas Merton

Welcome to class. As you know, the final exam, a 350 word, three-paragraph essay is scheduled for this week. Any students who miss class this week must make certain to come next week to make up the essay exam, or contact me to discuss some other accommodation. Next week also offers all who take the exam today a chance to retake it, if necessary.

I'm confident all can pass this exam. If you have been applying yourself throughout the quarter, you have done by now at least half a dozen formal assignments, and numerous practice and free-write exercises. We have practiced the form of the paragraph and multi-paragraph essay each week, along with basic sentence structures–the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentence types. We have reviewed the use of standard punctuation and grammar. We have modeled the primary modes of presenting information and organizing a paragraph or an essay–description, narration, illustration, and argument. We have discussed and practiced the necessity of having a thesis idea–the point that unifies and gives direction to the essay, the one central thing you want your essay to express. And we have practiced building paragraphs organized around a single clear topic idea, each paragraph serving, if part of a larger essay, to advance the thesis idea in one or another supporting way.

We can spend the first hour of class on review, and in preparing a checklist for the editing process to follow as you review your final draft. Thus will you have time to compose and a format to edit for the major errors that occur in grammar and punctuation.

The essay topics will be given in handout before the exam begins.

Note: Use of the Internet is not allowed during the exam.

See you in class, then.

week 9

Greetings! I trust you enjoyed the weekend, and that the wind is behind you as we go into these last few weeks of classes.

Today we begin putting together an essay that requires you work with one or two others in the class. Each of you will put together a "portrait" of a classmate to exemplify the range of personal experience, background, dreams, and ambitions that have brought the student(s) thus far in their respective journeys. To get to know your subject you will spend some time "interviewing" him or her, recording your impressions of the subject's style, appearance, mannerisms, story, voice, and the specific comments he or she makes that reveal an essence or truth of your subject. Some questions to ask to get your subject's story include the following:

What's this experience or period of your life really about?

What is the emotional truth of your life today? What feelings are you working through? What do you feel good about, uncertain about?

Describe a past or current struggle in some detail to show the kind of challenge you know best.

How did you get to this point or place in life?

Who were the important people in your life? How did they influence or shape you?

What are your near and long term goals?

The essay is to be organized in the following way:

Paragraph one: the lead introduces your subject by name and by means of the dominant impressions your subject creates in terms of character, personality, and appearance. Use the first person POV, as you the writer are to conveyyour views here on the basis of face-to-face interactions and observations of your subject. State your thesis claim. Use the present tense to give an impression of the here and now

Body paragraph(s): the body moves from the lead in present tense view to the past, reconstructing some of the subjects relevant history (place of origin, schooling, early influences). Past tense verbs may predominate.

Body paragraph(s): the body moves back to the present, to your subject's current situation and story, including struggles, dreams, ambitions. Direct quotation allows the subject to speak directly to his or her struggles and/or successes.

Conclusion: Remarks on the character shown or exemplified in the story elements of the essay. The writer speaks to the subject's heartfelt experience in bringing the essay to a close. The conclusion may also, or alternatively, move to the future, to what lies ahead in the subject's immediate or near term future. Direct quotation here allows the subject to speak directly to his or her hopes and dreams. Tense used may be predominately present and future.

Alternate: You may use several classmates (including yourself) to construct an essay exemplifying a range of student experience and background here at AiFL. You will have to determine a focus and let each of your subject's weigh in the issue or focus. You will more briefly introduce and describe each student, as each is to be an element in this mosaic portrait. You may find yourself using comparison and contrast means of development at times.

If you are absent from class, find some suitable subject, a person whose life and/or work interests you and, with any luck, will interest your readers. Bring the essay to class next week.

Reminder: By next week you should have submitted all assignments you intend to submit. I accept no papers beyond week 10. Week 11 is reserved for final exam makeups or retakes.

Everything speaks.

–James Joyce

Good day to you all. I hope you had a nice weekend. Today we will work on a new assignment that involves working in pairs or small groups to create a portrait or profile of the other or others in the pair or group that you find yourself a part of. The purpose is to bring to readers a sense of the background, motivation, and personality of the students pursuing specific degrees or career goals, specific skills and interests here at AiFL. It will be a chance to exchange personal interests and ideas with others as you gather the information to present the individual(s) with whom you share class and common pursuits and perhaps personal concerns and lifestyles. I imagine the audience as perhaps students and others in the local community or at other colleges locally or nationally who would be interested to know the experiences, concerns, and interests of college students today and something of college life. So key will be eliciting from your subject individual(s) a sense of the background and personal aims they bring to their school pursuits, and to bring that information to life as you acquaint readers with the individual you have interviewed for the purpose of writing this profile.

We will cover in class how to structure this essay. In brief, it will involve framing your subject to support a certain thesis idea, which the life of your subject will illustrate. You will convey in the paragraph opening the essay something of the personality and personal impressions your subject makes in a face-to-face meeting as you work to advance the thesis idea. We want readers to feel they are meeting this individual in person; of course the impressions are those you have drawn in meeting and talking with your subject. The pairs or groups will be talking and exchanging information in an informal flow of give and take as you establish rapport and commonalities and differences. You will take notes on each other, specific background information, career goals, interests, concerns, etcetera, which later you will incorporate into the essay. You will unfold something of the life of your subject to illustrate a point about students or student life today. Your conclusion will bring the presentation back to the central idea, underscoring it, and providing final comments. You may want to incorporate direct quotation of one or another remark your subject has made, as well, to give some sense of the individual's actual speech or voice. Dialogue or direct quotation is a dramatic device and draws readers into the presence of your subject. You may use present or past tense overall. Bringing a sense of the subject individual's physical presence is a means of creating interest and imaginative appeal. Description of hair, eyes, gestures, clothing, in some brief but telling way will allow readers to actually "see" the subject person as they learn something of the story he or she embodies in the role of student.

We will also review punctuation of sentence clauses today and look at the proper use of adjectives in their various forms, and some usage guidelines involving comparisons, verbs, and idiomatic expressions.

A reminder: In two weeks we take the final, which is to be an in class essay of 350 words on a topic drawn from a list of topics. By week 1o, you should have submitted all rewrites or past due work, leaving nothing for week 11, except perhaps to retake the final should you not pass it week 10. There will be no rewrites or late work accepted after week 10.