ENG160 20 Composition I

ENG160 20 Composition I

Paper #3: Mode – Personal Narrative with Cultural Analysis (15%)

“The very reason I write is so that I might not sleepwalk through my entire life.”
—Zadie Smith

Paper Length: at least 1000 words

Assignment: Your task is to write a story/account of something you experienced/witnessed first hand. In general, it’s a good idea to focus on a single event that took place during a relatively brief period of time. The purpose of your personal narrative is engage in a larger cultural discussion.

Situation: The Atlantic is doing a series of articles for understanding America through the eyes of its students. You have been invited to submit something for it. It runs some online and some in print. They are looking for single stories that have larger cultural significance. Whether it has a direct bearing on education, art, technology, health, politics, social issues, or family, your narrative must connect to some larger point about an issue of life in America. You are welcome to include visuals.

Objectives:

• –  A clearly identified event and setting
• –  Vivid, descriptive details that are chosen carefully to convey meaning (not take inventory)
• –  Description/examination of larger subject of analysis (personal narrative and cultural issue)
• –  A clear point: Why does the story matter? What insight is gained from narrative/analysis?

  Your essay will be graded based on the following:

1. Comprehensively addressing content objectives above and centering essay around a clear thesis
2. The ability to write within the genre, demonstrating a knowledge and command of its conventions (e.g. hook, sequence, description, style, etc.)
3. The ability to write effectively in a given rhetorical situation, demonstrating thoughtful writing choices based on constraints (especially those pertaining to the cultural issue)
4. Control of syntax, writing mechanics, and paragraph/essay structure and organization
5. Conforming to MLA standards and formatting

ENG160 20 Composition I

ENG160-20 Composition I: Fall 2020

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Procedures:

• §  Analyze the assignment and ask questions to clarify what is expected.
• §  Analyze the rhetorical situation by asking the following questions:

o Whatisthepurposeofthiswriting?
o What is the genre?
o Whoisitfor?
o What do they know, need, and believe about the topic? o What are some important contextual factors?

o What role do you play as a writer in this (expert, formal, researcher, personal connection, etc.)?

o What are the main constraints or restricting factors?

• §  Determine what you need to know and need to be able to do to successfully complete the

  assignment. In this case…
  o Check out The Atlantic as a magazine/website.
  o Analyze articles for genre, format, tone, etc.
  o Consider examples of personal stories connected to larger issues.
  o Reflect on stories you could tell from your own life.
  o Examine how authors move back and forth from specific stories to bigger analyses. o Consider how to make strangers interested in a topic that starts as an individual

  story.

• §  Choose a story from your own experience that has something to say about American culture.
• §  Research aspects of the larger issue, finding other stories or studies related to it.
• §  Two different brainstorming/starting points:

o Start by meditating on an experience you’ve had, and then consider the possible culture concerns and larger significance.

ENG160 20 Composition I

o Start with a cultural concern/idea (i.e. join a conversation), and then consider experiences that you’ve had that may be concerned with or illustrate that topic.

• §  Draft your story and the analysis, utilizing some of the sources you found.
• §  Determine what visuals to use and how to include them.
• §  Have others read your draft and respond to it.
• §  Rewrite, reorganize, and revise your article.
• §  Turn it in on time.

  You can also brainstorm by thinking of different kinds of narratives:
  – An event/series of events that was interesting, humorous, or embarrassing – Something you found (or find) especially difficult or challenging
  – The origins of an attitude or belief you hold
  – A memory from your childhood that remains vivid

ENG160-20 Composition I: Fall 2020