ENGL/ENVS 385: Writing Assignments

For each class you will post (at the BEGINNING of the class time) your responses to the assigned readings and any on-line materials. We will spend the class period (whether you are on-line elsewhere or in Hibbs 329) reading each other's responses and commenting on them, with everyone "talking, listening, and responding" at once.  The interactive forum/chat participation will be reviewed and graded two times during the semester [10 course points each time].  Quantity, "time-on-task," and quality all play a part in the grade. 20 course points

Formal papers

A. Essays (3).

1. Your "place" paper: a re-creation of an encounter with/in your "place" in "nature."
This can be either in the past or the present (it might well come from your first journaling), but it should include lots of juicy details about a  place and its meaning to you. You will have an opportunity to revise after group feedback. Here are some good papers from earlier classes. This is due to your critique group in Blackboard on January 30 and a final revised version is due to me a week later. Your critique of papers in your group is part of your grade. [10 course points].

2. Re-reading paper on Thoreau or Emerson.
 In this paper you should focus on Walden or Nature after studying the Web study texts. You may make connections to other works we have read to this point, if appropriate. You should explore questions raised by the study text and/or present and explore questions of  your own or raised in our discussions. ; you may also consider recurring patterns. Your paper or portions of it may well be incorporated into the on-line study text. (this means that you may explore several points fairly briefly, not just one) The first draft is due to your group on February 17. You will have a week for group feedback on this paper  before I collect it for grading. Again, here are sample papers in the lock folder.[10 course points]

3. Re-Reading Paper and Class Review on a reading assignment during the semester
For this paper you will be the "class expert" on the readings we have done for one class, taking our discussion to the next level. I hope that you will offer several "starter" threads to begin the discussion. You will "re-visit"the discussion forum(s), as well as re-read the selected assignment you have chosen or been assigned (note that many assignments cover more than one reading). You should review all of the major points and issues we have discussed, including choice quotations from us and the text, and any web sites will help us understand the works. In short, analyze the range  of ideas presented on the work(s) and present your own interpretation of key issues, ideas, and/or patterns. Do not summarize the works. The reviews will help the class review for tests, etc. (and bring a bit of order to the chaos of class discussion.) This paper should be written and sent to me within a week of reading the work; I will link it to the syllabus before I grade it. [of course, if you have a class in the final couple of weeks, you should move more quickly!] You should choose which class you wish to review EARLY in the semester. Here is a good example. (in the "lock" folder).  [10 course points ]

B. Mid-term exam (3).
An exploration and comparison of works that we have read to that point; topic for this out-of-class portion will be posted in advance. There will also be a brief in-class test on this material included in this grade which will be given on February 21 in HIbbs 329. [15 course points]

C. Book Review  or Course Journal (4).
Most of our reading is made up of relatively short excerpts from longer works. So, you need to read a full work (preferably by one of the writers we are reading, especially if one really "pushes your buttons"!), perhaps the book from which an excerpt comes. I have a number of these books for borrowing, as does the library. For ideas on how to write this review, see these examples. Not only should you give a good idea of the style and content of the work, but you should place it within the context of our course (what other works is it similar to? What questions does it pose and answer that other works also consider?) If you are choosing to do this, you should e-mail me and we can talk about likely works. This can be turned in at any time (why wait?), but is absolutely due before April 28.

You have another option on this assignment. You may keep a detailed journal throughout the course, writing at least 3 times a week (you may also include sketches). These would be your own careful and thoughtful observations of nature, right here and now. We'll be reading some journals, so you can get an idea of what you may do. You should bring the journal to me at the time of the mid-term exam to make sure that you are on the right track. The final journal is due to me by May 2 [final exam]. 10 course points

D. Your major project (5).
You have several possibilities here, all for Web publication (you may suggest other topics). These should be about 4-5 pages, and incorporate research and/or field observation. You may choose to do this project as a paper or as a web site (I'll help you with that). [15 course points] Here are examples of this assignment: [in the lock folder]

• You may write your own nature essay which builds on observations and research from a local place (this could build on  journal entries). If you do this, keep in mind a reader who has never seen Richmond or Virginia (maybe not even the East Coast!).
• You may investigate a particular environmental issue with local ties and write a persuasive/rhetorical nature essay (this would include links to related Web sites as well as your own accompanying documents).