Assignment Sequence Expanded for 0160

Original Sequence Expansion
Goal for unit:  To develop ways to analyze texts, specifically, (1) to find patterns in the students’ own observations and (2) to develop perspectives on a text by considering alternative ideas about morality in texts and in class discussion. To analyze one text closely, developing an thesis that integrates all the observations made through close reading.
Homework:  Read Brandt (191)and Didion (179) and write an elegant, inclusive summary of each, that is, a summary that includes all the main points and that does so in a way that is concise and powerful. To prepare for this, do the part-whole exercise by marking and labeling the parts in the book. Write a response (focused freewrite) to main idea of each (combined, 1-2 pages).  You may wish to have students answer the “Previewing” questions in class before doing the reading.  (See page 5-6 in The Presence of Others.)  Other useful material for critical thinking may be found in The Presence of Others, pp. 1-7 and 19-21, in The Bedford Reader, pp. 478-491, and the Critical Thinking website. Because you meet twice a day, you can have students review how to do a part-whole exercise in class before you give them this assignment.
Day 1.  Didion may best be approached as a mystery essay:  first identifying the most explicit statements of theme and using them as clues to decipher how the other parts of the essay (various stories) connect with or amplify those themes.  Students’ part-whole exercises can be reviewed for how inclusive and elegant their summaries are.  Then students can make a list of things they like and dislike about the essay they feel most engaged by and search for patterns among those lists.

Homework:  Read Gilligan (169) and Gomes (205). Before reading the Gilligan, do a bit of freewriting to think about whether you’ve noticed a difference in what men and women value as morally correct. As you read Gomes, consider how Didion might react to him.  Write a summary, doing the part-whole exercise in your book (or underlining and connecting key concepts, as we did in class), and write a response (about 1 page each). In your annotating, pay special attention to places you liked and disliked.

 You will have time to review both the Brandt and the Didion in some detail.  You can review, by projecting assignments in Blackboard onto the screen, how students divided the essays into parts and how they labeled those parts, instead of just reviewing the summaries.  Students can work in groups to come up with superior summaries and compete for the most elegantly written summary that is also inclusive of all the major points.

You can begin essays in class the day before, especially to have them reflect on how they read and what strategies they can adopt.  (See Goals-Activities page.)
Day 2.  Review their summaries of Gilligan and Gomes, possibly doing one as a class and one in pairs or groups of three.  Focus primarily on Gilligan essay by using LCD projector to share provocative excerpts from their responses to Gilligan in Blackboard.  Use discussion to help them think critically about where Gilligan’s essay is strong or weak, especially the role that interpretation of data plays.

Homework:  Read the King essay (142). To get into it, I recommend that you first put yourself in his position (in jail, South still segregated even 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, himself a clergyman) and do a freewrite about what you might be thinking about fellow clergyman who criticized the demonstrations against unfair hiring practices in Birmingham, Alabama, as “unwise and untimely.” What do you think Didion would say of King’s call to conscience?

 In class, you’d be able to devote significant time to both the Gilligan and the Gomes.  There would be more hands-on time to have students compile lists of what they liked and disliked, notice where they agree and disagree with each other, and notice patterns in their likes and dislikes.
Day 3.  Discuss King, especially to consider various perspectives on his essay, including the white ministers and Didion.  Consider how bias in language might vary depending on one’s point of view.  See possible questions. End class by strategizing how today’s discussion could be used within a critical essay.

Homework:  Choose one of the four essays we’ve read in the “Moralities” section of The Presence of Others. Reread it. Note all the places that you particularly like, dislike, or have some reaction to. Revise your summary to create one that is truly elegant and inclusive, that connects all the major parts in a way that “flows.”  Then select and answer questions for analysis from the following sources and answer them in relation to the text you are critiquing:  The Presence of Others, pp. 1-7 and 19-21, and The Bedford Reader, pp. 478-491.  Come to class prepared to discuss with a group of students who have also read your essay what you can conclude about it.

 You will have far more time to help students not just consider but plan how to use the discussion of King.  You could prepare students to take notes during the class discussion, ask them to refer to those notes to create a list of points on the board, notice patterns among the notes, and do a focused freewrite to arrive at a possible thesis.
Day 4.   Students meet in groups according to the essay read.  Their task is to share all their observations with the idea of coming up with a description of the persona that arises from the text.  They can be very creative with this as long as they support their description by referring to the text.  The groups can share these persona descriptions briefly with the whole class.

Homework:  Revisit all the places you noted that you had a strong reaction in the text and all the answers to critical questions (all from yesterday’s homework) and create a special double-entry journal, in which the left column is composed of quotes or paraphrased material from your text and the right column is your critical response to it.  Color code the right column entries according to patterns you notice. In a sentence or two, identify each of these patterns.  Finally write a thesis statement that integrates all of these patterns and the persona work from class.

 You will have time to teach them how to do this complex assignment by going over an example journal or even beginning the assignment in class.
Day 5.  Project one particularly generative double-entry journal on the board and have the class problem-solve their way through the next steps:  critiquing the thesis and deciding upon the parts of the essay based upon the two columns of the journal.  Students might then work in pairs to critique and organize each of their own essays. Discuss paraphrasing and summarizing as it applies to the first draft.  Have students write an introduction in class.

Homework:  First draft of Analytical Essay #2, including Work Cited and metatext.  See essay assignment.

 Students will need time to practice paraphrasing and summarizing in class.  They will need one-on-one attention to develop their thesis and organize their essay.  This would be a perfect day for the tutor to appear.
Day 6.  Begin by reviewing some introductions and body paragraphs from a few strong first drafts (if possible by previewing in Blackboard).  The class will use key questions for peer response as a partial guide to respond to a peer’s draft.  

Homework:  Second draft of essay.

 Students will probably have time in class to do all the peer review work and to meet with their peers to discuss their comments.
Day 7.  Have students do some editing work, teaching grammatical concepts where necessary.

Homework:  Final draft, submitting both in Blackboard and via hard copy.

 You’ll have more time to teach grammatical concepts in context, both by using The Bedford Handbook and by letting them work in pairs to edit a handout of selected sentences from their essays.

In fact, this unit would probably not be designed with three drafts if it were a regular 1201 because the paper load would be too heavy.