Food Blog Entry Instructions

Please write a 200-word short essay about a food that is important in your life. It might be something you or a family member cooks, something you ate while traveling, or a favorite restaurant dish. If I wrote this piece, I'd write about my Grandma's pot roast, which was not very good, but which she always made for every holiday. Or about the Shaker Lemon Pie at Scratch Bakery in Durham. Or about the whole fried fish and plantains we used to get every Sunday in Honduras.

Write to describe your chosen food aesthetically, and also write to describe how and why you connect to the food. Think about the food as whole entity, and also think about the different details of the food-- how it looks, how it tastes, and how you interact with it.

I'm really looking forward to reading these! I'm guessing they will make me hungry.

Song Blog Entry Instructions

Please write a 200-word short essay about a SONG that is an important text in your life-- one that has become a part of your bloodstream, as Adler would say.

 If I wrote this piece, I'd write about the first track on the "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill", or perhaps one of the Canadian sea shanties my parents used to play on record when I was a kid, or the reggaeton tracks I listened to on chicken buses when I lived in Honduras. I am a nerd.

Write to describe your chosen song in terms of rhythms, performance, lyrics, and ideas, and also write to describe how and why you connect to the music in terms of memories and feelings. 

I'm really looking forward to reading these!

Reading Response Requirements

For each item you read, you'll need to write a minimum 200 word blog response. So long as you write about what you have read, you can do whatever you want! The goal is for you to use writing to process what you have read.

You may summarize the reading, discuss it, problematize it, ask questions about it, analyze it-- the list goes on. Do what you feel! Please make sure the write in paragraph form with complete sentences and clear thoughts.

You will turn in the reading responses by posting them to your blog. They are due at class time on the day marked on the syllabus, and cannot be turned in late. Each response is worth one homework grade.

That's it! Have fun!

Welcome, and Intro Letter Instructions

Friends! Welcome to English 101 at Guilford. I'm super excited to get to know you and get to down to business. This week, we'll review the syllabus and course outcomes, embark upon some individual and collective goal-setting, and begin our discussion of why writing and texts matter.

Through this blog, you can access all of the document you'll need to succeed in this course. Please make sure that you know how to find the syllabus and course readings, and do subscribe to blog updates via email.

Our first order of business is the Argument summary assignment that was sent out over the summer. If you have already written or submitted it, you are good to go. If not, this assignment is due to me via email on THURSDAY by the start of class. You will find instructions in your Guilford College email if you need to review them.

You can always consult the course syllabus link to review our schedule of activities and assignments. I suggest that you do so at the beginning of each week to help with your planning.

You'll see on the schedule that for Wednesday you need to send me an introductory email so I can start getting to know you, and so that you can begin articulating your relationship to this course. You'll find more detail instructions for that below.

Intro Email Instructions:

I'd also like for you to write to me an email of introduction. I'm looking forward to talking to each of you one-on-one, but this helps get the ball rolling.

Please write me a carefully proofread, paragraphed letter introducing yourself in relationship to the course topic and goals.

What (if any) are your personal writing goals for this course?
What (if any) are your scholarly writing goals for this course?
What (if any) are your professional writing goals for this course?
What are your feelings about the course topic and title?
Do you have any preexisiting experience or hold any preexisting opinions related to the course topic?
What are three questions about writing that you'd like to answer over the course of the semester?
What are three questions about the course topic that you'd like to answer over the course of the semester?

Thanks for your patience during all of this start-up stuff! We'll get into the swing of things as quickly as we everly can.

Anna