Sample Assignments For English 1101 English 1101 Sample Assignment 1 Examining Yourself as a Writer Please write a short essay 3 4 pages double spaced describing yourself as a writer View yourself through two lenses first describe how you move through your own writing process then tell me how you see yourself as a writer in terms of your past hindrances disappointments challenges successes fluency and future improvements plans goals Although I will serve as your primary audience your classmates will become part of your audience as well Your purpose is to examine your writing self truthfully and then describe the results of that examination to me and your classmates The context for this assignment is our writing course but the assignment will serve to provide you and me with a current snapshot of you as a writer Where you are and where you re going as a writer is important to your success in this course I am interested in your view of yourself as a writer but I realize that your development as a reader may play an important part in your development as a writer Feel free to interweave important moments in your reading history as well if doing so strengthens your essay The following questions or prompts may help with the invention of your essay but they won t help you much with the organization or arrangement Therefore I advise you to freewrite responses to each of the prompts reread what you ve written and then strategize an effective arrangement Many students feel more comfortable as chronological writers but that organizational pattern may not be the best one for you Organizing your material emphatically for instance might be more effective 1 How do you go about understanding the writing assignment 2 How do you typically prepare for a writing assignment Describe the steps you take including rereading the assignment asking questions about it talking to instructors or friends jotting down ideas gathering information and so on How far in advance of the due date do you usually begin working on the assignment 3 What is your ideal place to write Would it be solitary and silent or noisy and crowded or just a little of both Describe the places you ll actually be doing your writing for this course and then discuss their suitability for you 4 Describe your typical drafting or writing process Do you finish a draft in one sitting or do you need to take breaks When you get stuck what do you do to get moving again Is your process efficient Are there specific steps you could take to improve your efficiency What does revising mean to you Do you ever revise and if so what specifically do you do when you revise insert delete move around information check punctuation proofread for typos and misspellings Why do you revise or not revise 5 Finally how do you respond to the evaluation of your writing What do you read first the grade itself or the teacher s comments Do you want an explanation for your grade immediately or do you understand how you earned that grade Do you refer back to your teacher s comments or previous assignments as you work on your current assignments English 1101 Sample Assignment 2 The Rhetorical Analysis A Rhetorical Situation calls for the use of rhetoric or speech making oratory a situation where argument would be appropriate A rhetorical situation identifies the interaction between writers and readers or speakers and listeners in relation to a particular issue and refers to the set of elements involved in any act of communication the writer speaker the audience the purpose the occasion and the topic For this essay 3 4 pages double spaced apply your rhetorical ability in two ways as a reader and as a writer To that end select an editorial or opinion piece that takes a stand on an issue related to the literature we ve read for this class Whether you choose an essay on issues of race equality patriotism prejudice gender animal rights depression family responsibility or any other issue connected with the literature look for an argument that you find rhetorically interesting in terms of the ways the writer uses words or strategy method of appeal arrangement of evidence emphasis or de emphasis of information etc For instance the essay could be an eloquently expressed position with which you agree one you haven t given much thought to or one with which you disagree Even if you don t yet have a clear position the writer of the work you re reading should take a definite stance on the issue under consideration For this reason a news story reporting on or describing a dispute will not work for this assignment Unless you specify otherwise the audience for your essay will be first year writers at Georgia State University You should not assume that your readers are familiar with the work you have chosen to analyze but you should assume that your readers are familiar with the issue as discussed in class Please remember to attach a copy of the essay you re analyzing Your purpose is to analyze the essay and describe its strengths and weaknesses in terms of its appropriateness to the rhetorical situation and the use of artistic appeals pathos logos ethos Therefore part of your task is to review briefly the contents of the essay you re analyzing particularly the claim or proposition advanced by the author and to suggest to your audience that they too should be interested in the issue and the author s treatment of it But fulfilling the preceding obligations of the assignment are not enough you are expected to explain the reasons for the in effectiveness of the author s treatment of the issue at hand in ways that help your readers see how the writer s argument works or doesn t work By examining the rhetorical strategies a writer has adopted you can make inferences about what that writer has attempted to do why he she is saying specific things to a particular audience why she is speaking in a particular way and how he she wants the audience to respond Thus to fulfill your purpose you ll want to establish a thesis statement a generalization about the rhetorical strategies of the text and demonstrate to your audience that your generalization is a reasonable one To that end you will employ every rhetorical strategy within the range of your abilities The following questions should help you generate the material you need for planning inventing and drafting your rhetorical analysis 1 What is the rhetorical situation of the essay Who s the writer s audience What s his her purpose What issue is at stake