Brief Essay One: Due One Week from Today at the Start of Class

NEW DETAILS ADDED! 

James Joyce wrote his famous "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man." Now you're going to write a short essay (4-6 paragraphs) due one week from today on September 3. The title of your essay will be "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Writer."

Upload a draft to Populi before class starts on Tuesday. Final due next Thursday. Be sure to revise and edit your work before submitting it. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

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Update: I want to give a little more guidance; that's why I'm writing this update on Saturday night (posting Sunday morning).

Your essay should be full of your personality, but more importantly, it should be full of your ideas. Think of it as a story (or stories) you would tell, but a story that you had time to compose precisely the way you want. 

The art and craft of writing gives us this opportunity to evade time. We can write something we like, then wake up and understand the mistakes or wrong turns. The same thing happens with making visual art. Revision and editing is crucial. 

Be sure to "unpack" your stories. Tell your readers why you are telling them. You don't have to have answers. Good writers ask questions.  

You can write about "school-based" writing (like this assignment) vs. other kinds of writing: texts, memes, podcasts, graffiti, intermedia, etc. 

Do you have memories of when writing made you feel good, smart, and full of literary creative energy? Maybe it never happened at school. Maybe it's never really happened, and that's totally ok. 

You can write a brilliant essay about how reading/writing is changing in our digital online lives. For instance: maybe we do more listening/speaking than reading/writing these days. The reading/writing that we do practice online is abbreviated language. 

You could write about the future of writing. For instance, is the ink on paper method of reading/writing on the way out (or on the way to the museum)? Is this a good thing? bad thing? inevitable thing? Why does it matter. Will libraries become museums? Please find your own way. 

I hope all the essays are different but relatable. 

Remember that the draft due on Tuesday is ungraded. 

Send me an email message at this address if you have questions.  

Casey

  

Comics About Art & Artists

 In-class Exercise:

Scroll through the comics below and be prepared to talk about your favorite one. Are they funny? Why? Are they stupid, pointless, lame, etc.? Both?

87 Hilarious Comics That Perfectly Describe The Life Of An Artist | Bored Panda

Welcome to Casey's Reading & Composition Class... also known as "How to be a Better Writer in College and Beyond"

Hello Students. I'd list all of your names here, but that will have to wait. We will use first names in this class unless anyone wants to be called by an alternate name or nickname. I want to be called CASEY. Please makes sure you tell me and our classmates what name you want to be called. I use he/his/him pronouns. Please tell us what your preferred pronouns are, and please don't hesitate to correct me or our classmates if we get your pronouns wrong. None of the Casey Smiths below are me.

I guess it's pretty obvious that we'll be doing a lot of reading and writing in this course. But we'll also be doing a lot of discussing, debating, revising, editing, laughing, joking, maybe singing, and countless other things. Humans are complex and ever-changing. 

If you work hard, help each other, and have fun, I promise this class will be memorable and useful. You will build confidence in your skills as a thinker and writer in this class. We all start from different places, but everybody needs to continue to learn. Me included.

It must be obvious by now that I'm a miserable web designer. If you want to help me, I won't turn you down. 

Let's go!

PS: I'm using this same blog for both of my "R&C" sections. DCAD is a small school, so I think this is a good thing.