WELCOME!

 

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

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 9. The title of your essay will be "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Writer."

Upload a draft (ungraded) to Populi before class starts on Tuesday. Final due next Thursday, September 9.  Be sure to revise and edit your work before uploading it. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

_______

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. Maybe it's something you experience through manga or fan-fiction.

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: csmith@dcad.edu