Calendar for the next two assignments: Research paper & Creative Project #2

 I want to make this crystal clear, so there is no room for confusion. Please send me an email message if you have questions. csmith@dcad.edu

Tues, Nov. 3: No Zoom class, Election Day, check your DCAD email 

Thurs, Nov. 5: No homework, independent research on Poe research essay, Zoom class as usual.

Tues, Nov. 10: Draft of Creative Project DUE, Zoom class

Thurs, Nov. 12: FINAL of Creative Project DUE, Zoom class

Tues, Nov. 17: Draft of Poe research DUE, Zoom class

Thurs, Nov. 19: FINAL of research essay DUE, Zoom class

Sources: Primary vs. Secondary & Popular vs. Scholarly

 

Every student, from high school on up, knows that Wikipedia isn't a legitimate source to use for academic work. Why is this? The answer is simple: Articles on Wikipedia do not have a named author. We don't really know where they came from. Wikipedia is a great place to begin your research, but a lousy one to use in your final work. 

Here are a few short videos that deal with the issues of using different kinds of sources in college-level academic writing. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the links.

To access the DCAD library go to the Populi homepage. On the very top banner you will see a tab that's simply called "Library". To get to the databases, JStor and ArtStor, click on links. The username is "dcadstudent" and the password is "research". 

Introducing Module Six: Creative Project #2, Poe-Inspired Art

 

Here is a link to a gallery show featuring work by visual artists that features Edgar Allan Poe and the themes in his writing. 

For this module, you will be making an original work in the media of your choice. It could be a drawing, a painting, a sculpture, a short film, a collage, a photograph, or something else. We will talk more about this in the coming class meetings, but I want to plant the proverbial seed now in order for you to start thinking about it.

In addition to your original work of art, you will be submitting a developed paragraph or two (approx 100-200 words) that describes the issues you are addressing in your artwork. This module is embedded in the middle of the Poe research essay. 

Due: Tuesday, Oct 10, no later than noon. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

Introducing Module 5: Using Secondary Sources, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Masque of the Red Death"

 

Halloween week is the perfect time to launch our new module featuring one of Edgar Allan Poe's strangest and scariest stories: "The Masque of the Red Death." Poe's original title for the 1842 publication was "The Mask of the Red Death," but an 1845 publication changed the title to the now-familiar "The Masque of the Red Death." It's quite obvious why this particular story has found new readers and critics in the age of Covid-19. 

Like James Baldwin, EA Poe is a brilliant writer. The story itself is relatively short, just 15 long paragraphs. Another great thing about Poe is there is no shortage of secondary criticism about his work available in the public sphere and also in databases such as J-Stor.

Your assignment for this Thursday, Oct 29, is to find three different secondary sources that comment (in one way or another) about this particular Poe story. You will be sharing these sources with classmates in breakout rooms and discussing their relevance in your own reading of the story. What do these secondary sources add? Do they give you another lens or point-of-view to understand or contextualize the story?

Also for our next class meeting, read Poe's essay "The Philosophy of Composition" (1846) and be prepared to discuss it.

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS FOR RESEARCH ESSAY

This assignment requires you to effectively use secondary sources in the formulation of an original argumentative essay. What is your interpretation of Poe's story? Do other critics agree? Why or Why not? We'll talk at greater length about formulating your argument or claim in coming days.

+ The final version will be written and formatted in strict MLA style.

+ The final version will be between four and six double-spaced pages of text. A "Works Cited" page will be the final page. 

+ FINAL DUE, Noon, November 19 (Draft due, November 12).

More details to follow.

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

Easy Homework for Thursday During Class

 Hello Students!

This is officially mid-term; we're halfway there. You have finished your third brief essay (Baldwin), and as of today 40 out of the 100 points for the semester have been completed. Congratulations.

If you are one of the unfortunate students with incomplete or unsubmitted work,  you still have time to get partial credit. 

We are not meeting together as a class on Zoom this Thursday, October 22. 

However, during class time you will need to write me a mid-term evaluation via email of your performance in class to date. Some of the issues you might want to discuss are your participation in class discussions, your performance in writing itself, and anything else that relates to your presence in this class. What are you succeeding in? What could you do better? Please be as specific as possible. In a second paragraph, write me with thoughts and suggestions about the first seven weeks of the class. What do you like? Why? What could be better? How? Again, specificity is appreciated. csmith@dcad.edu.

Write this during class. So, for those of you in section 3, I'm expecting to see it in my inbox between 2:30 and 3:15. Those of you in section 4, between 4:00 and 4:45.

Remember that you're writing this to your college writing professor. Be sure you get the grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc. right. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

Harvard's Free Resource: Strategies for Essay Writing

 

This wonderful site, Harvard SEW, walks students through the basics of writing essays in college. It's full of good advice, and it doesn't try to do everything. It's easy to digest. Give it a try. It has 18 miniature chapters that cover almost all of the common areas of college-level writing. 

Reminder: Final Essays on Baldwin DUE Next Tuesday, Oct 20, no later than noon.

 I am more than happy to give a one-on-one tutorial  to help turn your draft into a great final essay. I don't bite.

Send me an email message to csmith@dcad.edu