Project 3 Report on First-Year Composition | ENGL 101, Study Guides, Projects, Research of English Language

Download Project 3 Report on First-Year Composition | ENGL 101 and more Study Guides, Projects, Research English Language in PDF only on Docsity! Project #3 Final Essay Length: 3-4, double-spaced pages Due: Friday, December 7 Conferences: Thursday, November 29 Directions: Together we have read a variety of authors’ perspectives on the issues surrounding higher education in the late twentieth century and today. These authors construct arguments about the purpose of education in general and a college education in particular and explore the liberal arts tradition and its relevance in past, current, and future college curricula. Now, it is your turn to add your voice to this ongoing conversation, but you must draw on these earlier discussions as you share your own perspective and insight which is informed both by your reading in this class—and perhaps in others—and by your current experience as a first-year student at the University of Arizona. But, you need a place to start, a way to work yourself into the conversation—you need a lens text. Lens text: A text that defines the borders (parameters) of a particular subject or topic and is used to frame a new point of view or additional perspective on the same subject. For this assignment, you must choose ONE of the following as your lens text (both are on the website): John Merrow’s “Survival of the Fittest” Mark Edmundson’s “On the Uses of Liberal Arts Education” Merrow’s article, and the documentary “Declining by Degrees,” covers a range of issues facing members of the higher education community—as does Edmundson’s—thus you will use their discussions as a spring board for creating your own contribution to the same conversation. In addition, you must integrate at least TWO other author’s perspectives into your writing, from the texts on education that we have already covered this semester. Jon Solomon and Robert Solomon: “The Mission of the University” Paulo Freire: “The Banking Concept of Education” Inge Bell: “This Book is Not Required” Adrienne Rich: “Claiming an Education” William Zinsser: “College Pressures” While you are required to include these authors’ names (along with the title of their texts) within your writing: you are not required to include a works cited page. Overall, this paper gives you the opportunity to reflect on your first year of college, to construct your own philosophy of higher education, and to build an argument that both supports your perspective and persuades others to consider your point of view. The challenge in this assignment is to make the appropriate rhetorical choices that shape your argument most effectively for your audience. Therefore, your first task is to decide: Just who is my audience for this writing? Are you writing to current college students? Prospective college students? Professors or other established academic professionals? Parents of current or future college students? Me and our class? The general public? Deciding who you are writing for will make a tremendous difference in how your construct your argument (e.g., how you use the writing of other authors to support your point of view; the arrangement of your essay; and the tone and style of your language). Also, the ways to which you weave Aristotelian appeals such as ethos or pathos into your writing will depend greatly on who your audience is in this essay. Like the authors in the book, you should write about what you have a personal connection to or that you feel passionate about in some way. Also, like the authors, you should rely on your own experience(s) to inform your argument— experience can take the form of books, articles, or essays you have read or first-hand encounters you have had in classes, in your dormitories, on campus, and at parties or other social events. You might also refer to your knowledge of and experience with education prior to coming to college. Some questions to consider as you prepare to write this paper: Why are you here at the university? What do you notice daily? What discussions in class, with professors, and with fellow students have made you curious? What current debates on campus or in the community make you nervous or excite you? Think back over the last semester. Was there a moment when something happened that made you change the way you saw other people or see yourself?