“The man who has forgotten to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.”
–Robert Louis Stevenson
It is week ten, which means of course that we have just one week to completion of the quarter. Thus far you have been assigned a total of 7 essays; the in-class final (8) and your project remain (7).
I can look at drafts today, time permitting, and review the documentation requirements and formatting of the Works Cited page. Rewrites and any outstanding assignments must be submitted by next week, our last class.
Next week a "final" of 500 words will assess key composition skills–grammatical sentences, unified and well-developed paragraphs, support for your thesis, and sound use of references. This final, discussed below, must be done by the end of class next week, and be done in class.
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Essay 8 Assignment: This last assignment builds on the skill practices and assignment goals of the past semester. The topic itself is communication, specifically what makes for effective communication and what can impede effective communication. You are first to read the article posted at Salon.com: http://www.salon.com/2012/06/03/your_words_matter/ We will discuss the piece after the reading and the various ways you might organize an essay that reports on what its author, Jaime Cone, has to say as regards why "Your Words Matter," as the title of the piece claims.
In 500 words or so, you are to compose an essay that reports on what the author and her sources emphasize in the article and what your own experience has revealed to you about effective (or ineffective) communication, whether of the oral, written, or non-verbal kind. Note that Cone is essentially reviewing the work of others, the co-authors of a book called “Words Can Change Your Brain” and develops her essay by means of a telephone call with one of the co-authors, Andrew Newberg, M.D., director of research at the Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Medical College. "Their book," she writes, "argues that our minds are hardwired to respond favorably to certain types of speech and negatively to others," and cites "compassionate communication" as a key theme. The format of the piece makes it easy to scroll to specific questions and ideas exchanged between Cone and Newberg.
You do not have to summarize the entire contents of the interview. You do not have to include the Work Cited element at page bottom. You are asked to give a brief overview and pull what you consider the most interesting points for discussion and personal comment in the course of developing your own essay, and your own opinion on the matter of communication. So the reading selection should serve as a springboard to an essay about communication. You are to introduce the textual background appropriately (title, author, date) and quote from it on several occasions in developing your thesis idea.
Title your essay.
Note: Topical development may involve your telling a story (example: a time when words utterly failed, or a time when someone's words touched you deeply); or it may involve describing your own communication style or habits, verbal and non-verbal, strengths and weaknesses, or perhaps the many ways we have of expressing ourselves and what each reveals–at home, at school, work, etcetera– and the challenge and fun we all have "reading" ourselves and others.
Any questions, call me over.
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