ENG 101 Composition I: Humanities Essay Background: This project gives you a chance to do some reading, writing, and thinking on a humanities-based topic, and one with which you are already very...

ENG 101 Composition I:
Humanities Essay

Background: This project gives you a chance to do some reading, writing, and thinking on a humanities-based topic, and one with which you are already very familiar:
yourself. After building your background knowledge on the value of individual experiences and stories, you will write an essay that makes claims about who you are and why your story is important, and then you will support these claims. The materials you will engage with are listed below, but please see our calendar for specific due dates.

Readings:

§
Purdue OWL: Writing Process
(“Intro” through “Writing with Feedback”)
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/the_writing_process/index.html

§
Purdue OWL Academic Writing: Intro, Rhetorical Situation and Essay Writing

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/index.html

Podcasts:

· The Power of a Simple Thank You (Transcript and Audio-USE BOTH!)
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/19/969148456/a-j-jacobs-whats-the-power-of-a-simple-thank-you

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/969148456

· This American Life: What Lies Beneath (Use the “Beeped Version” if you wish by clicking on it under the title area)

https://www.thisamericanlife.org/731/what-lies-beneath

· The Moth: Grief and Gratitude in Maasailand

https://themoth.org/stories/grief-and-gratitude-in-maasailand

Videos:

· The Danger of a Single Story (Transcript and Audio-USE BOTH!)
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?referrer=playlist-why_do_we_tell_stories

· The First Secret of Design is…Noticing
https://www.ted.com/talks/tony_fadell_the_first_secret_of_design_is_noticing?language=en

· Want to Be Happy? Be Grateful! (Transcript and Audio – USE BOTH!)
https://www.ted.com/talks/david_steindl_rast_want_to_be_happy_be_grateful?language=en

Essay One: A Story of You

Photo by
Carson Arias
on
Unsplash

Your sense of who you are is personal. How you tell the story of who you are (right now) is even more so. For this essay you will write

a

story of you – not the one that always has been or will be in the future, but the one you want to see and know and share right now. You can focus on personality, affective behavior, actual experience, values, and more. You are writing to an audience that needs to consider the unique thing you have to share – the story they couldn’t hear from anyone else. The tricky part is that any assertions about yourself must be explained and examples must be given. We will work on this assignment at length. You will learn to write this essay as we go by engaging with the materials and assignments, so no freaking out. Just get busy considering who you are right now and why you believe this is important.

Your essay must be typed, double spaced, and in 12-point font that is NOT script. You must turn in a rough draft and a final draft of the essay (each with different due dates), and your essay should be written in Standard Academic English (excellent grammar and spelling, sophisticated use of language and with deep thought given to the complexities of the topic).

While there is no minimum word or page count required, it is unlikely you can answer this prompt effectively in less than two to three pages. Keep in mind (perhaps in all classes) that the question, “what is the minimum amount of effort necessary on this assignment?” will usually be answered with the minimum necessary for a
minimum grade
- not an excellent grade!