Essay 2: Description/Analysis

Directions: For your second major writing assignment, I ask you to write an essay of 3 to 5 pages in response to one of the options listed below.  Unlike your first essay, which called on you to write a critical analysis, this assignment asks you to blend analysis with detailed description.  Your field trip assignment was intended as an exercise in this kind of writing, and if you wish, you can expand and revise that assignment in order to submit it for Essay 2 (see my advice below).  Next week, we will have two workshops devoted to writing descriptive essays as well as correcting many common style and sentence-level problems; pay added attention to the reading in the Holt Handbook assigned for these classes.

A rough but complete draft is due next Friday, Oct. 5, when our class will meet in the computer lab, 3116 HC, for peer editing.  Bring a paper copy of your essay and one saved on a 3.5" disk in either MS Word or WordPerfect format.  If you do not bring a copy of the essay on disk, you will be unable to participate in peer editing.  The final complete draft is due Wednesday, Oct. 10

As I read through your essays, I shall keep the following questions in mind:

•  does the paper have a thesis?  is the thesis focused and well reasoned?
•  are individual paragraphs fully developed and connected with transitions?
•  are descriptive passages detailed and well organized?
•  is the description adequately analyzed?  That is, does the essay avoid the “so what” problem?
•  has the author made good use of quotations and other evidence?
•  has the author discussed this evidence in sufficient and appropriate detail?
•  is textual evidence cited accurately and in MLA style?
•  are syntax and grammar correct?

1.  Write an expanded version of the assignment you completed for the field trip, or visit one of the other sites listed for that assignment.  Of these options, I most recommend Pine Hill Cemetery.  While additional research is not required for this assignment, you may find it helpful to gather some background information cemeteries in American culture, or if you chose Haley Center/Samford Hall, the main differences between Victorian and modern architectural styles.

2.  Review a copy on microfilm of a major newspaper published on the day of your birth or on a parent’s/guardian’s birthday.   Describe how the world was different, focusing not just on major political events, but also social ones.  What’s different about advertising, about entertainment, and other cultural factors?  You could also focus on what seems surprisingly similar to our own time.  From there, compose a thesis that organizes your observations and details what you have learned from them.

3.  Become Tony Horwitz for a day.  Visit the Alabama state capital building and compose a description of your visit.  There’s a lot to see there, of course, so you might choose to focus on either the interior of the building or the exterior, which includes a large Confederate war memorial currently undergoing renovation.  Or, visit another historic site and write a descriptive analysis of your visit.  Possibilities include Old Alabama Town in Montgomery or FDR’s  “Little White House” in Warm Springs, GA.   Because this option calls for an extra time commitment on your part, the rough draft will not be due until Monday, Oct. 8, and the final draft Oct. 12.

4.  Do you still own a typewriter or a phonograph?  Is “pong” still a daily ritual for you?  Describe an old or outdated piece of technology in detail, and discuss why it is no longer useful, how it has adapted itself to present-day needs, or why it is unfairly neglected.

5.   Watch The 1900 House in its entirety and compose a critical review of the series.