- Read through one of the following essays (or choose another from those we have read already — e.g. Le Guin!). Read ittwice– skimming first, to get a sense of how the piece works as a whole, then re-reading for details and how the essay is organized on a paragraph and sentence level.Gloria Anzaldua — Borderlands
Mary Roach — Packing For Mars
Carl Sagan — You Are Here
- Then, please write a response to the following questions/themes/ideas:Think about how the essay you’ve read is organized. How is it organized:
*On the largest scale — where does it start and end? What happens in between? What major points does your author make? What do they elaborate on? How does your author transition between major ideas/paragraphs? How does your author go beyond the 5-paragraph essay format? What can you learn from how your author’s paper is organized?
*How do the individual paragraphs work? How are the sentences in the paragraphs related? How do multiple paragraphs combine to form passages in the essay that work together or that speak to a common idea? How does your author develop an idea in a paragraph? Do they do any sort of analysis? Do they elaborate on ideas? How? What makes one sentence difference from the next? What does each paragraph and sentence contribute to the reader’s total understanding of the main ideas?
*Then, consider how sentences are working. How does the author write sentences that go beyond simple (subject>verb>object) constructions? Are the author’s sentences varied and interesting? How? What makes them so? How do sentences transition between each other (like paragraphs)? How do ideas build from sentence to sentence?
*Finally, reflect on how the ideas of the essay relate to our class themes. Overall — how can you interpret what this essay is saying, after you have looked at how the essay says it. How does what the essay says relate to how it is said?
- In answering these questions, you will be practicing a form ofrhetorical analysis — or looking at how writing works. The major skill I want you to practice in responding to these questions is the giving of examples and the analyzing of examples. Include quotes to show your reader what passages you’re talking about. Use the Purdue Owl and Writer’s Help to cite sources and integrate quotes effectively. Then talk about (analyze) those passages according to the questions above.
Most importantly, organize your own response. The purpose of this assignment is to practice close, careful reading and awareness of how we can read and write carefully and in detail. Before and as you write your own response — consider how you will organize your ideas broadly on the essay level, the paragraph level, and on the level of the word and sentence. Think about the choices you make as you write. Self-edit as you go.
- Expectations:Length: 300+ words
Carefully considered writing that effectively analyzes your chosen essay by quoting and discussing specific passages, sentences, word choices, etc.
Detailed attention to how your own writing is working, how it is organized, as well as to the self-editing process — in an awareness of your own style.
A minimum of typos/errors.
Due Date: Friday 11-11
How Good Writing Looks
“When Shakespeare was writing, he wasn’t writing for stuff to lie on the page; it was supposed to get up and move around” (Ken Kesey). For many artists of writing this is true. The words they type or write down are supposed to convey something more and move you. Le Guin is one of those writers, her works are supposed to make you think more and find a deeper meaning. “… (H)er works explore Taoist, anarchist, ethnographic, feminist, queer theory, psychological and sociological themes” giving them many themes(Wikipedia). In one of the short Essays it discuses the ideas of Utopia and what a Utopia is. Le Guin also talks about the principals of Yin and Yang or a balance of good and evil and how it affects a Utopia. Let us first look at her ideas of what a Utopia is and how she presents them.
A Utopia is a “an ideal place or state” according to Dictionary.com, Le Guin feels the same to a point. But when she writes about it her sentence structures leads most readers to see it a bit differently. Le Guin states her opinions and then sets apart her quotes from other writers and scholars to make them stand out more. For example, Le Guin writes, “In order to believe in utopia, Bob Elliott said, we must believe
‘That through the exercise of their reason men can control and in major ways alter for the better their social environment…. One must have faith of a kind that our history has made nearly inaccessible’ (http://theanarchistlibrary.org). Le Guin also uses multiple beliefs to support her ideals. Such as Taoism, anarchy, ethnographic, feminist psychological and sociological themes as stated earlier. This gives the readers a sense that the author knows what she is talking about and helping to persuade them. She continues to use this method to explain the connection of Yin and Yang balance to a Utopia.
Le Guin states that Yin and Yang of a Utopia is something that seems unattainable by humans since we cannot focus on any point in time, space, or ideals. She brings in the idea of Coyote to do this, using Coyote as a way to show a manifestation of ourselves. The part of ourselves we do not want to admit to. “Coyote walks through all our minds. Obviously, we need a trickster, a creator who made the world all wrong. We need the idea of a God who makes mistakes, gets into trouble, and who is identified with a scruffy little animal” (http://theanarchistlibrary.org).
In conclusion Le Guin is a writer of movement; she wants you to do more than see words on a page. She does this through her sentence structures as well as the use of quotes. Another way is through metaphors and ideals. She does all of this to make us see the words come to life and connect to us.
Works Cited
The timeline of a Wannabe Mangaka 