Journal Prompts, Week 12

Hey Guys,

Last week of journals! Here are your last three entries--I'll be looking at all of your journal entries on Monday, April 28th, so make sure that you're totally caught up by then. Good luck with revision!

Monday April 21
Describe an experience of dealing with diversity in your life.


Wednesday, April 23rd
In what ways has technology impacted the way that you learn and share information?


Friday, April 25th
Describe a project--writing, building, or otherwise--that you worked hard on and turned out just the way that you wanted.


That's it, hope that you guys have a great week!

E

Journal Prompts, Week 11

Hey Guys,

I'll spare you another revision reminder, but seriously...
OK, that's all I've got. Here are your journal entries for this week. Because we're moving into your last inquiry project, we're going to be starting to post on broader topics, as well as doing some stuff that pertains directly to our op-ed. Hope you're all having a good week, hang in there!
Best,
Elliot

Monday, April 14th
Fill in the blanks (with more than just a word, obviously): "Writing is like ______, revision is like _____"


Wednesday, April 16th
Here's a poem by Philip Booth:

First Lesson

Lie back, daughter, let your head
be tipped back in the cup of my hand.
Gently, and I will hold you. Spread
your arms wide, lie out on the stream
and look high at the gulls. A dead-
man's-float is face down. You will dive
and swim soon enough where this tidewater
ebbs to the sea. Daughter, believe
me, when you tire on the long thrash
to your island, lie up, and survive.
As you float now, where I held you
and let go, remember when fear
cramps your heart what I told you:
lie gently and wide to the light-year
stars, lie back, and the sea will hold you.

Describe your own experience of learning something new.

Friday, April 18th
This is a yearbook picture of a guy. What is he up to now? Make up a story about him.

Journal Entries, Week 10

Hey Guys,

Only two entries this week because I got them posted late. Also, take this as a reminder that we only have 4 (It's CRAZY: 4) weeks left to revise. If you haven't completed at least one of your two significant revisions, you are probably behind. Don't let revision fall by the wayside--start today to make your life easier.

Journal Wednesday 4/9

Find an article, discussion board comment, or opinion on the internet that you completely disagree with. Post a link to it, and also a brief argument of why it's wrong.


Journal Friday 4/11

Find an article, discussion board comment, or opinion on the internet that you think is obviously correct. Post a link to it, and then play devil's advocate and argue from the opposite point of view.

That's it; have a great week!

E

Journal Prompts, Week 7

Hey Guys,

Here are your journal prompts for week seven. We're working up to writing our research paper, so they're mostly related to invention for that. Enjoy--you guys are doing a great job on your journals! Thanks for all your hard work.

All the best,
Elliot

Monday, 3/10
Read this poem:

To be of use
by Marge Piercy

The people I love the best
jump into work head first
without dallying in the shallows
and swim off with sure strokes almost out of sight.
They seem to become natives of that element,
the black sleek heads of seals
bouncing like half submerged balls.

I love people who harness themselves, an ox to a heavy cart,
who pull like water buffalo, with massive patience,
who strain in the mud and the muck to move things forward,
who do what has to be done, again and again.

I want to be with people who submerge
in the task, who go into the fields to harvest
and work in a row and pass the bags along,
who stand in the line and haul in their places,
who are not parlor generals and field deserters
but move in a common rhythm
when the food must come in or the fire be put out.

The work of the world is common as mud.
Botched, it smears the hands, crumbles to dust.
But the thing worth doing well done
has a shape that satisfies, clean and evident.
Greek amphoras for wine or oil,
Hopi vases that held corn, are put in museums
but you know they were made to be used.
The pitcher cries for water to carry
and a person for work that is real.

This poem talks about digging in, and really working towards resolution of a problem. A person longs for "work that is real" as a "pitcher cries for water to carry." What work matters to you? If you were to roll up your sleeves and dig in, what would you do?

Wednesday 3/12
Write about a time that someone convinced you or changed your mind about an issue. How did they do it? What type of evidence was credible? How did they speak to you?

Friday 3/14
Is there a particular issue or problem that you really "dork out" on? That is, what issue, interest, or problem do you devote a lot of time or thought to? Why do you do it?

That's it for this week, see you in class!

Elliot

Turning in the Profile

Hey guys,

Here's a reminder of what to bring on Friday for your profile:

(top)
Latest Draft
Participation Self-Evaluation (1 or 2 paragraph evaluation of your contributions to your group)
Intended Audience Fastwrite
Draft #1 (with comments)
Sketch (with comments)
Any invention work
(bottom)

See you Friday!

Elliot

Journal Prompts, Week 6

Hey Team,

We're getting there, hope that you're all having good luck with your profiles. We're going to start doing some invention work this week to get ready for our Research Essay, which is around the corner. Don't forget to stop by my office if you have questions about your personal essay revision--the hour before class on Monday & Wednesday.

All the best,
Elliot

Monday, March 3
What is an issue in one of your communities (i.e. university, civic, sports, etc.) that you wish you knew more about?

Wednesday, March 5
What debate or argument seems so obvious that you can't even get your head around what the other side is about?

Friday, March 7
If you could do more research and get more background information on the issues in your profile or personal essay, which would you choose? Why?

Journal Prompts, Week 5

Hey Guys,

Here are your journal prompts for this week; hopefully they will tie in with the work that you're already doing on your profile. I'll be looking back over all your entries this weekend, so make sure that everything is up to date. Have a great week, all!

E

Monday, 2/25
Write a short anecdote or story that, in a couple paragraphs, illustrates something about someone without overtly saying what it is. This can be about your profile subject, or anyone else. For example, you could show how someone loves hunting by describing the joyous way that they do it.

Monday 2/27
In any of the profile's we've read (or watched) what is your favorite quote? Why? What does it say about the subject?

Monday 2/29
Write a vivid description of someone in our class. Note the way that they walk, dress, talk, etc. Combine all these elements into one paragraph that paints a brief, accurate picture of one of our classmates.

Journals Prompts, Week 5

Hey guys,

Just a reminder of your journal prompts for this week. Post three journals this week, each about a different community that you are thinking about writing your profile on. For each post, make a list of possible interview subjects within that community.

Ex.
Community: Missoula
Mayor?
Person that owns a business
Homeless person
Someone who's lived here a long time
Person of color living in Missoula
Professor
ETC.

Try to get at least 5-10 subjects for each community, and get all of your entries posted by Friday afternoon so I can get back to you. Have a great week!

E

Journal Prompts, Week 4

Hey guys,

Hope that your drafting is going smoothly, and that you're really getting into your writing. The personal essay is just that, personal, so I hope that you're taking the time to do some solid reflection and really consider what you want to be writing about. Here are your journal prompts for this week. They mostly pertain to the writing process, in hopes of helping you guys make your essays into something that you can be really proud of. Enjoy the week!

Monday, February 11
One of the easiest, best ways to hook a reader is to bring them into the action with a solid lead. A lead is a opening paragraph that starts the reader right in the middle of the action, and often "shines a light" into your story be hinting at the point or main conflict of the piece. Write a descriptive, interesting first paragraph that starts the reader out immediately in the present. It can be for your personal essay, or just something that you choose to make up.

Wednesday, February 13
What piece of writing are you most proud of?

Friday, February 15
Description and detail are the best ways to move action in the personal essay. As a genre, it generally focuses on SHOWING not TELLING. Rewrite this paragraph with details from your life, or ones that you make up, so that it shows instead of tells:

When we were kids we were always getting into trouble. We would do something that our parents didn't like, and, though we sometimes got away with it, they would sometimes get mad at us and reprimand us. We weren't intentionally disobedient. Just, sometimes, things would come up and we would get all excited and then we'd be getting chewed out. Sometimes the things we did even destroyed parts of the house. It was crazy.

Sample Sketch

What I Learned on My Summer Vacation

Last summer, I got the opportunity of a lifetime. I was selected to spend 5 weeks in the heart of the summer teaching whitewater kayaking for the Chewonki Foundation, in Maine. This wasn’t just any trip, though. It was called Northeast Rivers, and we drove around in a giant van the boys dubbed “Poon Jesticle” (they were 15) and paddled all of the best rivers in the Northeast—the Ottawa, Lachines, Rouge, and Rapid. Even now, the names of these rivers fill me with joy at all of the good times we had.

There are a lot of things that I learned this summer, having been given the opportunity to spend five weeks paddling with boys. The things that I learned ranged from the obscene (curse words that I never knew existed), to the obscure (conspiracy theories surrounding the death of Notorious BIG), to the profound (a reminder how much joy and difficulty teenage years inevitably bring). Of all the things that I learned from the boys, though, the one that I most hope to take and incorporate in my life and in my paddling was the low-key, egoless fun that the boys brought to the river every single day. In a paddling world that feels increasingly driven by photos of ever-higher waterfalls or bigger blunts on giant waves, it was truly a relief to spend time with great paddlers who were often content to put on goggles and float around staring at “weird fish” underwater.

The boys’ search for fun bordered on the ridiculous. At any given time during our sessions at Smooth Ledge, on the Rapid River in Maine, there might be three kayakers, a boogie boarder, and a large inflatable dinosaur named “Tao” piloted by three boys in the eddy waiting for their chance to ride. They were particularly fond of what they called “multi-dimensional freestyle” (a term they took off the back of one of the Pyranha boats), which, to them, meant cramming the maximum number of boats onto a feature and then passing paddles back and forth, flipping each other over, and trying to shake hands. At one point, one of the boys asked Dan and I if he thought other kayakers would laugh at him if he wore a full-size swim mask out onto the wave, and then before we could answer, simply said, “Never mind, I don’t care.” He looked ridiculous in the eddy on release day until he hit an air loop with the swim mask on.

One time on the Ottawa River, we were starting at a jumble of difficult whitewater called Coliseum. Some really good paddlers on the side of the river were also staring at it, and couldn’t decide if they want to go or not. After all of my boys styled their lines—absolutely tearing this rapid apart—the older couple decided to try it. I wanted to tell them that paddling like a 15 year old is not necessarily easy, but they had already peeled out into the current.

And so, in conclusion, what I learned on my summer vacation is that paddling is fun—and so is boogie boarding, and swimming, and riding dinosaurs through whitewater. Swimming through whitewater is also tolerable if you can laugh about it afterwards. It was Alex Lowe that said “The best climber in the world is the one having the most fun.” By that standard, I had the opportunity to paddle with the best in the world, and I hope to take at least some measure of that spirit of joy with me.

Journal Prompts, Week 3

Hey Guys,

Congratulations on all of the great work that you're doing. I've been cruising everybody's blogs, and there is a ton of good material that we can put to use on the personal essay next week. Remember, this week finish your journal entries for the whole week by Wednesday, so that we can begin combing through them for promising topics.

By Wednesday, please write three posts. You guys can choose which prompts appeal to you most:

Write about a moral dilemma you faced growing up.

How do you know you are cool?

Write about a time your parents lied to you.

Describe a decision that you made that had disastrous consequences.

Describe your favorite outfit of all time.

What do you think are your family's values?

Journal Prompts, Week 2

Hi All,

Hope that you're all getting used to you online journals. I'll answer any questions about how this works in class on Monday. Here are your prompts for this coming week; don't forget to write 10 minutes on each of them. Have a great week!

Elliot

Monday 1/28
Describe you high school's/junior high school's social structure.

Wednesday 1/30
Write about a time you felt you were too old to continue doing something you enjoyed.

Friday 2/1
What do you and your friends do when there is "nothing to do"?

Journal Prompt, Week 1

Hey guys,

As you begin working on your online journal, I'd like you to do 2 10-minute fastwrites as homework for this week. We'll do our fastwrite for Wednesday in class, and please write one at home for your homework for Friday.

Describe a place besides your house that you consider "home".

ENEX 101, Section 7, Spring 2008

Hi Students,

This is a sample of the blogging that we'll be doing this coming semester. I've created this blog, and on it you can find information that's also on the syllabus, your journal questions for the coming week, and contact information for your instructor. I will also occasionally post articles or other media to read. Looking forward to the coming semester!

Elliot Jacobs
elliot.jacobs@umontana.edu

Office Hours:
Monday 10-11
Wednesday 10-11