ENG103: Seeing and Writing
Course Schedule, Spring 05

Class Schedule
First Week: Introduction
Wednesday, Jan 11: first day, introduction.

Second Week:
Monday, January 16: No Class, Martin Luther King Day
Wednesday, January 18: Last day for drop/add, Read p. 1-35.

Third Week:
Monday, Jan 23: Tony Hiss “An Experience of Place” p. 182
Writing: Find one convincing point that Hiss makes. Analyze why you are convinced. Then, think of a place that is important to you, a place that has, in a literal or metaphorical sense, given you “shelter.” Do a fifteen minute freetype/freewrite about this place, not stopping to think or check grammar or read what you have written. Stay on topic, but do not worry about ordering or paragraphing.

Wednesday, January 25: Library Skills Day, Meet in Library

Fourth Week:
Monday, January 30: Eudora Welty “The Little Store” p. 134. And Pico Iyer “Why We Travel” p.189.
Answer all of the questions (point by point) in Seeing #1 p. 140.

Wednesday, February 1: Annie Dillard “Seeing” p. 94 Write a page explaining what it means to be an "unscrupulous observer" through "letting go" (see the end of Seeing #2 on 104).

Fifth Week:
Monday, February 6: Edward Hirsch "Edward Hopper and the House by the Railroad" p.130 and Misrach’s photos p. 176.
Writing: What features of the Hopper painting does Hirsch focus on and what effects does he create through personification of the house? (see seeing #2 on 133 for details).
Schedule your conference in class.

Wednesday, February 8: Read Grammar section in Hacker. In-class writing exercise.

Sixth Week:
Monday, February 13-Wednesday, February 15: Conferences; first draft of Essay 1 due at conference time.

Friday, February 17: Essay 1 Due by 2pm (in front of my office).

Seventh Week:
Monday, February 20: “Capturing Memorable Moments” 220-4, “Reading an Image” 661-5, and “Reading a Photograph” 672-3
Writing: Do a reading of Henri Cartier Bresson's "Behind St. Lazarre Station" based on the above articles.

Wednesday, February 22: Susan Sontag “On Photography” p. 292 Make sure you write up definitions! Write a two sentence summary of her piece and a ten sentence summary of this piece.

Eighth Week:
Monday, February 27: Andrew Sullivan “The Pursuit of Happiness” p.400. Go online and type “pursuit of happiness” into a search engine. What do you come up with? How are these meanings similar to/different from the meaning Sullivan discusses?

Wednesday, March 1: Don Dellilo "In The Ruins of the Future" p. 279. Work through seeing #1 on 286.
Last day to withdraw.

Ninth Week:
Monday, March 6-10: Spring Break, No Class

Tenth Week:
Monday, March 13: “Richard Billingham” Nick Hornby p. 551 Answer Seeing #2.
Ethan Canin “Viewfinder” p. 297. Read Punctuation section in Hacker

Wednesday, March 15: Kent State p. 187; research the Kent State shootings online and bring in further information/perspectives/readings. Read Clarity Section in Hacker.

Eleventh Week:
Monday, March 20: “Looking at the Unbearable” Susan Sontag p.547

Wednesday, March 22: Barbara Kruger’s A Picture is Worth More than a Thousand Words p.541, Guy Davenport “The Geography of the Imagination” p. 469

Twelfth Week:
Monday, March 27: Dorothy Allison “This Is Our World” p.259

Wednesday, March 29: First draft of Essay 2 due; in class peer review

Thirteenth Week:
Monday, April 3: Final draft of Essay 2 due; read Mechanics section in Hacker.

Wednesday, April 5: K.C. Cole “A Matter of Scale” p.111
Writing: Summarize Cole’s argument in two or three sentences—then answer Seeing #1 p. 123

Fourteenth Week:
Monday, April 10: John Berger “Ways of Seeing” p.622

Wednesday, April 12-14: Holiday Break, No Class

Fifteenth Week:
Monday, April 17: “Show and Tell” p. 636 and browse through online comics at http://www.moderntales.com, http://www.comixpedia.com, http://www.serializer.com, etc. Write about a text that combines pictures and words into the narrative (ie. comics, picture books, illustrated novels, etc) and discuss how the images and words worked together and what you like/enjoy/respect about it.

Wednesday, April 19: Sarah Vowell “Shooting Dad” p. 231 How does the opening line of the essay connect with other moments in the essay? What feelings does this opening image bring out in you with regards to your own life (political/familial, etc)? (see seeing #1 on p. 236 for details).
Schedule conferences in class.

Sixteenth Week
Monday, April 24: Conferences

Wednesday, April 26: Conferences

Seventeenth Week:
Monday, May 1: Final papers and letter of self-evaluation due. Quote a sentence or two from one of your writing pieces that you think is effective. Why do you think it works? Quote a sentence or two that you think isn’t effective. What might you have done to make it more successful? What are your future writing goals (for this class and beyond)? How will you achieve these goals?