For each of our keystone texts, you will complete a short response to a writing prompt. There will be six of these assignments, and each is worth five points.
These short papers should be between 750-1500 words (with the exception of paper #6, which follows a slightly different format), and they should demonstrate that you've thought carefully about the prompt and about the reading. The prose in these papers should reflect some level of revision, but they do not have to be perfectly polished. I am primarily interested in the ideas generated by the practice of writing these papers. Show me careful thinking, and I'll be willing to let sloppy sentences slide.
The aim of the prompts is to provoke new ways of thinking about the reading and about the topic of the class, and I may ask you to think about things you're not accustomed to thinking about in ways that might also be new. Consider these papers as opportunities to take risks in your thinking. These are low stakes assignments meant to provide some space for creativity.
For your final project, you will choose one of the short responses and expand it to propose a larger project. This means you should consider each of these short writing assignments as potential rough drafts for that final project.
When providing feedback on these, I will focus on how you might expand on the ideas in the paper for the final project. I will also be asking the following questions:
- Does the paper fall within the word count range?
- Have you responded to the prompt?
- Is there evidence that you have carefully read and engaged with the assigned reading?
- Does the paper demonstrate an attempt at engaging with the theories and concepts in the reading?
