Unit 2 Assignment

WRT 114 / Unit 2 Assignment: Personal/Lyric Essay

Your second writing portfolio will showcase one polished personal or lyric essay (6-8 pp. double-spaced), and a critical reflection (approx. 2 pp. double-spaced).  The essay and reflection are due on Nov.2 , and the assignment is worth 20% of your overall grade for the course.  As with Unit 1, please submit your writing in a 2-pocket folder (or tightly bound in some other way).

 I’d like you to begin this project by identifying a “burning question” that arose for you during Unit 1.  You may begin with a piece of flash nonfiction that you submitted in the Unit 1 portfolio, or you may draw from a topic that’s been on your mind but hasn’t yet made its way into your writing.  All of the writing you’ll do during this unit will revolve around an in-depth exploration of your burning question.

Here are some of the important creative elements I’ll be reading for when I collect your final draft, all of which we will have discussed in class:

  • Success in establishing a pact with the reader through tone, context, setting, concision, ethical treatment of subject matter, and avoidance of pitfalls such as “revenge prose” and “therapist’s couch” writing.
  • Control over shaping the narrative line through decisions in narrative content, form, and pacing (attention to horizontal and vertical movement are essential, even if your essay utilizes other forms of movement such as juxtaposition).
  • Strong detail rendered through interesting language and well-crafted scenes.
  • Lyricism: imagery, figurative language, avoidance of cliché, word choice that is innovative and precise, attention to phrasing, the rhythm of your sentences.
  • A compelling narrative persona or voice that is engaging and authentic, and also mature and self-aware.
  • Success in forging discovery about one’s subject through moments of reflection, analysis, and insight into one’s own experience and into the larger relevant culture or subculture.
  • Thorough proof-reading that demonstrates the writer’s complete control over sentence structure, word choice, use of verb tenses, point of view, and use of punctuation to make the reader “hear it” the way you imagine the essay sounding.

Critical Reflection

Your critical reflection should be approximately 2 pp. in length.  Please review your own pre-writing for this essay and reflect on crucial moments in the process of its development.  Consider these questions, but don’t try to answer them all.  Respond to the questions that speak most profoundly to your experience in composing this essay, or address other aspects of the composition and revision process:

  • Discuss some quotes or key passages from our Unit 1 or 2 readings that influenced your thinking about how to craft your personal/lyric essay, how to represent yourself as a speaking self in the essay, and how to arrange your material into the final draft.
  • How did you decide on a topic for this essay? What other topics did you consider, and what made you settle on your final selection?
  • Discuss a moment in the composition or revision process when your thinking took a sharp turn.
  • Describe your most significant discovery or intellectual breakthrough in composing/shaping this essay.
  • What aspects of this essay are you most proud of?
  • What are you still struggling with?

Grading Rubric:

  • Success in establishing a pact with the reader through tone, context, setting, concision, ethical treatment of subject matter, and avoidance of pitfalls such as “revenge prose” and “therapist’s couch” writing
  • Control over shaping the narrative line through decisions in narrative content, form, and pacing (attention to horizontal and vertical movement are essential, even if your essay utilizes other forms of movement such as juxtaposition)
  • Strong detail rendered through interesting language and well-crafted scenes
  • Lyricism: imagery, figurative language, avoidance of cliché, word choice that is innovative and precise, attention to phrasing, the rhythm of your sentences
  • A compelling narrative persona or voice that is engaging and authentic, and also mature and self-aware
  • Success in forging discovery about one’s subject through moments of reflection, analysis, and insight into one’s own experience and into the larger relevant culture or subculture
  • Thorough proof-reading that demonstrates the writer’s complete control over sentence structure, word choice, use of verb tenses, point of view, and use of punctuation to make the reader “hear it” the way you imagine the essay sounding
  • Thoughtfulness and care in composing critical reflection; explicit connections to course readings.