ENG 101:
Effective Writing I
Fall 2007
Keeping a
Writer's Notebook
Dr. Gano-Overway and I will be asking you to keep a "notebook" of response and reflection throughout the semester. (This "notebook" should be kept on the J Drive.) The requirement for ENG 101 is 6 double-spaced word-processed pages per week for the semester, for a total of 72 pages (based on 24 TR meetings). The reflections that you write for PDP 150, but not your more formal essays for PDP, will serve as some of your pages. The rest of your notebook should consist of a range of writing from the following types:
Personal reflection on any topic. Do bear in mind that Dr. Gano-Overway and I will read it, so while it is "personal," it is not private.
Personal response to your reading. You may find it useful to copy a passage and reflect on it.
Critical response to your reading--content or the way the writer writes.
Reflections specifically on your own writing--your practices, your growth as a writer, your challenges.
Comments on an activity or some other aspect of our class.
The notebook will serve the following purposes in our class:
This will be one of the ways through which I check on your reading, since you will be choosing books of your choice after we have finished 1984. It would be useful to include some entries that show your comprehension of your reading (like a brief outline or summary of a particular chapter), as well as some entries that show you have given some thought to what you have read, that you are engaging with your reading (like a list of questions that come to mind as you read a particular chapter).
The books you choose will also be your writing textbooks. This means that you will learn things about writing from reading them—not how to write novels with plenty of symbolism (if you’ve read The Scarlet Letter, you know what I mean), but how to say things more clearly, perhaps, or how to establish your authority as a writer, or how to vary sentence length and paragraph length to keep your reader interested. You may want to do some writing about the way an author accomplishes his or her purpose, for example by choosing a paragraph that you think is particularly effective and analyzing what makes it work by looking at word choice, sentence structure, even punctuation.
Some of these activities involve explaining, some exploring, others analyzing--the tasks your writing for PDP involves. The synthesizing will come in the form of writing your formal essays over the course of the semester—and those essays will all include elements of explaining, exploring, and analyzing as well.
Your notebook will serve as a record of your individual reading, writing, and thinking experiences over the semester. You will find it particularly useful when you are asked to write reflective midterm and end-of-semester introductions to your writing portfolio in ENG 101 or to reflect on your growth and development for PDP.
Posted by Dr. Trupe July 30, 2007