Writing Assignment # 3
INTRO TO NONFICTION: MEMOIR AND PLACE
Choose ONE of the following prompts for your paper on Joe Wilkins's memoir, The Mountain and the Fathers: Growing Up on the Big Dry:
Scroll down, below the prompts, for further instructions on document formatting.
PROMPT 1
The Fathers
In the opening pages of Wilkins's memoir, we're presented with an absence, a void: Joe's father has died, and Joe spends the rest of the book figuring out what to do about that absence, looking for ways to fill that void.
So, how does Joe do it? You could say that we've been addressing that question every day in class, because in every chapter in this memoir—whether it's two pages long or fifteen— we see Joe dealing with that absence, trying to fill that void.
The Fathers
In the opening pages of Wilkins's memoir, we're presented with an absence, a void: Joe's father has died, and Joe spends the rest of the book figuring out what to do about that absence, looking for ways to fill that void.
So, how does Joe do it? You could say that we've been addressing that question every day in class, because in every chapter in this memoir—whether it's two pages long or fifteen— we see Joe dealing with that absence, trying to fill that void.
8:00 CLASS: I like your idea about how to divide this paper: In the first body paragraph, discuss one of the "fathers" of the book (father figures) that could be seen as a "good" influence on Joe, a good stand-in for Joe's father, in however small or large a way they satisfy that role. Someone who had a positive influence on Joe. In the second body paragraph, do the opposite: discuss a "bad" father figure Joe found. Remember how we talked about this in class.
12:30 CLASS: I like your idea, too. In the first body paragraph, discuss a father ("good" or "bad"). In the second body paragraph, discuss not another father but instead something else Joe turned to to fill the void. It should be something more abstract: an intellectual pursuit, an adolescent interest, a hobby, etc. Remember how we talked about this in class.
As always, be sure to quote from the text to back up your claims.
12:30 CLASS: I like your idea, too. In the first body paragraph, discuss a father ("good" or "bad"). In the second body paragraph, discuss not another father but instead something else Joe turned to to fill the void. It should be something more abstract: an intellectual pursuit, an adolescent interest, a hobby, etc. Remember how we talked about this in class.
As always, be sure to quote from the text to back up your claims.
PROMPT 2
Joe the Outsider
The writers we've read so far this semester—Trethewey, Offutt, and Wilkins—have all viewed themselves, in one way or another, as outsiders. Think about how each writer inhabited that outsider role in their memoir and how their outsider status came to define them.
For this prompt, I want you to identify TWO passages from the book where Joe's outsider status is at the forefront. Think of times when his outsider status is a source of tension. You could choose particular scenes, or you could choose passages that are more reflective and expository (less rooted in a specific event). In each of your two body paragraphs, analyze an outsider passage and discuss the dynamics therein: How exactly is Joe an outsider in this passage? How do you know? Why is this passage significant? Is Joe's particular brand of outsider-ness in this passage an element that appears throughout the memoir, or not? And perhaps most interesting, can you find any ways that Joe's outsider status might actually make him belong, in a sense, in The Big Dry? If so, explain fully.
As always, be sure to quote from the text to back up your claims.
Joe the Outsider
The writers we've read so far this semester—Trethewey, Offutt, and Wilkins—have all viewed themselves, in one way or another, as outsiders. Think about how each writer inhabited that outsider role in their memoir and how their outsider status came to define them.
For this prompt, I want you to identify TWO passages from the book where Joe's outsider status is at the forefront. Think of times when his outsider status is a source of tension. You could choose particular scenes, or you could choose passages that are more reflective and expository (less rooted in a specific event). In each of your two body paragraphs, analyze an outsider passage and discuss the dynamics therein: How exactly is Joe an outsider in this passage? How do you know? Why is this passage significant? Is Joe's particular brand of outsider-ness in this passage an element that appears throughout the memoir, or not? And perhaps most interesting, can you find any ways that Joe's outsider status might actually make him belong, in a sense, in The Big Dry? If so, explain fully.
As always, be sure to quote from the text to back up your claims.
PROMPT 3
A couple of you stayed after class last week and proposed your own writing prompts for this assignment. Those two students came up with really great ideas, and I can't wait to read those papers! If you're interested in pitching your own prompt to me, please do so in an e-mail before midnight on Sunday.
A couple of you stayed after class last week and proposed your own writing prompts for this assignment. Those two students came up with really great ideas, and I can't wait to read those papers! If you're interested in pitching your own prompt to me, please do so in an e-mail before midnight on Sunday.
• Your paper should be 3 full pages in length (approximately 1,000 words). Please see the example document below. It's okay if you write a little more than 3 pages and spill onto the 4th page, but it's not okay to write less that the suggested page/word count.
• Set your margins to one inch, all around (top, bottom, left, and right).
• Double-space throughout.
• Indent each new paragraph.
• Place your heading in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Include your name, my last name, our course number, and the date.
• Place your last name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page (except for first page!).
• Use in-text citations (MLA Style).
• Turn in a hard copy of your paper in class on Tuesday, November 19. And staple it!
• Please read the example pages below for tips on formatting your document.
• Set your margins to one inch, all around (top, bottom, left, and right).
• Double-space throughout.
• Indent each new paragraph.
• Place your heading in the upper left-hand corner of the first page. Include your name, my last name, our course number, and the date.
• Place your last name and the page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page (except for first page!).
• Use in-text citations (MLA Style).
• Turn in a hard copy of your paper in class on Tuesday, November 19. And staple it!
• Please read the example pages below for tips on formatting your document.
