Reading For February 9

For Wednesday's class, I would like you to read the following investigative report: "Penn State's Liquid Cocaine."

This piece was originally written for my class last semester by Kevin Battista. It's an investigative report on 4Loko, which was banned shortly after Kevin wrote his piece. Not only was it a timely issue relevant to PSU student life, but it was also incredibly well reported with a variety of voices and opinions as well as clever observations and illustrative scenes. It's an excellent example of a strong investigative report written by one of your peers. It was so good, in fact, that Kevin got it published by Onward State, where he is now a regular writer.

Enjoy!

Journal Six: Investigating

This assignment is meant to help you get a decent head start on researching your topic for the investigative report. For this week's blog I want you to do all of the following:

1. I want you to give me a 200-300 word description of a place or scene related to your issue/profile. You'll need to do some observation for this part. If you are writing about drinking in your dorm: Describe your dorm. If you are writing about manic street preachers, give me a portrait of a scene of someone preaching -- where are they? In front of the Hub? What are they wearing? What are they saying? If you are, say, writing about ANGEL, describe how the platform works -- what does it look like? How is it used?

2. I want you to give me three quotes from a few interviews you've conducted that are related to your issue. Make sure they are relevant and colorful. They can be from an interview with a student, a friend, a professor, your subject, a police officer. Whomever. Just make sure you tell me who the quote is from -- give me their name, their age, their profession (or their year if they are a student). Things like that. They can be three quotes from the same person -- just make sure that each quote says something unique and points to a particular point of interest within your issue.

3. Write down four relevant facts that you have found in at least two different sources, whether from a website, a newspaper article, a survey, an expert you have talked to. Make sure that you cite each fact -- tell me where you got the fact from.

4. While observing, interviewing, and researching, you likely stumbled across new ideas or avenues you hadn't thought about before -- things you might want to look into further for your paper. Tell me about two areas that you are interested in doing a bit more research, issues that you feel you need to address to make your paper stronger. Maybe you feel you need to interview someone in the IT department or you need to talk to a different fraternity or look for a specific article someone mentioned. Let me know what your next investigative steps will be.

You must include all four of these items in your blog -- there is no option to pick and choose.

DUE: Before class Monday, February 14, 2011

Journal Five: Profiles

Profiles are supposed to offer us revealing glimpses into the lives of people who intrigue us for one reason or another, whether they are Hollywood celebrities, politicians, sports players, rock stars, or just some random, enigmatic character we see on the street.

Profiles are supposed to get down to the nitty gritty of a person's character -- the "real" story behind the man/woman. Often, a journalist will interview not only the subject of their story, but several people in that person's life, too -- family, business partners, enemies and critics. They'll surf the internet looking for old stories and background information, maybe even pull up police reports, legal documents, tax filings -- whatever sources they need to make their story interesting, complete, and three-dimensional.

Sometimes, it's also in what the journalist isn't being told -- the information they aren't able to get -- where the story can be the most illuminating. One of the most famous examples of this sort of story is "Frank Sinatra Has A Cold" by Gay Talese. Talese obviously had a hell of a time getting Frank to sit down and be open with him. But it didn't stop Talese from writing a close study of the singer. He simply relied on other instincts -- other signs and observations -- in order to give us a rather personal and touching glimpse of Sinatra.

Today, "Frank Sinatra Has A Cold," which first ran in Esquire Magazine in 1966, is considered the paragon of profiles. For any young writer, this story is required reading. It's a classic, for sure.

For Monday (February 7), I want you to read the piece (just click on the above link). Then, I want you to answer the five questions on page 155 of Harbrace under "What Makes It a Profile?"

Finally, I want you to watch this interview with Gay Talese about the art of writing a profile (he talks a lot about this story, in particular). Write a reflection on the interview in at least 300 words.

DUE: Before class Monday, February 7, 2011

Assignment Two: Investigative Reporting

Purpose

Identify a local person, problem, or issue that interests you and merits your investigation. Write to a specific audience, one who can appreciate, act upon, or respond to your investigation. In addition to a specific audience, write with a specific purpose in mind (what it is you want your audience to do or think).

In this assignment, an exercise in community engagement, you’ll learn about your surroundings by exploring, listening to, absorbing, and questioning what others say and do; conducting limited research; and, most importantly, interviewing. You may choose one of two options to fulfill this assignment (see chapters 5-8 in the HGW, concise edition):

1.     Profile – Interview a local professional and spend some time with her or him (a significant portion of a work day) in the workplace. If you choose this option, you should be tactful, generous, and humble as you approach someone to request their time and energy—and as you observe them closely and pick their brain.

2.     Report – Select a nearby location, institution, or campus issue to investigate. You may be attracted by some glaring or not-so-obvious problem (exigence). Or you may be simply curious about it. Learn what you can about both the “historical” background of your topic and its “contemporary” life today.

Invention

Keep in mind as you brainstorm/draft:

Ø  Choose a specific person, problem, or issue to investigate. Be specific.

Ø  Bring together a variety of observations, research findings, and judgments in order to stimulate your investigation.

Ø  Synthesize the most appropriate of them in order to reach your reasoned/logical conclusion or solution.

Ø  Think about how your investigation might be informative, entertaining, or persuasive for a specific audience.

Expectations

A successful investigative report will:

1.     Introduce why the subject merits investigation;

2.     Approach the subject from various perspectives, with the use of concrete examples, evidence (including anecdotes), and direct quotations to develop your purpose;

3.     Tell a compelling story about your subject by expertly incorporating source materials into your narrative

Length: 4-5 pages (double-spaced)

Rough Draft Due: February 16, 2011

Final Assignment Portfolio Due: February 21, 2011

Resources: “Checking Over a Profile” on page 161; “Checking Over an Investigative Report” on page 198 of the Harbrace Guide to Writing.

Journal Four: #1 Party School

In 2009, the Princeton Review named Penn State the #1 Party School in America. In honor of this new title -- and out of a certain curiosity -- journalists from This American Life came to investigate the scene. Their findings culminated in an hour long broadcast entitled "#1 Party School."

Click on the link above and listen to the report. Then, in at least 500 words, I want you to analyze the piece using the five questions listed on page 193 of Harbrace, under "What Makes It An Investigative Report." Aside from these five questions, I'd also like to get your take on the piece. Did you like it? Why? Why not? What worked for you? What didn't? What would have liked to hear more of/less of in the story? Post your response on your blog.


DUE: Before class Wednesday, February 2, 2011

EXTRA CREDIT

For extra credit this semester, you can attend specific events noted on this blog. You must then write a 500-word reflection or critical review of the event on your blog. Here are some events to consider:

HOWL @ The State Theater
Click the link for show times and information, including a trailer of the film. For this event, you must furnish your ticket stub as proof of your attendance.


MFA READING SERIES
Friday, January 28th at 7:30 PM
At the University Club

February 18th at 7
At the University Club

March 18 at 9
At the University Club

April 22 at 7
At the University Club

This reading series is free. For those interested in taking creative writing classes, it's a great way to see what sort of work we do in the MFA writing program. It's also a great chance to meet folks who teach a lot of the undergraduate writing classes. The work being read is a mix of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction writen by MFA students who are in their final semester.

I'll list more events as they come up. If you find something you'd like to write about that doesn't appear here, just email me and I'll happily consider your request.

Assignment One: Personal Narrative

Purpose

Recall, retell, and analyze a significant experience in your life. Carefully choose a sequence of events that 1) supports a specific thesis and 2) helps you fulfill your rhetorical purpose regarding a specific audience.

Invention

Keep in mind as you brainstorm/draft:

Ø  Scope: You cannot explain your entire high school experience or history as a baseball player in one brief essay. Choose one particular memory as a starting point.

Ø  You will want to be especially strategic in deciding which features of the experience (which details, characters, settings, and dialogue) you want to emphasize and which ones you should ignore if you are to achieve your desired purpose. 

Ø  You may want to conduct some naturalistic research (e.g., interviewing a friend or family member about a specific memory, observing a particular environment, etc.). This research will allow you to understand a moment from someone else’s perspective or look more closely at a space or behavior.

Ø  You should have a purpose in mind as you write your own memoir: to argue a point, to create a mood (maybe entertain), to instruct, inform, explain, or to provide cultural or philosophical commentary, blame, praise, and so forth.

Ø  Your memoir should be tailored for a specific audience—think about who could learn something from your experience.

Expectations

A successful personal narrative will:

1.     Focus on a significant experience;

2.     Use ample sensory details;

3.     Include dialogue that reveals information about your characters;

4.     Employ transitions that will help your reader follow your narrative and/or logic;

5.     Showcase a personal narrative voice (e.g., use a variety of sentence patterns and lengths, don’t sound like you come from the bureau of statistics, and so on); and

6.     Provide reflection and analysis in order to help your audience understand the significance of the experience.

Length: 3-4 pages (double-spaced)

Rough Draft Due: January 26, 2011

Final Assignment Portfolio Due: January 31, 2011

Resources: “Checking over a Memoir” on page 124 of The Harbrace Guide to Writing.

Journal Three: Drafting

For your third journal assignment, I want you to read a chapter from Anne Lamott's book, Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life, entitled, ehem, "Shitty First Drafts."

After the reading, you'll notice that there are three questions. You can use any of these questions to guide your reflection on Lamott's piece. But, most importantly, I want you to think about what Lamott says regarding the importance of the "shitty first draft" as it relates to your personal writing process. What could you relate to in the reading? What did the reading illuminate for you? What part of Lamott's observation may hep you in approaching the rough draft for your memoir? How might you approach this process differently from how you have dealt with drafts before?

Please write your reflection on the reading as it relates to your own writing in at least 500 words and post your response on your blog before class on Monday.

"The Almighty Essay"

Again, here is the link to Trip Gabriel's NYTimes article, "The Almighty Essay." Print it out, read it, and bring it to class with you on Wednesday. We'll not only discuss what Gabriel has to say about the difficulty of constructing personal narratives, but how he constructs his own personal narrative, too.

See you all then.

Journal Two: Memoir

Read one of the following personal essays and then, in 400-500 words, break down for us those elements of memoir that are being employed by the writer and which you learned about in your Harbrace reading. Tell us what the subject of the story is, why this particular story is timely or relevant, who is the intended audience, what is the point of the story, and what rhetorical devices are used that you found particularly strong and are ones you might like to incorporate into your own writing? Also, consider how the use of pathos is at play in the piece. Here are your choices:

- Giffels, David. "Shirt-Worthy," The New York Times Magazine. October 28, 2007.

- Lamott, Anne. "What She Gave," Salon.com. May 8, 2005.

- Sheff, David. "My Addicted Son," The New York Times Magazine. February 6, 2005. Note: this one is a bit longer, but it is so worth the read. Very emotional. Very riveting. Probably my personal favorite of the bunch. Keep a box of kleenex nearby.

- Grollmus, Denise. "Tour of Duty," Scene Magazine, February 23, 2005. Ok, so, I figured, you all have to pour your guts out to me, so it's only fair that I suffer a bit of personal narrative humiliation, too, right? I also want this to be a lesson to you all to take risks when picking a topic for your memoirs. Don't hold back. Be honest. And pick something that is truly close to you. 

Journal One

Think about your past experiences as a writer and rhetor. What are two of your strengths as a writer and rhetor? What are two of your writing weaknesses? Specifically, how would you like to improve as a writer? What could you do or learn to make such improvements? How do you anticipate that this particular course will help you improve as a writer and rhetor?

Answer these questions in 500 words or more. Also, include examples, via at least two hyperlinks, of writing or rhetorical situations that inspire you to be a better writer. It could be song lyrics, a scene from a television show, your favorite book, or a recent article you read. For example, I love readingThe Onion. For me, satire is one of my favorite things to read -- but it's not always the easiest thing for me to write. How about you?