Welcome to this class. In this session, you are going to workshop your essay ideas.
Before you start, I’m going to set you a little free writing exercise. It’s a straightforward one. What I want you to do is start by writing the words, “I want to write…” Then follow the thought wherever it goes. When you get to the end of the thought, start again with writing, “I want to write…” and follow a fresh thought.
If you can’t think of anything you want to write, then just keep writing, “I want to write, I want to write, I want to write…” until something takes off in your mind, and then follow that thought.
What do you want to write? An essay that will end capitalism? A love letter so overwhelming, nobody can resist it? A story that sticks in people’s minds forever? A shopping list?
The purpose of this exercise is to connect with a sense of what matters to you as a writer. This will be useful as we move into talking about our essays. You have five minutes.
Getting started
We’ll start by talking in breakout groups.
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Which question have you chosen (the essay or the creative response question)?
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What ideas do you already have for the assignment?
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What resources are you going to make use of?
Getting Prepared
I’m going to talk to you about referencing, and about a tool to make your life much easier. You may know about this already, but if not, I strongly recommend it. The tool is Zotero (zotero.org). I’ll talk you through it in class.
In general, Parami students fall down when it comes to understanding how to do research—accessing research literature, understanding how to read to deepen an argument, and being able to evaluate the reliability of sources. So we’ll talk about this today.
Quiz
Finally, today, your mid-term quiz. This is on the Theaetetus. But it’s a chance to revise some ideas ready for your mid-term. The quiz is on canvas. It’s an open book quiz, and you have a chance to talk it through in groups.
Homework
Work on your mid-term! And I’ll see you on Thursday.