Using Research: In-Text Citations

I just wanted to remind everyone that Chapters 23 and 24 in our online textbook, The Penguin Handbook, provide an excellent overview of both why and how to use research in an academic essay. Everyone is encouraged to re-read these chapters as you continue working on projects in this course. In addition, I also wanted to provide a link to the presentation that we viewed in class today, which offers a snapshot of some basics of in-text citation. As always, please e-mail me if you have any questions about this material. Thanks!

Pius Library

Please remember that we'll be meeting in Pius Library for class on Monday, November 5. The classroom is LL7, which is in the basement of the library.

See you then!

Let The Right One In

Because context plays a role in the content of any kind of document -- from a paper to a presentation -- I though it would be useful to share some of the different posters and promotional images for Let the Right One In. In each case, certain rhetorical choices were made to highlight different aspects of the film based on the perceived audience: theatergoers, foreign audiences, film festivals, and so on. Does each poster say the same thing about the film, or does the what the film is "about" seem to somehow change in light of the differences between images

George Saunders

For Wednesday, we'll be reading a short personal essay by George Saunders: "Thank You, Esther Forbes." (Please see the Reading Assignments page.) Saunders is a best-selling fiction writer, a teacher at Syracuse University, and the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship (which is a pretty big deal -- look it up!) For anyone who wants to learn more about the author, here is a link to Saunders's somewhat recent appearance on The Colbert Report; in addition to discussing the harsh tonality of American political punditry, he also brings up shrimp and popsicles. Enjoy!

[Insert enthusiastic title here.]

So of course it's only the beginning of the semester, and I already personally have writer's block. I have been sitting here for a few minutes now, staring at the ghostly glow of my computer and trying desperately to come up with a clever yet welcoming title for this blog post -- something that in only a few words would convey a sense of excitement for the semester ahead. Then I realized.... I have the whole semester to come up with something to say! Because this course is all about the process of composition and all of the necessary editing and rewriting that goes into the best written work, I'll just let myself leave this post untitled and come back to it later on.

Anyway, welcome to the course. This blog will function as our course homepage, so please add it as a bookmark and check back often for reading assignments, writing prompts, announcements, and anything else that seems relevant or interesting to address.