The purpose of the first writing assignment is to practice and provide a "benchmark," if you will, with regards to your writing style and ability.
Our first reading of the semester was a scholarly article on the role of profane language in a variety of contexts. Your first writing assignment is a response to that piece. Your response may take any form you like. However, it must be limited to 1 page of text.
Possible approaches to this one-page essay might include:
- [ Persuasive ]
You could respond to one point made in the article, perhaps attempting to persuade that it is correct or incorrect through the use of evidence and/or statistics.
- [ Reflective / Narrative]
Perhaps there was something in the article that set you to thinking about something in your own past. You might share that reflection, and relate it back to the article.
- [ Comparison ]
You might compare and contrast two points from the essay itself. Or, you might use a critical point from the essay to compare/contrast two examples that make use of profanity for purposes of clarification.
- [ Evaluation ]
You could pick a point from the essay, or an example thereof, and argue the importance or value of that example. For example, you might highlight a use of profanity (in an appropriate or inappropriate context) and evaluate its effectiveness or lack thereof (perhaps with respect to comedy, perhaps not). This example should be concrete (eg. a YouTube video, etc.), not one that is hypothetical/imagined.
If what you want to write does not fit into these categories, that is ok.
If you get stuck, perhaps reflect (approach #2) on the article in contrast with our first class session of the semester.
