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MIT Program in
Writing and Humanistic Studies
MIT, Room 14E-303
Cambridge, MA 02139-4307
Telephone: 617-253-7894
FAX: 617-253-6910
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In all sections of 21W.730, -731, and 732, the emphasis
is on developing students' ability to write clear and
effective prose. Students can expect to write frequently, to
give and receive response to work in progress, to improve
their writing by revising, to read the work of accomplished
writers, and to participate actively in class discussions
and workshops. Small sections ensure that students will get
ample individual attention from instructors. Enrollment is
limited to 18 per section. All sections satisfy a
HASS-CI requirement.
This
course is focused on forms of exposition, including
narration, critique, argument and persuasion. Students' work
will include frequent writing assignments, regular
revisions, and short oral presentations. Readings and
specific writing assignments vary by section. See
descriptions of sections below.
Section
1 (MW 3:00-4:30) - Suzanne Lane
Race, Politics, and Representation
In
this fascinating election year, the political race has
highlighted troubling questions about the current nature of
race politics in the U.S. This course allows students to
investigate the relation between race, politics, and
representation, to move beyond the headlines and gain a
deeper perspective on this important contemporary issue by
learning to analyze evidence closely, craft various forms of
argument, and speak in reasoned ways about controversial
issues. We'll begin by reading Barack Obama's recent speech
on race, and question how race inflects political debates,
ads, and media coverage. Then we'll turn to earlier periods
in American history when cultural representations of race
were both formative and transformative in the wider
political sphere - the New Negro Movement of the 1920s and
the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. We'll also explore the
debate about race and political representation that
developed during the disfranchisement of African Americans
in the late nineteenth century. Students will write essays
in response to these three areas of investigation, and, as
the semester progresses, will keep a journal about
intersections of race, politics, and representation in
contemporary media. A final reflective essay will allow
students to address a contemporary racial issue in light of
the historical and cultural context they've gained.
Throughout the course, we'll explore the features that make
writing powerful, clear, and convincing, in the texts we're
reading and in our own work.
Section
2 (TR 3:00-4:30) - Sarah King
Talking Pictures: Writing in the Age of Visual
Culture
In
many ways, we live in an increasingly visual culture. No
event in our lives is complete without an accompanying
photograph or video. From cell-phone cameras to You Tube to
individual car seat DVD players for preschoolers, we are
inundated with images. Yet how much attention do we pay to
interpreting what we see -- or think we see? In this course,
we will explore an array of issues relating to the
relationship between language and pictures, in all their
varied forms -- from photographs to paintings to feature
films. Students will be asked to think and write about such
issues as how newspaper captions influence the way we view
an accompanying photograph, what the ethical concerns are
involving the idea of installing surveillance cameras in
public spaces, and whether or not graphic film images
produce or merely reflect violence in society. The course is
designed to provide students with the opportunity to gain
practice in writing, revising and effectively communicating
in a variety of styles ranging from op ed pieces to
researched film analyses.
Section
3 (TR 9:30-11:00) - Susan Carlisle
Body Language: Writing About Ideas and Images of the
Body
A
favorite subject for artists and writers, the human body is
also a source of social and ethical debate. How do our
cultural images of male and female anatomy shape our
understanding of gender? What makes body modification such a
controversial issue? To what extent do Asian and Western
ideas about healing the body clash, and why? In this class
we will consider these questions and many others as we
explore different perspectives on the body, including those
offered by popular culture such as science fiction,
advertisements, and the movies Being John Malkovich
and All of Me. Our readings will include texts by
essayists, poets, physicians, philosophers, cultural
anthropologists, legal scholars, and others. The substance
and style of these texts will help inspire the writing of
essays in which students will have the opportunity to draw
on both personal experience and secondary sources . In class
we will pay a lot of attention to practical strategies for
writing narrative and expository essays, and for using
sources in dynamic ways. Our attention will be on the
process of writing - generating ideas in short predraft
exercises, writing drafts, and revising. In addition, our
work together as a class will include writing workshops,
peer-editing groups, and oral presentations.
Section
4 (TR 11:00-12:30) - Karen Boiko
Food for Thought: Writing and Reading about the Cultures
of Food
If
you are what you eat, what are you? Food is at once the
stuff of life and a potent symbol; it binds us to the earth,
to our families, and to our cultures. The aroma of turkey
roasting or the taste of green tea can be a portal to
memories, while too many Big Macs can clog our arteries. The
chef is an artist, yet those who pick oranges or process
meat may be little more than slaves. In this class, we will
explore many of the fascinating issues that surround food as
both material fact and as personal and cultural symbol. We
will read essays by Michael Pollan, Ruth Reichl, Wendell
Berry, and others on such topics as family meals, the art
and science of cooking, sustainable agriculture, and food's
ability to awaken us to "our own powers of enjoyment"
(M.F.K. Fisher). We will also read Eric Schlosser's Fast
Food Nation and view at least one video as a class. Assigned
essays will grow out of memories and the texts we read, and
will include personal narratives and essays that depend on
research. Workshop review of writing in progress and
revision of essays will be an integral part of the
course.
Section
5 (TR 11:00-12:30) - Rebecca Faery
Culture Shock! Writing, Editing, and Publishing
in Cyberspace
In
this course we will read and write essays, at once critical
and experiential, based in contemporary popular culture and
in personal experience, observation, inclination, and
conviction. The focus of our collaborative work will be to
create an online magazine of writing on popular culture that
we will post on the web for the worldwide reading public to
enjoy. Students in the class will write four essays and
offer them in class workshops for response and suggestions
and then revise and edit their own and each other's work for
publication in our magazine. Members of the class will serve
on editorial boards to decide what gets published, on design
teams to create and format the magazine, and on marketing
teams to publicize it. Frequent writing and revision, class
workshops, discussion of assigned reading, and production
work on the group's magazine will constitute our work
together throughout the semester. The fruit of our labors?
An online magazine, and publication for everyone in the
class.
This
course is focused on the ways writers transform experience
into finished and polished writing in the forms of memoir,
autobiography, and essay. Students' work will include
frequent reading assignments, regular revisions, and short
oral presentations. Readings and specific writing
assignments vary by section. See descriptions of sections
below.
Section
1 (MW 3:00-4:30) - Andrea Walsh
Exploring Self in Society
Our
reading and writing for this section will focus on what it
means to construct a sense of self and a life narrative in
relation to the larger social world of family and friends,
education, media, work, and community. What does it mean to
see ourselves as embodying particular ethical values or
belonging to a certain ethnic, racial, national, or
religious group? How do we imagine ourselves within a larger
family narrative? In what ways do we view our identities as
connected to and expressed by our educational and work
experiences? How do we see ourselves as shaping and shaped
by the pupular media culture of our society? What does it
mean to think about our social responsibility to our smaller
and larger human communities? Readings will include
nonfiction and fiction works by authors such as Maya
Angelou, James Baldwin, Andre Dubus, Anne Frank, Jhumpa
Lahiri, Tim O'Brien, Flannery O'Connor, George Orwell, John
Steinbeck, Amy Tan, Tobias Wolff and Alice Walker.
Throughout the semester we will explore the craft of
storytelling; our central focus will be on the different
ways in which we can employ the tools of fiction (e.g.,
character, setting, dialogue) in creative nonfiction. We
will also examine the multiple ways in which students can
write effective essays and craft persuasive arguments
drawing on both experiential data and secondary sources.
Course requirements include submitting four major writing
assignments as well as regular short writing exercises,
giving oral presentations and responding in writing, and
orally in workshop, to one another's writing.
Section
2 (TR 11:00-12:30) - Andrea
Walsh
Same as Section
1
Section
3 (TR 3:00-4:30) - Lucy Marx
Writing in an Age of
Spin
In
1946, George Orwell wrote that English was in a bad way, and
implored those who use the language to use it "as an
instrument for expressing and not for concealing or
preventing thought". His plea seems remarkably relevant
today. In an age increasingly dominated by marketing,
packaging, and spin, how can we discern clear and
transparent communication, and how can we practice it
ourselves? These are the essential questions we'll use to
guide us as you try your hand at writing grounded in your
own experience. We'll read Princeton philosopher Harry G.
Frankfurt's 2005 essay "On Bullshit" to orient ourselves to
the essential traits of spin-or, as he puts it more bluntly,
"bullshit". We'll study writing which conveys experience and
expresses ideas lucidly and with an eye for the truth-from
such writers as George Orwell, Junot Díaz, Annie
Dillard, Nadine Gordimer, Michael Pollan, Marjane Satrapi,
Amy Tan, and David Foster Wallace. We'll consider the
observations and advice of those who attempt to analyze the
elements of authentic and transparent writing. But most of
all we'll practice spin-free communication ourselves. In
addition to writing, we'll work on developing oral
communication skills-in workshops, class conversations, and
presentations. We'll make time for "studio" writing sessions
aimed at focusing our attention on the specific and real.
And we will practice revision, based on workshop responses,
as you try to convey your experiences, tap your
imaginations, and develop your ideas beyond the confines of
cliché or spin.
Section
4 (MW 3:00-4:30) - William Corbett
Reading and Writing Autobiography
This
course draws on a wide range of autobiographical writing and
on my own memoir, Furthering My Education. The essays
you write will focus on your own experience, exploring such
topics as your intellectual growth and development, your
childhood and high school years, life at MIT, the influence
of place upon your personality and character, the role
politics and religion play in your life, and topics of your
own choice. The emphasis will be on clarity, specificity and
structure. We will investigate several modes of
writing--narrative, analytical, expository--suitable to the
task at hand.
Section
5 (TR 9:30-11:00) - Sarah King
Childhood and Imagination
In
this course we will combine personal experience, observation
and readings to explore the notion of childhood from a
variety of perspectives. In addition to examining what
aspects of our own personal childhood experiences have
remained with us and most define us individually, we will
look at some of the societal constructs that contribute to
our sense of what it means to be a child in contemporary
society. We will look at material both for children and
about children from both fictional and non-fictional genres.
Works intended for children will include Grimms' fairy
tales, J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and the cultural
monopoly on childhood that is represented by Disney films.
We will also read selections from memoirs and
semi-authobiographical accounts of childhood by such writers
as Sandra Cisneros (Carmelo), Jamaica Kincaid
(Autobiography of My Mother), and Dave Eggers (A
Heartbreaking Work of Straggering Genius).
Finally, we will see examples of how the child's perspective
is utilized to explore adult themes in films such as To
Kill a Mockingbird and Eve's Bayou. In essays of
varying length, incorporating peer feedback and revision, an
emphasis will be placed on developing one's individual voice
and translating personal experiences, reflections and
responses into engaging prose. Students will have the
opportunity to write utilizing different styles aimed at
different target readers - including
children.
This
course is focused on various forms and topics in technical
and scientific writing, including special problems in
organizing and presenting technical information and writing
for different audiences and purposes. Students' work will
include frequent writing assignments, regular revisions, and
two short oral presentations. See descriptions of sections
below.
Section
1 (MW 11:00-12:30) - William Haas
Communicating about Failures in Science and
Engineering
This
section of Introduction to Scientific and Technical
Communication focuses on investigatios of failures in
scientific research and in engineering systems. Such
failures are always connected to failures in management, and
in particular to a lack of effective communication; they
involve structural problems in the control and communication
of the results of research. We will explore communications
in the work of scientists and engineers, considering
problems in communication as a factor in why failures occur
and studying how descriptions written by engineers,
scientists, investigators, regulators, media professionals,
and other interested parties shape our understanding of
these failures. Among our topics are instances of failures
in science -- the inability to replicate results, evidence
of fraud, and presence of injured parties -- and engineering
failures such as the meltdown at Three Mile Island ad the
loss of the Challenger and Columbia space
shuttles. Students will discuss and write about failures in
science and engineering, producing documents of thekind
found in professional science and engineering fields as well
as ones intended for a broader audience. Major writing
assignments will be revised with the help of peer and
instructor response to drafts. Short oral presentations will
also be part of the work of the class.
Section
2 (MW 3:00-4:30) - Neal Lerner
Exploring Rhetoric, Technology, and
Literacy
Communication
technologies - including the World Wide Web, email,
PowerPoint, and instant messaging - have infiltrated our
day-to-day lives. While these mediums of disseminating
information seem commonplace, less understood is how we
might manipulate (or be manipulated by) their rhetorical
functions or the components of audience, purpose, content,
and design. In this section of 21W.732, we will study the
rhetoric of technology and the relationship between
technology and literacy. We will also likely be studying
these topics and creating written work in the service of an
outside client through MIT's Public Service Center. Written
and oral assignments (including a group presentation) will
be required and include analysis and creation of websites,
studies of electronic communication in a variety of contexts
- particulatly the workplace - and problem solving of issues
in e-communication. Both individual and collaborative
writing will be stressed, as will be the process of
drafting, revision, and editing.
Section
3 (TR 9:30-11:00) - Cynthia Taft
Writing and the Environment
Environmentalists
have traditionally relied upon the power of their prose to
transform the thoughts and behavior of their contemporaries.
In 1948, an early environmentalist, Aldo Leopold, summoned
up a world made barren by the loss of predators in the hope
that he could stop the slaughter of wolves. More recently,
Rachel Carson, a marine biologist with a penchant for
writing, described a world without wildlife in Silent Spring
and altered the way Americans understood their impact on the
landscape. Leopold and Carson were professional scientists,
and like the other writers we will encounter this semester,
they realized that they could alter the perceptions of their
contemporaries only if they were able to transmit their
knowledge in engaging and accessible language. We will do
our best to follow in their footsteps. We will consider the
strategies of popular science writers like Lewis Thomas,
Elizabeth Kolbert, and Stephen Jay Gould. We will also
sample works by less well known geologists, hydrologists,
and biologists. The writing assignments, like the readings,
will invite students to consider the distinctive needs of
different audiences. Assignments will include a critical
review of two articles from a recent science journal, a
literature review geared toward an audience of environmental
scientists, a report suitable for general publication, two
oral presentations, an autobiographical narrative, a resume
and a job application letter. Students will learn to respond
constructively to the work of others and to revise their own
work in the light of comments from the instructor and from
their peers.
Section
4 (TR 11:00-12:30) - Janis Melvold
Explorations in Scientific and Technical
Communication
Skill
in communicating about science and technology comes from
both knowledge and practice, and this course emphasizes
both. Through a variety of reading and writing assignments,
we will examine general principles of good writing, as well
as principles associated specifically with scientific and
technical writing. To help you become more proficient in
assessing, revising, and editing your writing, the course
emphasizes the importance of the writing process. Class time
will involve discussions of scientific articles and essays,
as well as small group workshops in which students offer
feedback on each other's writing. Assignments will include,
for example, a critical review, technical essays for general
and specialized audiences, and a design proposal. The topics
you write on will be of your own choosing, reflecting your
background and interests. While the primary emphasis will be
on writing, oral communication will also be important. You
will have the opportunity to practice oral communication
skills in class discussions, as well as through formal and
informal presentatons.
Section
5 (TR 3:00-4:30) - Janis
Melvold
Same as Section
4
Section
1 (MW 8:30 -10:00) - Kate Delaney
Writing about Literature: Crossing
Borders
This
class offers limited enrollment with a strong emphasis on
class discussion, frequent writing and revision, in-class
student reports, and writing workshops. Readings will be
drawn from a variety of literary forms and will focus on the
theme of crossing borders: travel writing as well as
literature of exile, expatriation, and immigration. We will
study short and long fiction, nonfiction, drama, poetry, and
the graphic novel. We will also consider film treatments of
some of these works to investigate the effects of
performance of the narrative in another medium. Works by
Bruce Chatwin, Susan Orlean, Marjane Satrapi, Jhumpa Lahiri,
Ernest Hemingway, Milcha Sanchez-Scott, Redmond O'Hanlon,
and David Bezmozgis will be the focus of our study. Students
will learn to discuss and write about literary techniques as
well as the works' cultural and historical context. In
exploring the treatment of similar themes by different
authors and in different genres, we will investigate
questions of voice and form. Students are required to
prepare oral as well as written responses to the
works.
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