English 470
Three Papers

Each student will produce three papers over the course of the semester, eachusing only one sheet of paper. They will address the following prompt:

Write a paper thinking through the previously assigned material and elucidating a "cultural artifact" across it.

The paper's content should consist of two types of material, presented in this order: 1) material summarizing or "thinking through" the assigned texts, and 2) and "application" of the theories you have elucidated. This "thinking through" cannot be exhaustive because of the length and nature of the paper. You might, though, work through a particular idea or set of ideas of interest to you. This might also be the idea or set of ideas that "holds" the texts together or helps them work together coherently. The cultural artifact can be almost anything: an object, a concept, a discipline or course of study, a film, a technology, a work of graphic art, a piece of music or a musical tradition, a city plan, an architectural work, something found on the way to class, etc. Of course, you can also choose that most popular of cultural artifacts, the literary (or nonacademic) text. If you are in doubt about the suitability of a desired artifact, please consult with me.

Students will bring copies for all class members and read them aloud during paper week.

One final note: Think of these papers as forms of rhetoric that will engage, entertain, and delight the intellectual sensibilities of the class. While you may be writing about rhetorical concepts, theories, and systems, you can also deploy those same concepts through your own writing.