SVA3041 Writing New York

Class #6: Feb. 14, 2012

2012-02-14T15:52:00.001-08:00

Class #6:

Assignment for Next Week:

1) Continue to do NYTimes Journal Assignment focusing on articles about NYC.

2) Read selections from Writing New York - Chinatown, Cantonese migration, culture clash, assimilation
 Pgs. 268 – 271, “Experience of a Chinese Journalist”
 Read Village Voice article about gentrification and clash of cultures in Chinatown.
*Read NYTimes article on Death of Cantonese
*Read NYTimes article on Golden Venture

3) Work on Rewrites of first three Writing Assignments.

4) Bring Journals to Class next week. They will be reviewed and graded as part of the mid-semester one-on-one evaluations.

5) Bring Writing New York to class.

Here are some photos of the spot where the notorious Collyer Brothers' mansion once stood in Harlem. The mansion has since been razed. Only a small pocket park, Collyer Brothers Park, now stands on the northwest corner of 128th St. and 5th Avenue to mark these famous New York eccentrics.

The second photo is of the building that stands across the street on the southwest corner of 128th Street and 5th Avenue. A similar Harlem Mansion to the Collyer Residence, it was once owned by the Collyer Brothers. Their family purchased it as an investment with the hope that its value would appreciate with the building of the Triborough Bridge.

The third photo is of a new condo that some developer built about three years ago. It lies on the northeast corner of the same intersection. Many of the units in the fancy condo have sat empty due to the recession.

Class #5 February 7, 2012

2012-02-07T15:44:00.000-08:00

Week 5: Harlem –Harlem Renaissance and present revitalization•

Assignment:
1) NY Times Journal Assignment: Select an article. Write a one-page response in journal.

2) Read selection from It Happened in Manhattan
Pgs.13 - 21
o Read selections from Writing New York -
early settlement, Collyer Brothers, Harlem mansions, Harlem Renaissance, gentrification, Central Park Jogger and Central Park Five

 Pgs. 1013 – 1021, “New York, 1936” by Ralph Ellison
 Pg. 460, “Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay
 Pgs. 632-649, “When the Negro Was in Vogue” by Langston Hughes
 Pgs. 680 – 687, “A Story in Harlem Slang” by Zora Neale Hurston
o
3) Rewrite Writing Assignment #2 : Remember that the rewrite requires more than just fixing of grammar and spelling errors. We are seeking to add an element of analysis and commentary to the basic descriptive essay we wrote in the first draft.

4) Writing Assignment #3: Pick Essay 3a or 3b.

The discussion triggered by Children's Street Games points out the many ways that childhood has changed in recent years due to advances in technology and great upheavals in society. Childhood looks very different today than it did 30 and 50 years ago. Children are supervised far more today than ever and rarely get the chance to play among themselves on their own. Many children prefer to play video games than play outdoors. And as the film and article point out, it's easy to point the finger of blame on video games. ((For those who missed the class discussion, please refer to the USA Today article on childhood.)

It's also true, however, that life has changed and is marked by change. Therefore, it's only natural that childhood, whether in cities or in the suburbs, also undergoes changes with time. After all, a hundred years ago, childhood in most urban centers around the world was marked by child labor often in deplorable conditions. Rather than lamenting the demise of childhood as it once was, what positive impacts, if any, are to be found in childhood as it has evolved to be?

This is the topic of Essay #3a: Childhood has changed. Children no longer play impromptu street games in vacant lots without adult supervision. Instead, children often play video games or play in 'artificial' settings organized and supervised by adults (little league, play dates, play groups, daycamps, etc.). How have these changes to childhood benefited children?

OR

Essay #3b: How does your own childhood compare to that of those who grew up in New York City in the 1950s-1980s before the disappearance of impromptu children's street games and street culture? (Please use the pronouns "I", "me", and "my" for this essay as it asks specifically to describe your childhood.)

Essay should be written in Times Roman 12 pt font, double-spaced, and 2-pages in length. This essay is due next week.

Please vet your essays for basic grammar and spelling errors on grammarly.com

5) BOOKS FOR NEXT WEEK: Please bring Writing New York with you to class next week.

Class #4, January 31, 2012

2012-01-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

Week 4: Sanctuaries in the City : Lost NYC Culture: Street Culture of Children’s Games; Graffitti

• Assignment for Next Class:

o Journal Writing Assignment - NY Times Article about NYC
o Read selection from It Happened in Manhattan
 pgs. 118 – 152
o View Helen Levitt’s In the Street (1948)
 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xegi9j_in-the-street-1948_shortfilms
Answer following question:
• According to a sign in the film, how much did a pack of cigarettes cost in 1948?
o View NYC train graffiti
 http://www.graffiti.org/trains/index.trains.html
o Work on Rewrites – Due by Week 8

Class #3 January 24, 2012

2012-01-24T15:25:00.000-08:00

Class #3

Week 3: Business New York – Bridges, Tunnels and Skyscrapers
•
Assignment for Next Week:

o Read NY Times and write a one page journal entry based on an article from the week's City section.

Read Selections from Writing New York
 Pgs. 479-484, Brooklyn Bridge by Vladimir Mayakovsky
 Pgs. 485 – 486, Brooklyn Bridge by Hart Crane
o Read selections from It Happened in Manhattan
 Pgs. 267 – 288, “Looking at New York Through Its Buildings”
o Read selections from It Happened in New York City
 Pgs. 60 – 65, “Terrorist Attack on Wall Street”
 Pgs. 71 – 75, “And the Wall Came Tumbling Down”
 Pgs. 104 -110, “The Bull on Wall Street”

o Writing Assignment #2: Write a descriptive essay (2 pgs NYTimes 12 pt font double spaced) about a public space in NYC. The essay must use only present tense and must not include any reference to first person narrator (I, me, my etc.) Aim to describe not only the surface appearance of the space but also its essence, in terms of function and significance.

o Rewrite Writing Assignment #1

Copy of Syllabus (Formatting is Lost)

2012-01-19T02:37:00.000-08:00

School of Visual Arts
Humanities and Sciences, Writing New York
Section HCD3041-, Tuesdays, 12 to 2:50PM
Spring 2012
Professor: Yongsoo Park
Email: mao365@yahoo.com
Office Hours: By appointment

Required Texts:
Capo, Fran and Zuckerman, Art and Susan, It Happened in New York City: Remarkable Events That Shaped History, (Globe Pequot) ISBN-13: 978-0762754212 , $14.95
Lopate, Phillip, Writing New York, (Washington Square Press ) ISBN-13: 978-0671042356 ; $23.95
Frommer, Myrna and Harvey, It Happened in Manhattan: an oral history of life in the city during the mid twentieth century, (Berkeley Books) ISBN: 0425181693 ; $15
Lunsford, Andrea, Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference, Third Edition, (Bedford/ St. Martin’s) ISBN-13: 978-0312554255; $24.95
Strunk, Jr., William and White, E. B., The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. (Longman Publishers) ISBN-13: 978-1434102812 ; $7.95
Chapbook on SVA Design Criticism Department MFA students’ writings about NYC, Free download, http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_71/11384000/11384388/1/print/10199557_At_Waters_Edge_LULU_FINAL.pdf
All required texts can be purchased from on-line booksellers at significant discount or at bookstores such as Shakespeare & Co., located at 137 East 23rd Street (Near Lexington Avenue), 212 – 505- 2021

Course Objective: This critical writing workshop utilizes New York City and its rich and diverse history as source material for personal development and exploration as students and artists. By exploring the history of this amazing city and tracing the global Diasporas that helped shape the city’s many diverse neighborhoods—Harlem, Chinatown, Flushing, Crown Heights — students will better understand their own relationship to and place in this urban environment. This course encourages students to strengthen their writing with logic, critical reflection and factual support. Students will keep journals and write about their own experiences in NYC. This is a class for the artist who wishes to fully explore the city as source material for art and writing. In addition to short stories and essays, we will screen films and take field trips. The class will read and discuss important works that share parts of New York City as a backdrop with the additional aim of analyzing and improving writing skills. The course will enable students to think and write critically about the history and culture that is unique to New York City and how this relates to students’ lives and experiences. The course is also designed to improve students’ writing skills and serves to aid in the review of basic writing skills and prepares students for other elective courses in the Humanities, Art History and Sciences. The course utilizes hand-outs, books, magazine and newspaper articles, lectures, and audiovisual presentations (film screenings).

Course Requirements: Students are responsible for all the required reading, Xeroxed hand-outs, in-class writing assignments, quizzes, a term paper, oral presentations, class participation and attendance. All essays must be typed in Times 12 pt font and double-spaced.

In case of student absences, students are responsible for making up in-class assignments, obtaining any handouts and handing in assignments on time. Reading assignments for each week will be roughly 50-100 pages. Students are required to write a Final Term Paper and then to present this paper to the Class. Students are also required to attend a field trip.

Writing Requirements: Students are required to complete six writing assignments. Response papers entail writing about one’s reactions as well as how the reading relates to students’ own experiences and observations. Some of the assignments entail rewrites and revisions through the rewriting process. The writing assignments are as follows:

i) Semester New York Times Journal – Students are required to print out one article per week from the New York (city) section of the NY Times (www.nytimes.com), read it and, write a one page response (okay to handwrite) to the article. The print-out of the article is to be taped to the journal. These journal entries will be the subject of class discussion on an on-going basis.The journals will be collected and graded. Students are expected to have 12 journal entries for the semester.
ii) Response Paper to It Happened in New York selections (minimum 2 pages)
iii) Response Paper to Writing New York selections (minimum 2 pages)
iv) Response Paper to film screening (minimum 2 pages)
v) Response Paper to Field Trip (minimum 2 pages)
vi) Final Paper on selected topic (Student’s Own Experience of NYC) (4-6 pages)

Assignments from the first eight weeks of the semester are due by the eighth week of class. In other words, make-up assignments from the the first half of the semester will not be accepted in the second half of the semester. Students are responsible for turning in their assignments on time.

2. Attendance Policy. This is a workshop-based class. Every student plays a crucial role in its smooth functioning. If a student accumulates 3.5 or more absences, the student will be withdrawn from the course with a grade of F for failure or a grade that reflects withdrawal at the discretion of the instructor. Lateness of more than a half hour and/or early departures of more than a half hour will count as a half absence.

3. Grading Policy. Grades are based on a cumulative assessment of the student’s writing skills as demonstrated in essays and journal entries, as well as class participation and performance on quizzes and tests. Students may use a print dictionary for the Midterm exam. Essays must be written in clear, grammatical prose. Essays will be graded on both content and presentation. Essays should be proofread for spelling and grammatical errors. There will be occasional quizzes to assess students’ understanding of the assigned texts. Final grades are based on written work, in-class writing assignments and essays (75%), class participation and preparedness (25%).

4. Revision Policy: First and incomplete drafts of submitted essays will be evaluated with a check minus(√-), a check (√), or a check plus (√+), signifying that a revision is necessary to obtain a letter grade (A, B, C or D). Please label and staple all drafts together. When a paper has been awarded a letter grade, the assignment is complete. However, students may choose to revise it again for a possible grade improvement, if and only if the revision is major at the conceptual, structural and grammatical levels. (Revised essays that only correct errors that I have noted will not receive a higher grade.)

5. Grammar Statement: Essays and other class writings with serious grammatical, mechanical and/or spelling errors will not be graded higher than a B-. Your final grade will similarly be reduced, by a letter grade. If you have grammar issues, please make an appointment with me, and/or find a tutor at the Writing Center.

6. Learning Disabled (LD) Students: If you have a disability and would like to receive course accommodations including taking tests with extended time and/or with use of a computer, you must first register with the Office of Disability Services (ODS). Call 212-592-2281 or email ODS at disabilityservices@sva.edu. Once you have completed registration, ODS will meet with you to make arrangements for implementing accommodations. Please be aware that in order to take an extended time test (time and a half) with or without a computer, eligible students must make arrangements a full two weeks in advance. Otherwise requests cannot be honored.

7. Plagiarism Statement: In order to protect the academic integrity of the Humanities and Sciences curriculum, our departmental policy on plagiarism has been has been revised to insure that repeat-offenders are identified and subjected to the appropriate disciplinary action. Beginning September 2007, all confirmed cases of plagiarism will be forwarded to and kept on file by the Provost’s Office. First-time offenders will continue to be faced with either a failing grade for the plagiarized paper or a failure for the course; repeat offenders will additionally be subjected to disciplinary action which may result in suspension or expulsion from the college.
A final grade of X+ (withdrawal without failure for academic reasons) will not be considered an appropriate option in cases of confirmed plagiarism.
In order to avoid plagiarism, you need only refer to the following rules of the road:
• When you quote, paraphrase or summarize ideas – whether from a periodical, book, interview or from non-print or electronic sources—you must cite the source.
• Use in-text citation (in parentheses) after the quotation, summary or paraphrase, giving the last name of the author and the page(s), or one word from the title of the work and the page(s).
• On the final page of your own paper, include a bibliography that lists all sources you have used. Include the author’s name, the title of the work, and the publication information (publisher’s name; place and date of publication).
• For more information consult your instructor or an MLA guide.

8. The Writing Resource Center: The center is located at 141 West 21 Street. It is open from Monday through Friday, plus part-time on Saturdays. The resources of the Writing Resource Center are available to all students. The center also offers tutoring every day, with no appointment necessary. There are computers with Internet access.

9. www.writingnewyork.blogspot.com - Updates to Weekly Assignments and Student Writing will be posted on this web site on an on-going basis.

Class Schedule (subject to revision):

Week 1: Introduction and Overview
• Introduction to course and requirements. Go over syllabus and course requirements.
• New York as microcosm of global diaspora
• In-class writing assignment. Essay #1 Assigned.
• Assignment:
o Get assigned books and bring to class next week.
o Print out and read selections from MFA Design Criticism Department Chapbook

http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_71/11384000/11384388/1/print/10199557_At_Waters_Edge_LULU_FINAL.pdf

o Writing Assignment #1: Write a response paper to essays by Sarah Fox, Avinash Rajagopal, and Saundra Marcel in MFA Design Criticism Department Chapbook. Bring printouts of chapbook essays to class.

o Prepare and write a journal entry (1 page) based on a NYTimes New York article from this upcoming week. Attach the printout of the article to the journal alongside your handwritten or typed entry. Bring the journal with you to class. Be prepared to present your article and response to the class.

Week 2: Early New York – Lower East Side : Tenements; Draft Riots
• Discuss Assignments from Past Week
• Go over student response papers.
• Discuss students’ Journal Assignment: NY Times articles from past week
• Short Film Screening –
• In-class Writing Exercise
• Assignment:
o Read Selection from Writing New York
 Pgs. 138 – 144, Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”
 Pgs. 145 – 152, Walt Whitman’s “The Old Bowery”
 Pgs. 294 – 307, “The Down Town Back-Alleys” by Jacob Riis
o Read selections from It Happened in New York City
 Pgs. 43 – 47, “Ten Days in an Asylum”
o Read Village Voice article
 http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-11-03/news/the-strangest-landlord-tenant-relationship-in-town/
o Read about Draft Riots:
 http://vm.uconn.edu/~pbaldwin/ward4p8.html
 http://www.civilwarhome.com/draftriots.htm
 http://www.vny.cuny.edu/draftriots/Intro/draft_riot_intro_set.html
o Journal Writing Assignment –
 Read and write 1 page response to an article from the New York section of the NY Times this week.

Week 3: Business New York – Bridges, Tunnels and Skyscrapers
• Discuss Writing New York selections.
• Go over Students’ prepared selections from It Happened in New York City.
• Return Writing Assignment #1 with notes for re-write
• Discuss students’ selections
• Go over students journal work
• Short Film Screening – selection from documentary on Twin Towers
• In-class Writing Exercise – journal work
• Assignment:
o Read Selections from Writing New York
 Pgs. 479-484, Brooklyn Bridge by Vladimir Mayakovsky
 Pgs. 485 – 486, Brooklyn Bridge by Hart Crane
o Read selections from It Happened in Manhattan
 Pgs. 267 – 288, “Looking at New York Through Its Buildings”
o Read selections from It Happened in New York City
 Pgs. 60 – 65, “Terrorist Attack on Wall Street”
 Pgs. 71 – 75, “And the Wall Came Tumbling Down”
 Pgs. 104 -110, “The Bull on Wall Street”
o Writing Assignment #2:
o Rewrite Writing Assignment #1

Week 4: Sanctuaries in the City : Little Temples Everywhere : Central Park and Frederick Law Olmstead
• Go over and discuss Writing New York selections.
• Review students’ response papers to Writing New York selections (Writing Assignment #2)
• Go over students journal work
• Short Film Screening – selection from documentary
• In-class Writing Exercise – journal work
• Assignment:
o Read selection from It Happened in Manhattan
 pgs. 118 – 152
o Journal Writing Assignment

Week 5: Harlem –Harlem Renaissance and present revitalization
• Assignment:
o Read selection from It Happened in Manhattan
 Pgs.13 - 21
o Read selections from Writing New York - early settlement, Collyer Brothers, Harlem mansions, Harlem Renaissance, gentrification, Central Park Jogger and Central Park Five
 Pgs. 1013 – 1021, “New York, 1936” by Ralph Ellison
 Pg. 460, “Harlem Dancer” by Claude McKay
 Pgs. 632-649, “When the Negro Was in Vogue” by Langston Hughes
 Pgs. 680 – 687, “A Story in Harlem Slang” by Zora Neale Hurston
o Journal Writing Assignment
o Writing Assignment #3 : Response Paper about Harlem
o Rewrite Writing Assignment #2

Week 6: Chinatown
• Go over and discuss Writing New York selections.
• Review students’ response papers
• Go over students journal work
• Short Film Screening – selection from Eat a Bowl of Tea (199)
• In-class Writing Exercise – journal work
• Assignment:
o Read selections from Writing New York - Chinatown, Cantonese migration, culture clash, assimilation
 Pgs. 268 – 271, “Experience of a Chinese Journalist”
 Read Handouts on Chinatown Bus Wars, Changing language of NYC Chinatown, etc.
o http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-04-20/news/when-hipsters-move-in-on-chinese-it-s-ugly/
o Journal Writing Assignment
o Work on Rewrites of first three Writing Assignments

Week 7: Crime and Disaster in New York : Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911; Central Park Jogger
• Assignment:
o Read Selections from The Central Park Five by Sarah Burns
o Read selections from Writing New York
 Pgs. 944 – 948, “Mugging” by Allen Ginsburg
 Choose a selection (a quarter of a page to half a page) that really speaks to you. Be prepared to present this selection to class and to speak about why the passage was meaningful to you.
o Journal Writing Assignment

Week 8: Lost City Culture : NYC Street Games; NYC Subway and Graffitti; Yiddish
• Midterm Exam – Students will be tested on their grasp of the material covered to this point in the semester. Exam will be made up of short answer questions and an essay component. Students may use a print dictionary for the Exam. The exam should take approximately two hours.
• Individual Student Evaluations –Brief private chat with each student to assess student’s strengths and weaknesses. Opportunity to guide students to improve their performance for second half of the semester.
• Assignment:
o View Helen Levitt’s In the Street (1948)
 http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xegi9j_in-the-street-1948_shortfilms
 Answer following questions:
• According to a sign in the film, how much did a pack of cigarettes cost in 1948?
• How are children at play as shown in the film different and/or same as your childhood experience of play?

o View NYC train graffiti
 http://www.graffiti.org/trains/index.trains.html

o Journal Writing Assignment
o Work on Rewrites
o Writing Assignment #4

Week 9: Koreatown
• Overview and History of Korean American settlement in NYC
• Short Film Screening – Korean Americans in NYC.
• Assignment:
o Read selections from handouts: NYTimes articles on Korean American community in NYC
 Choose a selection (a quarter of a page to half a page) that really speaks to you. Be prepared to present this selection to class and to speak about why the passage was meaningful to you.
o Journal Writing Assignment
o Work on Rewrites

Week 10: Brooklyn – Changing Face of an Outer Borough : Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights
• Go over students’ journal writing exercises.
• Short Film Screening – Do the Right Thing (1989) and The Chosen (1981)
• Assignment:
o Read selections from It Happened in New York
 Choose a selection (a quarter of a page to half a page) that really speaks to you. Be prepared to present this selection to class and to speak about why the passage was meaningful to you.
o Journal Writing Assignment
o Writing Assignment #5: Response Paper to Film Screening
o Writing Assignment #4

Week 11: Brooklyn cont’d– Land of Nostalgia –The Dodgers, Brooklyn Bridge; Outer Borough Envy
• Assignment:
o Read selections from It Happened in New York
 Pgs. 48 – 52, “Polar Bear Clubs”
o Read selections from Writing New York
 Pgs. 859 – 868, “Panic in Brooklyn” by Gay Talese
o Read selections from Design Criticism MFA Chapbook
o Journal Writing Assignment
o Continue Rewrites
o Writing Assignment #5 : Response Paper to Brooklyn
o Begin Preliminary Research and Draft Outline for Writing Assignment #6

Week 12: Spanish Harlem
• Changing Face of New York
• Go over Writing Assignment
• Short Film Screening – Latino experience in NYC
• Assignment: Read Selection from Writing New York
o Pgs. 976 – 989, excerpt from Family Installments by Edward Rivera
o Pgs. 1022 – 1031, “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love” by Oscar Hijuelos
o Helen Leavitt photos
o First Draft of Term Paper Due

Week 13: FIELD TRIP : To Some Destination of Historical Interest in NYC (Some Possibilities are: Tenement Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem, Walking Tour of Prospect Park, Walking Tour of Jackson Heights, etc.)
• Return Students’ First Drafts of the Term Paper
• Assignment: Finish the Term Paper

Week 14: Recap of Semester and Student Presentations
• Term Paper (Assignment #6) Due.
• All Make-up Assignments Due.
• Individual Student Presentations of their Term Paper to the Class
• Film Screening

Week 15: Final Class of Semester and Student Presentations
• Individual Student Presentations of their Term Paper to the Class
• Film Screening

Class 2: January 17, 2012

2012-01-17T14:20:00.000-08:00

• Assignment due Next Week:o
Read article about Lower East Side and recent gentrification

http://www.villagevoice.com/2009-11-03/news/the-strangest-landlord-tenant-relationship-in-town/

Read Selection from Writing New York
Pgs. 138 – 144, Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”
 Pgs. 145 – 152, Walt Whitman’s “The Old Bowery”
 Pgs. 294 – 307, “The Down Town Back-Alleys” by Jacob Riis
o

Read selections from It Happened in New York City
Pgs. 43 – 47, “Ten Days in an Asylum”
o
Read articles about NY Draft Riots:
 http://vm.uconn.edu/~pbaldwin/ward4p8.html

http://www.civilwarhome.com/draftriots.htm

 http://www.vny.cuny.edu/draftriots/Intro/draft_riot_intro_set.html

Journal Writing Assignment –
 Read and write 1 page response to an article from the New York section of the NY Times this week.

Please make sure the article is specifically about NY city.

Bring the two books and copies of above articles with you to class next week.

REQUIRED BOOKS

2012-01-17T14:18:00.000-08:00

Required Texts:
Capo, Fran and Zuckerman, Art and Susan, It Happened in New York City: Remarkable Events That Shaped History, (Globe Pequot) ISBN-13: 978-0762754212 , $14.95

Lopate, Phillip, Writing New York, (Washington Square Press ) ISBN-13: 978-0671042356 ; $23.95

Frommer, Myrna and Harvey, It Happened in Manhattan: an oral history of life in the city during the mid twentieth century, (Berkeley Books) ISBN: 0425181693 ; $15

Chapbook on SVA Design Criticism Department MFA students’ writings about NYC, Free download, http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_71/11384000/11384388/1/print/10199557_At_Waters_Edge_LULU_FINAL.pdf

SUGGESTED REFERENCE BOOKS
Lunsford, Andrea, Easy Writer: A Pocket Reference, Third Edition, (Bedford/ St. Martin’s) ISBN-13: 978-0312554255; $24.95

Strunk, Jr., William and White, E. B., The Elements of Style, Fourth Edition. (Longman Publishers) ISBN-13: 978-1434102812 ; $7.95

All required texts can be purchased from on-line booksellers at significant discount or at bookstores such as Shakespeare & Co., located at 137 East 23rd Street (Near Lexington Avenue), 212 – 505- 2021

Contact Professor Park at mao365@yahoo.com

Class #1 : Jan. 10, 2012

2012-01-06T03:26:00.001-08:00

Week 1: Introduction and Overview

*Introduction to course and requirements. Go over syllabus and course requirements.
• New York as microcosm of global diaspora
• In-class writing assignment. Essay #1 Assigned.
• Assignment:
o Get assigned books and bring to class next week.
o Print out and read selections from MFA Design Criticism Department Chapbook

http://www.lulu.com/items/volume_71/11384000/11384388/1/print/10199557_At_Waters_Edge_LULU_FINAL.pdf

o Writing Assignment #1:

Write a response paper to essays by Sarah Fox, Avinash Rajagopal, and Saundra Marcel in MFA Design Criticism Department Chapbook. Bring printouts of chapbook essays to class. Answer the following writing prompt: Which of the three essays did you find to be most original and unique? Please explain. (2 pages, Times Roman 12 pt font, double spaced)

o Prepare and write a journal entry (1 page) based on a NYTimes New York article from this upcoming week. Attach the printout of the article to the journal alongside your handwritten or typed entry. Bring the journal and the article with you to class. Be prepared to present your article and response to the class.