Shel Hershinow TRAVELOGUES

English 272M

One of the most important activities in this class will be informal writing—writing that allows you to express your feelings, explore ideas, and try out new thoughts. Your travelogue will be made up of all your informal writing, including freewriting and other in-class writing, plus the 8 Think/Writes, and some at-home writing assigned especially for the travelogue. The travelogue is particularly helpful for synthesizing and evaluating ideas. This is intended to help you, in a sense, build your formal paper from the inside. The travelogue may also help you to find what you want to say in your think/writes and in your literature album. Equally important, the Travelogue is also intended to help you assess your own thinking about the course materials as your understanding and awareness evolve.

Suggestions

1. Choose a notebook you are comfortable with. A folder or looseleaf binder will probably work best so that you can add and rearrange entries easily.

2. Date each entry so that you will have a record of how your reactions and thinking may have changed as you studied each work and interacted with the class.

3. You may want to include other informal writing to help you collect your thoughts. Such things as: a short reflection, brief notes written in class, response to think/writes, or new insights gained in class discussion.

4. Write full entries; develop your thoughts as fully as possible in a short time (most often I will ask you to do 10 minute focused freewrites).

5. Use a pen or laptop; pencil writing can make a nearsighted teacher go blind.

6. Use a new page for each entry.

Interaction. I'll ask to see your travelogue once or twice during the semester. I'll read selected entries and, upon occasion, argue with you or comment on your comments. None of the dialogue with you will affect how much your travelogue is "worth."

Preparation for submission. At the end of the semester please (1) make a table of contents for significant entries, (2) put in an introduction to the learning log, and (3) write an evaluation of your work for the semester. Discuss your strengths and weaknesses and state what grade you think you deserve.

Grading Criteria:

1. A good travelogue has all the required entries.

2. Many of the entries show engagement with the material and the process of your thinking about the readings, themes, and concepts of the course.