For this assignment, you have two options. One option is the more creative route, while the other is the more formal, straight up route. Whatever route you choose, email me your results at davink@hawaii.edudavink@hawaii.edu The suggested length for either of these options is 1-2 pages. The less you write, the less I know about you.

Truth be told, I have no idea who you are as a person or as a writer, but honestly, I would like to get to know you well during the course of the semester—I hope you will meet me halfway towards that goal. You should email this assignment to me in an email or .doc format. All other assignments except this assignment and the last assignment should be printed out, stapled, and turned in to me directly.

CREATIVE ROUTE: POEM OR EMAIL/AWARE OF AUDIENCE

Sometimes I find that students do not write very effective emails;* perhaps this is because students forget that the audience changes everything in a written situation. Nonetheless, if you really think about it, now and for the future, EMAIL is the most common form of writing that you will do for the rest of your life.

To that end, I want you to construct two emails, two poems, or two letters that succinctly and effectively introduces yourself, your interests, or your long term goals. HOWEVER, I want you to change the AUDIENCE in each of the two short blurbs that you write. You should send these two messages together as one email rather than two separate ones. If you have fun, you may choose to write as yourself, (as a college-level student) first.

Audiences to consider:

1. your Facebook best friend, who probably already knows you well. (slang and colloquial terms—no problem!)

2. your Mom or Dad, who have recently joined Facebook, much to your chagrin / amusement.

3. your current Employer at your JOB

4. your future Employer, for the CAREER you REALLY, REALLY WANT

5. Mr. Kubota as a high school student

6. The president of the United States or leader of your home country

7. a hottie you are trying to date

8. a series of Twitter updates about your life

9. someone on XBox Live or PlayStation Network

10. an alien civilization that wants to murder you and all of humanity

11. your grandma or grandpa

12. a child or pet

13. a fictional hero/heroine/antihero/villain of your choice (Dear Batman....)

14. a celebrity you like (Dear Lady Gaga...)

13. me, Mr. Kubota, right now, as a college teacher about to teach you, for the very first time.

FORMAL QUESTIONNAIRE / RESUME/ LETTER (OPTION TWO)

This assignment is a low-stakes but slightly more formal assignment that will help me to get a better sense of who you are as a person; I will count it as part of your homework grade.

In the assignment, you have your choice of doing one (1) of the following: 1) answering a simple questionnaire* about yourself; 2) preparing a properly-formatted resume that may help you with your future career preparations; 3) writing a semi-formal to formal letter to your learning leader (me) that explains who you are and what's up with you and yourself.

The assignment should constitute about one to two pages, double-spaced.

Obviously, you are not going to be working for me as an employee per se, so your resume or letter should be less about your JOB QUALIFICATIONS and more about YOU. You choose what you want to say in this first assignment and how much you want to reveal about yourself.

*Just to play it fair, a sample questionnaire has been provided at the bottom of this page):

The objective of this INFORMAL assignment is to learn how to create a good written first impression upon any reader. Document design, choice of action verbs, and general consideration of what to add/what not to add are essential to this assignment. Treat this assignment seriously; if you can make an appealing resume/curriculum vitae now, your actual one for the "real world" should be just fine.

Sample Resume/CV writing websites:

Part I (basics) (things you probably want to include)

1. NAME (first, last + nickname); + a 5 letter or number (or combination thereof) in the case of anonymous blog submissions on the

English 100

English 272G

or English 272Q blogs. I may ask that you use this code so as to allow you to get credit for anonymous feedback. You should not create a secret codename that gives obvious clues to your identity, nor one that is slangy or offensive: e.g., KUBOT or @SShe@d.

2.. Email address (should be your hawaii.edu address) + other relevant contact information (if applicable). You can always route your email later.

3. A statement of objectives that you have FOR this class IN PARTICULAR. Are you in this class just for the grade and the credit? What do you want out of this class? Grammar? Thesis statements? Knowledge about the universe? What do you hope to achieve in this class?

4. Your educational background/history, including the types of English classes you've taken before.

5. Work experience (optional)

(THE NEXT SECTION IS NOT NECESSARILY ON AN ACTUAL RESUME, but I read the next section to get a better sense of who you are as a person, not just as a student) The information below is largely informal but it helps me comprehend how I can help you better. You can pick and choose which questions you want to answer or address, but in all honesty, answering more helps me to (just a teeny bit) see where my students are going after they're "pau wit' school."

(THINGS YOU MIGHT WANT TO INCLUDE):

6. Discuss your hobbies;

7. Discuss your favorite restaurants or foods that you enjoy; your favorite dishes;

8. What have your experiences with English class been like? Largely positive / negative? Why have they been positive or negative?

9. What do you perceive to be your strengths and weaknesses as a writer? (grammar, thesis construction, organization, procrastination, staying on track, etc.)

10. Do you foresee any obstacles that might hinder your success in this class (job demands, family demands, general motivation difficulties, antipathy towards English)? Explain.

11. What is your intended academic goal (A.A., A.S., B.A., B.S., M.A., Ph.D., J.D., M.D.)? What is your intended career goal? In other words, what are you working towards and why?

12. To whom/what would you dedicate your academic and personal efforts this semester (yourself/a departed loved one/a lover/a higher entity, etc.)?

(I ask questions 11 and 12 so that you can comprehend the importance of having someone or something that motivates you to keep doing your best—that having a goal or someone to dedicate your work to is important).

.13. MISC. (Questions, comments, rants, etc.) You can also pose ANONYMOUS questions on my blogs:

After page one and two, you have the option of writing a freewrite if you'd like, simply to give me a general sample of your writing. This sample will not be graded. You can pretty much write whatever you want, but might consider these options:

--Indicate who you are or how you define yourself as a person, not just as a student or as a writer.
--Discuss your "history." Where are you from? How does your background impact who you are today?
--Discuss your "interests." What are you interested in? Where do you see yourself headed? (jobwise, life-wise)
--Consider your in-class persona and its implications for this class. Are you a shy student? A talkative one? A leader? A follower? How might your in-class persona be demonstrated in this class?
--Decide rather quickly on one item/person/thing (someone/thing you are already familiar with) that you might take with you on a desert island. Why'd you take that item/person/thing?

--What are you scared about this semester?
--Regarding this class or your education in general, what are you afraid of? Why are you afraid of that?
--Who is your personal hero? Why is that person your personal hero?
--What are your thoughts about school in general? What do you want/expect from your education?
--What are your questions or concerns about K.C.C. or this class?
--Create a rant against or a rave for and about the subject of English in general.

Sample Questionnaire, page I and II