User:SkylarHolcomb

=Freshman Seminar=

Always Wanted To Schedule

 * Topic

<< crafting an overarching plot line for a novel and writing a few chapters of the aforementioned novel>>
 * Research Component

<>
 * week 1

-write 1 chapter

-hammer out first quarter of plot

-acquire copy of thoreau's "civil disobedience"
 * week 2

-write 1 chapter

-hammer out first quarter of plot

-read "civil disobedience"
 * week 3

-write 1 chapter

-hammer out second quarter of plot

-acquire copy of "letter from birmingham jail"
 * week 4

-write half a chapter

-hammer out second quarter of plot

-read "letter from birmingham jail"
 * week 5

-write half a chapter

-hammer out third quarter of plot

-acquire copy of "one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
 * week 6

-write 1 chapter

-hammer out third quarter of plot

-read "one flew over the cuckoo's nest"
 * week 7

-write 1 chapter

-hammer out fourth quarter of plot

-research various texts involving themes pertaining to social commentary
 * week 8

-write 1 chapter

-hammer out fourth quarter of plot

-research various texts involving themes pertaining to social commentary

Midterm Assignment 1: Taste & Aesthetics
–                       Upon my trip to the sculpture park, there was one piece of "art" that really stood out to me. It was Anthony Caro's "riviera". At first glance I assumed that the sculpture was merely large pieces of metal haphazardly welded together in some chaotic fashion. Later visits would serve only to confirm my suspicions. Researching the man forced me to at least begrudgingly admire him. He has a nice work ethic I suppose. I was a little shocked to find out that many consider him a huge influence on modern sculpture and that he was knighted in the late eighties. So after learning of the respect this man earns the world over I returned to the sculpture park to see how I felt, desperately attempting to convince myself that perhaps he was a genius, or at least talented. I mean, I don't know how to weld. So, he had that much on me. A second viewing brought nothing but affirmation.The man's genius must be like his sculptures, perplexing, uninteresting and not worth your time. –

Midterm Assignment 3: Always Wanted To Progress Report (100 words or so)
In regards to my always wanted to assignment I would have to say that the progress i'm making is largely non-existant. My project was to write a few chapters of my book and to research social commentary. My lack of progress on the assignment is due to my lack of inspiration. Writing a book fueled by random bursts of idea of creative thought isn't necessarily the way to go. It leaves a very unreliable and random work schedule to attend to. The fact that I work in such a way only goes to show how undiciplined of a writer I am. So the plan is to take long walks into the night and to wander the seedy parts of the city until I found something to complain about in beautiful literature.

Final Presentation

 * Topic (10%)

< >


 * Research (20%)

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 * 1) Internet site:
 * 2) Book:Cohen, Samuel. "Letter from Birmingham jail." 50 Essays A Portable Anthology. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006. 220-37. Print.
 * 3) Scholarly Journal:
 * 4) Other (interview, TV show,etc):


 * Your accomplishment (20%)

<> I got sort of nearly pretty close to reaching my goal. I did in fact manage to squeeze out some inspired writings over the course of the quarter, but not nearly enough and not at the rate in which I challenged myself to perform. In fact, it was drastically lower. But I do have a solid foot in the door on my novel.


 * Project Review (50%)
 * 1)What went well

I was able to write an awesome schedule that would have been doubly awesome had I followed it. But I did manage to read portions of the writings that I determined to be my research. And I'm quite satisfied with the writing that I did accomplish.
 * 2)What went poorly

What went poorly, was my assumption that I could induce sudden creativity and inspiration at will. Learning this half way through the quarter was a good lesson in disciplined writing versus undisciplined.
 * 3)Future strategies

To counter act my undisciplined writing style, I plan to just vomit words on the page when I don't feel particularly inspired. Later I will return, read them again and make suitable adjustments. This will help to increase my overall productivity.

Self-Assessment
I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in Gen ed. My initial impression, boosted by the sheer curiosity of such an odd and vague title for a class, was that it would be overtly easy and a waste of time. but as fate and destiny conspired to prove me false, I learned quite a bit. The breakdown of education and the discussion of various theories pertaining to it was fascinating. Being forced to think about what I know, how I know it, why it was taught to me, and what was decided irrelevant to my education, was a tad liberating. And the "i've always wanted to" assignment was a nice refreshing change of pace. It also taught me a few things about the way I approach such a non linear concept of homework. Plus there was a live concertina performance on the last day. i learned that something called the concertina existed, and made noise. I attempted to be successful in this class. Deciding not to go with the first impression of an ensuing relative ease, and deciding to treat it as a serious and valuable part of my college education was certainly a intelligent decision.