User:Stevenarntson/Freshman Seminar/assignments


 * Each of the three assignments below constitutes one third of your grade in the course. Also required is an ungraded self-assessment, completed at the end of the term.

Assignment: I've Always Wanted To

 * presentation guidelines

This assignment will be underway for the entire quarter; we’ll begin it on the first day of class, and conclude it during the final two sessions. The gist of it is this: you’ll decide on something you’d like to accomplish this quarter—something unrelated to your studies here. For instance “I want to learn to skateboard” would be great, but “I want to pass my Photoshop class” wouldn’t be.

step 1 - brainstorm some wants
There are many things in life I’d like to do and haven’t. I want to speak Spanish; I want to play the guitar; I want to read Proust’s Swann’s Way and Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses. I want to know the calls of the birds of the northwest, I want to publish a book, travel in Europe, etc.

Part one of this assignment is to think about some things you want, and then decide upon one that you think you could accomplish this quarter. My request of you is that you decide on something that will be somewhat difficult, but not impossible. This, of course, is partly in how you define what you wish to do—“learn Spanish” might be a tall order, but “Learn 100 basic Spanish phrases” might not be. “Travel to Europe” probably won’t happen by the end of the quarter, but you could plan the trip in detail, save money, buy your tickets, and get your passport. Make your ideas classroom appropriate, please, and legal. I don’t want to hear about your desire to murder someone, sleep with someone, or smoke crack--please talk to me if you have questions about classroom appropriateness.

You also cannot:
 * Use money as a reason you did not complete the assignment.
 * You cannot get a tattoo.

step 2 - research
Identify an aspect of your project that will involve research. If you want to learn to skateboard, you might research different kinds of skateboards, or do some reading on the history of skateboards. If you want to read Moby Dick, you could do some research on whale hunting, Nantucket, or the life of Herman Melville. If you want to travel to Europe, do some research on the countries you’re thinking of visiting.

Required sources: Book, Internet Site, Scholarly Journal, and one other source.

step 3 - for next week
Fill out the schedule on your userspace on this wiki, detailing what you intend to accomplish each week. You'll establish a measurable ultimate goal, and then a series of steps to get you there. Be realistic! For instance, if I wanted to read Moby Dick I could just say “I’ll read five pages a day.” However, that probably won’t work. I’ll fall behind a day, then two days, and before I know it, I’m off the rails. A more interesting system might be: a) Figure out a way to make the process fun, rather than relying on my “iron will” to carry me through. Face it: none of us has an iron will—-we just want to have a good time. In the case of Moby Dick, I would probably try to mix the reading in with other things I enjoy, such as making a practice of going to the park or the library to read. Or reading in the morning while I drink some good coffee.	b) Find two friends who will read Moby Dick with me. c) Overplan--establish goals in excess of the minimum. Sort of like setting a your watch ahead by five minutes.	d) Stop midway and assess how I’m doing, to see if I should change my strategy or not. We'll be doing this as a class at midterm.

as the quarter continues
You’ll periodically share how you’re doing on your goal—-both your successes and your failures. One great thing about education is that you have a bunch of people in the same situation as you. They can encourage you along the way.

practice presentations
Around week 8, you’ll practice giving your presentations in small groups in class, helping you hone what you need to say and making sure you’ve included everything you need to include.

final presentations
At the end of the quarter, each of you will present to the class what you’ve accomplished. (see the Presentation Guidelines handout).

Don’t worry too much (but do worry a little) about completely accomplishing everything you set out to do. A well-analyzed failure is more interesting than a shallow success.

Part I: Taste and Aesthetics
In class we discussed some of the many forces that shape what we like and dislike. Sometimes people get on a pretty righteous kick about what’s good and bad, and that’s OK, but for this assignment, adopt a somewhat more humble perspective about your own tastes. We’re going to go to the Olympic Sculpture Park up the street. Find a sculpture you don’t like. You will try to manipulate yourself into liking it, using some of the ideas we discussed in class:


 * 1) Look at the work in person.
 * 2) Learn about the artist at the AIS library, or online.
 * 3) Look at more examples of that artist’s work.
 * 4) Find work by other artists that relates to this artist’s work.
 * 5) Go back later in the week and look at the piece again.

Finally, write 300 words (or so) about what happened. Were you able to manipulate yourself into changing your mind, or not? If so, how does that feel? If not, is it depressing to know that you can’t control your own brain?

Part II: Manipulation
Today we'll discuss ways people can get confused through rhetorical trickery, specifically through the use of logical fallacies and misuses of language.

This week, find two examples of logical fallacies or misuses of language:
 * 1) A fallacy or misuse committed on purpose, such as in an advertisement (in any media—print, video, Internet, handbill, etc.). This fallacy or misuse is being used with calculation to manipulate an audience. Take some time to see how the fallacy or misuse is used in the work, and how you expect it to manipulate the audience it’s for.
 * 2) A fallacy or misuse accidentally committed. This might be in a blog, or an op-ed piece, or even in a conversation you’ve had.
 * 3) Please don't search on "fallacies" to complete this assignment--you'll find examples from a bottle. I'm interested in real examples you run across in life. They are everywhere.

Next week, you'll stand up and talk about how you see them functioning.

Part III Progress Report: Always Wanted To
100 words or so about how your project is going so far. Assess where you're at. Is your goal is still feasible, or should it be adjusted? Has anything unexpected come up? Include a strategy for dealing with it here.

Participation

 * Attendance, including field trips
 * Participation, including discussion and in-class assignments

Self Assessment
This is due, posted at your user page, on the final week of the quarter.