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Advanced Strategies for Rhetoric and Research
The Practices of Memory
English 190.9
Spring 2004

Writing Project 1: The Practice of Remembering

For your first Writing Project, I want you to write a reflective essay in response to one of the four prompts below. To get started, you'll want to do some prewriting. You will want to write a first draft and revise it at least once before the peer review. As you work on this assignment, keep in mind what you read about reflective writing in The Brief Penguin Handbook:

• Reflective writing need not be too personal or confessional. The goal is to share with your audience the significance of the event.
  
• Reflective writing need not be about the past.
  
• Reflective writing has a focus, a message they communicate to their readers.
  
• Reflective writing relies upon carefully selected details and an organizational pattern.

The essay should be 3-4 pages in length and follow the General Guidelines for Written Work handout.

Prompts (choose one)

1) In their introduction to Social Memory and History: Anthropological Perspectives, Maria G. Gattell and Jacob J. Climo write:

Memory is the foundation of self and society. [. . .] Without memory, the world would cease to exist in any meaningful way, as it does for persons with amnesias or dementias that make them forget the self through inability to remember some or all of their past and to create new memories in their ongoing life. Without memory, groups could not distinguish themselves one from another, whether family, friends, governments, institutions, ethnic groups, or any other collectivity, nor would they know whether or how to negotiate, fight, or cooperate with each other. From the simplest everyday tasks to the most complicated, we all rely upon memories to give meaning to our lives: to tell us who we are, what we need to do, how to do it, where we belong, and how to live with other people. (1)

Using this quote as a starting point, reflect upon the role of memories in your life and how they define who you are. To be focused, you will want to limit the number and kinds of memories you explore.

2) Choose a specific object that links you to something or someone important to you from your past—it might be a book, a piece of jewelry, a toy, a letter, a tool, a picture, a frying pan, whatever. The important thing is that this object has special meaning to you because it links you to the past. What memories and meaning does this object hold for you?

3) Write an essay in which you explore how memories are preserved in one of the cultures or subcultures you are a member of. What traditional stories, rituals, holidays or other special observances or activities help to maintain the identity of the members of this cultural community? What traditions, places, texts, artifacts, or even styles of dress serve as “sites of memory”? While this essay is about social memory, place it within the context of your personal engagement with those social memories.

4) Write an autobiography in which you recall your earliest experiences with technological devices or artifacts. In your technology autobiography, you might explore some of the following questions:

• What were these devices or artifacts?
  
• What do you remember about using them?
  
• What were the popular gadgets in your house while growing up?
  
• Who do you identify as being most technologically "literate" in your life?
  
• What does it mean to be technologically literate? How do you measure up?
  
• What's on your desk at home?
  
• What technological devices are you carrying now?
  
• Do you think there are social consequences or potential impacts on your lifestyle that depend on your technological capabilities?
  
• How do you expect to deal with new technologies in the future?
  
• What advantages and problems do you see with the way you approach technology?
  

Peer Review Draft Due: 29 January 2004

For your Peer Review Draft, bring an electronic copy of your document saved as either a MS Word document (.doc) or Rich Text Format (.rtf). We will upload the documents into Comment.

Final Portfolio Due: 10 February 2004

Based upon your peer-review, revise your essay at least once. Your Project 1 Portfolio should include:

• the final draft of your essay, clearly marked as such,
• a printout of your essay, with comments, from Comment
• all earlier drafts of your essay, clearly marked as draft 1, draft 2, etc.,
• any prewriting you may have,
• and a brief cover letter discussing:
  • what changes you made after the peer review and why you made them,
  • and why you believe your final draft successfully fulfills the assignment.
  • Feel free to also include such information as:
    • resources which you drew upon,
    • what you struggled with,
    • what you think you learned,
    • what writing and rhetorical issues you focused upon, etc.
  • This cover letter should be professional, clearly written, and well organized.

Last Modified: 2 February 2004

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