WRPR 115A
Writing assignment 2, due by noon Friday, September 24
(1200 words)

This second assignment involves writing a short review essay in standard academic prose. Include a bibliography of printed works and web pages cited in either APA or MLA style (Hacker, 2004). You may cite a class discussion by writing something like "as discussed in class," and you may cite classmates' LJ postings by their usernames (ljuser04).

Topic. McNeill (2003) writes of the transformation of the journal, and of autobiographical writing generally, by the new technologies of the personal computer and the Internet. What is her “thesis” about the online journal? State it clearly in your own words. Do you agree or disagree with her thesis? What does it mean to call the blog the “generic cousin” of the online journal? Does your experience of (some) blogs as journals lead you to the same conclusions as McNeill? You may want to briefly cite or summarize a portion of one of the blgs she mentions as evidence for your own claims.

These essays will serve as our first objects of critical scrutiny and constructive criticism in the tutorial sections. Write a carefully-presented position paper that does justice both to McNeill's ideas and your own, and do so in clear and straightforward prose. You are welcome to send me draft ideas or sections for comment before class time Thursday, September 23, and I will be happy to meet with you to discuss the essay or to quickly go over a draft. Please send me an email by class time Tuesday, September 21, with the hours you are free each week to meet with your tutorial group.

References

Hacker, Diana. (2004). A pocket style manual, 4th edition. Boston: Bedford/ St. Martin’s.

McNeill, L. (2003). Teaching an old genre new tricks: The diary on the internet. Biography, 26.