Min zhan lu from silence to words

constructing textual identities / multilingualism narrative
description: ~750 words (3-4 pages), plus a separate Works Cited page

sources: Amy Tan’s “Mother Tongue” or Min-Zhan Lu’s “From Silence to Words: Writing as Struggle”
total points: 150

due dates: First draft (2 paper copies in class and 1 copy on OnCourse [Assignments section]) due Mon, 9/9

Final draft (1 paper copy in class with first draft, peer review sheet and revision plan) due Mon, 9/16

the assignment
In this class you will carry out a sequenced writing project; that is, you will write a series of assignments that cause you to investigate and develop a focused issue. For your first assignment in the sequence, you will write a brief (~750 words) narrative that demonstrates some significant aspect, critical dilemma, or problem related to your development as a “multilingual” student, teacher, learner, or writer. A critical dilemma or problem is not the same thing as a common problem that must be solved. It is simply an experience or an event that allows you to describe your experiences negotiating, sharing, or moving between cultures, communities, or language identities. Because this is not an autobiography, you should not focus on every experience, nor should you choose a common or stereotypical experience. Rather, you should focus on the most important, interesting, or complicated experience and offer that as a “claim.” You should consider gaps between your own experiences and what you have read. I would like you to use, in some way, Tan’s “Mother Tongue” or Lu’s “From Silence to Words” to help you make that claim.

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS IN WRITING NARRATIVES

As you write your narrative, be sure to:

· select a theme with which to contextualize this problem for an unfamiliar reader

· articulate (in a “claim” statement) the problem, conflict, or realization you have made about language or cultural identity

· consider what types of examples, evidences, or illustrations your readers will need in order to better understand your “claim”

· consider how you will organize those examples in order to best develop your “claim” for your readers (i.e., by language, by chronology, by aspect of writing, by significant experience, etc.)

· address your writing experiences both in your native and second or foreign language(s)

· develop a “claim” that is fairly unique from anyone else’s.

about the genre

This assignment emphasizes important aspects of writing linear narratives, such as framing your experience with an overall theme and predicting that theme near the beginning of the paper, developing the theme through supporting points and examples, integrating vocabulary from the course or from our course readings, achieving paragraph focus and coherence, and writing an engaging introduction and conclusion.

Finally, it emphasizes specific conventions such as using cohesion devices, using a title that reflects your main theme, appropriately using the “academic I,” and explaining unfamiliar terms to an audience who does not share your cultural context. Please also cite Tan’s or Lu’s essay using MLA style documentation (see pp. 479-523 in Rules for Writers).

suggested subtopics or ideas

Here are some suggested subtopics to help you get started (you are not required to use any or all of them):

· important ideas, themes, or metaphors running through Tan’s or Lu’s essay

· cultural idioms or metaphors that represent your development as a reader or a writer

· times when you felt close to or far away from specific languages, cultures, or groups

· beliefs, ideologies, or experiences (yours, your family’s, your teacher’s) that contributed to your understanding of what it means to be “multilingual” or “multicultural”

· memories of successes and failures or memories of people who influenced you

· various definitions of “language,” “multiculturalism,” or “multilingualism.”

language application

Skim the glossary in Rules For Writers (pp. 565-577) for 5 word combinations that are familiar to you but that you have had trouble using correctly before. I’d like you to use 2 of the 5 word combinations in the first draft of your Multiculturalism Narrative as correctly as you can; your peers and I will provide you with feedback during conferences and peer review.

formatting (see pp. 479-523 in Rules for Writers )

Times New Roman (12-point font)

Double-spaced

1-inch margins

Left-justified placement of name, instructor, course number and date

Center alignment of title

evaluation criteria

This assignment is worth 150 points. It will be evaluated based on the following:

· Appropriateness or effectiveness of content—Does the narrative offer a focused and unobvious main claim? Does the narrative show awareness of the audience?

· Development of ideas—Is the main claim framed by selected concepts from the readings? Is each point developed by specific examples?

· Organization and Coherence—Does each paragraph develop the claim without losing focus? Does the narrative clearly transition from one paragraph to the next?

· Language and Vocabulary—Does the author convey a tone and personality appropriate to the assignment? Does the author “position” him/herself as someone knowledgeable in talking about literacy?

· Grammar and Style

· Completeness and Formatting—Does the author use attributive tags and cite sources using proper MLA format? Is the narrative double-spaced, with appropriate margins, headings, and title?