INFORMAL ASSIGNMENTS: ENGLISH 050
Please visit this page to read the writing prompts for your informal assignments. Your informal assignments should be around 250-500 words. Feel free to explore multiple literacies, genres, and media: video, audio, photos, etc. Unless otherwise noted, each weekly informal assignment will be assigned on a Tuesday and will be due at the beginning of the subsequent Tuesday class. *Informal assignments are subject to change.

Informal assignments should be typed (12-point-font and double-spaced) and printed out before class begins. In addition, please provide a unique title for each informal assignment and place this header in the top left corner of your document:

First and Last Name
ENG 050 TR 1:45 - 3:10
Informal Assignment #_: [insert topic title]
Due:  
Week 1
​Informal Formal Assignment #1 (Due on Tuesday, 9.10)
​Week 2
​Informal Assignment #2 (Due on Tuesday, 9.10)
Week 3
Informal Assignment #3
  • Assignment Topic: Composing an Emotional Scene
  • Assignment Focus: ​Emotional Life Scene
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
  • Compose a 50-word introduction that connects a theme (probably an emotion) from My Name is Margaret to a theme in your narrative scene. Use this sentence to start the first paragraph: In My Name is Margaret, Maya Angelou writes [finish sentence with main idea].
  • Compose a 200-450 word scene that shows the reader a life-moment of intense emotion.
    • Appeal to the five senses to animate this moment.
    • Remember: Description + Action + Theme = Scene.
Week 4
Informal Assignment #4
  • Assignment Topic: Composing an Emotional Scene with Dialogue and Symbolism
  • Assignment Focus: Emotional Life Scene
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
    • Print out, read, and annotate this text: ​Hills Like White Elephants (Ernest Hemingway)​​​.
    • Compose a 50-word introduction that connects a theme (probably an emotion) from Hills Like White Elephants to a theme in your narrative scene. Use this sentence to start the first paragraph: In the short story Hills Like White Elephants, Ernest Hemingway writes [finish sentence with main idea].
    • Compose a 200-450 word scene that shows the reader an emotional moment you shared with someone in your life.
      • Please include dialogue. Use this article as a resource: How to Format Dialogue
      • Please include at least one symbolic detail. Use this article as a resource: Symbolism​
        • Appeal to the five senses to animate this moment.
        • Remember: Description + Action + Theme = Scene.
Week 5
Informal Assignment #5
Week 6
Informal Assignment #6 *Optional*
  • Assignment Topic: Hiraeth
  • Assignment Focus: Longing for a Home 
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
    • Interpret Chef Table's Francis Mallman episode for the hiraeth theme. Click here for a trailer.
    • Compose a 50-word introduction that connects Chef's Table Francis Mallman episode to your hiraeth composition about your longing for a "home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was..."
    • Compose either a narrative scene, poem, song, sketch, painting, or photograph in your chosen design mode (paper, video, audio file, canvas, live performance, etc.). 
    • Share your composition with classmates during our in-class gallery walk. 
    • You can include this composition in your midterm portfolio to illustrate the breadth of your writer-identity repertoire.
Week 7
Informal Assignment #7
  • Assignment Topic: Midterm Reflection 
  • Assignment Focus: Growth as a Writer in this Course
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
    • Interpret these texts:
    • Compose a 250-500 word letter about your experiences in our ENG 050 course.
    • Provide a greeting (Dear Sabatino or Dr. Mangini), a body, and a closing (Best, Sincerely, etc.) with your signature.
    • In the body, consider specific assignments, specific readings/films, specific conversations, and/or specific processes that helped you learn and grow. To that end, focus on these four components:
      • Your author identity. How has it changed in this course?
      • Your theory of writing. How has this course impacted the way you define and value writing? Which composition concepts/terms do you most value?
      • Your growth as a writer. How are your past academic writing experiences different from your present experiences with writing in this course? How are the past and present experiences the same?
      • Your knowledge transfer to future writing situations. How do you plan to use your growing writing knowledge to compose texts in future academic and non-academic contexts?
    • Please conclude the reflection by answering this question:
Week 8
  • No informal assignments due this week.
  • Midterm Conferences in my office: 4317.​ ​
Week 9
  • No Informal assignments due this week. 
  • Revise and submit process packet for Formal Assignment #1: Narrative Project (Memoir).
Week 10
Informal Assignment #8
  • Assignment Topic: Week 10 Reflection 
  • Assignment Focus: Growth as a Writer in this Course
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
    • Interpret these texts:
    • Compose a 250-500 word reflection on your learning in class this week. Please focus on specific concepts, readings, conversations, or writing assignments. 
    • In the reflection, please make connections to past and future experiences with this content or knowledge.
Week 11
Informal Assignment #9
  • Assignment Topic: Week 11 Reflection 
  • Assignment Focus: Growth as a Writer in this Course
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
    • Interpret these texts:
    • Compose a 250-500 word reflection on your learning in class this week. Please focus on specific concepts, readings, conversations, or writing assignments. 
    • In the reflection, please make connections to past and future experiences with this content or knowledge.
Week 12
Informal Assignment #10
  • Assignment Topic: Week 12 Reflection 
  • Assignment Focus: Growth as a Writer in this Course
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
    • Interpret these texts:
    • Compose a 250-500 word reflection on your learning in class this week. Please focus on specific concepts, readings, conversations, or writing assignments. 
    • In the reflection, please make connections to past and future experiences with this content or knowledge.
Week 13
Informal Assignment #11
  • Assignment Topic: Week 12 Reflection 
  • Assignment Focus: Growth as a Writer in this Course
  • Assignment Process: Please complete the following:
    • Interpret these texts:
    • Compose a 250-500 word reflection on your learning in class this week. Please focus on specific concepts, readings, conversations, or writing assignments. 
    • In the reflection, please make connections to past and future experiences with this content or knowledge.
Weeks 14, 15, 16
  • ​No informal assignments are required.