Engl 208 Malone UI Fall '19

1. Engl 208: Personal and Exploratory Writing UIdaho Fall ’19; Malone
Assignment 4: Essaying through [X]
Overview:
Jhumpa Lahiri’s book In Other Words is an experimental memoir in which the author uses Italian to
document the process of learning Italian. Throughout class this semester, I have referred to “essaying” as
in part an experiment in asking a good question. What I mean is, even though writing is argumentative
and should begin to arrive at an answer, the personal essay is also concerned with not knowing. The
personal essay challenges you to ask a question that you truly do not know the answer to, that is
complicated, and that requires the space of the essay for you to try (essayer in French) to answer. Lahiri
uses Italian to wonder about her linguistic identity, about the role of language in her life, and about what it
means to learn the language (for her) in the first place.
Your Task:
Your challenge is to write an essay that wonders about the role of something in your life. What are you
trying to figure out right now? Why does it matter to you? What are the “stakes” or possible
repercussions for this learning? Why is it challenging? How does the learning inform who you are? Use
the space of the essay to outline what it is you are learning, to ask why learning this thing matters. Then,
you should essay through the learning process. Track the moments of breakthrough or epiphany or
understanding. Try to arrive at an answer – or at least a better question.
Your essay should be about 1000 words long. Please consider the following:
1. I am primarily concerned with your ability to essay (to try), or, by extension, to wonder. So, ask
a sincere question about the topic you are essaying through at the beginning of your piece and
continue to refine the question as you learn more about the topic.
2. Incorporate other techniques from class like sensory detail. You should narrate scenes of you
learning. Do not simply summarize the process. Make us feel what it is to learn with you.
3. Focus on what this learning means to you by using techniques like moving from the tangible to
the abstract, like in our last essay.
4. And, of course, use a deliberate tone to distinguish your voice in the essay.
Due Dates:
Succeeding on this assignment requires careful attention to organization and planning. You will be
graded based on the concepts bolded under “Your Task” above. You should of course consider clarity and
grammatical correctness in your composition.
The “Essaying through [X}” composition is worth 200 points in class. There is no proposal or draft, so I
recommend contacting me to talk about ideas if you wish.
200 pts Essaying through [X] DUE: 12/15 at 11:59 PM
10 pts RG: Showcase POST: 12/15 at 11:59 PM; Three REPLIES 12/17 at 11:59 PM
Outcomes:
This essay aims to meet all learning outcomes for the course with additional emphasis on students’
ability to:
• Use personal writing to ask a good question and evaluate the significance of the answer.
• Use sensory details to create vivid descriptions and scenes.

2. Engl 208: Personal and Exploratory Writing UIdaho Fall ’19; Malone
Assignment 4: Essaying through [X]
Rubric:
I will grade your letter according to this scale, copied from the syllabus:
I will award all your assignments a letter grade in increments of 2.5 points. An “A” project, for example,
might receive a 100, 97.5, 95, 92.5, or a 90.
To earn at least a 90, your assignment must be complete (on time, with all prompt components,
meeting length requirements) and show strong evidence of the particular skills emphasized by
the prompt and in class.
To earn at least an 80, you should turn in a relevant assignment on time. However, if you are
missing components of the prompt or if you do not meet the length requirements, you may be
ineligible to earn above an 89.
To earn at least a 70, you must do more than one of the following:
• Submit work late
• Fail to meet page count
• Fail to include a significant component of the prompt
• Demonstrate minimal effort to practice the targeted skills for the assignment
• Appear to have misinterpreted the prompt
You will earn below a 70 if you turn in an irrelevant assignment with multiple missing
components.
Late work policy:
You will lose half a letter grade for each day your assignment is late. After seven days, you will receive an
automatic “0” on the assignment.