The On Document
You have now read several texts on a topic (War, compassion, dumpster diving, and discrimination. You are now going to create and write your opinion on a topic you are passionate about emulating Ralph Ellison’s style in “On Discrimination.”
1. Choose a topic you know well and are passionate about to write about.
You can write about abstract ideas: On Fear, On Despair, On Annoyance, On rules, equality
Or
You can write about concrete ideas: On surfing, On Being home, On school
Your topic _______________________________
2. What idea do you want to express about it? __________________________________
(On war expressed war makes humans suffer, On Compassion expressed the idea that there needs to be more compassion in the world, etc.)
3. Invent and select your mode of delivery. Using 2nd person, narrate, describe and exemplify your idea on your topic. Use 2-3 descriptions or examples from your life to explain your point. You can write on:
• Discovery: Writing a narrative about an event in which you discovered something about your place in the world. (Think about childhood) Give careful consideration to point of view and the use of dialogue. (Think about how Ellison integrates dialogue with his mother, the policeman).
• Reflection: Relate an incident from your life that illustrates how you felt about a particular environment – On imagination (jumping off the rooftop of a house), On chaos (describe your school schedule), On comfort or disgust (describe your neighborhood), On mediocrity (describe cleaning) Use description to create a clear picture of the place.
• Rebellion: Relate the feeling of an action against society. Have you ever broken a code (whether an unwritten rule or a recorded law) to do something? Write an essay that evaluates the worth of breaking the code. Describe the code you broke. What did you risk and gain (or lose)? (On rules, on regulations) Make sure to use concrete details to narrate both the incident and the outcome.
• Another idea of your choice
4. Choose 3 stylistic devices to write with. (concrete / abstract language as in WWII, specific mode definition (as in dumpster diving, imagery & figurative language as in On Compassion, 2nd person narration as in On Discrimination)
Format: Typed, double spaced in Google Docs, share with jenmurphy11@gmail.com
Title it _______(your period) ________(name) title\
4 Jen On being a procrastinator
Papers will have
• Introduction and body paragraphs with 2-3 examples, descriptions or narrations to convey the idea
• Descriptive narration & 3 stylistic devices are used
• there is clear idea written about the topic that you want to express to the reader
• You have stylistically selected your material so that your voice echoes through the piece
