Homework for Wednesday, March 21

Response Paper #1

Read “Short Assignments” from Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott in your Course Reader: pp. 101-102.

Read actively: Mark passages that strike you. Note words, ideas, or images that resonate for you. Consider how Lamott’s idea of “short assignments” applies to your inquiry paper for this class.

Brainstorm a list of “short assignments” for yourself on this semester’s inquiry paper. “Short assignments” might include writing
- a description of a place or person
- a brief account of an interview you did
- a brief comparison of your arts organization with another
- an explanation of one key argument you’d like to make
- a one-paragraph “dialogue” with a source
- an introductory paragraph, or “curtain-raiser”
- etc.

Write. Choose one of your short assignments and write it.

Save a copy of the paper on your computer, and print a copy to bring to class. (Your paper should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins. At the top of the page, please include your name, the date, “Seattle Arts Ecology,” and “Short Assignment.”)

* Save your list of short assignments! Keep working your way through the list, one at a time, over the course of the next few weeks. Before you know it, you’ll have written your inquiry paper.