Instead of the listserv paper, I’m now asking you to do three shorter papers.

Part 1. Do at least one of the following:

A. In 2002 or early 2003, the KEO satellite, designed to stay in orbit for 50,000 years, will be launched. Its designer, Jean-Marc Philippe, has fashioned the satellite's heat shield to disintegrate in such a way as to generate an aurora-like display and to call attention to its remains, a small titanium sphere which will contain pictures, biological samples, and, he hopes, CDs containing billions of letters from the people of today. There is room for each person on Earth to include a letter of up to 4 pages, or 6000 characters, to our very distant descendants.

Your task in this assignment is to write one of these letters. Your final draft should be 3-4 pages (750-1000) words long, and should be submitted in two formats: a hard copy for me to evaluate, and an e-mail version for me to forward to the Keo project. Your letter will be evaluated in terms of how well it relates to the project's goal, as described in the June 1999 edition of Discover magazine:

The point is really not complicated: Philippe wants to make us – the people of the dawning third millennium – think. Trying to look back at yourself from 50,000 years in the future is like looking down at home from 50,000 feet; it may give you vertigo ... but it certainly gives you a different perspective. Philippe's goal is to get people to look beyond their desks and kitchens and crowded roads and ponder what is important, what kind of future they want to create for their world.

B. Find an article from the popular press (that is, not a teaching journal) about a current controversy in education, and do a short (approx. 750 words/3 pages) rhetorical analysis of it.

DUE DATE FOR PART 1: 11/5 (original due date for listserv paper)

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Part 2: Do two of the following (unless you do both of the papers in Part 1):

A. Write an honest personal ad of approximately 250 words; then, write an honest ad of approx. 250 words for the "Jobs Wanted" section of the newspaper. Compare the ads: what do you do differently in them depending on the purpose, audience, and subject (that is, the rhetorical situation) of the two different ads?

B. Thinking back about specific characters (from a movie, book, TV show, etc.) that you like or sympathize or empathize with, give specific examples of what a writer can do to make her audience like a character. Then speculate: how can you use these particular techniques in rhetorical situations you might find yourself in?

C. Write a letter to the editor complaining strongly about the attitude or work or behavior, etc., of someone we will all recognize. Then write a letter to the person herself, complaining about the same thing. Compare the letters based upon the purpose, audience, and subject (that is, the rhetorical situation).

D. Choose an abstract human quality (bravery, cool, arrogance, etc.) and define it, using specific descriptions and narrative(s).

E. Base a paper on the cubing or pentad exercises we will do today.

F. Write something that will make your fellow students laugh or cry or react strongly in some other way.

G. Develop your own topic in consultation with me.

The first of these 2 short papers will be due October 17; the second, October 24.