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10-minute write topics

  1. "Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts"
  2. "How We Listen"
  3. "Thinking as a Hobby"
  4. "Shooting an Elephant"
  5. "Once More to the Lake"
  6. "Why Colleges?"
  7. "What You See is the Real You"
  8. "Three Heads Are Better than One"
  9. "In Harness: the Male Condition"
  10. "Motherhood: Who Needs It?"
  11. "Black Men and Public Spaces"
  12. "College Pressures"
  13. "Crime of Compassion"
  14. "A Case for Torture"
  15. "The Case for Animal Rights"
  16. "The Terrifying Normalicy of AIDS"
  17. "Good Readers and Good Writers"
  18. "Storytelling"
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"Examsmanship and the Liberal Arts"

Choose one topic and set a timer for 10 minutes and write on that topic for the entire time; you may use the book but let the ten minutes be actual writing time.

1.  How does Perry want to change the way Harvard professors grade essay exams?

2.  Explain why bull is better than cow.  What is even better than either separately?

3.  How does the Columbus example help explain what "true knowledge" is?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"How We Listen"

Choose one topic:

1.  What are the three levels of listening? Give some examples using music you know.

2.  How does Copland want us to listen? 

3.  Using any activity of your own, show the sensuous, expressive, and technical level of that activity.  (i.e. football, soccer, or any other sport, films, dance, painting, or any other art, needlecraft, rebuilding a truck engine, or any other hobby)

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"Thinking as a Hobby"

1. What are the three grades of thinking?  Are they ranked in any order?

2.  How does Golding use the statues?  What does this add to his essay?

3.  How would you arrange the statues in your own home?  What would they symbolize, how would they reflect your philosophy of life?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"Shooting an Elephant"

1.  What is Orwell's point here?  Why does he not put it in a more normal or expected position in the essay, for example, right at the beginning or at the end?   How is his point unusual or unique?

2.  We get several different views of the elephant; describe them and show how this changes our view of the elephant.

3.  Can you see a symbolic interpretation for this essay?  If so, explain.

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"Once More to the Lake"

1.  Why did White choose the order he did?  What confusion does he cause?   Why does he cause confusion about time?

2.  What effect does the last sentence, the last word, have on your interpretation of this essay?  Can you draw any conclusions about the persona (the "I" in the story) or his father?

3.  Does your family have a "lake" or other vacation spot it always goes to?  Describe it.

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"Why Colleges?"

1.  Do you think colleges do give out too many A's?  If so, what affect does it have on students' GPAs?

2.  Does education have only the "veneer of quality" or are you really learning?

3.  How can teachers make grades more objective than subjective?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"What You See is the Real You"

1.  Do you agree or disagree that your outward actions are the real you?   Explain.

2.  What is the role of your intentions in determining your true self?

3.  What is the real you? [please spend only 10 minutes on this answer]

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"Three Heads Are Better than One"

1.  What kind of head do you have? Do you have more than one kind?

2.  Why does Sternberg suggest IQ tests do not measure success?  What areas are not covered by IQ tests?

3.  What kind of intelligence is the ideal and why?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"In Harness: the Male Condition"

1.    Do you agree with Goldberg that men have prescribed roles?

2.    What do you think is expected of men today?

3.    Are men able to express feelings better and if so, which feelings and how do they express them?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"Motherhood: Who Needs It?"

1.   Do you agree with Rollin?  why or why not?

2.   Why do you think Rollin felt she had to take such an extreme stand on this issue?

3.   How have things change in the 1990's with respect to women's expectations about motherhood?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"Black Men and Public Spaces"

1.    Are black men the only ones stereotyped by our society?  What other groups are?

2.    Have you ever been in a position of suspicion (being suspected of wrong-doing just because of your age, race, sex, or ethnicity)  and what did you do about it?

3.    Is it the young black man's responsibility to let everyone know he is not a threat (wear a cowbell)?  If so, how do we let it be known we are not a threat?  If not, whose responsibility is it for ending this kind of prejudice?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"College Pressures"

1.  What pressures are you under in college? 

2.   Are community college students under different pressures than 4-year students and why?

3.   How does the humor of the first section help you to identify with the other college students?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"Crime of Compassion"

1.  What kind of argument does the author present--factual or emotional?

2.  What support does she offer for her point?

3.  How does her story create interest in this issue?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"A Case for Torture"

1.  Do you agree with Levin?  What is convincing about his argument?

2.  Do you disagree with Levin?  How does his argument fall short?

3.  He uses hypothetical examples--what kind of examples would be better or why does this work?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"The Case for Animal Rights"

1.  Are you convinced by Regan's points?  Which arguments were most convincing?

2.  If you were not convinced, which arguments were weakest and why?

3.  How does he structure his argument to avoid using an emotional appeal?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"The Terrifying Normalicy of AIDS"

1.  Did this essay scare you?  why or why not?

2.  Why did Gould choose his title?

3.  What does Gould want us to do about this problem?

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

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"Good Readers and Good Writers"

[This is the answer to the question.]

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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"Storytelling"

[This is the answer to the question.]

4.  Why would I have you read this essay? [you should actually ask this about every assignment]

Back to Reading Assignments
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Chris Barkley.
Copyright ©Chris Barkley. All rights reserved.
Revised: February 01, 2006.