Angles 2012:  Assignments for Essays and Reviews

Writing from Experience

“Riverside Park”

Shilpa Agrawal wrote “Riverside Park” in “Writing and Experience: Culture Shock!: Writing, Editing and Publishing on the Web” (21W.024).  Students were asked to write essays on subjects of their own choice, focusing on American culture, broadly defined.

“What It Means to Be Alive,” “View from the Top”

Larissa Senatus wrote “What It Means to Be Alive” and Ann Felhofer wrote “View from the Top” in “MIT 150: Inside, Live” (Writing and Experience; 21W.021, Fall 2011). For this assignment, students were asked to chronicle some of the essential experiences that led them “along the road” to MIT.

Full Assignment A – Marx

“Yellowstone’s Footprint”

Jessica Fujimori wrote “Yellowstone’s Footprint” in “Science Writing and New Media: Science Writing for the Public” (21W.035, Spring 2012) in response to an assignment that asked students to recall a scene, project, or expedition that turned them on to science and to tell that story in way that would get readers to see that science enriches lives.”

Full Assignment B – Boiko

“My Life: Tuesday,” “Away from Home,” “The Brass Rat: MIT’s Nonstandard Technology Ring,” “Walker Memorial: The ‘Useful Building,’”

Noor Khouri wrote “My Life: Tuesday,” Yvonne Wangare wrote “Away from Home,” Sterling Watson wrote “The Brass Rat: MIT’s Nonstandard Technology Ring,” and Mina Healey wrote “Walker Memorial: The ‘Useful Building’” in “MIT 150: Inside, Live” (Writing and Experience; 21W.021, Fall 2011). For this assignment, students were asked to make use of original research to write a personal investigative essay on an MIT-related topic of their choice.

Full Assignment C -Marx 

“Intuition”

Keaton Stubis wrote “Intuition” in “Science Writing and New Media: Explorations in Communicating about Science and Technology” (21W.031, Fall 2011) in response to an assignment that asked students to write an essay that explores a personal passion.

Full Assignment D -Melvold

Writing on Contemporary Issues

“Memoirs of a Modern-Day Abolitionist”

Hailey Lee wrote “Memoirs of a Modern-Day Abolitionist” in “Writing and Rhetoric: Rhetoric and Contemporary Issues” (21W.011). The assignment asked students to craft a personal essay reflecting upon their own moral commitments and “ethics in action,” creating an argument about ethical values from the narrative material of their own experience.

Full Assignment E -Walsh

“Shifting Balance: The Elimination of MIT’s Varsity Women’s Gymnastics Program”

Lindsay Sanneman wrote “Shifting Balance: The Elimination of MIT’s Varsity Women’s Gymnastics Program” in “MIT 150: Inside, Live” (Writing and Experience; 21W.021, Fall 2011). For this assignment, students were asked to make use of original research to write a personal investigative essay on an MIT-related topic of their choice.

Full Assignment F -Marx

“When Lucky Isn’t Looking out for your Child, Who Should?”

Liz Dethy wrote “When Lucky Isn’t Looking out for your Child, Who Should?” in “Writing and Rhetoric: Food for Thought” (21W.012/014, Fall 2011) in response to an assignment that asked students to write an investigative essay organized around an inquiry into a food issue.

Full Assignment G -Boiko

“The Keystone XL Pipeline: An Ongoing Controversy”

Sofia Essayan-Perez wrote “The Keystone XL Pipeline: An Ongoing Controversy” in “Writing and Rhetoric: Rhetoric and Contemporary Issues” (21W.011). For this assignment, students were asked to choose a contemporary issue that evoked a sense of conflict or debate, and to research and then present different perspectives on the topic.

Full Assignment H -Walsh

“The Ancient Wisdom of the Shâkâhârî  Indians”

Praveen Venkataramana wrote “The Ancient Wisdom of the Shâkâhârî Indians” in “Writing and Rhetoric: Food for Thought” (21W.012/014, Fall 2011).  For this assignment, students were asked to write an investigative essay organized around an inquiry into a food issue.

Full Assignment I -Boiko

Writing about Technology, Science, and Scientists

“A Professor of Puzzles”

Ana Burgos wrote her profile of MIT Professor John Essigmann, “A Professor of Puzzles” in “Science Writing and New Media: Science Writing for the Public” (21W.035, Spring 2012).

Full Assignment J -Boiko 

“Armed and Dangerous”

Jonathan Warneke wrote his profile of MIT Professor Edward Farhi, “Armed and Dangerous: ‘Don’t Point your Quantum Computer at Me!’” for “Science Writing and New Media: Science Writing for the Public” (21W.035, Fall 2011).

Full Assignment K -Singer

“A Review of In Search of Memory, The Emergence of a New Science of Mind by Eric Kandel”

Henna Nandwani wrote her review of Eric Kandel’s book, In Search of Memory: The Emergence of A New Science of Mind for “Science Writing and New Media: Science Writing for the Public” (21W.035, Fall 2011).

Full Assignment L -Singer

“The Exhibit that Time Forgot: How Your Life Began at the Boston Museum of Science”

Deena Wang wrote “The Exhibit that Time Forgot: How Your Life Began at the Boston Museum of Science” in “Science Writing and New Media: Explorations in Communicating about Science and Technology” (21W.031, Spring 2012) in response to an assignment that asked students to write a critical review of a science museum exhibit.

Full Assignment M -Melvold

“Vibration Energy Harvesting for Large-Scale Sensor Networks and Other Applications” and “Can Computers Think?”

Christopher Lang wrote “Vibration Energy Harvesting for Large-Scale Sensor Networks and Other Applications” and Steven Zierk wrote “Can Computers Think?” in “Science Writing and New Media: Explorations in Communicating about Science and Technology” (21W.031, Fall 2011) in response to an assignment that asked students to investigate some area of research in science, mathematics, or engineering and to write an essay about it for a general audience.

Full Assignment N -Melvold

Outside the Box

“Transcript of 2011 Annual Cambridge Mouse Meeting (9/15-9/19),” “Owl,” “Pottery Class,” “The Sketchbook: Lowlights of Being an MIT Archie”

Sang Hyun Choi wrote “Transcript of 2011 Annual Cambridge Mouse Meeting (9/15-9/19),” Mark Fayngersh wrote “Owl,” Lili Sun wrote “Pottery Class” (graphic story), and Alina Granville wrote “The Sketchbook: Lowlights of Being an MIT Archie” (graphic story) in “MIT 150: Inside, Live” (Writing and Experience; 21W.021, Fall 2011). For this assignment, students were asked to make use of their perspective as participant-observers to present MIT student life in a fresh way.

Full Assignment O -Marx