Writing Courses

In this course, I researched and experimented with several different modes and genres of writing—from narrative to argumentative, from essay to multimodal—in order to explore my writer interests, commitments, and voices.

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To read my origin piece that is the basis of my 3 experiments in this course, press here. 

Assignments:

1. Experiment 1 (Poetry Genre Analysis) – Proposal, Experiment, Reflection

2. Experiment 2 (Picture Book Genre Analysis) – Proposal, Experiment, Reflection

3. Experiment 3 (Photo Series Genre Analysis) – Proposal, Experiment, Reflection

In this course, I was introduced to ancient Greek & Roman philosophy, from its beginnings in the 6th century BCE through the Hellenistic period and first centuries of the Roman empire. All the major movements and figures during this period were be covered: the Presocratics, Sophists, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cyrenaics, Cynics, Epicureans, Stoics, and Sceptics. We discussed many questions such as: 

• What is the ultimate nature of reality? Is anything permanent, or is everything in flux? Or is everything relative to our perceptions and beliefs?

• How should I lead my life? What would be fulfilling? Pleasure? Doing what’s right? Am I free? Or are my actions determined by prior events?

• Is death something to be afraid of? Is the soul immortal?

• Is knowledge possible? Can we trust in the reliability of the senses? Or even in the power of reason itself?

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Assignments: 

1. Paper 1 – Gorgias and Our Power to Make Choices

2. Paper 2 – Socrates and the Limits of Rhetoric

3. Paper 3 – Aristotle and the Conception of Fulfillment

In this course, I learned about the history of the Holocaust and how to interpret representations of the Holocaust through the facts on which the representations are made. I learned to interpret some of the most important historical facts about the Holocaust, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of contention explanations regarding the causes and effects of the Holocaust, and contextualize the Holocaust. 

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For this course, I completed response papers to specific representations of the Holocaust. 

1. Response Paper 1 – Analogies

2. Response Paper 2 – Nazi Propaganda

3. Response Paper 3 – Diaries

4. Response Paper 4 – Ordinary Men

5. Response Paper 5 – Survival of Auschwitz

In this course, I was introduced to the craft and critique that characterize creative writing. Throughout the course, I read a lot of pieces of creative writing and through journaling and peer reviews learned to write my own pieces. 

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Assignments: 

1. Assignment 1 – Creative Fiction Piece

2. Assignment 2 – Creative Nonfiction piece

In this course, I was introduced to the world of Ancient Greece, where many aspects of Western civilization have their roots: democracy, tragedy, philosophy, hero, mathematics, physician, anthropology, poetic, economy, biology, epic, comedy, politics, erotic, geography, and theology are all Greek words. I studied many aspects of Greek civilization, from the heroes of the Trojan War to Alexander the Great & from war to the origins of science, relying when we can on the words of major Greek writers & thinkers themselves, people like Homer, Sappho, Euripides, Plato, & Aristotle. Even the alphabet was an ancient Greek invention, & so was the computer.

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Assignments: 

1. Paper 1 – Homer's Illiad

2. Paper 2 – Gender Roles in "Antigone"

3. Paper 3 – Socrates

In this course, I learned about the practice of technical writing. We looked at several different works, such as memos, infographics, and websites. We also discussed digital accessibility in length. 

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Assignments: 

1. Unit 1 – Personal Branding (I worked on my resume. Please email me at frdegero@umich.edu for further inquiry on my resume)

2. Unit 2 – Document Design

3. Unit 3 – Digital Design

4. Unit 4 – Digital Presence (for this Unit, I worked on the website you are currently on)