For this paper I'd like for everyone to write on the same topic, although I'm sure everyone will end up writing about very different things--your individual uses of language, sometimes metaphorically referred to as "voice."
Stage 1: Begin by interviewing at least three people with whom you've talked several times. You will probably get the best information from people who know you well and have talked to you often, but sometimes a relative stranger who listens carefully can tell you a lot too. Ask each person to tell you something about the way you use language (in any form) that he or she recognizes as personal to you. Ask each person for examples--quotations, typical words or phrases or sentence constructions, or types of arguments that he or she thinks are characteristic of your personal use of language. Your interviewees may first think of things to say about your accent or the sound of your physical voice. But try to ask them questions about how you use language--your words, idioms, and habits of discussion. Take careful notes. Email the notes from your interviews to me by 6pm on Friday, February 18 at 6PM.
Stage 2: After discussing your plans for this paper with me in our next individual appointments, I'd like for you to write a paper about what you've learned about your personal "voice." Carefully describe what your interviewees have told you, then discuss your reaction to what you heard from them. Are their comments surprising to you? How do they compare with your own sense of how you use language? How would you like for your "voice" to "sound" ideally? In other words, what kind of impression would you like for your use of language to make on people? How well have you achieved that so far? Remember to correctly document any information you use from your interviews or other sources (we'll discuss how to do that in class).
I would imagine that it will take you at least 3-4 pages of typed, doubled spaced writing to do this assignment well. Email me this paper as an attachment in Word Rich Text Format by 6 pm on Tuesday, February 22.