This document outlines an assignment for an English 208 class at the University of Idaho. Students are asked to write an 750-1000 word object essay exploring the personal and cultural significance of an object through description, memories, and questions. They must then record themselves reading their essay aloud and submit the audio file. The assignment will be graded based on addressing the key tasks of focusing on the object, inviting personal connection, and asking abstract questions through concrete details. Students must submit proposals, a sample recording, and drafts before the final recording and showcase are due. The goal is for students to practice different composition modes and use sensory details to create vivid writing.

1. Engl 208: Personal and Exploratory Writing UIdaho Fall ’19; Malone
Assignment 3: The Audio Object Essay
Object Essays:
Do you have an object that is especially valuable to you? This could be a family heirloom, a childhood toy,
a favorite food. The object doesn’t even need to be all that personally significant, either. It could be an
object you have a complicated relationship with. It could be an object that has always made you wonder
about something. Just – nothing that is alive, and no photographs!
An object essay uses the object as a touchstone – something that the writing keeps returning to – as you
weave together description, memories, stories, and questions. Questions, that is, about what that object
represents in relationship to you and in relationship to the rest of the world. What does that object
mean? Or what questions does it raise for you about the way the world works? How do your memories
associated with that object lead you to ask such questions?
Your Task:
Your challenge is to write an object essay that is 750-1000 words long. Your object essay should
essentially describe your object and explore the objects’ connection to you, to the world. At a minimum,
your essay should remain focused on describing the object throughout the entire essay, always adding a
bit more nuance to the reader’s understanding of what the object means. The writing should be personal,
using sensory detail and memory to invite a general readership to feel somehow connected to the object
the way you are. Your essay should ask questions about the world – using the concrete, tangible
(touchable) object as a gateway to abstract, intangible concepts. You may choose to incorporate
research as you did in your list essay previously, as research into the object itself or the phenomena you
are investigating can be useful. This, however, is not a requirement.
The catch, though, is that you are writing this essay not for a reading audience, but a listening one.
Because storytelling has, for much of history, been oral, and because the contemporary trend of listening
to stories as audiobooks or podcasts has made the ability to tell stories aloud especially relevant, I will
ask you to record yourself reading your story and share the recording as an audio file for your classmates
and me to listen to. You may use digital software like SoundCloud and Podomatic if you like, but your
phone or your computer’s recording device will be fine for our purposes.
Stages:
To help organize this task, you will move through a series of drafting stages. First, you will write an
exploratory proposal which identifies objects you might want to talk about and the stories you wish to
tell. Next, you will do a practice recording of a short piece of published writing. You will complete a
rough draft for peer review, and then submit your final recording in the BB Learn dropbox and as a
showcase.
Due Dates:
Succeeding on this assignment requires careful attention to organization and planning. You will be
graded based on the concepts bolded under “Your Task” above as well as the quality of your recording,
including your rate of speech, etc. You should of course consider concepts from previous units like
tone/voice and clarity/correctness in your composition.
The “Audio Object Essay” is worth 150 points in class, broken down as follows:
10 pts Proposal DUE: 10/31 at 11:59 PM
20 pts Sample Recording DUE: 11/14 at 11:59 PM
10 pts Rough Draft DUE: 11/14 at 11:00 AM
100 pts Audio Object Essay DUE: 11/19 at 11:59 PM
10 pts Showcase POST: 11/19 at 11:59 PM; Three REPLIES 11/21 at 11:59 PM

2. Engl 208: Personal and Exploratory Writing UIdaho Fall ’19; Malone
Assignment 3: The Audio Object Essay
Outcomes:
This essay aims to meet all learning outcomes for the course with additional emphasis on students’
ability to:
• Compose in multiple modes (written and oral).
• Use personal writing to write for a public audience.
• Use sensory details to create vivid descriptions and scenes.
Rubric:
I will grade your letter according to this scale, copied from the syllabus:
I will award all your assignments a letter grade in increments of 2.5 points. An “A” project, for example,
might receive a 100, 97.5, 95, 92.5, or a 90.
To earn at least a 90, your assignment must be complete (on time, with all prompt components,
meeting length requirements) and show strong evidence of the particular skills emphasized by
the prompt and in class.
To earn at least an 80, you should turn in a relevant assignment on time. However, if you are
missing components of the prompt or if you do not meet the length requirements, you may be
ineligible to earn above an 89.
To earn at least a 70, you must do more than one of the following:
• Submit work late
• Fail to meet page count
• Fail to include a significant component of the prompt
• Demonstrate minimal effort to practice the targeted skills for the assignment
• Appear to have misinterpreted the prompt
You will earn below a 70 if you turn in an irrelevant assignment with multiple missing
components.
Late work policy:
You will lose half a letter grade for each day your assignment is late. After seven days, you will receive an
automatic “0” on the assignment.