If you missed class today (which a lot of you did!), be sure to check Angel for your final essay assignment. I included it at the top of the Content Folder, just as its own file (meaning it's not in an additional folder). It's important that you open it and read it carefully, especially since part of the assignment is due on Monday.
In other news, if I do not currently have your Essay 4 (research essay), it's now officially late. Get it in my box ASAP!
As always, email me with any questions about the final essay. Have a great weekend, and I'll see you on Monday morning!
Friday, April 29, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Essay 4 due Friday!!
Just a reminder that the final draft of your essay 4 is due on Friday. Please staple the draft with my comments to the back of your draft. Did I mention the staple?
See you Friday!
See you Friday!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Essay 4 Reminders and Tips
I handed back your essay drafts today, and we spent the bulk of class discussing general feedback to the class as a whole. Nearly everyone who wrote a paper for me was in class today, so please let me know if you have any questions about my comments on your paper or about the ideas we discussed in class (MLA, organization, integrating sources, relying on your own argument, and linking large sections of your paper into a cohesive whole).
If you were not in class today, you're welcome to email me for initial comments before getting your paper back on Wednesday.
An Important Reminder for Wednesday
We are meeting in the Mawhinney Computer lab (M303--the same one we were in last week) for a work day. I'll be available to help you, read sections of your draft, or to answer any questions you might have.
Also, here is another link to the Norton MLA website.
If you were not in class today, you're welcome to email me for initial comments before getting your paper back on Wednesday.
An Important Reminder for Wednesday
We are meeting in the Mawhinney Computer lab (M303--the same one we were in last week) for a work day. I'll be available to help you, read sections of your draft, or to answer any questions you might have.
Also, here is another link to the Norton MLA website.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Instructor Draft of Essay 4 DUE
Don't forget that you need a complete draft of Essay 4 to turn into me on Friday. Be sure to staple your draft!
Email me with questions. I look forward to reading what you've written!
Email me with questions. I look forward to reading what you've written!
Monday, April 18, 2011
For Wednesday
Sorry about the confusion this morning! I thought my communication was more clear than it was. I do wonder how half of you managed to figure it out and half of you did not, but alas...
For Wednesday, you need to have a working draft of your essay plus a Works Cited page. Bring the Works Cited page as a hard copy, but bring the draft electronically. We will be reading each other's drafts electronically, so bring it on a USB drive, put it on your student drive, or email it to yourself.
And just so we're all on the same page for Wednesday, we'll be meeting in M303--the same room where we ended up (finally) today!
For Wednesday, you need to have a working draft of your essay plus a Works Cited page. Bring the Works Cited page as a hard copy, but bring the draft electronically. We will be reading each other's drafts electronically, so bring it on a USB drive, put it on your student drive, or email it to yourself.
And just so we're all on the same page for Wednesday, we'll be meeting in M303--the same room where we ended up (finally) today!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Important change to syllabus!!
Alert! Read this! Pay attention!!
On Monday, the course schedule says you need to have an electronic copy of your draft to do peer review. I want to SWITCH that assignment for Wednesday. What this means is that on MONDAY we will have a work day in the computer lab to look for sources, get help from me, and to work on writing your paper. We will do the electronic peer review on WEDNESDAY. The works cited page will still be due on Wednesday. In short, you don't have a specific assignment due on Monday, but you should STRONGLY consider gathering some initial sources so you can be ready to do actual work during class on Monday. Questions? Let me know!
On Monday, the course schedule says you need to have an electronic copy of your draft to do peer review. I want to SWITCH that assignment for Wednesday. What this means is that on MONDAY we will have a work day in the computer lab to look for sources, get help from me, and to work on writing your paper. We will do the electronic peer review on WEDNESDAY. The works cited page will still be due on Wednesday. In short, you don't have a specific assignment due on Monday, but you should STRONGLY consider gathering some initial sources so you can be ready to do actual work during class on Monday. Questions? Let me know!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Little Red Riding Hood
Daily Update
I spent today's class ruining Little Red Riding Hood for all of you! All right, I hope that's not true, but we did spend some time looking at various versions of the Little Red Riding Hood stories--most of which were somewhat different from the "traditional" folktale. We also looked at several images of Little Red--some of which were vastly different from the traditional. (In fact, do a Google Image search for "Little Red Riding Hood" and you'll be amazed at what you can find!)
The point of this exercise was to look at how you can use critical strategies to ask different types of questions that help you unlock new meaning in texts--even ones as familiar as "Little Red." Whether you're using New Historicism, Formalism, Feminist Theory, Postructuralism, or really any of the other strategies from Appendix A, the different questions those strategies pose allow you to see texts in new and interesting ways. Consider how you might use one of the strategies to help you focus your research essay.
Homework Reminder
Response Paper 10 is due on Friday. For this paper, I want you to write a 3/4 to 1 page (single-spaced, typed) paper where you propose your topic for your research essay. Let me know which text you're planning to work with and what "position" you hope to take in your argument. If you need more clarification, let me know.
Also, remember that we're meeting in the library for class on Friday: room C108. Please DO NOT be late!
I spent today's class ruining Little Red Riding Hood for all of you! All right, I hope that's not true, but we did spend some time looking at various versions of the Little Red Riding Hood stories--most of which were somewhat different from the "traditional" folktale. We also looked at several images of Little Red--some of which were vastly different from the traditional. (In fact, do a Google Image search for "Little Red Riding Hood" and you'll be amazed at what you can find!)
The point of this exercise was to look at how you can use critical strategies to ask different types of questions that help you unlock new meaning in texts--even ones as familiar as "Little Red." Whether you're using New Historicism, Formalism, Feminist Theory, Postructuralism, or really any of the other strategies from Appendix A, the different questions those strategies pose allow you to see texts in new and interesting ways. Consider how you might use one of the strategies to help you focus your research essay.
Homework Reminder
Response Paper 10 is due on Friday. For this paper, I want you to write a 3/4 to 1 page (single-spaced, typed) paper where you propose your topic for your research essay. Let me know which text you're planning to work with and what "position" you hope to take in your argument. If you need more clarification, let me know.
Also, remember that we're meeting in the library for class on Friday: room C108. Please DO NOT be late!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Essay 4: Literary Research
Daily Update
I have to admit that if you missed class today, you will probably feel a little bit behind when you start thinking about your research essay. Although today's class was probably not the most exciting class we've ever had, we did go through the essay assignment in great detail, and I answered several extremely good questions from students about how to move forward with this assignment.
That said, all is not lost! Take the first step by going to Angel and downloading the essay assignment. Read through it carefully and note any questions you have. Then--and I really, truly mean this--email me with your questions. It is so much better to clarify what you're supposed to do for the essay NOW instead of working hard on a 6-8 page essay that you will end up having to significantly revise or rewrite because you were approaching the assignment incorrectly. Please, PLEASE read it carefully and write me with any questions.
Homework Reminder
Your homework for Wednesday is to read Appendix A in Literature for Composition. As I mentioned in class today, you do not need to read the entire appendix in great detail. Carefully read the introductory pages, then skim the rest. Choose one or two of the critical approaches to read in depth. There is a quiz on Wednesday, but if you've read the intro and have a good working knowledge of one or two of the approaches, you'll be fine.
Critical theory, like what's discussed in Appendix A, can be extremely useful to you in your current role as a literary critic. That said, some of it is quite dense and difficult to understand. That's why I want you to look carefully at what makes most sense to you, and leave the rest for another time!
I have to admit that if you missed class today, you will probably feel a little bit behind when you start thinking about your research essay. Although today's class was probably not the most exciting class we've ever had, we did go through the essay assignment in great detail, and I answered several extremely good questions from students about how to move forward with this assignment.
That said, all is not lost! Take the first step by going to Angel and downloading the essay assignment. Read through it carefully and note any questions you have. Then--and I really, truly mean this--email me with your questions. It is so much better to clarify what you're supposed to do for the essay NOW instead of working hard on a 6-8 page essay that you will end up having to significantly revise or rewrite because you were approaching the assignment incorrectly. Please, PLEASE read it carefully and write me with any questions.
Homework Reminder
Your homework for Wednesday is to read Appendix A in Literature for Composition. As I mentioned in class today, you do not need to read the entire appendix in great detail. Carefully read the introductory pages, then skim the rest. Choose one or two of the critical approaches to read in depth. There is a quiz on Wednesday, but if you've read the intro and have a good working knowledge of one or two of the approaches, you'll be fine.
Critical theory, like what's discussed in Appendix A, can be extremely useful to you in your current role as a literary critic. That said, some of it is quite dense and difficult to understand. That's why I want you to look carefully at what makes most sense to you, and leave the rest for another time!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Peer Review
Daily Update
Today's super exciting class focused on peer review of your Essay 3 final drafts. Then you turned them in. Remember: if I don't have your essay, it's LATE.
Also, be sure to bring in the copy of your essay without your name, if you haven't already done so.
Homework Reminder
Read chapter 9 for Monday (there will be a quiz). It's a short chapter about research. Enjoy!
Also, you have until Monday to bring in your extra credit poem. (See the details from Wednesday's post if you don't know what I'm talking about.)
Today's super exciting class focused on peer review of your Essay 3 final drafts. Then you turned them in. Remember: if I don't have your essay, it's LATE.
Also, be sure to bring in the copy of your essay without your name, if you haven't already done so.
Homework Reminder
Read chapter 9 for Monday (there will be a quiz). It's a short chapter about research. Enjoy!
Also, you have until Monday to bring in your extra credit poem. (See the details from Wednesday's post if you don't know what I'm talking about.)
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Poetry, beautiful poetry!
Daily Update Today's class was a celebration of the more personal side of poetry (and art)--the side where no one is asking you to find literary devices or do deep academic analysis. I wanted to discuss how poetry can be personal and meaningful and moving and profound--something that speaks to us as individuals, as part of life, of being human.
We started out discussing the homework for today--the little snippet of a poem titled "The Golf Links." I enjoyed your analysis of the poem and your reactions to it. That's a great example of a poem that has quite a lot of meaning packed into four short, simple lines.
Following our discussion of "The Golf Links" we looked at seven pieces of art, ranging from painting to sculpture to photography, from several different "schools" of artistic thought. I'll post the pieces below if you weren't in class. We talked about our initial reactions to the art--why we liked/didn't like the pieces and why.
After our art chat, I played a short clip from the film "Invictus," where Nelson Mandela--played by Morgan Freeman in the film--reads the poem "Invictus" by British poet William Ernest Henley. This is an example of a poem that inspires or moves me--not only because of the poem itself but also because of Henley's experiences writing it and Mandela's experiences reading it. It's a remarkable poem in a lot of ways, I think.
I know this already seems like a lot to have covered in one class period, but we still had five or six minutes left to play a game called "Exquisite Corpse" in celebration of April as National Poetry Month. The poems you created as a class were quite interesting! I've also posted them below.
Homework Reminder The final draft of Essay 3 is due on Friday. Be sure to STAPLE your first draft (with my comments) to the final draft. Additionally, you also need to bring a clean second copy of your final draft with all identifying information removed. This is for a department-wide assessment of English 103 and 104. It should be the same essay, just without your name appearing anywhere on it. Bring this on Friday as well, or I will continue to harrass you about it until you do!
Also, I offered you an extra credit opportunity: for 5 points of extra credit, bring (by Monday at the latest) a copy of a poem that inspires or moves you--one that you particularly like or has a special meaning or significance to you. This should be a poem other than one we've read in class this semester. Enjoy!
Art selections from class:
Claude Monet, Water Lilies 1916
Rafaello Monti, Veiled Lady c. 1860
Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist 1950
Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 1912
Ansel Adams, The Tetons and the Snake River 1942
Edvard Munch, The Scream c. 1893
Exquisite Corpse Game--The Poems
The hot sun rose in the black sky.
The hot dog pants in the cold house.
The angry boy punch his crazy mom.
Malad tears quacking to the happy face.
~~~
The beautiful sun screams loudly in the night.
The classroom is a boring place.
A cold night, a silent night, a scary place.
The yellow bird sang on the tall tree.
~~~
A lone wolf runs with a furious pace.
The deformed duckling waddles into the dark abyss.
~~~
The happy man ran up the majestic mountain.
The cold day was windy and blowing trees.
Tepid sunlight rains beautiful bliss.
That crazy person that painted that ugly painting.
~~~
Empty duckling running to the aqueous duct.
The rude girl laughs at the crippled woman.
And there you have it! You are all poets (other than whoever wrote "The classroom is a boring place"--and yes, I really do know who it was!). See you on Friday!
We started out discussing the homework for today--the little snippet of a poem titled "The Golf Links." I enjoyed your analysis of the poem and your reactions to it. That's a great example of a poem that has quite a lot of meaning packed into four short, simple lines.
Following our discussion of "The Golf Links" we looked at seven pieces of art, ranging from painting to sculpture to photography, from several different "schools" of artistic thought. I'll post the pieces below if you weren't in class. We talked about our initial reactions to the art--why we liked/didn't like the pieces and why.
After our art chat, I played a short clip from the film "Invictus," where Nelson Mandela--played by Morgan Freeman in the film--reads the poem "Invictus" by British poet William Ernest Henley. This is an example of a poem that inspires or moves me--not only because of the poem itself but also because of Henley's experiences writing it and Mandela's experiences reading it. It's a remarkable poem in a lot of ways, I think.
I know this already seems like a lot to have covered in one class period, but we still had five or six minutes left to play a game called "Exquisite Corpse" in celebration of April as National Poetry Month. The poems you created as a class were quite interesting! I've also posted them below.
Homework Reminder The final draft of Essay 3 is due on Friday. Be sure to STAPLE your first draft (with my comments) to the final draft. Additionally, you also need to bring a clean second copy of your final draft with all identifying information removed. This is for a department-wide assessment of English 103 and 104. It should be the same essay, just without your name appearing anywhere on it. Bring this on Friday as well, or I will continue to harrass you about it until you do!
Also, I offered you an extra credit opportunity: for 5 points of extra credit, bring (by Monday at the latest) a copy of a poem that inspires or moves you--one that you particularly like or has a special meaning or significance to you. This should be a poem other than one we've read in class this semester. Enjoy!
Art selections from class:
Claude Monet, Water Lilies 1916
Rafaello Monti, Veiled Lady c. 1860
Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist 1950
Marcel Duchamp, Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2 1912
Ansel Adams, The Tetons and the Snake River 1942
Edvard Munch, The Scream c. 1893
Exquisite Corpse Game--The Poems
The hot sun rose in the black sky.
The hot dog pants in the cold house.
The angry boy punch his crazy mom.
Malad tears quacking to the happy face.
~~~
The beautiful sun screams loudly in the night.
The classroom is a boring place.
A cold night, a silent night, a scary place.
The yellow bird sang on the tall tree.
~~~
A lone wolf runs with a furious pace.
The deformed duckling waddles into the dark abyss.
~~~
The happy man ran up the majestic mountain.
The cold day was windy and blowing trees.
Tepid sunlight rains beautiful bliss.
That crazy person that painted that ugly painting.
~~~
Empty duckling running to the aqueous duct.
The rude girl laughs at the crippled woman.
And there you have it! You are all poets (other than whoever wrote "The classroom is a boring place"--and yes, I really do know who it was!). See you on Friday!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Evaluating Literature--and Homework!
Daily Update
Today in class we took a quiz on LC chapter 8 for the first 15 minutes or so of class. Following the quiz we discussed the various approaches to morality, truth, and realism that were outlined in chapter 8.
Once we'd put chapter 8 to bed, we moved on to a very brief discussion of citing poetry in MLA. If you missed this, you should find a way to look up how to do this. Email me if you get totally lost, or we can talk on Wednesday.
Finally, I handed back your essay drafts. If you have questions about your draft, please, PLEASE email me! I would be more than happy to clarify any of my comments or suggestions.
Homework Reminder
Check Angel for your homework. It shouldn't take you very long, but we'll spend time discussing your work in class on Wednesday. See you then!
Today in class we took a quiz on LC chapter 8 for the first 15 minutes or so of class. Following the quiz we discussed the various approaches to morality, truth, and realism that were outlined in chapter 8.
Once we'd put chapter 8 to bed, we moved on to a very brief discussion of citing poetry in MLA. If you missed this, you should find a way to look up how to do this. Email me if you get totally lost, or we can talk on Wednesday.
Finally, I handed back your essay drafts. If you have questions about your draft, please, PLEASE email me! I would be more than happy to clarify any of my comments or suggestions.
Homework Reminder
Check Angel for your homework. It shouldn't take you very long, but we'll spend time discussing your work in class on Wednesday. See you then!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Peer Review
Daily Update Today's class was dedicated to peer review. I would really like to know whether you find this process helpful, both as a reader and a writer. Please email me with any feedback on this process!
Homework Reminder If you haven't turned in your draft of Essay 3 to me, it's now late! For Monday, read LC chapter 8. Carefully read pages 267-271. Then, choose one of the poems from the chapter and one of the short stories and read each of those very carefully. You will have a quiz on Monday, which will cover both the first pages of the chapter and the poem/story of your chosing. Read up! See you on Monday.
Homework Reminder If you haven't turned in your draft of Essay 3 to me, it's now late! For Monday, read LC chapter 8. Carefully read pages 267-271. Then, choose one of the poems from the chapter and one of the short stories and read each of those very carefully. You will have a quiz on Monday, which will cover both the first pages of the chapter and the poem/story of your chosing. Read up! See you on Monday.
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