Rhetoric and Composition, Monday, February 28th & Wednesday. March 2nd

For Wednesday's class, be sure to read all given materials. Also, be sure you have spent time with the issues outlined on previous posts of the blog (Pakistan and Egypt). 

WRITE: Formal Essay #3:

Synthesis of the Reluctant Fundamentalist

This paper will be at least three pages long. Please do not just stop cold when you hit three pages, I have witnessed with this class a tendency to rush to an ending after you hit the required length.

Each family will work on the same topic (five possible topics in all). I am assigning it this way so that you may use your families for guidance and help. Topics will be assigned during class today. You will be given the last few minutes of class to brainstorm and discuss your topic with your family before heading off to write. Also, each family should be able to provide some interesting oral insights for each topic when we discuss them.

Use outside resources (consider looking at those that have been posted to the blog) to assist you in crafting your answer. Check out websites. Do a Google search. Read the interviews. Listen to the audio and podcasts. Attribute and cite these resources. Integration, relevance and attribution of sources will be graded. Use Hacker to guide your creation of an APA or MLA works cited page (Don't worry about perfection in this area, yet, we will go over this next month).

The Latest on Lahore

Rhetoric and Composition, Wednesday, February 24, 2011

Before tackling your assignments for this weekend, please spend some time on the PBS companion site for this issue. Click the post for the link. Look at the timeline, watch some of the supporting media. Read the words of journalists, activists and politicians. Now I know I have no way of policing this, but I would like you to spend some significant time educating yourself on this resonating, history-making moment. Read and watch what interests you. Challenge yourself to become well-versed in this complicated, but important issue. Impress your friends with your knowledge of current events and world issues. Maybe...now I know I'm getting altruistic here....maybe even get involved. Information from the video and website will and should be incorporated into subsequent work with Reluctant Fundamentalist.

Rhetoric and Composition, Monday, February 20, 2011

Stockton says, "To heck with Presidents...we don't care how many vampires you killed, Abe,  we got schoolin' to do!"

Today we start class with some fam time. Get in your families and review your last two journals to refresh your memories on them. Then one or two people from each fam should volunteer to read to the fam. Discuss the core questions of the topics at hand to warm-up for class-wide discussions.

As our discussions move to Changez, I am hoping you noticed the creepy comparisons of art imitating life or vice versea in Pakistan over the past few weeks. If the name Raymond Davis means nothing to you now, please rectify that. Is he the real life version of the nameless American within the novel?

Rhetoric & Composition, Weekend of February 17, 2011

READ: Clarity section of Hacker / RF should be completed by Wednesday, February 23.

WRITE: edit of formal essay #1

Don't Be Confused...

Costal's Rhetoric and Composition will meet this afternoon, Monday, February 14, 2011, as planned.

Rhetoric and Composition, Monday, February 14, 2011

Happy Valentine's Day! Thank you for your patience. The Costal twins are getting better each day.

God willing...I will be in class on Wednesday...a big, public thank you to my friend, mentor and family advocate, the great Pam Cross on the assist, don't get too used to the love or the "Pam Cross Experience."





CLASS:

View video on Swat Valley in Pakistan.

Now...

I have graded formal essay one and will have it returned to you by Wednesday. The GOOD NEWS is that many of them contained great, concrete supporting details. Nice work! There were some very vivid submissions that SHOWED and never TOLD.

BAD NEWS: One consistent issue I have noticed concerns sentence structure. Many of you are writing multi-clausal sentences that are either run-ons or fragments. Many of them are also improperly punctuated and contained definite errors in parallelism. On Wednesday, as we catch up on...well, EVERYTHING...we'll dive into Hacker and take a look at some common problems. In the meantime, I would like you to use class time to do a little editing activity on your Skube papers that may help you address some of your more awkwardly constructed sentences.

So...

1. Get into families and pair up with the family member you did NOT work with last time. 

2. Sit beside your partner, not face-to-face.

3. One partner is the writer first and one is the proofreader first.

4. The writer has a pen for correcting. The proofreader does not.

5. The writer places the paper where both partners can clearly see it and reads aloud, beginning with the last sentence in the paper, continuing with the next to the last, and so on through the paper. The proofreader watches the paper intently and listens carefully to exactly what the writer reads, noting differences between the spoken and written words. Back to front reading prevents the writer and proofreader from getting caught up in the voice or narrative of the text, making it easier to concentrate on recognizing sentence errors. This method of reading also makes it easier to find sentence fragments, which are frequently phrases or clauses that should be attached to the previous sentence.

6. While reading, the writer makes any noticeable corrections. If the proofreader notes a discrepancy between what is being read and what appears on the paper, one that the writer fails to note, the proofreader MUST interrupt the writer in order to point out the discrepancy.
7. The writer must make the final decision on all proposed changes.

8. This process continues until the paper is completely proofread. Then, the partners reverse roles and repeat the process.

Professor Cross will begin this process with you in class. Feel free to utilize the classroom space after she dismisses you at 4:30pm. There is a class in our classroom at 6pm.

READ:

1. RF should be read through Chapter 7.

WRITE:

1. React as Journal # 3 for homework. First discuss your general feelings about the piece, then discuss the ways in which it relates to the reading.

2. Three, count 'em, three revisions of Skube should be in class Wednesday, ready for submission.

Class Canceled Monday, February 7, 2011

Stay Tuned to the blog for assignment announcements.

You see? Not Just Me...

Rhetoric and Composition: February 2, 2011

CLASS: Answer each question in approximately 3 - 6 sentences.  

1. How fast should one drive in a third world country? What side of the road do people drive in a third world country?

2. When should you honk the horn while driving in a third world country? What should you do about animals blocking the road?

3. What is the tone of the piece? In other words, how does the author make his point? What device(s) does he use?

4. Assuming the title is sarcastic, what is the author's real point of writing the piece?

READ: Peruse hacker's "Glossary of Usage" which begins on page 565

READ & WRITE

Read Michael Skube article...grab it here!

Formal Writing #2: Michael Skube provides his e-mail on the bottom of his scathing rebuke of today's college student. Write a letter to him either agreeing or disagreeing with his thesis. Either way, make sure you back up your claim with specific examples from either your own life, observations you have made or statistics you have researched. Do not spend too much time worrying about how you "cite" your source(s) (this will come later), but please "attribute" it/them. The best response will be e-mailed to Skube himself! Zoinks!

Happy Groundhog's Day