Some end of semester zen

Here. 

R&C: Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Please bring your paper to class on Wednesday, as we will continue to workshop and discuss it!

Julian Assange: The Web can create revolutions — or jail revolutionaries

Julian Assange: The Web can create revolutions — or jail revolutionaries

News on BP

Rhet & Comp, Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Assignments: Write final, formal draft of Essay #4. Use discussion and class activities to lead your revision efforts.

Log on to the Stockton database and take a closer look at the videos for Academic Search Complete and Lexis Nexis.

Now...watch the attached documentary. The politics and social movement is one thing, and I, for one, think it's pretty freaking cool, but....please respond to it as Journal # 10 from the perspective of what this documentary says about our class' work about credibility, sources, academic reading and strong research.

This free, youtube version (hell yea!) has a mini-doc before the actual movie starts, please skip it, by scrubbing up to 9:12 on the video.

It's Been a Rough Few Weeks...

Here's a Moment of Zen

Hurricane Sandy announcement for Costal's students

I have mentioned this in a few different places, but since I know it takes a few times, I will say it again.

If you have any hardships resulting from the recent extreme weather that impede participation in any of my courses, please reach out to me as soon as possible via e-mail. Just e-mail me, and I will give you my cell if you want to talk.

Hang in and hope all is well.

R & C, Wednesday, November 6, 2012 - NOW CANCELED FOR 6PM

Dear 6pm Class: Miss you guys! Haven't seen you in so long. But sitting here in K wing with Nicole and Nick and Mark...and the conditions are getting worse and worse. Can't risk your safety. Need to cancel class for tonight. Be safe. Go home. 

Below please find an assignment that we would've spent time discussing. Do the best you can with it. Please use this weekend to get some of it done as time will be of the essence when we get back on track. But if you get confused...I understand...just do your best and we'll discuss it Monday. 

I hope you are well. Campus was a ghost town today, and several of my other students have not been back on campus since Sandy. If you have been affected by the storm in a meaningful way, please reach out to me, so I know. 

--Costal

The tenets of Evaluating Quality are outlined below. .

EVALUATING QUALITY:
1.  Are opinions adequately supported? Choose at least one opinion from the text and show how the author supports it. 

2.  Are facts verifiable? Provide a stated fact from the article and explain how (if at all) the author verifies the fact. 

3. Is the material out-dated or timely? Provide example(s).

4. Is the author credible? Why? How does she prove it?

5. Are sources cited? If so, which ones and how?

6. Is the reasoning logical? Is the text free of fallacies and obvious propaganda?

Choose one of the two attached articles. Read them. Annotate and hold them up to the tenets of EQ as discussed in class. Put some time and thought into applying the concepts. Be prepared to discuss these concepts in class on Monday.

Then as Formal Essay #4, write a rebuttal or agreement to the concepts (or one concept) discussed in the article. Be sure to consider the EQ ideas when either attacking or reinforcing the your point. Be sure to develop your own thesis based on either agreement or disagreement with the author. Be sure to incorporate at least one other source into your writing. Cite and attribute that source.

The first article is an interesting indictment of the American male's diet of football.
Read it here.

The second is an article from The Guardian about teens and their technology.

R & C, Monday, Wednesday & Monday: October 24 - November 5th

Well gang, needless to say, it has been an eventful week for us all. I hope this message finds everyone well -- healthy and coping. With the college closed most of last week and the barrier islands in disarray, we need to regroup.

However, there will be no class on Monday, November 5th. 

Despite this, there are some things we will need to catch up on. The following journals should be completed before our next class together on Wednesday, November 7th. 

First, check out this news from NPR: Take that Michael Skube!

New York Times blogger Constance Hale writes an interesting defense of verbage. Read and write Journal #7 about verbs. Respond to the piece thematically, maybe find some Google-searched verbs of your own. If at a loss, talk about the power of verbs in your young lives. I think we, as a society, do not generally put enough into the power and plausibility of verbs, then again, maybe I'm a dork. 

Read This I Believe essays on pages 38 & 59. Choose one and analyze on the all three levels of academic reading. This writing assignment should be Journal #8. 

R & C, Monday, October 21, 2012

Hacker Family Mini Lesson: The following assignment was created to address specific grammatical deficiencies that have re-occurred throughout the essays. Each family will be assigned an issue. Using Hacker, the family will research and learn the rules regarding the issue. Then, the family will teach the issue to the class. Summarize your findings into an easy to remember one line quip that we will then add to Costal's Quays to Writing (oh, and they will do it all in less than five minutes, with approximately 15 minutes of prep time). Once you get your issue, get to work! We will pick issues through CIRCLE OF DEATH!

1. comma splice
2. misplaced modifier
3. parallel constructions in sentences
4. differences among who vs. that & that vs. which
5. second person / or person shifts / or perspective shifts

Assignment: 

A story out of comic con got my attention this past week and seems to be an excellent escalation of our conversation (a little ditty about Jack and Diane...two kids growing up under the watchful eye of sexual harassment laws).

In order to take the story in with the best background, first check out this website by freelance costume and fashion designer Mandy Caruso (pictured).  Check out her work, her interests, and click the "yours truly" tag button (here if you are blog illiterate). Yes, her looks do matter to this argument.

So she dresses up salaciously (as so many young women do) and attended Comic Con as The Black Cat. And she was harassed. Not by a single, smarmy individual, but by a media outlet (that she will not identify or implicate.)

Read her account here.

Read support for her position from Jezebel, Mary Sue and the Daily Dot.  While you're at it, here's an interesting article (that leads down a rabbit hole of other resources) about harassment at comic and fantasy conventions in general. I have never been to one of these things...though I was a huge comic dork in middle school (I know...shocker!) Apparently there is a phenomenon known as booth babes? 

There is one very interesting article that opposed Mandy's reaction. 

Your job, for Journal #7 is to analyze the arguments and weigh in for yourself. Be prepared to discuss on Wednesday.

R&C Monday, Oct. 15

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please keep in mind that class is cancelled this coming WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 17th. 

Class: 

1. Essay #2 discussion: Intros, "I think" & specific evidence

2. Support Lecture/Activity

Peer Editing of Essay Three:

1. Select a partner from family. If you paired up last time, choose a new partner.

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 text, making it easier to concentrate on recognizing 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. For other errors noticed on the paper, but not the oration, namely punctuation and spelling errors, the proofreader should wait until the writer has finished reading the sentence in question.

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 on the second paper.

Works Cited:
Winters, Gerry. How to do Proofreading.
Online. Available

ASSIGNMENTS:

Optional Revision of Essay #2 & Mandatory Revision of Essay #3 (all previous drafts MUST be attached...and please, FASTEN with something)

R&C Wednesday, October 3, 2012

CLASS: 
1. Reaction vs. Analysis in Rhetoric
2. Review online NPR essay
3. Two essays from book reviewed: Returning to What's Natural p 23 & The Deeper Well of Memory p56
4. Reading

R & C, Monday, October 1st

It's October...don't bite off more than you can chew!

Revise: Essay #1

Read: Hacker: Sentence Structure: pgs. 381 - 398

Class Cancellation Notice

Sorry, gang....I overdid it...hurting again. Rhet & Comp is canceled, today, Wednesday, September 26th at 330 and 6pm. Check the blog in the coming days for weekend assignment. Thank you.

R & C, Monday, September 24, 2012

CLASS: Discuss assignments, new assignments, Costal's Keys, Orwell, Reading

READ: Hacker section on Commas (Chapter 32, p.292 )

R & C, September 17, 2012

READ: This I Believe introduction chapter and the essay that begins on page 233.

LISTEN: and read along to the "This I Believe" Essay posted here. Then write Journal #3 on it. How does it evince the tenets of good writing discussed in class? What most affected you about it?

In further preparation for the Anita Hill presentation, please view the two videos found on the this site: "We Still Believe Anita Hill" & "Sex and Justice."

Remember to check the blog Wednesday night for your weekend assignment. Enjoy the lecture!

R & C, Wednesday, September 12, 2012

http://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/122/hill/hillframe.htm





Blown Away by: sexual pushes by now VP Biden, the audacity of the questions & the respect of Judge Thomas on rebuttal...and of course, the final decision

ASSIGNMENT: 

READ: Essay by Constance Buchanan "Woman and Crisis of American Values" 

Glossary of Usage on pg 653 in new edition. Also please review grammar basics on pg 367.

WRITE: Journal #1 & Journal #2: For the first journal, choose one core issue presented by Buchanan's essay (notes are included....should help guide you toward the core values of the piece). Describe your opinion about the validity of the her argument. Whether you agree or disagree, please base your argument on specific textual reference provided within the context of the essay. Though it is not necessary, if you are feeling saucy, go ahead and include another source. Please cite that source.

For the second journal, react to the fact that Judge Thomas was confirmed to serve a life-long position on the highest court in the land...immediately after this testimony. Would YOU have voted for or against Judge Thomas? Why? Moreover, do you think that if this hearing had occurred today, Judge Thomas would have been confirmed? Why or why not? What's different? What's the same?

Anita Hill...information and extra credit opportunity

"Dear Colleagues:   I’m writing to remind you that our first Constitution Day event, a screening and discussion of the documentary film, Sex and Justice, about the 1991 Anita Hill-Clarence Thomas hearings before the United States Senate, will take place on Friday, September, 14th, at 2:00 p.m. in the Campus Center Theatre.  The event is open to everyone and no tickets are required.   If you or your students are attending Professor Hill’s keynote address next week, the film will provide an excellent overview of the hearings."

I will be providing course credit (extra, not mandatory) for anyone who attends this event. 

What NOT to do...

EOF -- The End!

Anyone who believes they have completely finished revising Essay #3 should show a copy to EdWay. If it agrees that you have revised to a satisfactory degree, it will give you back Essay #4 in case you would like to begin revising it.

Essay #3 Revisions are due tomorrow in class.

In class, tomorrow we will discuss essays #4 & 5.

Due on a rolling basis anytime this week, and by Wednesday: Your four journals, typed and presented in your best hand. Special consideration will be given to those who hand in this assignment earlier as opposed to later.

Wednesday: We will send Essay #3 to contest.
We will collect final assignments. We will have a final family show-down if time.
We will say good-bye! You will miss me. I am delightful. I will miss you. You are delightful...as hell!

Stockton Freshmen Essay Contest as Posted by Prof Lenard

ESSAY CONTEST

“This I Believe”

Write your own “”This I Believe” essay.  Read the Freshman Common Reading for this year (This I Believe) and write your own “This I Believe” essay, following the format on pages 247-48. But instead of sending it to the This I Believe project website, send it to Georgeann.lenard@stockton.edu no later than 14 August 2012.

EOF Class #12, July 19, 2012

Module: Testy Poo

Assignment: Essay #5: Find an article...from anywhere...credible, or not, that takes the opposite opinion of an issue you are passionate about. And write a well-researched, well-organized rebuttal of three or four pages. Use my essay as a model if you need help (with, well, less sarcasm). I want one of your sources to be scholarly. Be sure you are following all of the tenets of good writing discussed in our course. Be sure to have an interesting, divisive opening, an implicit but clear thesis, good paragraph development, a good mix of direct quotations and summation, concrete examples and sound mechanics and grammar. Due Monday.

EOF Class #11, July 18, 2012

Class: Finish text quality activity (20)
Rhetoric lecture and activity (20)
This I Believe discussion... 38 & 88 (20)
Finish Research lecture

Module: The last family read & discuss....proctored by EdWay. The essays: 41, 47, 82, 227 & 230 

Stockton Writing Institute Goals Report

Hi everyone! Sorry I could not make it to our session...I am the only one available to take my son Finn to his weekly appointment today. My wife and I have four kids, so the appointment schedule is pretty ridiculous. Actually, EVERYTHING about life with four kids is pretty ridiculous.

Here's living proof of my gaggle. Finn's the one on my head. I always keep one on my head, cause, you know, I only have two hands. Duh.

Back to class...I hope everyone did their homework. I know I would NEVER be caught without my homework, right Professor DiGiorgio?

So here's a quick summation of how I fulfilled (or almost fulfilled) my goals. Please click on the links where applicable for examples of my findings or my work.

W.I. Goal #1: I will update my start-of-term, student learning assessments by switching to a more comprehensive, digital model. 

I did some research on ready-made digital learning inventories that would help me (and you?) start the year with some good information about my students' learning capacities.

For EOF this summer, I used a test from "The Personality Lab" (click on the link and check it out). It has lots of cool quizzes worth looking at. I used the "Which Hogwarts House are You" (I couldn't resist). The experience was "just ok." It was easier for me to distribute because all I had to do was drop a link on my blog and the students filled out the survey. The results were tallied, and most of personality lab's results can get e-mailed right to you. Definitely saves trees and class time. However, I thought the results were a bit too narrow for my needs.

In the Fall, I plan to try "The Big Five Personality Traits" (thank you, Sara) to see if that fits my needs any better.  

W.I. Goal #2: I will research ways to enhance my smaller written assignments through the use of social media by creating an exclusive Twitter account for my Stockton courses, designing and implementing a FB group for discussions and researching other social media methods for complementing my blog.

Ok, so I started with Twitter. I went to all the trouble of creating an AVATAR account (a fake identity to use the networking site for a specific purpose) so my students could "follow" me without actually "following" ME. I even found an Osprey dripping with awesome to use as a persona. See?

But then I quickly realized that I didn't need all that jazz. I got my students to communicate reactions and analysis via twitter feeds by using a common hash tag for each assignment. (i.e. #eofco) This made it super easy for me to check and grade. It also made it super easy for them because they didn't need to follow me or each other. And they didn't need to direct their comments at anyone in particular. They just attach the given hashtag to their comment and BOOM! Twitter class discussion time! 

I didn't need a separate account. I didn't need to get the kids to follow me. It was easy and effective. I pasted a screen shot below of one such assignment (just in case you guys don't want to bother logging into Twitter). If you'd like to check the feeds out live (one assignment was due today!) Feel free to log on to Twitter and search the following hashtags: #EOFCo or #EOFCo2...and go ahead...leave a post. It's fun for everyone.

W.I Goal #3: I want to find an application and learn how to more effectively use voice recordings as not only a feedback tool, but also for presentation purposes (i.e. record sound and post podcast supplements to my blog).

Ok, so I did not master podcasting this summer, BUT in the pursuit of podcasting, I realized that my blogging software (Shhhh! We're using it right now, but I'm gonna talk garbage about it, and I don't want it to turn all HAL 9000 on me, "I can't let you disconnect me, Joe.") is not equipped to handle the upload of audio files. Before I can integrate podcasting onto my blog, I need to change blogs. So...I set my sights on the much more capable, but much more complicated WordPress software.

My wife has wanted to start a blog about autism (our son Finn is on the spectrum), so I talked her into using WordPress instead of Blogger (it's just better...graphically, functionally, etc). Over the past week, we have been teaching ourselves WordPress (and it's haaaaaahrd, wicked haaaahrd as Marky Mark or Wade Boggs might say). The hope is, once I master designing my wife's blog, I'll move this blog to WordPress (Shhh). Then my Stockton courses will be podcast-ready. Word.

Feel free to check out my wife's blog, our maiden voyage into WordPress, here.

Thanks for your time, everyone. Happy Summer. Sorry I missed all your great work!

EOF Class #10: July 17, 2012

Class: Questions on writing/assignments & modules
Finish Reading Notes & Activity (for real this time) (1h)
Rhetoric Intro and Discussion (20)
"This I Believe..." Readings

Module Assignment: For each element, please place a smiley face : ) or an unhappy face : ( ...depending on the quality (or even the existence) of each element.

1. Has the writer created a divisive introduction? Is it effective? If not, how can the writer change it?

2. Is there a discernible thesis? Is it implicit or explicit? Either way, is it effective?
3. Does the paper contain credible research? Are sources CITED and ATTRIBUTED? Is the works cited page in proper format?
4. Does the paper CONNECT the research to the thesis? In order words, does the paper not only provide EVIDENCE from research, but also use that research to SUPPORT the thesis?
5. Check mechanics by doing a backwards peer edit of sentences.

Assignments:

1. Reading Notes Test in module on Thursday, July 19th

2. Essay #2 & Essay #4 rewrites due by class on Thursday

3. Twitter comments due by class tomorrow

EOF Class #09: July 16, 2012: Module Assignments

Class: Discussion of Essay #2 (5)
Discussion on Skube and paper, module assignment (15)
Finish Active Reading -- Evaluate for Quality (Test on Wednesday during module) (60)
This I Believe...pgs 26 & 38

EOF Class #7, July 11, 2012: Class Resources, Boolean Search Presentation

Research! Research! Research!

Cornell Method

Guess the Google

Module: Hmmm....what's that smell? Can you smell what Costal is cooking? Oooooo that smell! Can you smell that smell?!

EOF Class #6, July 10, 2012: Assignments

Class Plan:

1. Talk Intros

2. Talk theses

3. Finish Reading Discussion & Lecture

4. "This I Believe" p. 23, 59 & 224

Module Assignment: I will be present. Each family will read one of the "This I Believe" essays, collaborate on the questions below and then present their analysis to the group.

Here are the five stories, one for each family:

page 76, 112, 115, 131 & 200

EOF Class #4, July 5th, 2012, Quiz

The Quiz: To be completed on your own, quietly. On a piece of  notebook paper. Answers should be brief (a few sentences), but in complete sentences. Handed in to EdWay when done.

1. Explain the difference between connotation and denotation.

2. Explain the difference between explicit and implicit.

3. Provide the four Costal's Quays to Writing.

4. Provide a simile, then extend it into a metaphor.

5. Explain "expand the moment."

6. What's an anecdote?

7. Provide a cliche.

8. "If you build it, he will come." What is it and who is he?

EOF Class #4, July 5, 2012, Assignments

MODULE:

Then  you will take a quiz on notes/reading : )

Begin working on other assignments with whatever time remains.
Assignments: 


WRITE: For this weekend, you will write Formal Essay #2: The Position Paper. Below are three articles involving social media/technology and teens: one from The Guardian and two from The New York Times. Both of the latter are by journalist and author Peggy Orenstein, who makes two separate, but thematically similar arguments about two of our beloved, time-consuming, media-age past-times: Facebook and Twitter. 

Read all three articles, linked below. Then, brainstorm the points and attempt to SYNTHESIZE them. In other words, establish a common ground. Try recording the over-arching points about media and your generation. I see this as a crucial 1st step for writing the paper because you must be able to totally understand these articles in order to write the paper.

The Guardian article

New York Times article 1

New York Times Magazine article 2

EOF Class #3, July 3, 2012: Assignments

Tuesday Module: Welcome to your families! Eddie and Wayne will introduce you to your new families. Your first order of business as a family:

1. Create a family name. The family with the best name will be awared 10 points extra credit on their next quiz! Be prepared to present and explain the name to me at Thursday's class.

2. EdWay (Yep that's wht I decided to call them to save time, like one, two-headed monster!) will return your grammar assessments. Collaborate on the answers now, and change them accordingly. After, EdWay will review the correct ones.

3. EdWay will re-distribute the Usage Quizzes (and a blank one). You may use Hacker and the collective ability of your family. You will re-submit ONE paper with every family member's name on it.

Wednesday Module: You are working through the holidays...it sucks, but WELCOME TO ADULTHOOD!! Here's something festive:



And then for something completely different...clear your mind by listening to this symphony:



EdWay will give you guys a peer editing sheet to follow. Pair off with someone in your family. Be sure to follow ALL directions.

Any left-over time can be spent completely your assignments. All assignments must be completed for class on Thursday.

OTHER ASSIGNMENTS: 


READ: Hacker section on Commas (Chapter 32, p.292 )

WRITE: Re-write of Formal Essay #1 due to me in class on Tuesday. There MUST be a total of three drafts and the editor's marks 

READ/WRITE: 1. New York Times blogger Constance Hale writes an interesting defense of verbage. Read and write Journal #3 about verbs. Respond to the piece thematically, maybe find some Google-searched verbs of your own. If at a lose, talk about the power of verbs in your young lives. I think we, as a society, do not generally put enough into the power and plausibility of verbs, then again, maybe I'm a dork. 


2. Another New York Times blog post which discusses the phenomenon of busyness.  Read and write a response. Be sure your response both reacts and analyzes as discussed in class. This is Journal #4.  

A little inspiration from great writers, to you, future great writers...on the home stretch

http://uwbwritingcenter.wordpress.com/writers-on-writing/

EOF Class #2, June 28, 2012: Assignments

Please come to Monday's class with a hard copy of Essay #1

READ: Usage section of Hacker (p. 653)

This I Believe introduction chapter and the essay that begins on page 233.

WRITE: Journal #1: Reaction to "A Duty to Family, Heritage and Country," for this journal, I would like you to react to the essay. What most affected you about it? How did you relate to it? In what ways did it challenge (or possibly reinforce?) your own core values and beliefs?

EOF Class #2: Class Resources, June 28, 2012

To begin class today, pair up! You cannot chose someone whom you are friendly with. The tutors will double check if you fib! Exchange questionnaires. Circle six things from your partner's questionnaire that you find most interesting. Then, come together and discuss the things you chose. From the list, you will choose three things to present to the class about your partner.

1. Introduce yourself and your partner, as well as his/her hometown

2. Describe the three things you found most interesting about your partner's questionnaire. Share it with the class.

EOF Class #1, Class Resources, June 27, 2012

http://thisibelieve.org/essay/13/

Click on "Get Sorted Now"

The sorting hat says that I belong in Ravenclaw!

< Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose intelligence is surest."

Welcome to EOF 2012...now let's get it started!

Here are some afternoon tutoring module rules to live by:

Rule #1:



2. Arrive on time. I will check each day. No excuses. Be there.

3. Each day I will dictate what I want accomplished during the tutoring module, and the assignments will appear on this blog. The tutors will help you achieve the goals I've set. Be cooperative, so the tutors can stay in the role of “tutor” and not have to get ugly.

this is how Eddie does it...

4. The tutoring module IS NOT high school study hall. We all know that study halls were for snoozing, flirting or worse! At Stockton, the tutoring modules will be a time for intense reading and studying, quiz taking, computer work, or writing. Flirt, sleep or flirt with sleep on your own time.

5. A computer lab will be available during most module days. This will be shared with Professors Cross' and Jackson's classes. Use it if you need it and be courteous to the needs of others. NO FOOD OR DRINK ALLOWED IN THESE LABS. 

6. NO chit chat, iPods, iPads, cell phones, video game systems, sleeping, letter writing, personal reading, e-mail checking or web browsing. Math homework can be done through permission from the tutors only. No bathroom breaks. No bladder control? Try to plan ahead. No kidding. Remember:



7. YES, get a jump on the day's assignment (so you can have more time to flirt, sleep or chit chat in the evening). YES, ask the tutors for help with difficult readings or a tricky essay assignment. YES, form study groups if test time is approaching. YES, help each other out; look out for fellow classmates who may need your help. YES, make me proud, so I can spread the word to the EOF senior staff that you deserve pats on the back.

Run Away!

Psycho Killer....fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better

In fiction, a McGuffin is a plot device in the form of some pursued goal, desired object or other motivator that the protagonist is willing to do or sacrafice anything to pursue. Often, there is little or no narrative explanation as to why the object is desirable. In CITIZEN KANE, "rosebud" is a McGuffin. In PULP FICTION, the briefcase.

One of My Students Made a Cool Video for Financial Aid

Help from the Writing Center

As you start to write the first draft of your paper, be mindful of the proper ways to use and acknowledge sources. Here at Stockton, the Office of the Provost puts out a brochure entitled, “Academic Honesty at Stockton.” The information contained in the brochure is intended to alert students to the seriousness of plagiarism, and most important, help them steer clear of the charge in the first place.

Research Paper Rubric

Here’s how the research paper points add up:

Are American Students Lazy? | Inside Higher Ed

Are American Students Lazy? | Inside Higher Ed

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/college-inc/2010/07/grade_inflation_is_making_stud.html

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/08/22/why-are-college-students-studying-less/we-are-not-lazy

Documentation Examples

Tracy Jones

ENG-4GN-01

16 January 2006

The Many Facets of Taboo

Monday, April 9, 2012: CLASS CANCELED: Please Review the Following Concepts for Class on Wednesday

As the semester's close sneaks up on us, there will be two more papers for our class: literary analysis and final research paper.

The literary analysis paper will be due on WEDNESDAY, APRIL  18th (four to six pages). The final paper will be due on the last day of class....but more on that to come.

For the lit analysis paper, you will couple one of the lessons provided by Henry David Thoreau with a modern problem that evinces the need for a little Transcendentalist philosophy. In other words, your paper will couple direct quotations from Thoreau himself with a little research into modern issues to answer the following question: What truth of modern living in 2012 would most disturb Thoreau? WWTD, to put it another way.

Class canceled today, Monday, April 9th

assignment for Wednesday forthcoming.

Monday, April 2, 2012: Story of Stuff Journal #6

Reaction to this short doc, our "personal worth" discussion in class and your reading of Economy in Walden should be employed to create Journal #6

State Legislator who wrote "Stand Yr Ground"

Trayvon Martin Shooter 'Couldn't Stop Crying' After Shooting - ABC News

Trayvon Martin Shooter 'Couldn't Stop Crying' After Shooting - ABC News

More of another view.

Trayvon Martin: Call to Action Paper: Formal Essay #5

Familiarize yourself with the Trayvon Martin case from Florida by reading the main article on the NY Times topics page, and then poking around huge selection of other resources available through that page.

George Zimmerman, the "volunteer neighborhood watch"man was not charged with a crime. Many of Florida's The frankly disturbing and vulgarity-strewn (you are not required to list to these, and should not if you feel they may upset you) 911 calls, one during which you can actually here the gun going off, accompany an article about Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law which is the most troubling culprit that gave Zimmerman the ability to shoot down a well-liked, unarmed black teenager without any repercussions (yet).

As Trayvon's parents cry out for the federal government to step in to investigate since they feel that they "cannot trust" the State of Florida, the President has made official comment (below):



As you may have read, the hooded sweatshirt, staple clothing of teen-aged America has also come under fire in the wake of this tragedy:





In my view, there are three particular views to take when considering the intricacies of this:

1. Race: Trayvon Martin was a young black man in a gated white neighborhood. He was killed because he wore a hoodie and went to buy Skittles and iced tea while visiting a friend. And it's not considered a crime in the State of Florida. Here's some writers who speak to this:

A particularly affecting commentary. 

Another. From NPR.

2. Gun Laws: Florida has some of the nation's most controversial gun laws on the books, as seen in the above article...yet, the rest of the country seems to be moving closer to Florida's style of gun legislation, rather than against it.

 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Looking for a more conservative view? The NRA spoke to the Miami Herald in an article I posted on the blog below this.

3. Legality. This issue will most likely lead to the US federal government stepping in and taking precedence away from state law...while it will not be the most media-exposed of all the issues stemming from this poor young man's death, it will be an interesting and lasting one. This link..., the AP takes us in for a more local look at this issue. Meanwhile, USA Today looks at the possibility that the US will push for "hate crime" status for this crime which would ELEVATE a crime against George Zimmerman, a man who, according to the State of Florida, committed a crime.

Your assignment: Use this tragic event as a catalyst to discuss one of the more controversial issues that surround it. Craft a well-researched and well-written reaction to the death of Trayvon Martin that focuses specifically on one of the three issues above. Consider this to be an Opinion piece you are writing for a local newspaper. Be sure to hone in on a well-developed thesis that evinces your main argument. Remember, simply pointing out your take on Martin's murder is NOT ENOUGH. You must speak specifically to a call to action that deals with race, gun laws, or federal vs state jurisdiction.

You may take ANY side on this issue.

Minimum of three pages, due Monday, April 1st (no fooling)

NRA ready to stand its ground over Stand Your Ground - Marc Caputo - MiamiHerald.com

NRA ready to stand its ground over Stand Your Ground - Marc Caputo - MiamiHerald.com

This American Life Retraction

Please listen to the episode for Wednesday and write Journal # 6 as a reaction to the episode.

http://costalap.blogspot.com/2012/03/this-american-life-retraction-journals.html

Class on Monday meeting in D004 for midterm....Yay!

Assignments for class - Spring Break Edition

In class we discussed Quality Evaluation of text. You posed the questions (revisited below) to other arguments. Now, you will pose them to each other's.

Edit your partner's Skube letter based on providing answers to the following questions:

Are opinions adequately supported? Choose one opinion and explain how the author supports it. Does this make the opinion valid? Please an IV on the paper next to any of the author's opinions that you believe should be better valid?



Are facts verifiable? Give one example of a fact in the article and explain how its verified. If the paper is devoid of fact, say so, and point out where and how facts would serve to support the argument. 


Is material out dated? Remember that "out dated" also speaks to relevance. Is the argument relevant, if so point out an example of how or how not.


Is the author credible? How do you know? While you guys are exempt from EXPLICIT credibility, no one is exempt from IMPLICIT credibility.


Are sources cited? If so, what are they? Make sure your author both CITES and ATTRIBUTES his/her arguements.


Is the reasoning logical? Can you catch your author in a fallacious argument. if so....EXPOSE that bad boy!

Please also help your partner by editing the paper for grammer and mechanics.

Otherwise, please study up, your midterm is Monday. Watch the blog, because I will post the Computer Lab # when I receive it.


ENJOY SPRING (KINDA) BREAK!

The Falcon Film Files: The Falcon's Guide to Best Picture / Best Director for the 84th Academy Awards

The Falcon Film Files: The Falcon's Guide to Best Picture / Best Director for the 84th Academy Awards

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

1. Make sure you have done a close, annotation-driven reading of ECONOMY. Be sure you are ready to discuss the piece at length. You will be graded for your ability to contribute to any assignments and activities.
2. Edit of Essay #2

3. Journal #5:

Chose a day this weekend. Every half-hour you are awake, write one to two sentences explaining what you did that half-hour. Before you go to bed, reflect on your day. How was it spent? Looking back, what time are you most proud of? What time do you regret spending? If you could have one half hour back, what would you do differently? Reflect on these concepts based on what you have learned from Walden.  

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2012

Class is canceled today. Keep reading. Bring rewrites to Wednesday's class.

Wednesday, February 1st

WRITE: Essay 1 revision due

READ: Begin reading INTRODUCTION & ECONOMY sections of Walden. Due date forthcoming.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Sorry for the late post. The only thing due in class on Wednesday is the revision of Essay 2.

The Falcon Film Files#links

The Falcon Film Files#links

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

I did not collect Essay #1. I will collect it at class on Wednesday.

WRITE: Reaction to today's presentation. What do you make of it? Focus your essay on the future. Do you see a viable way of addressing this problem? Whom do you blame, and what can be done? End the essay by focusing on yourself. Will this motivate you to change anything about the way you live? If so, what? Why?  If not, why not?

Rhet/CW, Wednesday, January 18, 2012

WRITE: 


1. Post my blog in your favorites. Subscribe to follow, so you get e-mail notifications when I post. Follow me on Twitter if you want to. If you can, it would be awesome of you to sign-up for a g-mail account and register with Blogger...this way you can communicate with me through the comments section.

2. Print out the attached questionnaire and complete.

Formal Essay #1: The One-pager! This is a sort of "state of your writing ability" for me. Let me see where ya at? Expand one of the following questionnaire questions into a full, one-page response. Show me whatcha workin' with!

Section 2: 11, 12, 16 or 17
Section 3: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8 or 9

READ: Review Usage section of Hacker (p. 565)