CANCELED CLASS #2: Monday, January 26, 2015

Since we have hit the unprecedented mark of the first TWO classes of the year being canceled due to weather...here is your guide to making doubly sure you are prepared for class on WEDNESDAY: 

1. Read and prepare questions on the SYLLABUS. The syllabus is an important document for our class. Usually, I review it's most important features. But we will not be able to devote class time to this, so please be vigilant. Read the syllabus and be sure to ask questions about class if you have them. The syllabus is linked on the right-hand column of the blog under "live blog." 

2. Make sure you have answered, and recorded on paper, your answers to ALL the questions on the questionnaire. The questionnaire can be accessed right below the syllabus.

3. Expand one of the questions into Formal Writing #1. These directions are available on the previous post.

Otherwise, be safe and use good judgement.

Costal's Return to the FI...Mise en scene

"There's no place like home...There's no place like home...There's no place like home...."

For my return to the Film Institute, we will discuss one of my favorite recurring motifs from my days as chief proprietor of the 'stute...TELLING THE STORY WITH THE CAMERA!

To do so, we look at some famous and important scenes from recent cinema and discuss their significance.

   

Class #22: CLASS CANCELED for Monday, November 17, 2014

ASSIGNMENT FOR CANCELED CLASS: 

Use the time to make sure that the Skube paper is DOUBLE DOG ready for prime time on WEDNESDAY. I TRIPLE DOG DARE YOU to bring it to the Writing Center! You won't do it. You're too much of a scaredy baby. Waa! Waa! You won't bring your paper to the Writing Center in J-105. You won't. It's open til 6 on M, T & W. You won't do it.

Oh...and read these poems. Be prepared to discuss on Wednesday.

Class #20: Monday, November 10, 2014: Reading/Blogging Project

OPENING ACTIVITY: 

Get in your families and straighten out the piece you were to write for Adrienne last week (5 min)

Then get with the family that shared your claim, read one another's papers and have a quick discussion about why and how you decided to utilize the evidence in the way you did. (10 min)

Be prepared to share out with the DQ you chose and how you handled incorporating evidence. I am interested specifically in the comparison/contrast between the two families. Also, this would be the time to ask additional questions about evidence and its incorporation into rhetoric.

CLASS DISCUSSION/ASSIGNMENT
Last week in class, you learned a method for discerning the quality of a particular piece of writing. By "quality," we mean to define how well a text would perform as a cited source, not whether or not we simply like the piece. Preference is not dictated by the same standards as quality. I like the NY Jets (since I was six)...
But I'd be hard-pressed to say they are "of a high quality."

The difference is important for rhetorical or merely academic writing (the type you will be doing over the next few years).

We live in an interesting time. Print media is dead, or so they have been reporting for years now. But one could make an argument that the written word has never been more alive. We are surrounded by excellent writing like children wrapped in warm blankets. Every subject, every device, every way it can possibly be delivered. Never in the history of language, has more information been available more quickly and easily. YouTube an interview with a writer. Throw on a podcast of your favorite personality ranting about something. Opinion is everywhere. But is it credible? Is it good? It's ok to like things that are not necessarily "quality." Yes, I'm talking about all the cooking shows or Real Housewives or whatever. It is ok to watch crap because we want to decompress or relax, but it is not ok to be unable to discern the difference.

It's an exciting time for content. In some ways, it has never been easier to be a writer because dozens of platforms to reach readers are readily available. Yet. it has never been harder to rise above the din of available information, text and opinion. News, weather, and niche information is plentiful. There are 24 hour news networks aplenty. Over 500 blogs, pod-casts and fan sites are devoted to the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida alone.

Let's consider this conundrum: It has never been easier to be heard. It has never been harder to be heard.

This week...you are going to do some reading. But I, for once, will not choose it or force it upon you. I want you to spend some time searching for an opinion writer, blog or other type of writing collective (like a group of bloggers working under a common name). I want you to chose and then read your writer/blog heavily (at least five to ten pieces depending on length). Choose something of at least basic credibility. Someone affiliated with an organization, magazine or newspaper, or an independent blog written by someone with some kind of writing cred.

The pieces you choose must be: 
A. Ongoing and sustained
1. non-fiction, opinion pieces that advance an overall claim or argument. 
2. from the same writer or collective of writers.
3. MOST IMPORTANTLY...well-fit to most (if not all) of the standards of quality established by the criteria we have been using. 

A relatively quick Google search revealed this list of "power fashion writers." The same thing exists in almost any subject or area of interest.

You should choose to read about what interests you. Since there are thousands of blogs about everything from nutrition to ammunition, this should not be hard to do. But if you get overwhelmed or underwhelmed...fear not. Your friendly neighborhood professor is a huge culture nerd. Attached are some of the more popular, insightful writers/columnists/bloggers/blogger groups/opinion writers on my radar. Each one has a plethora of writing available online. It's all here from gaming to politics, arts to history to gossip:


The Blogess, Frank Bruni, Bill Bryson, The Carpetbagger, The Cinephiliacs, Richard Cohen, Adam Corrolla, The Daily Beast,  The DIS, Do You Like Prince Movies?, Maureen Dowd, Roger Ebert, Brett Easton Ellis, James Fallows, Filmspotting, Gameological Society, Neil Gaiman, Malcolm Gladwell, Geek Dad, Grantland, Chris Hardwick & The Nerdist, Neil Heinen, High Functioning Momism, Huffington Post, The Inky Fool, Garrison Keilor, Chuck Klosterman, Jason Kottke, Jezebel, Stephen King, News from Me, Emily Nussbaum, Rick Reiley, Andrew Revkin, Jesse Rosin, Sophie Sarin, Tavis Smiley, Tynan, WDW News Today, Erik Wemple, Cornel West, World War II Today, Sex with Emily, Shayan Zadeh, 20-Nothings, 9to5Mac...even Chuck Norris (yes, THAT Chuck Norris).

Class #18: Monday, November 3, 2014: Lit Revision Notes & Assistance

Citation Creation Basics & Help:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/2/

HAPPY HALLOWEEN MY LITTLE OSPREYS!

Hope your HALLOWEEN DREAMS come true!

8pm reminder that class is now in B12

Class #14, Monday, October 20, 2014

Class Activity: Parallelism quiz

Family Activity: Switch around your letters (Informal Writing #8). Underline at least three pieces of evidence in the letter that back specific claims made by the author. If the evidence does a solid job of supporting the claim, put a smiley face next to it. If the claim is unspecific or weak, or if the evidence is from a non-credible source, put a sad face on your partner's paper. Revisions will be turned in to Adrienne for credit on Wednesday. Editors, please put your name on your partner's papers. 


WRITE: Gather Darkness & Miracle at Parque Chas are very different stories, yet the seem to me to be united under a single theme: hope. The stories are different in tone and style. In fact, they are different in almost every way; however, to me, they both say something different about hope. They provide a contrasting view of hopefulness, and the ways humans interface with the emotion. I want you to write about how hope is illustrated in the stories. If you are in doubt, look specifically to the characters of each. USE SPECIFIC REFERENCES to the stories. This paper will ultimately be Informal Writing #9, but this, for now this should just be a DRAFT.

READ: Read "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor. Annotate the story. I am interested in your analysis of how O'Connor uses specific devices and concepts. If you're stuck, specifically consider terms of character development.

Class #13: Wednesday, October 15, 2014

REMINDER: Class will begin 15 minutes late to allow for final prep time of fallacy presentations. 

ANOTHER IMPORTANT REMINDER: We will have truncated classes on Monday, October 20th (7pm for B12, reg time for F202) Class will be a quiz & editing proctored by Adrienne. 

Class: Tonight we will address the ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY debacle. Then discuss Heels. Here's a reminder of the questions from that story.

      A. What can you infer about the character? What evidence from the story makes these inferences viable? What do they reveal about the narrator?

      B. What would final conclusion is drawn by the author? Don't think of this only in terms of "what happened;" think of it in terms of what that means for the narrator. 

      C. Consider the "truths" of the story. What is the truth revealed by the actions of the story. They are greater than the basic struggle and tragedy unfolding, right? Why? How? Who is to blame for what takes place...think further than the heinous, threatening men. 

      D. Why right such a terrible story? Is there a greater purpose living beneath the surface? What might that be?

ASSIGNMENT #1: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY REDO: Read this article from the NY Times.  Think about the program described. Would money have better motivated you to study more in school? Do you agree or disagree that earning a financial reward diminishes the personal satisfaction that comes from earning a good grade? Or earning an education? Does money somehow cheapen the process of doing well in school? Would you be for or against such a program?

Remember what we discussed in class. The questions lead to WORKING CLAIMS. The claims will ultimately be proved by EVIDENCE. But you finding the RIGHT EVIDENCE is a PROCESS. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY is a tool in that process.

Let's try again. Find one OTHER source (NOT THE NY TIMES ARTICLE I GAVE YOU). Create one annotation. Let's get it right this time.(A DIFFERENT SOURCE...ONE YOU FOUND...ON YOUR OWN....NOT MINE...ANOTHER ONE!)

ASSIGNMENT #2: Informal Writing #8: Choose one of the following scenarios (your whole family must write from the same scenario). Write a letter that answers the questions and makes the claims called for in the scenario of your choice. Be sure to include at least one piece of researched evidence with proper documentation in your letter. Consider the range of appeals discussed in class when writing the paper.

Scenario A

Harry Heet is the president of Forthright Enterprises. You all work in Jacksonville, Florida, where the mean temperature in the summer is 92 degrees Fahrenheit daily. The humidity is 90% or more for 89 of the 90 days of summer. Mr. Heet doesn't seem to mind the heat or humidity; in fact, he seems to thrive on it. Right now, his business in advertising antiperspirants, soap, and other grooming products is at a low ebb; profits are down, and contracts are difficult to come by. His place of business has no air conditioning, but is instead cooled by electric fans of the overhead and desk type, and by keeping the windows open at night. You decide as a work force that you just can't stand the lack of air conditioning any more. Since you are president of the worker's association, you are asked to draft a letter explaining to Mr. Heet that you need to have air conditioning installed.

Scenario B:
Stockton is choosing a new mascot! It has called upon its student body to write a one to two page paper nominating a mascot. The administration wants a mascot that represents the pride and honor of the institution. The community wants a mascot that represents a relevant icon of the area. The students want something that kicks ass! There are expected to be thousands of submissions, so it needs to persuasive. Your building/floor/suite/organization nominates you to write the letter
.

Gather Darkness.

Gather Darkness.

Miracle in Parque Chas.: EBSCOhost

Miracle in Parque Chas.: EBSCOhost