"There Will Come Soft Rains"

Please post your response to one of the questions on meaning on page 226, and respond to another student.

How does technology affect the concept of work?

"How Technology is Eliminating Higher Skill Jobs"

Explaining a Concept and Intelligence

Take a look at these videos, and tell me how they change, or complicate your view of intelligence.  Also, if you have any questions, concerns, or thoughts about another concept, or the "the concept essay" write them here.

Blog Post 3 - The Profile Essay

I would like for you to share a little about your experience so far with this essay.  What has the process been like?  Why did you choose the subject that you did?  Was it difficult to note-take? Was it difficult to put these ideas into an essay?  How did you come to decide on what your perspective was?

Also, check out this post "The Dangers of Thinking in Five Paragraphs" from a colleague of mine that also teaches composition? How does this relate to our discussion of good writing, and how we approach the writing process?  How does the purpose of writing change in different environments?  Why do you think you are often taught to write this way, and what limits/possibilities are there for this type of writing?

I know that's a lot to check out/write on... perhaps tackle one of these tasks in depth, or briefly hit on both in your post.

Blog Post 2

"The Hidden Life of SUVs"

On pg. 84 answer 2 questions from the "Questions on Meaning" section or do assignment #3 under "Writing Assignments."
Write your response in the comments section

Blog Post 1 Fall '11

What are your thoughts on the readings and discussions thus far?  Do you think there are multiple languages even within the English language?  How does one negotiate between languages they have already acquired, and learning academic and standard languages?  Is there a difference between "school" language and "home" language?  Do you have to unlearn "home" language to learn "school" language?

Links 4/13/11

Notes on argumentation http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/comp1/logic.htm
and arguments of fallacy- http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html
Examples:Simpsons "Tiger Away"  and Monty Python: Bad Reasoning

Notes on paragraph development and transitions via UNC http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/paragraphs.html
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/transitions.html

This next link will take you to your next reading assignment, "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." You can read it online, but please print out and bring to class on 4/29.  I would also like you to post a general reaction to the story, focusing on a theme or aspect that you found important.  I will also post some specific questions at a later date. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2000/12/25/2000_12_25_098_TNY_LIBRY_000022398?currentPage=1

Your Research Paper

I would like you to post twice with this blog response. Once from your perspective, answer all the prompts below, and once responding to a classmate.
1. Summarize what you think your research paper will be about including your working thesis.

2. What were some difficulties you had with this project?

3. What did you feel you learned, either about the process or about your topic?

4. Is there anything still bothering you, or do you have any questions?  Feel free to come back here if something comes up during the writing process, but make sure you come back and read and respond to at least one person.

Controversial Issues and Argumentation

NY Times Op-Ed Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof asks the questions "Is It Better to Save No One?" in regards to the United States' military intervention.  Take a look at the article and post your thoughts.  

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/opinion/03kristof.html?_r=1

There is also a Facebook page where you can comment or take a look at the larger community response, but you'll need a Facebook account, so of course that's optional.  We take a minute in class to look at some comments as well. http://www.facebook.com/kristof/posts/211325985545103

Profiles and The Writing Process

As you gather your notes and begin to assemble your "Profile" essays, I would like for you to be thinking about the writing process and how you go about generating ideas, and then putting those ideas into the essay format, and specifically this "Profile" format.  Here are some possible post ideas (and feel free to expand on more than one):

1. Share an experience of note-taking and how it corresponded or conflicted with your expectations for your essay.  Share an experience that spurred an idea or thought for you. How did you incorporate this knowledge into your ideas for your essay?
2. Tell us about your writing process: How do you generate essay ideas? How do you organize your ideas into a plan?  How do you start writing?  What difficulties do you have in the writing process?  What do you do when you feel like you can't write?
3. Give a synopsis of your idea for the essay and explain what you felt worked in trying to convey your idea and what did not.
4. Go into depth about a difficulty you faced during this essay anywhere in the writing process from start to finish and how you went about trying to fix it.

Today's Notes

  Today's notes come from: Kane, Thomas S. The New Oxford Guide to Writing. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994.  

Beginning an essay

I.                Beginning means announcing and limiting the subject, indicating a plan, catching the reader’s attention, and establishing an appropriate tone and point of view

II.           Announcing and Limiting the Subject

A.                       For most essays it is better to start with an implied announcement of your subject: Belief in the doctrines of religion may be justified in several ways

vs. an explicit announcement: It is my purpose to consider the type of justification which is available for belief in the doctrines of religion.

B.                        Immediate vs. Delayed announcement

If you opt to name your subject immediately then your focus is on clarity and getting right to the point: for example, All men are snobs about something. – Aldous Huxley

The alternative is to try to arouse curiosity or interest your reader first.  This can be done by beginning broadly and then narrowing your topic, or by beginning with a specific detail or example and then broadening to arrive at the topic.

III.      Indicating the plan of the essay

Essential to a good essay is outlining and giving the reader an idea of how you are going to organize the essay.  You should let your readers know what your essay will be about, what your setting out to prove or say and finally in what order.

   I want to tell you about a woodsman, what he was like, what his work was, and what it meant.  His name was Alfred D. Teare and he came originally from Nova Scotia, but all the time I knew him his home was in Berlin, New Hampshire.  Probably the best surveyor of old lines in New England, he was—in his way—a genius.          

                 Kenneth Andler

Is this an implied or explicit announcement?

Is this an immediate or delayed announcement?

How will this essay be organized?  What subtopics will the writer address and in what order?

IV.      Interesting the reader

A.                       Stressing the importance of the subject: There is no painter who has so spontaneously and so profoundly reflected his age as Pablo Picasso

B.                        Arousing Curiosity: It is a pity true history is not taught in schools. Or, I hate botany, which is why I went to New York.

C.                        Amusing the reader: this can be down through a witty remark, an anecdote, or comparison (analogy, simile or metaphor).

V.           The function of an opening is to introduce an essay, not to be a miniature version of it.  You must balance the extremes of saying to much and saying too little.

Rhetoric, Culture and the Self

Give some of your thoughts about how you describe your writing style and answer two of the following questions:

1.  How is writing affected by culture?

2.  What role does the self play in writing?

3. What role does race, gender, ethnicity, social status play in how we see the world?

4. Doe bias or discrimination still exist in American culture and society? 

First Class

This is going to be a pretty informal, open-ended blog discussion.  I simply want you to post a reflection on our first class, and anything else you feel is relevant.  You can post a question as well, but give the basis or thought process that led you to the question.  Happy posting.