Thursday, September 27, 2007

Cyber Assignment 2

In class today we looked at documentation, as in observing the rules of intellectual integrity when doing research. Simply put, when you are not the origin of the thought, you need to let your audience know who is. All good writing involves research and certainly academic writing is distinguished by its use of documentation.
We looked at Diana Hacker's Research and Documentation. I also read from Rules for Writers, the section that looked at paraphrase, signal phrases, quotes, and other uses of source material (53a, pp. 406-416). You can post your essays here.

We practiced citations for a book, an article in a magazine, and newspaper. Students were then assigned chapters 3 & 4 from Dyson's Holla, to develop an essay question. Students then swapped questions to complete the rest of the assignment, which was to answer the question utilizing one block quote, one phrase, one paraphrase, and another quote. The goal here is to practice incorporating citations into prose; however, students should remember that the citation is an affirmation, not the claim. It's the amen, the ashay, the nod from the writer you cite that you and he share the same thought on the issue you stated. Make sure you write enough before inserting evidence. The exposition holds the quote, it provides the context--it is the host at the party. Normally, you would not have this many citations for a such a short work. At the least, you are probably looking at three paragraphs.

We are reading up to chapter 5 for Monday in Holla. We have to get through Dyson, the Afeni biography is an easy read, but the Blood Beats collection of articles is not. Plus I want us to have time to read The Elephant Man.
Some students are not carrying their books. You have bring your books to class: Dyson, Hacker, Stunk and White, a dictionary. Students need to invest in a three hold punch and a folder with rings for the handouts I give you. You also need binder dividers to label contents.

Pam checked into tickets to The Color Purple. The student discount is $25. We will collect money Thursday, October 4, to get into the mail (the theatre needs a months notice to process.) Payment can be in cash, cashier's check and money order. You decide. My interview this afternoon with London (Nettie character) was great. The cast is in Chicago, but they are looking forward to coming to San Francisco. London was at the beautician as we spoke. We didn't finish all my questions. She
told me I could e-mail them to her for completion.

I made the announcement that there is a screening of a new film on hop hop dance: Respond to Sound II, Saturday, Sept. 29, 6 p.m. at East Side Arts Cultural Center, 2277 International Blvd. @ 23rd Avenue, in Oakland. The admission is $10.

Students said the BET special on Hip Hop was worth viewing. Jennie said that the discussion covered topics we've covered in our class. Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D. was one of the panelists. It will probably repeat for the next few weeks. Check the listings.

I handed out a list for the Literature Circles we will be forming on Tuesday, and another on peer reviews. The second sheet was from Rules for Writers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Q: Why was Tupac consumed with the pursuit of knowledge?
A: Tupac was consumed with a thirst to learn because of his own knowledge concerning current issues socially in schools. He wished for classes that expanded outside that of reading and arithmetic, that would help many youths of different race facing the problems he discussed himself:
There should be a class on sex education, a real sex education class, not just pictures and diagrams and illogical terms….There should be a class on scams. There should be a class on religious cults. There should be a class on police brutality. There should be a class on apartheid… (Dyson, 77).

Tupac’s desires outline what he had discovered growing up. Tupac’s own knowledge reflected his thoughts politically as well: “I think [foreign language] are important but… they should be teaching you English, and then teaching you how to understand double-talk “(Dyson, 78).
Phrase: Dyson: It is also interesting to observe Tupac’s relentless efforts to link the economic and racial contexts of learning with the pedagogical and curricular strategies that are most likely to help poor black and Latino students(Dyson, 79).

-Tristan Jazmin

I wasn't quite sure how to format this assignment, but I tried. I would like a litle more clarity on block quotes and such and phrases, perhaps on tuesday? ;|

Anonymous said...

Q: Why was Tupac consumed with the pursuit of knowledge?

A: Tupac was consumed with the pursuit of knowledge becasue he felt knowledge was power. Tupac searched for knowledge and welcomed every educational experience and also took in everything he could absorb. Tupac once said to a shocked Leila Steinberg, who was impressed with his intelligence, "I read everything I can get my hands on" (Dyson, 70). Tupac read anything from food manuals, books on philosaphy, magizines, to classic and black literateure. As Michael Eric Dyson says in his book "Holler If You Hear Me", "Tupac Shakur was always hungry for knowledge" (Dyson, 70). Tupac was not only interested in education himself, but he urged others to do the same. Tupac's friends, Jada Picket Smith and Peggy Lipton, were two of many who were influenced by Tupac's well-rounded intelligence and pursuit of knowledge. In "Holler If You Hear Me" they shared just a portion of how he affected them.

Lipton, however, urges that Tupac's interestes streched well beyond music: "You could have a conversation with him about everything. He knew about everything, and he was open to everything." Jada Pinkett Smith agrees. "He was quick to tell me what book I should be reading," says Smith. "He was a well-read brother. And I loved that because he always had something to teach me. And he didn't graduate from high school."

Tupac's knowledge was not limited to what he was interested in but Tupac wanted to learn about everything. Tupac was a self learned, well educated, and well rounded young man who wanted to make a big impact in the world using the knowledge he possessed.

Anonymous said...

Q: Why does Tupac believe schools should be teaching students about politics & issues faced in the streets instead of what is being taught?

A: In chapter 3 of Michael Eric Dyson's book, Holler if you Hear Me, the urgency Tupac feels in uplifting the current educational system is vividly expressed through his quotes. According to Dyson, "Tupac's disgust with educational officials who overlook social misery and the willignoring on which it thrives, is apparent," (79). Even at a young age Tupac emphasized the importance of his cause,

"they tend... to teach you to read, write, and [do] arithmitic, then teach you reading and writing and arithmetic again, then again then again... there should be a class on drugs. There should be a class on sex education, a real sex education class, not just pictures and diagrams and illogical terms... There should be a class on scams. There should be a class on religious cults. There should be a class on police brutality. There should be a class on apartheid. There should be a class on racism in America. There should be a class on why people are hungry," (77).