Today in class we decided to spend the class time working on our essays, so most students left to do so, while others like Betty, Harizon and Carroll and Semhar stayed to talk about their projects.
The essays are due Tuesday, Dec. 4; however, the peer review is this week, so bring in a draft. It doesn't have to be great, just get it out. The first step is to become an expert on your topic, then put the materials up and write. Of course, you have an outline to direct the writing to make certain it's all covered. You could even answer the questions then put the parts together later.
After the essay is written, then go through it and see where it would be good to add a quote to expand, explain or illustrate a point. Where students fail is when there is no exposition and too much citation. The citation or quotes should be used sparingly, like a well placed diamond in the tiara. You want it to stand out.
We'll spend a little time talking about Hardy and Guy, so read a selection from Hardy and be up to I think Chapter 8 -- Redemption, in Guy. Oh, the "Sisters in Law" is on PBS Channel 9 tonight at 10 p.m. You could choose this film for your literary critique essay, the final essay for the course.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Rubric for the Research Essay
Research Essay English 1B
Peer reviews are Tuesday, Nov. 27. The final draft is due to me, Thursday, Nov. 29 on a disk or CD. I'd like your planning sheet and outline, plus at least one peer review based on the handout I gave you last week (see Hacker pages 26-27. If you do not have all these parts you will loose points on the essay. We will meet in the classroom. Bring a hardcopy of the essay.
The grading will be based on the following:
The essay writing: 65 percent
essay structure and organization: introduction, body and conclusion
clearly stated thesis,
topic sentences,
evidence
Research 15 percent
How well does the student know the topic
How sound is the research
Use of signal phrases
paraphrases
block quotes
Grammar 15 percent
Syntax and mechanics
I am particularly looking at dependent and independent clauses; fused sentences, comma splices, subject verb agreement, pronoun reference agreement in gender and count, spelling and misuse of words
A way to avoid this is to read the paper aloud before you turn it in
Supplementary documents: 5 percent
Essay Planning Sheet
Essay outline
Peer review or review of essay by a teacher/tutor in the Writing Center.
What the tutor/teacher recommends is just that, a recommendation. Take what you agree with and leave the rest.
An A is 95-100 percent; B 85 percent; C 80 percent
There is an automatic revision required for any grades below 80 percent. You have one week to respond. This is a high impact grade which is none negotiable. You need to have a passing grade on this essay to pass the class.
Peer reviews are Tuesday, Nov. 27. The final draft is due to me, Thursday, Nov. 29 on a disk or CD. I'd like your planning sheet and outline, plus at least one peer review based on the handout I gave you last week (see Hacker pages 26-27. If you do not have all these parts you will loose points on the essay. We will meet in the classroom. Bring a hardcopy of the essay.
The grading will be based on the following:
The essay writing: 65 percent
essay structure and organization: introduction, body and conclusion
clearly stated thesis,
topic sentences,
evidence
Research 15 percent
How well does the student know the topic
How sound is the research
Use of signal phrases
paraphrases
block quotes
Grammar 15 percent
Syntax and mechanics
I am particularly looking at dependent and independent clauses; fused sentences, comma splices, subject verb agreement, pronoun reference agreement in gender and count, spelling and misuse of words
A way to avoid this is to read the paper aloud before you turn it in
Supplementary documents: 5 percent
Essay Planning Sheet
Essay outline
Peer review or review of essay by a teacher/tutor in the Writing Center.
What the tutor/teacher recommends is just that, a recommendation. Take what you agree with and leave the rest.
An A is 95-100 percent; B 85 percent; C 80 percent
There is an automatic revision required for any grades below 80 percent. You have one week to respond. This is a high impact grade which is none negotiable. You need to have a passing grade on this essay to pass the class.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Due Dates
Have a great holiday! Your final draft is due for a peer review Tuesday, November 27. We will meet in the smaller lab. Bring your essay in an electronic form so we can comment using the Microsoft Word Tool. We will also continue our discussion of Ernest Hardy selections, maybe Guy. I'd like to complete the book by Tuesday, Dec. 4. Come prepared to write a play dramatizing an aspect of Afeni Shakur's life--a scene from the book.
Be thinking about the show you are going to review for your Ernest Hardy assignment, your last paper. I am hosting a final exam for students who'd like to do a make-up essay. You can use this as extra credit or toss one of the essays with a lower grade (not the midterm or research essay, unless it is 5 pages long.
Be thinking about the show you are going to review for your Ernest Hardy assignment, your last paper. I am hosting a final exam for students who'd like to do a make-up essay. You can use this as extra credit or toss one of the essays with a lower grade (not the midterm or research essay, unless it is 5 pages long.
Monday, November 19, 2007
November 19
Last week, we were looking at deductive arguments, that is, moving from the general to the specific. The topic was the recent oil spill in the SF Bay. We compared America to the SF Bay, Afeni's life to the crabs adversely affected by the pollution in their already polluted environment, and the oil spill to the trauma impacting Afeni's already compromised dysfunctional life.
I drew a Ven diagram on the board. It was a fun discussion. I was surprised at the unexpected depth the analogy allowed us when looking at Afeni's life. As I recall this, I am still baffled at how permission is given tacitly to overlook what is harmful when certain people are impacted or money is involved. Who overrode the governor's order to delay the crab fishing season? Why isn't the health of the public a consideration? The same can be said of Afeni's life. Her parents let her down, and the Black Panther Party let her down, even Lumumba let her down.
We shared our thoughts as we tried to develop a syllogism. Jenni came closest, although Pamela's reasoning was very interesting and insightful.
Essays are due tomorrow for the peer review. Tomorrow is also the last day to drop with a W. Kim is not continuing the class. We'll miss her. If students are concerned and unclear about their grades, let me know. Some of you haven't turned in any work and are behind, but we can make a plan.
Carroll said she was in a car accident last week. She said when I saw her today that she is doing well. See you in the morning in the classroom. I plan to show you another New Heroes video.
I drew a Ven diagram on the board. It was a fun discussion. I was surprised at the unexpected depth the analogy allowed us when looking at Afeni's life. As I recall this, I am still baffled at how permission is given tacitly to overlook what is harmful when certain people are impacted or money is involved. Who overrode the governor's order to delay the crab fishing season? Why isn't the health of the public a consideration? The same can be said of Afeni's life. Her parents let her down, and the Black Panther Party let her down, even Lumumba let her down.
We shared our thoughts as we tried to develop a syllogism. Jenni came closest, although Pamela's reasoning was very interesting and insightful.
Essays are due tomorrow for the peer review. Tomorrow is also the last day to drop with a W. Kim is not continuing the class. We'll miss her. If students are concerned and unclear about their grades, let me know. Some of you haven't turned in any work and are behind, but we can make a plan.
Carroll said she was in a car accident last week. She said when I saw her today that she is doing well. See you in the morning in the classroom. I plan to show you another New Heroes video.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tomorrow
Bring your essays and questions about your writing and grades etc. to class. We will conduct the class like a workshop session, students can meet with me one-on-one for 10 minutes each minimally to talk about grades.
Homework was to bring in the essay outline, and an introduction and conclusion. Students can always keep reading. We're trying to finish up Guy in the next week and a day. Bring in any questions about Strunk and White as they come up.
There are a few events happening this weekend you might want to check out:
The Hybrid Project at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco opens for a three week run 11/15 pay what you can night; Stardust and Empty Wagons at Brava Theatre continues through 11/24; tonight Barack Obama is speaking at Bill Graham Auditorium in SF; it's late night at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is performing an excerpt from a larger work opening next year based on Jeff Chang's Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The History of Hip Hop. I'm going tomorrow evening to the show.
Oh, MacBeth opens at the San Francisco Opera. I love MacBeth!
Homework was to bring in the essay outline, and an introduction and conclusion. Students can always keep reading. We're trying to finish up Guy in the next week and a day. Bring in any questions about Strunk and White as they come up.
There are a few events happening this weekend you might want to check out:
The Hybrid Project at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco opens for a three week run 11/15 pay what you can night; Stardust and Empty Wagons at Brava Theatre continues through 11/24; tonight Barack Obama is speaking at Bill Graham Auditorium in SF; it's late night at the de Young Museum in San Francisco.
Marc Bamuthi Joseph is performing an excerpt from a larger work opening next year based on Jeff Chang's Can't Stop, Won't Stop: The History of Hip Hop. I'm going tomorrow evening to the show.
Oh, MacBeth opens at the San Francisco Opera. I love MacBeth!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Long weekend ahead
Today in class we reviewed argumentation. I don't know how much was a review and how much was new information, but I hope it was useful. We skimmed the Hacker chapter on Argument. Students who didn't have the book received copies of the chapter. I ran out if copies, but more are available at my office. Let me know if the folder is empty. I ordered the DVD set on New Heroes from PBS. I want to share a few of the social entrepreneur stories with you.
I think we went over the evaluating a website assignment Tuesday. If we haven't, let me know. I'll show you the Argumentation video next week and we'll talk more about logic. Please add the reflection on "What is an essay" (handout) to the assignment check-list (10/17).
I have incorrect dates on the Research Essay schedule. We corrected them: 11/8 Planning Sheet and resource list due; 11/15 Introduction and Conclusion; 11/20 first draft of essay due; 11/29 final draft of essay due
Today the planning sheet and resource list was due. Start reading, contact your agency and set up a date for the interview. Give yourself time to do the background research first.
I will be emailing students their grades sometime before Monday. If your midterm grade is a C-or a D you have to revise your essay. Revisions need to include the original graded paper along with the essay you'd like considered. I also want students to write a separate narrative explaining what you did to improve the essay. This reflective piece doesn't have to be long.
Please turn in revisions a week after you receive it back or by prior arrangement. If you have the corrected essay electronically, you can email the package to me, or you can give it to me as a hardcopy. It's your choice.
Some students have not turned in their midterm essays. To pass the class you have to complete the midterm. The cut off for this essay is next week so those who have not gotten it in, this is your last chance unless we have made other plans. My office hours are MW 9-11. I am sometimes a little tardy getting over to L-236, but I am coming, wait for me. Tuesday and Thursday after 12 noon is a possibility if arranged in advance.
Keep reading the Guy book, "Evolution of a Revolutionary." My book has walked; my name is in it. If anyone knows it's whereabouts I'd appreciate its return. Thanks! You can read up to chapter 7 for the next meeting. Don't forget to keep reading logs. We'll continue the hardy discussions on Thursdays, along with the Elements of Style discussions.
Remember the veteran's over the holiday recess. I returned most if not all of the essays I received as hardcopies. If you missed class or left early, email me and I will send your grade to you. I am not leaving essays for people to pick up for confidentiality reasons.
I think we went over the evaluating a website assignment Tuesday. If we haven't, let me know. I'll show you the Argumentation video next week and we'll talk more about logic. Please add the reflection on "What is an essay" (handout) to the assignment check-list (10/17).
I have incorrect dates on the Research Essay schedule. We corrected them: 11/8 Planning Sheet and resource list due; 11/15 Introduction and Conclusion; 11/20 first draft of essay due; 11/29 final draft of essay due
Today the planning sheet and resource list was due. Start reading, contact your agency and set up a date for the interview. Give yourself time to do the background research first.
I will be emailing students their grades sometime before Monday. If your midterm grade is a C-or a D you have to revise your essay. Revisions need to include the original graded paper along with the essay you'd like considered. I also want students to write a separate narrative explaining what you did to improve the essay. This reflective piece doesn't have to be long.
Please turn in revisions a week after you receive it back or by prior arrangement. If you have the corrected essay electronically, you can email the package to me, or you can give it to me as a hardcopy. It's your choice.
Some students have not turned in their midterm essays. To pass the class you have to complete the midterm. The cut off for this essay is next week so those who have not gotten it in, this is your last chance unless we have made other plans. My office hours are MW 9-11. I am sometimes a little tardy getting over to L-236, but I am coming, wait for me. Tuesday and Thursday after 12 noon is a possibility if arranged in advance.
Keep reading the Guy book, "Evolution of a Revolutionary." My book has walked; my name is in it. If anyone knows it's whereabouts I'd appreciate its return. Thanks! You can read up to chapter 7 for the next meeting. Don't forget to keep reading logs. We'll continue the hardy discussions on Thursdays, along with the Elements of Style discussions.
Remember the veteran's over the holiday recess. I returned most if not all of the essays I received as hardcopies. If you missed class or left early, email me and I will send your grade to you. I am not leaving essays for people to pick up for confidentiality reasons.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Color Purple!
Oh tonight is the COLOR PURPLE THEATRE OUTING! WE ARE MEETING AT THE WEST OAKLAND BART AT 7 P.M. THE EXIT IS CIVIC CENTER. THE SHOW STARTS AT 8 P.M.
WE ARE GOING TO THE ORPHEUM THEATER ON MARKET STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO. CALL ME IF WE HAVEN'T SPOKEN AND YOU WANT TO RIDE OVER ON BART WITH US, OTHERWISE I'LL SEE YOU THERE IN YOUR SEATS.
WE ARE GOING TO THE ORPHEUM THEATER ON MARKET STREET IN SAN FRANCISCO. CALL ME IF WE HAVEN'T SPOKEN AND YOU WANT TO RIDE OVER ON BART WITH US, OTHERWISE I'LL SEE YOU THERE IN YOUR SEATS.
An Innovative Idea: Grameen Bank and Microcredit
Today I handed out an article on social entrepreneur, Muhammad Yunnus, "Turning Poverty into Peace," reprinted from Ode Magazine. Muhammad Yunnus is founder of Grameen Bank, an institution which lends money to poor people. This article is a model of the type of essay or article I'd like students to produce for their research essay. Last semester, one student actually turned in a magazine style essay on Alice Walker. I am always open to suggestions on projects so make it fun for yourself.
Keep in mind the following questions:
What did you like most stylistically about the writing? If you had to answer the question: What was the author's purpose and what question did the writers want this article to answer, how would you answer?
How is Yunnus' work used as an extended analogy to talk about the key idea of this article? What is the point here? It is repeated minimally 4 times.
Where does the conclusion start? The key point is repeated here one last time. What is that point?
What references are sited to prove the writers' point? List them.
The authors also give other references to organizations whose development went through similar phases as did Grameen Bank. List them.
(Muhammad Yunnus is on the the SE profiled in Frontline World. Tonight on FW they will be looking at the CIA and its secret interrogations on Channel 9, 10 p.m.)
We'll meet in the classroom Thursday, Nov. 9. We will review the evaluation of a website questionnaires. If you had any trouble, drop by the reference desk. I want all the questions answered.
Keep reading Afeni. We are up to Chapter 4. We had a great discussion today about her life. Don't forget to read your Hardy selection and be prepared to share. Also, your planning sheets and source list is due. You should have made an appointment to talk to your SE, also you should be gathering materials to begin your research.
DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT TO START!
I gave students copies of the Hacker section on Argument. Please read. We will watch a film about argumentation Thursday and answer the questions at the end of the handout together.
Keep in mind the following questions:
What did you like most stylistically about the writing? If you had to answer the question: What was the author's purpose and what question did the writers want this article to answer, how would you answer?
How is Yunnus' work used as an extended analogy to talk about the key idea of this article? What is the point here? It is repeated minimally 4 times.
Where does the conclusion start? The key point is repeated here one last time. What is that point?
What references are sited to prove the writers' point? List them.
The authors also give other references to organizations whose development went through similar phases as did Grameen Bank. List them.
(Muhammad Yunnus is on the the SE profiled in Frontline World. Tonight on FW they will be looking at the CIA and its secret interrogations on Channel 9, 10 p.m.)
We'll meet in the classroom Thursday, Nov. 9. We will review the evaluation of a website questionnaires. If you had any trouble, drop by the reference desk. I want all the questions answered.
Keep reading Afeni. We are up to Chapter 4. We had a great discussion today about her life. Don't forget to read your Hardy selection and be prepared to share. Also, your planning sheets and source list is due. You should have made an appointment to talk to your SE, also you should be gathering materials to begin your research.
DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MOMENT TO START!
I gave students copies of the Hacker section on Argument. Please read. We will watch a film about argumentation Thursday and answer the questions at the end of the handout together.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Blood Beats Posts
Don't forget to post your Blood Beats responses. Thanks! I am also requesting today's responses to A Rose Grew in Concrete.
November Thoughts
Today we had a great class. We revisited A Rose that Grew from Concrete. We hadn't read any poetry in a while. It was a nice change. Students shared their freewrites. Jenni asked it there was a right or wrong way to respond. I told her no. Tristan and Dale were analytical in their responses, Tristan brought in references to Dyson which was great. Carroll also had a great response.
We spent a lot of time discussing Ernest Hardy's book which everyone seemed to like. We talked about the introduction and the way the book was arranged, then students shared the article selections they'd read. We looked at the article on TLC (93), Erykah Badu (83), and Track 1 (Intro): Shake Ya Ass (181).
The assignment for this book is to attend a performance or artistic event and write an essay/critique in the style of Hardy. That is, choose a few philosophical lens to filter the perspective. His are sex, gender, and race and the relationship of the three to the power dynamic.
Students have a broad birth to view the research topic. The paper is only five-seven pages minimally. We will also write a play on Afeni Shakur's life. The sources are due Thursday, November 8, with an essay planning sheet.
Think seriously about artists who use their medium for social change. East Side Arts Alliance is a potential place to locate artists to profile; the founders are also a great choice. Another organization is The Center for Art and Public Life and Art Esteem.
We are meeting in the lab Tuesday, November 6. Homework is to figure out who you might want to write about--two potential sources is good. The list of sources. Read Hacker, pp. 371-400. We've already looked at pp. 401-423. There are handouts in the Writing Center on the research process; there are others at the COA website you might find helpful. I put some of these resources in the bin outside my office door.
We spent a lot of time discussing Ernest Hardy's book which everyone seemed to like. We talked about the introduction and the way the book was arranged, then students shared the article selections they'd read. We looked at the article on TLC (93), Erykah Badu (83), and Track 1 (Intro): Shake Ya Ass (181).
The assignment for this book is to attend a performance or artistic event and write an essay/critique in the style of Hardy. That is, choose a few philosophical lens to filter the perspective. His are sex, gender, and race and the relationship of the three to the power dynamic.
Students have a broad birth to view the research topic. The paper is only five-seven pages minimally. We will also write a play on Afeni Shakur's life. The sources are due Thursday, November 8, with an essay planning sheet.
Think seriously about artists who use their medium for social change. East Side Arts Alliance is a potential place to locate artists to profile; the founders are also a great choice. Another organization is The Center for Art and Public Life and Art Esteem.
We are meeting in the lab Tuesday, November 6. Homework is to figure out who you might want to write about--two potential sources is good. The list of sources. Read Hacker, pp. 371-400. We've already looked at pp. 401-423. There are handouts in the Writing Center on the research process; there are others at the COA website you might find helpful. I put some of these resources in the bin outside my office door.
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