Today we worked on the portfolios and two students presented their book report essays. Most of the class was absent and I am dropping students today who are missing more than one essay assignment who have not communicated with me.
Homework is to complete the SE essay and send in via email by Friday, Dec. 3, 2010: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Work on the portfolios. Presentations are Tuesday we will answer questions and wrap up a wonderful semester (smile). Thursday we will not meet.
I'll be around Monday from 9-11 AM in A232 to help anyone who drops by with the portfolio and with revisions. Remember, all the essays included in the portfolio have to be graded. The exception is The Angry Black White Boy essay which is the final.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Operation Small Ax, Do the Right Thing, Michael Jackson's Vision: Beat It & Bad
Post reflections on the films above here. Re: Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and Operation Small Ax, what themes do they share and what do this say about privilege, entitlement, disenfranchisement, racism and police brutality?
Think about classics West Side Story, Romeo and Juliet and themes that make the stories evergreen. What is unfortunate about this notion? Where is the hope for peace and justice? I remember in the final episode of the Matrix, Neo when asked what he wants, says, "peace." The Oracle says when asked for how long, says, "as long as it can." A rainbow appears in the sky as the curtain closes.
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is based on the events that happened at Howard Beach in 1986 and the hottest day in NY at that time when Lee began to write. Set in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, the community's changing demographics are at the heart of a story where those who are left, those who carry the history are not allowed to share it or refuse to change.
It is also a story where once again, police serve those who are privileged, the property owners--Sal, the Italian pizzeria owner. This is also the Brooklyn which still reels from the 1987 Tawana Brawley rape allegations. It's a keg ready to explode.
Think about classics West Side Story, Romeo and Juliet and themes that make the stories evergreen. What is unfortunate about this notion? Where is the hope for peace and justice? I remember in the final episode of the Matrix, Neo when asked what he wants, says, "peace." The Oracle says when asked for how long, says, "as long as it can." A rainbow appears in the sky as the curtain closes.
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing is based on the events that happened at Howard Beach in 1986 and the hottest day in NY at that time when Lee began to write. Set in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, the community's changing demographics are at the heart of a story where those who are left, those who carry the history are not allowed to share it or refuse to change.
It is also a story where once again, police serve those who are privileged, the property owners--Sal, the Italian pizzeria owner. This is also the Brooklyn which still reels from the 1987 Tawana Brawley rape allegations. It's a keg ready to explode.
Portfolio Checklist
This checklist can serve as the table of contents. Put a check next to the items to show inclusion in the portfolio. Use as the second page to the portfolio, after the cover sheet. Where there are questions for the section, students can post the answers to the narrative there.
Number the pages with a header.
Name ______________________________
Date ______________________________
Class including class code and semester ____________________
Address _______________________________________
Phone number __________________________________
Email address__________________________________
1. Portfolio Essay 1 ________________
2. Portfolio Essay 2 __________________
COA Library
Library Orientation Self-Reflection_________
Library worksheet_______
Website Evaluation_______
American Culture Presentations and Feedback
Post the narratives and self-reflections for all presentations. Also post any peer reviews or responses to the presentations.
Cyber-Assignments
Include the email sent in response to the syllabus.
How many?_____________
The Known World
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page. Don't forget to post the self-reflections for each graded revision.
Presentation:
Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Feedback___________ (how many?)
For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)
Book Report Essay
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning: Initial Planning Sheet, outlines, etc. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page. Don't forget to post the self-reflections for each graded revision.
Presentation:
Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Feedback___________ (how many?)
For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning: Initial Planning Sheet, outlines, etc. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page. Don't forget to post the self-reflections for each graded revision.
Presentation:
Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Peer Reviews or Feedback___________ (how many?)
For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)
Post the Frontline World Assignments here as well as the New Heroes Cyber-Assignments
From Totems to Hip Hop Cyber-Assignments ____________
The Angry Black White Boy (final)
This essay will be submitted with the portfolio. Please include the planning sheet, an outline and all the related cyber-assignments.
Grade_____________
Course Evaluation
Course evaluation __________ (included or not included)
Teacher research: Can the professor use any of your work? Student will be notified if such is done and if there is any monetary compensation. Student work will be anonymous.
Yes, permission is granted______________. No, permission is not granted_________.
Extra Credit: How many essays? Grades? _______________________
More Extra Credit
Students can also include in the portfolio an essay from another class which demonstrated their competence. Get permission from the other professor first before including the graded essay. Post the assignment, any comments and the grade. It has to be a research essay using at least one source. That is, there needs to be a Works Cited page.
Grade Justification
What grade have you earned this semester? Give a salient argument with evidence proving your case. Don't forget a Works Cited page (smile).
Anything else? Questions, comments? Did I leave anything out? __________________
Number the pages with a header.
Name ______________________________
Date ______________________________
Class including class code and semester ____________________
Address _______________________________________
Phone number __________________________________
Email address__________________________________
1. Portfolio Essay 1 ________________
2. Portfolio Essay 2 __________________
COA Library
Library Orientation Self-Reflection_________
Library worksheet_______
Website Evaluation_______
American Culture Presentations and Feedback
Post the narratives and self-reflections for all presentations. Also post any peer reviews or responses to the presentations.
Cyber-Assignments
Include the email sent in response to the syllabus.
How many?_____________
The Known World
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page. Don't forget to post the self-reflections for each graded revision.
Presentation:
Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Feedback___________ (how many?)
For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)
Book Report Essay
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning: Initial Planning Sheet, outlines, etc. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page. Don't forget to post the self-reflections for each graded revision.
Presentation:
Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Feedback___________ (how many?)
For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Post essay and all the graded drafts beginning with the highest grade and the planning: Initial Planning Sheet, outlines, etc. Make sure each essay includes the works cited page. Don't forget to post the self-reflections for each graded revision.
Presentation:
Abstract________
Self-reflection________
Peer Reviews or Feedback___________ (how many?)
For this section also post all the cyber-assignments _____________ (how many?)
Any in-class writing ___________ (how many?)
Post any logs for the book and grades __________ (how many?)
Post the Frontline World Assignments here as well as the New Heroes Cyber-Assignments
From Totems to Hip Hop Cyber-Assignments ____________
The Angry Black White Boy (final)
This essay will be submitted with the portfolio. Please include the planning sheet, an outline and all the related cyber-assignments.
Grade_____________
Course Evaluation
Course evaluation __________ (included or not included)
Teacher research: Can the professor use any of your work? Student will be notified if such is done and if there is any monetary compensation. Student work will be anonymous.
Yes, permission is granted______________. No, permission is not granted_________.
Extra Credit: How many essays? Grades? _______________________
More Extra Credit
Students can also include in the portfolio an essay from another class which demonstrated their competence. Get permission from the other professor first before including the graded essay. Post the assignment, any comments and the grade. It has to be a research essay using at least one source. That is, there needs to be a Works Cited page.
Grade Justification
What grade have you earned this semester? Give a salient argument with evidence proving your case. Don't forget a Works Cited page (smile).
Anything else? Questions, comments? Did I leave anything out? __________________
Man in the Mirror
Reflect on the thesis in the song and use examples from the the video Jackson uses as evidence. Be specific. Give three examples.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Portfolio Narratives
For students who are interested in starting the portfolio essays now, here are the questions which serve as the introduction to the portfolio.
The portfolio narratives (These are essays)
1. The fist narrative will look at the 18 weeks, the themes we looked at this semester, privilege and entitlement. Talk about what you've learned and discovered this semester about writing, college and life, which have transformed or changed you.
What have you learned about yourself this semester? What have you learned about the discipline you are studying in this class: composition and reading that you plan to carry forth into your lifelong pursuit of learning?
Please also comment on the texts and whether or not they were helpful in this process. You can also talk about the instruction, culture of the class and the teacher.
2. Besides the two essays you use as evidence to discuss your revision process, I also want you to include the The Known World essay, the book report essay and the social entrepreneur essay. We have already started the narrative on revision (check past cyber-assignments). Each essay needs to be 250 minimally words.
The checklist will list all the assignments, but you know what they are. On the checklist include the assignment grade. All the essays included in the portfolio are graded essays, except the final essay: The Angry Black White Boy.
If anyone would like help assembling the portfolio bring the assignments electronically to class beginning next week, Monday, Nov. 29 and we will have a few portfolio assembly workshops: Nov. 29 (9:30-10:30, 12-1, 3-4), Nov. 30 (1-2), and Dec. 1 (3-4).
3. Cyber-Assignments: Start collecting all your cyber-assignments. It takes a while to go through all of the posts, so start now. There is a section on the portfolio for these assignments.
4. Freewrites: Type your in-class freewrites. This is another section for your portfolio. Some freewrites are also cyber-assignments.
5. Extra credit. If you have written any essays this semester for extra credit they would go in this section.
6. Evaluation: There is a course evaluation for the class which is optional. I also ask if I can use any of your work for academic research.
This is a preliminary checklist.
For students who are interested in starting the portfolio essays now, here are the questions which serve as the introduction to the portfolio.
The portfolio narratives (These are essays)
1. The fist narrative will look at the 18 weeks, the themes we looked at this semester, privilege and entitlement. Talk about what you've learned and discovered this semester about writing, college and life, which have transformed or changed you.
What have you learned about yourself this semester? What have you learned about the discipline you are studying in this class: composition and reading that you plan to carry forth into your lifelong pursuit of learning?
Please also comment on the texts and whether or not they were helpful in this process. You can also talk about the instruction, culture of the class and the teacher.
2. Besides the two essays you use as evidence to discuss your revision process, I also want you to include the The Known World essay, the book report essay and the social entrepreneur essay. We have already started the narrative on revision (check past cyber-assignments). Each essay needs to be 250 minimally words.
The checklist will list all the assignments, but you know what they are. On the checklist include the assignment grade. All the essays included in the portfolio are graded essays, except the final essay: The Angry Black White Boy.
If anyone would like help assembling the portfolio bring the assignments electronically to class beginning next week, Monday, Nov. 29 and we will have a few portfolio assembly workshops: Nov. 29 (9:30-10:30, 12-1, 3-4), Nov. 30 (1-2), and Dec. 1 (3-4).
3. Cyber-Assignments: Start collecting all your cyber-assignments. It takes a while to go through all of the posts, so start now. There is a section on the portfolio for these assignments.
4. Freewrites: Type your in-class freewrites. This is another section for your portfolio. Some freewrites are also cyber-assignments.
5. Extra credit. If you have written any essays this semester for extra credit they would go in this section.
6. Evaluation: There is a course evaluation for the class which is optional. I also ask if I can use any of your work for academic research.
This is a preliminary checklist.
November 23, 2010 Cyber-Assignment Post and Other things
Today we listened to Marcus Shelby Orchestra's SOUL of the Movement, Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The freewrite is from Totems--Sheroes & Sheroes, Anti- & Otherwise. Read pp. 247-248. Choose a poem and analyze 1-3 salient arguments and give supporting evidence.
Operation Small Ax video--Talk about it. We watched it last week
Se Essay, Book Report revisions, etc.
The Angry Black White Boy--the play, finish and discuss the characters, themes, arguments. Start reading the novel which is on-line.
For homework visit Adam Mansbach's website http://www.adammansbach.com/ and read his essay about hip hop fiction.
Check the SE dates for essay due dates.
Sample Portfolios
Today I posted sample portfolios on several desk top computers this morning.
The freewrite is from Totems--Sheroes & Sheroes, Anti- & Otherwise. Read pp. 247-248. Choose a poem and analyze 1-3 salient arguments and give supporting evidence.
Operation Small Ax video--Talk about it. We watched it last week
Se Essay, Book Report revisions, etc.
The Angry Black White Boy--the play, finish and discuss the characters, themes, arguments. Start reading the novel which is on-line.
For homework visit Adam Mansbach's website http://www.adammansbach.com/ and read his essay about hip hop fiction.
Check the SE dates for essay due dates.
Sample Portfolios
Today I posted sample portfolios on several desk top computers this morning.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Social Entrepreneur Essay: New Dates
English 1B Social Entrepreneur Due Dates:
Planning Due by Thursday, Nov. 18 (write and share)_____________
Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis due Thursday, Nov. 18 (write and share in class) __________
First Draft Tuesday, Nov. 30 (peer reviews)__________
Final Draft due via email, Thursday, Dec. 2. Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Presentations: Dec. 2.
If we have time, students who missed the book report presentation can make it up. Don't forget the abstracts.
Portfolios
We will spend Dec. 6-8 working on portfolio assembly. Bring all of your work to class this week: all the graded drafts. The portfolio is due: Wednesday, Dec. 15, by 12 noon. Email it to me: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Make sure you paste it and attach it. Remember attach only one Word Document, not several documents. If you send it wrong, I will not read it, and this might jeopardize your grade.
Planning Due by Thursday, Nov. 18 (write and share)_____________
Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis due Thursday, Nov. 18 (write and share in class) __________
First Draft Tuesday, Nov. 30 (peer reviews)__________
Final Draft due via email, Thursday, Dec. 2. Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Presentations: Dec. 2.
If we have time, students who missed the book report presentation can make it up. Don't forget the abstracts.
Portfolios
We will spend Dec. 6-8 working on portfolio assembly. Bring all of your work to class this week: all the graded drafts. The portfolio is due: Wednesday, Dec. 15, by 12 noon. Email it to me: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Make sure you paste it and attach it. Remember attach only one Word Document, not several documents. If you send it wrong, I will not read it, and this might jeopardize your grade.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Book Reports
Post responses to classmate's book report here. Presenters post a self-reflection on the process, what you learend and what you did well and how you might improve for the next presentation: Social Entrepreneur.
American Cultures Presentations
Post responses and narratives here. For each presenter, also post a self-reflection on the process: writing to speech. Use substantive responses.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Writing Workshop/Future Assignments
1. Outlines for Book Report Essay Die-Three Part Thesis (worksheet)
2. The Known World--if you are behind, revise the essay and turn it in now.
3. Angry Black White Boy --the play, continue reading aloud.
4. Presentations: American Culture (Tuesday, Nov. 9). Bring in your object. Check the syllabus for the assignment (Sept. 14, 2010).
American Culture Assignment: Bring in an object that represents American culture. Share the reasoning or rationale with your audience. You will paste the document on the website. I plan to videotape the presentation to post on the blog. I hope no one objects.
I will provide a link next week for the comments and posts.
2. The Known World--if you are behind, revise the essay and turn it in now.
3. Angry Black White Boy --the play, continue reading aloud.
4. Presentations: American Culture (Tuesday, Nov. 9). Bring in your object. Check the syllabus for the assignment (Sept. 14, 2010).
American Culture Assignment: Bring in an object that represents American culture. Share the reasoning or rationale with your audience. You will paste the document on the website. I plan to videotape the presentation to post on the blog. I hope no one objects.
I will provide a link next week for the comments and posts.
From October 18, 2010
I need to approve the book before you start reading.
The Known World essays are in and students are ready to move on. If any revisions are still required, turn them in ASAP.
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Our last essay, the Social Entrepreneur Essay planning is due mid-November for peer review. Choose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
The Angry Black White Boy
This essay will be our final and is due with the portfolio, so there will still be a social entrepreneur essay due. This essay will profile an artist who is using his or her work for social change.
I will give you essay questions in December for the Angry Black White Boy. In the meantime, we will read the play based on the novel.
Portfolio
We will start reviewing the portfolio process in November. We will not have an in-class final. The portfolio is due by December 15 via email coasabirenglishB@gmail.com
More later on the portfolio.
The Known World essays are in and students are ready to move on. If any revisions are still required, turn them in ASAP.
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Our last essay, the Social Entrepreneur Essay planning is due mid-November for peer review. Choose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
The Angry Black White Boy
This essay will be our final and is due with the portfolio, so there will still be a social entrepreneur essay due. This essay will profile an artist who is using his or her work for social change.
I will give you essay questions in December for the Angry Black White Boy. In the meantime, we will read the play based on the novel.
Portfolio
We will start reviewing the portfolio process in November. We will not have an in-class final. The portfolio is due by December 15 via email coasabirenglishB@gmail.com
More later on the portfolio.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Cyber-Freewrite and Class Schedule
1. Today the freewrite is to chose a poem from Reed's From Totems to Hip Hop "Politics" and respond in a three paragraph essay: use the three-part thesis sentence in the introduction.
2. Book reports conversation.
3. Angry Black-White Boy reading
4. Correct exercises in Argumentation chapter (Hacker handout)
REMINDER
Frontline World Assignments (October 18, 2010)
There is only one response to this assignment which was due October 31, 2010. Catch up.
2. Book reports conversation.
3. Angry Black-White Boy reading
4. Correct exercises in Argumentation chapter (Hacker handout)
REMINDER
Frontline World Assignments (October 18, 2010)
There is only one response to this assignment which was due October 31, 2010. Catch up.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Self-Reflection on Revision Strategies and Evaluating a Website
Reflect separately on the exercises: Revision Strategies and Evaluating a Website.
Revision Strategies video.
Reflect on the revision process and video. What does it mean to revise? Where does revision fit into the overall writing process? What did Norm mean when he mentioned "skilled and unskilled writers"? What did Sandra Perl mean when she spoke about "editing prematurely"?
What assumptions did Dr. Flowers mention that writers have about "good writing"? What does planning have to do with any of this? What is "perfect draft syndrome"? How is revision a way to transform the writing? What is writer-based, reader-based writing?
What are the steps to revision? How are these steps confirmed by Diana Hacker in her various grammar style books in the section on revision? If you don't have Hacker, use the grammar style book you have to respond to the question.
How is keeping the reader in mind an important part of the writing process? What analogy does one of the character's use to describe the actual document?
Did you hear the questions used in the Initial Planning Sheet also used in the program?
Revision Strategies video.
Reflect on the revision process and video. What does it mean to revise? Where does revision fit into the overall writing process? What did Norm mean when he mentioned "skilled and unskilled writers"? What did Sandra Perl mean when she spoke about "editing prematurely"?
What assumptions did Dr. Flowers mention that writers have about "good writing"? What does planning have to do with any of this? What is "perfect draft syndrome"? How is revision a way to transform the writing? What is writer-based, reader-based writing?
What are the steps to revision? How are these steps confirmed by Diana Hacker in her various grammar style books in the section on revision? If you don't have Hacker, use the grammar style book you have to respond to the question.
How is keeping the reader in mind an important part of the writing process? What analogy does one of the character's use to describe the actual document?
Did you hear the questions used in the Initial Planning Sheet also used in the program?
Check out this website
Today students are evaluating websites. This website is a really fantastic medium for filmmakers out of Canada. Some students elected to evaluate it; however, all students are encouraged to visit it and listen to a few of the interviews: http://highrise.nfb.ca/ The director Katerina Cizek was a guest on my radio show October 27, 2010 in the first hour: www.blogtalkradio.com/wandas-picks She has a film in the United Nations Association Film Festival 2010: The Bicycle. Visit www.unaff.org The films are screening through October 31 at Stanford University.
This assignment is a part of the Library Assignment sheet I gave to students connected to the Social Entrepreneur assignment. The questions re: Evaluating a Web Page are on the College of Alameda site. Look at Library Worksheets. Students paired up to complete this in-class assignment and then sent it to me as an attachment and pasted in the document: Don't forget to include both students names, if you were a team. Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
We then watched a video on Revision Strategies: The Write Course and worked on revising The Known World essays.
Homework is to continue reading the book you chose. Let's meet in A-232 next week as well both days.
This assignment is a part of the Library Assignment sheet I gave to students connected to the Social Entrepreneur assignment. The questions re: Evaluating a Web Page are on the College of Alameda site. Look at Library Worksheets. Students paired up to complete this in-class assignment and then sent it to me as an attachment and pasted in the document: Don't forget to include both students names, if you were a team. Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
We then watched a video on Revision Strategies: The Write Course and worked on revising The Known World essays.
Homework is to continue reading the book you chose. Let's meet in A-232 next week as well both days.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Proceed and Be Bold starring Amos Paul Kennedy Jr.
We spent most of the class watching this film about a former corporate administrator who leaves his profession and begins to make art--printmaking.
I showed the film as an example of an artist who is also an entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur.
How does APK use printing to alter or change the world? What is his motivation? How is printing art? How is what Amos does with printmaking metaphor, even poetry?
What about his life is most intriguing and most existing? What questions does Proceed raise? What questions does it answer?
Write this response in the form of a profile of APK and a film critique/review. Use a published review of the film as a guide. Give citations. Visit Brown Finch Films for more information. The response should be minimally three paragraphs.
I returned a few TKW essays. The revisions are due at the next meeting unless you need to see me. A couple students do. I am around on Wednesdays--call me. I have office hours in the morning and afternoon.
Visit http://www.kennedyprints.com/
http://sfdocfest.bside.com/2009/films/proceedandbebold_sfdocfest2009;jsessionid=DACE16C369829B888458937DF8CE65AE
I showed the film as an example of an artist who is also an entrepreneur, a social entrepreneur.
How does APK use printing to alter or change the world? What is his motivation? How is printing art? How is what Amos does with printmaking metaphor, even poetry?
What about his life is most intriguing and most existing? What questions does Proceed raise? What questions does it answer?
Write this response in the form of a profile of APK and a film critique/review. Use a published review of the film as a guide. Give citations. Visit Brown Finch Films for more information. The response should be minimally three paragraphs.
I returned a few TKW essays. The revisions are due at the next meeting unless you need to see me. A couple students do. I am around on Wednesdays--call me. I have office hours in the morning and afternoon.
Visit http://www.kennedyprints.com/
http://sfdocfest.bside.com/2009/films/proceedandbebold_sfdocfest2009;jsessionid=DACE16C369829B888458937DF8CE65AE
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Cyber-Freewrite
1. Choose a poem from Totems: Politics . Develop three 3-part thesis sentences.
2. Review assignments
3. Read a play: The Angry Black White Boy
4. Homework: Continue reading your book, complete the Frontline World assignment.
2. Review assignments
3. Read a play: The Angry Black White Boy
4. Homework: Continue reading your book, complete the Frontline World assignment.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Angela Davis: Radical Pedagogy Cyber-Assignment
In class on Tuesday we watched a film by director, Angela Carroll about social critic and activist, Professor Angela Y. Davis. After a lively discussion, students were then introduced to the three-part thesis sentence form which we practiced.
Students were to respond to the film in three paragraphs. Homework was also to start reading one's approved collection of stories or novel and to begin thinking about the Social Entrepreneur project and doing the Frontline World exercises.
Students were to respond to the film in three paragraphs. Homework was also to start reading one's approved collection of stories or novel and to begin thinking about the Social Entrepreneur project and doing the Frontline World exercises.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Notes
I need to approve the book before you start reading.
The Known World essays are in and students are ready to move on. If any revisions are still required, turn them in ASAP.
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Our last essay, the Social Entrepreneur Essay planning is due mid-November for peer review. Choose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
The Angry Black White Boy
This essay will be our final and is due with the portfolio, so there will still be a social entrepreneur essay due. This essay will profile an artist who is using his or her work for social change.
I will give you essay questions in December for the Angry Black White Boy. In the meantime, we will read the play based on the novel.
Portfolio
We will start reviewing the portfolio process in November. We will not have an in-class final. The portfolio is due by December 15 via email coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
More later on the portfolio.
The Known World essays are in and students are ready to move on. If any revisions are still required, turn them in ASAP.
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Our last essay, the Social Entrepreneur Essay planning is due mid-November for peer review. Choose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
The Angry Black White Boy
This essay will be our final and is due with the portfolio, so there will still be a social entrepreneur essay due. This essay will profile an artist who is using his or her work for social change.
I will give you essay questions in December for the Angry Black White Boy. In the meantime, we will read the play based on the novel.
Portfolio
We will start reviewing the portfolio process in November. We will not have an in-class final. The portfolio is due by December 15 via email coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
More later on the portfolio.
Frontline World: Engaged Citizenry Cyber-Assignment
Frontline World Cyber-Assignment Post(s)http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/socialentrepreneurs.html
Respond to 3 stories by 10/18-10/31. Bring in headphones for the computer. Post your Frontline World Responses (3) on the blog.
Answer the following questions in your response to the program.
Outline:
1.Who is the social entrepreneur profiled?
2.What problem did the person profiled identify?
3.What is the name of the organization they started?
4.Describe their relationship to the community that they serve?
• Why they decided to address this issue?
5.What is the local component?
6.How does the community own the process?
Respond to 3 stories by 10/18-10/31. Bring in headphones for the computer. Post your Frontline World Responses (3) on the blog.
Answer the following questions in your response to the program.
Outline:
1.Who is the social entrepreneur profiled?
2.What problem did the person profiled identify?
3.What is the name of the organization they started?
4.Describe their relationship to the community that they serve?
• Why they decided to address this issue?
5.What is the local component?
6.How does the community own the process?
Book Report Essay Due Nov. 12
This semester we are looking at Privilege
Each student was asked to choose a novel. The author needed to be alive and living in the Northern California if possible. I suggested students chose a subject or author who might also work as a topic for the Social Entrepreneur profile. For example, Isabel Allende is a wonderful Chilean writer who is also social entrepreneur. She is not under 30, but that is okay. Another wonderful writer is Maxine Hong Kingston and my favorite writer, Alice Walker.
For each essay, students need to find three articles: a published book review or analysis, and for the author, see if there is something on the author in Literary Criticism, (on-line in the Library Database and in COA library (public libraries as well). Third, find an article that addresses one of the themes in the book. Include all of these sources in your works cited page.
The essay will be 3-4 pages and in it you will summarize your book’s major themes and analyze them. Tell us something about the author and how he or she comes to write the book if applicable. You can always save this for the presentation, that and if the book is the author’s first.
Abstract
The presentation is weighted heavily here, so prepare well, and please include an abstract which includes the title of the book, the key points you plan to make and any arguments you’d like us to consider. Bring in copies for each student.
Book Report
Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis Nov. 4___________
First Draft Tuesday, Nov. 9___________
Final Draft Friday, Nov. 12 via email____________
Presentations: Tuesday, Nov. 16___________
The presentation is a quarter of the grade for this assignment
Each student was asked to choose a novel. The author needed to be alive and living in the Northern California if possible. I suggested students chose a subject or author who might also work as a topic for the Social Entrepreneur profile. For example, Isabel Allende is a wonderful Chilean writer who is also social entrepreneur. She is not under 30, but that is okay. Another wonderful writer is Maxine Hong Kingston and my favorite writer, Alice Walker.
For each essay, students need to find three articles: a published book review or analysis, and for the author, see if there is something on the author in Literary Criticism, (on-line in the Library Database and in COA library (public libraries as well). Third, find an article that addresses one of the themes in the book. Include all of these sources in your works cited page.
The essay will be 3-4 pages and in it you will summarize your book’s major themes and analyze them. Tell us something about the author and how he or she comes to write the book if applicable. You can always save this for the presentation, that and if the book is the author’s first.
Abstract
The presentation is weighted heavily here, so prepare well, and please include an abstract which includes the title of the book, the key points you plan to make and any arguments you’d like us to consider. Bring in copies for each student.
Book Report
Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis Nov. 4___________
First Draft Tuesday, Nov. 9___________
Final Draft Friday, Nov. 12 via email____________
Presentations: Tuesday, Nov. 16___________
The presentation is a quarter of the grade for this assignment
Social Entrepreneur Essay Assignment Due Nov. 19
Assignment: Social Entrepreneurs: Engaged Citizenry
English 1B
Choose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
Introduction
Open with the problem statement. Be descriptive.
The thesis sentence names your social entrepreneur as a person who is addressing the problem identified in the introduction.
Body paragraphs
Background on the social entrepreneur and what brings them to the work. You can cite statistics here to illustrate the problem
Introduce the organization or business venture. Does the work grow out of the community? How do the SE and the community interact?
Are there any partnerships with other organizations and/or government?
Are there any peer reviews or industry reports?
What are the measurable results for the community? Share a story here.
What are the measurable results for the SE. You could quote the SE here.
Narrative
Your essay needs to answer all of these questions; you can structure it like a typical problem/solution essay or cause and effect.
The person has to be alive. Try to find someone local, who is living in the San Francisco Bay Area or in California. The person has to have been doing this work for 10-20 years (the length of time is negotiable; see me).
You need to locate 5 sources on your subject to form a bibliography; you don't have to cite them all. The sources can be published or broadcast interviews, books, articles, and films or you can interview them yourself. The person cannot be a relative. You can work in groups and share data. In fact, I encourage it.
You will have three citations: 1 in-text citation, one paraphrase, and one block quote in the essay. The rest of the writing has to be your own. The essay should be 4pages (English 1A). This does not include the works cited page or bibliography.
English 1B Social Entrepreneur Due Dates:
Planning Due by Tuesday, Nov. 18 (share)_____________
Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis due Tuesday, Nov. 16 __________
First Draft Tuesday, Nov. 30 (peer reviews)__________
Final Draft due via email, Thursday, Dec. 2. Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Presentations: Dec. 2
Supplementary Assignments
On-line Frontline World (on-line responses 3) Start Tuesday, October 19_______
Library Research sheet: Thursday, October 21_______________
Website Evaluation completed (worksheet) by October 30 (in-class) _____________
List of sources (5) minimum in MLA format due Tuesday, Nov. 13 (share in class) ___________
English 1B
Choose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
Introduction
Open with the problem statement. Be descriptive.
The thesis sentence names your social entrepreneur as a person who is addressing the problem identified in the introduction.
Body paragraphs
Background on the social entrepreneur and what brings them to the work. You can cite statistics here to illustrate the problem
Introduce the organization or business venture. Does the work grow out of the community? How do the SE and the community interact?
Are there any partnerships with other organizations and/or government?
Are there any peer reviews or industry reports?
What are the measurable results for the community? Share a story here.
What are the measurable results for the SE. You could quote the SE here.
Narrative
Your essay needs to answer all of these questions; you can structure it like a typical problem/solution essay or cause and effect.
The person has to be alive. Try to find someone local, who is living in the San Francisco Bay Area or in California. The person has to have been doing this work for 10-20 years (the length of time is negotiable; see me).
You need to locate 5 sources on your subject to form a bibliography; you don't have to cite them all. The sources can be published or broadcast interviews, books, articles, and films or you can interview them yourself. The person cannot be a relative. You can work in groups and share data. In fact, I encourage it.
You will have three citations: 1 in-text citation, one paraphrase, and one block quote in the essay. The rest of the writing has to be your own. The essay should be 4pages (English 1A). This does not include the works cited page or bibliography.
English 1B Social Entrepreneur Due Dates:
Planning Due by Tuesday, Nov. 18 (share)_____________
Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis due Tuesday, Nov. 16 __________
First Draft Tuesday, Nov. 30 (peer reviews)__________
Final Draft due via email, Thursday, Dec. 2. Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Presentations: Dec. 2
Supplementary Assignments
On-line Frontline World (on-line responses 3) Start Tuesday, October 19_______
Library Research sheet: Thursday, October 21_______________
Website Evaluation completed (worksheet) by October 30 (in-class) _____________
List of sources (5) minimum in MLA format due Tuesday, Nov. 13 (share in class) ___________
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Homework is to catch up on the essay writing, if behind. Students can email me, just call me and let me know you have sent a revised essay. In your preamble, let me know what changed between drafts and the grade, if any given or comments.
Homework is also to bring in a book written by a Northern California writer 30 years old or younger. Sources to find such writers are: The Northern California Book Reviewers Association, Before Columbus Foundation, Poetry Flash.
This is Banded Book Month, I was told and there is a book display at Laney College Library students might want to check out. Berkeley is also a participant in Banned Books Month in the past.
Homework is also to bring in a book written by a Northern California writer 30 years old or younger. Sources to find such writers are: The Northern California Book Reviewers Association, Before Columbus Foundation, Poetry Flash.
This is Banded Book Month, I was told and there is a book display at Laney College Library students might want to check out. Berkeley is also a participant in Banned Books Month in the past.
Freewrite
Choose a poem from Reed and write a three paragraph response exploring the argument and themes.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Argumentation
Today we watched the video: Argumentation, produced by The Write Course. Post reflections on the video: What you learned and what was clarified about argument that you might have forgotten.
Why is argumentation an important rhetorical tool?
Homework will be to chose a poem from Reed's Men and Women, and state the argument and pull out support: definitions, analogies, testimony and/or consequences to support the argument. Post here.
What does Reed say about this section and why he included it in his anthology? Summarize his reasons and incorporate your example into this summary essay. Three paragraphs is fine.
Why is argumentation an important rhetorical tool?
Homework will be to chose a poem from Reed's Men and Women, and state the argument and pull out support: definitions, analogies, testimony and/or consequences to support the argument. Post here.
What does Reed say about this section and why he included it in his anthology? Summarize his reasons and incorporate your example into this summary essay. Three paragraphs is fine.
Peer Review and Comments on Essay presentations
Checklist for Classical Argument:
1. Does my paper include the elements of Classical argument structure in proper sequence?
2. Does my introduction clearly present my thesis and necessary background information?
3. Have I acknowledged and accurately presented challengingly viewpoints? have I refuted them thoroughly?
4. Does my conclusion summarize the key points of my argument, present insightful interpretations, or make appropriate predictions or recommendations?
1. Does my paper include the elements of Classical argument structure in proper sequence?
2. Does my introduction clearly present my thesis and necessary background information?
3. Have I acknowledged and accurately presented challengingly viewpoints? have I refuted them thoroughly?
4. Does my conclusion summarize the key points of my argument, present insightful interpretations, or make appropriate predictions or recommendations?
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Today in class we reviewed the Classical Argument form by doing some prewriting together around the topic: "choice" using three characters from TKW to illustrate the point: Robbins, Townsend and Skiffington.
We got as far as the Initial Planning and character profiles looking at certain aspects of the character's character such as motivating factors like wants and needs and what each one might have sacrificed to get what he wanted most.
I handed out samples of an essay to students, as well as additional questions to ask to fulfill the assignment which is due Thursday, October 7. Students need to come prepared to present their essays.
Some of the essays I read aloud were not compelling and the evidence used was not the best evidence. We are look for deep analysis at this level of academic writing. The essays don't have to be long, but they have to be powerful.
I also showed a film on Argumentation as well. We'll complete the film on Thursday. If students were absent today, you cannot make up the essay on Thursday, and this essay is part of a three-essay assignment. The next two are die next week: Tuesday and Thursday with presentations.
This is just a fun exercise I decided to try out this semester. It might be a new essay form for some of you.
For the students who have been missing class, drop the class. I am tired of seeing students once a week in a two-meeting class. Many of these students started teh class late.
I will not be gentle in the grading of this 3-part essay project on The Known World. I noticed that only one student, maybe two were involved in the discussion this morning.
This is a writing class, so I am fine with reviewing essay structure and research methods, but I am not going to review grammar without penalizing the student whose paper is rife with errors. Such students will have to write an essay identifying the errors and prescribing a solution based on a grammarian like Diana Hacker. You only have one time to get it right.
I don't think anyone from this class has met with me outside of class. In fact I am waiting right now for a student who never showed (12:15-1:40 PM).
I am leaving now.
We also talked about The Angry Black White Boy which will be our final essay and presentation. Students will chose from the three arguments forms and present an essay based on one of them to the class and in writing.
We will not do the Social Entrepreneur Essay. Oh, students need to use a scholarly source for each essay they write, including The Known World.
We got as far as the Initial Planning and character profiles looking at certain aspects of the character's character such as motivating factors like wants and needs and what each one might have sacrificed to get what he wanted most.
I handed out samples of an essay to students, as well as additional questions to ask to fulfill the assignment which is due Thursday, October 7. Students need to come prepared to present their essays.
Some of the essays I read aloud were not compelling and the evidence used was not the best evidence. We are look for deep analysis at this level of academic writing. The essays don't have to be long, but they have to be powerful.
I also showed a film on Argumentation as well. We'll complete the film on Thursday. If students were absent today, you cannot make up the essay on Thursday, and this essay is part of a three-essay assignment. The next two are die next week: Tuesday and Thursday with presentations.
This is just a fun exercise I decided to try out this semester. It might be a new essay form for some of you.
For the students who have been missing class, drop the class. I am tired of seeing students once a week in a two-meeting class. Many of these students started teh class late.
I will not be gentle in the grading of this 3-part essay project on The Known World. I noticed that only one student, maybe two were involved in the discussion this morning.
This is a writing class, so I am fine with reviewing essay structure and research methods, but I am not going to review grammar without penalizing the student whose paper is rife with errors. Such students will have to write an essay identifying the errors and prescribing a solution based on a grammarian like Diana Hacker. You only have one time to get it right.
I don't think anyone from this class has met with me outside of class. In fact I am waiting right now for a student who never showed (12:15-1:40 PM).
I am leaving now.
We also talked about The Angry Black White Boy which will be our final essay and presentation. Students will chose from the three arguments forms and present an essay based on one of them to the class and in writing.
We will not do the Social Entrepreneur Essay. Oh, students need to use a scholarly source for each essay they write, including The Known World.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Essay Assignments and Due Dates
We are going to write three arguments using themes from The Known World. The first essay will use The Classical Model of Argument.
The second essay will use the Toulmin Model and the last Rogerian. I will give students models and/or templates for each essay assignment.
The first essay will be due Tuesday, October 5. Bring in a completed Initial Planning Sheet and an outline. We will have a peer review that day and students will present their essay on Thursday, October 7. I said the essay could be 2-4 pages, but I don't know if you can do justice to your topic in two pages, so I have changed the assignment to 3-4 pages, plus a works cited.
Students will use the same evidence for all the essays and the same thesis , all that will change will be the arrangement and form of the essay. The presentation and Toulmin essay will be due October 12 and the Rogerian, October 14.
We'll practice writing an argument in class next week together. Follow the narrative and your essay will be fine. I also mentioned going to the sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz Island, Monday, October 11, 5 AM. Visit http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/website/pprog-upcoming-events.aspx
We also practiced developing signal phrases using a workbook I distributed. Many of the students borrowed the book. Please return next Thursday. Write on a separate sheet of paper. Thanks!
Bring in your novel you'd like to read for the class next week, so I can approve it. This essay will be due early November, let's say, week of Nov. 1-4. We will start the pre-writing the week of October 25-28.
We'll read a play in class and conclude the semester with a profile on an artist who is using their creativity to challenge inequity in society. This essay, which is your final, will be due, Nov. 22-25. Presentations will be Nov. 30.
The portfolio is due Dec. 9 electronically. We will begin assembling it Dec. 2 and 7. This is the end of the course.
Skills: Thesis development: topical invention and 3-part thesis, essay structure, mapping, academic research methods, grammar refresher, paraphrasing, MLA, argument, outlining,
The second essay will use the Toulmin Model and the last Rogerian. I will give students models and/or templates for each essay assignment.
The first essay will be due Tuesday, October 5. Bring in a completed Initial Planning Sheet and an outline. We will have a peer review that day and students will present their essay on Thursday, October 7. I said the essay could be 2-4 pages, but I don't know if you can do justice to your topic in two pages, so I have changed the assignment to 3-4 pages, plus a works cited.
Students will use the same evidence for all the essays and the same thesis , all that will change will be the arrangement and form of the essay. The presentation and Toulmin essay will be due October 12 and the Rogerian, October 14.
We'll practice writing an argument in class next week together. Follow the narrative and your essay will be fine. I also mentioned going to the sunrise ceremony on Alcatraz Island, Monday, October 11, 5 AM. Visit http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/website/pprog-upcoming-events.aspx
We also practiced developing signal phrases using a workbook I distributed. Many of the students borrowed the book. Please return next Thursday. Write on a separate sheet of paper. Thanks!
Bring in your novel you'd like to read for the class next week, so I can approve it. This essay will be due early November, let's say, week of Nov. 1-4. We will start the pre-writing the week of October 25-28.
We'll read a play in class and conclude the semester with a profile on an artist who is using their creativity to challenge inequity in society. This essay, which is your final, will be due, Nov. 22-25. Presentations will be Nov. 30.
The portfolio is due Dec. 9 electronically. We will begin assembling it Dec. 2 and 7. This is the end of the course.
Skills: Thesis development: topical invention and 3-part thesis, essay structure, mapping, academic research methods, grammar refresher, paraphrasing, MLA, argument, outlining,
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Topical Invention
Today in class two students have completed TKW, congratulations. Still other students are treading water, or should I say tree pulp and ink? We were in chapter 6-7 last week.
We read a poem from Reed by Floyd Salas and then preceded to develop thesis sentences using "topical invention." Invention refers to any pre-writing strategy that helps writers develop ideas about their topic. In this case, students develop thesis sentences that answer questions (handout).
The resulting sentences are definitions (what is it/was it), analogies (what is it like/unlike), consequences (what caused it/did it cause/will it cause) and testimony (what does an authority say about it).
Students were in groups and used a mapping handout and another handout that helped students narrow their topics. Homework is to develop 4 thesis sentences using this technique and bring to class electronically. Email them to yourself.
Post your four sentences here. Pull the topics from Chapter 8 in TKW. We will write another short essay on Thursday. Students were to bring in examples of signal phrases and block quotes for homework.
For homework bring in five published examples of a signal phrases and three examples of a block quote. Use a variety of media: scholarly articles, newspapers, and magazines. Bring the examples to class.
No one did last week's assignment. It is posted below as well. We used one poem for the freewrite in class; the homework was to do the same again, using another poem.
We read a poem from Reed by Floyd Salas and then preceded to develop thesis sentences using "topical invention." Invention refers to any pre-writing strategy that helps writers develop ideas about their topic. In this case, students develop thesis sentences that answer questions (handout).
The resulting sentences are definitions (what is it/was it), analogies (what is it like/unlike), consequences (what caused it/did it cause/will it cause) and testimony (what does an authority say about it).
Students were in groups and used a mapping handout and another handout that helped students narrow their topics. Homework is to develop 4 thesis sentences using this technique and bring to class electronically. Email them to yourself.
Post your four sentences here. Pull the topics from Chapter 8 in TKW. We will write another short essay on Thursday. Students were to bring in examples of signal phrases and block quotes for homework.
For homework bring in five published examples of a signal phrases and three examples of a block quote. Use a variety of media: scholarly articles, newspapers, and magazines. Bring the examples to class.
No one did last week's assignment. It is posted below as well. We used one poem for the freewrite in class; the homework was to do the same again, using another poem.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Homework Recap
We will table the Tulia, TX assignment. We ended up discussing TKW and looking at poetry from Reed's book, the next chapter, Men and Women. I gave students an Initial Planning Sheet and we started talking about the freewriting assignment, which was to find a poem from Totems, Nature and Place, that tied in thematically with chapters 6-8.
Students were in varying stages of completion of the freewrite when we looked at Caldonia's love for Henry and an exploration of the topic.
Homework is to take a topic from chapters 6-8 and a corresponding poem or two and use both the poem and evidence from the book to support the thesis. Use IPS to map out your strategy first. Post the IPS and the three-five paragraph essay on the topic.
Mine was love and grief. You could look at "justice" and its application or "freedom," how easily it is lost for someone who is not respected or privileged like Augustus. Post your short essays here.
The other assignments re: signal phrases and published block quotes are due next week. Bring to class. If there are any questions: call me.
I really enjoyed the discussion today. Some students are lost. Get a tutor and read the book with them if a study group is out of the question.
Students were in varying stages of completion of the freewrite when we looked at Caldonia's love for Henry and an exploration of the topic.
Homework is to take a topic from chapters 6-8 and a corresponding poem or two and use both the poem and evidence from the book to support the thesis. Use IPS to map out your strategy first. Post the IPS and the three-five paragraph essay on the topic.
Mine was love and grief. You could look at "justice" and its application or "freedom," how easily it is lost for someone who is not respected or privileged like Augustus. Post your short essays here.
The other assignments re: signal phrases and published block quotes are due next week. Bring to class. If there are any questions: call me.
I really enjoyed the discussion today. Some students are lost. Get a tutor and read the book with them if a study group is out of the question.
Freewrite Cyber-Assignment
Chose a poem to respond to that ties into TKW Chapters 6-7. Write a three paragraph essay response. Incorporate three citations from both sources: a paraphrase, a block quote and an in-text citation.
For homework bring in five published examples of a signal phrases and three examples of a block quote. Use a variety of media: scholarly articles, newspapers, and magazines. Bring the examples to class.
Write a 250 word response to the film: Tulia, Texas, directed by Cassandra Heraman & Kellt Walen (60 min.) Visit http://www.tuliatexasfilm.com/ and http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/tuliatexas/
Tie into TKW. Show how this story gives the novel currency. Again use citations from both TKW and the film. Due at the next class.
From the Independent Lens website:
This is a story about how our idea of justice gets corrupted when we declare war on something.”
—Jeff Blackburn, criminal defense attorney
On July 23, 1999, undercover narcotics agent Thomas Coleman carried out one of the biggest drug stings in Texas history. By the end of the blazing summer day, dozens of residents in the sleepy farming town of Tulia had been rounded up and thrown behind bars. Thirty-nine of the 46 people accused of selling drugs to Coleman were African American. But disturbing evidence about the undercover investigation and Coleman’s past soon began to surface.
TULIA,TEXAS follows the 1999 raid and its aftermath, which roiled the small rural community. When Gary Gardner, a retired white farmer, questioned the arrests, other residents who were convinced of the defendants’ guilt criticized him for raising the issue publicly. More questions were raised after 13 defendants were convicted and given unusually long prison sentences—25, 60 and in some cases even 90 years. The arrest of 22-year-old Freddie Brookins Jr. came as a shock to his family. A celebrated high school athlete, Freddie, who had no prior criminal record, was given a 20-year sentence. When a lawyer named Jeff Blackburn found numerous discrepancies in Tom Coleman’s testimony, further investigation revealed a warrant for Coleman’s arrest. Coleman, who had been named Texas Lawman of the Year, was caught lying and tried for perjury. A judge referred to him as “the most devious, non-responsive law enforcement witness this court has witnessed in 25 years on the bench in Texas.”
Yet despite evidence showing a clear miscarriage of justice in the original trials, some Tulia residents held on to their beliefs that all those who had been arrested were guilty and that Coleman’s “mistakes” were merely legal technicalities. And as former defendants tried to mend their disrupted lives and the town attempted to resume life as usual, the residents of Tulia, both white and black, were left with feelings of wariness toward one another. TULIA, TEXAS shows how America’s war on drugs and its over-zealous law enforcement, combined with racial divisions, have exposed deep-seated animosities and even starker injustices.
For homework bring in five published examples of a signal phrases and three examples of a block quote. Use a variety of media: scholarly articles, newspapers, and magazines. Bring the examples to class.
Write a 250 word response to the film: Tulia, Texas, directed by Cassandra Heraman & Kellt Walen (60 min.) Visit http://www.tuliatexasfilm.com/ and http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/tuliatexas/
Tie into TKW. Show how this story gives the novel currency. Again use citations from both TKW and the film. Due at the next class.
From the Independent Lens website:
This is a story about how our idea of justice gets corrupted when we declare war on something.”
—Jeff Blackburn, criminal defense attorney
On July 23, 1999, undercover narcotics agent Thomas Coleman carried out one of the biggest drug stings in Texas history. By the end of the blazing summer day, dozens of residents in the sleepy farming town of Tulia had been rounded up and thrown behind bars. Thirty-nine of the 46 people accused of selling drugs to Coleman were African American. But disturbing evidence about the undercover investigation and Coleman’s past soon began to surface.
TULIA,TEXAS follows the 1999 raid and its aftermath, which roiled the small rural community. When Gary Gardner, a retired white farmer, questioned the arrests, other residents who were convinced of the defendants’ guilt criticized him for raising the issue publicly. More questions were raised after 13 defendants were convicted and given unusually long prison sentences—25, 60 and in some cases even 90 years. The arrest of 22-year-old Freddie Brookins Jr. came as a shock to his family. A celebrated high school athlete, Freddie, who had no prior criminal record, was given a 20-year sentence. When a lawyer named Jeff Blackburn found numerous discrepancies in Tom Coleman’s testimony, further investigation revealed a warrant for Coleman’s arrest. Coleman, who had been named Texas Lawman of the Year, was caught lying and tried for perjury. A judge referred to him as “the most devious, non-responsive law enforcement witness this court has witnessed in 25 years on the bench in Texas.”
Yet despite evidence showing a clear miscarriage of justice in the original trials, some Tulia residents held on to their beliefs that all those who had been arrested were guilty and that Coleman’s “mistakes” were merely legal technicalities. And as former defendants tried to mend their disrupted lives and the town attempted to resume life as usual, the residents of Tulia, both white and black, were left with feelings of wariness toward one another. TULIA, TEXAS shows how America’s war on drugs and its over-zealous law enforcement, combined with racial divisions, have exposed deep-seated animosities and even starker injustices.
Free Write
I am looking for the film: Traces of the Trade. In the meantime, I will show you a film about a case in Tulia, Texas, where justice was not blindfolded.
Assignments for Fall 2010
Chapter Logs up to Chapter 7 due Tuesday, September 28, typed or copies of handwritten notes, stapled.
Readings:
Chapter 8-9: Sept. 28/Oct. 1 Discussion and Writing Assignment.
Chapter 10-12 end note (letter): October 5/7 end note
Discussion and Writing Assignment. Chapter logs due, copies or typed (typed is best).
Book Report Essay or Life After TKW (smile)
Book report essay due: October 26.
Bring in the book or titles for consideration beginning September 28/30 to October 5/7.
I need to approve the book first.
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Our last essay, the Social Entrepreneur Essay planning is due mid-November for peer review. Chose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
Portfolio
We will start reviewing the portfolio process in November as well to be completed before finals. We will not have a final in this class. The portfolio and the portfolio presentation is the final. We will complete this before classes end.
More later on this.
Readings:
Chapter 8-9: Sept. 28/Oct. 1 Discussion and Writing Assignment.
Chapter 10-12 end note (letter): October 5/7 end note
Discussion and Writing Assignment. Chapter logs due, copies or typed (typed is best).
Book Report Essay or Life After TKW (smile)
Book report essay due: October 26.
Bring in the book or titles for consideration beginning September 28/30 to October 5/7.
I need to approve the book first.
Social Entrepreneur Essay
Our last essay, the Social Entrepreneur Essay planning is due mid-November for peer review. Chose an artist who is using their work for social change, to interrupt the status quo re: entitlement and privilege especially entitlement based on race, gender and class.
Portfolio
We will start reviewing the portfolio process in November as well to be completed before finals. We will not have a final in this class. The portfolio and the portfolio presentation is the final. We will complete this before classes end.
More later on this.
We had a library orientation Tuesday, September 21, with Steve Gerstle, M.L.I.S. -- Reference and Instruction Librarian, 748-5217. There were handouts. If you missed class, check-in with a classmate or me. Any handouts you can pick up from Professor Gerstle.
Here are the videos he showed that mornig to students in my two classes:
20/20 Privilege in America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcJ8ib8U3zk&p=6E71245F3C140D8A&playnext=1&index=13
Developing a Topic:
http://www.wou.edu/provost/library/clip/tutorials/dev_topic.htm
Here are the videos he showed that mornig to students in my two classes:
20/20 Privilege in America
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcJ8ib8U3zk&p=6E71245F3C140D8A&playnext=1&index=13
Developing a Topic:
http://www.wou.edu/provost/library/clip/tutorials/dev_topic.htm
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Library Orientation: TKW
Reflect on the library orientation and how important research is to you as a scholar. Find an article in the library database that might help you in your analysis of The Known World.
Post a summary of your article for homework here and how it ties into your research question/topic.
We will complete the book for Tuesday, Sept. 28.
Post a summary of your article for homework here and how it ties into your research question/topic.
We will complete the book for Tuesday, Sept. 28.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Theatre Dates
I am going to Paper Angels this evening. Two students from another class can go, so I am rearranging my schedule to accompany them. The play is in Chinatown in San Francisco and is a part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival.
Homework and class recap
Students then got into Literature Circles to discuss TKW. Most students are very behind on the reading (chapters 1-2). We are up to chapter 5. For next week read chapter 6-8 pp. 180-274.
Today we looked at classes or groups of characters: parents or guardians, incorrigible slaves or enslaved persons who loved freedom; characters with mental illness, crippled characters, rich and poor, those who died young, families: intact and splintered, blended families....
For next week think about the consequences for those characters who have no control over their persons and how events beyond their control make them behave in certain ways.
Think about the choices certain characters make and the consequences, seen and unanticipated.
We will write and present three arguments for this book: Aristotelian, Toulmin, and Rogerian. The topics to be considered are:US Institution of Slavery: Legality vs. Morality. Parents and Children: Choice or Heredity/Nature or Nurture? The Known World: Thinking Outside the Box.
We will begin writing these essays next week. We will also practice making an outline.
Today we looked at classes or groups of characters: parents or guardians, incorrigible slaves or enslaved persons who loved freedom; characters with mental illness, crippled characters, rich and poor, those who died young, families: intact and splintered, blended families....
For next week think about the consequences for those characters who have no control over their persons and how events beyond their control make them behave in certain ways.
Think about the choices certain characters make and the consequences, seen and unanticipated.
We will write and present three arguments for this book: Aristotelian, Toulmin, and Rogerian. The topics to be considered are:US Institution of Slavery: Legality vs. Morality. Parents and Children: Choice or Heredity/Nature or Nurture? The Known World: Thinking Outside the Box.
We will begin writing these essays next week. We will also practice making an outline.
Cyber-Freewrite
Today in class students responded to a poem or poems from Reed. Post your three paragraph essay response here. Check the formattign before posting, blogger does not hold the formatting.
Students were to comment on a classmate's essay using Microsoft Comment and then send a copy of the annotated essay to the student. Copy yourself and me coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Students were to comment on a classmate's essay using Microsoft Comment and then send a copy of the annotated essay to the student. Copy yourself and me coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Cyber-Assignment for Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010 and recap
Today in class we had a lively discussion of Reed's introduction to Nature and Place in From Totems to Hip-Hop. Students worked in pairs paraphrasing stanzas of the poem Reed concludes with "O Dark Sister."
We then talked about discussion groups called "Literature Circles," which we formed to talk about The Known World. Quite a few students had read up to chapter two, last week's homework; however, only two students were up to chapter four. Homework for today is to read up to chapter 6 in TKW.
Students are also to read another poem from Nature & Place. This will be the topic of the freewrite for Thursday, Sept. 16.
For those who participated in the discussion group(s). Post a reflection on the process. How did it go for you? What did you like about sharing your thoughts about the literature? How did the activity expand your knowledge?
Many students have not completed the Paley assignment, and still others have not completed TKW assignments on the blog and the Reed assignment from Sept. 2. Homework this weekend was to complete these assignments. Students have to complete these assignments.
Presently they are archived, so look in the margins for the link to August 2010 posts.
Come to class on time, and remember next week, we are meeting in A-232.
We then talked about discussion groups called "Literature Circles," which we formed to talk about The Known World. Quite a few students had read up to chapter two, last week's homework; however, only two students were up to chapter four. Homework for today is to read up to chapter 6 in TKW.
Students are also to read another poem from Nature & Place. This will be the topic of the freewrite for Thursday, Sept. 16.
For those who participated in the discussion group(s). Post a reflection on the process. How did it go for you? What did you like about sharing your thoughts about the literature? How did the activity expand your knowledge?
Many students have not completed the Paley assignment, and still others have not completed TKW assignments on the blog and the Reed assignment from Sept. 2. Homework this weekend was to complete these assignments. Students have to complete these assignments.
Presently they are archived, so look in the margins for the link to August 2010 posts.
Come to class on time, and remember next week, we are meeting in A-232.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Today in class
Today in class we did a few exercises to familiarize ourselves with the technology like Microsoft Comment. Three students read each other's papers and commented on them and emailed the papers to the student and to me.
We also practiced both pasting and attaching assignments, in this case, the freewrite on September 11.
Students should get used to pasting and attaching assignments or responses. Do both. We also practiced setting up a paper: heading, header, spacing and margins.
We concluded the class with Grace Paley poetry and stories (summaries). I read a poem from Reed's anthology.
Again homework is to catch up.
If you are a new student, read the entire blog starting with the syllabus (August 22, 2010 post). The assignments you are responsible for start the first day you attend. Other assignments are relevant for your personal edification. You cannot make them up.
Extra credit assignments do not substitute or take the place of course assignments. I think students need to experience the world, go to author events, concerts, plays, films, the museum. These activities do not have to result in a piece of writing. The experience and conversation afterwards is often enough.
A lot of students are coming to class late. Some of these students have serious challenges, like homelessness, but not all have this story. I received a call today from a student who is in the hospital. She has been there since last week. I cannot stop and catch you up when late. Students who are late will just miss the assignment. Thursday and some Tuesdays, I stay around after my last class, so I am available 12-1 like today.
Don't forget, Tuesday, Sept. 14, is the first formal presentation, the topic: American culture. Bring in an object that represents American culture. Share the reasoning or rationale with your audience. You will paste the document on the website. I plan to videotape the presentation to post on the blog. I hope no one objects.
We also practiced both pasting and attaching assignments, in this case, the freewrite on September 11.
Students should get used to pasting and attaching assignments or responses. Do both. We also practiced setting up a paper: heading, header, spacing and margins.
We concluded the class with Grace Paley poetry and stories (summaries). I read a poem from Reed's anthology.
Again homework is to catch up.
If you are a new student, read the entire blog starting with the syllabus (August 22, 2010 post). The assignments you are responsible for start the first day you attend. Other assignments are relevant for your personal edification. You cannot make them up.
Extra credit assignments do not substitute or take the place of course assignments. I think students need to experience the world, go to author events, concerts, plays, films, the museum. These activities do not have to result in a piece of writing. The experience and conversation afterwards is often enough.
A lot of students are coming to class late. Some of these students have serious challenges, like homelessness, but not all have this story. I received a call today from a student who is in the hospital. She has been there since last week. I cannot stop and catch you up when late. Students who are late will just miss the assignment. Thursday and some Tuesdays, I stay around after my last class, so I am available 12-1 like today.
Don't forget, Tuesday, Sept. 14, is the first formal presentation, the topic: American culture. Bring in an object that represents American culture. Share the reasoning or rationale with your audience. You will paste the document on the website. I plan to videotape the presentation to post on the blog. I hope no one objects.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Still Freestyling
Tuesday we watched a film about Grace Paley www.gracepaleythefilm.com If you missed the film you can still complete the assignment. You'll just have to do a bit more reading about the writer and her work.
Homework is to visit the film website. Read about the film and the director. Respond to the following question in 50 words (2 typed pages). also bring in a Paley short story or a poem or two, maybe three.
Essay assignment:
Who is/was Grace Paley? How did she integrate writing and activism: the writer as social change agent? Use examples from the film and from one scholarly article about the writer. Use the COA library database. Sot there are three sources: Grace Paley: Collected Shorts, directed by Lilly Rivlin; one scholarly article, and your Paley poem or story.
Make sure your MLA is perfect, or as perfect as you can make it. Bring in Reed and Jones to class Thursday. We meet in A-232.
The free styling pertains to the improvisational nature of our classes and assignments. I plan one lesson and end up pulling a rabbit out of my backpack--Grace Paley.
I hope everyone will have their books and be up to speed by next Tuesday. The assignment given last week still stands, and it is still due. We'll read a little Reed in the morning.
Homework is to visit the film website. Read about the film and the director. Respond to the following question in 50 words (2 typed pages). also bring in a Paley short story or a poem or two, maybe three.
Essay assignment:
Who is/was Grace Paley? How did she integrate writing and activism: the writer as social change agent? Use examples from the film and from one scholarly article about the writer. Use the COA library database. Sot there are three sources: Grace Paley: Collected Shorts, directed by Lilly Rivlin; one scholarly article, and your Paley poem or story.
Make sure your MLA is perfect, or as perfect as you can make it. Bring in Reed and Jones to class Thursday. We meet in A-232.
The free styling pertains to the improvisational nature of our classes and assignments. I plan one lesson and end up pulling a rabbit out of my backpack--Grace Paley.
I hope everyone will have their books and be up to speed by next Tuesday. The assignment given last week still stands, and it is still due. We'll read a little Reed in the morning.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Cyber-Assignment for Sept. 7, 2010
Post your summary of the author's introduction to From Totems to Hip-Hop. 250 words is sufficient for most posts, unless instructed otherwise. Make sure you respond to a classmates post before class meets, Sept. 9.
Again, if there are any questions, call or email me. The book is in the Peralta library system; it is also in Bay Area public libraries. Do not get behind on the reading. I will post the reading and essay assignment schedule by Monday-Tuesday and give it to you then as well.
Again, if there are any questions, call or email me. The book is in the Peralta library system; it is also in Bay Area public libraries. Do not get behind on the reading. I will post the reading and essay assignment schedule by Monday-Tuesday and give it to you then as well.
Cyber-Assignment on The Known World In Class Assignment
We're still in review mode. Students received handouts on Paraphrasing and summarizing to keep. Students also received a handout regarding thesis sentences, what they are and what they are not. Complete both packages by Tuesday, Sept. 7.
We read P.S. in The Known World. Students then responded to a series of questions about the book and the author: What do we know about Edward P. Jones, his characters, and the plot from reading the interview?
Some students had books without this interview and the cast of characters in the novel. I made copies of this section, so if you need it, it's in a folder (in a box) outside my office (L-235).
Three Paragraph Response
Students were to write a three (3) paragraph essay using one citation per paragraph: free paraphrase, shorter direct citation and a block quote. Make sure you state your thesis. Include a works cited.
Assignment for Thursday, Sept. 2
Homework is to read the first two chapters in TKW and write a summary response, 500 words where each of you analyzes the characters and story, author's writing style, make hypotheses on where the story is going, discuss themes, etc.
Don't forget to use proper MLA, and include a header. Email the essay to me at: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com Thursday, Sept. 2 before noon. You can write it in class (smile). There is no class on Thursday, Sept. 2. This is the assignment. It should only take you one (1) hour to write a two page essay. Make sure you include three (3) citations total: one free paraphrase, one short direct quote and a longer citation or block quote.
The MLA should be perfect.
Today's assignment recap
Post the three paragraph essay response to the questions posed in class today, here. If you were absent, you cannot make up this assignment without prior arrangements.
Homework for the weekend
Bring Reed to class Tuesday, Sept. 7. We will start with Nature & Place. Read the author's introduction and the introduction to the section on Nature & Place. Choose a poem from this section to share aloud on Tuesday.
Post a summary of the author's introduction where indicated above by Sept. 2 before class.
Theatre Review
I have had no chance to raise any funds for theatre tickets yet, but I haven't forgotten. I didn't get a chance to tell you about Trouble in Mindat Aurora Theatre.
I liked it, but the first act was a throw away. It make me wonder why I was seated in the theatre. The second act was better, but if you have limited funds, I wouldn't spend it on a play that I only half liked (smile).
I like members of the cast--I am a fan of quite a few of them and I love theatre so much that if I don't like the story, I like the acting, set...I am just addicted (smile).
But you are not, at least I don't think so, so I want to save you time. The play is great if one is interested in a critique on American theater and how biased and narrowly defined it is for all except the dominant cultural police. Childress's protagonist,actress "Wiletta" and the director are a study in stereotype meets carpenter.
So we are not going as a class to this one. There is a play reading on Sept. 20. It is free. I think it is at 7 p.m. It's a Tennessee Williams. Southern writer, I like Williams too. I might go to this. Again, it's free. Let me know. I am really busy next month --lots of plays to see.
I loved Hoyle and I really like Reed. Genny Lim's is free, so you can't beat that (smile).
If you have any questions call me.
Have a great weekend!
We read P.S. in The Known World. Students then responded to a series of questions about the book and the author: What do we know about Edward P. Jones, his characters, and the plot from reading the interview?
Some students had books without this interview and the cast of characters in the novel. I made copies of this section, so if you need it, it's in a folder (in a box) outside my office (L-235).
Three Paragraph Response
Students were to write a three (3) paragraph essay using one citation per paragraph: free paraphrase, shorter direct citation and a block quote. Make sure you state your thesis. Include a works cited.
Assignment for Thursday, Sept. 2
Homework is to read the first two chapters in TKW and write a summary response, 500 words where each of you analyzes the characters and story, author's writing style, make hypotheses on where the story is going, discuss themes, etc.
Don't forget to use proper MLA, and include a header. Email the essay to me at: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com Thursday, Sept. 2 before noon. You can write it in class (smile). There is no class on Thursday, Sept. 2. This is the assignment. It should only take you one (1) hour to write a two page essay. Make sure you include three (3) citations total: one free paraphrase, one short direct quote and a longer citation or block quote.
The MLA should be perfect.
Today's assignment recap
Post the three paragraph essay response to the questions posed in class today, here. If you were absent, you cannot make up this assignment without prior arrangements.
Homework for the weekend
Bring Reed to class Tuesday, Sept. 7. We will start with Nature & Place. Read the author's introduction and the introduction to the section on Nature & Place. Choose a poem from this section to share aloud on Tuesday.
Post a summary of the author's introduction where indicated above by Sept. 2 before class.
Theatre Review
I have had no chance to raise any funds for theatre tickets yet, but I haven't forgotten. I didn't get a chance to tell you about Trouble in Mindat Aurora Theatre.
I liked it, but the first act was a throw away. It make me wonder why I was seated in the theatre. The second act was better, but if you have limited funds, I wouldn't spend it on a play that I only half liked (smile).
I like members of the cast--I am a fan of quite a few of them and I love theatre so much that if I don't like the story, I like the acting, set...I am just addicted (smile).
But you are not, at least I don't think so, so I want to save you time. The play is great if one is interested in a critique on American theater and how biased and narrowly defined it is for all except the dominant cultural police. Childress's protagonist,actress "Wiletta" and the director are a study in stereotype meets carpenter.
So we are not going as a class to this one. There is a play reading on Sept. 20. It is free. I think it is at 7 p.m. It's a Tennessee Williams. Southern writer, I like Williams too. I might go to this. Again, it's free. Let me know. I am really busy next month --lots of plays to see.
I loved Hoyle and I really like Reed. Genny Lim's is free, so you can't beat that (smile).
If you have any questions call me.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
First Week Second Class Check-in
Today we met in A-232 where we will meet each Thursday. On Tuesdays, we will meet in CCV-200 (the portable). In class we reviewed MLA for essays and read an essay about it. In groups and as a class we then completed several assignments on the topic.
No one had their textbooks, so we went on-line and found songs about Hurricane Katrina, students were then asked to do a literal paraphrase on a stanza or the hook and post it below at the link.
Homework was to continue the in-class assignment and expand it to include a synopsis of the song and where the paraphrase fits in.
Other homework is to bring in one of Michael Jackson's songs to share the thesis. Students can also share a dance video--again, you would have to analyze it. If anyone wants to share an article about birthday celebrations, Sunday, August 29, this is fine as well. Michael would have been 52. What was Michael Jackson's artistic impact on the industry he was a part of? What did he contribute and what did he change or improve? Now that he is not longer with us, what is now gone forever?
You will post this assignment later or you can post it before. It is your choice.
No one had their textbooks, so we went on-line and found songs about Hurricane Katrina, students were then asked to do a literal paraphrase on a stanza or the hook and post it below at the link.
Homework was to continue the in-class assignment and expand it to include a synopsis of the song and where the paraphrase fits in.
Other homework is to bring in one of Michael Jackson's songs to share the thesis. Students can also share a dance video--again, you would have to analyze it. If anyone wants to share an article about birthday celebrations, Sunday, August 29, this is fine as well. Michael would have been 52. What was Michael Jackson's artistic impact on the industry he was a part of? What did he contribute and what did he change or improve? Now that he is not longer with us, what is now gone forever?
You will post this assignment later or you can post it before. It is your choice.
Hurricane Katrina: Paraphrasing Posts
Post your paraphrases here from the song you chose. Summarize the rest of the song and put the paraphrase in the context of the entire song.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Theatre Dates
I added the theatre dates (4) to the syllabus here; this section was not in the paper syllabus. Let me know if you can attend any of the plays. If money is an issue, I am looking for funding for tickets, so let me know if you are available and if you also need transportation.
Cyber-Assignment "Privilege"
Today we reflected on the term: "privilege" and then watched a film, "Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible," which added perhaps another dimension to the discourse students were engaged in alone and in groups.
In a 250 word minimum essay (about 3 paragraphs) discuss your views on privilege prior to the film and then share a few of the arguments presented which caused you to rethink your claims or assumptions.
You can post your freewrite here as well. The two can be separate posts. Please comment on another students essay. The assignment is due by Thursday before class, which means, the comments might occur after class (smile). Bring Reed and Jones to class Thursday. We will use Reed for the entire semester and begin with Jones's The Known World.I think it is the most difficult read.
I will give you a reading schedule Thursday or at least post it by then and have it to hand out by next Tuesday.
The website where the assignment handed out was taken is: www.world-trust.org There students can find clips and a study guide and more information about the product.
In a 250 word minimum essay (about 3 paragraphs) discuss your views on privilege prior to the film and then share a few of the arguments presented which caused you to rethink your claims or assumptions.
You can post your freewrite here as well. The two can be separate posts. Please comment on another students essay. The assignment is due by Thursday before class, which means, the comments might occur after class (smile). Bring Reed and Jones to class Thursday. We will use Reed for the entire semester and begin with Jones's The Known World.I think it is the most difficult read.
I will give you a reading schedule Thursday or at least post it by then and have it to hand out by next Tuesday.
The website where the assignment handed out was taken is: www.world-trust.org There students can find clips and a study guide and more information about the product.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Course Syllabus
English 1B, Fall 2010
College of Alameda; Professor Wanda Sabir
Course code 42730, Room CV200 9-10:50 TTh
Class Meetings: August 24-Dec. 9; No classes: 9/6; 11/11; 11/25-28
Final Exam: 8-10, Tuesday, Dec.16 (Portfolios due via e-mail)
Drop dates: Sept. 7 (w/refund), Sept. 24 (w/out a W), Nov. 24 (w/W).
Syllabus for English 1B: College Composition and Reading
“It is simply a fact that black people understand race long before white people do. They know how it shapes their lives—or at least that it does shape their lives, even if they remain a bit sketchy for a while on the details—before they finish elementary school in most cases. And for every ounce of racial wisdom contained in the mind of a black child barely ten years old, or even seven for that matter, there is a corresponding void in the mind of a similar white child, the latter having never had to contemplate her racial position or identity in most cases, and thus remaining gleefully ignorant of the role of race in the warp and woof of her society.
“It doesn’t matter, by the way, if you’re a white kid who grew up around black and brown folks. It doesn’t matter if you had black friends—I mean really had them, not just acquaintances. If you’re white you simply will not, cannot, understand race, or even see that race matters at that age. There is no reason that you should; no experience would have forced the issue, and few parents would have sat you down to begin the lesson.
“That’s a luxury, a privilege. Not necessarily one that serves us well—after all, to be ignorant about the world which one lives is never advisable—but a privilege nonetheless” (Tim Wise in White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son 23).
I agree it is a rather long excerpt, but it takes two paragraphs to get to the word I want to highlight: “privilege,” Tim Wise, a Southerner, is such the poster boy for airing his laundry on the front pages of the American discourse on race and privilege. If you don’t know him, you certainly should. His third book is hot off the presses, July 2010: Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity.
This semester we will read a variety of books interrogating the notion of “privilege” and what gives some people certain benefits denied others. We will also look at our subjective and societal world view and see how this is enhanced or truncated depending on one’s place in the hierarchy of “privilege” whether one is a part of the “in-crowd” or banished like Cinderella to a station by the fireplace. I use the term banished intentionally. For those who know the story, recall Cinderella’s place at the head of the table, heir to the riches stolen from her by the interloping step-mother and step-siblings—she was robbed.
The same story—Cinderella’s, could be used as an analogy for the colonizers and Western nations’ exploitation of labor and people through African chattel slavery, and global kidnap and extortion. The west came by its riches through criminal actions, unprosecuted and for the most part, without redress.
The Known World by Edward P. Jones, introduces its readers to a peculiar scenario, black slave owners. The novel makes both reader and character question its “known world.” What characters and values populate one’s known world and how does this affect one’s behavior? Can we really be surprised when the mentee or apprentice ends up like the master or mentor? When you look at your life, are you surprised at how you turned out or was it to be expected? When you recognized the pattern, did you choose to continue or was it too late to change? What about the characters in Jones’s Known World, can they change or is it too late?
In the novel: Angry Black White Boy or The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay, author Adam Mansbach looks at guilt (based on collective wrong doing) and how this motivates a character to try to correct a wrong. Is guilt a sustainable motive for change? What would Tim Wise or Shakti Butler—two scholars who look at race and privilege say about this?
Are you privileged and if so, what have you benefited from without having to exert any effort? Have you ever thought about this before: your privileges?
From Totems to Hip Hop: A Multi-Cultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002 edited by Ishmael Reed is our final book and it presents a vast cross section of America through the voices of its artists both young and older more established writers in a variety of styles. We will read the play based on the book by the same title: To Kill A Mockingbird. Students will also have the opportunity to present an essay based on a book of their choice this semester taking it’s theme from a topic covered this semester: privilege.
Now more about the course
English 1B is a transferable college writing course. It builds on the competencies gained in English 1A with a more careful and studied analysis of expository writing based on careful reading of selected plays, poems, novels, and short fiction.
Plan to have a challenging, yet intellectually stimulating 18 weeks, which I hope you begin by setting goals for yourself. Make a schedule and join or create a study group. Writing is a social activity, especially the type of writing you’ll be doing here. We always consider our audience, have purpose or reason to write, and use research to substantiate our claims, even those we are considered experts in.
We’re supposed to write about 8000 words or so at this level course. This includes drafts. What this amounts to is time at home writing, time in the library researching, reading documents to increase your facility with the ideas or themes your are contemplating, before you once again sit at your desk writing, revising, and writing some more.
Writing is a lonely process. No one can write for you. The social aspect comes into play once you are finished and you have an opportunity to share.
Student Learning Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes include a better facility with written communication which includes critical thinking, analysis and of course comprehension. Such tools help us make better choices and decisions about our lives and the lives of those persons we are responsible for. Hopefully students will gain an appreciation for the literary arts beyond what is due for the course. Education is not limited to the classroom, rather an implicit goal is always to trigger a desire in students to continue the cultural pursuit after transfer, after graduation, after career goals are met. Reading and writing are skills one does have to practice to prevent dullness, so another goal and SLO for this course is for students to know how to keep their tools ready for use which might translate into keeping a journal once the semester ends, reading more for pleasure, going to literary events, and/or hanging onto some of the course reference books like Diana Hacker's Rules for Writer.
Extra book requirement and presentation(s)
Students will also profile a Northern California artist who is using their work to shatter racially biased or stereotypical myths and empower the powerless. The book one reads and presents can be about this person or written about this person. Students who chose a person who is under 30 get an extra point. The person does not have to be alive (but they have to be contemporary—recently deceased). Pick someone you admire. Each of these is a separate presentation – book and person profiled (2). Students can work with a partner on this.
Methodology
Keep a reading log. Discussion groups will meet each week. Students will also keep a reading log/journal/notes with key ideas outlined for each discussion section, along with vocabulary and key arguments listed, along with primary writing strategies employed: description, process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition, problem solving.
Each book or play will have a corresponding essay. There will also be a series of short 250 word essay responses posted on the class blog. Students have a choice of writing a new paper or expanding the cyber-assignment into a longer work. Each research paper will be between 3-4 pages long.
The portfolio is due Tuesday, Dec. 7. We will begin working on the portfolio essays the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 2. There is no final the day of the final. Student presentations will be on-going throughout the semester. The final week of classes students will present their essays based on their independent readings.
Essay research requirements
Each essay needs to use at least 3-4 outside sources which should include at least one (1) scholarly article along with other material (taken from the COA Library or on-line Library Database (if possible). Each essay should also include One (1) direct quote, one (1) free-paraphrase and one (1) block quote—one citation per page—no more, no less. Each essay also needs to include a works cited page and a bibliography. We will practice this in class. We will write many of the shorter essays in class or for homework. The task should be simple once students decide which four (4) elements they’d like to respond to in depth.
I am making an assumption that students know how to correctly document their sources using MLA. For those students who are rusty on MLA or grammar, I suggest purchasing Stewart Pidd Hates English and reviewing the book self-paced with me. For each essay that does not receive a passing grade (A, B, C), students will have to write an essay in third person discussing what errors the writer made, what rules apply, and how the corrected passage or sentence should read. Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers or an acceptable reference like this will be the source for the corrections and cited in the works cited at the end of the essay. This essay will accompany the corrected essay and the graded draft—three (3) essays in total. Students only have two opportunities to correct failed essays this way (unless the student is also participating in the SPHE tutorial sessions). After these opportunities have passed, students are stuck with the grade they receive. Reasoning: At this level, I expect students to know how to write passing essays at the first submission. Submit your best work the first time. Don’t submit drafts, masquerading as polished work.
Midterm
There will be a midterm. It’s topic will probably come from the Reed anthology.
Theatre Field Trips (4)
1. I’d like to take a field trip to see the play: Trouble in Mind By Alice Childress, Directed by Robin Stanton, August - September, 2010
Obie award-winning classic Trouble in Mind follows a mixed-race cast attempting to mount a production of a “progressive” new play on Broadway in the 1950s. The play—an anti-lynching drama set in the South—is written by a white man and directed by a white man, and marks the first opportunity for a gifted black actress to play a leading role on Broadway. But what compromises must she make to succeed? More than 40 years after it was written, Trouble in Mind, according to The New York Times, “still has the power to make one feel its anger and humor.” Bay Area favorite Margo Hall will make her Aurora debut with this play. Taken from the website: http://www.auroratheatre.org/
Check your calendars for Tuesday, August 31, 7 PM or Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. The Aurora Theatre is in downtown Berkeley and on the BART route: 2081 Addison Street in Berkeley.
2. Another play I’d like to attend as a class is free: Genny Lim’s 1982 play, Paper Angels in a new multimedia production to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West, Wednesday to Friday: September 15, 16 and 17 at dusk in Portsmouth Square, (the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown, (Grant Street at Clay Street) as a part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. Visit www.sffringefestival.org and www.directarts.org. I am going Friday, Sept. 17. I have classes the other two nights.
Set in 1915 during the Chinese Exclusion Act, PAPER ANGELS is about an elderly Chinese railroad worker attempting to bring his wife to America after many decades of separation. A seminal play by San Francisco native Genny Lim, the play premiered in 1982 and was subsequently filmed for American Playhouse on PBS starring James Hong and Joan Chen. Dusting off this prescient gem nearly three decades later in the wake of heated debates on America’s immigration policy, Direct Arts’s new multimedia production incorporates projections of archival images, live traditional Chinese music, spoken word and segments of Chinese opera and folkdance.
3. The third play I’d like us to see, maybe three and four, respectively, are: Dan Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS, through November 6, 2010. Developed with and directed by Charlie Varon, the show will play Wednesday through Friday at 8:00 pm and Saturday at 5:00 pm. All shows are on The Marsh MainStage, 1062 Valencia Street in San Francisco. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS connects two worlds that usually prefer to stay apart: the liberal, achingly hip, moral-relativism of gentrified city life and the conservative, absolutist, and often hostile populism that Hoyle found overflowing in small-town America. Living out of his van and sleeping in people’s yards and Walmart parking lots, Hoyle shared meals and conversation with cowboys, coal miners, soldiers, farmers, rural drug dealers, itinerant preachers, gun salesmen, closeted gay fundamentalists and creation theory experts. Frequently grateful for their hospitality, often perplexed by their beliefs, he sought to see the world through their eyes and understand their anger. Hoyle won the prestigious 2007 Will Glickman “Best New Play” Award for “Tings Dey Happen,” which enjoyed extended runs at The Marsh and also Off-Broadway, where it was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show. Both “Tings Dey Happen” and THE REAL AMERICANS are directed by Charlie Varon. We can talk about dates in class.
4. Don Reed's EAST 14TH - TRUE TALES OF A RELUCTANT PLAYER has been extended at The Marsh Berkeley through September 12, 2010. The show has now entered its second sold-out year – it started at The Marsh San Francisco in May, 2009! – and its fourteenth extension.
Recently, Reed shared one of the stories from EAST 14TH with Oprah's new television network. Entitled BUTTER, it is already available on her website at http://www.oprah.com/own/innerview.html?page_id=14 and will air beginning 1/1/11.
Reed, who is the comedian/warm-up host for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno during the week, is delighted to be spending his weekends performing on his home turf in the East Bay. When playing on Fridays, the show will start at 9:00 pm, on Saturdays at 8:00 pm and on Sundays at 7:00 pm. All shows take place at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way in Berkeley. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
EAST 14TH chronicles the true tale of a young man raised by his mother and ultra-strict stepfather as a middle class, straight A, God-fearing church boy. The boy, however, wanted to be just like his dear old Dad. Too bad he didn't know dear old Dad was a pimp. Very funny, definitely poignant — a ride down a street you won't soon forget. The San Francisco Chronicle described Reed as an "Irresistible presence," and the East Bay Express declared the show ‘...Nothing short of amazing." The show is a best Bay Area Critics Circle Award Solo Performance nominee.
Friday, August 6; Sunday, August 8
Saturday, August 14; Sunday, August 15
Friday, August 20; Sunday, August 22
Saturday, August 28; Sunday, August 29
Saturday, September 4
Saturday, September 11; Sunday, September 25
Saturday, September 31; Sunday, September 12
Jot down briefly what your goals are this semester. List them in order of importance.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Homework Assignment 1:
E-mail introduction due Aug. 31-Sept. 2 Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Please send me an email and introduce yourself to me. Besides the usual: where are you from? What languages do you speak besides English? What child are you in the family? What are your hobbies and why are you taking this class?
Include: your contact information: Name, Address, phone number, best e-mail address, best time to call and answers to these questions as well: What strengths do you bring to the class? What do you hope to obtain from the course – any particular exit skills? What do I need to know about you to help you meet your goals?
Homework Assignment 2:
Written Response to the Syllabus due by Sept. 2
Write a comment to me regarding the syllabus: your impressions, whether you think it is reasonable, questions, suggestions. This is our contract, I need to know you read it and understand the agreement.
Presentation 1: Due Tuesday, Sept. 14
Bring in an object that represents American culture. Be prepared to share. Write a brief profile on the object justifying its inclusion in the archives (100 words or so). You will post the written response on the blog. I’ll take photos.
Library Orientation
TBA
Grading
Blog essays and comments: 15 percent
Discussion Groups and Preparedness: 10 percent
Midterm: 25 percent
Research Essays/Presentation: 25 percent
Portfolio: 25 percent
The blog and in-class essays, which take their themes from the class readings are practice essays, and are about a fourth of your grade, your midterm is another fourth with the peer reviews. The short research essays or expanded freewrites are another fourth. Your portfolio is the final chunk bringing the grand total to 100 percent! The portfolio is really just a compilation of your work this semester with two cover essays, each just one page in length. (Save all of your work.) I suggest students start a personal blog for the class and send me the link for your portfolio at the end of the course.
To encourage participation and for this students have to be prepared, I weighed the preparedness and participation strongly which means I will be taking notes when students do not do their homework. If you are in a group where students are pretending to be prepared when they are not, drop me an anonymous note. If a student is absent, he or she cannot make up in-class assignments such as group work, freewrites, presentations, etc.
I am not above pop quizzes on readings. Remember, this plan can change in a twinkling of the eye, if we find it isn’t working.
Writing Center
The Writing Lab (L-234-235, 748-2132) is a great place to get one-on-on assistance on your essays, from brainstorming and planning the essays, to critique on the essay for clarity, organization, clearly stated thesis, evidence of support, logical conclusions, and grammatical problems for referrals to other ancillary materials to build strong writing muscles such as SkillsBank, the Bedford Handbook on-line, Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers on-line, Townsend Press, and other such computer and cyber-based resources. Call for hours. There is also an Open Lab for checking e-mail, and a Math Lab. All academic labs are located in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) upstairs from the library.
Students have to enroll in LRNE 501 (Supervised Tutoring) Class Code: 43990 to use the academic labs and to print essays. It is free and there no penalties. It takes 24-hours to kick in, so register now. Go to www.peralta.edu Click enroll now link. Click activate my account link… and follow the instructions to activate your account and set your password. The steps are too many to type here. If you have questions see Pat Denoncourt, LRC Coordinator, Rm. L-204 The student ID is necessary to use the labs and to check out books. The IDs are free and you can take the photo in the F-Building, Student Services. There is also a Cyber Café in the F-Building on the second floor in the cafeteria area.
Have a tutor of teacher sign off on your essays before you turn them in; if you have a “R,” which means revision necessary for a grade or “NC” which means “no credit,” you have to go to the lab and revise the essay with a tutor or teacher before you return both the graded original and the revision (with signature) to me. Revise does not mean “rewrite,” it means to “see again.”
When getting assistance on an essay, the teacher or tutor is not an editor, so have questions prepared for them to make best use of the 15-20 minute session in the Lab. For more specific assistance sign up for one-on-one tutoring, another free service. For those of you on other campuses, you can get assistance at the Merritt Colleges’ Writing Center, as well as Laney’s or Berkeley City’s. If I have an assistant this semester, that will be additional support for writers and we will post study halls hours. Presently, you can come to my office hours for assistance.
All essay assignments you receive comments on have to be revised prior to resubmission; included with the revision is a student narrative essay to me regarding your understanding of what needed to be done and what composition rules support this conclusion; a student can prepare this as a part of the Lab visit, especially if said student is unclear over what steps to take.
Students can also visit me in office hours for assistance; again, prepare your questions in advance to best make use of the time. Do not leave class without understanding the comments on a paper. I don’t mind reading them to you.
English language fluency in writing and reading; a certain comfort and ease with the language; confidence and skillful application of literary skills associated with academic writing. Familiarity if not mastery of the rhetorical styles used in argumentation, exposition and narration will be addressed in this class and is a key student learning outcome (SLO).
We will be evaluating what we know and how we came to know what we know, a field called epistemology or the study of knowledge. Granted, the perspective is western culture which eliminates the values of the majority populations, so-called underdeveloped or undeveloped countries or cultures. Let us not fall into typical superiority traps. Try to maintain a mental elasticity and a willingness to let go of concepts which not only limit your growth as an intelligent being, but put you at a distinct disadvantage as a species.
This is a highly charged and potentially revolutionary process - critical thinking. The process of evaluating all that you swallowed without chewing up to now is possibly even dangerous. This is one of the problems with bigotry; it’s easier to go with tradition than toss it, and create a new, more just, alternative protocol.
Grades, Portfolio
We will be honest with one another. Grades are not necessarily an honest response to work; grades do not take into consideration the effort or time spent, only whether or not students can demonstrate mastery of a skill - in this case: essay writing. Grades are an approximation, arbitrary at best, no matter how many safeguards one tries to put in place to avoid such ambiguity. Suffice it to say, your portfolio will illustrate your competence. It will represent your progress, your success or failure this summer session in meeting your goal.
Office Hours
I’d like to wish everyone good luck. I am available for consultation beginning week two: Monday mornings 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesday 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesday afternoon 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you want to take me to lunch—just kidding, I am available after 12 for appointments if you notify me in advance. All the office hours take place in my office, L-236. I am not on campus on Fridays. (Jot my cell number down in this section.) My office number is (510) 748-2131, e-mail varies per class: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
I am more a phone person than an email person, so you can call me if I don’t respond to an email. I do read your blog posts.
I’d encourage students to exchange phone numbers with classmates (2), so if you have a concern, it can be addressed more expediently when I am not available. Study groups are recommended, especially for those students finding the readings difficult; don’t forget, you can also discuss the readings as a group in the Lab with a teacher or tutor acting as facilitator.
Keep a vocabulary log for the semester and an error chart (taken from comments on essay assignments). List the words you need to look up in the dictionary, also list where you first encountered them: page, book and definition, also use the word in a sentence. You will turn this in with your portfolio.
I do not expect students to confuse literal with free paraphrase (a literal paraphrase is plagiarism). Students should also not make confused word errors, sentence fragment errors, comma splice errors, subject verb agreement errors, errors in parallel structure, subject verb agreement errors, MLA citations errors, errors with ellipses, formatting an essays—margins, headings, etc. If you are not clear on what I mean, again I suggest you run through Stewart Pidd Hates English. It is on reserve in the COA library.
Students are expected to complete their work on time. If you need more time on an assignment, discuss this with me in advance to keep full credit. Again certain assignments, such as in-class essays cannot be made up. All assignments prepared outside of class are to be typed, 12-pt. font, double-spaced lines, indentations on paragraphs, 1-inch margins around the written work (see Hacker: The Writing Process; Document Design.) In class writing is to be written in ink—blue or black.
Cheating
Plagiarism is ethically abhorrent, and if any student tries to take credit for work authored by another person the result will be a failed grade on the assignment and possibly a failed grade in the course if this is attempted again. This is a graded course.
Homework
If you do not identify the assignment, I cannot grade it. If you do not return the original assignment you revised, I cannot compare what changed. If you accidentally toss out or lose the original assignment, you get a zero on the assignment to be revised. I will not look at revisions without the original attached – no exceptions. Some student essays will be posted on-line at the website. Students will also have the option of submitting assignments via email: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com.
All assignments completed away from class should be typed. Use blue or black ink when writing responses in class. You can annotate your books in pencil.
Textbooks Recap:
Jones, Edward P. The Known World. New York: Amistad/Harper Collins, 2004.
Mansbach, Adam. Angry Black White Boy or The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay. New York: Crown/Three Rivers Press, 2005.
Reed, Ishmael, editor. From Totems to Hip Hop: A Multi-Cultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002. New York: Thunder Mouth Press, 2003.
Student choice: published novel, play, collection of poetry, preferably a Northern California writer under 30 years old.
Other Books
Students need a grammar style book. You don’t have to purchase mine, but you need something comparable.
Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers. Fourth or Fifth edition. Bedford/St. Martins. (If you don’t already have such a book.)
Strunk and White’s Elements of Style (any edition). Visit the website: http://www.bartleby.com/141/ I need to check this against the book. I saw re: possessives where Strunk does not agree with Hacker (smile). When in doubt, chose Hacker.
A college dictionary. I recommend American Heritage.
Additional Items
Along with a college dictionary, the prepared student needs pens with blue or black ink, along with a pencil for annotating texts, paper, a stapler or paper clips, floppy disks, a notebook, three hole punch, a folder for work-in-progress, and a divided binder to keep materials together.
Also stay abreast of the news. Buy a daily paper. Listen to alternative radio:
KPFA 94.1 FM (Hardknock), KQED 88.5, KALW 91.7. Visit news websites: AllAfrica.com, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, AlterNet.org, DemocracyNow.org, FlashPoints.org, CBS 60Minutes.
COA Sabir English Classes Fall 2010
Theatre Field Trips (4)
1. I’d like to take a field trip to see the play: Trouble in Mind By Alice Childress
Directed by Robin Stanton, August 20 – September 26, 2010
Obie award-winning classic Trouble in Mind follows a mixed-race cast attempting to mount a production of a “progressive” new play on Broadway in the 1950s. The play—an anti-lynching drama set in the South—is written by a white man and directed by a white man, and marks the first opportunity for a gifted black actress to play a leading role on Broadway. But what compromises must she make to succeed? More than 40 years after it was written, Trouble in Mind, according to The New York Times, “still has the power to make one feel its anger and humor.” Bay Area favorite Margo Hall will make her Aurora debut with this play. Taken from the website: http://www.auroratheatre.org/
Check your calendars for Tuesday, August 31, 7 PM, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. Sunday, Sept. 19, 2 PM or 7 PM is also a possibility. Under 30 years old is always half price. I think they also have a student rate. We’d go as a group which is also discounted. The Aurora Theatre is in downtown Berkeley and on the BART route: 2081 Addison Street in Berkeley.
2. Another play I’d like to attend as a class is free: Genny Lim’s 1982 play, Paper Angels in a new multimedia production to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West, Wednesday to Friday: September 15, 16 and 17 at dusk in Portsmouth Square, (the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown, (Grant Street at Clay Street) as a part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. Visit www.sffringefestival.org and www.directarts.org. I am going Friday, Sept. 17. I have classes the other two nights.
Set in 1915 during the Chinese Exclusion Act, PAPER ANGELS is about an elderly Chinese railroad worker attempting to bring his wife to America after many decades of separation. A seminal play by San Francisco native Genny Lim, the play premiered in 1982 and was subsequently filmed for American Playhouse on PBS starring James Hong and Joan Chen. Dusting off this prescient gem nearly three decades later in the wake of heated debates on America’s immigration policy, Direct Arts’s new multimedia production incorporates projections of archival images, live traditional Chinese music, spoken word and segments of Chinese opera and folkdance.
3. The third play I’d like us to see, maybe three and four, respectively, are: Dan Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS, through November 6, 2010. Developed with and directed by Charlie Varon, the show will play Wednesday through Friday at 8:00 pm and Saturday at 5:00 pm. All shows are on The Marsh MainStage, 1062 Valencia Street in San Francisco. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS connects two worlds that usually prefer to stay apart: the liberal, achingly hip, moral-relativism of gentrified city life and the conservative, absolutist, and often hostile populism that Hoyle found overflowing in small-town America. Living out of his van and sleeping in people’s yards and Walmart parking lots, Hoyle shared meals and conversation with cowboys, coal miners, soldiers, farmers, rural drug dealers, itinerant preachers, gun salesmen, closeted gay fundamentalists and creation theory experts. Frequently grateful for their hospitality, often perplexed by their beliefs, he sought to see the world through their eyes and understand their anger. Hoyle won the prestigious 2007 Will Glickman “Best New Play” Award for “Tings Dey Happen,” which enjoyed extended runs at The Marsh and also Off-Broadway, where it was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show. Both “Tings Dey Happen” and THE REAL AMERICANS are directed by Charlie Varon. We can talk about dates in class.
4. Don Reed's EAST 14TH - TRUE TALES OF A RELUCTANT PLAYER has been extended at The Marsh Berkeley through September 12, 2010. The show has now entered its second sold-out year – it started at The Marsh San Francisco in May, 2009! – and its fourteenth extension.
Recently, Reed shared one of the stories from EAST 14TH with Oprah's new television network. Entitled BUTTER, it is already available on her website at http://www.oprah.com/own/innerview.html?page_id=14 and will air beginning 1/1/11.
Reed, who is the comedian/warm-up host for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno during the week, is delighted to be spending his weekends performing on his home turf in the East Bay. When playing on Fridays, the show will start at 9:00 pm, on Saturdays at 8:00 pm and on Sundays at 7:00 pm. All shows take place at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way in Berkeley. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
EAST 14TH chronicles the true tale of a young man raised by his mother and ultra-strict stepfather as a middle class, straight A, God-fearing church boy. The boy, however, wanted to be just like his dear old Dad. Too bad he didn't know dear old Dad was a pimp. Very funny, definitely poignant — a ride down a street you won't soon forget. The San Francisco Chronicle described Reed as an "Irresistible presence," and the East Bay Express declared the show ‘...Nothing short of amazing." The show is a best Bay Area Critics Circle Award Solo Performance nominee.
Friday, August 6; Sunday, August 8
Saturday, August 14; Sunday, August 15
Friday, August 20; Sunday, August 22
Saturday, August 28; Sunday, August 29
Saturday, September 4
Saturday, September 11; Sunday, September 25
Saturday, September 31; Sunday, September 12
College of Alameda; Professor Wanda Sabir
Course code 42730, Room CV200 9-10:50 TTh
Class Meetings: August 24-Dec. 9; No classes: 9/6; 11/11; 11/25-28
Final Exam: 8-10, Tuesday, Dec.16 (Portfolios due via e-mail)
Drop dates: Sept. 7 (w/refund), Sept. 24 (w/out a W), Nov. 24 (w/W).
Syllabus for English 1B: College Composition and Reading
“It is simply a fact that black people understand race long before white people do. They know how it shapes their lives—or at least that it does shape their lives, even if they remain a bit sketchy for a while on the details—before they finish elementary school in most cases. And for every ounce of racial wisdom contained in the mind of a black child barely ten years old, or even seven for that matter, there is a corresponding void in the mind of a similar white child, the latter having never had to contemplate her racial position or identity in most cases, and thus remaining gleefully ignorant of the role of race in the warp and woof of her society.
“It doesn’t matter, by the way, if you’re a white kid who grew up around black and brown folks. It doesn’t matter if you had black friends—I mean really had them, not just acquaintances. If you’re white you simply will not, cannot, understand race, or even see that race matters at that age. There is no reason that you should; no experience would have forced the issue, and few parents would have sat you down to begin the lesson.
“That’s a luxury, a privilege. Not necessarily one that serves us well—after all, to be ignorant about the world which one lives is never advisable—but a privilege nonetheless” (Tim Wise in White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son 23).
I agree it is a rather long excerpt, but it takes two paragraphs to get to the word I want to highlight: “privilege,” Tim Wise, a Southerner, is such the poster boy for airing his laundry on the front pages of the American discourse on race and privilege. If you don’t know him, you certainly should. His third book is hot off the presses, July 2010: Color Blind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity.
This semester we will read a variety of books interrogating the notion of “privilege” and what gives some people certain benefits denied others. We will also look at our subjective and societal world view and see how this is enhanced or truncated depending on one’s place in the hierarchy of “privilege” whether one is a part of the “in-crowd” or banished like Cinderella to a station by the fireplace. I use the term banished intentionally. For those who know the story, recall Cinderella’s place at the head of the table, heir to the riches stolen from her by the interloping step-mother and step-siblings—she was robbed.
The same story—Cinderella’s, could be used as an analogy for the colonizers and Western nations’ exploitation of labor and people through African chattel slavery, and global kidnap and extortion. The west came by its riches through criminal actions, unprosecuted and for the most part, without redress.
The Known World by Edward P. Jones, introduces its readers to a peculiar scenario, black slave owners. The novel makes both reader and character question its “known world.” What characters and values populate one’s known world and how does this affect one’s behavior? Can we really be surprised when the mentee or apprentice ends up like the master or mentor? When you look at your life, are you surprised at how you turned out or was it to be expected? When you recognized the pattern, did you choose to continue or was it too late to change? What about the characters in Jones’s Known World, can they change or is it too late?
In the novel: Angry Black White Boy or The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay, author Adam Mansbach looks at guilt (based on collective wrong doing) and how this motivates a character to try to correct a wrong. Is guilt a sustainable motive for change? What would Tim Wise or Shakti Butler—two scholars who look at race and privilege say about this?
Are you privileged and if so, what have you benefited from without having to exert any effort? Have you ever thought about this before: your privileges?
From Totems to Hip Hop: A Multi-Cultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002 edited by Ishmael Reed is our final book and it presents a vast cross section of America through the voices of its artists both young and older more established writers in a variety of styles. We will read the play based on the book by the same title: To Kill A Mockingbird. Students will also have the opportunity to present an essay based on a book of their choice this semester taking it’s theme from a topic covered this semester: privilege.
Now more about the course
English 1B is a transferable college writing course. It builds on the competencies gained in English 1A with a more careful and studied analysis of expository writing based on careful reading of selected plays, poems, novels, and short fiction.
Plan to have a challenging, yet intellectually stimulating 18 weeks, which I hope you begin by setting goals for yourself. Make a schedule and join or create a study group. Writing is a social activity, especially the type of writing you’ll be doing here. We always consider our audience, have purpose or reason to write, and use research to substantiate our claims, even those we are considered experts in.
We’re supposed to write about 8000 words or so at this level course. This includes drafts. What this amounts to is time at home writing, time in the library researching, reading documents to increase your facility with the ideas or themes your are contemplating, before you once again sit at your desk writing, revising, and writing some more.
Writing is a lonely process. No one can write for you. The social aspect comes into play once you are finished and you have an opportunity to share.
Student Learning Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes include a better facility with written communication which includes critical thinking, analysis and of course comprehension. Such tools help us make better choices and decisions about our lives and the lives of those persons we are responsible for. Hopefully students will gain an appreciation for the literary arts beyond what is due for the course. Education is not limited to the classroom, rather an implicit goal is always to trigger a desire in students to continue the cultural pursuit after transfer, after graduation, after career goals are met. Reading and writing are skills one does have to practice to prevent dullness, so another goal and SLO for this course is for students to know how to keep their tools ready for use which might translate into keeping a journal once the semester ends, reading more for pleasure, going to literary events, and/or hanging onto some of the course reference books like Diana Hacker's Rules for Writer.
Extra book requirement and presentation(s)
Students will also profile a Northern California artist who is using their work to shatter racially biased or stereotypical myths and empower the powerless. The book one reads and presents can be about this person or written about this person. Students who chose a person who is under 30 get an extra point. The person does not have to be alive (but they have to be contemporary—recently deceased). Pick someone you admire. Each of these is a separate presentation – book and person profiled (2). Students can work with a partner on this.
Methodology
Keep a reading log. Discussion groups will meet each week. Students will also keep a reading log/journal/notes with key ideas outlined for each discussion section, along with vocabulary and key arguments listed, along with primary writing strategies employed: description, process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition, problem solving.
Each book or play will have a corresponding essay. There will also be a series of short 250 word essay responses posted on the class blog. Students have a choice of writing a new paper or expanding the cyber-assignment into a longer work. Each research paper will be between 3-4 pages long.
The portfolio is due Tuesday, Dec. 7. We will begin working on the portfolio essays the week of Nov. 30-Dec. 2. There is no final the day of the final. Student presentations will be on-going throughout the semester. The final week of classes students will present their essays based on their independent readings.
Essay research requirements
Each essay needs to use at least 3-4 outside sources which should include at least one (1) scholarly article along with other material (taken from the COA Library or on-line Library Database (if possible). Each essay should also include One (1) direct quote, one (1) free-paraphrase and one (1) block quote—one citation per page—no more, no less. Each essay also needs to include a works cited page and a bibliography. We will practice this in class. We will write many of the shorter essays in class or for homework. The task should be simple once students decide which four (4) elements they’d like to respond to in depth.
I am making an assumption that students know how to correctly document their sources using MLA. For those students who are rusty on MLA or grammar, I suggest purchasing Stewart Pidd Hates English and reviewing the book self-paced with me. For each essay that does not receive a passing grade (A, B, C), students will have to write an essay in third person discussing what errors the writer made, what rules apply, and how the corrected passage or sentence should read. Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers or an acceptable reference like this will be the source for the corrections and cited in the works cited at the end of the essay. This essay will accompany the corrected essay and the graded draft—three (3) essays in total. Students only have two opportunities to correct failed essays this way (unless the student is also participating in the SPHE tutorial sessions). After these opportunities have passed, students are stuck with the grade they receive. Reasoning: At this level, I expect students to know how to write passing essays at the first submission. Submit your best work the first time. Don’t submit drafts, masquerading as polished work.
Midterm
There will be a midterm. It’s topic will probably come from the Reed anthology.
Theatre Field Trips (4)
1. I’d like to take a field trip to see the play: Trouble in Mind By Alice Childress, Directed by Robin Stanton, August - September, 2010
Obie award-winning classic Trouble in Mind follows a mixed-race cast attempting to mount a production of a “progressive” new play on Broadway in the 1950s. The play—an anti-lynching drama set in the South—is written by a white man and directed by a white man, and marks the first opportunity for a gifted black actress to play a leading role on Broadway. But what compromises must she make to succeed? More than 40 years after it was written, Trouble in Mind, according to The New York Times, “still has the power to make one feel its anger and humor.” Bay Area favorite Margo Hall will make her Aurora debut with this play. Taken from the website: http://www.auroratheatre.org/
Check your calendars for Tuesday, August 31, 7 PM or Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. The Aurora Theatre is in downtown Berkeley and on the BART route: 2081 Addison Street in Berkeley.
2. Another play I’d like to attend as a class is free: Genny Lim’s 1982 play, Paper Angels in a new multimedia production to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West, Wednesday to Friday: September 15, 16 and 17 at dusk in Portsmouth Square, (the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown, (Grant Street at Clay Street) as a part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. Visit www.sffringefestival.org and www.directarts.org. I am going Friday, Sept. 17. I have classes the other two nights.
Set in 1915 during the Chinese Exclusion Act, PAPER ANGELS is about an elderly Chinese railroad worker attempting to bring his wife to America after many decades of separation. A seminal play by San Francisco native Genny Lim, the play premiered in 1982 and was subsequently filmed for American Playhouse on PBS starring James Hong and Joan Chen. Dusting off this prescient gem nearly three decades later in the wake of heated debates on America’s immigration policy, Direct Arts’s new multimedia production incorporates projections of archival images, live traditional Chinese music, spoken word and segments of Chinese opera and folkdance.
3. The third play I’d like us to see, maybe three and four, respectively, are: Dan Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS, through November 6, 2010. Developed with and directed by Charlie Varon, the show will play Wednesday through Friday at 8:00 pm and Saturday at 5:00 pm. All shows are on The Marsh MainStage, 1062 Valencia Street in San Francisco. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS connects two worlds that usually prefer to stay apart: the liberal, achingly hip, moral-relativism of gentrified city life and the conservative, absolutist, and often hostile populism that Hoyle found overflowing in small-town America. Living out of his van and sleeping in people’s yards and Walmart parking lots, Hoyle shared meals and conversation with cowboys, coal miners, soldiers, farmers, rural drug dealers, itinerant preachers, gun salesmen, closeted gay fundamentalists and creation theory experts. Frequently grateful for their hospitality, often perplexed by their beliefs, he sought to see the world through their eyes and understand their anger. Hoyle won the prestigious 2007 Will Glickman “Best New Play” Award for “Tings Dey Happen,” which enjoyed extended runs at The Marsh and also Off-Broadway, where it was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show. Both “Tings Dey Happen” and THE REAL AMERICANS are directed by Charlie Varon. We can talk about dates in class.
4. Don Reed's EAST 14TH - TRUE TALES OF A RELUCTANT PLAYER has been extended at The Marsh Berkeley through September 12, 2010. The show has now entered its second sold-out year – it started at The Marsh San Francisco in May, 2009! – and its fourteenth extension.
Recently, Reed shared one of the stories from EAST 14TH with Oprah's new television network. Entitled BUTTER, it is already available on her website at http://www.oprah.com/own/innerview.html?page_id=14
Reed, who is the comedian/warm-up host for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno during the week, is delighted to be spending his weekends performing on his home turf in the East Bay. When playing on Fridays, the show will start at 9:00 pm, on Saturdays at 8:00 pm and on Sundays at 7:00 pm. All shows take place at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way in Berkeley. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
EAST 14TH chronicles the true tale of a young man raised by his mother and ultra-strict stepfather as a middle class, straight A, God-fearing church boy. The boy, however, wanted to be just like his dear old Dad. Too bad he didn't know dear old Dad was a pimp. Very funny, definitely poignant — a ride down a street you won't soon forget. The San Francisco Chronicle described Reed as an "Irresistible presence," and the East Bay Express declared the show ‘...Nothing short of amazing." The show is a best Bay Area Critics Circle Award Solo Performance nominee.
Friday, August 6; Sunday, August 8
Saturday, August 14; Sunday, August 15
Friday, August 20; Sunday, August 22
Saturday, August 28; Sunday, August 29
Saturday, September 4
Saturday, September 11; Sunday, September 25
Saturday, September 31; Sunday, September 12
Jot down briefly what your goals are this semester. List them in order of importance.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Homework Assignment 1:
E-mail introduction due Aug. 31-Sept. 2 Send to coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
Please send me an email and introduce yourself to me. Besides the usual: where are you from? What languages do you speak besides English? What child are you in the family? What are your hobbies and why are you taking this class?
Include: your contact information: Name, Address, phone number, best e-mail address, best time to call and answers to these questions as well: What strengths do you bring to the class? What do you hope to obtain from the course – any particular exit skills? What do I need to know about you to help you meet your goals?
Homework Assignment 2:
Written Response to the Syllabus due by Sept. 2
Write a comment to me regarding the syllabus: your impressions, whether you think it is reasonable, questions, suggestions. This is our contract, I need to know you read it and understand the agreement.
Presentation 1: Due Tuesday, Sept. 14
Bring in an object that represents American culture. Be prepared to share. Write a brief profile on the object justifying its inclusion in the archives (100 words or so). You will post the written response on the blog. I’ll take photos.
Library Orientation
TBA
Grading
Blog essays and comments: 15 percent
Discussion Groups and Preparedness: 10 percent
Midterm: 25 percent
Research Essays/Presentation: 25 percent
Portfolio: 25 percent
The blog and in-class essays, which take their themes from the class readings are practice essays, and are about a fourth of your grade, your midterm is another fourth with the peer reviews. The short research essays or expanded freewrites are another fourth. Your portfolio is the final chunk bringing the grand total to 100 percent! The portfolio is really just a compilation of your work this semester with two cover essays, each just one page in length. (Save all of your work.) I suggest students start a personal blog for the class and send me the link for your portfolio at the end of the course.
To encourage participation and for this students have to be prepared, I weighed the preparedness and participation strongly which means I will be taking notes when students do not do their homework. If you are in a group where students are pretending to be prepared when they are not, drop me an anonymous note. If a student is absent, he or she cannot make up in-class assignments such as group work, freewrites, presentations, etc.
I am not above pop quizzes on readings. Remember, this plan can change in a twinkling of the eye, if we find it isn’t working.
Writing Center
The Writing Lab (L-234-235, 748-2132) is a great place to get one-on-on assistance on your essays, from brainstorming and planning the essays, to critique on the essay for clarity, organization, clearly stated thesis, evidence of support, logical conclusions, and grammatical problems for referrals to other ancillary materials to build strong writing muscles such as SkillsBank, the Bedford Handbook on-line, Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers on-line, Townsend Press, and other such computer and cyber-based resources. Call for hours. There is also an Open Lab for checking e-mail, and a Math Lab. All academic labs are located in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) upstairs from the library.
Students have to enroll in LRNE 501 (Supervised Tutoring) Class Code: 43990 to use the academic labs and to print essays. It is free and there no penalties. It takes 24-hours to kick in, so register now. Go to www.peralta.edu Click enroll now link. Click activate my account link… and follow the instructions to activate your account and set your password. The steps are too many to type here. If you have questions see Pat Denoncourt, LRC Coordinator, Rm. L-204 The student ID is necessary to use the labs and to check out books. The IDs are free and you can take the photo in the F-Building, Student Services. There is also a Cyber Café in the F-Building on the second floor in the cafeteria area.
Have a tutor of teacher sign off on your essays before you turn them in; if you have a “R,” which means revision necessary for a grade or “NC” which means “no credit,” you have to go to the lab and revise the essay with a tutor or teacher before you return both the graded original and the revision (with signature) to me. Revise does not mean “rewrite,” it means to “see again.”
When getting assistance on an essay, the teacher or tutor is not an editor, so have questions prepared for them to make best use of the 15-20 minute session in the Lab. For more specific assistance sign up for one-on-one tutoring, another free service. For those of you on other campuses, you can get assistance at the Merritt Colleges’ Writing Center, as well as Laney’s or Berkeley City’s. If I have an assistant this semester, that will be additional support for writers and we will post study halls hours. Presently, you can come to my office hours for assistance.
All essay assignments you receive comments on have to be revised prior to resubmission; included with the revision is a student narrative essay to me regarding your understanding of what needed to be done and what composition rules support this conclusion; a student can prepare this as a part of the Lab visit, especially if said student is unclear over what steps to take.
Students can also visit me in office hours for assistance; again, prepare your questions in advance to best make use of the time. Do not leave class without understanding the comments on a paper. I don’t mind reading them to you.
English language fluency in writing and reading; a certain comfort and ease with the language; confidence and skillful application of literary skills associated with academic writing. Familiarity if not mastery of the rhetorical styles used in argumentation, exposition and narration will be addressed in this class and is a key student learning outcome (SLO).
We will be evaluating what we know and how we came to know what we know, a field called epistemology or the study of knowledge. Granted, the perspective is western culture which eliminates the values of the majority populations, so-called underdeveloped or undeveloped countries or cultures. Let us not fall into typical superiority traps. Try to maintain a mental elasticity and a willingness to let go of concepts which not only limit your growth as an intelligent being, but put you at a distinct disadvantage as a species.
This is a highly charged and potentially revolutionary process - critical thinking. The process of evaluating all that you swallowed without chewing up to now is possibly even dangerous. This is one of the problems with bigotry; it’s easier to go with tradition than toss it, and create a new, more just, alternative protocol.
Grades, Portfolio
We will be honest with one another. Grades are not necessarily an honest response to work; grades do not take into consideration the effort or time spent, only whether or not students can demonstrate mastery of a skill - in this case: essay writing. Grades are an approximation, arbitrary at best, no matter how many safeguards one tries to put in place to avoid such ambiguity. Suffice it to say, your portfolio will illustrate your competence. It will represent your progress, your success or failure this summer session in meeting your goal.
Office Hours
I’d like to wish everyone good luck. I am available for consultation beginning week two: Monday mornings 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesday 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesday afternoon 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you want to take me to lunch—just kidding, I am available after 12 for appointments if you notify me in advance. All the office hours take place in my office, L-236. I am not on campus on Fridays. (Jot my cell number down in this section.) My office number is (510) 748-2131, e-mail varies per class: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com
I am more a phone person than an email person, so you can call me if I don’t respond to an email. I do read your blog posts.
I’d encourage students to exchange phone numbers with classmates (2), so if you have a concern, it can be addressed more expediently when I am not available. Study groups are recommended, especially for those students finding the readings difficult; don’t forget, you can also discuss the readings as a group in the Lab with a teacher or tutor acting as facilitator.
Keep a vocabulary log for the semester and an error chart (taken from comments on essay assignments). List the words you need to look up in the dictionary, also list where you first encountered them: page, book and definition, also use the word in a sentence. You will turn this in with your portfolio.
I do not expect students to confuse literal with free paraphrase (a literal paraphrase is plagiarism). Students should also not make confused word errors, sentence fragment errors, comma splice errors, subject verb agreement errors, errors in parallel structure, subject verb agreement errors, MLA citations errors, errors with ellipses, formatting an essays—margins, headings, etc. If you are not clear on what I mean, again I suggest you run through Stewart Pidd Hates English. It is on reserve in the COA library.
Students are expected to complete their work on time. If you need more time on an assignment, discuss this with me in advance to keep full credit. Again certain assignments, such as in-class essays cannot be made up. All assignments prepared outside of class are to be typed, 12-pt. font, double-spaced lines, indentations on paragraphs, 1-inch margins around the written work (see Hacker: The Writing Process; Document Design.) In class writing is to be written in ink—blue or black.
Cheating
Plagiarism is ethically abhorrent, and if any student tries to take credit for work authored by another person the result will be a failed grade on the assignment and possibly a failed grade in the course if this is attempted again. This is a graded course.
Homework
If you do not identify the assignment, I cannot grade it. If you do not return the original assignment you revised, I cannot compare what changed. If you accidentally toss out or lose the original assignment, you get a zero on the assignment to be revised. I will not look at revisions without the original attached – no exceptions. Some student essays will be posted on-line at the website. Students will also have the option of submitting assignments via email: coasabirenglish1B@gmail.com.
All assignments completed away from class should be typed. Use blue or black ink when writing responses in class. You can annotate your books in pencil.
Textbooks Recap:
Jones, Edward P. The Known World. New York: Amistad/Harper Collins, 2004.
Mansbach, Adam. Angry Black White Boy or The Miscegenation of Macon Detornay. New York: Crown/Three Rivers Press, 2005.
Reed, Ishmael, editor. From Totems to Hip Hop: A Multi-Cultural Anthology of Poetry Across the Americas, 1900-2002. New York: Thunder Mouth Press, 2003.
Student choice: published novel, play, collection of poetry, preferably a Northern California writer under 30 years old.
Other Books
Students need a grammar style book. You don’t have to purchase mine, but you need something comparable.
Hacker, Diana. Rules for Writers. Fourth or Fifth edition. Bedford/St. Martins. (If you don’t already have such a book.)
Strunk and White’s Elements of Style (any edition). Visit the website: http://www.bartleby.com/141/ I need to check this against the book. I saw re: possessives where Strunk does not agree with Hacker (smile). When in doubt, chose Hacker.
A college dictionary. I recommend American Heritage.
Additional Items
Along with a college dictionary, the prepared student needs pens with blue or black ink, along with a pencil for annotating texts, paper, a stapler or paper clips, floppy disks, a notebook, three hole punch, a folder for work-in-progress, and a divided binder to keep materials together.
Also stay abreast of the news. Buy a daily paper. Listen to alternative radio:
KPFA 94.1 FM (Hardknock), KQED 88.5, KALW 91.7. Visit news websites: AllAfrica.com, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, AlterNet.org, DemocracyNow.org, FlashPoints.org, CBS 60Minutes.
COA Sabir English Classes Fall 2010
Theatre Field Trips (4)
1. I’d like to take a field trip to see the play: Trouble in Mind By Alice Childress
Directed by Robin Stanton, August 20 – September 26, 2010
Obie award-winning classic Trouble in Mind follows a mixed-race cast attempting to mount a production of a “progressive” new play on Broadway in the 1950s. The play—an anti-lynching drama set in the South—is written by a white man and directed by a white man, and marks the first opportunity for a gifted black actress to play a leading role on Broadway. But what compromises must she make to succeed? More than 40 years after it was written, Trouble in Mind, according to The New York Times, “still has the power to make one feel its anger and humor.” Bay Area favorite Margo Hall will make her Aurora debut with this play. Taken from the website: http://www.auroratheatre.org/
Check your calendars for Tuesday, August 31, 7 PM, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010. Sunday, Sept. 19, 2 PM or 7 PM is also a possibility. Under 30 years old is always half price. I think they also have a student rate. We’d go as a group which is also discounted. The Aurora Theatre is in downtown Berkeley and on the BART route: 2081 Addison Street in Berkeley.
2. Another play I’d like to attend as a class is free: Genny Lim’s 1982 play, Paper Angels in a new multimedia production to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West, Wednesday to Friday: September 15, 16 and 17 at dusk in Portsmouth Square, (the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown, (Grant Street at Clay Street) as a part of the San Francisco Fringe Festival. Visit www.sffringefestival.org and www.directarts.org. I am going Friday, Sept. 17. I have classes the other two nights.
Set in 1915 during the Chinese Exclusion Act, PAPER ANGELS is about an elderly Chinese railroad worker attempting to bring his wife to America after many decades of separation. A seminal play by San Francisco native Genny Lim, the play premiered in 1982 and was subsequently filmed for American Playhouse on PBS starring James Hong and Joan Chen. Dusting off this prescient gem nearly three decades later in the wake of heated debates on America’s immigration policy, Direct Arts’s new multimedia production incorporates projections of archival images, live traditional Chinese music, spoken word and segments of Chinese opera and folkdance.
3. The third play I’d like us to see, maybe three and four, respectively, are: Dan Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS, through November 6, 2010. Developed with and directed by Charlie Varon, the show will play Wednesday through Friday at 8:00 pm and Saturday at 5:00 pm. All shows are on The Marsh MainStage, 1062 Valencia Street in San Francisco. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
Hoyle’s THE REAL AMERICANS connects two worlds that usually prefer to stay apart: the liberal, achingly hip, moral-relativism of gentrified city life and the conservative, absolutist, and often hostile populism that Hoyle found overflowing in small-town America. Living out of his van and sleeping in people’s yards and Walmart parking lots, Hoyle shared meals and conversation with cowboys, coal miners, soldiers, farmers, rural drug dealers, itinerant preachers, gun salesmen, closeted gay fundamentalists and creation theory experts. Frequently grateful for their hospitality, often perplexed by their beliefs, he sought to see the world through their eyes and understand their anger. Hoyle won the prestigious 2007 Will Glickman “Best New Play” Award for “Tings Dey Happen,” which enjoyed extended runs at The Marsh and also Off-Broadway, where it was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Solo Show. Both “Tings Dey Happen” and THE REAL AMERICANS are directed by Charlie Varon. We can talk about dates in class.
4. Don Reed's EAST 14TH - TRUE TALES OF A RELUCTANT PLAYER has been extended at The Marsh Berkeley through September 12, 2010. The show has now entered its second sold-out year – it started at The Marsh San Francisco in May, 2009! – and its fourteenth extension.
Recently, Reed shared one of the stories from EAST 14TH with Oprah's new television network. Entitled BUTTER, it is already available on her website at http://www.oprah.com/own/innerview.html?page_id=14
Reed, who is the comedian/warm-up host for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno during the week, is delighted to be spending his weekends performing on his home turf in the East Bay. When playing on Fridays, the show will start at 9:00 pm, on Saturdays at 8:00 pm and on Sundays at 7:00 pm. All shows take place at The Marsh Berkeley, 2120 Allston Way in Berkeley. For tickets, the public may call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006 or visit www.themarsh.org
EAST 14TH chronicles the true tale of a young man raised by his mother and ultra-strict stepfather as a middle class, straight A, God-fearing church boy. The boy, however, wanted to be just like his dear old Dad. Too bad he didn't know dear old Dad was a pimp. Very funny, definitely poignant — a ride down a street you won't soon forget. The San Francisco Chronicle described Reed as an "Irresistible presence," and the East Bay Express declared the show ‘...Nothing short of amazing." The show is a best Bay Area Critics Circle Award Solo Performance nominee.
Friday, August 6; Sunday, August 8
Saturday, August 14; Sunday, August 15
Friday, August 20; Sunday, August 22
Saturday, August 28; Sunday, August 29
Saturday, September 4
Saturday, September 11; Sunday, September 25
Saturday, September 31; Sunday, September 12
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