Letter of Introduction

Letter of Introduction
August 24, 2009


Dear Students:

I hope your summer was fun and exciting and that you are prepared for classes. I’m sure, especially if you attended summer school, that this semester came sooner than anticipated. Even though we give human attributes to time, like “time runs, flies, and is fleeting,” time actually moves the same or not at all—maybe we’re the ones who are moving, our cosmic body of water this thing called time—invisible with visible consequences—lines, aches, sadness.

However we define this illusive phenomena—time, we need to make the most of our brief flash in the universe or on this planet earth. Given the finite nature of life, if we don’t take advantage of the time—I am intentionally redundant, to refine the talents we have been given or developed to get from here to yonder we might look up years later, older but no wiser.

Obviously, your presence in this classroom means you respect the passage of time and have decided to actively engage this process by not passively letting it pass you by. Your presence, says to me that you want to be an active not passive observer in this phenomena—aging, developing, growing, deteriorating. Each moment, we die a little, so this writing, this active engaging of oneself in one’s life is like planting a stake on the moon, a stake that says, I am here, I was here, and I will be here, even after I am no longer visible.

Life is a gift; we don’t want to waste it. That said, you might be here under duress. Sometimes life circumstances dictate that we try new activities, change old ways and develop more positive habits. Reflection, in the form of reading and writing is one of the most productive ways to spend one’s time, especially when one is trying to figure out what one plans to do with this finite time each of us has been given.

I am recovering from an injury. I was riding my bike down San Leandro Street in Oakland, near Seminary. I was headed back home from the Bay Trail at Zone Way and 66th Street, I was feeling great having climbed steep Hegenberger Blvd., sailed by BART without getting off my bike. The sun was going down, visibility wasn’t great, but I was trying to avoid the uneven sidewalk, going around municipal obstacles, utility poles until I find myself suddenly on the ground—BAM! My head hits the pavement, my bike is on top of me, and after I check to make sure there is nothing broken and get up, check my bike, my hand—right hand is killing me. I can barely stand it, it hurts so badly.

Do I call my daughter to come get me? Where are the police I just saw at the Coliseum BART just moments before? Where is the Good Samaritan, who with concern asks me if I’m okay?

I get on my bike and try to ride home. Yes, I must have been in shock, because the pain in my hand tells me to get off the bike and walk. Unlike other times I’ve fallen, my gloves protected my hands and there were no cuts—just a bad bruise on my hand—it was purple, and a bruise where my helmet hit the pavement. This was July 13. I was going camping that weekend at Oakland Feather River Camp with my granddaughter July 18-24, so I went to the hospital the following day to get an x-ray—no broken bones. Yet, over a month later I am still in pain. I can’t open jars, turn a key in the ignition, steer the car once I am in it, parallel park, or use the computer for extended periods.

We have fun at camp, but perhaps I should have stayed home? I put ice on my hand while there along with a homeopathic remedy, wear my brace and don’t use it.

Yes, it isn’t easy when my hands, right hand in particular, are how I make a living. So I cancel the rest of my summer vacation—I was returning to camp the following week, but can’t navigate the mountainous road alone to Plumus National Forest. I rest my hand and rest it and rest it. Last week, I return to the doctor for a follow-up the day before we’re back on campus. She gives me a referral to physical therapy, but I can’t get an appointment until Friday, August 28 I find out when I call last week.

Well, before my 10 minutes on the computer are up let me tell you a bit about this semester and what you can expect:

The theme is hip hop culture in its purest form, by this I mean hip hop from its inception or the roots of the genre or musical form. In a few classes—I teach four classes, three preps: English 201, English 1A and English 1B, we explore the life of Tupac Shakur, a controversial, charismatic and creative architect in this movement. We will read books about him, reflect on him in our research and look for other artists who are also using their craft to better society—

Hip hop culture has influenced youth globally, and in my English 1B we will reflect on this global movement via the various aesthetic forms of expression: poetry, music, dance, theatre, spirituality, politics, visual arts, and media such as photography and journalism.

Though you might find the class fun, or entertaining, we are scholars, so the music and the videos, even the fieldtrips to concerts, all have a written component—the discourse is documented in what is called essays—short 250 word reflections and longer pieces depending on the assignment. We will have some assignments due on-line on the class blog called cyber-assignments and others will be due in class.

This is a draft syllabus until I learn how to use Dragon Naturally Speaking. My office is L-236, (510) 748-2131. The email address I check is professorwandasposse@gmail.com Office hours will probably be on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning (TBA) and perhaps Wednesday after 3 PM. I am not on campus on Fridays. I am hiring an aide who will be available to help with Stewart Pidd assignments and other work.

We will meet in a classroom in the A-bldg. with technology on Thursdays for the M-Th, T/Th classes and on Wednesdays with the MW classes. More on this later.

I highly recommend SPHE. It is required for English 201 and English 1A. Deceptively simple, the book is useful for all college writing levels as a refresher and also as an introduction to essay writing for college. SPHE gives students the language to talk about their writing and the skills to intentionally produce competent essays.

Students analyze the character Stewart Pidd’s essays and grade his essays by critiquing this work in essays they compose. The authors tell students how to write these essays and the assignments are prescriptive. Many essays are written in class and the exercises are also run on class. The book grows more complex as skills increase. I received good feedback on the text from some of my more accomplished writers in English 1A last year. Some students said that they learned a lot about writing that they hadn’t know before.

Keep all of your work, this is a portfolio based class. More on this later.