Monday, May 3, 2010
The Null Blog
No blog post is required this week! Please devote the extra time to polishing your final essays, which are due on FRIDAY. NO LATE PAPERS. You have two extra days, so use them well, and whatever you do, don't wait until the last minute to work on your paper. The Writing Lab is an excellent resource for help on your paper, and so are my office hours. Remember that this last paper is worth 30% of your final grade for the course.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Desperate Housewives
1.) Comment on the similarities and differences between Louise in "Story of an Hour" and Norma Jean in "Shiloh." What are their attitudes about marriage? Partnership? Love? What do they love?
2.) What does "freedom" mean to each of the female protagonists in the three stories? How are each of them trapped, and how do each of them seek release?
3.) OPEN RESPONSE. If neither of the prompts above does anything for you, or if you feel really excited to say something completely different, then you may do so!
These questions should open up enough material for everybody to say something unique and incisive about the texts. Remember, don't try to answer everything, but if you invest yourself then you will inevitably say something interesting!
2.) What does "freedom" mean to each of the female protagonists in the three stories? How are each of them trapped, and how do each of them seek release?
3.) OPEN RESPONSE. If neither of the prompts above does anything for you, or if you feel really excited to say something completely different, then you may do so!
These questions should open up enough material for everybody to say something unique and incisive about the texts. Remember, don't try to answer everything, but if you invest yourself then you will inevitably say something interesting!
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Last Paper
Paper Topics for the Third & Last Paper
Thirty Percent of Your Grade
Due Date: Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Instructions for the Essay:
Minimum number of outside sources: Three LiterActive sources and one internet source used in class. No outside sources may be used that have not been shown in class (on Monday or during your Wednesday and Friday class). All summaries, use of quotations, and/or use of ideas from sources must be cited appropriately using MLA Style citation form.
Write a well-developed essay with an interesting introduction, a debatable thesis statement, and paragraphs that build in interest. Write a conclusion that discusses the points of your essay without repeating yourself. You may discuss the relevance of your ideas to life today or the importance of the stories, or figure out some other way to end your essay, but do not repeat yourself, and do not start on a new topic.
Make sure each paragraph of the paper has strong evidence for your viewpoint with clear analysis, and that it is easy for your reader to understand how your evidence proves your paragraph’s idea and your thesis statement.
Topics to Choose From:
1. One definition of enslavement is taking complete control of a group of people against their wills (i.e., involuntarily) and doing whatever it takes in order to use them for your own benefit economically, sexually, socially, and in whatever other ways you wish to have authority over them. Select two stories that embody this definition of the term enslavement; briefly demonstrate the major way in which each story fulfills the above definition. Then, focus on the central issue of this question which is the following:
Upon first looking at the above definition, you would most likely say enslavement is not a part of American daily life. Think about what things in our culture and society control us most today? How are these things communicated to us? What is the vehicle in twentieth and twenty-first century America through which the above definition of enslavement is fulfilled? Provide concrete examples that this is the case and see if you can draw parallels between what is happening now and what you see happening in the two stories you selected. Don’t forget to include your LiterActive documents.
2. The value of life, land ownership, and human relationship is central to many stories we’ve read this semester. In diverse racial, cultural, social, political, and historical contexts, some characters we’ve encountered have shed their blood or risked their lives for a sense of belonging to a community and/or to a relationship.
For your final paper, write a fully developed literary analysis, using research, as assigned above, about one or two of the short stories read in class, in which you examine the way the author(s) use the literary devices of setting, plot, character, and point of view to relay a theme. Include a very brief biographical sketch of the author and a review of the literary criticism in your paper. In your thesis statement, be sure to identify a specific issue the protagonist struggle with and/or confronts. Your essay must demonstrate what the characters represent and what the story reveals (or what the stories reveal) about all of humanity.
3. In the story “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie,” the narrator makes broad generalizations about what a guy can expect when dating females of different racial/ethnic backgrounds; these generalizations are less than flattering and are, frankly, prejudicial. Why would a writer like Diaz, a Dominican who immigrated to the United States at the ages of seven and received his MFA from Cornell University, indulge in this type of language and writing. To what end? What could he be trying to accomplish by including these prejudicial stereotypes? Justify your viewpoint with textual evidence and LiterActive documents.
4. When a person is raised in an abusive environment, often he or she grows up with low self-esteem because of the way he or she has been treated through his or her lifetime. A person may feel less than when meeting with constant disapproval of a parent with unrealistic expectations of that individual throughout his or her childhood or when a person’s race makes the teacher expect less of that student than of others, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of a student who learns less than others. Many early childhood situations that silence a person have an impact on a person’s self-image later in life.
Select three stories we have read and figure out how and why the major characters have become emotionally enslaved to their or in their dysfunctional relationships (whether it be with their romantic partners or whether it enmeshment in their families of origin). Explain what makes these characters feel less than; use your text to support your argument; make sure you analyze the passages you select and that your thesis does not just focus on a single character but discuss the issue of the impact of the way we are treated in society or perceived by society and the level at which we function emotionally in our lives. Make the thesis inclusive.
5. In his letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund, dated August 31, 1835, existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard writes:
"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing."
Rejecting the conventional and systematic way of doing things, the existentialist characters seeks to find his/her own meaning to life in his/her own way. Consequently, s/he is often alienated from the majority though s/he chooses to have the freedom to seek what is important and meaningful to him/her rather than to blindly follow the crowd. Using Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” and one more story we have read this semester, of your own choice, discuss the way society treats characters who depart from the social constructs to find their own meanings. Explain why society treats people who don’t follow social constructs in this way. Find evidence for your viewpoint and be sure to use LiterActive and to relate it to today’s world.
5. Consider the story, “The Lottery” the article, The Newest Abuse Excuse for Violence Against Women, and the short film, Submission. How do these reflect community and traditions within communities? How are these similar, and what do these similarities mean? How are they different, and what do these differences represent?
Thirty Percent of Your Grade
Due Date: Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Instructions for the Essay:
Minimum number of outside sources: Three LiterActive sources and one internet source used in class. No outside sources may be used that have not been shown in class (on Monday or during your Wednesday and Friday class). All summaries, use of quotations, and/or use of ideas from sources must be cited appropriately using MLA Style citation form.
Write a well-developed essay with an interesting introduction, a debatable thesis statement, and paragraphs that build in interest. Write a conclusion that discusses the points of your essay without repeating yourself. You may discuss the relevance of your ideas to life today or the importance of the stories, or figure out some other way to end your essay, but do not repeat yourself, and do not start on a new topic.
Make sure each paragraph of the paper has strong evidence for your viewpoint with clear analysis, and that it is easy for your reader to understand how your evidence proves your paragraph’s idea and your thesis statement.
Topics to Choose From:
1. One definition of enslavement is taking complete control of a group of people against their wills (i.e., involuntarily) and doing whatever it takes in order to use them for your own benefit economically, sexually, socially, and in whatever other ways you wish to have authority over them. Select two stories that embody this definition of the term enslavement; briefly demonstrate the major way in which each story fulfills the above definition. Then, focus on the central issue of this question which is the following:
Upon first looking at the above definition, you would most likely say enslavement is not a part of American daily life. Think about what things in our culture and society control us most today? How are these things communicated to us? What is the vehicle in twentieth and twenty-first century America through which the above definition of enslavement is fulfilled? Provide concrete examples that this is the case and see if you can draw parallels between what is happening now and what you see happening in the two stories you selected. Don’t forget to include your LiterActive documents.
2. The value of life, land ownership, and human relationship is central to many stories we’ve read this semester. In diverse racial, cultural, social, political, and historical contexts, some characters we’ve encountered have shed their blood or risked their lives for a sense of belonging to a community and/or to a relationship.
For your final paper, write a fully developed literary analysis, using research, as assigned above, about one or two of the short stories read in class, in which you examine the way the author(s) use the literary devices of setting, plot, character, and point of view to relay a theme. Include a very brief biographical sketch of the author and a review of the literary criticism in your paper. In your thesis statement, be sure to identify a specific issue the protagonist struggle with and/or confronts. Your essay must demonstrate what the characters represent and what the story reveals (or what the stories reveal) about all of humanity.
3. In the story “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie,” the narrator makes broad generalizations about what a guy can expect when dating females of different racial/ethnic backgrounds; these generalizations are less than flattering and are, frankly, prejudicial. Why would a writer like Diaz, a Dominican who immigrated to the United States at the ages of seven and received his MFA from Cornell University, indulge in this type of language and writing. To what end? What could he be trying to accomplish by including these prejudicial stereotypes? Justify your viewpoint with textual evidence and LiterActive documents.
4. When a person is raised in an abusive environment, often he or she grows up with low self-esteem because of the way he or she has been treated through his or her lifetime. A person may feel less than when meeting with constant disapproval of a parent with unrealistic expectations of that individual throughout his or her childhood or when a person’s race makes the teacher expect less of that student than of others, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of a student who learns less than others. Many early childhood situations that silence a person have an impact on a person’s self-image later in life.
Select three stories we have read and figure out how and why the major characters have become emotionally enslaved to their or in their dysfunctional relationships (whether it be with their romantic partners or whether it enmeshment in their families of origin). Explain what makes these characters feel less than; use your text to support your argument; make sure you analyze the passages you select and that your thesis does not just focus on a single character but discuss the issue of the impact of the way we are treated in society or perceived by society and the level at which we function emotionally in our lives. Make the thesis inclusive.
5. In his letter to Peter Wilhelm Lund, dated August 31, 1835, existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard writes:
"What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know, except in so far as a certain knowledge must precede every action. The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do: the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die. ... I certainly do not deny that I still recognize an imperative of knowledge and that through it one can work upon men, but it must be taken up into my life, and that is what I now recognize as the most important thing."
Rejecting the conventional and systematic way of doing things, the existentialist characters seeks to find his/her own meaning to life in his/her own way. Consequently, s/he is often alienated from the majority though s/he chooses to have the freedom to seek what is important and meaningful to him/her rather than to blindly follow the crowd. Using Kafka’s “A Hunger Artist” and one more story we have read this semester, of your own choice, discuss the way society treats characters who depart from the social constructs to find their own meanings. Explain why society treats people who don’t follow social constructs in this way. Find evidence for your viewpoint and be sure to use LiterActive and to relate it to today’s world.
5. Consider the story, “The Lottery” the article, The Newest Abuse Excuse for Violence Against Women, and the short film, Submission. How do these reflect community and traditions within communities? How are these similar, and what do these similarities mean? How are they different, and what do these differences represent?
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Writing on Wright
Why does Dave think that owning a gun will make him a man? In a paragraph or two, explore how the story treats issues of power, violence, and respect. What specific examples from the story can you use to support whatever it is you're saying?
For extra credit: Wright acknowledges that he was influenced by Hemingway. What similarities can you find between the styles of the two writers? What are the important differences? Use specific examples from the stories, if you can. I will give extra points to whoever submits THE BEST answer(s). You may refer to works by Wright and/or Hemingway that we have not read for the course, if you would like.
For extra credit: Wright acknowledges that he was influenced by Hemingway. What similarities can you find between the styles of the two writers? What are the important differences? Use specific examples from the stories, if you can. I will give extra points to whoever submits THE BEST answer(s). You may refer to works by Wright and/or Hemingway that we have not read for the course, if you would like.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Take a Chance on "The Lottery"
Here are some questions about Jackson's "The Lottery." Don't try to answer them all; they're there to help you get started in thinking meaningfully about the story. Please post a thoughtful response. (Here are some phrases for you to consider and perhaps use in your responses: mob mentality, tradition, habit, lack of critical thinking, obedience, "conformity gone mad.")
1.) Compare "The Lottery" to something happening in current events. Are we doing something, today, that is similar to what's happening the short story?
2.) Look at some aspect of history or literature through the lens of the story. When has something like this happened before? To what other works of literature does this story connect, and how?
3.) Does the story ask you to reconsider assumptions that you've never had cause to question previously? If so, what? If not, what is it doing instead?
1.) Compare "The Lottery" to something happening in current events. Are we doing something, today, that is similar to what's happening the short story?
2.) Look at some aspect of history or literature through the lens of the story. When has something like this happened before? To what other works of literature does this story connect, and how?
3.) Does the story ask you to reconsider assumptions that you've never had cause to question previously? If so, what? If not, what is it doing instead?
Sunday, April 4, 2010
How to...
For this week, the blog is taking a turn towards the creative. Write your own "how to" paragraph, explaining to the reader how to do something. Try to focus on issues of identity and/or relationships. For instance, you could write a paragraph on "how to appear like you come from a family with money," or "how to break up and stay friends."
It will probably be helpful to have experience with the issue about which you're writing, but this isn't completely necessary. You can write about whatever moves you, and your work can be completely fictional.
Below your "how to" paragraph, explain in another paragraph why someone would need the advice, why it's worth writing about, and/or what relevance your "how to" paragraph bears to some larger issue.
It will probably be helpful to have experience with the issue about which you're writing, but this isn't completely necessary. You can write about whatever moves you, and your work can be completely fictional.
Below your "how to" paragraph, explain in another paragraph why someone would need the advice, why it's worth writing about, and/or what relevance your "how to" paragraph bears to some larger issue.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Interpreting Toomer
Formulate a written reaction to "Blood-Burning Moon." You may do any or all of the following: consider characterization, consider what the central conflict of the story is, consider who the protagonist and antagonist are, relate the text to the themes of the course, use elements of close reading, quote reputable outside sources, draw connections between the text and your first-person experiences, and/or react to a post that someone else made.
Your post should bring up something unique about the text that adds to what has already been posted. Please post at least 150-200 words.
Your post should bring up something unique about the text that adds to what has already been posted. Please post at least 150-200 words.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Essay Assignment--DUE MARCH 31st
Please select one topic from the ones listed below. Turn in all your rough work, and put your final draft on top; make sure your final draft is stapled on the top left side. Your paper must include citations (at least 2) from the LiterActive document library and the short stories you use, and you must provide a Works Cited List using the MLA documentation style provided on your LiterActive Disk. You may also use any of the YouTube videos shown during class or any of the articles on the syllabus instead of one of the LiterActive documents as a source. Failure to cite your sources correctly, and place commas and periods where they belong, will cost you points on your paper grade (since it just takes patience and time; not taking that time shows that you do not care about your work). Please remember to explain the word choice in the quotations you use and demonstrate the connections you see between the passages you choose and the idea you are proving. Write simply and straightforwardly.
1. Use one of the following stories to prove that the character who appears most normal and follows mainstream cultural constructs is the one in greatest need of human compassion and transformation. Make sure you provide sufficient evidence for your viewpoint and that you explain your evidence clearly. This essay topic asks you to construct a convincing and persuasive argument that proves something. You may choose to write this on either “Sonny’s Blues” or “Everyday Use.”
2. What do you believe Jean Toomer is trying to teach you through her story “Blood-Burning Moon”? What do you make of Tom Burwell and his choice of action? What do you make of Louisa? Is she really oblivious to what is happening at the end of the story?
3. Discuss the use of music in Baldwin and Toomer. How are jazz and vocal music used in these stories. Please note the different time periods in which these stories were written. The contexts are different, so make sure you differentiate the historical background’s impact upon the use of music in the story.
4. Discuss the similarities between Mrs. Dutta and Sonny’s brother. Why are these similarities significant thematically?
5. What is Walker’s commentary on the value of education in the story “Everyday Use”? What is your evidence. Why would she want to convey that message?
6. Discuss the first sentence of “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” and the amount of information it carries. Show how this one sentence foreshadows so much. Think carefully about the simile. Discuss the importance of the title, particularly the verb. What is so amazing about the result of the writing that it appears in the title? What does this teach you about writing-to-learn as opposed to having your thesis statement before you begin to write?
1. Use one of the following stories to prove that the character who appears most normal and follows mainstream cultural constructs is the one in greatest need of human compassion and transformation. Make sure you provide sufficient evidence for your viewpoint and that you explain your evidence clearly. This essay topic asks you to construct a convincing and persuasive argument that proves something. You may choose to write this on either “Sonny’s Blues” or “Everyday Use.”
2. What do you believe Jean Toomer is trying to teach you through her story “Blood-Burning Moon”? What do you make of Tom Burwell and his choice of action? What do you make of Louisa? Is she really oblivious to what is happening at the end of the story?
3. Discuss the use of music in Baldwin and Toomer. How are jazz and vocal music used in these stories. Please note the different time periods in which these stories were written. The contexts are different, so make sure you differentiate the historical background’s impact upon the use of music in the story.
4. Discuss the similarities between Mrs. Dutta and Sonny’s brother. Why are these similarities significant thematically?
5. What is Walker’s commentary on the value of education in the story “Everyday Use”? What is your evidence. Why would she want to convey that message?
6. Discuss the first sentence of “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter” and the amount of information it carries. Show how this one sentence foreshadows so much. Think carefully about the simile. Discuss the importance of the title, particularly the verb. What is so amazing about the result of the writing that it appears in the title? What does this teach you about writing-to-learn as opposed to having your thesis statement before you begin to write?
Sunday, March 14, 2010
We're still singing those Baldwin blues...
Please read the following article on how to do a close reading of a text. Then provide your best close reading of the following passage from "Sonny's Blues."
http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/closeread.htm
"We live in a housing project. It hasn't been up long. A few days after it was up it seemed uninhabitably new, now, of course, it's already rundown. It looks like a parody of the good, clean, faceless life-God knows the people who live in it do their best to make it a parody. The beat-looking grass lying around isn't enough to make their lives green, the hedges will never hold out the streets, and they know it. The big windows fool no one, they aren't big enough to make space out of no space. They don't bother with the windows, they watch the TV screen instead. The playground is most popular with the children who don't play at jacks, or skip rope, or roller skate, or swing, and they can be found in it after dark. We moved in partly because it's not too far from where I teach, and partly for the kids; but it's really just like the houses in which Sonny and I grew up. The same things happen, they'll have the same things to remember. The moment Sonny and I started into the house I had the feeling that I was simply bringing him back into the danger he had almost died trying to escape."
http://www.mantex.co.uk/samples/closeread.htm
"We live in a housing project. It hasn't been up long. A few days after it was up it seemed uninhabitably new, now, of course, it's already rundown. It looks like a parody of the good, clean, faceless life-God knows the people who live in it do their best to make it a parody. The beat-looking grass lying around isn't enough to make their lives green, the hedges will never hold out the streets, and they know it. The big windows fool no one, they aren't big enough to make space out of no space. They don't bother with the windows, they watch the TV screen instead. The playground is most popular with the children who don't play at jacks, or skip rope, or roller skate, or swing, and they can be found in it after dark. We moved in partly because it's not too far from where I teach, and partly for the kids; but it's really just like the houses in which Sonny and I grew up. The same things happen, they'll have the same things to remember. The moment Sonny and I started into the house I had the feeling that I was simply bringing him back into the danger he had almost died trying to escape."
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Sonny's Blues
As always, you don't have to answer all of these questions in your post, but please make an honest effort to explore the story through your blog post.
Music is an important force in "Sonny's Blues." What role does music play in the story? What is the relationship between Sonny and music? What about between the narrator and music (specifically, jazz and the blues)? What does music have to do with the greater meanings of the story, whatever those may be? How do you relate to music--what role does it play in your life? (If you are a person who creates music or plays an instrument, comment on that.)
Music is an important force in "Sonny's Blues." What role does music play in the story? What is the relationship between Sonny and music? What about between the narrator and music (specifically, jazz and the blues)? What does music have to do with the greater meanings of the story, whatever those may be? How do you relate to music--what role does it play in your life? (If you are a person who creates music or plays an instrument, comment on that.)
Saturday, February 27, 2010
For your entertainment...
Please watch the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCGtT_FRYg
Answer this post with your interpretation of what is happening in this video. Here are some questions for you to consider, but please don't limit yourself to answering the questions. They are just there to help guide your interpretation.
What does it mean that one man is moving forward while everyone else is moving backward? What happens at the end when then the man breaks through the wall? Why are some of the people giants? What does it mean when the man becomes a giant at the end? Is this video an ALLEGORY? (If you don't know what an allegory is, check the Wikipedia entry.) What kinds of SYMBOLISM exist in this video? What is the man trying to accomplish? Is anyone trying to stop him? Can you connect anything in this video to the course theme of enslavement? What about invisibility?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YCGtT_FRYg
Answer this post with your interpretation of what is happening in this video. Here are some questions for you to consider, but please don't limit yourself to answering the questions. They are just there to help guide your interpretation.
What does it mean that one man is moving forward while everyone else is moving backward? What happens at the end when then the man breaks through the wall? Why are some of the people giants? What does it mean when the man becomes a giant at the end? Is this video an ALLEGORY? (If you don't know what an allegory is, check the Wikipedia entry.) What kinds of SYMBOLISM exist in this video? What is the man trying to accomplish? Is anyone trying to stop him? Can you connect anything in this video to the course theme of enslavement? What about invisibility?
Saturday, February 20, 2010
A Post for Emily
It's always an interesting thing when an author comments on his or her own work. Frequently, we don't get ANY commentary at all, and sometimes the author's commentary is just as cryptic as the work itself. Faulkner encouraged students to ask him questions about his work, and he answered over 2,000 of them--something a writer like J.D. Salinger would never do.
After reading "A Rose for Emily," read the interview with Faulkner on page 1445. How does this interview change your interpretation of the story, if at all? How would you characterize Faulkner's "voice" in the interview--what is he like? Why would a writer want to (or want NOT to) comment on his or her own work?
After reading "A Rose for Emily," read the interview with Faulkner on page 1445. How does this interview change your interpretation of the story, if at all? How would you characterize Faulkner's "voice" in the interview--what is he like? Why would a writer want to (or want NOT to) comment on his or her own work?
Thursday, February 18, 2010
'Snowbody's Fault, Really
So it was pretty strange how they delayed classes until 9:30 am. Thank you to the (few) of you who came to class this morning. I have spoken with my superiors and learned that if this 9:30 thing happens again, WE WILL STILL HAVE CLASS, even if it is only for twenty minutes. In other words, there's no penalty for missing this most recent class, but in the future there will be.
Don't forget to read Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily" for class on Monday.
Also to prepare you for upcoming things: you must bring a typed rough draft of your paper with you to class on Wednesday. We're going to do a group exercise that will HELP you with your final product.
Can everyone please respond to this post with your E-MAIL ADDRESS? I realize you will probably check your e-mail more frequently than your blog and that would be the best way for me to reach the whole group.
See you all on Friday! (weather.com predicts PARTLY CLOUDY...)
Don't forget to read Faulkner's "A Rose For Emily" for class on Monday.
Also to prepare you for upcoming things: you must bring a typed rough draft of your paper with you to class on Wednesday. We're going to do a group exercise that will HELP you with your final product.
Can everyone please respond to this post with your E-MAIL ADDRESS? I realize you will probably check your e-mail more frequently than your blog and that would be the best way for me to reach the whole group.
See you all on Friday! (weather.com predicts PARTLY CLOUDY...)
Saturday, February 13, 2010
BLOGS DON'T GET SNOW DAYS!!
Who has power in the Hemingway story? Who has power in the Banks story? What kinds of power do each one of the characters have, and how can the reader tell? What kinds of things does the author establish with dialogue? What kinds of things does each author establish with description?
We've missed two classes so far because of snow, and we're missing two classes because of the holiday. Please make sure you follow the syllabus--you should also reread the Banks and Hemingway pieces so that we can discuss those on Wednesday.
I was pleased with most of the responses to the previous blog question--keep it up!
We've missed two classes so far because of snow, and we're missing two classes because of the holiday. Please make sure you follow the syllabus--you should also reread the Banks and Hemingway pieces so that we can discuss those on Wednesday.
I was pleased with most of the responses to the previous blog question--keep it up!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Invisibility
Write about a time in your life that you felt invisible. What was this like? Was someone MAKING you feel this way? How did you feel? When did the feeling of being invisible begin and end? After you've told your story of feeling invisible, comment on invisibility in society--will certain groups ALWAYS be invisible? How does a group of people become VISIBLE? What does a person or group stand to gain by being recognized and acknowledged by society?
Please, react to your classmates' posts! Agree, and--more importantly--disagree! Contradict, refine, and revise your ideas based on others' reactions--this will make this blog so much more than just a homework assignment.
Please, react to your classmates' posts! Agree, and--more importantly--disagree! Contradict, refine, and revise your ideas based on others' reactions--this will make this blog so much more than just a homework assignment.
Friday, January 29, 2010
First Blog Post!
Write about college as a cultural expectation. Are young people forced or pressured to go to college? Is this a form of slavery? Is it hurting or helping society, or neither?
Draw upon your personal experience, if you like, as well as sources in popular culture--movies, books, music, television, etc. As always, you may reference our reading for class, our conversations in class, and your classmates who have posted before you.
Draw upon your personal experience, if you like, as well as sources in popular culture--movies, books, music, television, etc. As always, you may reference our reading for class, our conversations in class, and your classmates who have posted before you.
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