Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

WEDNESDAY 12/17: LAST CLASS!!

2008-12-15T19:22:00.000-08:00

Your final papers are due on Wednesday. We'll do a pot-luck paper-drop-off goodbye party. Please bring cookies/chips/fruit/snacks along with your final paper and toast your classmates for a great semester.

I will not accept final papers via email, so you must come drop them off, even if you can't stay for the festivities.

*If you want your graded final papers back ASAP, bring a stamped, self-addressed envelope to hand in along with your paper.* If you don't bring an s.a.s.e., I will leave graded papers in an envelope in my box in the English Department for you to pick up after break.

I handed back your Aloft papers tonight. Unfortunately there's not enough time for me to give you a full week to do re-writes; if you want to re-write your Aloft paper, you must do so by FRIDAY 12/19. Drop your re-written papers in my box at the English Department by Friday, and then send me an email to tell me you've done so. I don't usually come in on Fridays--I'll be making a special trip--so I won't come unless I know that there are papers for me to pick up. I will not accept emailed re-writes because I need to see the original, with my comments, along with it.

You're still required to meet with me before you can do a re-write. Wednesday during or after the party would be a good time (I know, it's not very festive. I'm sorry.)

See you then...

Due Monday 11/15

2008-12-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

Rough drafts of your final paper.

Student Evaluations

2008-12-09T06:39:00.000-08:00

Instead of allocating class time to filling out student evaluations, Brooklyn College this year is doing evaluations entirely online. Please take a minute to go to http://portal.brooklyn.edu and fill out an evaluation for this class. It's totally anonymous, it's very helpful to me as a teacher, and there are benefits for you, too. Those benefits (per an email I got from the University) are:

Immediate Grade Notification: Students who submit 100% of their evaluations will receive their course grades as soon as the instructor has registered them via WebGrading. Others will have to wait until December 31st.
Early Access to Student Feedback, including Student Comments: Students who submit 100% of their evaluations will be given access in early January to their fellow students' feedback, in time for program changes for the spring 2009 semester. Other students will have to wait to see this feedback until after the last day to drop/add a course in the spring 2009 semester.
Lottery Prizes: Students who submit 100% of their evaluations will have their names entered into a lottery to win cash prizes of $250, $100 and $50.

Thanks.

Your final research papers

2008-12-09T06:30:00.000-08:00

In class on Monday, I handed out FINAL PAPER TOPICS. I'll embed the file below for those of you who weren't in class.

Please pay special attention to the instructions at the top of the document; this paper is different from previous papers in terms of the number of pages, the guidelines for references, etc. The subject matter for these papers is different from that of previous papers, but please note that your approach should be the same: I'm still looking for you to take sides on a given issue with a strong thesis statement, and then set out to systematically prove it.

For most of these questions, you'll need to do some preliminary research before you can come up with a thesis statement. FOR CLASS ON WEDNESDAY, you must bring in:
--a draft thesis statement
--an annotated list of references/sources that you used while formulating this thesis statement
--a list of other references/sources you plan to consult as you go forward with your research.
Please note that a rough draft is due on Monday, and then your final papers are due two days later--so the more you do now, the better position you'll be in then.

PLEASE NOTE, Wednesday we are meeting in the library. I've reserved room 120--the classroom where we did our library orientation at the beginning of the semester--for the class period. We will meet in the lobby at 5:00 and make our way there together. For those of you who are late, please proceed directly to room 120.

Final Paper Topics

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Due Wednesday 12/3

2008-12-01T16:32:00.000-08:00

Rough draft of your Aloft paper. Please bring 3 copies, so you can get feedback from your classmates.

Please also bring your copy of "A Writer's Reference" and a copy of one of the outside sources that you used for your paper.

Due Monday 12/1

2008-11-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

FINISH Aloft!

In class we'll talk about the last half of the book. You'll also get your in-class essays back, and we'll discuss your plans for expanding them into your third full-length paper.

Some follow-up info from our discussion on Wednesday

2008-11-23T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here is an article from Friday's paper about the killing of an Ecuadorean immigrant in Patchogue, Long Island, by a gang of local white teenagers: Immigrants Say Slaying Brings Bias to the Fore

And here is an overview of the linguistic theory of signs, symbols, and signifiers, which we discussed in class. It's complicated, and might take you a few minutes to tease apart, but this is the most straightforward description I could find; it's the concepts that are complicated, so even the simplest explanation will not be easy.

Due Monday 11/24

2008-11-19T17:20:00.000-08:00

READ Aloft, chapters 7-9

Prepare for the in-class essay you will write about "Flight" and Aloft. You will be required to quote from one or both of these readings, plus at least one secondary source. You are encouraged to bring in several potential secondary sources that you have read and familiarized yourself with. The more options you bring, the more likely you'll have something that will work for your paper topic; the more familiar you are with the sources in advance, the more prepared you will be to use them on the spot.

As we discussed in class, possible paper topics include: aviation, globalization, travel, exploitation/colonization, race, time.

For those who choose to re-write their Housekeeping papers, your re-writes are due Monday. Don't forget to bring the original paper along with the re-write.

Due Wendesday 11/19 (plus another look at the schedule)

2008-11-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

READ chapters 3-6 of Aloft

I encourage you to keep a list as you read, like you kept while you read Housekeeping, of the book's major themes/symbols/leitmotifs, and corresponding quotes from the text. It's not required, but I think you'll find it helpful in our class discussions and in your paper.

Tonight I handed back your Housekeeping papers; don't forget that re-writes are welcome and encouraged, but that you must meet with me first.

In class tonight, we agreed that we would cancel class on Wednesday 11/26, the night before Thanksgiving. We also agreed that we should spend one additional class period before doing an in-class essay on "Flight" and Aloft. That condenses the class schedule in the next few weeks even further, as follows:
11/19 read chapters 3-6 [Kenzo and Edward presentations]
11/24 read chapters 7-9; in-class essay; Housekeeping paper re-writes due (optional)
11/26 no class; however, you must pick up your graded in-class essay to re-write over the weekend (next week we'll work out where you'll pick them up--probably my box in the English department)
12/1 in-class essay re-writes due (required); finish Aloft; in-class thesis statement workshop [Yolexia and Keli presentations]
12/3 [schedule picks up where it left off]

Due Monday 11/16

2008-11-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

Read chapters 1 and 2 of Aloft.

For those of you who missed class on Wednesday, or who were in class and didn't read "Flight" by Barry Lopez, I strongly advise you to go back and read it, carefully. As you can see on your schedules, we are doing another in-class essay, on Wednesday 11/18, which will be based on Aloft and "Flight."

I also want to remind those folks who have not yet handed in their papers that I do deduct a half-grade for each day a paper is late.

Due Monday 11/10

2008-11-05T16:33:00.000-08:00

Rough draft of your Housekeeping paper.

**Please bring 3 copies of your draft to class. This will make it easier to workshop your papers in groups with your peers.**

For those of you who weren't in class and missed this announcement, PLEASE NOTE:
I recently learned that students without reasonably good grammar should not be allowed to pass English 2. I have not focused on grammar much up to this point, as it's really outside the scope of this class and I did not realize that I was required to weight it so heavily in your final grade. There are a number of you that have some grammar weak spots that I strongly suggest you work on. I will be emailing you individually over the next several days with specific pages from "A Writer's Reference" to read, as well as corresponding exercises on www.dianahacker.com/writersref that will allow you to practice the skills that you read about.

(Re)revised schedule

2008-11-05T12:48:00.001-08:00

Please note, the revised schedule I posted Monday has been revised again. I've removed the document from Monday's post and am embedding the most up-to-date one here. Sorry for any confusion.

Revised Schedule 110308

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Due Wednesday 11/5

2008-11-03T19:27:00.001-08:00

First of all, GO VOTE!! Polls in NYC are open tomorrow, 11/4, from 6 am to 9 pm. If you don't know your polling place, you can find it here.

Second of all, for Wednesday, bring in a thesis statement and an annotated bibliography for your Housekeeping paper. In class tonight I handed out a list of suggested paper topics. (For those of you who were absent or need an additional copy, I'll embed it below.) I expect the annotated bibliography to contain at least 4 sources, and to be formatted properly. Please consult Hacker, pp 378-412 re: formatting your bibliography (I strongly encourage you to familiarize yourselves with the entire "MLA Papers" section of Hacker, pp 355-412); this website gives some helpful information about the difference between an annotated bibliography and a regular works cited page.

Finally, FYI, tonight I also distributed a revised schedule for the remainder of the semester. You will likely have additional homework besides what's listed there, but the deadlines for the remaining papers and readings should not change. I'll also embed that schedule below.

Paper #2 Suggested Topics

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Due Monday 11/3

2008-10-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

Finish Housekeeping.

Then, read:
-- "Sojourning Women: Homelessness and Transcendence in Housekeeping," by Anne-Marie Mallon, [this contains some plot spoilers; make sure you finish the book first] and
-- "When I Was a Child" by Marilynne Robinson.
I handed these two articles out in class tonight; for those of you who were absent, I've left copies in my mailbox in the English Department (2308 Boylan). Make sure you take one of each. The Mallon article you can download via the library's e-journal databases, if you want. The Robinson article, no such luck.

For homework, please continue your list of themes/leitmotifs, and quotes/examples. I expect this week's list to be twice as long as last week's, and to contain quotes/pages from all the way through to the end.

Due Wednesday 10/29

2008-10-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

READ chapters 7-9 of Housekeeping

MAKE A LIST of recurring themes or symbols (leitmotifs) that you notice as you read. Some of the ones that we discussed in class included trains, death/suicide, water (snow, flood, lake), darkness. Feel free to use these and any additional ones that grab your attention. Then, as you read, note each time that this theme or symbol appears in the text. Under the heading of "train," for instance, you might include:
-- grandfather's death/train derailment, pp 5-6
-- grandmother's obituary/recounting of train derailment, pp 40
etc.
I'd like to see at least 4 major themes or symbols, and at least 6 instances of each in the text.

Due Monday 10/27

2008-10-23T20:33:00.001-07:00

READ chapters 1-6 of Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson

Due Wednesday 10/22

2008-10-20T17:56:00.000-07:00

PREPARE for the in-class essay you're going to write. (See the preceding post, "Homework and misc info, 10/15", for more detailed information.) If you have questions about how it's going to work, or how best to prepare, please email me.

READ chapters 1-3 of Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson

Those of you whose group didn't hand in the paragraph you worked on in class today, please finish that up to hand in Wednesday too.

Homework and misc info, 10/15

2008-10-15T20:05:00.000-07:00

Due Monday 10/20

READ the excerpts from Colson Whitehead's John Henry Days that I handed out in class.
(A summary of the novel, to give you a little context, is available here.)
Those of you who weren't in class and didn't get the handout will need to take the book out of the library. The pages to read are: 83-6, 118-122, 137-142, and 238-241.

FIND the lyrics to a version of "John Henry" and bring them to class. (Please don't bring in the versions by Woody Guthrie or Bruce Springsteen; I'm bringing those.)

In-class essay

As I announced in class tonight, on Wednesday we're going to be doing an in-class essay about Whitehead's John Henry Days and Solnit's River of Shadows. I'm going to hand out a list of essay questions for you to choose from, and you'll have 45 minutes to write an essay incorporating one or both of these readings, and two outside sources that you will bring in with you.

You need not bring them on Monday; I'm only posting this now so that you can start preparing over the weekend if you want to. You're welcome to bring in as many outside sources as you like, but you need only incorporate 2 into your paper. The more carefully you've read them and marked them up in advance of class, the more prepared you will be to use them effectively in your essay.

You'll probably find a lot more literary criticism about John Henry Days than you will about River of Shadows, but you need not limit yourself to literary criticism. The essay questions will be about technology, the mythology of the West, the railroad, the symbolism of the folk hero John Henry, etc., so essays or historical resources about any or all of these subjects would be helpful to you.

Re-writes on paper #1

...are due on Wednesday 10/22! You may not do a re-write unless you've met with me to discuss it first. When you hand your rewrite in, it's very important that you attach the old version of your paper to the new version so I can see what changes you've made. I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

See you Monday.

Due Wednesday, 10/15

2008-10-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Choose 3 major themes or key points from the reading, and summarize each in your own words. (Three separate sentences.) Then, find a quote from the reading that illustrates or helps develop each point. Weave together each point with its corresponding quote, as if this were a section from a paper; make sure your sentence and Solnit's words flow nicely together: use good signal phrases and correct citation formatting (please refer to the Hacker reading which you were supposed to have read for today).

Due Tuesday 10/14 (yes, Tuesday)

2008-10-06T19:09:00.000-07:00

READING
-- Rebecca Solnit, "The Annihilation of Time and Space" (in the reader)
*please note, folks, we're meeting two days in a row next week; since you have a whole week before our next class, I suggest you get a head start and do Wednesday's reading too: "Lessons of the Golden Spike," also in the reader.
-- Hacker, pp 333-347. This is all about evaluating references, doing outside research, and approaching your bibliography: very relevant to what we did in class today and to your homework. Speaking of which...

WRITING
Act as if the paper you just handed in was a research paper. Using the online databases that we were introduced to in class today, assemble a bibliography of sources you might have used. The list should have at least 5 scholarly articles or pieces of literary criticism. The list should be formatted like a formal bibliography (see the Hacker reading for guidelines). For two of the sources, actually download the articles and pull out at least 2 direct quotes, and/or paraphrase 2 of the article's original ideas, that you would have used in your paper.

Schedule for the next few weeks

2008-09-22T20:41:00.000-07:00

For Wednesday, 9/24:
--READ "Eastward" by William Least Heat-Moon and "Why I Ride" by Jana Richman, both in the reader.
--Work on your paper.
--Don't forget, I have office hours Wednesdays after class, from 6:30 to 7:30, in Boylan 2311. For those of you who want to talk more with me about your papers as you go forward, this is a great time!

There is no class on either 9/29 or 10/1.

On 10/6, your papers are due. That day, we will have an orientation with a research librarian. Instead of meeting in our usual classroom, we will meet in room 120 in the library. Bring your completed papers with you. They are due at the start of class. I will not accept late papers.

Monday 10/13 is Columbus Day, so there is no class. Because of a College Conversion Day, class will meet instead on Tuesday, 10/14. Please note!! This means that we have class that week two days in a row: Tuesday 10/14 and Wednesday 10/15. You may find the reading for those 2 classes challenging, so please get a head start; you have a full week after you hand in your papers to read "The Annihilation of Time and Space" and "Lessons of the Golden Spike," by Rebecca Solnit.

Due Monday 9/22

2008-09-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

A rough draft of your paper!

Due Wednesday 9/17

2008-09-15T22:17:00.001-07:00

READING
Finish On the Road
For those who weren't in class, we reviewed the following sections of Hacker (I encourage everyone, even those who were in class, to use these sections as a reference as you go forward):
--Thesis statements: 10-11
--Topic sentences: 70
--Evidence: 358-364
--"Signal phrases": 364-5
These are the four building blocks to any good paper.

WRITING
Draft an outline for your paper. If you're happy with the thesis statement you handed in today, you can use that. Or, if you're not happy with it, you can start fresh with a new one. We will spend Wednesday doing individual conferences to talk about your papers, so this outline is not set in stone. But you will benefit more from the conference if you come in with an outline that you've devoted some time, energy, and thought to.

Please note!

2008-09-11T13:07:00.000-07:00

I am going to swap the classes that are listed on your syllabus under 9/22 and 9/24. We're going to spend 9/22 workshopping the first drafts of your papers, and then we're going to spend 9/24 discussing the Heat-Moon and Richman essays.

This means that YOU WILL WRITE A FIRST DRAFT OF YOUR FIRST PAPER BY NEXT MONDAY, 9/22.

Due Monday 9/15

2008-09-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

Read part III of On the Road.
Read Hacker, pp 9-11, 67-84, 318-320.
Read "Kerouac's ON THE ROAD," a critical essay by Norma Walrath Goldstein. (I handed these out in class, but I'll embed it below in case you need another copy.)

Please construct an outline of Goldstein's essay, much the same way you would make an outline of a paper that you were planning to write. You must include the essay's thesis statement, the topic sentence of each paragraph, and the evidence that the author uses to back up her statements.

You must also come in with a thesis statement of your own, based on any aspect of On the Road. Think of this thesis statement as a first draft of the thesis statement that you will use to write your first paper. In other words, spend some real time thinking about it and crafting it carefully. The more you do now, the better shape you'll be in later.

As yourself: Is your thesis specific enough that you can reasonably prove it in 2-4 pages, but not so specific that it won't hold up under 2-4 pages of scrutiny? Can you think of 3-4 examples from the text that you will quote to prove your point? Consult the Hacker reading about what makes a good thesis statement. The Writer's Reference website has a number of good exercises on thesis statements. If you are struggling, try a few of them. (Once you're on the Writer's Reference site, click on "Writing Exercises," then "E-ex C2-1: Thesis statments." You can also click on "Research exercises," then "Researching (general)," then "E-ex R1-1: Research Questions.")

"Kerouac's ON THE ROAD," by Norma Walrath Goldstein - Upload a Document to Scribd