English 120 Final Portfolio

Dear All,

Below is the necessary information that you need for your final portfolio for English 120, which you will hand in to me on Monday at the final exam (your final draft of your research paper should be placed in the portfolio along with all the other items).  The portfolio is pretty simple:  You must compile some of your work from the semester, put it in a folder, and add a cover letter in which you will look back on your work, in the style of that fancy word I introduced a few classes ago, "metacognition," meaning self-reflection on your own thinking and learning.

Here is a link to the Cover Letter Instructions, which include two sample letters from past English 120 students.

And, here is a link to the Portfolio Checklist. You should print this sheet, check it off as you put your items in the folder, and then place the sheet itself within or outside your portfolio folder.  As you'll see, you must include:
1. Your diagnostic essay (from the first day of class)
2. One of your short essays, with the rough draft (1,2, or 3 - whichever you prefer)
3. Your Midterm Essay
4. Your Annotated Bibliography
5. Your Research Paper - Final draft and Rough drafts

And that's it!

English 120 Final Exam

Dear All,

This post will be your resource for the final exam, which we will start in class on Thursday, December 12 and resume on Monday, December 16 in from 604HW from 12:00-2:00pm.  You will basically have about 15 minutes to review the exam on Thursday and then have the weekend to think about it before coming back on Monday to complete your essay.  This framework does not mean that you can write an essay at home and bring it in on Monday; you must write it in class.  In fact, the only materials you are allowed to have with you on the final are the two assigned readings (hopefully with notes in the margins).

You will be given one question to respond to in essay format for the final exam.  The question will pertain to David Foster Wallace's "Kenyon Commencement Speech," also known as "This is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life" and to "On Compassion," by Barbara Lazear Ascher.  You must synthesize both pieces in your response to the given question (we will discuss these details on the day of the final).

I cannot discuss "On Compassion" with you, but that does not mean that you can't discuss it with each other prior to the exam.  I will give you some time to converse with your peers on Thursday before we start the exam.

Here is a handout that covers some of the main points in David Foster Wallace's speech to help you study.  I also strongly recommend rereading his speech at least two more times and marking it up.  I saw a lot of clean copies in class today, which does not indicate close, active reading.

Finally, here is a worksheet you may want to fill out on your own to help you study for the exam.  However, you must note that you cannot have this sheet in front of you during the test.

Let me know if you have any questions either through email or in class next week.

All the best,
Ms. Murray

Monday's Debate

Dear All,

We will be having another debate on Monday.  Below are your assigned positions.  I have  included here links to three sources I think would be useful to read in preparation for this debate.  I also suggest that you do some of your own research - The New York Times Topics and Room For Debate sites are great sources to search for information on the gun debate.   You may also consider checking for short articles in the library's Academic Search Complete database, while you're researching for your own paper topics ;-).

"The Gun Debate" - John Mountjoy
"Debate: Gun Control in The United States" - Multiple Authors
"Gun Control in America: An Autopsy Report" - Charles W. Collier

For strict gun laws (strong restrictions/banning guns completely)

Victoria

Ana

Jisu

Samantha

Amanda

David

Brian

Terry

Arianna

Lauren

Tajkia

Meriam

For a laissez –faire gun policy (little to no restrictions)

Gabriela

Andy

Jodie

Tyler

Ellyn

Qin

Katerine

Olivia

Jenny

Winnie

Jae

Topics Covered in Today's Class

Here is a link to a very short article about Reverend Wright's comments that were linked to Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign.  While I decided to not post a video of Reverend Wright, you can of course find videos of him on Youtube if you're interested in seeing him speak in person:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/mar/18/barackobama.uselections20083

For those of you who were absent today, I handed out this worksheet for completing your Annotated Bibliography, which is due next Monday, November 25. 

Research Tools

Dear All,

I wanted to give you an overview of the library resources, since I was concerned that some of the information was rushed during yesterday's class:

Here is the link to the library's site:  http://library.hunter.cuny.edu/

Here is the link to the English 120 library guide (which has helpful tabs about narrowing topics, finding sources, and citing them): http://libguides.library.hunter.cuny.edu/english120?hs=a

Remember that you can always chat with a librarian on the library's homepage, even late at night, if you're working and have a research-related question.

Also, note that Cuny+/Books is where you should click to search for books, and Databases/Articles is where you should click to find articles.  When searching the databases, I suggest choosing one based on the type it is or the subject you are studying.  The database that we used briefly in class was Academic Search Complete, which is a great place to get started because it has an extensive collection of articles.  In order to log in to the databases, you need to use the same login information as your Hunter email account.

For your research paper you are required to use five sources from the library.   And, within these five sources, I encourage you to use one article that is peer-reviewed.  Do you remember what this term means?  It indicates that an article is "scholarly," meaning that it is written and reviewed by scholars and experts within a field.  For example, if I were researching the effects of the media on body image, I would most likely be able to find a peer-reviewed article written and reviewed by psychology professors/researchers about the mental process of internalizing seemingly perfect body images from the media.  There is an option on some databases to select only peer-reviewed articles.  This option is on the left side of Academic Search Complete.

We will practice more with databases on Monday, and you will have time to begin doing your own research.

I have posted a reading about the technicalities of research, which you should read by early next week.  I have also adjusted next week's schedule a bit, so that your research paper thesis is now due on Thursday, and we will hold a workshop that day.

Have a nice weekend!

Weekend Work

Dear All,

I have posted a blog response for this weekend, due on Monday.  It is related to your readings and Food, Inc.

I also wanted to give you the link that appears at the end of the film, which follows up on the film and gives more information and ways to take action:

http://www.takepart.com/foodinc

To give you an idea of where we're headed:  On Monday, we will discuss together the film, the two assigned readings, and the details of your in-class essay, which you will take on Wednesday.  Also, starting next week, we will talk about your research paper and begin brainstorming topics.  We will visit Room 609E in the library Thursday, November 14 and Monday, November 18 to begin preparing for your research paper.  You will essentially then spend the next month of class working on your research paper until the end of the semester.

Enjoy your weekend!

Food, Inc. Supplementary Materials

Here is a Handout I created for Food, Inc. to help you organize your thoughts about it.  I will bring hard copies of this handout to class tomorrow, but you might want to start thinking about the questions tonight.

Here is a link that discusses the "pink slime" that we saw today in the film, which is the food industry's response to contaminated meat.  What do you think about this "solution"?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/post/what-pink-slime-tells-us-about-industrial-food-safety/2012/04/09/gIQAWs7M6S_blog.html

While Kevin's Law never passed, President Obama signed a Food Safety Modernization Act in 2011, and here is more information about that law which is focused on prevention of food contamination:

http://www.foodsafety.gov/news/fsma.html

And, finally, here is a link to the food safety organization founded by Kevin's mother, Barbara Kowalcyk:

http://www.foodborneillness.org/who-we-are.html