Essay #3 draft DUE WEDNESDAY NOW

For those of you who were in class today, please note that I've decided to give you until next Wednesday to hand in your rough draft for Essay #3, and your final draft will now be due on Thursday, November 14.  We will not do a workshop for this essay.  However, I will collect it to give you feedback.  My idea was to not have Essay #3 overlap at all with the beginning stages of your research paper, but I do want you to have enough time, so I think it will be fine if you are revising this essay while you begin brainstorming for your research paper.

Please check the syllabus here on the blog for the updated course schedule.  Note that I have also added another Debate day for the week of Thanksgiving, as I think we should get one more in before the end of the semester.

Here is the new Essay #3 Assignment (everything is the same except for the new dates).  For those of you who were out today, please begin to work on this essay.

Next week, we will focus on food issues and watch Food, Inc.  I'm looking forward to it!  I will assign a blog response for Monday, now that I have extended the essay, so do check for that.

Have a lovely weekend. 

Optional Reading

For those of you who are interested, here are two links:

1. A response to Bharati Mukherjee's "Two Ways to Belong in America"

2. A more detailed article about Owen and Canto, and the research regarding calorie intake and longevity

If you would like to respond to either of these for extra credit, please do so on your blog.  I'll post the extra credit assignment on the Writing Prompts page.

(You have no blog post due for tomorrow's class, but come prepared for in-class discussion/writing.)

Weekend Work

Dear All,

This is just a post to let you know that you do not have a writing response due for Monday's class, since you should be working on your final draft of Essay #2.  You are still required to complete the readings on the syllabus (I have posted "Two Ways to Belong in America," which is not in your book).  I may assign an in-class writing response during Monday's class, so do come prepared.

Also, here's an interesting video about income inequality (Please watch…it shows a nice visual comparison/contrast example, and it's only about 6 minutes long):

http://utrend.tv/v/9-out-of-10-americans-are-completely-wrong-about-this-mind-blowing-fact/

Enjoy your weekend!

A Few Updates

1.) I have decided to give you all until next Monday to hand in the final draft of Essay #2.  That way, you will have this week to ask me any questions about the rough drafts and the whole weekend to polish them up.  There is a catch though:  This also means that I will expect higher quality revision.

2.) Our library visit dates have now changed to November 14 and November 18, so just take a look at the syllabus for those two weeks to see the adjustments that I made.

3.) This Thursday, we are going to hold a class debate regarding the legal drinking age.  Therefore, I have adjusted the syllabus to reflect this and am now asking that you read pages 583-594 and do online research as necessary (with credible sources) to prepare.  Everyone should be ready to speak in Thursday's class!  This is an issue that I am divided on, so your goal is to convince me of whatever side I have assigned to you below (whether you agree with it or not).   The idea is to practice making logical and supported arguments, to maybe look at the debate from a different perspective, and to have a little bit of fun.  Any credible quotes, facts, statistics, examples, and stories you find are fair game for this debate (I suggest bringing them to class).  Remember that when arguing, you should also consider pathos (emotional appeal) along with logic and credibility.

Assigned Debate Stance
For Keeping the Legal Drinking Age at 21:
Gabriela
Ana
Jae
Qin
Ellyn
Andy
Winnie
Katerine
Samantha
Terry
Arianna

For Lowering the Legal Drinking Age:
Meriam
Jisu
David
Tyler
Victoria
Jodie
Lauren
Tajkia
Olivia
Amanda
Jenny
Brian

We will discuss any questions that you have in class on Wednesday.

P.S. There are some of you who have not been keeping up with your blog homework assignments.  Please start doing so.  I will be grading them this weekend.

MLA Handout

I just wanted to let you all know, especially those who were absent, that I have posted a link to the MLA Handout here on the blog on the "Helpful Links" page.  I'm looking forward to reading your first argumentative essay drafts.  Remember that you are responding to an essay, which means that you should quote from that essay as well as develop your own take on the topic/subject and find 1-2 sources online to support your argument.  It is certainly a good practice to say what you agree/disagree/or both with when responding to the essay.  Even if you overall disagree with the argument, you might find parts of it that you agree with.  Feel free to email me if you have any questions.  Otherwise, I will see you in class!

Class Note

Dear All,

I just wanted to let you know that you will have no blog posts due for the rest of this week.  You do have a good amount of reading tonight in the "Definition" chapter for tomorrow's class.  For those of you who have not been bringing your books/readings to class, please start to do so.  This is an English class.  It is essential that you have the words in front of you.  It is also part of what I consider when I calculate participation grades at the end of the semester.

See you in class!

Assignments and Changes to Syllabus

I just want to apologize again for being late to class because of computer issues in my office!  For those of you who were absent today, here is the Essay #2 Assignment that I gave out.  Note that I've adjusted the syllabus a bit so that the first draft is now due next Thursday.  I have also cancelled the "Writing with Sources" assignment that I had originally scheduled for this week.  I will post a blog assignment for next class.  Have a lovely weekend everyone!  Remember, I will see on Tuesday (not Monday) next week.

Louis C.K. Bemoans Cell Phones

Here is the Louis C.K. appearance on Conan O'Brien that I mentioned in class.  He discusses why he refuses to get cell phones for his daughters, and it really reminds me of Peggy Orenstein's "I Tweet, Therefore I Am."  I strongly encourage you to watch...it is funny and smart!  Also, feel free to comment on this here.

Hunter College Wildlife Expert Discussion

I wanted to inform you all of a panel discussion at Hunter this Friday that will focus on wildlife protection. It is titled Speak Up For Elephants, and it seems as though it will be very interesting, informative, and relevant to the Orwell essay that we recently read in class.  Also, it is free for students.  You are certainly not required to go, but I do encourage you to if you have the time.  I will be out of town, but I'd love to hear if any of you attend!

http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/communications/news/top-featured-stories/when-will-the-last-elephant-on-earth-be-slaughtered

p.s. - I am posting a short writing response for tomorrow's class.