appeals

If you would like more information about appeals, have a look at this page from the OWL at Purdue.

Reading Response 6

Reading Response 6

Richard Rodriguez, “Aria” (R 118)

Due Tuesday, October 28th

Choose one of the prompts below or come up with your own focus.

1. When Rodriguez first attends school, he is not a very successful student. What helps him to be more successful? Show this in the text and explain.

2. How did Rodriguez’s education affect his relationship with his family? Show the changes. Does he see this as necessary? Do you?

3. According to Rodriguez, what does having a public identity provide people? Show this in the text. Do you agree with Rodriguez about these benefits?

4. One of the possible purposes of education is to assimilate, to make students part of the dominant culture. What are the ways that Fan Shen, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Richard Rodriguez deal with this? Do you see one of these responses as being better than the others or are they all valid? Explain.

Reading Response 5 will be in class

Remember that Reading Response 5 will be done in class this Thursday. The prompts will be about Gloria Anzalúa's* "How to Tame a Wild Tongue." Keeping in mind what we are discussing in class and the prompts for the second essay, what do you think some of the reading response prompts will be?

This also means that Reading Response 6 will be for homework, due Tuesday October 28th. I'll post the prompts for it after Thursday's class.

* How do I type a "ú"? Hold down "option" + "e" and then hit "u".

EWRT1A sections 37 and 63: Essay 2 prompts

Fall 2014 EWRT1A Essay 2- Education Synthesis

Write an essay on one of the prompts below. The essay should be 3-4 pages, typed, double-spaced, and in accordance with the MLA guidelines (see Rules for Writers). The prompts require you to use at least two of the texts we’ve read/heard in the class and at least one must be from the “What Does Education Do?” section (Rose through Cooper). The goal here is to find connections, to discover similarities in two or more texts. Cite the essays you refer to and be sure to provide a works cited list.

1. Obstacles. Sometimes education is successful, but sometimes it isn’t. So when education doesn’t work, what gets in the way? What causes education to fail? You can focus on one cause or a few, but the the same cause must be reflected in more than one text. Find a pattern in our readings.

2. Assets. Looking at the essays we have read, what does it take for education to work properly? In other words, what are the causes of a successful education? Use at least two texts from the class to support your argument. You may focus on one cause or a few. However many you choose, the same cause must be reflected in more than one text. Find links between the texts in answering this prompt.

3. Effects. When education works well, what positive effect does it have? You can focus on just one effect or a few. In either case, use at least two texts from the class to support your argument. However many effects you choose, each effect should be shared by more than one reading you discuss. Find links between the texts in answering this prompt.

This essay is about synthesis. I am looking for a thesis statement that answers the prompt by showing a connection (or connections) between two or more texts from the class. Show a common thread (or threads) that weave through the texts. Your essay should make this thread (or threads) visible. Don’t simply describe what each author says, but instead explain how each author’s idea relates to another’s and to your thesis. When quoting, remember the quotation sandwich. 

Think about the prompts in terms of the rhetorical modes. The prompts above fall into the categories of cause and effect, or process analysis. Use this to help give you greater focus in your writing, especially your thesis statement and the points of your paragraphs.

Remember that a first draft and a final draft are required.

first draft due November 4

final draft due November 13

This American Life: American Limbo

This is the story of Sylvia Lemus's first year in college that we'll be listening to in class.

One last Malcolm X post…

Just because Malcolm X and hatred came up, as it inevitably does, I thought I'd post one last video in which he addresses this issue.

And just to get another perspective, here is a piece from an interview with the great American writer James Baldwin. Here he analyzes why Malcolm X has such an impact on young people. Baldwin once referred to Malcolm X as "the gentlest man" he ever met, but that doesn't mean that Baldwin agrees with Malcolm X's message, as you can see here. The interviewer is Kenneth Clark and the interview was done in 1963, during the height of the Civil Rights Movement.

Malcolm X videos

Just to provide some more context for Thursday's reading and in-class reading response, here are some videos of Malcolm X.

In the first one, Malcolm X articulates some of his early beliefs. The interviewer, Hurlbut (a really unfortunate name), constantly interrupts Malcolm X and gets things wrong, but Malcolm X takes it in stride and just tries to calmly explain what he means.

And this next one Malcolm X provides his reading of history and articulates his idea behind nationalism. You can also clearly see how different his approach was than the approach of Martin Luther King Jr.

There are many more videos of Malcolm X on Youtube. For instance, this one shows some of beliefs and goals toward the end of his life.

How to cite a pdf file

A pdf has set page numbers, so you should use those in your in-text citations. As for the works cited list, see entry 56 on page 514 of Rules For Writers or also scroll to the bottom of this Purdue OWL page.

EWRT1A sections 37 and 63: Reading Response 3

Reading Response 3

Mike Rose “I Just Wanna Be Average”

Choose one of the prompts below or come up with your own focus.

1. Mike Rose describes how the students in the vocational ed track shut down intellectually. Why does this happen? What gets in the way of them being able to receive an education? Don’t simply make a list; choose a focus and demonstrate it with examples from the text.

2. A large change occurs in Mike Rose’s educational life. He goes from being intellectually deadened to becoming intellectually alive. So what helps bring about this change in him? What lessons about education can you draw from this?

3. What effects did MacFarland’s teaching have on the young Mike Rose? Point to specific examples. What conclusions can you draw from this about the possibilities for education?

4. How is Rose’s essay an example of Freire’s theories? State a clear point (or points) of comparison and demonstrate it (them) with specific examples from both texts.

5. Compare Mike Rose’s personal essay with Jean Anyon’s primary research. What connections do you see? State a clear point (or points) of comparison and demonstrate it (them) with specific examples from both texts.

Jean Anyon, "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work"

You can read the essay for Tuesday here: http://cuip.uchicago.edu/~cac/nlu/fnd504/anyon.htm

Or instead, you can read a pdf scan of the original article on Jean Anyon's site (scroll down to "selected articles"): http://www.jeananyon.org

For Tuesday, either bring a print-out of the article or your notes on it so you will be prepared to discuss it in class. As you read it, compare how Language Arts is taught in the four different schools. How is the subject is taught? What are the students expected to create and know? How are the students treated? What are they being prepared for? We will be going over these questions in class.

Also, consider how the Anyon article relates to the Jacobs essay. What deeper significance does this comparison yield? If college is all about getting a degree in order to get a job as Jacobs argues, and if elementary schools have a hidden curriculum of work as Anyon argues, what does this say about the purpose of education in the United States? Then add Freire's critique. Where does that lead you?

Fall 2014 Office Hours

As it states on the syllabus, I will be holding office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:45 to 3:45 in the Part-time Faculty Offices located in the old Baldwin Winery Building (right next to printing services). Enter through the door and head down the stairs. At the bottom you will come to a door with a keypad. I have been given desk 022, which means that you need to type in code 8285 to ring the phone on my desk so I can come and let you in. Come by if you have any questions or want to go over a piece of writing with me.