Saturday, July 19, 2014

Welcome


Welcome to English Composition!




ON THIS BLOG: 
  • Your instructor's contact info 
  • The English Composition Syllabus
  • Homework Assignments, including readings and activities
  • List of classmate blogs to give feedback and discussion. Extra credit points will be awarded for critical analysis and responses to classmates assignments.

CONTACT INFO:
  • Instructor: Nikita Driscoll
  • Email: ndris970@gmail.com

COURSE SYLLABUS: 


HOMEWORK/READINGS:
  • Every week your homework and readings will be detailed in a new post, labeled by the course week number.  For example, find your readings and homework assignment under the blog post titled: WEEK 1.

CLASSMATE BLOGS

Friday, July 18, 2014

Class 1/Week 1

Class One Presentation: Link


Organization Presentation: link






IN CLASS ASSIGNMENT:
Interpreting literature in a thesis-driven essay.
Activity: Right now, think about a book, song, or movie that you have listened to recently.
1.Jot down what you know about your chosen piece. When did you encounter it? Jot down your thoughts on it. What sticks out to you about it? What questions do you have about the piece. (10 minutes)
  ExampleI was recently listening to the song “To Live Is To Fly” by Townes Van Zandt. I love how the sound goes low when he sings “High” and high when he sings “Low.” The song feels sweet and earnest because of that. Also, I remember that some versions of the song have an extra verse at the beginning—why is that? How does that change the song’s meaning?


2. Search your piece online to find out what other people think about it. Can you find a review of it? Can you find information about the author? What information did you find out about it? What questions does this new information raise for you? When you are done, post your response to your blog (30 minutes).
Example: While I couldn’t find an article on the exact song I was looking for, I found a lengthy Wikipedia article on Townes. Wikipedia is a great place to start when doing research! I learned that he wrote a lot of his own songs and that a lot of them detail his struggle as an addict. He was friends with many other famous musicians, like Bob Dylan, Doc Watson and Guy Clark. His writing is considered bluegrass, I think—but I am still confused. What kind of music does Townes play and what defines each genre, such as folk, bluegrass, and blues?

INTRODUCE YOURSELF


Add a new post to your blog. In this post, tell a little bit about yourself.
Who are you and here are you from?
What are 3 things that you want people to know about you?
 What do you think could be challenging for you in this class and how will you overcome those challenges?
 How will this class help you achieve your goals?


HOMEWORK

Read the following and respond to each in 1 paragraph. Then in another paragraph, explain what aspects of the poem you focused on and why they drew your attention:

A. Sherman Alexie, On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City:http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/on-the-amtrak-from-boston-to-new-york-city/
B. Julia Alvarez, Woman’s Work: http://derekdenton.com/blog/2011/12/5/womans-work-by-julia- alvarez.html
C. W. H. Auden, Musée des Beaux Artshttp://english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&poems/auden.html

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Class 2/Week 2

Class 2 Presentation: Link

Analysis & Critical Thinking: Link



HOMEWORK: 

Your homework is to write a response to the poem you were assigned and send it to ndris970@gmail.com or post it on your blog (and send me your blog address).

 Write about the poem you were assigned using the poetry terms we went over in class (see the attached PDF).  It is best to have a paragraph that focuses on one poetry term at a time. To talk about each term, use quotes from the poem.  For example, you might talk about imagery in Louise Gluck's "The School Children."

EX: The apples in "The School Children" are a prime image in the poem. When the children go to school the mothers' can no longer watch over them, so the apple is a way for the mother to still be present with the child. The apple is a charm or sacred object the children have to watch over them in the mothers' absence. However, the trees the apples come from are gray and unhealthy. The mothers are weak like the trees--they feel powerless leaving their children at the school. Also, the children drop away from the mothers when they grow up, the same way the apples fall off the tree. When the apples leave the tree, the tree can no longer nourish them. They are out of the trees' control. In the same way, the mothers' can no longer protect their children.

 So: just explain what you mean as much as you can. There is no over-explaining and there are no wrong answers as long as you can prove what you mean by linking it to the poem itself. We will continue to explore all aspects of this in more detail in Week 3.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Class 3/Week 3

Week 3 


Main Presentation: Link
Citation Presentation: Link



Homework


Write a 5 paragraph essay analyzing the poem of your choice from the list below, or any of the previously assigned poems. Be sure to have a thesis that is proved in the 3 body paragraphs using quotes from the poem itself, and using the poetry vocab terms introduced in lesson 2.

For review of organization and the 5 paragraph format, please review the Organization slides from Week #1.

Readings

Robert Hayden, Those Winter Sundays: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19217 
Seamus Heaney, Digging: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177017 
Robert Herrick, Upon Julia’s Clothes: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176777 
Gerard Manley Hopkins, Spring and Fall: http://www.potw.org/archive/potw29.html 
Langston Hughes, Theme for English B: http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/~keith/poems/English_B.html 
Yusef Komunyakaa, Facing It: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15830 
Christopher Marlowe, The Passionate Shepherd to His Love: http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/shepherd/shepherd.html 
Andrew Marvell, To His Coy Mistress: http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/coy.htm 
Pat Mora, Immigrants: http://www.mesacc.edu/~barmd97231/ImmigrantsPatMora.html 
Mary Oliver, The Black Walnut Tree: http://www.ronnowpoetry.com/contents/oliver/BlackWalnut.html 
Sylvia Plath, Daddy: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15291 
Sir Walter Raleigh, The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174205
William Shakespeare, Sonnet 29; Sonnet 73; Sonnet 116: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/29.html; 
http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/73.html; http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/116.html 
Walt Whitman, A Noiseless Patient Spider; I Hear America Singing: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174741;
http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/15752 
William Wordsworth, The Solitary Reaper: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/174823

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Class 4/Week 4

Week 4: Main Presentation: Link 

               Rhetoric & Figures of Speech: Link

               Grading Criteria & Rubric: Link






Homework

Continue to work on your poetry essay. Finish up your intro and write 2 body paragraphs, following the body paragraph sandwich format (i.e. the 5 paragraph format). Also, using correct quotation format: introduce the quote, give the quote, and analyze it (link it to your minithesis and main thesis). Use the pdf from lesson 2 to integrate poetry vocabulary words. This will help you to expand your essay and improve your thesis. Please note: no paragraph in your essay should be less than 3 sentences. You need to be able to introduce, explain and support your thesis. A good length for any paragraph is at least 5-8 sentences long.


Listenings & Readings

Listenings 
1. Susan Glaspell, Trifles (audio): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzPQ5tgg9qQ
2. Lorraine Hansberry, (biography): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRqWB_tdPs0

Readings 
1. Toni Cade Bambara, The Lesson: http://cai.ucdavis.edu/gender/thelesson.html
2. Kate Chopin, The Story of an Hour: http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/hour/
3. William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily: http://xroads.virginia.edu/~drbr/wf_rose.html

Monday, July 14, 2014

Class 5/Week 5

Week 5 Main Presentation: Link

Grading Criteria & Rubric: Link



Homework

1. Write a Revision Strategies Essay about Paper 1
2. Read one of the stories for Week 5 and make an Informal Outline for the story of your choice


Readings


1. Nathaniel Hawthorne, Young Goodman Brown: http://www.online-literature.com/poe/158/
2. James Joyce, Araby: http://fiction.eserver.org/short/araby.html
3. Flannery O’Connor, A Good Man is Hard to Find: http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~surette/goodman.html
4. James Thurber, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty:
http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1939/03/18/390318fi_fiction_thurber?currentPage=all
5. John Updike, A&P: http://www.tiger-town.com/whatnot/updike/
6. Eudora Welty, A Worn Path: http://www.theatlantic.com/past/issues/41feb/wornpath.htm

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Class 6/Week 6

Main Presentation: Link






Homework

Complete Practice Exam 1; Essay #2 revisions; Read one assignment below and summarize it in your blog

Readings

1. Anastasia Toufexis, Love: The Right Chemistry:
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,161030,00.html
2. Jessica Statsky, Children Need to Play, Not Compete:
http://www.redwoods.edu/instruct/jjohnston/english1a/readings/statsky.pdf
3. Amitai Etzioni, Working at McDonald’s: http://amitaietzioni.org/documents/B170.pdf

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Class 7/Week 7

Main Presentation: Link







Homework

Practice Exam 2: Link


Extra Materials

Grammar: Sentence Fragments 1. Instructions: link 2. Exercises: link
Grammar: Commas 1. Instructions: link 2. Exercises: link

Friday, July 11, 2014

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Example Student Work: Revision Strategies & Informal Outlines

REVISION STRATEGIES

1:

Revison strategy
strengths for my thesis on supermarket in Califorina are information on author and the poet he is writing about as well as understanding where the writer was coming from in his  what the author is meaning while writing this poem. My weaknesses are not having a very good conclusion. also good of expanded on the time in the supermarket with Whitman,more meaning to the poem.

2:


Immigrants Revision

        In writing my essay on Immigrants I would try to have a more detailed thesis statement, I also need to lengthen and be more descriptive with it so that a clear thesis statement is made.
       In preparing to write my 3 paragraphs, I would need to make sure I include in the first paragraph my mini thesis, so that it connects with my intro.
       I need to be more descriptive with my quotes, showing evidence and analyzing that evidence so that it ties into my thesis statement and correlates with the entire essay.
       I also need to break up my paragraphs so that a 3 paragraphs can be clearly noted, and again tie in my thesis in all 3 paragraphs.

       In conclusion I need again to tie in my thesis statement, my analysis and hopefully anything else I forgot.

INFORMAL OUTLINE:

1:



Introduction: The secret life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber 1939.
Great fiction story.Goes inside the mind of a man who was a war hero and great doctor in his prime of life.
who now cant remember what his wife wants him to buy at the store and who is always telling him what to do.
paragraph 1-The story begins in the middle of a war and  Mitty is a hero quickly turns into him driving a car and his wife yelling at him
to slow down.apparent he was in another place and time in his mind.
paragraph 2- Then story continues Mitty drops off his wife at beauty shop while he is suppose to be shopping.As he drives off see hospital.
His mind goes back to being a surgeon and being asked to help with a hard case and being a hero.-Then Mitty returns trying to remember what he is suppose to buy. and his mind goes to a court room where once again he is a hero.He defends a women who is being treated wrong.
Paragraph 3- towards end of the story Mitty finally stands up to his wife who always talks down to him and bosses him around."Does it ever occur to you that i am sometimes thinking".(150) wife just thinks something is wrong with him for saying that to her. she ask him to wait for her while she checks on something and while he is waiting he goes back to his world were he is facing a firing squad .perfect and motionless,proud and disdainful 'Walter Mitty the undefeated,indstructable to the last.(159,160,161) I think this scene means Walter Mitty Has accepted who he was and who he is now.

2:
Secret life of Walter Mitty

The fantasy world is more exciting that real world events

        Driving a car vs. maneuvering a Naval hydroplane

        Putting regular gloves on and off vs. wearing drs gloves

        Smoking a cigarette vs. having last smoke before a firing squad

3:
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

       The story of “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” can seem very confusing, however it becomes clear that the setting is going back and forth from past to present tense. While reading the story it becomes clear to see that Walter Mitty suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.
       In the beginning of the story the speaker brings us into a navy aircraft during a storm, there is mayhem with people shouting orders. Mitty takes control and is cool and collected a take charge kind of man. “The Old Man’ll get us through,” they said to one another. “The Old Man ain’t afraid of Hell!” (22-23). Then we are back in the present, and poor old man Mitty is taking orders from his wife, he is not a young, fearless commander.  Mitty an aging man who must listen to his wife complain about his driving, his gloves not being on, and his need for snow shoes.
       While driving in his car to go do what his wife has ordered him to do, Mitty again goes to his past in a state of post traumatic stress to a time where he was a doctor in the navy. A well respected man, a doctor that everyone looks up to, “If you would take over, Mitty?” (79). this was something that he was accustomed to being asked, since he was so well regarded by his peers in the navy, it was not unheard of to have Dr Mitty assist in the operating room.
       Yet again, he is yanked back to the present, where old man Mitty has to go shopping to buy his snow shoes, and? What else, if only he could remember. Mitty goes through his list of household things that he might’ve been told to get however, nothing sticks. Back to the past we go, this time Mitty is sitting, cool, calm and collected in a court room. Murder is what he is accused of, no fear though. He makes it loud and clear that he could’ve killed the victim if he wanted to without a problem. Mitty is a sharp shot at any distance and using any hand. Then he remembers, it was dog biscuits he needed to buy!
       In the end Mitty does what he is supposed to do, what his wife orders him to do. Gone are the days of the tough, cool, sharp navy leader, what is left is an aging man who can only remember and think of his days when he was in charge, when he was the ruler, when he was someone important; not to everyone around him but to himself.
      
4:
Araby
by: James Joyce

In the “Araby “, James writes of a young mans adoration of the young girl next door.

He lays on the floor and watches for her through a blind that is but an inch from the sash.
She speaks to him and he cannot remember what he says.
He daydreams of her at school.
He goes to the Araby Bazaar to bring her something back.

It is too late the stalls are closed and the lights go out.
He has nothing to bring to her.
       

REVISED WORK:


April showers bring May flowers.   Ooh, the anticipation of spring.  The much sought after arrival of spring is apparent in E. E. Cummings poem 'In Just'.  The spring season is described in this poem using imagery and diction associated with spring.
     First, spring has a particular smell.   Spring has a very distinct fresh smell.  In Cummings poem,  he describes spring as 'mud-/lucious'(2-3).  Even though mud is usually associated as being dirty, the use of the term 'mud-/lucious' conveys the opposite idea (2-3).  Mud is a result of rain.  The scent of rain is very clean.  So in turn, 'mud-/lucious' would be a very desirable scent.
     Next, sprimg exubes a certain positive energy.  Cummings relays this energy when he writes 'eddieandbill' together to project excitement (6-7).  This gives the diction of the boys renewed energy at the start of the spring season.  The reader can feel this excitement with this writing style.

     Finally,  spring also has a certain look.  Cummings describes the look of spring when he writes 'bettyandisbel come dancing' and 'balloonman whistles'.  The girls dancing relays the imagery of happiness (12)(14).  And the balloonman in the act of whistling also projects a happy time.   People dance and whistle when they are happy.

Example Student Work: Poetry

Poem: Immigrant

In the poem “Immigrants”, Pat Mora uses a baby wrapped in the American flag to symbolize immigrant’s hopes for acceptance into our society, not only for themselves but for their children.

Immigrants that come to America try to have their children adapt to our cultures, by teaching them to eat our foods “feed them mashed hotdogs and apple pie”. (2) And giving them American names, “name them bill and daisy”. (3)

The immigrant children are taught to play American sports, such as football. Speak English “speak to them in thick English/Hallo, babee, hallo”. (7-8).

Sadly their true nationality is merely a whisper “whisper in Spanish or polish when the babies sleep”. (9-11) the fear that is felt that their immigrant children will not be good enough or accepted into our American society “Will they like our boy, our girl, our fine American boy, our fine American girl”. (12-14) the fear of acceptance is clear from the beginning of the poem to the very end, a great effort is made to be accepted into our society; these immigrants give up their culture to try and adapt to ours, from food, sports, and language, to even American names; never really knowing if they will ever be accepted.

Poem: FILLING STATION  (see beautiful blog: http://scotchmutts.blogspot.com/)

In the poem "Filling Station", E. Bishop describes in detail a family run business. While initially painting a negative picture of a dirty filling station the poet is then able to capture the beauty of it by using vivid details and imagery. The reader is given the ability to look beyond the surface and find love and beauty in the most unexpected of places.


With short lines and elaborate detail Bishop describes the unpleasant atmosphere that is the filling station. The poem's first line states "Oh, but it is dirty!"(1), and goes on to describe a father in his "oil-soaked monkey suit"(5), and his "greasy sons assist him"(11).The reader then goes on to question if this family lives at the filling station. Bishop describes what appear to be loving, feminine touches placed throughout the filling station. There are comic books "they lie upon a big dim doily" (23/24) and even a big begonia. A dirty dog lies comfortably on a wicker sofa.Through questioning Bishop has the reader wondering who placed all of these little, loving touches in the filling station. Who embroidered the doily? Who waters the plant? She encourages the reader see past the initial appearance of the filling station and look for a deeper meaning.The poem ends with a bold statement "Somebody loves us all", which is meant to remind the reader that everyone, no matter what the circumstances, has someone that loves them.



Poem: "A Supermarket in California"

The poem a supermarket in Califorina is a prose poem by Allen Ginsberg.  In Berkly in 1955.  He  was one of the lead icons of  the beat movement.  He was born in 1926 and died in 1997.  My first reation to the poem made me feal sad when he said "Will we stroll dreaming of a lost America of  love past blue Automobiles in driveways,home to our silent cottages?" talking of a time when things were more simple.(21)

The author is looking for inspiration. so in the poem he goes into a supermarket where in his imagntion Whitman is there and all the food comes alive to him.He is so inspired that Walt Whitman is there for inspiration. as he says in the poem "I went into the neon supermarket dreaming of your enunerations!"(4).  I think he was searching  for inspiration and wanting to know which direction  go in life by saying "Where  are we going, Walt Whitman? The doors close in a hr!"(15)
    
I also think he wanted to know how life was for Walt Whittman  in his time in America by saying"Ah Dear father graybeard lonely old- courage-teacher,what America did you have?"(18)
     
My conclusion is the author is longing for a simpler time when things where differnt in America. I also think he longs to know his faviorte poet Walt Whitman. his thoughts,his opions and advice for inspiration in his own life as a poet himself in Ginsberg time. Walt  Whitman lived in 1819-1892.He wrote a poem America  that talked about everyone being equal in America. I think Ginsberg  thought life in America was not changing for the best in 1955.                    

Poem: "The School Children"

In “The School Children” Gluck talks about an apple orchard and children.
It was a difficult poem for me to understand at first. Did some research and this
is what I can tell you.

The children are the focus and all important to the mothers life and love.
She sends her children to school.  She does not know the teacher and hopes that the
teacher will teach them well.
           
The apple orchard is the mother’s home. She sends an apple to the teacher
to form a relationship between the teacher and her child. Hopefully the teacher accepts
the teacher as a offering.
            
The orchard is bear without her child at home. She is trusting her child to a
stranger.
           
I enjoyed this poem when I finally could understand the poet. A lot of information
And feeling in this poem.

Example Student Work: Revised


                                    The School Children
                                      By: Louise Gluck


In the poem ‘The School Children” Louise Gluck tells us about the many conflicts a mother faces as she send her child to school. She compares this to apple trees (10-13).
How a mother’s love is extended through a gift of an apple.
            What are the mother’s conflicts as she send her child into the education system? Does she fully trust this system?  How she tries to form a bond between student and teacher (6).
Let us see how she talks about her conflicts of sending a child to school.  This continues through the ages of time.
In many ways this poems is what all mothers fear as you send a child to school. She hopes that the apple she sends with her child to the teacher will form a bond between them (6).  The mother does not know what the teacher is teaching because only the child hears the teacher (10).  A mother has taught and given all her love to her child (2). When the child leaves for school her orchard is bare and has little ammunition left. (11-12). This is where she tells us she has given her child, which she has given all she can up to this point,  over to an education system and a stranger she knows not how they will treat her child. In hopes that they will care and teach the child well.
“The School Children” was a very good poem to read and understand the hidden meanings in the poem. You see how apple trees and apples are compared to a mothers love and loss of control when sending a child into the education system.  She fears that the education system will not give the same care and nurturing she has given to her child.
All mothers through time f that their child will recieve a good education.
           

REDO - Filling Station Analysis


In the poem "Filling Station", E. Bishop describes in detail a family run business. "Oh but it is dirty!"(1). Bishop begins the poem with this exclamatory statement, immediately painting a negative picture of an "oil-soaked, oil-permeated" (3), little filling station. Bishop gives vivid details concerning the appearance of the business, then enables the reader to see past the ugliness to find the love of a family within.

Using short lines and elaborate detail Bishop takes us into the filling station. She describes a father in his "oil-soaked monkey suit"(5) and "his greasy sons assist him"(11). These lines allow the reader to visualize a family run business. The word "Dirty" is repeated three times in the first two paragraphs alone, showing the extent of disdain she feels just being in such an atmosphere.  Bishop then goes on to question if this family resides here. "Do they live at the station?"(14). "It has a cement porch behind the pumps"(15/16).

The poem turns when Bishop begins to describe what appear to be loving, feminine touches placed throughout the porch. There are comic books, "they lie upon a big, dim doily"(23/24) and even "a big hirsute begonia"(27). There is also a dirty dog comfortably lying on a wicker sofa. The placement of these items contradict her initial reaction to her surroundings, allowing the reader to begin to see beyond the unpleasantness and imagine, instead, a home.

"Somebody embroidered the doily"(34). "Somebody waters the plant"(35) These statements allow the reader to imagine who could have placed these items here. Perhaps there is a Wife, Mother or Sister who cares for these things, who cares for these men. This is, after all, a family-run business.
The poem ends with a bold statement "Somebody loves us all", which is meant to remind the reader that everyone, no matter what their circumstances, has someone that loves them. 

Immigrants

In the poem “Immigrants”, Pat Mora uses a baby wrapped in the American flag to symbolize immigrant’s hopes and anxieties for acceptance into our society, not only for themselves but for their children.

This poem is about immigrants that come to America and try to have their children adapt to our cultures, by teaching them much of the American ways, their hope for acceptance is visible in many ways. Immigrants try to teach their children to eat our foods “feed them mashed hotdogs and apple pie”. (2) They are also giving their children American names so that they may fit in to our society a little better; although their skin color may be different than ours, as well as their features and customs; they “name them bill and daisy”. (3) The immigrant children are taught to play American sports in early childhood, such as football. They are taught to speak English “speak to them in thick English/Hallo, babee, hallo”. (7-8) sadly their true nationality is merely a whisper “whisper in Spanish or polish when the babies sleep”. (9-11) the majority of immigrant children can only speak English. The fear that is felt that their immigrant children will not be good enough or accepted into our American society is clear “Will they like our boy, our girl, our fine American boy, our fine American girl”. (12-14)

The fear and anxiety of acceptance is clear from the beginning of the poem to the very end, a great effort is made to be accepted into our society; these immigrants give up their culture to try and adapt to ours, from food, sports, and language, to even American names; never really knowing if they will ever be accepted.

on 'In Just'

April showers bring May flowers.   Ooh, the anticipation of spring.  The much sought after arrival of spring is apparent in E. E. Cummings poem 'In Just'.  The spring season is described in this poem using smell, feelings, and looks associated with spring.
     First, spring has a particular smell.   Spring has a very distinct fresh smell.  In Cummings poem,  he describes spring as 'mud-/lucious'.  Even though mud is usually associated as being dirty, the use of the term 'mud-/lucious' conveys the opposite idea.  Mud is a result of rain.  The scent of rain is very clean.  So in turn, 'mud-/lucious' would be a very desirable scent (2-3).
     Next, sprimg exubes a certain positive energy.  Cummings relays this energy when he writes 'eddieandbill' together to project excitement.  This gives the feeling of the boys renewed energy at the start of the spring season.  The reader can feel this excitement with this writing style (6-7).
     Finally,  spring also has a certain look.  Cummings describes the look of spring when he writes 'bettyandisbel come dancing' and 'balloonman whistles'.  The girls dancing relays a sense of happiness.  And the balloonman in the act of whistling also projects a happy time.   People dance and whistle when they are happy (12) (14).