For Monday, April 2, read and annotate pp. 1-26 in your abridged edition of The 9/11 Commission Report. Keep in mind that the footnotes for this section are on p. 26. Also, remember to use the Cast of Characters (pp. 27-31) and the Glossary of Acronyms (pp. 32-33) to identify any persons or agencies that are unfamiliar to you.
For Wednesday, April 4, read and annotate pp. 35-65 of The 9/11 Commission Report. Keeping in mind the strategies used by E. B. White in "Once More to the Lake," write at least one page (but not more than two) that describes the events of that day using both your memories and the details you have learned so far from the Report and the links above.
Over the April break, you should finish reading The 9/11 Commission Report. If you don't, you will have to both read it and write several assignments about it at the same time.
Click here for the unabridged 9/11 Commission Report. This link is also posted to the right under Syllabus and Assignments.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Homework for March 29
In 50 Essays, Read and annotate Stephanie Ericsson's "The Ways We Lie," and write one page in response to question 4 at the end of the essay.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Homework for March 19-23
March 19: In 50 Essays, read and annotate Henry David Thoreau's "Where I Have Lived, and What I Have Lived For." Respond to questions 2 and 4 at the end of the essay; write a paragraph for each. In responding to question 4, write it as though you want it published--use humor, indignation, sarcasm, provide telling details, refer to personal experience, and the like.
March 21: In 50 Essays, read and annotate Joan Didion, "On Morality." Respond to questions 2 and 4 at the end of the essay; write a paragraph for each. Be careful with question 4--when a question is posed in a straightforward, even uninteresting, way, the challenge is to find interesting ways to respond to the question. Since question 4 asks for an argumentative response, try to make it an interesting argumentative response.
March 23: In 50 Essays, read and annotate E. B. White, "Once More to the Lake." Respond to questions 2 and 4 at the end of the essay; write a paragraph for each. For question 2, select three, not five, descriptive moments.
March 21: In 50 Essays, read and annotate Joan Didion, "On Morality." Respond to questions 2 and 4 at the end of the essay; write a paragraph for each. Be careful with question 4--when a question is posed in a straightforward, even uninteresting, way, the challenge is to find interesting ways to respond to the question. Since question 4 asks for an argumentative response, try to make it an interesting argumentative response.
March 23: In 50 Essays, read and annotate E. B. White, "Once More to the Lake." Respond to questions 2 and 4 at the end of the essay; write a paragraph for each. For question 2, select three, not five, descriptive moments.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Homework for Thursday, March 15
In 50 Essays, read and annotate Lars Eighner, "On Dumpster Diving." Respond to the following prompt in two well-written paragraphs: Describe Eighner's attitude toward his subject, and explain its rhetorical effect. You may focus on specific sections of the essay (e.g., paragraphs 25-27 and 64-65), and you should consider Eighner's tone, selection of detail, irony, and so on.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Homework for Tuesday, March 13
In 50 Essays, read and annotate Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal," and type your responses to the four questions that follow the essay. I strongly recommend that you read the essay twice, pay close attention to what you don't follow in it, and identify the point at which you realize what the essay is really about.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Homework for Monday, March 5, and Wednesday, March 7
For Monday, March 5: In 50 Essays, read and annotate Thomas Jefferson, "The Declaration of Independence," and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions." Respond to the following prompt: Write the introductory paragraph for an essay (strictly hypothetical; you won't write this essay) that accounts for the rhetorical effect of Stanton's revisions to the Jefferson's "Declaration." You may limit your observations to the first two paragraphs of each document.
For Wednesday, March 7: Write 2-3 pages in response to the following prompt:
Given your commitment to being well-educated and working hard, what do you think is fair for you to expect from American society in the future, once you've completed your education and are either established, or trying to be established, in your career or vocation? You can approach this essay as either an argument that draws on points made by John Lanchester's I.O.U. and Judith Shklar's American Citizenship, or an analysis of those books' central points. Regardless of the method you choose, you must make use of both Lanchester's and Shklar's books.
For Wednesday, March 7: Write 2-3 pages in response to the following prompt:
Given your commitment to being well-educated and working hard, what do you think is fair for you to expect from American society in the future, once you've completed your education and are either established, or trying to be established, in your career or vocation? You can approach this essay as either an argument that draws on points made by John Lanchester's I.O.U. and Judith Shklar's American Citizenship, or an analysis of those books' central points. Regardless of the method you choose, you must make use of both Lanchester's and Shklar's books.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Homework for Thursday, March 1
Write one page in response to one of the following prompts:
At the end of the chapter on earning, Shklar claims that the right to work should be on par with any other right that contributes to one's standing as a citizen. Should we have a right to work in the same way that we have a right to vote
Also, click here for the civics questions on the U.S. citizenship naturalization test.
Lastly, you don't have to write anything about this, but consider the following passage from Shklar's chapter on earning:
The defender of the helpless poor wants to protect them against an army of predatory aristocrats who are denying them their rights and sustenance. The poor are social victims who are being denied racial equality, opportunities for decent work and education, and access to normal public goods. If more were done for them, they too would become upstanding laborers. The opposing party of individual effort, like Frederick Douglass, hopes that government will do nothing more than ensure fair play for all. Anyone who truly wants to work, they argue, can find employment, and with it will come standing and self-respect. Both parties deeply believe in self-discipline, in independence, in work as the primary source of all value and all dignity, and in the ideal of a society of self-supporting democratic citizens. Each one sees the other as a threat to democracy and to the values of work and independence which they so profoundly share. (pp. 96-97)
After we discuss Shklar's chapter on earning, we will use this passage as our point of departure for discussing American political ideologies.
At the end of the chapter on earning, Shklar claims that the right to work should be on par with any other right that contributes to one's standing as a citizen. Should we have a right to work in the same way that we have a right to vote
Also, click here for the civics questions on the U.S. citizenship naturalization test.
Lastly, you don't have to write anything about this, but consider the following passage from Shklar's chapter on earning:
The defender of the helpless poor wants to protect them against an army of predatory aristocrats who are denying them their rights and sustenance. The poor are social victims who are being denied racial equality, opportunities for decent work and education, and access to normal public goods. If more were done for them, they too would become upstanding laborers. The opposing party of individual effort, like Frederick Douglass, hopes that government will do nothing more than ensure fair play for all. Anyone who truly wants to work, they argue, can find employment, and with it will come standing and self-respect. Both parties deeply believe in self-discipline, in independence, in work as the primary source of all value and all dignity, and in the ideal of a society of self-supporting democratic citizens. Each one sees the other as a threat to democracy and to the values of work and independence which they so profoundly share. (pp. 96-97)
After we discuss Shklar's chapter on earning, we will use this passage as our point of departure for discussing American political ideologies.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Finish Judith Shklar's American Citizenship...
...over the break. As you read, keep track of her argument, but try not to get lost in the details. As I said in class, this book, as a scholarly book, is all logos, which makes it dry. She will not make emotional appeals(well, that's a bit of an oversimplification, but we'll talk about that after the break), and the book's ethical aspects are framed in analytic terms. Be sure to read the footnotes and make note of the different purposes the footnotes serve.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Homework for Friday, Feb. 17
Read and annotate the introduction to Judith Shklar's American Citizenship. If you missed class, stop by to pick up the book. If I'm not in my room, take one from the top of the filing cabinet behind my desk.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Homework for Wednesday, Feb. 15
Read and annotate Lanchester, I.O.U., pp. 213-250. Please bring the AP-exam style questions you prepared for Monday class; when I looked at my notes and saw "review questions," I thought that referred to the questions I asked you to come up with about ch. 5, not the AP-exam questions. I knew something was wrong, but I couldn't figure out what. Sorry about the mixup.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Homework for Monday, Feb. 13
Read and annotate Lanchester, I.O.U., pp. 169-212. You do not have a writing component with this assignment. Also, finish developing the three AP-exam style questions that you started in class on Thursday. If you missed class, the handout with questions about I.O.U. distributed in class is posted to the right, under "Syllabus and Assignments."
Friday, February 3, 2012
Homework for Tuesday, Feb. 7
Read and annotate Lanchester's I.O.U., pp. 81-132, and respond to the following prompts:
1. Write a summary of chapter 3, "Boom and Bust" (a paragraph).
2. Paraphrase a passage from chapter 4, "Enter the Geniuses" (not more than about half a page of I.O.U.).
3. At the end of chapter 4, how does Lanchester want the reader to feel? Why? How does he try to elicit that emotion from the reader? (A few sentences will suffice.)
Writing a paraphrase: 1. A paraphrase conveys all ideas in the original source. 2. Use a paraphrase when quoting an original source may not be useful to your audience because its language or subject matter is too difficult or specific. 3. Write the paraphrase in your own words, making it clearer than the original for your audience--in essence, translate it into ordinary language. 4. A paraphrase is about the same length as the original passage it is based on. (When actually incorporating a paraphrase in a larger writing piece, you must signal that you are paraphrasing a writer with an appropriate introductory phrase such as, "To paraphrase Lanchester, ...")
Writing a summary: 1. A summary conveys the gist of the original source. 2. A summary restates only the most relevant idea or ideas from the source. 3. A summary will be briefer than the original. (When actually incorporating a summary in a larger writing piece, you msut signal that you are summarizing a writer with an appropriate introductory phrase such as, "To summarize Lanchester's argument, ...")
Source: Floyd Watkins, et al. Practical English Handbook, 11th Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001), pp. 365-366.
1. Write a summary of chapter 3, "Boom and Bust" (a paragraph).
2. Paraphrase a passage from chapter 4, "Enter the Geniuses" (not more than about half a page of I.O.U.).
3. At the end of chapter 4, how does Lanchester want the reader to feel? Why? How does he try to elicit that emotion from the reader? (A few sentences will suffice.)
Writing a paraphrase: 1. A paraphrase conveys all ideas in the original source. 2. Use a paraphrase when quoting an original source may not be useful to your audience because its language or subject matter is too difficult or specific. 3. Write the paraphrase in your own words, making it clearer than the original for your audience--in essence, translate it into ordinary language. 4. A paraphrase is about the same length as the original passage it is based on. (When actually incorporating a paraphrase in a larger writing piece, you must signal that you are paraphrasing a writer with an appropriate introductory phrase such as, "To paraphrase Lanchester, ...")
Writing a summary: 1. A summary conveys the gist of the original source. 2. A summary restates only the most relevant idea or ideas from the source. 3. A summary will be briefer than the original. (When actually incorporating a summary in a larger writing piece, you msut signal that you are summarizing a writer with an appropriate introductory phrase such as, "To summarize Lanchester's argument, ...")
Source: Floyd Watkins, et al. Practical English Handbook, 11th Edition (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001), pp. 365-366.
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