Google Classroom

Going forward, all assignments will be posted in Google Classroom. However, any handouts posted there will also be available here, usually in the column to the right.

Assignment for Thursday, Feb 7

View Michael Sandel's lecture "The Moral Side of Murder" from his Justice course at Harvard. (It's a little less than an hour long.) The title of the lecture is a bit deceptive; be prepared to think about justice as the greatest good for the greatest number, which is the basis of a kind of philosophical thinking called utilitarianism. As the course guide puts it: "According to the principle of utility, we should always do whatever will produce the greatest amount of happiness and whatever is necessary to prevent the greatest amount of unhappiness. But is that right? Should you always try to maximize happiness? Should you always do whatever is necessary to minimize unhappiness?" Be prepared to answer these questions in class.

Assignment for Tuesday, Feb. 5

For Tuesday, read this article from The New Yorker. In addition to its content, pay attention to the article's structure. In a Google Doc, make an outline of the article, indicating its different parts or sections (don't make it too detailed). In your outline, highlight or put an asterisk next to the section that you think the author wants the reader to most remember. Explain the reasoning for your choice in one or two sentences at the end of your outline. Of course, you may work on this during Friday's class if you finish and turn in the required research writing early. Submit this assignment in Google Classroom if you have access to it; if not, share it with me via email.

Assignments for Wednesday, Jan. 30, and Friday, Feb. 1

I won't be in class on Wednesday and Friday; I'll be away at a conference. Use the class time to continue your research reading and writing.

For Wednesday, turn in 2-3 pages of your STP writing. This is the total you should have, not anything in addition to what you've already written. If you have more than 2-3 pages, that's fine. Be sure to make two Google Documents of your writing—one to turn in, and the other to continue working on. if you're in Google Classroom, turn it in there.

For Friday, you should turn in 3-5 pages of research writing. Again, submit this as a Google Doc in Google Classroom if you have access to it. Also, again, be sure to make two Google documents: One that you actually work on, and another one that you've copied and pasted and submitted in Google Classroom or shared with me.

See the assignments for each of those days. You will have reading over the weekend for Tuesday related to our new topic for the third quarter, justice.

Class Work and Assignment for Thursday, Jan. 24

Work on another page of your research writing. You'll probably need to do some reading, too. For next Monday, I'll expect you to have 2-3 pages, and 3-5 pages by next Friday, Feb. 1.

Assignment for Tuesday, Jan. 22

Write at least one page of your STP research writing. Submit it in Google Classroom. If you didn't finish your outline in class, do that before starting your research writing.

Assignment for Thursday, Jan. 17

You may continue revising or tinkering with the exploratory essay. Submit it in Google Classroom by Thursday's class, or share it with me. If you already shared it with me, you may continue working on the document until the start of Thursday's class. If you already submitted it in Google Classroom, feel free to unsubmit it to continue working on it. You have no new work. If you didn't turn in the Mentor Commitment Letter, do so by Thursday.

Assignment for Friday, Jan. 11

Complete the exploratory essay. Turn it in to Google Classroom if you're signed up there or share it with me through my school email. Also, bring the handouts distributed in class today (the AP synthesis essay and the synthesis essay students wrote last year on Unflattening.) Lastly, the mentor commitment form is due. Have your mentor sign it and turn it in to me.

Assignment for Wednesday, Jan. 9

Finish reading Sousanis's Unflattening (to p. 152). In class, you will continue working on the exploratory essay, and we will introduce the synthesis essay. Also, choose a mentor, give them the Mentor Guidelines handed out in class and have them sign the Mentor Commitment Letter that was also handed out in class. Both documents are posted to the right. You need to return the Mentor Commitment Letter to me by Friday, Jan. 11.

Assignment for Monday, Jan. 7

In Sousanis's Unflattening, read pp. 115-139. In class, we will begin working on the exploratory essay for the STP, and look at the AP exam's synthesis essay. (You will write a synthesis essay related to Unflattening when we finish reading it.) Also, think about your mentor. I will need to know who that person is by next Friday.

Over Break

You have no assigned reading. As I mentioned in class, the school-wide Poetry Out Loud competition will take place on Monday, January 7, during tutorial. I encourage you to participate in it. Since you have no other work for me, consider learning a couple of poems to recite from memory. Go here to check out the eligible poems. (One poem has to be from before the twentieth century, and one poem has to have fewer than twenty-five lines. A single poem can satisfy both of these qualities, e.g. a sonnet by Shakespeare.)

Also, as I mentioned in class, when we finish Unflattening, you will write a synthesis essay about it, which is one of the three kinds of essays you will have to write on the AP exam. We will go over the synthesis essay when we get back from the break.

Lastly, you will need to choose your mentor for the STP when we come back in January, so if you missed Tuesday's class when I talked about it, see the guidelines for that in the STP Handbook, which is posted to the right.

Assignment for Tuesday. Dec. 18

In Unflattening, read pp. 69-87. You have no reading over the break, but be sure to have Unflattening with you for the first class on Thursday, January 3, which is a Day 2.

Assignment for Friday, Dec. 14

In Unflattening, read pp. 49-67. If you missed class, we read chapter 2 during class, so you'll have two chapters to read.

Assignment for Monday, Dec. 10

In Nick Sousanis's Unflattening, read to p. 27. You don't have anything to write in response to this reading. The research prospectus is due Wednesday, Dec. 12, so you might want to work on that over the weekend. You will have time during Monday's class to work on it.

Assignments for Tuesday, Dec. 4, and Thursday, Dec. 6

For Tuesday, listen to this TED Radio Hour broadcast. Come to class prepared to answer questions about this broadcast. (Be sure to click on the link to listen to the full episode, which is close to an hour in length.)

For Thursday, as a heads up, read the excerpt from Farhad Manjoo's book True Enough that was handed out in class. (If you missed class, this reading is posted to the right.) You might want to get a head start on this reading over the weekend, and I'll give you some additional background on the events it covers during Tuesday's class. Just like Tuesday, you don't have anything to write, but come to class prepared to answer questions about this reading.

Lastly, click here for polling data from the 2004 presidential campaign so you can see the effect of the advertisements placed by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (the first ad aired in early August), and click here for a link to the 2004 electoral college map.

Assignment for Friday, Nov. 30

Complete the annotated bibliography. Turn it in as one document that includes all five annotation entries. Be sure to include a proper heading. In class, we will resume our investigation of narrative and reality.

Assignment for Friday, Nov. 30

Complete the annotated bibliography. Turn it in as one document that includes all five annotation entries. Be sure to alphabetize your sources by the author's last name, and include a proper heading. In class, we will resume our investigation of narrative and reality.

Assignment for Wednesday, Nov. 28

Write a third annotated bibliography entry. This one should be for a book. If you're in Google Classroom, turn it in there; otherwise, share it with me as a Google Doc.

In-Class Reading and Work

Here is a back-to-basics refresher exercise. Read the two obituaries linked below about the great magician Ricky Jay. Then, compare and contrast their essential rhetorical qualities. Start with their rhetorical situations, and then get into more specific rhetorical features. Feel free to draw on the SOAPSTone and DIDLS schemas. Share your comparison with me in a Google Doc.

New York Times obituary on Ricky Jay.

Slate.com obituary on Ricky Jay.

Assignment for Thursday, Nov. 15

Write one more annotated bibliography entry, preferably from a JSTOR source. For Thursday, you should be up to two annotated bibliography entries. See my comments on your first entry before you write the second one.