Course Recap for Monday, October 21

Genre Transformation: Fairytale to Advertisement
You presented your group work from last class.  The purpose of the assignment was to show how you could achieve the same goal through different genres and exploring the different ways each genre accomplished the goal.  However, only one of your ads achieved the goal of teaching the moral lesson of Snow White but at least you know what I was trying to help you accomplish.  I hope we'll be more successful in our next attempt at genre transformation.

Introduction to the Unfamiliar Genre Project
We went over the assignment sheet for Project 3 (see Class Documents) and you learned that you will be researching, analyzing, creating and presenting a piece of work in a genre that is unfamiliar to you.  The genres range from short story to product descriptions in catalogs to fortunes in fortune cookies (see List of Possible Genres under Class Documents).  The possibilities are endless.  You should come to class Wednesday with an idea of what genre you would like to do.

Genre Analysis: The Teen Vampire Drama
We watched the beginning of the movie Twilight and the first episode of the TV show The Vampire Diaries.  As cheesy as both of these videos were, they fit neatly into a category of television, movies, and books that recently swept the world, the teen vampire drama.  I asked you to keep an eye out for the similarities and differences in characters, settings, situations, moods, lighting between the two and to consider the various rhetorical elements of the pieces such as audience, purpose, tone, voice, context, etc.  Due to some technical difficulties, we  ran out of time and weren't able to discuss what you found in class.  We will continue our discussion on Wednesday.

Homework (All Due Wednesday, Nov. 2)

• Think about and come up with some potential ideas for genres you would like to do for Project 3
• Read Frame to Frame: A Beginner's Guide to Comics (See Class Documents)
• Read the excerpts from V for Vendetta by Alan Moore, Ghost World by Daniel Clowes, and Sin City by Frank Miller. (See Class Documents)

Extra Credit Opportunity

THIRD COAST READING featuring Laurie Ann Cedilink and Scott Bade
Time: Today, 7 p.m.
Place: Brown 3025

Remember the only way you get credit is if you write a 100-word blog post.  This blog post does not count as one of the 2 blog posts you're required to do this week.

Course Recap for Wednesday, October 26

Mid-Term Review
I passed back your graded Literacy Narratives.  You answered questions about how you felt the analysis paper was going and how you felt about the course overall.

Genre Analysis:  Fairy Tales
We looked at Rumpelstiltskin, Little-Snow White, Little Red-Cap, and Hansel & Gretel and compiled a list/chart/organized mess of the different elements common to fairy-tales.  We agreed that the audience of fairy tales are children and the purpose of them is to teach moral lessons.  Your task for homework this weekend is to write your own fairy tale.

Chart/List/Organized Mess on Fairy Tales

                                     
Genre Transformation:  Advertisement
After we came up with the common elements for fairy tales you were put into groups and were asked to create an advertisement using objects or characters from the story.  The purpose of your advertisement is the same as the fairy tales: to teach a moral lesson.  You will present them in class on Monday.

Homework

• Final Draft of Analysis Paper (VIA GOOGLE DOCS)
• 1-page Fairy Tale

Course Recap for Monday, October 24

Peer Review
You read each other's analysis paper and I gave most of you feedback in class.

Common Mistakes

• Using the past tense to talk about a piece of work. The text says "...." not said unless the text used to say something one day and then says something different today.
• The phrase "needless to say." Don't use it. If it's needless to say, why are you saying it.
• Italicize titles of longer pieces (books, movies, magazine, and newspapers, etc) Quotes around shorter pieces (the title of an article from a magazine or newspaper, a poem, a song, etc.)

Sources
A lot of you either failed to put your sources into this draft of the paper or forgot to cite them. Please be sure that you understand how in-text citations work and if you don't you might want to submit another draft of your paper to me before the final so I can check your citations.

Homework

• Read Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Cap, Little Snow White, and Hansel and Gretel from the Brother's Grimm Fairy Tales. (Make sure you actually read them and don't just rely on your previous knowledge of the stories.)

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Course Recap for Wednesday, October 19

Annotated Bibliography
I checked everyone's annotated bibliography in class. I let each of you know if your sources were good sources, if they were properly formatted, and if your annotations gave me enough information about your source and your paper.  Some common mistakes were:

• The use of electronic citation managers to format your sources.  You can use these to format your sources as long as you compare what they give to you to an actual MLA guide because these things can often get them wrong. And since you have to do that you might as well just use the MLA guide in the first place and save yourself a few steps.  These citation managers use a specific formula to format your sources.  If your source deviates from that formula in anyway (maybe the source doesn't have a date or a author) it can format them wrong.  Even the citations at the bottom (or top) of articles are sometimes in the wrong format so you have to check those, too.
• Not italicizing the names of books and journals.  The article title is in quotations, but the publication in which the article is printed (the journal, newspaper, website, or magazine) is italicized.
• Summarizing the source in your annotations without explaining how you intend to use the source in your paper.  This is the most important part of your annotation.  I want to know how this source relates to your argument.

You were all given the chance to rework your annotated bibliographies.  They are due Sunday at 4.  You won't get credit if I don't get them by Sunday at 4.  Be sure to check out the OWL Purdue site or the WMU MLA Library Guide for information on how sources should be formatted.  If you missed class on Wednesday you will not be getting any feedback from me about your bibliography (one of the disadvantages of missing class).  Look at the commonly made mistakes above and make sure you haven't made any of them.  You can correct and resubmit your bibs just without my feedback. Sorry.


Intro Paragraphs and Outlines
As I checked your annotated bibs you worked on the first paragraphs of your paper and then did an outline where you listed the main points of your paper and the ways in which you were going to use specific scenes, lines, etc from your pieces to support your thesis.


Tips for Writing Your Paper

• Be sure that your research doesn't overwhelm your paper.  You are using the research to support your own ideas not the other way around.  Try not to have entire sections of the paper dedicated solely to your research.  Instead find ways to weave your research throughout the paper.
• Your paper is about the piece so you should be referring to the piece often.  If you haven't watched your film in a long time be sure to watch it before attempting to write your paper.  You'll be watching it with a more critical eye and will be better able to spot things that will support your argument.
• Please look at the sections on In-Text Citations on the OWL Purdue site.  You have to make sure that you are properly attributing all information from your sources.  Also remember that anything taken from a source (unless it's common knowledge)  must be cited.  Even if you paraphrase the information you still need to attribute it to the source.  

Possible Blog Post Topics

• Describe your writing process for this paper.  Where did you start?  How did you approach the topic? What aspects of the paper do you enjoy?  What issues or frustrations have you had in writing this paper?

Homework

• Revised Annotated Bibliography Due Sunday Oct 23 at 4 pm via Google Docs.
• Rough Draft of Analysis Paper Due Monday Oct 24 in class (Bring TWO COPIES please!)

Course Recap for Monday, October 17th

Library Day

We held class in the library. Galen Nicke, one of Waldo's librarians, showed you how to find sources using PowerSearch on the library's main website. He also showed you where to look for information on MLA formatting. I'll post the links in Class Links.

Your assignment for the day was to find two sources for your annotated bibliography. At least one of your four sources for you paper has to be a print source, meaning that it was originally published in paper form. This could be a book or a news or magazine article.

Homework
Annotated Bibliography due Wednesday, Oct. 19

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Course Recap for Wednesday, October 12

"Sonny's Blues"
We had a quick reading quiz and then we discussed the symbolism and the themes of "Sonny's Blues." We all agreed that the story talks about the importance of family and the dangers of drugs. We also examined how the idea of "darkness" functions in the story and what it means to truly "listen" to someone. The story also talks about the importance of music and art and how it helps us to better understand the pain and suffering that people experience in life. Then you guys wrote thesis statements about the various elements of "Sonny's Blues" that interest you.

Annotated Bibliography
Be sure to check out the Sample Annotated Bibliography before Monday. On Wednesday you will have to turn in your own annotated bibliography where you will list your four sources for the paper in MLA format and then a brief description of each source and how they relate to your thesis. See the second page of the Sample Annotated Bibliography to see what your bibliography should look like.

LIBRARY DAY!!!
Monday we will be meeting in the entrance to Waldo Library. You should have the piece picked out that you want to analyze for Project 2 and a tentative thesis statement (i.e. What it is that you want to say about the piece?). If you have worries about your thesis statements please e-mail me before Monday so I can look at it and give you feedback.

Homework
Thesis Statements for Project 2 Due Monday Oct 17th
Annotated Bibliography Due Wednesday Oct 19th
REMEMBER WE'RE MEETING IN THE LIBRARY MONDAY!

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Course Recap for Monday, October 10th

Carrie Analysis

We finished the movie Carrie and then we reviewed your answers to the homework questions. When doing an analysis it is important to look at several different elements of the piece. For the movie, Carrie we looked at the film's characters, themes, lighting, symbols, shooting methods, score, and overall story line. Then we all created potential thesis statements for the movie by first asking ourselves a question about the film and then attempting to answer using our knowledge of the film. For instance I posited the question:

• Why did de Palma choose different lighting for Carrie throughout the film ranging from soft, flattering light to sharp, harsh lighting?

Then taking into account everything we talked about in class, I answered the question:

• De Palma chooses to light Carrie differently throughout the film sometimes using a soft, flattering light and other times a sharp, harsh lighting to show that there are two different sides to people and under the right circumstances people can flourish and become something beautiful and good or they can be oppressed and enraged and become something ugly and evil.

Everyone shared their thesis statements then we looked over the assignment sheet for Project 2.


Project 2 Analysis

You will be doing an analysis of a creative piece of work of your own choosing. Your final paper will be four pages long and must feature four sources. See Project 2 Assignment Sheet in Class Documents for more details. You must have the piece you plan to analyze chosen by Monday, October 17th.


"Friend Game" by Collins
We discussed Collins piece "Friend Game" about the suicide of Megan Meier. We looked at how Collins analyzed the various aspects of Myspace and a Myspace profile and how they may've contributed to Megan's death. She talked about everything from the process of creating a profile to what a Myspace profile looks like on the screen. We were also introduced to our first rhetorical mode of persuasion: pathos. Pathos or emotional appeal appeals to an audience's emotions, needs, and values. By starting the piece at Megan's funeral and giving us vivid descriptions of the girl before her death Collins appeals to the reader's feelings of sympathy.

Homework

• Read "Sonny's Blues" by James Baldwin (see Class Links)
• Read "Cult Movie Review: Carrie" and "Horror, Femininity, and Carrie's Monstrous Puberty" (see Class Links) When you hit the link you should be prompted to sign-in with your Bronco-ID.  After that click on either Full Text or PDF underneath the title to be able to read the piece.
• Start thinking about the piece you might want to analyze for Project 2 (Due Monday Oct. 17)

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Course Recap for Wednesday, October 5, 2011

A Very Quick Grammar Lesson
We quickly went over some of the common grammatical issues found in the rough drafts of your literacy narrative. The most common issues were run-on sentences and comma splices. We listened to "A Bad Breakup Letter" on YouTube for an example of how run-on sentences sound when read aloud. I encourage all of you to read your papers aloud or have someone else read it aloud to you before turning them in.

If you have problems with a specific grammatical issue that you don't feel confident identifying on your own a good place to go is The Writing Center. I'll post a link to their website in our class links. Your final draft is due Monday, Oct 10.

Carrie
We watched the movie, Carrie. For homework you will do a general analysis of the movie where you will answer the following questions:

1. Comment on the various cinematic elements in the movie. What role does lighting, color, camera angles, and sound play in the story? It's okay if you don't know the technical terms. Talk about them to the best of your ability.
2. What are some of the themes present in the film?
3. Carrie is a horror movie that defies the genre because it blurs the lines between the victims and the monsters. Who are the monsters in this film? Why do you think so? Refer to specific scenes in the movie.
4. What are some recurring images or ideas in the film? What do you think these images or ideas symbolize?
5. Choose a character other than Carrie. Examine that character's personality and motives and the purpose they serve to the rest of the plot.
6. What are some criticisms you have of the film?

You can also use one of these questions for the subject of one of your blog posts. Remember we changed the rules, so only one of your blog posts for the week has to be class related. The other post can be on whatever you like.

Homework

• Answer the questions about Carrie on a separate sheet of paper. It can be handwritten.
• Read "Friend Game: Behind the Online Hoax that Led to a Girl's Suicide" by Lauren Collins (pgs. 156-170)
• Final Draft of Literacy Narrative Due Monday Oct 10th

Course Recap for Monday, October 3, 2011

Sick Day!  :(
I wasn't feeling well today and had to cancel class. The due date for the final draft of your literacy narrative is now Monday Oct 10.  We will start Project 2 on Wednesday.

Course Recap For Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Peer Review
We broke into groups of three or four and read the rough drafts of each others' literacy narratives and gave detailed feedback on what was working in the pieces and what could be improved.  You had to review at least two papers and had to have your paper reviewed by at least of two of your peers.  Extra credit was given to those who checked more than two papers.

Homework

• Enjoy your weekend!