Monday, May 12, 2014

What would King Say?


“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
 
“No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they'd die for.”
― Martin Luther King Jr. 
 
“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
― Martin Luther King Jr. 
 
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
― Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches 
 
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
― Martin Luther King Jr. 
 

Blogging the Class Writing Lab

1. Your keyword will be present in a topic sentence claim, but two different passages will provide support for it. AS YOU DRAFT, it's simply important that you have the keyword and that you make some (any) generic claims, such as: In Zeitoun cultural fears play a role in Zeitoun's experiences.

Note that this language WILL BE REVISED for the final draft, in part because the paper is asking us about the lessons Zeitoun might have for climate emergencies in New York's future. The language will then shift to: One of the lessons Zeitoun offers us is that climate emergencies something something cultural fear.

Note, too, that your critical thinking about the passage(s) in your key word will necessarily change, in part because you will be relating your discovering about Zeitoun to the lessons they might offer.

2. Remember that your reader will not accept transitions to your direct quote that use page numbers, such as "on page 33..." Do not use page numbers in your writing except in citations, like this ----> (Eggers 33). Where your instinct is to write "on page 33," that is where you summarize what's happening in the book for your reader. You then transition from this summary into your direct quotation.

3. Remember, keywords are 1-2 words that are ideas, such as "shock doctrine." They explain more than one thing  - more than one situation, time, event, etc. They also have to be specific enough to the text that the reader feels they work especially for the text in question (in our case, Zeitoun). They have to be accurate, creative, and yet also 'portable' - that is, other people, including your classmates, could use them.

4. Critical thinking in a paragraph with two quotes: perhaps you should approach like this:

claim - keyword
define keyword
introduce first passage (remind the reader what's happening in the part of the book from where you're pulling the quote)
direct quotation and citation
brief explanation of relation between quote and keyword
transition to second example of keyword
introduce second passage (same directions as introducing first passage)
direct quotation and citation
CRITICAL THINKING: compare and contrast how both moments demonstrate your keyword idea, but also make the clear each of the two examples show individually, or separately, about the text.
OTHER OPTIONS: After you've done this, you can relate these examples to your thesis as a whole. You can may thus relate these examples to their wider importance about what they teach us about climate change and disaster preparation.

Class Agenda 5.12

1. Revised Zeitoun keywords paragraph - take out your notes from Friday. Type them into an in-class blog. As you read over your work, revise it: be sure that you have posted a solid quote sandwich that elaborates on your claim about the text, with the keyword as your anchor idea.

2. Log into your Instagram account either from your phone or on the computer. Leave a comment on two photographs by fellow students. In your comments, discuss what the image made you think about regarding the future of climate change and New York City. What do you think the image will tell a future historian or time traveller?

3. Log into Twitter. Using the hashtag #zeitoun, compose two tweets about the text that contain claims about what the text teaches us about climate emergencies. Please place a page number in parentheses (56) where we might find a passage tied to your claim, or supporting your claim. Do this even though I'm NOT asking you to create any direct quotes or citations.

SAMPLE: #zeitoun teaches us that strangers are important during chaos (168)

4. Now look at what your classmates posted. Retweet at least two claims that you agree with. Then find a claim you could disagree with, even 'for the sake of argument.' Explain why in your nicest voice and leave a page number in parentheses that contains a passage you believe supports your claim.

5. Class discussion on passage(s).

Nordhaus on Front Page of New York Times!!

TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE click here

Brothers Battle Climate Change on Two Fronts


Photo

William Nordhaus an economist at Yale, came up with the idea of a carbon tax and developed a model for determining the price tag of climate change. Credit Christopher Capozziello for The New York Times


WASHINGTON — In the New Mexico of the 1950s, the two brothers grew up steeped in the beauty of the landscape, the economics of energy and the power of science. They skied, fly-fished, explored on the family’s 50,000-acre sheep ranch, watched oil towns go boom and bust, and talked of the nuclear weapons up the road at Los Alamos.
Today the work of Robert and William Nordhaus is profoundly shaping how the United States and other nations take on global warming.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Instagram 3

Imagine the Hurricane is coming. Take a picture of something in your life that you'd absolutely have to save somehow before you evacuate.

Class Agenda 5.9

1. Essay Two Reflection: Counts for 30 quiz points

Reflection on your writing process: letter to the professor. Answer the following questions in a brief letter to the professor. 1. Overall, are you confident that your essay meets the expectations of the assignment? Why or why not? 2. What was the most difficult part of the assignment for you? How did you overcome it? 3. Based on your experience with the this essay, what would you do differently next time? 4. What writing skills or techniques do you think we need to work on most as a class going forward? 5. How has this assignment changed your thinking on Hurricane Sandy?

2. Midterm review

3.  Essay Assignment Three

4. Discussing the reading: groupwork. Together with a team of classmates, explore two different aspects of the reading: 1) create and define a "keyword" you'd use to explain a passage, and give another example from the text about where and how it could explain something;

5. In-class writing: Return to your notebooks. Write a reflection that answers the following question: How does a passage from the reading connect with what you've learned or read in class so far? Link the reading to other passages, texts, or ideas from class discussion.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Midterm Grading Grid



ENG 101 Midterm 2014
Name
1. Thesis: Contains a central assertion that places a central idea at the forefront of the essay; thesis statements is 2-3 sentences; thesis statement answers the main question posed by the assignment (20%)
1          5          6          7          8          9          10
2. Structure: Essay organized around topic sentences; each paragraph provides "they say" context; essay uses summary and paraphrase to explain main ideas from reading (30%)
1          5          6          7          8          9          10
3. Evidence: Essay successfully places direct quotes into each body paragraph; essay cites those quotes correctly according to MLA guidelines; essay explains direct quotations; essay contains a bibliography (30%)
1          5          6          7          8          9          10
4. Critical Thinking: Essay interprets quotes in original ways that go beyond class discussion; essay connects main ideas to other texts or moments in text; essay utilizes keywords and defines them; essay offers original perspectives and argument (20%)
1          5          6          7          8          9          10
Grade

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