English 101 COLLEGE COMPOSITION

Group Work: Snauq

2010-07-12T19:29:00.001-07:00

BELOW: groups who sent me the voluntary assignment. Thank you!

Assignment _ Summary
Section: P206 – 209 of Goodbye Snauq

In Maracle Lee’s essay, "Goodbye, Snauq”, several rhetorical techniques can be found which she uses to make her ideas clear and expresses her thoughts effectively. In short, the paragraphs on page 206 to 209 mainly describe the changes of the lifestyle and environment of the First Nations after they had signed the treaties. On page 207, Maracle uses flashback to show the huge contrast in the quality of Snauq environment before and after her ancestors were forced to confiscate by the immigrant - Canadian government. After that, she also uses imagery to show how severe the damages to the land caused by the new comers were and how worse the situation was. For example, she states that the Canadian government ‘built mills at Yaletown and piled up garbage at the edges of our old supermarket – Snauq.’(207), and ‘the shoreline is gone; in its place are industries squatting where the sea once was.’ (207). Throughout these four pages, Maracle is effectively using flashback and imagery as to express her pain on the Aboriginal people that they had to make desperate and unfair decisions to assure their survival and upsetting at the forfeiture of the right to Snauq. By: Leo Chow, Michael Cong, Tiffany Siu, and Christine Tsang.

Summary page 205-207

The author of 'Goodbye, Snauq', Lee Maracle shares about the irony and tragedy of her traditional homeland in Vancouver. She is depressed of the Squamish government by

surrending their land for $92 million. Maracle has been expressing her frustration through drinking alcohol. She has notice a big difference between the past and present.

Wild food like berries and medicines are no longer obtainable, all kinds of wastes such as toxic waste, even food waste can be seen across water. Snauq is no longer the

place she belongs to it is now called False Creek

Group members: Ansel Huang
Boye Zeng
Colin Xu
Maggie Yang
Wing Yang

1. Summarize the last part of the article: “I reconjure the stretch…to the end” (Page215-Page219)
The last part of the Maracle’s “Goodbye Snauq” shows us Maracle’s hope in irony and the obvious difference between Chinese immigrants and the first nations. Maracle combines present description with lots flashback to indicate how white people seized the Snauq and then destroyed the beautiful hometown cruelly. In addition, Maracle gives an example of a Chinese: Li Ka Shing. The Chinese gained the land in the end, although they were subjected to a head tax and were discriminated, terrorized by marauding white people. However, the most unfortunately is just like Maracle mentioned: “The Chinese have nations as origins, their home countries belong to the United Nations or NATO or other such international organizations.” But Indigenous people were the real homeless who would never be able to acquire a place back. So the only way Maracle can do is to say goodbye to her home: Snauq. In short, Maracle hopes the Snauq has a same future like Chinese’s by comparison with the Li Ka Shing’s example even though their situations are totally different in fact.

2. Point form: locate rhetorical techniques with example.
- “the wind whispering songs of future to the residents” (Page 215 last paragraph) Personification
- “How could we ….and unprotected” (Page 215 last paragraph) Rhetorical question
- “What has this …. class” (Page 216 second paragraph) and “ They all pull…what’s going on” (Page 216 forth paragraph) Colloquialism
- “Do I dare remember ….Do I dare desire….Do I dare say goodbye?” (Page 217 second paragraph) Parallelism
- “The wind catches…lifts it” (Page 217 last paragraph) Personification
- “I know it shouldn’t… in New York State.” (Page 218 first paragraph) and the comparison with the Chinese example (Page 218 second paragraph) Contrast

Exam: notes

2010-07-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

Some very basic study questions with answers below. These questions and answers are just a guide to further study.

*Remember: On Thursday July 22nd I will be in Portal 4 from 430pm - 7pm.

“Goodbye, Snauq” by Lee Maracle. Study Questions
The following questions will help you study for the final exam.
Page 203 – How does calling the Snauq the “Supermarket of the nation” connect to themes we have been studying throughout the course?
- used to feed the population; lots of resources; center of the nation culturally; really pristine / untouched ecology.
- Sets up the Snauq as a place of great bounty and importance ecologically and culturally.

Page 204 – Locate the logos in the last paragraph. What is the author’s main point here?
- Snauq is a symbol for hopefully the last piece of land that First Nation people will have to give up.

Page 205 – What is the purpose of the Raven? How is the Raven an allegory? For what?

205 – What does the author mean by “find freedom in the context you inherit?” Does this line repeat throughout the essay? How many times?
- Context = situation / your role.
- Inherit = passed down to you from the past. Something that you receive.
- Trying to find ways to adapt to your situation. In this case it would be to find a voice in Can culture; find identity and independence for First Nations peoples.
- Repeats aprox. 4X

205 – Describe the contrast between the longhouse and the institution. How is this technique effective?
- Longhouse: warm, tradition, culture, memory of ancestors, identity.
- Institution: empty, white lights, dim, eerie
- Pathos.
- Inside the institution her identity is a teacher: has to follow the rules.
- The institution is a symbol of colonialism. She looses her culture and identity inside of one.

205 – Explain the story about the envelope? Why is the color of the envelope and irony?
Page 206 – Can you find the parallelism? What about the tone of this page?
Why is the author telling us she is drunk?
Page 207 – Can you find the flashback on this page? Where else are they in the essay? What do they all have in common?
208 – Locate the other flashback on this page. Notice that they are all about ecology and the natural environment. Notice also that they are always contrasted with its destruction. This is the rhetorical technique of CONTRAST.
Page 209 – Why is Khatsalano important? What is he a symbol of?
- Great leaders in First Nation culture.
- Also there to see the destruction of their homeland (eco)
- Struggled to find ways for the First Nations to participate on gov’t; to have a say and voice in Can culture / society.
- She is also trying to do the same thing.

209 – How are white people and / or white society portrayed on this page? Can you find any other mentions of white society in the essay?
- One dimensional: destroy environment and First Nation culture.
Look for tone and diction on page 209. Do you notice anything?
- Tone is what desperate, emotional.
Page 211 – she is returning to the metaphor of the envelope.
Can you find the parallelism and another flashback?
- “I am...”
- Flashback in 2nd paragraph: photo.
Page 212 – what is in the envelope? How does it affect her?
- Notice of the agreement and the loss of the Snauq.
- Flashback on this page: 5th paragraph.
Page 213 – Contrast! How are the settlers described? Common words? What about ecology and nature? Or the lives of the First Nations peoples?
- Metaphor: “The Settlers...” metaphor of consumption and destruction.
- Quotation: citation.
Is there a line that repeats on this page?
- Freedom in the context you inherit.
Look for quotations on this page.

Page 214 – the image of the longhouse repeats. Parallelism?
“I am not...”
Page 214 – 215 – Ethos! She reveals that she does not know any of the exact dates. Do we care?
- Last lines on 214 – top of 215.
- Reveals one of the purposes for saying goodbye (personal)
- Reveals uncertainty. Does that change your mind about her effectiveness?
Page 215 – Flashback / Page 216 Flashback. How do they work? Why are they there?
- Each flashback discusses the tensions between the First Nations and the settler population.
- In each flashback ecology and First Nation culture is described as pristine and untouched. These images are then CONTRASTED with their destruction at the hands of the colonizer.

Bottom of P216 – look for tone, pronouns (we) and audience.
- We as First Nations.
P217 – rhetorical questions.
- 2nd paragraph.
P218 – how is there “hope in irony?”

Final Exam: Outline

2010-07-09T14:32:00.000-07:00

Rules for the final exam. PLEASE READ CAREFULLY!

No dictionary or translators
I have changed my mind, the exam will be CLOSED BOOK. You cannot bring your materials into the exam.

ALSO: after you hand in your exam you will sit down with me and I will look over your notes and we will decide on a participation grade. Bring your notes to the exam.

FINAL EXAM. This will be your outline for the final exam. Please read the notes below carefully.

Final Exam. Three Parts.

Part One: Rhetorical Techniques. Choose four out of eight.
a. Define the term. 1 sentence.
b. Tell me in what essay it was used and to what effect or why.
2-3 sentences.

Possible terms:

Metaphor; simile; rhetorical questions; analogy; parallelism; repetition; examples; colloquialism; contrast; citation; personification; symbolism; allegory; irony; thesis statement;

Part Two:
Close reading and rhetorical analysis. Choose ONE of TWO passages and:
a. Summarize the passage. 2-3 sentences.
b. Locate as many rhetorical techniques as you can and explain how they work in the passage. 4-5 sentences.

Passages will come from “Goodbye Snauq” from pages:
Pages: 205 – 208; Pages: 216 - 219

Part Three: Essay. Choose ONE of the following TWO questions and write an essay with a clear thesis.

Possible topics:
1. How do the themes in “Goodbye Snauq” connect to the overall theme of this course? Find evidence in the article to support your ideas.
2. Locate and analyze the rhetorical techniques that Lee Maracle uses to create her narrative. How does she use rhetorical techniques to tell her story?

SO – you can be certain that I will ask you about:

- The rhetorical techniques of storytelling / narrative
- How this essay connects to the themes of global warming and hope that we have seen in the essays throughout the semester.

"Goodbye Snauq" Study Questions

2010-07-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

“Goodbye, Snauq” by Lee Maracle. Study Questions

The following questions will help you study for the final exam. These are just basic questions which hopefully will lead you in-depth answers.

Page 203 – How does calling the Snauq the “Supermarket of the nation” connect to themes we have been studying throughout the course?

Page 204 – Locate the logos in the last paragraph. What is the author’s main point here?

Page 205 – What is the purpose of the Raven? How is the Raven an allegory? For what?
205 – What does the author mean by “find freedom in the context you inherit?” Does this line repeat throughout the essay? How many times?
205 – Describe the contrast between the longhouse and the institution. How is this technique effective?
205 – Explain the story about the envelope? Why is the color of the envelope and irony?

Page 206 – Can you find the parallelism? What about the tone of this page?
Why is the author telling us she is drunk?

Page 207 – Can you find the flashback on this page? Where else are they in the essay? What do they all have in common?

208 – Locate the other flashback on this page. Notice that they are all about ecology and the natural environment. Notice also that they are always contrasted with its destruction. This is the rhetorical technique of CONTRAST.

Page 209 – Why is Khatsalano important? What is he a symbol of?
209 – How are white people and / or white society portrayed on this page? Can you find any other mentions of white society in the essay?
Look for tone and diction on page 209. Do you notice anything?

Page 210 – explain how the author feels about the institution? Why does she feel this way? What is the institution a symbol of?

Page 211 – she is returning to the metaphor of the envelope.
Can you find the parallelism and another flashback?
Page 212 – what is in the envelope? How does it affect her?
Flashback on this page.

Page 213 – Contrast! How are the settlers described? Common words? What about ecology and nature? Or the lives of the First Nations peoples?
Is there a line that repeats on this page?
Look for quotations on this page.

Page 214 – the image of the longhouse repeats. Parallelism?
Page 214 – 125 – Ethos! She reveals that she does not know any of the exact dates. Do we care?

Page 215 – Flashback / Page 216 Flashback. How do they work? Why are they there?
Bottom of P216 – look for tone, pronouns (we) and audience.

P217 – rhetorical questions.

P218 – why is there “hope in irony?”

Last Week: Important!

2010-07-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

My Friday make-up class: I will have a practice exam ready for you to complete. This exam will not be for marks. Also, you can send me an OUTLINE or FIRST page of you essay, by email, before TUESDAY July 13th. I will return this to you with edits.

Also, be prepared to see me in class with all your notes and tell me what you think your deserve for participation.

***

My Monday class: Next class please complete your homework. I will have a practice exam ready for you to complete. This exam will not be for marks. You are also encouraged to bring in an OUTLINE or the FIRST PAGE of your essay. I will look at it and help you with it.

Also, be prepared to see me in class with all your notes and tell me what you think your deserve for participation.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Essay DUE: Saturday July 17th by email before 12am.

Essay marked: Thursday July 22nd I will return your essay by email. At this time I will be home all day to answer any questions or concerns about the final and / or the essay.

Final Essay Question

2010-07-05T12:45:00.000-07:00

This essay is NOT a research essay and will NOT require outside sources. However, you will be required to familiarize yourself with plagiarism and MLA guidelines. You are also required to highlight your thesis statement in bold. The essay topic is broad and general, allowing you the freedom to create the essay that you want to write. *Remember* you are creating a persuasive essay with a clear thesis, close analysis and evidence to back up your claims.

This essay should be approximately 800-1200 words and is due, by email, on Saturday July 17th @ 12am. A reminder that my email is jwkscott[AT]gmail.com.

Final Essay Question:

In “The Shadow Our Future Shows” Al Gore argues that it is our “perception of the environmental crisis” which constitutes the greatest threat to our planet. Spurred-on by a genuine “fear of the unknown” and “over analysis without action” Gore explains that the tangible and “certain” threats to our environment are not seriously dealt with because political manoeuvrings take precedence over scientific evidence. In this social atmosphere, Gore argues that procrastination dominates while the global environmental crisis accelerates in scope and measure. In order to alleviate or cure this 'social procrastination,' Gore creates an essay rich in rhetorical devices directed at a wide segment of the North American population. Using close analysis and supporting your argument with evidence, select at least two of Gore's rhetorical devices and weigh their effectiveness in swaying his audience to act.

Thursday Class: IMPORTANT

2010-06-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

I will NOT be able to make class on Thursday July 15th. We will then have a make-up class on Friday July 9th @ 10am in the same room.

Homework: Next Week

2010-06-29T12:32:00.000-07:00

Please complete the voluntary assignment I mentioned in class. Completing this assignment will only help you on your final essay.

The Assignment.

In one or two paragraphs that follow proper structure:

1. Locate ONE of Al Gore's rhetorical techniques.
2. Discuss HOW this technique works in the essay.
3. Have a debate with yourself evaluating whether or not (why or why not) this technique is effective in persuading the audience. Try to argue both points of view in this practice assignment.

Try to hand this in by Sunday or Monday morning.

***IMPORTANT****

You MUST read the final essay in the course package, "Goodbye Snauq" by next class.

Urgent: Office Hours Today

2010-06-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

I am not feeling well today and WILL NOT be able to make my extended office hours at 2pm in Portable Four. I can see students after class. Sorry. Jordan

Next Week July 28th and July 1st

2010-06-24T21:55:00.000-07:00

Homework for BOTH classes:

Read the rest of "The Shadow our Future Throws" and 1. Highlight and provide examples of 4-5 of Al Gore's rhetorical techniques. 2. Find three instances where Al Gore repeats his thesis statement. You will have 30 min next class to compile your work with group members.

**I will also bring in a handout featuring successful thesis statements for class discussion next week.

**I will be handing out essay topics on July 5th and 8th. Essays will be due, by EMAIL, on July 12th and 15th.

Thesis Assignment

2010-06-19T12:13:00.000-07:00

(from Fit to Print by Joanne Buckley)

Please complete the following exercises for next week:

1. Develop a clear thesis with a route map for all of the following topics:

-The treatment of the Muslim faith in the press.
-News reporting and the internet.
-Poverty among children.
-The effect of immigration on Canadian cities.

2. Evaluate the following thesis statements. Make them more specific by inventing a route map for each:

*The fast food industry is a symptom of the health problems in this country, not a cause.
*Reading fiction is important for the development of human feelings.
*Part-time work interferes with higher education.

IMPORTANT: July 1st.

2010-06-13T21:07:00.000-07:00

If you are in my Thursday lecture there is NO CLASS on Thursday July 1st. I therefore encourage you to do whatever you can to attend my Monday lecture on Monday June 28th at 430pm in the same room.

This Week: June 13th and 17th

2010-06-13T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hello, all:

During Monday's class we will have two presentations so be prepared to contribute to class discussions.

We also need to start our preparation for the next in-class examination on July 5th / July 8th. This exam will consist of an in-class argumentative essay based on Al Gore's The Shadow Our Future Throws. You MUST have this essay read by next week.

Here are the notes for this week's lecture:

Developing a thesis statement
For this course you will receive an essay topic so you do not need to make one up on your own. However, once you receive your essay topic you will need to ask important questions of the topic in order to turn the topic question into a thesis statement and begin your writing.

For example, a possible essay topic could be:
In Alan Weisman’s “Polymers are Forever,” Weisman leaves the reader with a very ambiguous conclusion to the problem of plastics in our environment by quoting the words of Dr. Tony Andray. Discuss the significance of such a rhetorical decision. Does Weisman’s conclusion help or hurt the overall effectiveness of his purpose in writing the article.
Group discussion: What is the topic asking you? How do we begin to write this essay?

HOW – how is Weisman’s conclusion ‘ambiguous?’ SUMMARY
WHY - why is Weisman’s decision effective or not effective? ANALYSIS
SO WHAT – discuss the significance or impact of this decision to the article overall. Why does it matter?

Example Thesis: By allowing Tony Andray to conclude “Polymers are Forever,” Weisman creates an atmosphere of hopelessness and despair. Weisman’s darkly ironic conclusion reinforces the same apathy that has caused so much of the damage that plastics have done to our environment. By concluding his article in such a way, Weismann negates many of the rhetorical strategies he has laid out throughout the entire essay. By analyzing Weisman’s use of narrative, intense description and quotation, I will show how these rhetorical elements, used throughout the essay, are contradicted in Andray’s concluding remarks.

Group Discussion: Why are these thesis statements strong?

Questions to ask yourself when writing a thesis statement
What is my Purpose. What do I intend to do when writing this essay?
Do you intend to change the mind or opinions of your audience by presenting a clear, concise and analytical essay? An essay that logically presents the reader with evidence to back up your claims?

Promise. Your essay MUST deliver on the promises you have made in the thesis statement. Make sure that you develop a thesis statement that tells your reader what your essay will do and not do. Feel free to announce this (without apologies) in or near your thesis.
Route Map. Not only should your thesis statement make a point, but it also point in a particular direction. The route map informs readers of the highlights of the journey they are about to make.
Examples:

Canadians with disabilities are still an overlooked minority

Canadians with disabilities need legal protection of their rights comparable to those enjoyed by Americans since George H. Bush passes the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The weaker Human Rights Commission in Canada, while well-intentioned, does not give timely solutions to pressing problems.

Myths of creation reveal a great deal about the philosophy of a people.

Myths of creation, like the story of Prometheus’s theft of fire, sometimes illustrate the dangerous consequences of humankind’s attempts to create something that imitates the gods.

Technology is a threat to human life

Computer technology is dangerous to initiative because it encourages too much dependence on something external to the human mind: trust in computers is gradually replacing trust in common sense.

Writing a Route Map or Method Statement
The thesis statement explains what you are going to show in your paper, and the route map shows how you are going to get there. It explains the paper’s direction and methodology, and acts as preview of coming attractions meant to structure and limit the reader’s expectations of your treatment of the topic.
READ through examples: on PAGE 16 and 17

Exercises CH 1. GROUP WORK.

NEXT WEEK EXERCISE: As a group I want you to develop a TOPIC or ESSAY QUESTION for another group. Once that group has a topic / question they must develop a strong thesis statement for next week’s class.

Today: June 3rd

2010-06-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

Hello, all:

Two things...

1. It's come to my attention that some of you have missed my lecture on effective summary techniques. Today, I will give an extra lesson on summary during my office hours from 730pm - 830pm in room we usually have our class.

2. Here is a link to an article some of you may find interesting.

Be well - Jordan

Summary NOTES

2010-06-01T10:32:00.000-07:00

1. Assign each group a passage from Giltrow. Ask specific questions about the passage.
2. Transition into techniques of SUMMARY.
3. Practice exercises.

First we must understand CITATION. Whenever a piece of writing contains long parenthetical interruptions with only names or years in them, Scott et all 1994; Scott 2008, we may ask ourselves “What kind of writing is that?”
The parenthetical patches are a condensed, concentrated way of telling us that somebody other than the present writer has some something: they signal citation.
Another kind of citation can be seen when an author attributes a statement or idea to another speaker: “In German political thought, Fritz Stern describes a mood of “cultural despair.”
However, we have to know that citation does not only take place in scholarly writing. Let’s look at some examples from our daily encounters:
-So thing guy comes in and says is that your car and I’m like yeah and he goes you gonna leave it there and I’m like what???
- So they say the urban coyotes are getting pretty bad.
- The weatherman says showers in the morning but then clearing in the afternoon.
We need to recognize that like scholarly writing, in our everyday interactions within society, we too borrow, adapt and learn from what other people have said. We are constantly sewing what we have heard, read and seen into our own utterances.
CITATION: essential to enter into the scholarly conversation. Situates the writer within a larger discussion. Can bolster, or add confidence to an idea(S), or create doubt and uncertainty within already established ideas(s).
SUMMARY
Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.
You own words, main points, significantly shorter.
Summary is not just for researchers but allows us to enter the scholarly conversation.
P43 / 44. Demonstrate what ‘language cues’ to look for when attempting to summarize a passage.

Getting the “Gist”
In this phase of summary we try to predict what should be remembered in preparation for writing a more extensive summary.
You make notes along side your source text to answer this question: if I were reading this with the intention of summarizing, what would I estimate as important from each paragraph?
Avoid writing in full sentences and straight copying, the notes only capture the GIST – the point or the basis – of each section.
*try two paragraphs from “Ecocide...”
Recording Levels
When we only summarize in “Gist” we miss key details.
*Read example on page 48.
While we cannot cite ALL the details, as this would make our summary too long, we need to determine what details are important to our summary.
The details that are important are when they give examples for more ABSTRACT ideas.
*Read example of abstraction on page 49.
When we read we need to first determine the GENERAL, or ABSTRACT level of a paragraph (high level), and then work away through the paragraph looking for the details (low level).
HIGH LEVEL (abstract / general) and LOW LEVEL (details)
In this case, when we encounter an abstract or ‘high level’ idea, we need to ask WHAT IS THAT? This question will help to guide our summary.
Usually the patterns of scholarly paragraphs begin with high-level or ‘difficult’ ideas. We must be patient and keep reading, all the while anticipating the lower levels that will give us a firmer grasp of what the author is talking about.
As well as representing content, the summary:
Attributes these statements as originating with another writer (Weisman 1994).
Characterizes the action of the original by explaining how the author’s main point develops.
Describes the development of the discussion.

TIPS:
How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries
Practice summarizing the following essay. It might be helpful to follow these steps:
• Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
• Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
• Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so.
Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words
Paraphrasing is one way to use a text in your own writing without directly quoting source material. Anytime you are taking information from a source that is not your own, you need to specify where you got that information.
A paraphrase is...
• Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.
Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...
• It is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• The mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.
6 Steps to Effective Summary
Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
1. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
2. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
3. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
4. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
5. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.
What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?
These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.
Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.
Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.
Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

EXAMPLE:
The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.
A legitimate paraphrase:
In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

The same techniques we use for close reading can help us summarize. Here is a re-cap from last week:

Close reading describes the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text. Such a reading places great emphasis on the particular over the general, paying close attention to individual words, syntax, and the order in which sentences and ideas unfold as they are read.

How to Do a Close Reading

Discover

When you close read, you observe facts and details about the text. You may focus on a particular passage, or on the text as a whole. Your aim may be to notice all striking features of the text, including rhetorical features, structural elements, cultural references; or, your aim may be to notice only selected features of the text—for instance, oppositions and correspondences, or particular historical references. Either way, making these observations constitutes the first step in the process of close reading.
Interpret
The second step is interpreting your observations. What we're basically talking about here is inductive reasoning: moving from the observation of particular facts and details to a conclusion, or interpretation, based on those observations. And, as with inductive reasoning, close reading requires careful gathering of data (your observations) and careful thinking about what these data add up to.
How to Begin:
1. Read with a pencil in hand, and annotate the text.
"Annotating" means underlining or highlighting key words and phrases—anything that strikes you as surprising or significant, or that raises questions—as well as making notes in the margins. When we respond to a text in this way, we not only force ourselves to pay close attention, but we also begin to think with the author about the evidence—the first step in moving from reader to writer.

2. Look for patterns in the things you've noticed about the text—repetitions, contradictions, similarities.
What do we notice in the previous passage? But so what?
3. Ask questions about the patterns you've noticed—especially how and why.
To answer some of our own questions, we have to look back at the text and see what else is going on.
Close Reading Practice (adapted from Dr. Colette Colligan)
A. Choose short section of text on which to perform “close reading”
B. Make observations, using these categories:
LOCATE: the topic sentence or thesis statement of the paragraph.
RECHECK: Is this topic sentence or thesis statement re-stated in the last sentence of the paragraph?

1. Genre e.g., novel or poetry? epic, science fiction, romance, realism, magic realism, mystery, letter
2. Point of View / Narrative Perspective
e.g., first person, third person (fixed or unfixed), third person omniscient, intrusive narrator, unreliable narrator, dialogue
3. Tone / Mood
e.g., ironic, satiric, sentimental, unemotional, etc.
4. Page Design
e.g., typeface, white space, etc.
5. Figures of Speech
e.g., simile, metaphor, alliteration, hyperbole, understatement, pun, etc.
7. Style
e.g., diction, accented speech, complex syntax
8. Any other observations?

C. Analyze the implications of your observation(s)

Week Three NOTES

2010-05-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

from Academic Writing (Third Edition) by Janet Giltrow.

First we must understand CITATION. Whenever a piece of writing contains long parenthetical interruptions with only names or years in them, Scott et all 1994; Scott 2008, we may ask ourselves “What kind of writing is that?”

The parenthetical patches are a condensed, concentrated way of telling us that somebody other than the present writer has some something: they signal citation.
Another kind of citation can be seen when an author attributes a statement or idea to another speaker: “In German political thought, Fritz Stern describes a mood of
“cultural despair.”

However, we have to know that citation does not only take place in scholarly writing. Let’s look at some examples from our daily encounters:
-So thing guy comes in and says is that your car and I’m like yeah and he goes you gonna leave it there and I’m like what???
- So they say the urban coyotes are getting pretty bad.
- The weatherman says showers in the morning but then clearing in the afternoon.

We need to recognize that like scholarly writing, in our everyday interactions within society, we too borrow, adapt and learn from what other people have said. We are constantly sewing what we have heard, read and seen into our own utterances.
CITATION: essential to enter into the scholarly conversation. Situates the writer within a larger discussion. Can bolster, or add confidence to an idea(S), or create doubt and uncertainty within already established ideas(s).

SUMMARY

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

You own words, main points, significantly shorter.
Summary is not just for researchers but allows us to enter the scholarly conversation.

P43 / 44. Demonstrate what ‘language cues’ to look for when attempting to summarize a passage.

Getting the “Gist”

In this phase of summary we try to predict what should be remembered in preparation for writing a more extensive summary.

You make notes along side your source text to answer this question: if I were reading this with the intention of summarizing, what would I estimate as important from each paragraph?

Avoid writing in full sentences and straight copying, the notes only capture the GIST – the point or the basis – of each section.

*try two paragraphs from “Ecocide...”

Recording Levels
When we only summarize in “Gist” we miss key details.

*Read example on page 48.

While we cannot cite ALL the details, as this would make our summary too long, we need to determine what details are important to our summary.
The details that are important are when they give examples for more ABSTRACT ideas.

*Read example of abstraction on page 49.

When we read we need to first determine the GENERAL, or ABSTRACT level of a paragraph (high level), and then work away through the paragraph looking for the details (low level).

HIGH LEVEL (abstract / general) and LOW LEVEL (details)

In this case, when we encounter an abstract or ‘high level’ idea, we need to ask WHAT IS THAT? This question will help to guide our summary.

Usually the patterns of scholarly paragraphs begin with high-level or ‘difficult’ ideas. We must be patient and keep reading, all the while anticipating the lower levels that will give us a firmer grasp of what the author is talking about.

As well as representing content, the summary:
Attributes these statements as originating with another writer (Weisman 1994).
Characterizes the action of the original by explaining how the author’s main point develops.

Describes the development of the discussion.

TIPS:

How to use quotations, paraphrases, and summaries
Practice summarizing the following essay. It might be helpful to follow these steps:
• Read the entire text, noting the key points and main ideas.
• Summarize in your own words what the single main idea of the essay is.
• Paraphrase important supporting points that come up in the essay.
• Consider any words, phrases, or brief passages that you believe should be quoted directly.

There are several ways to integrate quotations into your text. Often, a short quotation works well when integrated into a sentence. Longer quotations can stand alone. Remember that quoting should be done only sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a direct quotation when you decide to do so.

Paraphrase: Write it in Your Own Words
Paraphrasing is one way to use a text in your own writing without directly quoting source material. Anytime you are taking information from a source that is not your own, you need to specify where you got that information.

A paraphrase is...
• Your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else, presented in a new form.
• One legitimate way (when accompanied by accurate documentation) to borrow from a source.
• A more detailed restatement than a summary, which focuses concisely on a single main idea.
Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because...
• It is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage.
• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• The mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original.

6 Steps to Effective Summary

Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning.
1. Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card.
2. Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material. At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase.
3. Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form.
4. Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source.
5. Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper.
What are the differences among quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing?
These three ways of incorporating other writers' work into your own writing differ according to the closeness of your writing to the source writing.
Quotations must be identical to the original, using a narrow segment of the source. They must match the source document word for word and must be attributed to the original author.

Paraphrasing involves putting a passage from source material into your own words. A paraphrase must also be attributed to the original source. Paraphrased material is usually shorter than the original passage, taking a somewhat broader segment of the source and condensing it slightly.

Summarizing involves putting the main idea(s) into your own words, including only the main point(s). Once again, it is necessary to attribute summarized ideas to the original source. Summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material.

EXAMPLE:
The original passage:
Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes. Lester, James D. Writing Research Papers. 2nd ed. (1976): 46-47.

A legitimate paraphrase:
In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level. Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47).
An acceptable summary:
Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47).

A plagiarized version:
Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper. In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material. So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes.

The same techniques we use for close reading can help us summarize. Here is a re-cap from last week:

Close reading describes the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text. Such a reading places great emphasis on the particular over the general, paying close attention to individual words, syntax, and the order in which sentences and ideas unfold as they are read.

How to Do a Close Reading

Discover

When you close read, you observe facts and details about the text. You may focus on a particular passage, or on the text as a whole. Your aim may be to notice all striking features of the text, including rhetorical features, structural elements, cultural references; or, your aim may be to notice only selected features of the text—for instance, oppositions and correspondences, or particular historical references. Either way, making these observations constitutes the first step in the process of close reading.
Interpret

The second step is interpreting your observations. What we're basically talking about here is inductive reasoning: moving from the observation of particular facts and details to a conclusion, or interpretation, based on those observations. And, as with inductive reasoning, close reading requires careful gathering of data (your observations) and careful thinking about what these data add up to.

How to Begin:

1. Read with a pencil in hand, and annotate the text.
"Annotating" means underlining or highlighting key words and phrases—anything that strikes you as surprising or significant, or that raises questions—as well as making notes in the margins. When we respond to a text in this way, we not only force ourselves to pay close attention, but we also begin to think with the author about the evidence—the first step in moving from reader to writer.

2. Look for patterns in the things you've noticed about the text—repetitions, contradictions, similarities.
What do we notice in the previous passage? But so what?

3. Ask questions about the patterns you've noticed—especially how and why.
To answer some of our own questions, we have to look back at the text and see what else is going on.
Close Reading Practice (adapted from Dr. Colette Colligan)

A. Choose short section of text on which to perform “close reading”
B. Make observations, using these categories:
LOCATE: the topic sentence or thesis statement of the paragraph.
RECHECK: Is this topic sentence or thesis statement re-stated in the last sentence of the paragraph?

1. Genre e.g., novel or poetry? epic, science fiction, romance, realism, magic realism, mystery, letter
2. Point of View / Narrative Perspective
e.g., first person, third person (fixed or unfixed), third person omniscient, intrusive narrator, unreliable narrator, dialogue
3. Tone / Mood
e.g., ironic, satiric, sentimental, unemotional, etc.
4. Page Design
e.g., typeface, white space, etc.
5. Figures of Speech
e.g., simile, metaphor, alliteration, hyperbole, understatement, pun, etc.
7. Style
e.g., diction, accented speech, complex syntax
8. Any other observations?

C. Analyze the implications of your observation(s)

Revised Course Outline AND Grade Breakdown

2010-05-21T09:05:00.000-07:00

DATE SCHEDULE

Week 2

May 17th / May 20th
Close Reading: “Ecocide and Globalization.”
Start Summary.

Week 3

*NO Class MONDAY May 24th
May 27th / Make-up Class Friday May 28th 12pm - 4pm.
*Ecocide and Globalization
Summary.

Week 4
May 31st / June 3rd *Polymers are Forever
Summary; Close Reading; Thesis statements.

Week 5
June 7th / 10th
* Mid-Term Essay (20%): an in-class essay comparing and contrasting two of the first 3 course package essays.

Week 6
June 14th / 17th
*Polymers are Forever.
Close Reading; Essay Writing.

Week 7
June 21st / 24th
“The Shadow Our Future Throws”
Essay Writing and Research

Week 8
June 28th / July 1st NO CLASS.
“The Shadow Our Future Throws” by Al Gore.
.*Essay Writing and Research.

Week 9
July 5th / 8th
* In-class Exam 2: Argumentative Essay: 25%

Week 10

July 12th / 15th “Goodbye Snauq”
*Exam Prep.

LAST WEEK:
Week 11
July 19th *All attend Monday’s class.

*Exam Prep.
Week 12
July 20th - 24th UT FINAL EXAMS.

REVISED COURSE BREAKDOWN

• Participation 10%
• In-class #1 (Academic Summary) 20%
• In-class #2 (Argumentative Essay) 25%
• Student Team Presentation (plus report) 20%
• Final Exam 25%

Week Two Notes

2010-05-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

Define: Rhetoric and Rhetorical device.
Define: Stylistic device and produce a glossary of terms.
Define: Ethos, Pathos, Logos.
Define: Close Reading.

Rhetoric is the art of using language to communicate effectively. It involves three audience appeals: logos, pathos, and ethos, as well as the three canons of rhetoric: invention or discovery, arrangement and style.
Our job is to: analayze and discuss how language is working in others' or one's own writing by dividing form and content, or what is being said and how this is said.
Rhetoric requires understanding a division between what is communicated through language and how this is communicated.
- Just as language influences people, people influence language. Language is socially constructed, and depends on the meanings people attach to it.
- Because language is not rigid and changes depending on the situation, the very usage of language is rhetorical.
- An author is always trying to construct a new world and persuading his or her readers to share that world within the text.
- Individuals engage in the rhetorical process anytime they speak or produce meaning.

*The aim of rhetorical analysis is not simply to describe the claims and arguments advanced within the disourse, but (more important) to identify the specific language strategies employed by the speaker to accomplish specific persuasive goals.

*Therefore, once you discovers a use of language that is particularly important in achieving persuasion, you move onto the question of "How does it work?" That is, what effects does this particular use of rhetoric have on an audience (you), and how does that effect provide more clues as to the speaker's (or writer's) objectives?

Ethos, Pathos, Logos.
Persuasion, according to Aristotle and the many authorities that would echo him, is brought about through three kinds of proofs or persuasive appeal:

logos The appeal to reason.
pathos The appeal to emotion.
ethos The persuasive appeal of one's character. How this character or author is established my means of the discourse.

Although they can be analyzed separately, these three appeals work together in combination toward persuasive ends.
Invention, arrangement, style

Invention concerns finding something to say (from the Latin invenire, "to find.")
Arrangement concerns how one orders speech or writing.

Style concerns the artful expression of ideas. If invention addresses what is to be said; style addresses how this will be said.

GLOSSARY of Rhetorical devices and stylistic devices.

Allusion: is a short, informal reference to a famous person or event.

Amplification: involves repeating a word or expression while adding more detail to it, in order to emphasize what might otherwise be passed over. In other words, amplification allows you to call attention to, emphasize, and expand a word or idea to make sure the reader realizes its importance or centrality in the discussion.

Analogy: compares two things, which are alike in several respects, for the purpose of explaining or clarifying some unfamiliar or difficult idea or object by showing how the idea or object is similar to some familiar one.

Anaphora is the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, or sentences, commonly in conjunction with climax and with

Parallelism: To think on death it is a misery,/ To think on life it is a vanity;/ To think on the world verily it is,/ To think that here man hath no perfect bliss. –Peacham

Antithesis establishes a clear, contrasting relationship between two ideas by joining them together or juxtaposing them, often in parallel structure.

Aporia expresses doubt about an idea or conclusion. Among its several uses are the suggesting of alternatives without making a commitment to either or any.

Apostrophe interrupts the discussion or discourse and addresses directly a person or personified thing, either present or absent. Its most common purpose in prose is to give vent to or display intense emotion, which can no longer be held back:
But all such reasons notwithstanding,dear reader, does not the cost in lives persuade you by itself that we must do something immediately about the situation?

Exemplum: citing an example; using an illustrative story, either true or fictitious.
Hyperbole: deliberately exaggerates conditions for emphasis or effect.

Hypophora consists of raising one or more questions and then proceeding to answer them, usually at some length. A common usage is to ask the question at the beginning of a paragraph and then use that paragraph to answer it.
Metaphor compares two different things by speaking of one in terms of the other. Unlike a simile or analogy, metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing, not just that one is like another. Very frequently a metaphor is invoked by the to be verb:

Parallelism is recurrent syntactical similarity. Several parts of a sentence or several sentences are expressed similarly to show that the ideas in the parts or sentences are equal in importance. Parallelism also adds balance and rhythm and, most importantly, clarity to the sentence.

Rhetorical question (erotesis) differs from hypophora in that it is not answered by the writer, because its answer is obvious or obviously desired, and usually just a yes or no. It is used for effect, emphasis, or provocation, or for drawing a conclusionary statement from the facts at hand.

Simile is a comparison between two different things that resemble each other in at least one way. In formal prose the simile is a device both of art and explanation, comparing an unfamiliar thing to some familiar thing (an object, event, process, etc.) known to the reader.

Repetition is the deliberate use of a word or phrase more than once in a sentence or a text to create a sense of pattern or form or to emphasize certain elements in the mind of the reader or listener.

A flashback (which is one of the most easily recognized utilization of plot structure) is a scene in a writing which occurs outside of the current timeline, before the events that are actually occurring in the story. It is used to explain plot elements, give background and context to a scene, or explain characteristics of characters or events. For instance, one chapter may be at the present time in a character's life, and then the next chapter might be the character's life years ago. The second chapter gives meaning to the first, as it explains other events the character experienced and thus puts present events in context.

Diction is the choice of specific words to communicate not only meaning, but emotion as well. Authors writing their texts consider not only a word's denotation, but also its connotation. For example, a person may be described as stubborn or tenacious, both of which have the same basic meaning, but are opposite in terms of their emotional background (the first is an insult, while the second is a compliment). Similarly, a bargain-seeker may be described as either thrifty (compliment) or stingy (insult). An author's diction is extremely important in discovering the narrator's tone, or attitude.

Syntax: Sentences can be long or short, written in the active voice or passive voice, composed as simple, compound, complex, or compound-complex. They may also include such techniques as inversion or such structures as appositive phrases, verbal phrases (gerund, participle, and infinitive), and subordinate clauses (noun, adjective, and adverb). These tools can be highly effective in achieving an author's purpose.

A symbol is a word, picture, or idea that stands for something other than itself. It is used as an expressive way to depict an idea. The symbol generally conveys an emotional response far beyond what the word, idea, or image itself dictates.

Foreshadowing: This is when the author drops clues about what is to come in a story, which builds tension and the reader's suspense throughout the book.

Imagery: This is when the author invokes sensory details. Often, this is simply to draw a reader more deeply into a story by helping the reader visualize what is being described. However, imagery may also symbolize important ideas in a story.

narrative – a story involving events, characters, and what the characters say and do

narrator – the teller of the story, also a character

narratee – the explicit or implied or audience addressed by the narrative – the “ideal reader”

narrative perspective/point of view

first person – “I” – perhaps more subjective, personal and emotionally driven

second person – “you” – who? – the reader or narrator/character?

third person – “he/she” – perhaps more objective and rational

omniscient – all-seeing/knowing – has privileged access

limited – only for some characters

Define: Close Reading.

Close reading describes the careful, sustained interpretation of a brief passage of text. Such a reading places great emphasis on the particular over the general, paying close attention to individual words, syntax, and the order in which sentences and ideas unfold as they are read.

How to Do a Close Reading?

The process of writing an essay usually begins with the close reading of a text. Of course, the writer's personal experience may occasionally come into the essay, and all essays depend on the writer's own observations and knowledge. But most essays, especially academic essays, begin with a close reading of some kind of text—a painting, a movie, an event—and usually with that of a written text.

Discover

When you close read, you observe facts and details about the text. You may focus on a particular passage, or on the text as a whole. Your aim may be to notice all striking features of the text, including rhetorical features, structural elements, cultural references; or, your aim may be to notice only selected features of the text—for instance, oppositions and correspondences, or particular historical references. Either way, making these observations constitutes the first step in the process of close reading.

Interpret
The second step is interpreting your observations. What we're basically talking about here is inductive reasoning: moving from the observation of particular facts and details to a conclusion, or interpretation, based on those observations. And, as with inductive reasoning, close reading requires careful gathering of data (your observations) and careful thinking about what these data add up to.
How to Begin:

1. Read with a pencil in hand, and annotate the text.
"Annotating" means underlining or highlighting key words and phrases—anything that strikes you as surprising or significant, or that raises questions—as well as making notes in the margins. When we respond to a text in this way, we not only force ourselves to pay close attention, but we also begin to think with the author about the evidence—the first step in moving from reader to writer.

2. Look for patterns in the things you've noticed about the text—repetitions, contradictions, similarities.
What do we notice in the previous passage?
But so what?

3. Ask questions about the patterns you've noticed—especially how and why.
To answer some of our own questions, we have to look back at the text and see what else is going on.

SOURCE: http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/CloseReading.html

Close reading example: “Ecocide and Globalization”

Group Presentation Guidelines

2010-05-14T22:53:00.000-07:00

For this assignment each group will choose a film (documentary or dramatic) that depicts any aspect of the global environmental crisis. Each group is responsible for analyzing the film by presenting brief clips followed by a detailed discussion of what decisions the filmmaker has made in order to produce an intentioned reaction.
The film will be treated and analyzed as a literary text, using all of the critical tools we will develop throughout the course.

Your presentation will contain:

1. A very brief background on the film including historical and artistic information.
2. Why you chose this particular film and how it pertains to the themes of the course.
3. A clear thesis statement that is proven and supported, using filmic and textual evidence, throughout your presentation. Students are encouraged to search for ANY sources, written or otherwise, that will aid in their discussion.
4. Clear links made to texts we have read in the course at the time of the presentation.
5. Brief and insightful clips from the film.
6. Questions posed to the class to promote discussion.
7. A report submitted to me a week after the presentation. This report is simply a textual record or a compilation of all that was said during your presentation.

*Each group MUST see me a week before your presentation to discuss your ideas and structure.

Questions you may want to ask yourself while watching the film:

1. What is the main point of this film? What is the filmmaker, the writers, the director, trying to tell me?
2. Do I agree with that message? Why or why not?
3. From what perspective is this film made? A western perspective? How does this perspective change the impact of the film’s message?
4. Do I believe in the characters? Is their a hero and a villain? If so, why and how am I made to feel when watching these characters?
5. Does anything make me uncomfortable about the film? Why or why not? Do you think this discomfort is intentional? If so, why?
6. What about the camera angle or the point of view? How does the way the film is shot contribute to your reaction?
7. What about the writing? Are there moments of dialogue that strike you? When are the moments of silence? Why do you think there is silence in the film?
8. Who do you imagine the audience for this film is? Do you think this film plays into what this audience already believes or is this film surprising them in some way?
9. What about the imagery? How does the filmmaker use imagery to convey his or her opinion?
10. What filmic device (camera angle, writing, music, setting, etc..) is featured most prominently throughout the film? What do you think this is so? How do these decisions impact your reception of the film?
11. From what you can tell, does the filmmaker have an opinion? How does the filmmaker convince you of this opinion? Are YOU convinced when the film is over? Why or why not?

Make-up Classes

2010-05-14T22:17:00.000-07:00

Make-up classes will take place on the following dates:

Friday May 21st @ 12pm-4pm.

Friday May 28th @12pm-4pm.

I will be teaching the same material in each course so please attend whichever session fits your schedule.

Week One

2010-05-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Hello, all:

Each week I will post the lecture notes. Please feel free to add your own notes or questions using the comment option.

- Organize into Groups. Each Group gets a handout. Each group chooses an article and a date.
- Email LIST. Blog.
- Read out genres. Student’s share their own genres. Genre Lecture.
- Homework: read “Ecocide” – Chapter 2 until 2.2 in Giltrow

1. LECTURE: Genre

A. GENRE
Definition: A type or class. A category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, marked by a distinctive style, form, or content.
**read examples.
Genre Theory: Genre theory’s most practical claim for the study of writing: the scholarly genres (and other genres) should be studied in their own terms. These terms are themselves full of interest, as indications of ways of life.
A writer involved in the characteristic wordings of a discipline is involved in its practices and its procedures for interpreting the world.
A discipline’s typical wordings embody its representations of the world...
Our job is to analyze these genres’ characteristic markers of position and subjectivity (real world available identities...)
Hearing Voices: Read to them some different genres. Listen to my voice.
*Hand out and read through the passages on 21 / 22 TYPES OF WRITING ONLY. Name the types of writing in passages one through six.
All the passages are in English; this is not as important as to where they DIFFER
- These passages come directly from different moments in North American life. They voice different situations.
- No one can say which passages is BEST
- But we can estimate the efficiency of each voice – each style of expression – in serving the situation from which it arises.

B.
- The passages we just read through not only serve the situations in which they arise by they embody them, representing certain recognisable occasions.
- We HEAR the setting in which they operate.
- These sounds signify typical moments which culture has been produced: mating, marketplace, social distinction, professional publication.
- The situation has imprinted, pressed into the general shape of the language features which mark its use for particular occasions.

C.
*Read through passages again *Cultural situation ONLY
Hearing and speaking, reading and writing, we enact our experience of the world as that experience which has been shaped by our culture.
LANGUAGE IS SENSITIVE TO SITUATION
- IMAGINE language as an organism, adapting to its environment.

D.
Now, genres have typically been used to differentiate styles. For example, poems, novels and plays are different. This allowed English Departments to determine their curriculums.
- HOWEVER, now it is more important to take into account the social and political contexts of knowledge and to calculate the degree to which the quality of statements about the world dependent on who – in the world – was making the statement.
- GENRE: wants us to think about the context-dependency of language.
- FORM + SITUATION = GENRE
- Genre becomes NOT A RULE but a sign of common ground between readers and writers – expressing: shared attitudes, practices, positions in the world.
- Forms of speaking are connected to social contexts where people DO things: like selling a house of finding a mate.
- Different routines of social behaviours – habits of acting in the world – create different genres of speech and writing.
- EXAMPLE: Thank you note or love note. Both types of writing are not only made up of a characteristic written expression but also of the situation in which it occurs: it is a way of acting in the world.

Style: The manner of expression of a particular writer, produced by choice of words, grammatical structures, use of literary devices, and all the possible parts of language use. Some general styles might include scientific, ornate, plain, and emotive. Most writers have their own particular styles.
In our case – something can look like an essay but fail to fulfill the conventions of the genre – fail to speak directly to / or enter the discourse of the discipline.
A discipline’s typical wordings embody its representation of the world
Instructions of how to understand the world / statements about it
We are presented with voices, I am asking you to listen to the accents of the genres – to interpret them, how do they function in the text, what purposes do they serve, adopt those same strategies in their own work
Develop an ear and learn how language constructs your own ideas of the world
Style is meaningful, we should ask what it means, and if the style is a social action, we should ask what it does. We should ask by what principles a way of speaking organizes knowledge of the world, how it organizes systems of association, solidarity and advantage.
What does this mean for us in this course?
Well, without access to scholarly ways of speaking, student writers cannot occupy scholarly positions, or use scholarly methods from producing statement, or speak to academic interests.
**It’s all about language, style, having access to vocabulary. Think of writing as a landscape: EXPLAIN. Going out on a trip – what do you need? Music? Blending of Genres!

EXERCISE:
• Page 28 – Have the student’s complete the exercise.

ASSIGNMENT FOR NEXT WEEK

Read: “Ecocide and Globalization” by Franz Browswimmer.
Define: Rhetoric and Rhetorical device.
Define: Stylistic device and produce a glossary of terms.
Define: Ethos, Pathos, Logos.

Next Week:

In GROUPS: As an example of genre analysis and close reading (a skill we will be honing all semester) I want each group to watch and analyze a film about the Global Environmental Crisis / Global Warming. In each case I want your group to present up to four clips from the movie that demonstrate HOW the filmmaker is making his or her point. How do theses filmic choices such as camera angle, sound, editing, dialogue, imagery, ECT.. further their overall arguments. Are these decisions effective? Why or why not?

An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
Manufactured Landscapes (2006)
Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands (2009)
The 11th Hour (2007)
The Great Global Warming Swindle (2007) TV
Flow (2009)

First Week (sorry!)

2010-04-26T21:31:00.000-07:00

Hello, everyone:

My name is Jordan Scott; I am your instructor for English 101 College Composition this semester. I'm very sorry to miss the first week and look forward to meeting all of you on Monday May 10th or Thursday May 13th at 430pm.

In short, this course examines the global environmental crisis through five essays written in different rhetorical styles. I will hand out these essays during our first class and explain more about the course.

Please see the previous post COURSE OUTLINE for detailed account of English 101.

I look forward to meeting all of you.

Best, Jordan Scott

Course Outline

2010-04-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

ENGL 101C COLLEGE COMPOSITION JORDAN SCOTT

CLASSES HELD: MONDAY/ THURSDAY 4:00PM-7:00PM
ROOM: 202 EMAIL: jwkscott@gmail.com Office Hours: Thursdays 715pm-815pm RM 203.

INSTRUCTOR: Jordan Scott E-mail: . Office hours: Thursdays, 715-815pm RM 203.

DESCRIPTION: The goal of this course is to provide students with university-quality reading and writing skills. Chapters from Janet Giltrow’s Academic Writing, Sarah Mill’s Discourse and Joanne Buckley’s Fit to Print will be augmented with five substantive essays selected by the instructor. Each of these five major reading assignments engages the topic of environmentalism from a different perspective. This multifaceted but singular topic will provide continuity throughout the course, and will demonstrate how one issue — the global environmental crisis — can inspire widely different arguments and modes of rhetoric. Students will learn to engage critically and clearly with these texts by developing their own academic writing skills.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Fit to Print: The Canadian Student’s Guide to Essay Writing by Joanne Buckley.
Academic Writing by Janet Giltrow. *Essays to be handed out as needed.

A course package of photocopied essays, to be handed out in class, includes:

* “Ecocide and Globalization” by Franz Broswimmer
* “Polymers Are Forever” by Alan Weisman
* “Goodbye, Snauq” by Lee Maracle”
* “The Shadow Our Future Throws” by Al Gore
* “Dub: Defending the Value of the Original in an Age of Duplicates” by R. Murray Schafer

EVALUATION:
• Participation 10%
• In-class #1 (Academic Summary) 15%
• In-class #2 (Argumentative Essay) 15%
• Student Team Presentation (plus report) 15%
• Research Essay (plus proposal + outline) 20%
• Final Exam 25%

Note: You have to pass the final exam to pass the course.

Note: Students are required to keep copies of all take-home assignments they hand in, in case of emergencies.

Important: It is your responsibility to keep up with the course work and the readings, come to class well-prepared for participation and discussion, find out what homework has been assigned, as well as complete all assignments on time. Participation is part of active learning.