Strongbad Writes an Engli(l)sh Paper

A student sent me Strongbad's approach to writing an English paper last fall, and I thought it might be time to post it here for inspiration as the stress of the end of the semester begins to wear us down.

Support Your Fellow Students . . . And Receive Extra Credit!

Students in sections 15 and 16 can earn up to two extra credit points by attending and analyzing the student debate tonight at 7pm in Pacer Commons Room 4C. Your analysis should discuss the different appeals the debaters use to support their claims and assertions in much the same way you developed your analyses of Susan B. Anthony's speech and the blogs.

Writing Room Workshop

I've been a little remiss in posting reminders of the Writing Room workshops here. Here is this week's workshop:

Sex, Profanity and Diction
Wednesday, November 3: 3:00pm to 3:50pm: H&SS 214
Dr. Sue Lorch

Don't forget to vote tomorrow.

Resource

The NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE AND STUDENTS IN TRANSITION at the University of South Carolina should have some useful stuff for folks considering papers about "working while in college" and "getting involved on campus."

Images and Documents, Anyone?

Some you may have noticed that Emily Johston has a couple images on her blog. Although blosgspot does not support images, Emily has discovered an external server to upload and display the images she has.

In what will certainly be a futile atttempt to learn more about this web and blogging stuff, I have gone ahead and retained my own external server. If you want to upload images and documents, please let me know. We can meet for a couple minutes, and I will gladly host your blog for the rest of the semester on the server I have retained. That way, when you post, you can simply click on the image icon and upload an image or a document. Email me if you are interested and have a great rest of the weekend.

Conferences

I have been plugging away at your mid-semester portfolios using the grade sheet we designed. The conference schedule is posted outside my office door, so please sign up for a conference if you haven't already done so. When you do, though, please be sure to sign up for a time at least twenty-four hours in advance. Doing so will allow me time to make sure I have your portfolio complete.

The Bedford/St. Martin's Workshop on Plagiarism

The Bedford/St. Martin's Workshop on Plagiarism is a straightforward discussion of plagiarism, academic honestly, and the development of an academic voice.

Grading Scale

As promised, I've uploaded the grading scale that we developed during class today. I'm pretty happy with it.

Remember to have your completed portfolios with you in class on Tuesday, October 4. I will then distribute the next assignment and syllabus. I hope you decide to post later versions of your blog analyses to your blogs, and, well, I hope you get some useful comments on them.

Tony-Nominated Playwright Accused of Plagiarism

According to an article in the New York Times a playwright nominated for a Tony Award (arguably the highest honor in drama) for the play Frozen has been accused of plagiarism by a psychiatrist and a columnist

The Candidates, Seen From the Classroom

Dr. Stanley Fish from the University of Iliinois, Chicago has an interesting article in the New York Times about how the two presidential candidates fared when he had his English 101 class compare excerpts from their speeches. Thanks to Dr. Hampton for pointing out the article.

Dr. Fish and his students take John Kerry to task for not clearly articulating his ideas. Dr. Fish then goes further, claiming that "if you can't explain an idea or a policy plainly in one or two sentences, it's not yours; and if it's not yours, no one you speak to will be persuaded of it, or even know what it is, or (and this is the real point) know what you are."

Hmmmmmm. . . . That sounds a lot like what I was saying about thesis statements the other day, eh?

Oops and Yippee

A big fat "Oops!" goes out to the lecture yesterday when I said that men were more likely to vote than women. In fact, since 1980 (I think) women are more likley to vote than men.

A hard-earned "Yippee!" because I think I managed to get the links to the blogs for sections 10, 13 and 25 back up on the course blog. (Harley and Riley still need to email me.) If the link to your blog is not working, please let me know.

"Framing" Your Analysis

I wholeheartedly concur with Paperwight's suggestion to read Mixing Memory's discussion of frames. A close look at how people frame their arguments can provide an excellent way to analyze those arguments.

By the way, Paperwight took the time to comment on the initial analyses from folks in sections 15 and 16. (Thanks, Paperwight!) Whether you received a comment or not, you should read everyone's blogs and consider Paperwight's comments as you continue drafting. As always, feel free to comment on any of the blog posts you come across as you are working on your analyses, whether those posts belong to other students, Paperwight, The Poorman, AmericaBlog, etc.

Thursday Reading, Plagiarism and the Course Blog

The link below to Thursday's reading seems to be working again. We will be discussing that reading as a class.

I also got started on links for a discussion of plagiarism and placed them in the left hand column.

Our course blog (this site) crashed this afternoon. I was able to salvage the left hand column and the middle column, but much of the right hand column was lost, including the links to Dr. Rhodes' sections. Please email me with your name, your blogspot address (URL), and the section in which you are enrolled. I will get everything straightened out as soon as possible.

Reading For Thursday

Here's the reading for Thursday. It's in "pdf" format, so you might need Adobe Reader in order to download and view the document.

Writing Room Workshop Re-scheduled

I created a scheduling conflict with this week's Writing Room Workshop and had to re-schedule. The new information is below.

The Timed Essay
Tuesday, September 21: 4:30pm to 5:20pm: H&SS 109
Prof. Karl Fornes

Blogs for Analysis

I've created links to two political blogs that you may wish to peruse as you complete your blog analysis--The Poorman and Paperwight. Feel free to choose your own blog for analysis, but you must meet with me to have it approved. The links will be on the left hand column for the rest of the semester.

Writing Room Workshop

Each semester, the Writing Room sponsors writing workshops led by English Department faculty. Many of the workshops will be useful for AEGL 101 students. See the announcement below:

Formal Writing Guidelines
Wednesday, September 8: 3:00pm to 3:50pm: H&SS 214
Prof. Vicki Collins

Analyzing Arguments

Dr. Andrew Cline put together a nifty little primer for analyzing arguments using Aristotle's proofs as a part of the Rhetorica Network. We will discuss Aristotle's proofs and the resources available at the Rhetorica Network in class on Tuesday.

The Candidate Viewer's Guide

I will be distributing this during class on Tuesday, but for those who would like a preview and others in Dr. Rhodes' sections, here is a viewer's guide to The Candidate. Enjoy.

Watching a movie is often an enjoyable and relaxing couple of hours. We eagerly pay ten dollars or more for tickets, popcorn, Junior Mints, a cold drink, etc. to have the opportunity to kick back and let the film come to us. Studying films, though, requires more energy on our part. When we study films, we are required to situate ourselves as active and critical participants in the viewing rather than passive receptors. The reward is a much deeper understanding of the film and appreciation of the work of the actors, directors, screenwriters, etc. Great films, like The Candidate, can be entertaining to watch passively but are best understood and appreciated through active and critical study. As you watch The Candidate (and the other films in the American Democracy Project Film Series), be prepared to take notes and pay attention to the subtleties of the acting, filmmaking, script, etc.

To assist you in doing so, I've put together this "Viewer's Guide to The Candidate" to serve as a framework for viewing the film. Of course, this is only a guide; Dr. Botsch and Dr. Dyer will also have important things to say about the movie. In short, I hope Thursday's discussion will include your observations and interpretations based upon your viewing of the film and the discussion afterward.

The Candidate is the second of two movies (The first movie is Downhill Racer in 1969.) in which actor Robert Redford and director Michael Ritchie collaborate to study the notion of "winning" in American society. As you watch, consider what the movie says about "winning" and the "American Dream."

HINTS:
o The "American Dream" is often associated with material prosperity and social success. Keep an eye on the sets--particularly homes and offices--and personal and professional relationships.

o Consider how Robert Redford's character is positioned in relation to different automobiles, especially how that position evolves over the course of the movie.

The screenwriter for The Candidate, Jeremy Larner, served as a speechwriter for U. S. Senator and presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. Consider what the movie says about political campaigns, specifically the role of in-depth discussion and developed argumentation versus sound bytes and sloganeering.

HINTS:
o Consider how Robert Redford's character reacts to the lights, sound equipment, crowds, etc. in the various scenes in which he is giving a speech. In fact, try to keep track of how Redford’s character’s relationships with and reactions to all sorts of machines develop over the course of the movie.

o Although Howard K. Smith's (the television anchorman) commentary is most obvious, note the more subtle nuances in the script, especially when different characters discuss communicating (or not communicating) a message.

We will discuss the following questions in class on Thursday:
o What is the "turning point" of the film and why is it significant?

o What is the last line of the film and why is it significant?

o Is Robert Redford's character a "hero"?

Blogging The Convention

Dave Winer has put together a list of Weblogs from the 2004 Republican National Convention.