Writing/Research Assignment for week of October 23-27

1. What is the American media saying about the Iraqi elections and the current democracy? Read two articles about Iraqi government pre and post-elections. Utilize the College of Alameda database, Newsweek (English 201)and/or, Al-Jazeerah, indymedia sources to find them. Write summaries of both. Bring the articles into class. The summaries are due, Friday, October 27 or Monday, October 30.

2. Watch My Country, My Country on Channel 9, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 10 p.m., or tape it. What is the thesis? What evidence does the director use to support her thesis? Are there any solutions given?

3. What surprised you most when watching this film about the elections in Iraq? Respond in 250 words. Due Monday/Tuesday, October 30-31.

My Country, My Country
by Laura Poitras

Working alone in Iraq over eight months, filmmaker Laura Poitras creates an extraordinarily intimate portrait of Iraqis living under U.S. occupation. Her principal focus is Dr. Riyadh, an Iraqi medical doctor, father of six and Sunni political candidate. An outspoken critic of the occupation, he is equally passionate about the need to establish democracy in Iraq, arguing that Sunni participation in the January 2005 elections is essential. Yet all around him, Dr. Riyadh sees only chaos, as his waiting room fills each day with patients suffering the physical and mental effects of ever-increasing violence. Poitras gained remarkable access to the Sunni community, U.S. military and the U.N., resulting in "My Country, My Country," a powerful mosaic of daily life in Iraq not seen in the mainstream media. A co-production with the Independent Television Service (ITVS), produced in association with American Documentary | P.O.V.

Broadcast Date:
Wednesday, October 25, 2006 at 10 p.m. (90 minutes)

On-going
English Writing Classes Monday, Oct. 23-Oct.30 (we hope)
We are reading The Tempest for the next two weeks. I will give you a study guide Monday, and leave copies outside my office for students to pick up. We will use these study questions as the basis of our freewrites, for in class writing, homework essay responses, perhaps even the midterm essay.

I am still looking for the film: Shakespeare Behind Bars.

The questions are from the Barrows edition. If you have it, you have the activities section I speak of here.

www.pbs.org/pov/pov2006/mycountry/preview.html

http://english.aljazeera.net/HomePage

http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml

We watched the film "Omar and Pete" today in English 201, 8-9:30. The film depicts two men, Omar and Pete from Baltimore who spent significant time behind bars from early ages. When the film opens, Omar is about to be released from prison after spending over 19 years in the system off and on since he was 11. The film looks at drug addiction as an illness.

Omar reminds me of Rameck from The Pact. Like Rameck, Omar has a pact to help him succeed as a free man. Unfortunately, Omar knows all the answers and is too proud to ask for help.

Pete is more like George. He is determined to keep his life on track and it is at his half-way house that Omar is paroled to when he is released at the beginning of the film.

The question is: "What are some of the attributes of a person truly rehabilitated? What mistakes does Omar make? Contrast Omar and Pete's lives? What characteristics distinguish Pete from Omar? Why is Omar successful on the outside? (Now check the website and read the director's update.)
Visit http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2005/omarandpete/update.html.

Dear students:
As we approach the midterm, please make certain you have scheduled an appointment to talk about your progress in the class and how you can improve. Grammar assignments are self paced, so if you need direction please come visit me during my office hours.

We will be reading The Tempest next, however, I just found out that the bookstore will not be able to get the No Fear Shakespeare text published by Barnes and Nobles. We are looking at another publisher. I will keep you posted. In English 201 we are reading Newsweek each week. You will keep a writing journal to turn in at the end of the semester.

There will be weekly responses for a minimum of two articles -- one response written in the form of a letter to the editor. You do not have to type these responses.

English 1A Assignments from Dreams and Inward Journeys:

English 1A Reading and Assignment Schedule
Dreams and Inward Journey Selections, Fifth Edition
We will proceed through the textbook chronologically. The rhetorical styles studied will hopefully build upon one another. Please read the introductory sections of each style introduced. You might also benefit from reading the author’s note: To the student. Dreams and Inward Journeys’ is an exploration of a writer’s internal life, her inner feelings and thoughts and how this shapes either consciously or unconsciously the written product. One of the hopes here is that writers become more aware of these processes though keeping a notebook, and/or dream journal where ideas are collected, sorted, analyzed.

For each chapter, read 2-4 essays within the genre and respond to two. I will let you know when they are due. Some chapters have more essays listed here than others. You can mix and match, as long as you read at least one essay of a particular genre. I just listed the essays I like. You can feel free to substitute others for the various chapters.

Chapter 1
Frederick Douglas'Learning to Read and Write p. 43
Stephen King's The Symbolic Language of Dreams p. 17
Linton Weeks'The No-Book Report: Skim it and Weep p. 53
Joyce Chang's Drive Becarefully p. 59
Amy Tan's, Mother Tongue p. 37
Peter Elbow's Teaching Two Types of Thinking by Teaching Writing p. 25
Virginia Woolf's Professions for Women p. 32

Chapter 2
Donovan Webster's Inside the Vocano p. 89
Linda Hogan's Walking p. 101

Chapter 3
Maya Angelou's The Angel of the Candy Counter p. 148
Patricia Hampl's Memory and Imagination p. 137
Judith Ortiz Cofer's Silent Dancing p. 145
bell hooks' Writing Autobiography p. 162

Chapter 4
Suggested: Liz Scheps's Cinderella: Politically Incorrect p. 240
Read two essays: your choice

Chapter 5
Virginia Woolf's Professions for Women p. 32
Rachael Naomi Remen's Remembering p. 262

Chapter 6
Maxine Hong Kingston's No Name Woman p. 321
Andrew Solomon's Depression p. 266
Charlotte Perkins' Gilman, The Yellow Wallpaper p. 276
Gloria Naylor's The Two p. 341 (Literary Fiction)

Chapter 7
Robert King's Owning Your Own Shadow p. 387
Shelby Steele's Being Black and Feeling Blue p. 406

Chapter 8
Kalle Lasn' The Ecology of Mind p. 464

Chapter 9
Thich Nhat Hanh's Love in Action p. 544
Martin Luther King Jr.'s I have a Dream, p. 540

Elements of Style (English 1A).
We will read it Nov. 6-10. Students will write compare and contrast the text with Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers. This essay should be typed, minimally 3 pages. It is due Monday, Nov. 13.

Rules for Writers (All writing classes)
Begin with the Writing Process (1) and Document Design (59)
Next move onto The Basics (495), Grammar (155), followed by Clarity (83), Argument (343), Research (369), Punctuation (265), Mechanics (315).

Go to the lab and complete exercises. Get help and utilize the programs such as Skills Bank, Grammar programs, Bedford Handbook, and other resources to improve your writing. Don't forget, keep an error log. On revisions remember to write a short analysis (1 paragraph is enough) on what you changed to justify a passing grade.

My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
The Medea Project: Theatre for Incarcerated Women in "My Life in Concrete Jungle" premieres at The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, 620 Sutter @ Mason, San Francisco, Thursday-Saturday, October 24-November 5, 8 p.m. and Sundays, October 29 and November 5 @ 3 p.m. There will be a special gala night Saturday, October 28. Visit www.culturalodyssey.org.

We will attend Sunday, Oct. 29, 3 p.m. We can meet at the West Oakland Branch Library at 2 p.m. and go over together. Let me know if you can go net week no later than Friday, Oct. 20, (510) 748-2131 or professorwandasposse@gmail.com. Tickets are $10 for students and seniors. You can bring guests. (All classes are invited.)

Remember, if you are having trouble come see me.

W. Sabir