We had a great lecture and presentation this morning by Professor John Steiner on the human brain and whether or not it was possible for Dr. Victor Frankenstein to transplant a human brain into the "monster." I taped the lecture and will see how I can create an audio file so you can listen to it. We also asked him about Jurassic Park and if the dinosaur cloning was possible. His answer was "not yet."

We had a couple of visitors from other classes (English 1A).

Before the lecture we watched the film: Race to Execution. See pbs.org/independentlens for information about the film, director and producer. If race is a determining factor in who is sentenced to execution here (US), what factor (s) determine Justine's (Frankenstein) conviction and sentencing for the murder of William?

Respond here in a short essay. Use evidence from the film and from the book. Due by April 8 midnight.

We will finish Frankenstein the week of April 9-12. By Monday, April 9 students need to have completed Chapter 17 in Frankenstein.

The trial will commence the following week: Tuesday-Thursday, April 17-19. Think about the role you might want to take on: prosecutor, member of the jury, judge, defense attorney, Dr. Victor Frankenstein, the monster.

Today we wrote 4-paragraph argumentative essays looking at the pro-argument or thesis, the con-argument or antithesis, and the conclusion or synthesis. We wrote the introduction together and then divided into 3 groups each one working on a 5 sentence paragraph. We didn't finish and will continue the exercise tomorrow morning.

The question is: Is Dr. Frankenstein responsible for the behavior of his child?

Our introduction in the early class went like this:

All little kids think Frankenstein is the monster; however, you have to read Mary Shelley's book to know that Frankenstein is the scientist or creator of a creature he can't love. After his creature is awakened, the doctor runs away in fear and disgust. In the meantime, the "monster" also leaves and begins to kill those people near to his creator's heart. Dr. Frankenstein feels guilty for the actions of the monster he unleashed on the world.

Is he guilty?

In the later class (after writing the introduction) we changed the question to: Is the parent responsible for his child's actions?

In the 18th century Gothic novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the protagonist, Victor Frankenstein creates a "monster" he is afraid of. Shelley explains in her introduction the genesis of the story: a nightmare academics now suggest paralleled her own misfortune as a daughter, mother and wife. After Frankenstein rejects his creation, the monster kills the doctor's brother William, implicates Justine who is in turn executed and kills Elizabeth. The monster kills because his father doesn't love him. If Dr. Frankenstein had chosen not to run and stayed home and raised his child, he could have avoided placing the lives of his loved ones at home in jeopardy.

Homework
Only two people completed their homework, so finish it and read further in Frankenstein. You should be up to chapter 12 by Wednesday.

Frankenstein's Brain
Professor John Steiner will visit the English 201 class, D-115 (I think--it's a biology classroom next to the DSPS computer lab) at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 28. he will bring a human brain. You can ask him questions about the monster and if one could actually create another life from decayed matter. All students are encouraged to attend the lecture/discussion.

Today in class we looked at Victor Frankenstein's guilt and used text to support our conclusion. For homework continue reading. Make a list of vocabulary you have had to look up to understand the text, also places where you do not understand what the author is referencing.

In Elements of Style: reread the section on composition and use references from Frankenstein to illustrate what the authors mean in sections: the use of dialogue (16), active voice (18), section 16 (on page 19), section 16 (on pages 21-22) and examples of concise language section 17 (on page 23-24) and coordinated ideas in section 19 (pages 26-28). If you'd like to illustrate anything else please do, we'll share on Monday.

Don't forget we will have a science lecture on Wednesday at 11 a.m. on Frankenstein from a scientific perspective. I will have details on Monday.

If someone would like to bring in a copy of Coleridge's Ancient Mariner poem referenced by Dr. Frankenstein (45) for extra credit we could read it together.

Today's homework is to complete the Iraq 4 Years Later Cyber-Response.

Teaching Reflections
I have gotten feedback from several of you regarding the writing process and your need for more instruction around the "How To." Beginning Wednesday, besides addressing your list of composition questions, we will do a writing exercise related to one of these concerns such as: recognizing a thesis sentence, developing a good thesis sentence, issues of unity in paragraphs, coherence in essays, common grammar errors, essay organization and the use of transitional ideas to link key elements together.

My philosophy is that the way one becomes a great writer is to read great writers and write, write, write. What we want to do before the Spring Break is identify for each of you your strengths and weaknesses in the writing process which includes reading and critical thinking.

With this in mind, please pick up a rubric if you don't already have one at my office. I will start putting numbers on your papers to correspond to the grade.
You can refer to the rubric to better understand the specifics of what you did well and what you still need to work on. Also the narratives included with the revisions are also a helpful way to articulate what it is you did to improve the composition.

I think best feedback comes from 1-on-1 conversation and I highly recommend that you make an appointment or drop by to see me. I will set aside Thursdays for in-class conferences with students so everyone will have this opportunity.

I hope you have identified your social entrepreneur for the research essay. I encourage the interview, which means you cannot wait until the last moment to schedule this with the person you wish to profile. The assignment is not an easy one and takes time to complete. You will also be presenting your paper.

Links to news and articles about the War against Terrorism 4 years later

At the webiste: http://www.usatoday.com type "Iraq 4 years later" then scroll down for stories which look at the conflict from a variety of perspectives: Iraqis, the military, President Bush, American citizens....

These links are about Frankenstein
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/frankenstein/themes.html

http://www.bookrags.com/notes/frk/

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/shelley.html

This weekend homework is to read pages 1-57. In the 8-9 a.m. class we spent a bit too much time on the freewrite and didn't have time to talk about last night's homework which was to read the introductions and preface, along with the next section in Elements of Style "Elementary Principles of Composition." We will continue on Monday, March 19.

The other homework was to prepare for the cyber-essay due Tuesday before midnight. There is a brief outline on the essay assignment sheet; however, I have given you a formal assignment here. You can also extend your freewrite as an essay response to the question posed today: Do you think the War Against Terror has been an effective strategy? The assignment was to look at the question through one of the following lens: Iraqi citizens, the Bush Administration or the government, American citizens, veterans, one of the countries in the Axis of Evil: North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Iran, or Iraq.

Note: I am hosting a symposium on Incarcerated Women in California's Prisons, Tuesday, March 27, 12:30-3 p.m. in the F-Bldg. Come by and participate for extra credit.

I hope to see you and your families Sunday, March 18, 12:30 at the Oakland Museum. We will meet in front of the museum on the 10th Street side (across from Laney).

Cyber Essay 4: The War in Iraq
The next cyber essay assignment due Tuesday, March 20, before midnight looks at the War in Iraq, 4 years later. Keeping the themes in mind: Nature vs. Nurture, what have been some of the ways the war has impacted American society and the world positively and negatively? Choose an angle. You can discuss this question from the perspective of a veteran, the Iraqi or Afghan people, an American citizen, the countries on the Axis of Evil list, those in positions such as government who can change policies related to the war and how we proceed.

Use the 3-part thesis format: Although..., assertion or argument..., because clause introducing evidence.... There is a handout in one of the bins at my office (L-236).

When posting include your name and email address.

The essay will use evidence taken from minimally two news sources. One needs to be outside this America, such as the http://www.bbc.co.uk/ or http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/77F59504-3E86-4D31-9826-C06ADFEBD2BA.htm.

You can also use democracynow.org, kpfa.org, pbs.org, kqed.org, The Commonwealth Club of Northern California website for past interviews, Public Radio International (PRI)website, http://www.sfbg.com/, www.indymedia,org, www.newamericanmedia.org, www.youthoutlook.org, plus the usual www.sfgate.com, http://www.nytimes.com/, www.washingtonpost.com, www.oaklandtribune.com.

Social Entreprenuer Assignment:100 Families Oakland

As a prelude to our research essay on a social entrepreneur, I'd like to take the class on a field trip to the Oakland Museum, Sunday afternoon, March 18, 1-5, to see the exhibition 100 Families Oakland: Art and Social Change. The OM is hosting a family exploration this weekend where we can make art with the artists who facilitated the 100 Families Workshops that produced the art in the OM galleries 2005-2006.

You can visit the OM website to read more about 100 Families Oakland and the Family Exploration this weekend. Let me know if you can attend and how many people will be in your party and I'll try to get tickets for your admission in advance. Admission for students is $5, 5 and under is free.

http://www.museumca.org/newsletters/omca_100families.html

Field trip: Family Explorations! Sunday, March 18, 2007 • 1–5 p.m.
Celebrate the creative spirit of 100 Families Oakland and the first 100 days of Mayor Ron Dellums!

Hands-on art activities led by artists from 100 Families Oakland

Music, puppet show, and face painting

Spoken word poetry workshop for teens with Youth Speaks (2:30 & 3:30 p.m.)

Performances by Prescott Elementary School Circus (3 p.m.)
Visit the special exhibition 100 Families Oakland: Art & Social Change and see how the power of art can strengthen a family and community.

Learn about resources available from the Oakland Fire Department, Oakland Public Library, Parks and Recreation, Head Start, Oakland Children and Youth Services, and other City agencies.


Social Entrepreneur Essay Assignment

Handout: The Social Entrepreneur Essay research worksheet is a way to define what a social entrepreneur is compared to a philanthropist.

See a librarian at the reference desk to help you define your search and identify the SE you'd like to profile in your 5-10 page essay.

I created this assignment after seeing the program New Heroes on http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/. I wanted students to realize the power they possess to be the change in their communities they want to see, that one person can make a difference.

Use the library worksheet to define the terms: social, society,entrepreneur, "social entrepreneur", philanthropist and philanthropy. Be clear about the difference between a philanthropist and a social entrepreneur. Also define: hero, local, selfless, selfish, community, help, support, supporter. care, independence, money, wealth.

The question you want to ask after you have identified a person or two:
What motivated this person to want to change something in society? How did this person get the community's support for the project? What did the community gain? What did the social entrepreneur gain?

The person has to be alive. Try to find someone local, that is living in the San Francisco Bay Area or in California. The person has to have been doing this work for 10-20 years. You need to locate 6-10 sources on your subject to form a bibliography; you don't have to cite 10 sources. The sources can be published or broadcast interviews, books, articles, and films or you can interview them yourself. The person cannot be a relative. You can work in groups and share data. In fact, I encourage it.

Due dates
The planning sheet and 5-10 sources are due Thursday, April 12, to share.

An introduction and conclusion to the essay are due: Tuesday, April 17.

The first draft of the essay is due: Monday, April 23

The final draft is due Thursday, April 26. Email the essay, the planning sheet, and all the works cited and bibliography pages to me at professorwandasposse@gmail.com.

In class today we reviewed the assignment and started writing. Many students didn't recall the 3-part thesis format or the Topical Inventions strategy for developing theses. I gave them the handout and told them to come visit me in my office hour for an explanation. In the meantime, develop the thesis sentence the way they have in the past.

A question came up on the suggested outline (see comment attached to midterm post). When I list "evidence" I am speaking of all evidence used, not just that from text. For an example of a completed outline come see me or ask me in class to show one to you. This form comes from Writing with a Thesis.

If you missed class today, your completed essay loses one entire grade point. For instance, if you earned an A, your penalty grade is a B, and so on.

If you have any questions call me on the cellular phone, or leave a comment with your email address.

Midterm
Choose 1 question and respond in a 3 page, (750 word) essay. Utilize in-text citiations and paraphrase as evidence to support your claims. (Don't forget to include page numbers at the end of the citation. At the end of the essay include a works cited section.

You can email it to me professorwandasposse@gmail.com before class if this is easy for you. The essay is due Monday morning. Email the Initial Planning Sheet, an outline, introduction and conclusion freewrite and peer comments. Monday bring in the hardcopies of in-class writings on We Are the Ones, plus any chapter notes.

1. In this book Walker reflects on her life as a writer and how it has evolved over the years. In this short 251 volume she traverses much physical and intimate terrain to emerge a stronger person. She illustrates how the personal is political. For example, in the chapter How It Feels to Know Someone Died for You (164) she speaks of why she chose to live in Mississippi with a white man and what price they both paid for that choice; in Three Fates (15) she looks at the economics of poverty and crime of privilege; in I Call That Man Religious (111), she looks at “what is evil and obscene in the patriarchal world.”

Choose one chapter and analyze how Walker illustrates again and again how there is no separation between her personal life and the lives around her, how all is connected. Is this a metaphor for all?


2. Choose 1-2 chapters and discuss how Walker used poetry in the book. Does its inclusion expand or limit the discourse?

3. Several themes reoccur throughout the book: poverty, US imperial power, the natural world as in gardening, patriarchy, fatherhood, matriarchy, motherhood, innocence, children, the sacred feminine, meditation, education, ritual, first world and third world nations, war, citizen rights and responsibilities, censorship, health care, literacy, anger, fear, forgiveness, loneliness, love, the pain of loss, history, truth, role of the artist, religion.

Choose one theme, listed here or not. As you point out Walker’s arguments on this 1 theme as it reoccurs throughout the text (3 examples is enough), look at the evidence she uses to support these claims and evaluate its efficacy.

4. We Are the Ones is a celebration on the sacred feminine and maternal power. This is no where more clearly expressed than in “I Call That Man Religious” (111). What are some of her arguments here? How are they mirrored or expanded elsewhere in the text?

5. How did Walker come to meditation as a practice? What has been its role in her life? Why does she include a mediation practice in each chapter? What is she telling her audience?

6. What does Walker mean when she writes:
Love is not concerned
With whom you pray
Or where you slept
The night you ran away
From home

Love is concerned
That the beating of your heart
Should harm
No one (191)

7. What does Walker say about compassion? How is compassion tied to one’s humanity? How does “mudra” symbolize this (192-218)?

8. What does Walker mean: “To be black means to have a body and soul together” (240)? How is this statement an extension of comments earlier in the book about the plight of African Americans on this soil?

9. How does Walker’s life illustrate resistance to pain, suffering, oppression?

10. Walker presents a case for individual and collective power in creating change. What is her argument in We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For? What tools does she offer?

We are wrapping up Walker's We Are the Ones We've Been Waiting For this week. The Midterm is Thursday; tomorrow we will talk about the book, do some writing and I will give you the questions.

In class today many students made presentations of propaganda techniques used in advertising. The conversation revolved around the McClintock essay, "Propaganda Techniques" and the chapter in Hacker on Argument. Tomorrow we will complete the exercises at the end of the chapter pp. 367-368 and then go over the answers.

Late papers
If you miss class Thursday you can still email the midterm to me, but it loses an entire grade point. I will not accept papers submitted after Thursday, March 15.

Homework due Tuesday, March 13
We will begin Frankenstein Monday. Homework for Monday night, due Tuesday is to bring in a bio on Mary Shelley and an academic essay on the novel.

Read the materials you are bringing in and be prepared to share. In addition, write a brief summary/analysis of the two articles. Be sure to cite your sources in text and at the end, use direct quotes and if you like a block quote. Each summary should be minimally 250 words.

We are interested in the period Frankenstein was written, the status of women during that time, and what the monster represented. What was he a symbol of? Remember, our theme: nature versus nurture.