AeroSOUL @ Joyce Gordon Gallery through Tuesday, Sept. 4














I went to a wonderful art exhibit in downtown Oakland Friday night: "AeroSOUL: We Do Fine Art." The exhibit is up at Joyce Gordon Gallery, 406 14th Street, Oakland (14th near Broadway) through Wednesday, Sept. 4, call (510) 465-8928 and www.joycegordongallery.com.

AeroSOUL features the work of the TCB crew: Refa One, Toons One, and Chris Herod. I took a few photos at the opening reception Friday night. I'm taking my English 1B class to the gallery 9/2 for a tour. We're meeting there at 9:30 AM. If you'd like to join us, stop by. We'll be there for an hour. I'm hoping to get a tour and talk with the artist Refa One. Refa One is pictured here with Malaika. His work is the writing, while Toons uses crayon on canvas and Chris does the larger pieces, (I think.)

Read the chapter, "This Dark Diction Has Become America's Addiction," and annotate it. Pull out the arguments and its supporting evidence. What themes run through the conversation? What is the tone of the discussion? Are there any questions you'd weren't satisfied with the answers? What would you like to know more about? How would you rate the conversation? What did you learn?

We will use this formula for most of our responses. If you haven't already done so, scroll down and respond to Chapter 1: How Real is This?

Both are due before class Tuesday, Sept. 2. Your responses need to be minimally 100-250 words. Make sure you keep a vocabulary log and a questions log per chapter. We'll talk about the two chapters at our next meeting. You can add this to your response if you want to keep it all in one place. You can also ask questions about the chapter here and if anyone knows the answer, please respond. The blog posts are interactive. We're having a conversation.

Change Essay Cyber-Post

Please include your outline and initial planning sheet.

By Wednesday, Sept. 3, respond to a student essay. Sign your name with your comment and tell us who you are responding to. Please post by Friday, August 29, 11:30 p.m.

We have been writing about change for a week now. Your first essay takes its theme from this topic. Explore your life. Has anything changed recently which has caused you to behave or shift your perspective in a significant way? What happened and what was your response?

This essay can be cause and effect; problem solution, even classification, where you name the steps you have had to take to get where you want to go. It can also be a combination of strategies.

You have to have a point though, a thesis, that is clearly stated. This afternoon students spoke of TV addiction, others saw college or the intellectual vigor of college, a way to improve their overall quality of life. Other students, many students, looked at the difference between high school and college, being a child and now taking on the responsibilities of an adult.

One student wanted to write about Obama as presidential candidate and what that means to her as a young African American woman. These are narrative essays. Those goals you listed in the syllabus could be directly tied to the change in your life. What do you have to change to accomplish the goals listed there? Where do you see yourself in one year...five years...twenty years? How will you get there?

Does anything need to change now for that to happen? What are you doing now to ensure you get there?

The essay should be minimally 500 words, two pages and include: an introduction, a body and a conclusion, with a clearly stated thesis. Make certain each paragraph has a topic sentence and that the topic sentence relates back to the thesis. Use examples, facts, short anecdotes, dialogue, statistics, definitions, analogies, and/or consequences, to expand, illustrate, and elucidate, your point.

Put a title on the essay. Type it double-spaced, standard font, no italics. Read Diana Hacker: Planning to help you organize your thoughts and plan your essay. Bring your textbooks to class next week.


I have office hours Wednesday, 9:30-10:50 in L-236 (inside L-235).

Second Line: Cyber Essay Response

Today we watched the short film: Second Line. Visit the following link for an interview with the director. I have pasted the cast information, along with a brief synopsis.

For those students not familiar with the New Orleans second line tradition, I encourage you to do some outside research to understand more fully the concept and how these Southerners honor the dead musically.

Respond to the post in a short essay, three paragraphs minimally. Tomorrow we will meet in L-202E at 11 a.m.

We spoke in class about the characters and themes, symbols...and the look of the film: dark, the landscape squalid, contaminated, tragic, stark...the setting isolated and isolating, as if the events take place in another world or even on another planet, certainly not the United States.

The mood we said was sad, the central character, MacArthur, angry, depressed...but then so is their employer....People seem to be up, but the mood is not a happy one.

I encouraged students to look at the images of the teddy bear and the machete: life and death. the cans-empty and full...the notion of being "canned" or fired.

We've got shock...shocking behavior by MacArthur when he finds the money and also when he kills the man who cheated him and his cousin. He snaps, one student says, but is this behavior consistent with what we know about him?

Later on, he is crying.

We note the facial expressions on the characters: the employer is making fun of MacArthur and he's drinking too much. He is careless with MacArthur's health and safety regarding equipment (masks and other protective gear.)

Is the murder, if a murder took place, was it justified? One student says she doesn't think murder is ever justified but learned from the film how one can be pushed to the edge and kill when he feels he has nothing else to loose.

I just assumed a murder is committed, but there is no blood on the machete, and there is noise heard after the two cousins escape. MacArthur beat the man up and then stuffed him in the camper where he'd probably sleep off the alcohol and the beating, probably not recalling much of the day.

It could be that MacArthur is crying because his day was ruined, and he is regretting taking the job, returning the money, losing his temper, getting stranded, being a victim of the levees breaking.... One student told me Thursday that MacArthur wouldn't have killed anyone. It would be completely out of character for him to do so. Why would ha=e want to add a murder to his already dwindling cache of luck?

Enraged, hot...flame. The weather is hot and so are tempers.

Payment...did MacArthur get paid? Did the employer get paid? Who was the second line for? What is the simple answer? What is the more complex answer?

Film Notes from http://www.tribecafilm.com/filmguide/Second_Line.html

Short Student Competition
[SSPLI] | 2007 | 20 min | Short Narrative

Directed by: John Magary

USA

New York Premiere

Interests: Drama
http://www.cufilmfest.com/films/second_line.html
Cast & Credits
Director: John Magary
Principal Cast: Al Thompson, J.D. Williams, Dane Rhodes, Karen Pritchett, Saida Arrika Ekulona, Brittany Parker
Screenwriter: John Magary
Producers: Geoffrey Quan, Myna Joseph, Nelson Kim
Director of Photography: Chris Teague
Production Designer: Mara LePere-Schloop
Music: Kai Gross


Program Notes
After MacArthur's savings are stolen from his FEMA trailer, he and his cousin Natt take work gutting a house. The Second Line was a national finalist for the Student Academy Awards® and has played at Sundance, SXSW, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Intro/Prelude Cyber Post

Post your response to the reading here. I don't know if students saw the cyber- assignment for Chapter 1: How Real is This? The assignment is still due. You can post it up to Friday. For Prelude, the post is due by midnight, Wednesday, August 28.

Know What I Mean?

Yesterday, in class students hadn't read the Dyson chapters, Intro and Prelude. Homework was to complete the reading assignment. We didn't talk about it today; however, I might have students summarize it in groups and then share, so be prepared.

Change Essay; Index Cards

1. I gave students a copy of the Initial Planning Sheet today and we spent the hour planning our essays on "change." (This was yesterday's homework.)

The topic is change. Change in your life. Significant or important change(s).

2. I also passed out the syllabus and asked students to read it. There are two assignments listed there for the next two weeks. Please also list five goals for the semester and fill answer the questions on the last page and put this and your contact information on an index card and give to me sometime this week.

I walked around the class and students shared their writing or ideas with me and I offered feedback. It seemed like the session was useful. I believe I mentioned hosting a study group this semester. What times would work for students? We could have one from let's say from 3-4 on Mondays or Wednesdays; maybe Fridays, if that's a good time. Monday and Wednesday mornings also are an option, or Thursday afternoons, unless there is a college event. I'm hosting one next Thursday, Sept. 4, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Back to School BASH 2: "What did you do this summer?"

Grammar/Style: see thesis sentence, independent clauses, coordinating conjunctions

Elesha Martin will facilitate the session. We will reserve a room, probably, L-235 for this to happen.

Let me know what time works for people. Oh, don't forget to bring in your planning tomorrow. We'll begin writing our introductory paragraphs and share. Thursday, you will write the essay in class. We'll meet in L-202E (I think). I'll confirm this tomorrow.

Homework is to develop your planning sheets and outlines for your essay. Bring both to class Wednesday.

Oh my goodness! I wheeled into B-203 with the help of Elesha and Dorothea, who happened to be walking by my classroom as I was coming out. She wanted to add the class and I invited her along. Elesha came over to help me move the projector from C-104, the biology classroom where I have an English 1B class from 9-10:50 Tuesday and Thursday.

We got trapped by a hill and had to separate and roll the projector down the hill. I sent the two women ahead and all my possessions spilled onto the pavement when the wheel got stuck in a ditch. Dorothea saw me kneeling down and came to help me. She took the box off the cart, so I could maneuver more easily.

Okay, so I'd sent word ahead to the students via Elesha to start talking about hip hop culture, the question posed was: What is hip hop? I thought the students were inside seated and waiting for me. When I arrived they were all in the hallway talking about hip hop...I was pleasantly surprised they'd actually held discussions. What flexible and engaged students! I tred the key and it didn't work....Kenyatta told us that the classroom next door was unlocked, so we hand class there.

We listened to Queen Latifah's seminal work, "UNITY." In a freewrite students were asked to 1. Discuss themes raised in the song. I asked them to consider whether or not the piece works as well on the page as it does performed, and to consider why. I asked them to look at the language and talk about the diction, or words used. Students were asked if they were a part of the discourse. Is Queen Latifah speaking to them. If not, then who is the audience and how is that audience identified in the song.

Homework
Students are to read Track 1. "How Real Is This?" for Tuesday, August 26. Consider the author's premise. What is the topic of discussion and what points do the two men develop. Summarize the chapter in an essay. Post your response below by Tuesday, August 26, 11:50 p.m.

I will give students a copy of the Intro and Prelude on Tuesday, August 26. We'll probably read a few chapters a week. We will start Can't Stop, Won't Stop the second week in September. By that time, I will have the CD and be a little more organized, we will have settled into a routine, students will all have their personal blogs, we will have kicked off the study group, and I will be familiar with your writing strengths and weaknesses per the Changes essay and helped each of you develop a writing plan.

Track 1: How Real Is This? Cyber Response
Post your response to the chapter here by Tuesday, August 26, 11:50 p.m.

How To Mark a Book Cyber-Assignment

You can post your responses to Adler's essay here sometime before Wednesday, August 27. Answer the questions and respond in 1 paragraph to 1 prompt in Suggestions for Writing. If you have any questions about the essay ask them here. I want all students to respond to 3 posts. Don't forget to include your name.

If you ever have a question about anything, shoot me an email: professorwandasposse@gmail.com. You can also call me, just be respectful of my time. Make certain that you identify yourself. I have four classes, three preps, all writing about some aspect of hip-hop culture. Read all the posts. There are six. If you don't read them, you are still responsible for the information contained there. The first one is the syllabus. There are a few assignments there. I will print copies of the syllabus for students, as well as assignments posted.

It's hard to plan too far in advance because the class assignments come from the discussions. I might have an idea and change it depending on the dynamic in the room. Stay loose and you'll be fine :-)

I am a jazz riff singing off the chart. I'll try to stay in view, but you have to look up

English 1A, Fall 2008
College of Alameda
Professor Wanda Sabir

Course code 42712; Class Meetings: August 20-Dec. 11, MTWTh, 11-11:50 a.m., B-203

No classes: 9/1; 10/22; 11/11; 11/27-28; Final Exam: 10-12 Wed., Dec. 17

Drop dates: Sept. 4 (w/refund), Sept. 13 (w/out a W), Nov. 18 (w/W).


Each One, Pull One (Thinking of Lorraine Hansberry)

…We must say it all, as clearly
as we can. For, even before we are dead,
they are busy
trying to bury us.—Alice Walker


Syllabus for English 1A: College Composition and Reading

English 1A is the first transferable college writing course. Don’t get nervous, hopefully you took English 201 and passed with a B or better. Perhaps you’re fresh out of high school, did okay on the placement exam and voila wound up here. Maybe you’re returning to college after a significant hiatus and aren’t confident in your writing, yet once again passed that placement exam, which, if you recall, tested grammar not writing. Keep your receipt and notice the dates, so you can get a full refund if you cut your losses and drop by Sept. 4 (w/refund), Sept. 13 (w/out a W), Nov. 18 (w/W). So my joke wasn’t funny? Hang in there and you’ll do fine in the class if you:

1. Know what an essay is
2. Have written one before
3. Are ready to commit yourself to the task of writing

Plan to have a challenging, yet intellectually stimulating 18 weeks, which I hope you begin by setting goals for yourself. Make a schedule and join or create a study group. Writing is a social activity, especially the type of writing you’ll be doing here. We always consider our audience, have purpose or reason to write, and use research to substantiate our claims, even those we are considered experts in.

I believe we’re supposed to write about 8000 words or so at this level course. This includes drafts. What this amounts to is time at home writing, time in the library researching, reading documents to increase your facility with the ideas or themes your are contemplating, before you once again sit at your desk writing, revising, and writing some more.

Writing is a lonely process. No one can write for you. The social aspect comes into play once you are finished and you have an opportunity to share.

Office Hours
I’d like to wish everyone good luck. I am available for consultation on Monday mornings 9:30-10:50 a.m. , Wednesday 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesday afternoon after 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment in L-236 (inside the Writing Center Lab L-235). Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you want to take me to lunch—just kidding, I am available after 12 for appointments if you notify me in advance. I am not on campus on Fridays. (Jot my cell number down in this section.) My office number is (510) 748-2131, e-mail professorwandasposse@gmail.com.

We will write an essay based on the themes from each book. You will also write a research essay. You will need a grammar and style book. I recommend Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers, (St. Martin’s Press) and a notebook for in-class writing with a folder for handouts. You also need a couple of ink pens, a pencil with an eraser, a hole puncher, and a stapler.

I like to read and can’t resist a great story. All of these authors know how to spin a tale. We will be looking at the various characters, their journeys and their choices. Why do they do what they do? Do they need to make better choices, divorce their families, get new friends, think for themselves?

We will keep a reading log. Discussion groups will meet each week. Students will also keep a reading log/journal/notes with key ideas outlined for each discussion section, along with themes which arise, vocabulary and key arguments, along with primary writing strategies employed: description, process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition, problem solving.

At the completion of each text as I said, we will write a short essay about the work. We will begin with Michael Eric Dyson’s Know What I Mean, along with The Message:100 Life Lessons from Hip Hop’s Greatest Songs by Felicia Pride, followed by Jeff Change’s Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, followed by the novel, The Coldest Winter Ever, and perhaps a hip hop genre play or a classical one that works thematically. If you are a slow reader start Can’t Stop early. It’s an easy read, but Chang covers a lot of territory.

Research Project
Your research project will entail finding a social entrepreneur who is an artist, who has been active in his or her community for at least 20 years and have documented resources you can draw from: books, essays, articles, films, music, and performances. The paper will be about 10 pages. This will include a works cited page and bibliography. Students will make 5-10 minute presentations of these papers the day of the final. The paper will be due about two-three weeks prior to the presentation. I thought students could look for women in hip hop here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m just not certain if there are enough to go around (smile). We’ll discuss this task further later on.

The paper will be between 5-7 pages. This will include a works cited page and bibliography. Students will make 5-10 minute presentations of these papers in May during final’s week. The paper will be due about two-three weeks prior to the presentation. We’ll discuss this task further later on. Start thinking of whom you might want to profile now.

New Heroes
Visit PBS.org The New Heroes, to read about social entrepreneurs. (I’ll show you a few episodes from the series.) Too often people feel helpless or hopeless when there is a lot you can do as an individual as soon as you realize the answer lies inside of you. If possible chose an entrepreneur who lives in Northern California, someone you’d like to interview and perhaps meet. There is also a series on PBS called Frontline World with many SE profiled.

We will visit the library for 1-3 special sessions to help you better prepare for this project. Students can work on the project together and share resources. Each person has to write his or her own paper, but you can make a group presentation if you like.

Library Sessions: TBA. One session will be with the librarian and the other two will be with me.

Reading great authors and writers helps you develop your style. It’s similar to eating a balanced meal for optimum health. A writer is only as intellectually healthy as the material he or she reads. Models are often a great way to practice a style of writing. I will occasionally make copies of articles from magazines and textbooks I think illustrate a particular style of writing I’d like you to practice, or perhaps an argument which has peaked my interest. If you find an argument, either a visual one or a written one you’d like to share please do so.


Jot down briefly what your goals are this semester. List them in order of importance.

1.



2.



3.



4.



5.

Please put your name, mailing address, phone number and e-mail address on the card you’ve been given, then answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper or index card (handed out):

What strengths do you bring to the class? What skills or knowledge would you like to leave with once the class ends? What can I do to help you achieve this? Is there anything I need to know, such as a hidden disability, childcare issues, etc., which might jeopardize this goal?

Presentation 1: Due Tuesday, Sept. 2
Bring in an object that represents hip hop culture. Be prepared to share. Write a brief profile on the object justifying its inclusion in the archives (100 words or so). You will post the written response on the blog. I’ll take photos. (If you were in my class Fall 2007, choose another object.)

Presentation 2: Due Tuesday, Sept. 9
Bring in an object that reflects America, American values, its people, landscape, or history. Write a brief profile on the object justifying its inclusion in the archives (100 words or so). Same as above. It is also a cyber-assignment.

Grading
Course texts: 35 percent
Midterm: 10 percent
Final: 15 percent
Research Essay/Presentation: 15 percent
Portfolio: 15 percent
Peer Reviews from Lab teachers: 5 percent
Participation: 5 percent

The essays from the textbooks are practice essays; the essays on the literature are analysis. Together they are about a fourth of your grade. The midterm and final are another fourth and your portfolio and the tutoring Writing Lab component is the final fourth. Plan to visit the Writing Center (L-234-231, 748-2132) weekly. Have a teacher evaluate your essays for form and content; the aim is lucid, precise, and clear prose.

This is a portfolio course, so save all of your work. You can average the grades to see how to weigh the various components. Participation is included in the daily exercises and homework portion of the grade, so if your attendance is exemplary, yet you say nothing the entire 18 weeks, you lose percentage points.

The Writing Center

The Writing Lab is a great place to get one-on-on assistance on your essays, from brainstorming and planning the essays, to critique on the essay for clarity, organization, clearly stated thesis, evidence of support, logical conclusions, and grammatical problems for referrals to other ancillary materials to build strong writing muscles such as SkillsBank, the Bedford Handbook on-line, Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers on-line, Townsend Press, and other such computer and cyber-based resources. The Lab is open M-Th 8-7, Fridays, 8-2. It is also open on Saturday. There is an Open Lab for checking e-mail, and a Math Lab. All academic labs are located in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) second floor.

Students need a student ID to use the labs and to check out books. The IDs are free and you can take the photo in the F-Building, Student Services. There is also a Cyber Café in the F-Building on the second floor in the cafeteria area.

Have a tutor or teacher sign off on your essays before you turn them in; if you have a “R,” which means revision necessary for a grade or “NC” which means “no credit,” you have to go to the lab and revise the essay with a tutor or teacher before you return both the graded original and the revision (with signature) to me. Revise does not mean “rewrite,” it means to “see again.”

When getting assistance on an essay, the teacher or tutor is not an editor, so have questions prepared for them to make best use of the 15 minute session in the Lab. I have given you a handout designating five (5) areas you might want to have the tutor or teacher look at. For more specific assistance sign up for one-on-one tutoring, another free service. For those of you on other campuses, you can get assistance at the Merritt Colleges’ Writing Center, as well as Laney’s. You can also come see me during my office hours. I am here everyday except Friday.

All essay assignments you receive comments on have to be revised prior to resubmission; included with the revision is a student narrative to me regarding your understanding of what needed to be done; a student can prepare this as a part of the Lab visit, especially if said student is unclear over what steps to take.

Students can also visit me in office hours for assistance. Again, prepare your questions in advance to best make use of the time. Do not leave class without understanding the comments on a paper. I don’t mind reading them to you.

English language fluency in writing and reading, a certain comfort and ease with the language, confidence and skillful application of literary skills associated with academic writing, familiarity if not mastery of the rhetorical styles used in argumentation, exposition and narration will be addressed in this class and is a key student learning outcome (SLO).

We will be evaluating what we know and how we came to know what we know, a field called epistemology or the study of knowledge. Granted, the perspective is western culture which eliminates the values of the majority populations, so-called underdeveloped or undeveloped countries or cultures. Let us not fall into typical superiority traps. Try to maintain a mental elasticity and a willingness to let go of concepts which not only limit your growth as an intelligent being, but put you at a distinct disadvantage as a species.

This is a highly charged and potentially revolutionary process - critical thinking. The process of evaluating all that you swallowed without chewing up to now is possibly even dangerous. This is one of the problems with bigotry; it’s easier to go with tradition than toss it, and create a new, more just, alternative protocol.

Grades, Portfolio

We will be honest with one another. Grades are not necessarily the best response to work; grades do not take into consideration the effort or time spent, only whether or not a student can demonstrate mastery of a skill - in this case: essay writing. Grades are an approximation, arbitrary at best, no matter how many safeguards one tries to put in place to avoid such ambiguity. Suffice it to say, your portfolio will illustrate your competence. It will represent your progress, your success or failure this summer session in meeting your goals. I like to post essays on the academic blog as examples for other students. I will be asking students from time to time to submit copies for posting. The blog is cumulative, so you can read essays from Spring 2006, Fall 2007, up to now. I have posted a welcome and the syllabus. The address is http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com/

Office Hours

I’d like to wish everyone good luck. I am available for consultation on Monday mornings 9:30-10:30 a.m. , Wednesday 9:30-10:30 a.m., Wednesday afternoon 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. by appointment in A-200. Tuesdays and Thursdays, if you want to take me to lunch—just kidding, I am available after 12 for appointments if you notify me in advance. All the office hours take place in my office, L-236, except where noted. (I’m inside the Writing Center Lab L-235). I am not on campus on Fridays. (Jot my cell number down in this section.) My office number is (510) 748-2131, e-mail professorwandasposse@gmail.com.

I don’t check my e-mail on weekends so I’d advise you to exchange phone numbers with classmates (2), so if you have a concern, it can be addressed more expediently. Again study groups are recommended, especially for those students finding the readings difficult; don’t forget, you can also discuss the readings as a group in the Lab with a teacher or tutor acting as facilitator. Keep a vocabulary log for the semester and an error chart (taken from comments on essay assignments). List the words you need to look up in the dictionary, also list where you first encountered them: page, book and definition, also use the word in a sentence. You will turn this in with your portfolio.

Students are expected to complete their work on time. If you need more time on an assignment, discuss this with me in advance, if possible, to keep full credit. You loose credit each day an assignment is late and certain assignments, such as in-class essays cannot be made up. All assignments prepared outside of class are to be typed, 12-pt. font, double-spaced lines, indentations on paragraphs, 1-inch margins around the written work (see Hacker: The Writing Process; Document Design.)

Cheating
Plagiarism is ethically abhorrent, and if any student tries to take credit for work authored by another person the result will be a failed grade on the assignment and possibly a failed grade in the course if this is attempted again. This is a graded course.

Homework
If you do not identify the assignment, I cannot grade it. If you do not return the original assignment you revised, I cannot compare what changed. If you accidentally toss out or loose the original assignment, you get a zero on the assignment to be revised. I will not look at revisions without the original attached - no exceptions.

All assignments completed away from class should be typed. Use blue or black ink when writing responses in class. You can annotate your books in pencil.

Textbooks Recap:

The Coldest Winter Ever. Sister Souljah. Simon & Schuster. 2006.
http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=514298&er=9781416521693

Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hop Generation. Jeff Chang. Picador. 2005. ISBN: 0-312-42579-1

Know What I Mean? Reflections on Hip Hop. Michael Eric Dyson. Basic Civitias Books. 2007. ISBN: 0-465-017716-9 (I am making copiesof certain chapters, but I recommend purchasing it.)

The Elements of Style. Any edition. Williams Strunk Jr., E.B. White. Longman Publishers.

Recommended:
The American Heritage Dictionary. Fourth Edition.

The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop’s Greatest Songs. Felicia Pride. Thunder’s Mouth Press. 2007. ISBN-13: 978-1-56858-335-8

The Prepared Student also needs pens with blue or black ink, along with a pencil for annotating texts, paper, a stapler or paper clips, a jump drive, a notebook, three hole punch, a folder for work-in-progress, and a divided binder to keep materials together.

Also stay abreast of the news. Buy a daily paper. Listen to alternative radio: KPFA 94.1 FM, KQED 88.5, KALW 91.7. Visit news websites: AllAfrica.com, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, AlterNet.org, DemocracyNow.org, FlashPoint.org, CBS 60Minutes on-line.

We had a nice first class, my keys didn't work for the cabinet that holds the VCR and DVD players, so I had to play Changes on my laptop, but students could hear the song. Afterwards, students responded to the prompt and Matthew shared. (I thanked Caprice again for making the complication CD for me lastg year.)

It was really pleasant seeing so many students again whom I had a year ago in the transformative learning community or Sspire, like Chesi and Ashley and Mike and Kenyatta, plus others from a semester or two ago, like Elesha, Caprice, Matthew, and Ammnah. I'm like, wow, three semesters in a row! I must be getting better at this teaching thing :-)

I expect big things from my former students :-) I had those students who go As and Bs, like Chesi and Elesha, Kenyatta and Mike and Matthew to raise their hands so other students could see them.

Homework
All of the students I didn't know, and those who didn't remember the Adler assignment, have to read the handout. Look at the questions at the end, and then read for the answers. We'll talk about it Thursday, August 21.

We began the class with a freewrite based on the theme: changes. After listening to Tupac's song by the same title students were asked to think about changes they might have experienced recently, or what changed or needs to change in their lives for them to be successful here and elsewhere.

Homework
Students are to continue writing about change. We will write an in class essay next week on this topic. You can use the song as a reference or pull in world events through an article or a person who inspires you to be your best self. You will need two outside resource for the essay. I take it back, I'd like everyone to use the song and one other source, primary or secondary (ask me to explain by posting a comment if you don't understand. Former students answer the question for me, just in case someone is unclear of the meaning.)

Lessons
I know after missing Rock the Bells Saturday, I am not going to put off doing something I want to do simply because I am going to have to do it alone. I really wanted to go, and each year the lineup changes, so I don't know what the lineup will look like next year....

But this fall in October there is the Hip Hop Theatre Festival in San Francisco and that should be good. I think there might be a hip hop dance festival too. Bilal is at Yoshi's in San Francisco this week. I think I might go check him out. Every Thursday at EastSide Arts Cultural Center on International in the San Antonio District in Oakland, there is the Holler Back Poetry Series. The hosts change rotate, one is a former student of mine and the Laney Tower editor, Reginald James. There are a few special events this week at EastSide related to a writing workshop they are hosting for youth. More on this later.

You can post your response to my letter at the site where it is. Click comment and comment. I always recommend students compose in Microsoft Word and then copy and paste.

You textbooks thus far are: Can't Stop, Won't Stop by Jeff Chang, and Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers, 5th or 6th edition, The Elements of Style, any edition, a dictionary. I like American Heritage, a jump drive to save your work, and a notebook for your freewrites and in class writing. We will start reading Elements of Style soon, bring to class, and Chang shortly after. I will be giving you essays to read from Michael Eric Dyson's Know What I Mean. If you want to purchase it, you can. I haven't ordered it from the book store. I will also probably give you essays from another Chang book. Would you like to read a novel? I was thinking about Sistah Soulja's Coldest Winter Ever. It's really gritty. But her life is the reality for so many women, unfortunately. I was also thinking about sharing a play I wanted to take students to last semester, called No Child. It is about a theatre teacher in NY who teaches an enrichment class to children no one expects anything from. There are some great plays being performed this fall regionally, so I'll let you know what's going on we can have a few evening excursions.

We will be spending one class hour a week, Thursdays beginning Sept. 4, in the Writing Center, L-234, L-235. My office is inside L-235. The library opens, I think at 7:30 a.m. Check this. If not, I will meet students at the door to let you inside the building. We meet in class this Thursday, August 21.

Oh, for those students who like to write, the Laney Tower is looking for writers to cover events at the College of Alameda. Journalism is a great way to get scholarships for university transfers.

I'm looking for music by women rappers who also write well. Shoot me an email and a link to the music, if you'd like to share something with the class. I can make copies of the lyrics or project them on the screen while we all listen. If you know of good films that explore hip hop themes, let me know.

My birthday party this summer.


Revised First Drafts

August 20, 2008


Dear Students:

I’ve been writing this letter in my head for a few months now and here we are, the first week of school , the last weeks of summer. I hope you had a chance to enjoy the season now that it’s nearly gone. I had the opportunity to attend a family reunion in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was our first. We all met at Great Aunt Bea’s funeral in January and decided that as a family, we really needed to stop meeting like this…funerals are so depressing.

The weather in Ocean Spring, Mississippi, was 92 degrees daily with 100 percent humidity. My hair still hasn’t lost its natural curl and my skin…it was a facial delight, like being in a sauna…great for getting rid of toxins. We had the usual family drama—I was standed in New Orleans when the one Greyhound bus back to Chicago had no seats, but another cousin rescued me, so I spent the week in New Orleans and was able to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday at Ashe Community Center, attend a great African film festival featuing the work or Kola Maseko, visit relatives, walk the levess in Algiers, interview Malik Rahim, co-founder of Common Ground Relief, an all volunteer organization that was a first responder to Hurricane Katrina victims about his bid for the Louisiana Congress on the Green Party ticket. I was also able to catch up with some ex-pats—just kidding, friends who went to New Orleans to help, who now live there like Sakura Kone and Don Paul. (Sakura and I will be interviewed on KPFA, 94.1 FM, on Chris Welch’s show Friday, 12-1 p.m. I am co-host of a Hurricane Katrina benefit and report back at Rebecca’s Books in Berkeley. Visit www.wandaspicks.com for the details. It starts at 7 p.m. We’re asking for a $5 donation.)

When I walked out into the Oakland evening a week later—July 22, I actually felt cold. It had been about two weeks since I’d flow to Chicago, to ride/drive with my cousin, Wlydflour to Mississippi. She has a new RV that she wanted to take on the road. Cousin Ronald also went. He’s a professional driver—he drives trucks. Between my uninhibited cousin and the more laid back Ronald, who’d never driven the Mississippi from Chicago, it took 16 hours—sixteen long hours. I do not recommend this trip unless you make stops in between, such as in Memphis to see the sites, Alabama and elsewhere.

I was sleepy almost my entire time away, but I never got a chance to sleep well. You see, there were these huge roaches that one finds in the oddest places. I didn’t want to keep the lights on and attract unnecessary attention to myself, and then I didn’t want to step on one or get into the bed next to one either. Oh, need I mention the misquitoes?

It was scary at times, but my cousin Ronald would remove the offending bug whenever I spotted one. And I found some anti-itch cream that worked when I was bitten by a gnat or other predatory bug.

Everything seems to grow bigger where there is wetness, heat and open space.

In New Orleans where the houses were demolished in the Lower Ninth Ward, all that’s left of the hundreds of families displaced by the broken levees, are weeds which grow taller than a man if not contained. There are signs of life…an occupied house here and there. However, miles of abandoned land lie between—the levee still not complete.

Okay, so back to the letter. Yes, everything you heard is true. I am tough— I treat my students like the adults they are or will be soon, which means, I do not take responsibility for those tasks students need to stay on top of themselves, like doing one's homework, having good study habits, getting proper sleep, staying on top of assignments, such as, the reading.

I try to be clear, but if I’m not, please ask questions for clarity—often I have so much on my mind, I speak really fast and native speakers can’t keep up. Also, if you are in an early class, or have my class after lunch, you might be sleepy. Bring water to class, stand up, if necessary and stretch, step to the side by the wall and touch your toes.

You can try your hand at negotiating…I’m fair and reasonable. I realize that life-happens, but you need to be serious about what you have committed yourself to when you enrolled in this course. If you haven’t taken College Success, I highly recommend the course (3 units). If you don’t have time, keep you ears open for the Super Saturday when some of the same information is decimated. Visit counseling and ask for the date(s). At the Back to School Bash, Sept. 2 and 4, pick up a student organizer. It’s free and you can put important assignments in it.

The only things I will not compromise on are the objectives and goals of the course. Whether you remember all the specific language of the discourse we will have this semester or not, is not the point—but I do suggest keeping a vocabulary log, beginning with this letter which I want you to respond to for the next meeting—this is your first blog assignment— the point is that each of the students in this class grow to understand their unique purpose. You’re honoring your gifts. Every one of you has something unique and precious to offer the world. I am the coach. We’re going to identify it and help you polish it.

Language is communication, whether this is written or verbal or nonverbal. We are all sharing a story. Just the clothes you decided to wear this morning or afternoon, indicates something about you.

Human beings are judgmental and because we jump to conclusions often without weighing the evidence, separating bigotry and ignorance, from other biases, we make mistakes, some costly. A critical thinker brackets his or her biases and tries to look at each communicative event or genre as openly and freely as he or she can. It’s hard being unbiased because we all unconsciously bring our entire life, all our experiences, both good and bad to the table whenever we have to make a decision. Advertisers know this, so they complicate the choices with lies called propaganda (logical fallacies, is the technical term). Nothing is clear, everyone is suspect in the market place whether the salesman is the presidential hopeful or the clerk at the dress shop or the photograph in your favorite magazine.

We will try to be as honest as we can in our writing. Don’t confuse honesty with truth. Truth is subjective and as I mention above, if all of us has an agenda, then there really is no such thing as objectivity only shades of gray in a black and white world.

Let’s just say, if we leave this 18 week experience, better listeners, this would be a start toward opening ourselves up to the larger more human dialogue we need to have with each other and by extension the planet because as I said, all communication is not verbal. If we are to survive as a species, we need to learn to speak other languages—fluently, and respect the voices of those creatures whom we have a tendency to disrespect or look down on like children, animals and other species like trees, rocks and toads.

Too philosophical? Well my undergraduate degree is in philosophy, which I call a degree in learning how to articulate those values which determine one’s direction in life and avoid those arguments which are incongruent with one’s soul’s journey. I’m talking about the stalkers or propagandists lurking everywhere trying to sell you false ideas, trip you up and confuse you so that you purchase with your soul their ideas, often to your determent, not always, but most often.

In the academy, or the halls of higher education—translate, college, the goal is to become freer, and to do this one has to notice everything and learn the language of query. We have to enjoy asking questions because only then will we locate the answers—the most important answers inside each of you.

All I can do is guide the process. I know a bit more about writing than you so. I know a bit more about life than most of you because I am a bit older than most of you. I’ve raised two daughters and have tried to live consciously in the world and there are some tools I can share with you to make the journey a little less treacherous.

What does this have to do with the writing process? Everything. Remember when I told you the great writer is honest. Well to be honest, one must first know oneself.

Writing is one of the disciplines that encourages honesty and revelation. Whatever you read or share in the class needs to stay here. You can’t tell anyone unless you get permission from your classmate who wrote the paper first. If I say it, feel free to publish it :-)

By the end of the first month, we will have established a writing community and in the next week or so, we will have to develop ground rules so everyone will feel comfortable sharing their thoughts about the topics we will discuss.

Hip hop culture is the lens we will be using to explore the writing process. We will look at the history of hip hop, how it has developed and most of all the controversy, especially involving women. However, the purpose of the class is not to become experts in hip hop culture. This is just the hook to keep you in the room, on the floor, in the club, buying drinks, staying high.

You will become scholars and learn to talk about a culture many of you participate in unconsciously without really knowing its history…your participation, depending on how old you are is a result of subtle brainwashing or inheritance—if this word sounds better. In any case, you have swallowed these ideas about women or girls, fashion and career goals—the bling bling of life, without a blink or any analysis.

Scholars do not do this. Scholars evaluate the evidence and motives behind the argument before making a decision about its validity or value.

I am rambling and will get to the point now. You need to be awake when you come to class and prepared. Visit me in my office hours at least three times this semester, more if I ask you to. We will have a study hour—attend a few of those, especially if you are weak in certain areas like reading comprehension.

Michael Eric Dyson, Ph.D. is difficult, a lot more difficult than my English 201 students will find, Jasmine Guy or even Tupac. Jeff Chang is not hard, per se, but Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop, is dense. There is a lot of information here, so students need to apply certain reading strategies, so that the material which is most important is identified.

A good writer is a good planner. A good writer is also a good reader. If you don’t like to read, if you are lazy and don’t like to look up words when you can't pronounce them, let alone, don’t know what they mean—you are in the wrong class.

Some of you are here because this is the only time you could fit an English class into your schedule. You’ll just have to make the best of it; however, if you have a choice and find, after this class or subsequent ones, you and I are not a good match, transfer to another section.

A this level its all about personality. I am seemingly laid back, easy going, and kind of scattered—blame that on my Gemini nature, no seriously, we’re peers and then we’re not. I have something you want—information, knowledge, skill. But so do my other colleague teaching this same course—the objectives and goals and students learning outcomes are consistent across the department, so you will not loose anything if you transfer to another class.

I encourage you to shop around and not buy the rhetoric or arguments of this salesperson standing before you without understanding that you have options. You are not stuck; you can make choices.

I try to keep track of your grades, but if you’d like an A, I’d suggest you keep track of all your papers, especially the graded ones. This is a portfolio class and your final grade is cumulative. Do not throw anything away. I am serious. If you are careless, then at the end of the 18 weeks you will not have any evidence of your progress in the class and so I will not be able to substantiate the grade you say you deserve.

Attendance is important, so come to class and come on time. Get a classmate's phone number and email address so if something is unclear when you get home, you can get help. You can always ask me; however, I think we are all thinking beings and your ideas and thoughts are just as valid as mine when it comes to interpretation.

Respect for each other’s ideas is paramount for this class to function optimally. It’s easy to slip into dysfunction when we allow those unexamined values to intrude on authenticity. We need to disclose, if to no one other than ourselves who we are and what baggage or unexamined ideas we have carried for so long that we need to let go.

This cleansing process is on-going. Look at our nation, seven years post-9/11. Look at how our views of Muslims and the Middle East shifted that early morning in September 2001. Look at the world now, and the world, pre-Sept. 11. Look at the policies tied directly to Sept. 11. Look at what you believe and what you know about Arabs and war, and how that effects your consumption, of both ideologies and commodities.

The possibility of a first black president is a reality, as was the possibility of a first woman president. We will look at the presidential election and how the hip hop community is responding. I hope all of you who can vote are registered. If you are not on parole and are an American citizen, you can and should vote, otherwise you can’t complain.

What else? We will be going on fieldtrips, so stay tuned to the blog or on-line diary. If you don’t have access to a computer with Internet at home, do your assignments in the Writing Center, L-234 suite. It is open six days a week, five of them until 7:45 p.m. it opens at 9 a.m. which is not convenient if you have an 8 a.m. class.


Oh, I am a professional writer. Over the summer the San Francisco Bay View, after 20 years of publishing, stopped printing the paper. We have a web presence, but my editor doesn't know how to maintain the website and has no money to pay someone to do so. If you can help her or know someone who can visit www.sfbayview.com and drop her a line at editor@sfbayview.com

Good luck on everything. Writing is a discipline where your life leaks into the process; try to separate the assignment from your narrative. Of course, everything you write is your story, but there are ways to appeal to different audiences. Remember you are a scholar, and the language of the discourse here is not the same as the one in the streets, locker room, or on the dance floor—even if the topic or theme—hip hop culture—it’s poetics if you are in my English 201; it’s politics especially regarding women, if you are in my English 1A or the global movement of this form of discourse, if you are in my English 1B.

Peace and Blessings,

Wanda Sabir
English, Basic Skills Instructor
L-236 office
(510) 748-2131

PS Let me know if there is anything happening which you might recommend we watch or attend that will broaden our knowledge of these themes and the topic we are exploring. Did anyone attend Rock the Bells last weekend? I wish I’d gone, but I couldn’t find anyone in my peer group who wanted to attend :-) Next time though, I’m going anyway. If any of you is a performance artist or visual artist, also let us know so we can support you and attend your exhibitions.

PSS My email address is professorwandasposse@gmail.com

The blog site for English 201 is http://professorsabirsposse.blogspot.com
English 1A is http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com
English 1B is http://poeticsrapandtothersocialdiscourses.blogspot.com