Today in class we began our discussion groups or Literature Circles. Students who'd read chapter 1 in Dreams decided who would take on what responsibility in the group, whether that was Summarizer/Clarifier or Discussion Director, the second class seemed more inclined to the process. I definitely see potential in the earlier class once everyone is caught up on the work.

In the second class we spoke about the book project and Jeremy volunteered to do the cover. We'll miss Gerrell who will be attending Chabot College next semester after he moves to Union City.

The homework is to post your reflections on your experience this morning in the Literature Circles. If you are not prepared do not waste your classmates' time pretending to be on task when you are not. It's not fair and I want students to tell me when there are people in your group not participating. You will remain anonymous. The paraphrase exercise we will do in class as a free write on Monday will take into consideration students' completion of homework over the weekend (Stewart Pidd pp. 330-347 and Part 1, Confused Words).

Additional homework
Quiz 1 (29) and the analysis (30) come from Part 2. Go over the Sentence Punctuation 2, just like you did Confused Words 1 (pp. 2-15).

Okay, post your responses to the question about the Lit Circle here. Respond to your classmates, especially those in your circle, but you are not limited to just responding to those in your group. You only have to respond to one classmate.

Assignment Recap
1. Post a reflection on the Literature Circle Experience re: Chapter 1. Discuss parts of the text you didn't talk about which found important. Share how the conversation with peers expanded your perception on issues or themes raised by the author, President Barack Hussein Obama.

2. Read and do the exercises in Pidd, Part 1 Confused Words and Part 2 (1-15) Sentence Punctuation 1.


3. Keep reading and annotating and taking notes and preparing for discussion. Remember to note vocabulary you are familiar with and themes. Put page numbers next to the themes you have identified and are following.

I'm not hanging out in the Library this afternoon, but you can usually find me still in my last classroom on Wednesdays and Mondays, A-213. I was here Monday until I was kicked out at 6 p.m. Get this, COA offers a Vietnamese language class--how cool can you get?!

Sometimes on MW, we'll be in L-202E, a Smart Classroom, but we decided to stay put.

Today we cracked open Stewart Pidd and the exercises were a commercial in why the book might be useful. I don't plan for the book to take a semester to get through. It is a brush-up for some and more of a brush-up for others. I think Pidd is going to be a fun writer to get to know.

Homework was to begin working your way through the first part of the book: Confused Words. Tomorrow I will give you hand-outs I made of a section in the book on paraphrasing and then next week we'll talk about the first essay.

The Pidd book costs about $52.00. For those who ordered it on-line great, for those who waited, it's too late and you need to get it now.

I didn't assign anything else from Dreams, we didn't get a chance to share. We will tomorrow morning.

I gave students a paper copy of the syllabus; I noticed an error in the section on SLOs or Student Learning Outcomes. I corrected it on the blog. The first sentence is not a sentence and it doesn't make sense. Don't forget to respond to the syllabus; let me know you read it.

We reviewed clauses, parts of speech, and punctuation.

Study Groups!
As I was sitting here in the COA Library, I was surprised to see Ezra, Jeremy and Hassan pass by me headed to the study rooms to discuss the reading for tomorrow and do their homework.

Wonderful! I hope to see others of you following this example. I also wanted to mention that the Obama books are on reserve at the library for those who do not have the books yet. You can do your assignments here.

Cyber-Assignment due January 27, 2009
Post your summary/analysis here for the Introduction to Dreams from My Father.

Today in class we discussed themes taken from the Intro to Dreams.Students shared their lists with each other and the entire class.

We then discussed, as already mentioned various impressions gathered from the text. I told students to keep a reading log. In the reading log reference the themes, defined as "the subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation", when they arise in the text. Put the page numbers next to the theme. For instance, every time there is a reference to education, put the page number next to your theme: education. You can subdivide your themes into smaller components like higher education vs. elementary.

For some reason my audio book skips entire sections, jumping between pages. I might have to return it and get another copy.

In the second class, students had not only completed reading the Introduction, a few like Ms. Bridgette, completed the summary/analysis or commentary also. So for these students the homework was to post the response to the Intro. For those students who'd like feedback on their work, the best way to do this is to come see me in my office hour or in the Writing Center on Thursdays, 12-2 p.m.

You can also make an appointment for TTh morning 10-11, or MW afternoon 3-4. If you have any questions about your skills, now is the time to make the diagnosis and prescription. Come by my office and talk to me.

In the early class we read the Intro and discussed it. Homework for both classes is to read Chapter 1 in Dreams. We'll assign Literature Circles tomorrow and begin our discussions. I'd like the Lit Circles to check-in via the blog each week with analysis of the discourse process.

I enjoyed the history lessons two students shared in the second class regarding the reference to the Battle at Trenton, George Washington led and to the other battle in Concord, MA* during the Revolutionary War. I thought Obama's reference was Concord, CA (smile). Goes to show you...but that reference, while not intended still works for me. Port Chicago, in Concord, CA** references WW2 and the black men who refused to load live ammunition onto the ships as ordered.

*http://www.wpi.edu/Academics/Depts/MilSci/Resources/lexcon.html
**http://www.portchicagomutiny.com/

This blogger gives a critique of Obama's sanitizing of the events of Trenton. This is the Washington Crossing the Delaware mythology that is a part of the saga of our nation.

See http://blogofbile.com/2009/01/22/george-washington-in-obamas-inaugural-address/

Welcome to COA Spring 2009

ENG 1A Spring 2009
22916 Lec 08:00-08:50 MTWTh Sabir D 206
22917 Lec 09:00-09:50 MTWTh Sabir D 205

Class Meetings: Jan. 14-May 21, 8-8:50; 9-9:50 MTWTh, Rooms D-206; D-205
Drop dates: Jan. 30 (w/refund), April 25 (w/W) and no refund.

No classes: 1/19; 2/13; 2/16; 2/24; 4/12-18; 5/19
Final Exam week: May 22-24, 26-29

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 January 30 with a refund, or April 25 with a 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.

We’ll conclude the semester with a reading of the play, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf by Ntozake Shange. It will have a local performance in February at the Black Repertory Group Theatre in Berkeley. Perhaps we can go see it together? The playwright lives here now in the San Francisco Bay Area.

We will write an essay based on the themes from each book. You will also write a research essay. In the past, I have recommended Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers as the Grammar Style Book of choice. I still like the text, but Stewart Pidd also has the same information, so for this semester, you will not need to purchase Hacker, Pidd will suffice. You will also need 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. Barack Obama knows how to spin a tale. We will be looking at how, even in a memoir, the author is also a character, as are his family and people he encounters on the journey explored there. We will look at his choices and reasons for such. How is Obama influenced by his father’s absence, his mother’s travels, his academic choices, career, and political life—the perceptions of a world or American culture which sees only one side of him, his skin color?

I thought it might be interesting to follow the life of a man who is making history, his first book written when he was 33, just after becoming the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. When the book went into its second printing, he’d made another historic first as the third black man in the United States Senate, his seat the first since Reconstruction. Now the book is flying off book shelves since his bid for the office of president two years ago.

Besides Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, and The Audacity of Hope, we will also be using the workbook, Stewart Pidd Hates English by Politt and Baker.

As stated in the letter, Stewart Pidd will provide a context for essay writing which will hopefully allow students the opportunity to become conversant about the writing process and use grammar in context, as well as, employ MLA documentation. Keep a reading log for the Obama book noting key ideas, themes, vocabulary, questions and an analysis of primary writing strategies employed: description, process analysis, narration, argument, cause and effect, compare and contrast, definition, problem solving.


Research Project
Your research project will entail finding a person here in Northern California who is a social entrepreneur. I think, once again, President Obama’s life can serve as a litmus or blueprint for a person who has committed his life to service, but there are others. It will be your job to find one you are interested in getting to know better. The paper will be about 5 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. We’ll discuss this task further later on.

New Heroes
Visit PBS.org “The New Heroes,” to read about social entrepreneurs. There is also a program called Frontline World. We will explore this assignment more, later in the course.

Why socially responsible economics?

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 choose an entrepreneur who lives in Northern California, someone you’d like to interview and perhaps meet. Students can work on the project together, share resources. Each person has to write his or her own paper, but you can make a group presentation if you like.

We will keep a reading log. We’ll develop Literature Circles and see how that works this semester. 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 Dreams and Audacity, we will write a short essay about the work using the books as a primary source plus minimally 2-3 other sources utilizing other mediums. We will begin with Dreams from My Father by Barack Obama, followed by his second book, The Audacity of Hope.

Library Sessions: TBA

Reading great authors and writers helps you develop your style. Alehouse Press’ Poetry on Tap, will come in handy here. The practice of surrounding oneself intellectually with examples of good or great writing is 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 piqued 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.

INDEX CARDS
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: February 18

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). This is also a cyber-assignment to be posted later.

Grading

Essays: 15 percent (including Stewart Pidd essay assignments)
Daily journals posted on blog: 15 percent (including Stewart Pidd exercises)
Midterm: 10 percent
Final: 15 percent
Research Essay/Presentation: 15 percent
Portfolio: 15 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.

Each book will have collected writings or essays. The essays which take their themes from the books are practice essays, and are about a fourth of your grade, your midterm and final are another fourth and your portfolio is the final fourth. (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 loose percentage points.

You will also need to plan to spend time weekly in the Writing Lab (L-234-235, (510) 748-2132). It is a great place to get one-on-on assistance on your essays, from brainstorming and planning the essays, to critique in areas like clarity, organization, clearly stated thesis, evidence or support, logical conclusions, and grammatical problems. In the Writing Center there are ancillary materials for student use. These writing programs build strong writing muscles. The Bedford Handbook on-line, Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers on-line, Townsend Press, and other such computer and cyber-based resources are a few of the many databases available. There is also an Open Lab for checking e-mail, a Math Lab. All academic labs are located in the Learning Resource Center (LRC) or library. The Cyber Café is located in the F-bldg.

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.

Have a tutor of 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 15-20 minute session in the Lab. I will give you a handout which looks at 5 areas of the essay you can use as a guide when shaping your questions for your peer review sessions. Please use these guidelines when planning your discussions with me also.

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 Writing.

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 and confidence and skillful application of literary skills are all 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 another 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.

More on grades, and 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 students 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 session in meeting your goal.
In past semesters, students have skipped the portfolio and/or the final. Neither is optional.

Office Hours

I’d like to wish everyone good luck. I am available for consultation on Thursdays, 11-2, and on Monday and Wednesday afternoon, 3-4, and Tuesday morning, 10-11, by appointment. My office is located between the academic labs in L-236 (inside L-235). My office number is (510) 748-2131, e-mail professorwandasposse@gmail.com. Let me know the day before, if possible, when you’d like to meet with me on MW. Ask me for my cell phone number. I do not mind sharing it with you.

I don’t check my e-mail frequently 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, 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.

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. There might be an option to take this course C/NC. See Admission and Records.

Textbooks Recap:

Pollitt, Gary. Craig Baker. Stewart Pidd Hates English: Grammar, Punctuation, and Writing Exercises. California: Attack the Text Publishing, 2008. ISBN: 13: 978-0-9755923-4-2

Obama, Barack. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2004. ISBN: 1-4000-8277-3.

Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming The American Dream. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2006. ISBN: 978-0-307-23770-5

Students also need a dictionary. I recommend: The American Heritage Dictionary. Fourth Edition.

The Prepared Student also needs...

Along with a dictionary, the prepared student needs pens with blue or black ink, along with a pencil for annotating texts, paper, a stapler or paper clips, a jump drive to save work from college computers, 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 (Hardknock), KQED 88.5, KALW 91.7. Visit news websites: AllAfrica.com, Al Jazeera, CNN.com, AlterNet.org, DemocracyNow.org, FlashPoints.org, CBS 60Minutes.


The syllabus and course schedule is subject to change, at the instructor's discretion, so stay loose and flexible.

Today in class we listened to Obama read the preface from his book, Dreams from My Father.Post the summaries here. Tomorrow's homework is to bring in a copy of a summary of the Introduction of Dreams.You will post these summaries tomorrow. If you'd like to post them today, I will add a link.

In the second hour we defined both summary and paraphrase. A paraphrase is a restatement in one's own words the text and intent of a document or discourse. A summary is a "concise restatement of the key points or ideas in the text or discourse." We also talked about the difference between a summary and a paraphrase.

If your group completed the summary, you can post it here. If not, you can post your own. Feel free to use any language from the class discussion or notes on the board. Please respond to a classmate's summary with your thoughts.

For students who are interested in buying Stewart Pidd on-line visit: www.attackthetext.com. The retail price on the book is $34.95; ISBN: 0-9755923-4-3. We are going to use the book beginning Monday, January 26.

Inauguration Assignment
Watch the Inauguration. What were your impressions? Analysis Obama's address. Listen or read commentary on the event. The response should be minimally 250 words. Post at the assignment link (which will appear 1/20. The essay response is due 1/23 by 11:50 PM. Please include references (2-3). Use MLA. (You might lose the formatting. Don't worry about it.)

Today in both classes we had discussions about the arguments presented in the address as well as issues and points raised in the speech which students either agreed or disagreed with. I hope the spirited exchange continues here in a more formalized manner, the essay response. Please as a part of the assignment and for all posts, respond to a classmate.

Students are not doing their assignments. Too many of you did not have a copy of the address, which meant some of you had not read it.

In your essay identify the key point or thesis and Obama's supporting evidence. Talk about the audience, its inclusiveness, the tone of the piece, style and precedence for such speeches (if you like). One of your classmates referenced JFK's speech and the line: Ask not what your country can do for you...".

What lines do you think we'll be reciting for generations to come?

I have given you more time to get the assignment in. If you have trouble posting, you can always email the assignment to me and I will post it for you. Make certain you ask me to show you how to post assignments. I will offer this service only in the first month of classes (January 14-February 14).

After this period ends, you're on your own. There is a toll bridge with a grumpy Billy Goat on the other end and she charges (smile).

Homework for Thursday, January 21

I almost forgot.

Bring in an annotated copy of Obama's Inaugural address. Identify 4-10 arguments and the evidence or support. You can write on the document. You do not have to write the arguments on a separate sheet of paper. You can write right on the newspaper article--whatever is easiest for you.

An argument is a debatable claim. It could be a claim of policy, a claim of value or a claim of fact. The way you find the evidence is add the word because at the end of the statement. Because points to the evidence.

So and so is true because..."EVIDENCE."

The President's Inauguration speech is at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090120/ap_on_go_pr_wh/inauguration_obama_text

This is just a cool recap of Inaugural events: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/20/obama.inauguration/index.html

FIRST 100 DAYS Dear President Obama letter assignment

Post your letters to President Obama here. The freewrite assignment, which we shared was to write the president a letter and share with him issues you'd like him to consider addressing this first 100 days, certainly during his first term in office. I asked students to be chose issues which illicit tangible response. Students were to post the letter here, send a copy to the president and then follow the president's administration the first 100 days.

Send you letter to him via where there is a physical address and an email address. Choose whatever medium you like, and post his response to your letter here later, also converse with each other regarding his 100 Days. http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

My reflection on January 20 is posted at http://wandaspicks.com If students have photos they'd like to share, send them to me and I'll post them on the class blog.

Again, I will pick up students at the classroom, Tuesday, Jan. 20, before class, afterwards you can meet us in the F Building.

From I Have a Dream to Yes, We Can

College of Alameda will celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States in an event on January 20 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the college’s F Building Student Lounge.

The celebration, with the theme From “I Have a Dream” to “Yes We Can,” will bring the community together to witness the inauguration as a benchmark on the road to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision and a renewal of American ideals.

A live television feed of the inauguration events will begin at 8 a.m. The procession to the Capitol will be followed by the swearing in at around 9 a.m. During breaks in television coverage, an open mike will allow members of the College of Alameda community and others to provide interpretation and commentary.

Speakers will include:

· Dr. George Herring, College of Alameda president, on the path from Martin Luther King, Jr. to today and what it means to us. Dr. Herring worked with King and then at Peralta helped support the creation of the Black Panthers social movement at Merritt College.

· Associated Students President Lay Um and other ASCOA representatives on student government goals for the coming year, including development of an International Students’ Association and Black Student Union;

· Dr. Kerry Compton, COA vice president of Student Services, on the campus as community;

· Dr. Jannett Jackson, COA vice president of Instruction, on women in the civil rights movement;

· Jo Streit, producer of the Peralta Colleges Black Panther film just released this past semester, on what she learned; and

· Robert Brem, organizer of the event and College of Alameda professor of politics and psychology, with commentary on the proceedings and on the presidency.


Professor Brem explains his reasons for organizing the event as, “We can use this day and this event to rekindle hope for all of us and perchance use a little of that fire to face into our own challenges here in our community. As we move into the 21st century, with all of its opportunities to choose greatness for ourselves in building our own community, greatness is a choice we have to make.”

The College of Alameda library will share in the celebration with a display of books about the U.S. presidency.

The event is cosponsored by the Associated Students of College of Alameda (ASCOA), Student Services, the Departments of African American Studies and Politics, the President's Office and the Library.

Martin King Event or Response Post

I decided it would be clearer if I gave you a separate place to post the Kind Day Event essay response. This assignment isn't due until 1/21.


Assignment 2

Attend an event or read an article about Martin King Day celebrations here or elsewhere and post a response/summary here. This assignment is due by 1/21 8 a.m. Please include references (1-3). Use MLA style for references. Visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

Cyber-post for Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Post your group discussion comments here along with your personal responses. Make certain to include the reference using MLA formatting. The group discussion posts are due now, the essays (min. 250 words) are due by 1/16 11:50 PM

Read and respond to at least one other response. This is the rule for all assignments, even when I forget to state it.

For the article it is: King, Jr., Martin Luther. "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." 14 Jan. 2009

Another site where there is also audio is: http://www.thekingcenter.org/prog/non/Letter.html (This includes an audio link.)


The questions students responded to re: the King letter written in 1963 were as follows:

1. Identify the thesis.

2. What type of claim or argument is this? Is it a claim of value, a cliam of fact or a claim of policy? In the second class we spoke more about this and decided it was both a value statement. Clearly King is stating that some laws are just and others unjust or better than others. It is also an policy issue, because laws are policies or legal documents.

3. Note the repetition and other stylistic forms King employs. How does the writing style support the argument?

4. Who is the audience and why is King addressing them?

5. What about this letter gives it universal appeal? What makes it a great piece of literature?

HAPPY 80TH BIRTHDAY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.! future essay assignments given to post elsewhere


Note assignments
In class today we discussed Martin King's legacy and his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." There is an event in downtown Oakland at 11 a.m. I am going to try to get to, and another in San Jose at the MLK Jr. Library at 12:30 p.m. There are events all weekend through January 19-20.

In the 9-10 a.m. class Jeremy and Jennifer brought in goodies for our Martin King Party. As I wrote an assignment on the board, we jammed to Stevie Wonder's "Happy Birthday to Ya," song for King. The cookies smelled delicious and students appreciated the sweet snack, the sugar rush evident in the salient comments given as we talked about what King's point was to the clergy and in a larger sense an American society which allowed such "unjust laws" to exist. I wonder if the American soldiers stationed in Iraq at Abu Graib prison who obeyed orders to torture their captives would have disobeyed orders regardless of the consequences, had they known King's position and had his example to follow?

The questions students responded to re: the King letter written in 1963 were as follows:

1. Identify the thesis.

2. What type of claim or argument is this? Is it a claim of value, a cliam of fact or a claim of policy? In the second class we spoke more about this and decided it was both a value statement. Clearly King is stating that some laws are just and others unjust or better than others. It is also an policy issue, because laws are policies or legal documents.

3. Note the repetition and other stylistic forms King employs. How does the writing style support the argument?

4. Who is the audience and why is King addressing them?

5. What about this letter gives it universal appeal? What makes it a great piece of literature?

I told students they could pose other questions if they liked. We had many new students, so those students will just respond to these questions in an essay posted at the assignment link. Make sure you post assignments where indicate. Read the heading. Many students posted their response to my letter in the wrong place. Look for the syllabus tomorrow sometime here on the blog. I will give you a copy 1/20-21.

Tuesday, Jan. 20 at COA
We will be having classes in the F-Bldg. I will meet the first class at the classroom before 8 and we can walk over, the subsequent class can meet there at 8 or 9. If you get to school after 8 you will miss part of the program. It should be a lot of fun and you can bring family and friends. It is a free event.

Assignment 2
Attend an event or read an article about Martin King Day celebrations here or elsewhere and post a response/summary at the assignment link above. This assignment is due by 1/21 8 a.m. Please include references (1-3). Use MLA style for references. Visit http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

Inauguration Assignment
Watch the Inauguration. What were your impressions? Analysis Obama's address. Listen or read commentary on the event. The response should be minimally 250 words. Post at the assignment link (which will appear 1/20. The essay response is due 1/23 by 8 a.m. Please include references (2-3). Use MLA.

Today we talked about the course, listened to "Wear Clean Draws," by the Coup. The song is one of the 100 songs Felicia Pride reflects on in her book, The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip Hop's Greatest Songs.It is not a book you have to buy, but it is one we will be using this semester.

I told students a little about myself and gave them the Dear Students' letter to read and respond to for homework here on the blog.

It you want to share your reflection on the Coup song and Pride's response, please do so. Regarding the letter and any other posts, please respond to each other also, minimally one other student. The response to my letter should be minimally 250 words or one page, three paragraphs.

If you want to get your Stewart Pidd book yourself, you can go to their website: www.attackthetext.com

What else? We are having a birthday party for Martin King in the morning, after we summarize his Letter from the Birmingham Jail. One of the students in the 9-10 class is bringing cupcakes. One student told me we should have pancakes and sausage :-)

We are starting with Dreams of My Father, not The Audacity of Hope. You can find both of these books in the public library if you are strapped for money. You can also find them used.

The comments students shared in the second class were really wonderful and it was so nice seeing so many familiar and friendly faces today. We are going to get through the class this time...all my returning students who still have yet to pass the course are going to pass this semester...we need to develop a plan or strategy--failure is not an option.

Welcome to Spring 2009 at COA

January 11, 2009

Dear Students:


Today is my older daughter’s birthday. She’s 30 and a student at Cal State East Bay; she graduated from COA a couple of years ago. She also worked her as an IT. She will be graduating in psychology this year and continuing her graduate work in counseling psychology. Her younger sister is also in this field, TaSin’s is art therapy. She has an undergraduate degree in Fine Arts Photography from the California College of Arts and Crafts. My degrees are from Holy Names College and the University of San Francisco. I have course work at the University of California at Berkeley also in Arabic, Linguistics and Art. You can read my profile on the academic blog: http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com (Eng. 1A) and http://www.professorsabirsposse.blogspot.com (Eng. 201)

My children were raised in a single parent head of household. I was divorced when my younger daughter was three. I raised them in West Oakland. They attended Berkeley Public Schools where I worked at the Albany YMCA as a site director at Kid’s Club at Thousand Oaks Elementary School, and then for the Berkeley Unified School District and for the Berkeley/Richmond Jewish Community Center, and for Richmond Head Start. Eventually I left child development and school age childcare for a career in property management, and began working for Housing Resources Management as a clerk then property manager at Richmond Townhouses, Deliverance Temple and Acorn Apartments. I was fired from there and after a year on disability went to work at the Volunteer Center for Alameda County as project director for the AIDS Volunteer Clearinghouse. I worked there until the money ran out and then I returned for my master’s degree and worked for the Berkeley Public Library System developing community forums looking at how the library could better serve the black community called COIN. From there I went to Maybeck High School and from Maybeck to COA. I have attended Merritt College, Contra Costa College and Laney College. I have a state of California issued family daycare license.

I grew up in the Nation of Islam and went to private schools for middle and high school. I graduated from high school at 15, and then taught for 2 years before attending UCB. I entered Berkeley underprepared and had to take remedial courses. I didn’t learn what a thesis sentence was until graduate school in 1995, 13 years after my first college writing course. I got As in my college composition courses at Merritt and failed my college writing entrance exam at Holy Names. HNC has a policy called writing across the curriculum, so each class I took was an opportunity to learn to write better essays. I can’t say that I fully understood what this process was until four years later when I took a teaching writing course and learned about argument and exposition and saw my first grammar style book.

Can you believe this? I had taken courses to prepare for the Teaching English to Students of Other Languages (TESOL), received the teaching certificate, yet didn’t have the language I needed to talk about “the essay.” I say all this to tell you why I want to spare you this journey which was not skill based. I am going to give you the skills, and then you can forget them and do the work.

You probably have some familiarity with the essay or you wouldn’t have tested into this course, but I want you to feel more confident about what you know and the best way to accomplish this—I hope, is by demystifying the concepts and by giving you vocabulary to talk about what it is you know or need to know to write and read academic texts.

The college environment is nothing like what you experienced in high school, and the community college is similar to the university but there are differences. One is, the community college is smaller and your professors are more accessible—at least this one is.

I want you to leave this class with the skills to tackle academic texts, which are daunting for the underprepared student. There is a difference between reading for pleasure and reading for information. There is a difference between writing for the academic and non-academic audience. There is a difference between having an opinion and having an argument. There is a difference between knowing something and proving something, even when the evidence used is the same.

You are probably doing a lot of this skill based reading and writing already, but like me when I was 18, 19, 20, 24, 27, 29, 30 and 39—those ages when I was in college studying writing and did well because I liked to write and I understood the value of good models, I couldn’t articulate what I knew about the critical reading and writing process. I want you to get As on purpose. Like I said, I didn’t understand the technicalities of the writing process until a graduate student.

This semester I am going to try something new. Last semester, for the first time I noticed so many students without academic tools to navigate the institution, and fearful to try. I’ll say fearful rather than lazy. One doesn’t acquire knowledge without work. So let’s say they were fearful. I opened my door to everyone and couldn’t get anyone or few students to come to me to ask for assistance, to confer and see what they needed to do to excel. I attended a conference midway through the course and learned about a writing tool called Kurzweil which is a speech to text program which helps students navigate those text heavy courses, it is also a way teachers can share with students their thinking about a topic as they read. It is interactive and user friendly—again it is not intuitive, by intuitive, I mean you are born knowing how to use it, you have to be taught, but it isn’t hard to learn to use with one’s courses, especially the reading and analysis. It is also a great note taking tool.

I learned Fall 2008 that students really believe they can get through college and not open their books, or better yet, not own any. I have colleagues who don’t assign books any more. I do. I also expect students to read the books I assign.

This semester we are going to begin the course with foundation lessons from a text called: Stewart Pidd HATES ENGLISH, so that by the time your financial aide checks arrive and you feel like cutting classes, you will hopefully have the skills necessary to write essays and analyze literature and participate in critical theory discourse or conversations in class and on-line..

We live in a world which is becoming a virtual medium right before our eyes. My course this semester will look a lot different fall 2009-spring 2010, if my proposal passes the curriculum committee. Fall 2009 will all be hybrid which means you will have limited face time or face to face contact. This might be great for some learners and not as great for others. We’ll have to see. I’m flexible and so are the classes I’m proposing. So each student needs to access what type of learner they are. I can help with that.

Everything you’ve heard about me is probably true. I expect a lot, but no more than you are capable, and no more than the academic guidelines for this course require. There are objectives, goals and learning outcomes for each course you take. I will share more of this with you in the syllabus posted at the academic blog. I can even email it to you if you request it. I want you to get your money’s worth, but more importantly I want all students whom I touch to walk away with life skills which will enhance their next encounter be that an essay assignment or a traffic ticket they need to refute or a clinician who has forgotten who he or she works for.

I went to New Orleans over the Winter Recess. The calling card was an extraordinary exhibit called, Prospect 1. Visit http://www.prospectneworleans.org/ It was also an opportunity to visit family and connect with friends who are working to free two men who have served the longest time in solitary confinement in this country, Albert Woodfox and Herman Wallace, known as Angola 3. One of the men, Robert King, was released in February 2001. We were planning some actions for January-February to coincide with Martin King Day Parades, Mardi Gras, and Lent, to being attention to Albert’s court date.
Visit http://www.a3grassroots.org/updates.html

When I returned I visited for the first time the California Women Correctional Facility in Chowchilla, California, the larger of the two. It has a skilled nursing facility. It is also the facility where women are executed. It was an eye-opener. As I sit here writing this letter to you, my heart is heavy and I feel a huge responsibility for those without the ear of mainstream society. What we do as writers is so important, and to the extent that we take our skills and the sphere of influence we command seriously, is the extent to which we change the world for the better.

On New Year’s Day in Oakland, Oscar Grant III was killed. In New Orleans, another man, also 22 and a father, Adolph Grimes III, shot 14 times, 12 in the back, by undercover NOPD as he sat in his car waiting to pick up his cousin to celebrate the New Year. The similarities between the Oscar Grant and Adolph Grimes’ murders is uncanny, too uncanny. It’s a larger statement about the value or devaluing of certain lives whether that is GAZA Oakland or GAZA New Orleans.

As I walked down the street to the A3 meeting in the 6th Ward, I realized it was just down the street from Circle Market, a historic landmark—the place that once served as a trading station for enslaved Africans. I heard drumming as I turn the corner on my way to S. Robertson Street. It reminded me of what it must have been like in Africa, when one could hear live music coming from the homes as one walked, rode one’s bike, or drove by.

Virtual reality. One shouldn’t confuse this with reality, if such exists. When a musician tells me he plays a computer, not real drums, I think about the paradigm shift and the consciousness of the person speaking to me who thinks a computer generated sound is superior to one created by a person in real time.

It is the same with this class. If you aren’t committed to putting in the hours woodshedding, working out the details necessary to be a fine writer, don’t expect to pass the class with honors, or to pass at all. The application is one which combines virtual reality and the tangible reality we’re forced to address in this corporal form—a flesh and bloody reality. You will sweat and bleed this semester as you put in the hours, often when you’d rather do something else, thinking and planning, practicing and writing, reviewing and thinking and then rewriting.

Writing is not intuitive for most. Yes, there are those geniuses, but if you were a genius you probably wouldn’t be in my course. I do believe we all have our strengths and we are all genius material, some just have to apply more effort polishing spirit and stone and intellect. The outcome is the same for both students –the brilliant and the one with brilliance. Ultimately the journey is not as important as the outcome, but one needs to work smart, not needlessly hard. This is where I come in. I can help you identify which student you are, what kind of learner you are, what skills you possess and what strengths you can build on. Come to my office hours early in the semester to chat. Bring graded writing you’ve completed in past composition courses so we can talk.

We are not competing. We are sharing and giving constructive feedback so we can all shine together. This is a personal walk even though we are all here in class together.

There are standards for the course and for writing in general. One is the genre or communicative event (essay) has to be clear, succinct and say something. You have to have a point. The point you make and the way you present your argument, if it meets the form and the spirit of the assignment, certainly will vary depending on the experience and knowledge the individual brings to the topic. Research is important; however, life experience allows one to interpret information differently. We all have something valuable to share and to bring to the table this semester.

We do not exist in a vacuum and I think you are privileged to be able to attend college. There are many others who would like to be here but aren’t. As such you have a responsibility to not waste this opportunity and to be an example to others in your discourse community, your peers and even your elders. You have to demonstrate how knowledge has empowered you to make better choices and to take better care of yourself and think productively about how what you are doing for yourself right now, will better the community where you lay your head and by extension the entire country and world community.

You are not alone and everything is connected to everything else. Virtual reality is real and then it isn’t. We have to operate as if this is the only reality, this moment we have together and then know that if this moment is allowed to happen again that we have another opportunity to continue the conversation, to continue the work, to continue on the journey to happiness and the fulfillment of our dreams and aspirations.

Let me help you. I don’t like grading papers so we need to figure out how to address this. I suggest study hours. In the past no one came, but perhaps you are a different discourse community and you will (smile). I will be in the Writing Center (L-234 and the smaller lab) a lot this semester on Thursdays. I don’t remember the hours presently, so look for an update. I suggest coming to my office hours, but no one comes. Email works to an extent, but face-to-face is better. Tutors are great too, but no one gets help until it is too late.

Again, I am open to suggestions. I have hired assistants to keep me from getting behind, and I am going to try to do this again, but it didn’t work, my assistant got behind on her own work and failed all her classes last semester—not a good idea.

I give talks and workshops in the community from time to time and have a radio show. If you are interested in what I am up to visit my website: http://wandaspicks.com

I am teaching four classes this semester: ENG 1A, M-Th, 8-9 and 9-10; and ENG 201 A/B, MW 10-12, 1-3.

Required textbooks for my classes this semester are: “Stewart Pidd Hates English” by Politt and Baker, Barack Obama’s “Dreams from My Father,” Barack Obama’s “The Audacity of Hope,” Alehouse 2009: “Poetry on Tap,” “The Message: 100 Life Lessons from Hip-Hop’s Greatest Songs” by Felicia Pride.

All the books are not for all classes. Stewart Pidd is for all classes. Poetry on Tap is for ENG 1A, and The Message is for ENG 201. Dreams is for both classes. Audacity is for ENG 1A (don’t buy this yet. I might change my mind.).

Peace and Blessings,

Wanda Sabir
Office L-236
(510) 748-2131
professorwandasposse@gmail.com
English Basic Skills
College of Alameda

PS If you write me, in the subject line tell me who you are: ENG 1A 8-9, 9-10, ENG 201 10-12, 1-3 SPR 09

January 3, 2009

Dear Students:

I just filed my grades yesterday, Friday, January 2, 2009. I am in New Orleans, it's pouring rain and mosquitoes are eating me alive. I waited to submit my grades to give some students the opportunity to get their work in. Nonetheless, I still found many students who didn't pass the class or turned in sloppy or incomplete portfolios or skipped the process altogether.

It's a shame.

I am looking to change my class assignment and exercises strategy for Spring 2009. I'm thinking of making the first 6-8 weeks really intense. Give the heavy assignments toward the end of the first month, and then by the time Spring Break rolls around and students start to drop, perhaps more will stay around because the intense portion of the course will be over.

I'd like to have a “Book of the Semester” for the College, a “Summer Reading Selection” and a “College Retreat” at the beginning of the Fall Semester, mandatory for all entering students. This is where we can pair freshmen up with sophomores. Any volunteers?

I am looking at having an on-line class television show broadcasting minimally three times next semester, this will include the portfolio presentations and perhaps a few other assignments. I am also thinking about a radio show, bi-monthly where we discuss writing or literature topics. I'd like it to be a call-in with featured guests.

For those of you who received less than satisfactory grades. Don't worry. Writing is a process and for some scholars it takes longer to grasp the concepts and apply them than others.

KEEP WRITING AND READING AND WRITING AND READING.

Many of you didn't take your first college course seriously. Academic resources are for your use, so use them to your advantage. I'd also recommend that all freshmen take a College Preparation course. It is a three unit, transferable class, which helps you matriculate through the institution a lot easier. It is not an intuitive process. You have to be instructed on how the system works, or it is a trial by fire and most likely you will get burned.

More than one of you failed all your courses, and you took the financial aide. This is really serious and quite alarming.

We also lost more than a few of our scholars who were not challenged intellectually so they are going to another college where they feel the college atmosphere there will be more collegial.

I received more than one comment about assignments and the changing deadlines. The problem was students were not doing the assignments and if we'd kept going, more would have failed. It's always difficult for me in a class where the students resist reading and preparing in advance for class discussions.

I am going to offer all my courses as hybrid Fall 2009, which might address this a bit, but I agree the morale suffers when everyone isn't engaged.

I am around for the duration, so look me up. I'll be facilitating College Prep Luncheon Rap Sessions Spring 2009. Some of the topics I'm considering are: Academic Services on Campus, Time Management and Study Habits, Financial Aide, Mentoring, College Life: Academic Clubs and Offices, Studying for Tests, Emergency Preparedness or How to stay in college, and keep your grades up when you have a personal emergency, and when to drop, the Grievance Process, Student Rights, Academic Integrity or why cheating is not an option for serious students.

The panels will consist of faculty, staff and students.

Of course we won't be able to offer sessions on all of these topics, but if students like the idea then maybe we can continue these conversations outside of this arena in a Study Hall type setting, like the LRC.

This would be good to broadcast on the Peralta Television Station.

Send me topics you are thinking about also.

Happy New Year!

Wanda Sabir