Today we finished the English 1A, 9-10 AM finals. We ran out of time, so some students were not able to make their presentations. Those students who did present shared the lives of people who care about others in society enough to dedicate their lives and work to ameliorating the barriers which keep certain people outside the realm of opportunity and success.

Again, tomorrow, May 28, 8-11 AM in L-235, we will be assembling the portfolio. I have had technical problems this weekend and can't use my laptop, so I was not able to send students grades yesterday. Come by tomorrow if you have questions. Also, don't forget you can always call me. I return calls.

Some students skipped the final today. The final presentation was something which could help your final grade. The portfolio is not optional. I will be in my office at 12 noon to receive completed checklists.

Best of Stewart Pidd

I have asked certain students to post certain essays here, so students can see successful writing strategies for Possessives, Bad Granny, and Parallel Structure.

I recommend more students complete the SV Agreement essay, for your edification. You can post it at the link from last week and email it to me for extra credit.

Parallel Structure Essay Cyber-Post


Post your Parallel Structure essay here and email it to me also by Tuesday, May 26.

Bad Granny Essay Cyber-Post


Post your Bad Granny Essays here, and email me by May 21. You can do it in class in the morning.

Tomorrow in class we are completing the Multiple-Choice Exam 2. It is similar to the MCE 1 at midterm. It is closed book. Come to class on time. You will only have 20 minutes to complete it.

We'll spend the rest of the class time on Bad Granny critiques, SV Agreement freewrites, and questions about the final, portfolio due dates, and anything else on your minds.

Don't forget to read the section on revision in Bedford Handbook. It is here that the five areas one should note when doing a global revision is located. You can copy it from the desktop and email it to yourself. If you have Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers, it is in the section called: Planning, page 27-39.

The checklist is on page 28:
Purpose and Audience: does the draft accomplish its purpose--to inform readers,persuade them, entertain them, call them to action? Is the draft appropriate for its audience? Does it account for the audience's knowledge of the subject, level of interest in the subject, and possible attitudes toward the subject?

Focus: Is the thesis clear? Is it prominently placed? If there is no thesis,is there a good reason for omitting it? Are any ideas obviously off the point?

Organization: Are there enough organizational clues for readers (such as topic sentences and headings)? Are ideas presented in a logical order? Are any paragraphs too long or too short for easy reading?

Content: Is the supporting material relevant and persuasive? Which ideas need further development? Are the parts proportioned sensibly? Do major ideas receive enough attention? Where might material be deleted?

Point of View: Is the draft free of distracting shifts in POV? Is the dominant POV appropriate for writer's purpose and audience?

Check on the web>dianahacker.com/rules Writing Exercises E-ex 3-1 and 3-2

I will be in L-235 12 noon to 3 p.m. May 21, and 8-11 a.m. May 28. You have the option of turning in your portfolio the day of the final, if your final is Wednesday, May 27, 8-10 a.m. or Friday, May 29, at 12 noon.

I will give you another grade checklist in the morning. I'll post it here also. Fill it out and give it to me on the day of the final. Don't forget to email me the Parallel Structure essay by May 26.

Post the Bad Granny essay at the link here, along with its attachments (error list per assignment handout). Email it to me also by Thursday, May 21.

Students are making too many errors on their research essays and on the Pidd essays. Apply what you have learned about Pidd's essay analysis to your writing. Read the essays aloud and correct them before submitting and posting.

Your grade will reflect your ability to incorporate what you have learned about essay writing to your own final written work.

I want to congratulate everyone who has made it to the end of the course. The journey wasn't easy for many of you. Make sure your final work reflects your best effort. I am around next week and if you need to make arrangements regarding Pidd essays, such as Bad Granny or Parallel Structure, let me know. You can write one of these essays May 21, 12-3, the other, May 28, 8-11, while I am in L-235.

Anxiety?

Many students are feeling anxiety because they are behind or missing work. If students have been attending class and have communicated with me about their absences, yet continued to do the assignments, then you don't have anything to worry about.

I am not grading any old assignments. The deadline is long passed, except for the students who have spoken to me.

Some students who have serious grammar issues and who have not utilized the academic resources, including my weekly office hours, for assistance, have cause to fret.
Some of these students are still revising the Obama essay, and have not completed the social entrepreneur essay.

I have many grammar essays to return still, if you'd like to know how you did, send me an email. I expect the best. For this level composition class, as I said in the beginning of the semester, Pidd should be concept review, not new information.

If students are not able to edit their work and correct the errors they were able to identify in the Stewart Pidd essays reviewed this semester, then the material was not mastered. Mastery or at least proficiently, was the goal.

Details are important and if students submit sloppy work I will not know the errors are present because the writer didn't know the answer, or because he or she was not a careful reader.

This close scrutiny will be given to the two portfolio essays, the Hootananny and to the Parallel Structure essay. The portfolio is the student's opportunity to shine.

Today in class we ran the SV Agreement exercises in the 8-9 AM class. The later class got to the Bad Granny Essay.

Students were asked to exchange phone numbers to continue identifying errors prior to 5/20. Homework was to bring in the templates. I skipped a step. Bring in your five errors identified on the Error List handout instead. Identify six errors (out of the 80 possible), that show off your writing skills. The errors need to be spread throughout the essay. See the handout for the format.

Finals Recap
The 8-9 AM class final is Friday, May 29. The 9-10 AM class final is Wednesday, May 27, 8-10 AM. We were thinking about having the final presentations at a restaurant. I am not certain if there is a consensus around this.

Homework is to complete your research essay and post a copy at the link.

Template for Subject-Verb Agreement Essay

[Claim naming the type of error]"Insert the error." The (singular/plural) subject "____" does not agree with the (singular/plural) verb "_____." [Explain why the error is an error. Explain how to fix the error]. The correct sentence will read,"Give example of corrected sentence."

We will do this essay collaboratively in dyads.

If you have trouble with this section, I'd recommend completely the entire essay. Don't forget to include an introduction which explains the rules for subject verb agreement paraphrased and a conclusion about Pidd's mistakes and the grade you recommend. Include the works cited page: "Nothing Ever Changes in Ludville" essay reference and SPHE.

For everyone else, you can just post the errors for errors 6 and 7 here.

Resources
Website for www.dianahacker.com/rules

http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/rules6e/Player/pages/Main.aspx (you can get an account, just send in your email address)

Check-in
Yesterday, many students shared their concerns with the class. Thanks for your feedback. If you were absent and have something specific you need, you can email me: professorwandasposse@gmail.com

Between the two classes, over half of you have not attended classes consistently this semester, or turned in essays on time or at all. The deadline is already past for late papers and those students who did not speak to me prior to May 4, will not pass the course if they do not speak to me now. I do not give incompletes.

Many students read the syllabus and then forgot important details, one was to keep all of your work, it is your evidence, it is your proof. The graded essays are your evidence of academic achievement. If you did not create a blog to store work as recommended at the beginning of the semester, or at least keep your work in a folder, how will you prove you were here?

I am in L235 today, and next Thursday, May 21. I recommend everyone of you get in touch with me to see how you are doing if you haven't already done so. Bring the graded work with you. You can also call me. I am always available by cell phone.

Homework is to complete the essay on Subject Verb Agreement. We did four quizes yesterday: Be-Verbs, Possessives, and two on Pronoun Agreement.

Freewrite
Choose a selection from Alehouse and respond. Post that response here. Then look at the section on revision in Bedford on the desktop. What is revision as opposed to rewriting and why is it important to revise work?

What is a draft, and philosophically speaking, is there such a thing as a final draft?

Freewrite
Check-in. Please share with me, anonymously how you are doing presently and how I can help facilitate your matriculation. Do not post your response here. Print out your response (L202E).


For those students who were absent, you can post your responses here if you like. Thanks to those students who shared.

We completed a few quizes today in class and reviewed the answers and started Subject Verb Agreement in Pidd. I handed out copies of the Portfolio checklist this morning also. There is a mistake on page 2. The Portfolio Study Session is Thursday, May 28, 8-11 AM.

Research Essay Draft

Please post your research essay here Wednesday, May 13, 2009.


Assignment:
Respond to minimally one classmate's essay. Look at how well he or she answered the questions, after stating the problem. Did the writer define social entrepreneur? Are there any questions you want answered? If so, ask them. Is the essay well-organized, if not, ask clarifying questions so the writer can address your concerns. List five things about the essay that the author does well. Oh, how is the MLA?

Make sure you include the outline and the works cited page.

Portfolio Checklist Spring 2009
English 1A

On the cover page identify yourself by responding to the following:

Name
Mailing Address
Phone Number
E-mail address
Course number and code

This page is followed by the narratives.

The only paper copies are the freewrites, perhaps reading logs, and this checklist completed. Do not give me your originals. Turn this checklist into me filled out to the best of your ability the day of final.

The portfolio narratives (These are essays)

1. The first narrative essay will look at the past 18 weeks of study, and the themes we looked at this semester as we explored the life of the first black president and the idea that we are the ones we've been waiting for, that is, if there is something in our communities or government we do not like or want to improve we can change it. Obama's work as a community organizer proves this, your social entrepreneur’s work proves this, and hopefully, your work presently or in the future will prove this also.

In your research papers you chose a person to highlight who has made it their life’s work to use their skills to better the lives of others in society. Talk about what you've learned and discovered this semester about writing and yourself, college and life, which have transformed or changed you.

What have you learned about the discipline you are studying here: reading and writing that you plan to carry forth into your lifelong pursuit of learning.

Please also comment on the texts and whether or not they were helpful in this process. You can also talk about the instruction, culture of the class and the teacher. You can also offer suggestions for future students, instruction and on the instruction.

2. The second part of the narrative looks at the writing process and what you have been learning about yourself as a writer. Take two essays and talk about the planning, research and revision strategies you used. It helps to choose an early paper and compare to a later paper. Often you can more easily see the differences in your writing and a better example of mastery of certain concepts. Also discuss skills you need to improve and how you plan to address that.

Besides the two essays, I also want you to include the Pidd essays and the research essay, cyber-essays, and all the writing from Dreams from My Father and Alehouse.

Writing Workshop
We began writing the narratives last week. Thursday, May 21, 8-11, I’ll be between L-235 and L-202E.

Our final for the 8-9 AM class is Friday, May 29, at 8-10. For the 9-10 AM class, our final is Wednesday, May 27.

We were thinking about meeting at a restaurant for breakfast. We will decide this Thursday, May 14.

If you need technology, let me know by 5/14. I have a laptop, a TV with VCR, DVD player and CD capabilities. Your portfolio is due by Friday, May 29 at 12 noon for all classes. Note the later due date for students presenting essays Wednesday, May 20.

Additional narrative considerations for the portfolio essay:
The second essay has students look at the writing process and discuss their own writing process: the topics chosen, the information used, revision strategies, writing as a process. This should include a definition of the difference between editing and revising and a value statement on the place for both in composition.

I am really interested in discourse about audience and how that shapes or determines how the writer approaches her topic.

I am also interested in discussion of the revision process, and whether or not seeing writing as a work in progress or a draft, liberates or stagnates the creative process. (Students are to use examples from their writing to illustrate these points.)

I'd also like students to think about and give at three specific ways how they have grown as writers and thinkers this semester. Each essay should be minimally 1-2 pages (250-500 words).

Grade Justification
What grade do you think you earned in the course? If you have a strong argument with proof: graded work. I will consider it.

Your essay and the attached copy of a completed grading sheet are the evidence.

Do you have any questions about writing or anything else?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Teacher Research
Can I use you writing in teacher research projects? I will give you full credit and inform you of its use. Indicate Yes or No. Please circle one.

Evaluation
In a third response, evaluate the semester: teacher, textbooks, assignments, methodology, etc. Please be frank and feel free to offer suggestions.


Assignments:
Just put a grade next to the assignments you have completed. I will put a grade next to the sections and assignments you do not have grades on. To pass the class, students have to have passing grades on all the essays, plus complete the portfolio essays and turn the portfolio in. Come to the study session May 21. If the time conflicts with other finals, let me know, and arrangements might be able to be made.

For all revisions include the narratives each graded draft and the final draft with a passing grade. Put the passing essay on top.

The narrative essays are the introduction to your portfolio which is a collection of all your writing this semester. Please give me a copy of your in-class notes if applicable. Do not give me a hardcopy. I’d like the portfolio emailed to me, on a CD or disk, with a completed checklist filled out. Don’t forget a phone number just in case something is missing.

Stewart Pidd Essays
Sentence Punctuation_______
Pronoun Agreement _______

Grammar Exam part 1 ______ (50 possible)
List errors___________________________________________
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________

In-class Essay Exam 1:
Pronoun Case: Midterm Essay Synthetica _________

Point of View _______
Be-Verb _________(paraphrase worksheet completed)________

In-Class Essay Exam 2: Possessives _______

Subject Verb Agreement _________ (in-class 5/13-14)

Hootenanny__________ (paraphrase for Bad Granny Essay)_______
Thursday May 14 Group Identification of Bad Granny Errors. Start essay, Monday, May 18, due Wednesday, May 20, typed.

In-Class Essay Exam 3: Parallel Structure_________ (5/20 and 5/21)
Multiple Choice Exam #2________ (50 possible) (5/20 and 5/21)

Research Section
Obama freewrites ________
Notes________
Journals _________

Library orientation worksheet ______ (if applicable)
Evaluation of a website_____ (with librarian signing off on it or teacher)
Frontline World (3 assigned) _____
Planning Sheet ______
Document search (5-10 minimum) _____________
S.E. outline posted ________
S.E. essay draft posted ________
Research essay final draft sent to professor (date) _______
Research essay grade___________ (written essay) _________________ (presentation)
Abstract or outline for classmates_____________


Cyber-Assignments (partial list)
Inauguration Response______
First 100 Days Letter to President Obama_______
Happy Birthday Martin King______
Literature Circle reflections on process________
Letter from Birmingham Jail_________
Wear Clean Drawers (from Felicia Pride’s The Message)_______

Alehouse responses_______
Writing and Reflections on the War:
Lysistrata ________
War Poems package_______

Love Presentations and Journals ______________
Women’s History Month Presentations _________________
Response to syllabus__________
Response to instructor’s letter___________

Freewrites_____ (copies)

Extra Credit ______________________________________________

Anything else? _______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Finals

Our final is Friday, May 29, 8-10 AM. Location TBA. Normally, the final is in the classroom where the class met that semester. For us, that would be the D-Bldg.

If there are technical needs, the D-Bldg. might not work. If there are no techical concerns, we can meet at a restaurant (I need suggestions in Alameda to make reservations). I thought about Ole's on Park Street. A smaller, more intimate setting is preferred.

On the day of the final students will present their final essays. The presentation need not be longer than 10 minutes. Please prepare an abstract and bring enough copies for all the students in the class. If you need me to make copies for you, give me the document in advance. You can email it to me, but call me to make certain that I saw it.

Graduation is also Friday, May 29.

Field Trip Information

I bought 10 tickets for Fuku for next week, Thursday, May 21, 8 p.m. at Intersection for the Arts. They are $12 each. I brought the novel in this morning for students to see. Audra wants 2 tickets, Jennifer is a maybe if she can get off early, Chris is a yes (I think). Drop me a line here and confirm. Bring me a check by this Thursday, May 14.

Intersection for the Arts is located in San Francisco's Mission District, at 446 Valencia Street, between 15th and 16th Streets.

Here is information from the theatre's website: http://www.theintersection.org/about_map.php

Prize Winning novel 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'

"Campo meets Díaz
Novelist and short-story writer Junot Díaz is the latest author to be turned into a playwright through the innovative open-process format practiced by Campo Santo. Material from Díaz's "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao," winner of the 2008 Pulitzer and many other prizes for fiction, has been adapted for the next Intersection for the Arts-Campo Santo project and will open May 18 (previews begin May 14) as a play called "Fukú Americanus."" Robert Hurwitt San Francisco Chronicle
INTERSECTION FOR THE ARTS and Resident Theatre Company CAMPO SANTO is proud to present the highly anticipated world premiere of Fukú Americanus inspired by Junot Díaz's Pulitzer Prize Winning novel 'The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao'.

Developed and directed by Campo Santo's Sean San José, and co-directed by The Living Word Project's Marc Bamuthi Joséph Fukú Americanus brings together an array of talented performers including Carlos Aguirre, Maria Candelaria, Vanessa Cota, Anna Maria Luera, Brian Rivera and Savannah Shange in a simultaneously epic and intimate tale about family histories, ancient curses, migration and ill-starred love.

Combining historical Dominican mythologies and mysticism with current cultural references, the tale forms a dense narrative reflecting the current melting pot of the United States. This stage creation inspired by Junot Díaz's unique fiction comes alive with endearing characters, an unforgettable story and authentic language - living proof that languages, like cultures, are fluid and alive, and evolves with history and each new generation.

UPDATES!

Students should be going through the class blog and capturing their posts for the cyber-assignments and creating a folder on their personal blogs for Spring 2009 for later retrieval.

The two narratives are the introductory essays for your portfolio, which after the cover page, includes: the student name, course number, and title, student phone number and mailing address.

The second page is the table of contents listing the assignments by section: Introduction, Revision strategies (with two essays for support), Pidd essays with grades, Research essay section (including research cyber assignments, prewriting and other posts and feedback from peers), planning sheet(s), outlines, document search, library assignment grade and narrative about what you learned about evaluating a website; cyber-assignments, and freewrites.

You can also include a section called Appendices for extra credit assignments. This can include a graded essay from another class and discipline written this semester (if the other teacher doesn't mind. Ask and have them to write me a note stating this.)

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
We are meeting in L202E for the rest of the week: Tuesday-Thursday, May 12-14. The research essays were due last week for the first peer review. The deadline was changed to accommodate those students who needed more time. What this means though, is students will not be able to revise their research essay if they are submitted after Monday, May 18, unless it doesn't receive a passing grade.

The Pidd essays seem deceptively simple, but for those students who have not done the grammar exercises, miss class, come in late and disruptive or sit quietly and don't ask questions, he or she will not pass this course. Successful students are engaged and active participants in the learning process.

The Pidd Effect will not become evident until students matriculate from this course and find themselves confronted with writing situations and are able to address them, especially the academic writing situation, with ease and confidence. The student in English 1A can write a 4 page essay with competence. The graduate from said course can address a thought-provoking topic, analyze issues and use critical analysis based on sound evidence and criteria. The English 1A student is a scholar who is not intimidated by the unknown because she knows how to ask questions and find answers to those questions.

We'll go through the Paraphrase package also tomorrow if we have time. For the second portfolio essay on revision, read the Bedford handbook section on the topic (it's in the Writing Process) and see what is said about the revision process. You can also use any other college writing style book as a resource. Compare what you learn to your own revision process and incorporate this information into your essay.) Bedford is on the desktop on all the computers in the L-Building. If you have any of Diana Hacker's handbooks it's in there also.

We did peer reviews today. Hassan and Jennifer were able to use Microsoft Comment to give each other feedback. (Comment is located in Review, in Office 2007, and Insert in Office 2003). Readers highlights what they want to comment on and click the comment icon and a bubble appears in the margin for the comment.

Students can utilize the Writing Center staff for peer reviews. Share the assignment and ask the reviewer to note whether or not the questions were answered. You can see if staff will use comment. Include this essay in your portfolio. We will also utilize the read-aloud-protocol this week. It is a review process where the reader externalizes their thoughts and tells you what they are thinking as they read your work.

We will talk about Parallel Structure tomorrow, write the SV Agreement essay on Thursday, and Hootenanny on Monday, May 18 together. We'll write the Parallel Structure essay on Wednesday or Thursday next week. Again, the Pidd essays were supposed to be review, not new information.


Portfolio Assistance Workshop, Thursday, May 28
Next week is the last week of classes. I will make myself available the following week, Thursday, May 28 for a few hours to students for all classes who'd like help assembling the portfolio. I will be between L-235 and L-202E from 8-11 AM. Bring your assignments in a digital format and we can put the portfolio together. I can also look at the two portfolio essays.

Finals at Tilly's is out. We might have to have a breakfast potluck, if too many students need technical support for their presentations. Let me know if you need projectors, laptops, TV/VCRs, DVD players, or anything else. I have to reserve it, so the sooner I know the better.

Revisions are consuming too much of my time, so I am going to have to limit the revisions to essay C- and below beginning today, so I can stay on top of the assignments. On Pidd, if there are no revisions necessary I will give students a pass. Pidd essays have to be perfect. The problem I am noticing is that students are not paying attention to the details--a missed period in a works cited entry makes the entire works cited page wrong. I am going to stop being an editor.

The goal of English 1A is to produce sophisticated writers and thinkers who know how to utilize multiple resources for innovative and creative discourse. The English 1A student is on able to synthesize this information and come up with unique and different conclusions based on what she has learned. The ability to manage information is crucial and this is why the MLA

We are working on Parallel Structure now in Pidd. Finish so we can talk about the exercises Tuesday, May 12. Let's meet in L202E on Tuesday, English 1A 8-9and 9-10.

Today we created blogs at blogspot.com. Students were instructed to take all of their work this semester and create posts such as: Pidd essays, Obama freewrites (from blog), Love Assignment and presentation, Women's History Month presentation, essays, including revisions, Alehouse reflections, Lysistrata writing,

Research section:
Research process assignments: Frontline World, planning sheets, outline, introduction and conclusion, first draft with feedback, second and final drafts with narratives.

Portfolio narratives
Questions

Grades
Grades listed per assignment
Grade justification (narrative where you evaluate your writing and assign a course grade)

Graded Essay from another course (extra credit)

Freewrite
Start the following reflections

Portfolios
The portfolio narratives for English 1A
There is an example of a portfolio in the comment section below. You can see more examples, just ask, I have lots of them.

Each narrative is 250 words minimum

1. The first narrative essay will look at the past 18 weeks of study, and the themes we looked at this semester as we explored the life of the first black president and the idea that we are the ones we've been waiting for, that is, if there is something in our communities or government we do not like or want to improve we can change it. Obama's work as a community organizer proves this, your social entreprenuer's work proves this, and hopefully, your work presently or in the future will prove this also.

YES, WE CERTAINLY CAN CHANGE THE WORLD!

Talk about what you've learned and discovered this semester about writing and yourself, college and life, which have transformed or changed you. What have you learned about the discipline you are studying: reading and writing that you plan to carry forth into your lifelong pursuit of learning.

Please also comment on the texts, especially Stewart Pidd Hates English. Was this books and the others, Alehouse, Dreams from My Father,helpful in this process. You can also talk about the instruction, culture of the class and the teacher.

2.Essay 2 has each student look at the writing process and discuss his or her own writing process: the topics chosen, the information used, revision strategies, writing as a process. This should include a definition of the difference between editing and revising and a value statement on the place for both in composition.

What have you learned about yourself as a writer? Take two essays and talk about the planning, research and revision strategies you used. It helps to choose an early paper and compare to a later paper. Often you can more easily see the differences in your writing and a better example of mastery of certain concepts. Also discuss skills you need to improve and how you plan to address that.

I am really interested in discourse about audience and how that shapes or determines how the writer approaches her topic.

I am also interested in discussion of the revision process, and whether or not seeing writing as a work in progress or a draft, liberates or stagnates the creative process. (Students are to use examples from their writing to illustrate these points.)

I'd also like students to think about and give at three specific ways how they have grown as writers and thinkers this semester. Each essay should be minimally 1-2 pages (250-500 words).

Today in class we wrote the Possessives essay. Students who didn't finish were instructed to turn it in the next day. This was a rehearsal for the next few essays we will write in class. (If you missed class, you can do the essay, because you have to complete all the essays to pass the class, but you will not get full credit (just a pass/no pass--revise).

Some students did not complete the essay because they arrived late or didn't complete the exercises in advance. We'll go over the Parallel Structure essay on Monday, May 11. Read up to the essay and identify the errors.

This is a difficult essay. The last essay is pretty easy. We'll write it in class also. I am thinking about letting the Parallel Structure be the final's essay. I am thinking about it.

The last essay is the Subject/Verb Agreement essay. We'll write this in class also. Some students are feeling overwhelmed. I am around and can help you if you need help with the exercises or with other assignments if you are lost.

I cannot help you if the reason you are lost is because you are absent a lot or have not invested the time into the class. The benefit gained from SPHE will not be felt until you finish the class, so finish it.

I cannot drop you from the course. The last day was yesterday, May 5, so you should finish the course. You have two full weeks and there is time to catch up if you are behind...if you want to.

For our final I'd like to suggest we meet at Tilly's for breakfast. You can present your research essays there, those who do not need technology. Those who do, perhaps you can present your essay in advance.

I would also like to suggest another play, May 21, at Intersection for the Arts in SF in the Mission. The Story of Oscar Wo, adapted from a novel by Junot Diaz is opening this week for previews. Show time is 8 p.m. and we could have dinner first. You can bring guests. Let me know tomorrow, May 8 if you are interested.

Today we will write the Possessives essay collaboratively. If there is time, I will show a short film about language immersion programs as a topic for a freewrite. Tomorrow bring in your draft of the research essay for peer review and feedback. Email it to yourself so you will have a digital copy to share tomorrow. We will practice using the "comment" feature in Microsoft Office. Students will also have the opportunity to use the Bedford Guide to Writing on the desktop. We meet in L-202E.

Today we completed the Be-Verb, exercise (handout), then students who had completed all the exercises worked on Essay 4 which is due Tuesday, May 5, typed.

So far, written assignments include the essay due tomorrow from Pidd, plus three other essays, and a midterm essay and the Obama essay. Wednesday, we will write the essay on Possessives in class. Complete all the exercises first. This was homework over the weekend. Bring your books. We'll go over the answers Wednesday, May 6, if there are questions.

Students have not written the first drafts, so bring them into class on Thursday, May 7 for a peer review. Post them and we will review them on-line in A-202E. We will practice Microsoft--Comment(from insert).