Assignment: Social Entrepreneurs: Engaged Citizenry

Introduction
Open with the problem statement. Be descriptive.

The thesis sentence names your social entrepreneur as a person who is addressing the problem identified in the introduction.


Body paragraphs
Background on the social entrepreneur and what brings them to the work. You can cite statistics here to illustrate the problem

Introduce the organization or business venture. Does the work grow out of the community? How do the SE and the community interact?

Are there any partnerships with other organizations and/or government?

Are there any peer reviews or industry reports?

What are the measurable results for the community? Share a story here.

What are the measurable results for the SE. You could quote the SE here.


Narrative
Your essay needs to answer all of these questions; you can structure it like a typical problem/solution essay or cause and effect.

The person has to be alive. Try to find someone local, who is living in the San Francisco Bay Area or in California. The person has to have been doing this work for 10-20 years (the length of time is negotiable; see me).

You need to locate 5 sources on your subject to form a bibliography; you don't have to cite them all. The sources can be published or broadcast interviews, books, articles, and films or you can interview them yourself. The person cannot be a relative. You can work in groups and share data. In fact, I encourage it.

You will have three citations: 1 in-text citation, one paraphrase, and one block quote in the essay. The rest of the writing has to be your own. The essay should be 4 pages (English 1A); 2-3 pages English 201. This does not include the works cited page or bibliography.


English 1A Social Entrepreneur Due Dates:

Planning Due by Wednesday, Nov. 10 (share)_____________
Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis due Monday, Nov. 14 __________
First Draft(s) Wednesday-Thursday, Nov. 16-17

Final Draft Monday, Nov. 21 (during class time: appointments with professor to check off essay______________

SE Presentations: Nov.21-22___________
The presentation is a quarter of the grade.

Supplementary Assignments

On-line Frontline World (on-line responses 3) Start by Monday, Oct. 31-Nov.10_______
Library Research sheet: Monday, Nov. 7 _______________
Website Evaluation completed (worksheet) by Nov. 8 _____________
List of sources (5) minimum in MLA format due Wednesday, Nov. 10 (share in class)___________




Book Report Essay Assignment
This semester we are looking at Tupac Shakur, Art for Social Change and Hip Hop

Each student was asked to choose a book. The author needed to be alive and living in the Northern California and if the book is a biography, the person profiled needs to be alive and also living here, the San Francisco Bay Area. I suggested students chose a subject or author who might also work as a topic for the Social Entrepreneur profile. For example, Alice Waters is a social entrepreneur and there is a book written about her life. She lives in Berkeley. She is not 30 or younger, but that is okay. That requirement is flexible.

For each essay, students need to find three articles: a published book review or analysis, and for the author, see if there is something on the author in Literary Criticism, (on-line in the Library Database and in COA library (public libraries as well). Third, find an article that addresses one of the themes in the book. Include all of these sources in your works cited page.

The essay will be 2-3 pages and in it you will summarize your book’s major themes and analyze them. If the book is a biography, feel free to tell us something about the author and how he or she comes to know the person he or she writes about. If the book is an autobiography or a memoir tell us how the author came to write it and if this is his or her first book.

This is an extra credit essay, but if students plan to write this essay, it is due no later than Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. I need to approve the book first.

Censorship Cyber Assignment(s)

Today, instead of reviewing the SPHE essays (all of them, beginning with Essay 1: Sentence Punctuation), we read one of two essays (handout) on the topic: Censorship. First we talked about what censorship is, defined it and then read an article by Michael Gartner.

Post you response to one of the two: Questions to Write About. The essay response should be 250 words. Include a works cited page. Read the Nathan McCall essay.

Revisions for the hip hop essay (Hurt/Dyson), should have been returned by now. It has been seven (7) days. I received a few Nature/Nurture essays from students. Start the Social Entrepreneur assignments (Frontline World).

There are handouts to accompany the SE essay assignments. Make certain you get them all.

We decided to make the Book Report Essay optional. I will post the assignment for those who are interested.

Frontline World: Engaged Citizenry Cyber-Assignment

Visit http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/socialentrepreneurs.html

Respond to 3 stories by 11/10 (start 10/27). Post your Frontline World Responses (3) here.

Answer the following questions in your response to the program.

Outline:

1.Who is the social entrepreneur profiled?
2.What problem did the person profiled identify?
3.What is the name of the organization they started?
4.Describe their relationship to the community that they serve?

• Why they decided to address this issue?

5.What is the local component?
6.How does the community own the process?

Afeni Shakur: Nature vs. Nurture

Today in class we shared thesis sentences and then spent the remainder of the time, writing. I walked around and gave comments when asked. I am looking specifically at organization in this essay: introduction, topic sentences, the conclusion and how well writers support their thesis.

I will also look at coherence, how well do the ideas connect one to the other and flow. Make certain that you introduce your speakers when citing. Give their credentials: journalist, scholar, writer, author, director, playwright, mother, friend, sister.

The essay should be about 750 words, one citation per page: block quote, free paraphrase, and a shorter citation. The essay should be more than 2/3s original writing.

If you have not gotten the revision to the hip hop essay back to me, it is due now.

Include the scholarly article in the bibliography. For Thursday, October 27, 2011, bring in a completed essay for a peer review, print it out or have it on your computer. The essay is due Friday via Internet: coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com
You can have until Monday, October 31, 2011, 12 noon.

Included should be the Intial Planning Sheet, outline, peer review (Microsoft Comment) or typed response per Questions for Discussing . . . all related Cyber-Assignments and comments.

Paste the document and attach it. Include the assignment in the subject line. I am not opposed to paper copies, but also email it.


Social Entrepreneur Essay

I will be posting the Social Entrepreneur Assignment here as well. There are handouts I will be giving you too.


Book Report Essay

We have run out of time, so this essay will be due with the portfolio, unless students have been reading their book over the past month. We can talk about this.

I returned many of the "Hip Hop Hurt/Dyson" essays yesterday and the remainder today. Use Monday to revise the essay and return to me Tuesday, October 25, 2011. With that revision, include a narrative as to what you had to do to make the paper better. Look at it like you did Pidd's essays in SPHE this semester.

We will also begin the next essay next week. Bring in Initial Planning Sheet and outlines per the schedule. Your evidence is Guy, Dyson, and 1 article on the topic. You don't have to cite from all three, just two. The last document can be a part of the bibliography.

I expect these essays to get passing grades the first time around.

Homework
Homework for Thursday, tomorrow, bring in a completed profile on Afeni Shakur to share. You will include this profile with your essay.

Post your summaries of the scholarly article here. Don't fotget the works cited at the end.

Weekend Homework
Now that you have completed the book, write a letter to Afeni Shakur reflecting on her life and what you learned about her that you didn't know, which perhaps changes how you look at her as a revolutionary, a woman and a mother. Choose minimally three specific aspects of her life to reflect on.

This cyber-assignment is homework for the weekend, due, Thursday-Friday, October 20-21, 2011. Comment on one student's reflection with a citation expanding the comment.

Today we wrote a collaborative essay again. The topic was "inheritance." This time we had four paragraphs: Introduction, Thesis or Pro-argument, Antithesis or Con-argument, and Synthesis or Conclusion.

Students can post the paragraphs in the same location as last week's essay: topical invention.

Students were asked to use: analogies, definitions, consequences and testimony in each paragraph. I assigned different sentence types to each group. Considering the fact that many of the students were new to the concept, the overall essay to come from the exercise was great.

Students have not reflected on the process yet. Make sure you do so.

Homework is to finish the book and bring in a topic we could possibly explore in an essay taking its theme from Evolution of a Revolutionary.

Homework Reminder from Thursday, October 13. I gave students a copy of the assignment:


Reading and Research Homework:

We are on chapter six. Finish the book. Bring in a profile on Afeni Shakur. Look at her evolution over time from childhood, adolescence, as a young adult and as a mature woman who has suffered. Note her accomplishments, her tragedies, things she is proud of and what she still weeps over.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011, bring in a an article from the library database on Afeni tied into a theme you are exploring like Nature vs. Nurture.

Today a lot of students were absent, however, those who made it to class did a great job on the three-part essay exercise. The question: Is Afeni Shakur a revolutionary? was explored from the context of her role as a parent, as a mother and whether she did a good job.

What I came away with from listening to the essay was that parenting is also a revolutionary act, perhaps even more difficult than that of saving a world or a community.

Topical Invention Cyber-Assignment and 3-Part Essay

Today in class we are going to take the sentences developed in the exercise yesterday and write a 3-4 paragraph essay looking at: Introduction, Thesis (pro argument), Antithesis (con argument), and Synthesis (conclusion).

Homework:
Post the essay here for the group. As individuals, comment on the process, that is, looking at the argument form like this where one considers all sides of the issue.

Yesterday we looked at Topical Invention, a questioning strategy to develop: analogies, definition, consequence, testimony.

When using this strategy, students are to reference the topic in each sentence.

The questions are:

Definition: What is it/What was it?
Consequence: What caused it/Did it cause?
Analogy: What is it like or unlike?
Testimony: What does an authority say about it?

Students were to post their thesis sentences developed using the invention strategy: Topical Invention.

Reading and Research Homework:

We are on chapter six. Finish the book. Bring in a profile on Afeni Shakur. Look at her evolution over time from childhood, adolescence, as a young adult and as a mature woman who has suffered. Note her accomplishments, her tragedies, things she is proud of and what she still weeps over.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011, bring in a an article from the library database on Afeni tied into a theme you are exploring like Nature vs. Nurture.

Today in class we talked about primary vs. secondary sources and how important it is to know your source and its author. If anyone is interested in more information about this, ask me for the handout.

Homework is to read chapter 5 in Guy and bring in 3 questions for dicussion. Tomorrow there will be a cyber assignment connected to the reading. Post your questions there.

In the COA library there is a section on Nature vs. Nurture (Destiny vs. Choice). Ask a reference librarian to show you where it is. For this essay writers need 2-3 sources outside the book reference.

The essay will be due at the end of the month. Monday, October 24, Initial Planning Sheet is due. The essay is due Wednesday, October 25. Bring a copy to class. Thursday, October 26 the final draft is due, via email: coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com

Cyber-Field Trip Sign-up for next Thursday, October 13, 2011

Let me know if you are interested and bring your $5 to class Monday-Tuesday, October 10-11, 2011. I want to buy the tickets in advance. The venue will not hold tickets for us, but I doubt that they sell out. However, one never knows, Marc is famous here and well-loved.

We can meet at West Oakland BART at 6:30 PM and travel together. YBCA is on Third and Mission Street, 701 Mission Street in San Francisco.

YBCA is pleased to present the world premiere of Joseph’s newest project, Red, Black & GREEN: Marc Bamuthi Joseph/ The Living Word Project October 13 - 22 7:30 p.m. Admission $5 You can buy as many tickets as you like. Invite friends and family.

Overview

It is a hard and obvious truth that people of color are under-represented in the environmental movement. It is also a hard and obvious truth that violent crime and poor education pose more of an imminent danger to most poor neighborhoods than environmental crisis. I personally am of the belief that the movement for social change and environmental accountability are one and the same, that focusing on steps to sustain the planet ultimately forces us to envision a pathway to sustaining humanity. — Marc Bamuthi Joseph


YBCA has had a long and fertile association with Bay Area artist and director Marc Bamuthi Joseph whose artistic work reflects an evolving aesthetic that integrates spoken word with contemporary movement to produce performance works that are populist, experimental and that challenge formal models from both a cultural and environmental.

Today in class we read, well Edwin read the Preface in Evolution. We then spoke about the writing and the content. Students then critiqued each other's essays. Turn in the essay with the peer reviews. Include the IPS and an outline. Students can email me the cyber-assignments. Pull them together for tomorrow and we can talk about how I want this to look.

We spoke about parallel structure (x), alliteration, assonance, and connotation vs. denotation when looking at words like "intimacy" and the multiple meanings of the word: "spit."

We also spoke about the relationship between Jasmine, the author and her subject, Afeni and how that compared or contrasted with that of Dyson's relationship to his subject, Tupac in Holler.

Recap

1. Essay 1 is due along with peer reviews and associate essays read.

2. Include IPS and outlines

3. Assemble all the cyber-assignments electronically in advance. All assignments connected to Dyson or Shakur or Hip Hop Culture.

4. Bring reading logs to class as well. I will take hard copies. Don't give me your originals.

Evolution of a Revolutionary Book Notes Format

Keep notes along the theme: Nature vs. Nurture or Destiny vs. Choice. Make a column with Tupac at the top. For all the instances where something connected to his mother impacts his life label it Nature vs. Nurture or Destiny vs. Choice.

Have another sheet with Afeni's name at the top with similar columns. Bring to class for discussions. Look in your atlas to find where Afeni was born and where the family lives now.

Make another list of key characters in her life and key and events where fate or choice were involved.

Homework is to read up to page 68. Students need to be thinking about what book they'd like to read for their book report essay. The author should be 30 or younger and live in the SF Bay Area. I will consider fiction, although I suggest finding a book written about or by your social entrepreneur.

More to follow.

Pidd Assignments Writing Homework

1. The POV is due as well. If you need until Monday to get it into me, no problem. Print a copy for me in advance, the printer in A-225 does not work. There will be no make up exam for the Grammar Exam 1.

3. We'll write Essay Exam 1 in the morning. Email yourself the templates (7). It should only take 15 minutes to complete it. You will have to email me. This is where we will meet on Thursdays.

Social Entrepreneur Research Essay Extra Credit
Register for http://extremetouralameda.eventbrite.com/

College of Alameda
Student Center (Building F)
555 Ralph Appezzato Memorial Pkwy
Alameda, CA 94501

If you go to the event, and post something here, a 250 word reflection on the program and its usefulness, you can have extra credit. You might meet an entrepreneur to profile for our final essay.

Friday, October 7, 2011 from 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM (PT)

It has never been easier or more important for students to start a business and think entrepreneurially! In a world of rapidly evolving technology and globalization, being able to leverage the entrepreneurial mindset regardless of career path is critical to success. The Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour (www.extremetour.org) puts on events that can be customized to your campus’s wants and needs in order to introduce all students to this new life framework and inspire them to plan, prioritize, and pursue their own vision.

Pidd New Dates
Do not wait for the class. Complete the book.

All the exercises for the POV essay are to be completed no later than Thursday, October 6. The essay is due Monday-Tuesday, October 10-11, typed and printed.

The Be-Verb exercises are to be completed by Tuesday-Wednesday, October 11-12. The essay is due printed Thursday, October 13.

The Possessives exercises are to be completed by Monday, October 17. Essay Exam 2 will be given to students Tuesday/Wednesday, October 18-20.

The Parallel Structure exercises are to be completed by October 20. Essay Exam 3 will be given Monday-Tuesday, October 24-25.

Subject-Verb AGR exercises are to be completed by October 27. We will write the essay in class Thursday, October 27. If students miss an exam, it might not be able to be made up.

Major Multi-tasking
Keep a clear head. The plan was to be completed with Pidd this week. You will notice that we are a month behind. None of the work is disappearing. We will be working on three tasks at the same time, so stay organized:

1. Reading Jasmine Guy's book. The essay planning will be due October 20. The essay due October 24-25, 2011. The final draft is due October 26-27.

2. Working on the Social Entrepreneur essay.

3. We will spend November on the SE essay and the Book Report Essay. Choose a biography to read preferably connected to the Social Entrepreneur profiled. The person needs to be alive and preferably living here in the SF Bay Area.

If you cannot correct Pidd's essays, you should be worried.

Post your reflection on one of Tupac's poems read in class today. Chose a line that reflects the author's point or argument and expound.

Homework last night was to finish the Dyson-Hurt-Shakur essay re: Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes.

Students peer reviewed each other's essays. Homework is to revise the essay, if needed and bring in another copy tomorrow for another peer review and a grade.

Pidd is always homework. We will review the POV essay tomorrow. It is due Thursday electronically. Start the B-Verb Essay. We'll do the quiz Thursday.

Yesterday, Monday, we took and graded Grammar Exam 1. There was a possible 50 correct, the highest were in the low 40s. I dangled a carrot. If anyone gets 50 correct on Essay Exam 2, let me know and there will be some incentive given for the good work (smile).