Portfolio Checklist Summer 2012

This checklist can serve as the table of contents. Put a check next to the items to show inclusion in the portfolio. Use as the second page to the portfolio, after the cover sheet. Where there are questions for the section, students can post the answers to the narrative there. Number the pages with a header.


Name ______________________________
Date ______________________________
Class including class code and semester ______
Address _______________________________________
Phone number __________________________________
Email address__________________________________

Course codes: 30175
Class Meetings: June 18—July 26, 7:30-10:20, MTWTh

Portfolio Due Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2012, 8 AM via e-mail coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com

July 30, 2012 9 - 12 noon; 1-3 p.m.
Drop-in Portfolio assembly workshop in A-232 _______________

Portfolio Due Date
Portfolios due via e-mail by July 31, 2012, 8 AM. Students can submit the portfolios earlier electronically. Make sure you receive a receipt for your submission. No paper copies, no exceptions.

Grade Justification
What grade do you think you've earned this semester? What evidence supports this conclusion?

1. Portfolio Essay 1 Reflection on COA Summer 2012, Professor Sabir’s English Class_______

The narrative will look at the six (6 ) weeks and the themes we looked at this semester such as women’s empowerment.

Students can also consider what he or she learned about him or herself this semester. 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.

2. Portfolio Essay 2 Reflection on revision process__________________

Look 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 it to a later paper. Often you can more easily see the differences in the writing and one's mastery of certain concepts. Also discuss skills you need to improve and how you plan to address that. Include the Write Course Video: "Revision Strategies," the two chapters from Writing with a Thesis, and Diana Hacker's Rules for Writers, in your bibliography and also site at least one in your analysis of your revision process. Also cite your essay(s) used as examples in this second essay.

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 (1 & 2) should be minimally 1-2 pages (250-500 words each).


ESSAY SECTION
Social Entrepreneur Portfolio

Planning _____________

Library Research sheet _______________(if you did it)
List of sources (5) minimum in MLA format (post here)

Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis__________
First Draft (peer review)__________
Final Draft Grade ______________
Revisions (How many?)_____________
Correction-type essay ________________ or narrative ____________

SE Presentation date ___________
Self-reflection __________
Classmate responses __________ (how many?)

Cyber-Assignments:

Frontline World ___________
Muhammad Yunus ___________
Inderjit Khurana’s Platform Schools ____________
Ode Article Response________


II. Half the Sky

Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis _________
First Draft _________
Final Draft Grade __________
Revisions (how many? Grades?) __________

Correction-type essay grade__________or narrative _______________

Please include in this section peer comments and self-reflections (how many?)_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Half the Sky freewrites (how many?)_______

Include peer responses and self-reflection ___________
Cyber assignment attached to this assignment (250 words) __________


III. Book Report

Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis___________
Final draft grade__________
Revisions__________________
Correction-type essay grade ____________or Narrative________________

Book Report presentation___________
Peer reviews (how many?)_________________

Book Report Presentations
Grade is an “A” for all presentations or “-0-“ for opting out. The presentation is a quarter of the grade for this assignment
Abstract___________
Self-reflection__________
Feedback_____________


IIII. Mighty Be Our Powers Essay Portfolio

Final Draft of Essay __________
Initial Planning Sheet (IPS)___________
Outline __________
Peer Review Response to Discussion Questions_________
Peer Review using Microsoft Comment__________
Cyber Assignments connected to Mighty________
They Say Assignments connected to Mighty

Cyber-Assignments connected to Mighty

June 21: Dissonance, Conflict and Compromise, all elements the protagonist Leymah Gbowee confronts in her memoir, Mighty Be Our Powers.

June 25: Collaborative Summary ________

June 26: Collaborative Essay on Mighty.

June 27: Today we read from Alice Walker's We Are the One's We've Been Waiting For, the section "All Praises to the Pause; The Universal Moment of Reflection" (47-79).

July 11: Maria Mauldar song, "Stop Runnin from Your Own Shadow" ________


Additional Cyber-Assignments
June 17: Comment on syllabus_______

June 19: Reflection on freedom ______

June 20: Summer Solstice _______

June 21:Revise the summaries of the Thompson article and post

July 2: Freedom, Emancipation and Independence _______

July 3: Response for the Library Orientation________

July 17: Ruthie Foster's song "I Don't Want to Know" from her Let It Burn CD (2011)_______

Did I forget anything? __________ (Post here in the Portfolio)


Grammar Exams and Reflection
Multiple Choice Exam 1 (June 19, 2012) ________

Students are to email me their scores, total score, as well as the scores for each section. Conclude this note with a statement on how each of you plans to use Rules for Writers to address this deficit in your knowledge. Email to coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com

Multiple Choice Exam 2 (July 24) _________

Students are to email me their scores, total score, as well as the scores for each section. Conclude this note with a statement on how each of you plans to use Rules for Writers to address this deficit in your knowledge.


Teacher research

Can I use your work in presentations and publications? Would you like to be anonymous? If I plan on using your essays or work in a book, I will let you know and share any proceeds.

Yes, I agree_______
No, do not use my work_______


Final Grade

Portfolio checklist _____________
Portfolio Essay 1_______________
Portfolio Essay 2_______________
Portfolio Grade_________

Course Grade_________

Today's Social Entrepreneur presentations were impressive, esp. those students who were going to use PowerPoint and ended up winging it (smile).

Some students were not able to present, because we ran out of time. I apologize for this. We probably should have started Wednesday. I loaned books to a couple students, bring them by the college next week while I am there Monday or Tuesday.

Portfolio Writing Workshop Monday-Tuesday at COA

We will meet in A-232 Monday, July 30, 2012, 9 a.m. to 12 noon and 1:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 31, 2012, I will be around again about 10 a.m. until about 1 p.m.

Portfolios are due by Tuesday at 10 a.m. If you need help assembling it and cannot make it Monday, let me know.

I am reading essays now. The grades are final on the essays. If you want to revise an essay with a final grade of C-, you will have to write a correction essay.

A correction essay takes each error and in great details discusses the error and how the writer can correct it, citing Hacker and/or Graff & Birkenstein as the resource. Note the handout we completed in class on confused words to see a sample of a template.

The correction essay also needs an introduction and a conclusion where you discuss how the writer (yourself) can improve her grade on the failed essay. In the conclusion you can include a quote or a witty comment.

This essay proceeds the failed essay in the portfolio. You can revise as many of the essays you received failing grades on you like. If the correction essay is not a passing essay, I will not read the revised essay it is referencing. Make sure you include a works cited page with reference to the essay and Hacker.

Taken from July 3 post:

If you chose to revise the first essay, for students who got C-, include a narrative indicating what changed between the drafts. Use Hacker for the rules that might govern the change. Have a works cited or reference page as well. Quote the error and write what the revised passage looks like now.

For example:

In Wanda Sabir's first essay, "Tough Love for Leymah," she makes many errors, so many she fails the assignment. Lucky for her, she was not alone in the deep blue sea of errors (smile). She decides to take advantage of the opportunity to revise her essay and decides to tackle it one paragraph at a time with the hopes of getting a passing grade this time around.

Her first error is dropped quotes, the authors in They Say, I Say, call them "hit and runs." She kills a lot of readers in this short yet deadly composition. There are at least eight accidents--I don't know how she is still operating in the English language. Her license should have been revoked.

The first error is in paragraph 3. She writes: "XYZ" (1). We don't know who is speaking. There are many rules pertaining to incorporating text into one's discourse. In this case, she should set the context in the signal phrase, so the reader while see how the citations follows from what is said prior: "Leymah Gbowee says while initiating a new policy at the ABC council meeting of the region (page number and author re: reference).

Wanda makes similar errors on this page elsewhere. She writes: "VNM." Once again there is no signal phrase, but this time, we know who is talking, so "She says, 'VNM'" would work here.

Not only does the writer play hit and run games with citations, she doesn't seem to know how to use MLA when citing in-text, whether that is at the end of a block quote or a shorter citation. She has a lot of trouble with quotes within quotes. Take for instance, the error in paragraph 10. Wanda writes, "OPL." (4).

And so on.

Final Cyber-Assignment

Social Entrepreneur Essay Abstracts and Planning Sheets, Comments and Self-Reflections.

Today we completed the balance of the book report essays and talked about the final portfolio, as well as how to pass the class with a C (smile).

Students opted to present tomorrow in class. We will meet in our regular classroom.

Presentations have been great! Too bad I cannot grade you on orals--passing essays are how you pass the class. That said, students are encouraged to print a copy of their social entrepreneur essay for me.

Monday--classroom to be announced tomorrow, students can drop in to assemble their portfolios. I will be on campus from 9 to about 5 p.m. grading portfolios. I will be available to help with the assembly from 9-11 or 12 noon.

You can call me and we can walk through the portfolio assembly on the phone or in person. I will not be able to read individual essays. I will try to get revision grades back to you before Monday. I also have not completed the checklist which can serve as a table of contents.

Don't forget the self reflections and the comments on student presentations.


Multiple Choice Exam 2 (July 24)

Students are to email me their scores, total score, as well as the scores for each section. Conclude this note with a statement on how each of you plans to use Rules for Writers to address this deficit in your knowledge.

We completed four more MLA exercises Wednesday, July 25.

Freewrite

We listened to Ruthie Foster sing "I Don't Want to Know," from her Let It Burn CD (2011) on Blue Corn Music Inc. Students wrote a three part essay: thesis, antithesis and synthesis. We start with the pro-argument.

Don't Want to Know

I don't want to know 'bout evil, I only want to know about love
I don't want to know 'bout evil, I only want to know about love
Sometimes it gets so hard to listen
Hard for me to use my eyes
And all around the gold is glistening
Making sure it keeps me down to size

I'm waiting for the plains to tumble
Waiting for the towns to fall
I'm waiting for the cities to crumble
Waiting till the sea ?...?
Yes, it's getting hard to listen
Hard for us to use our eyes
'Cause all around the gold is glistening
Making sure it keeps us hypnotized

From the writer's website

I don't want to know about evil,
Only want to know about love;
I don't want to know about evil,
Only want to know about love.

Sometimes it gets so hard to listen,
Hard for me to use my eyes.
And all around the gold is glistening,
Making sure it keeps me down to size.

And I don't want to know about evil,
Only want to know about love;
I don't want to know one thing about evil,
Only want to know about love.

I'm waiting for the planes to tumble,
Waiting for the towns to fall.
I'm waiting for the cities to crumble,
Waiting till the sea a grow.

Yes it's getting hard to listen,
Hard for us to use our eyes.
'Cause all around that gold is glistening,
Making sure it keeps us hypnotized.

And I don't want to know about evil,
I only want to know about love;
I don't want to know about evil,
Only want to know about love.

I don't want to know anything about evil,
Only want to know about love;
I don't want to know about evil,
Only want to know about love.

Read more at http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/150234/#ULoT1oeAjeqcmXwj.99
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/j/john+martyn/dont+want+to+know_20186309.html ]

Abstracts and Initial Planning Sheet for the Book Report Essay. Post here tomorrow by noon.

After bouncing around the campus this morning looking for a classroom with technology, we landed temporarily in the A-building, where we looked at a student paper to see how well he integrated citations into the text, used metacommentary, considered opposing viewpoints , and used appropriate voice signals so we would know when he was speaking and when it was someone else.

We also did a check-in so students could let me know how they are doing. Many students were confused over what to write for the Book Report Essay which was due today, but students can have until Wednesday, as I am still reading Half the Sky essays.

I am going to give students a link to post essay plans and the abstracts. Make sure your thesis is stated in the abstract. Make the writing elegant.

We watched a New Heroes video on Inderjit Khurana's Ruchika School Social Service Organization (RSSO), Train Platform Schools in Orissa, India. We then talked about the business: http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/khurana.html

Students were to develop six sentences: 2-3-part thesis sentences; 1 analogy, 1, definition, and 1 consequence. You can post them here.

Homework is to complete the book report essay and to work on the abstract for the presentations. The social entrepreneur essay is due next Wednesday, July 25, for a peer review. The final draft is due with the portfolio, July 27, 2012 by 12 noon.

Email the list of minimally five sources Thursday, July 19 along with an Initial Planning Sheet for the Social Entrepreneur Essay to coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com

Frontline World: Engaged Citizenry Cyber-Assignment

Frontline World Cyber-Assignment Post(s) http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/socialentrepreneurs.html

Respond to 3 stories between 7/12/2012-07/20/2012. Bring in headphones for the computer. Post your Frontline World Responses (3) on the blog.

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/business(es) they started?
4.Describe his or her relationship to the community served?

• Why they decided to address this issue?

5.What is the local component, that is, how does the community own the process?
6. How is success measured?
7. What are the evaluative tools?

Skipped a day (smile). Note the due dates.

Today we finally listened to the Maria Mauldar song: http://www.myspace.com/mariamuldaurtoday/music/songs/stop-runnin-from-your-own-shadow-46300912

Linde transcribed the lyrics for anyone who wants them (smile)

you keep on changing towns
running from place to place
tryna out run the troubles
that you don't wanna face
show me a person who won't look like i might
i show you someone who has failed at everything he tries

stop running from your own shadow baby
dont you know that youll never get away
itll fade in the dark
but it comes back with the break of day

it's just as easy to feel good as is it to feel bad
better to have a little smile
than to run around looking bad
a smile will bring you sunshine
a frown will bring you rain
well it's just like a toothache baby
ain't nothing but pain

oh stop running from your own shadow baby
don't you know that you'll never get away
it'll face in the dark
but it comes back with the break of day

i know what i'm talking about
i use to be a runner too
it's like looking in a mirror
looking right at you

stop running from your own shadow baby
don't you know that you'll never get away
it'll fade in the dark
but it comes back with the break of day

you don't stay nowhere long enough
for even the grass to grow
before you can reap the harvest..
you're back up and on the go

i know what i'm talking about
i use to be a runner too
it's like looking in a mirror
looking right at you

stop running from your own shadow
don't you know that youll never get away
it'll fade in the dark
but it comes back with the break of day

Post your freewrite here (smile).

We completed four (4) MLA worksheets from Hacker on-line. We also talked about primary and secondary sources and I gave students several handouts re: evaluating sources.

We reviewed transitions in They Say, I Say (Chapter 5).

Homework is to bring in a completed Initial Planning Sheet for the Book Report essay. The second task is to read the two handouts on Revision.

Tomorrow we will continue in They Say, I posted a few other exercises, we did not have time to complete. We will do a few more grammar refreshers, watch a Frontline video or a New Hero episode. We can meet in the classroom tomorrow, not A-202E.

Students will have to watch three Frontline World episodes on Social Entrepreneurs by Thursday next week. Visit http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/socialentrepreneurs.html Post your responses to the questions at the link I will provide. Answer the questions in complete sentences. Don't forget to include a heading on all posts.

Yesterday we read the Ode article in depth. The article is online as well. I encouraged students to read the second article which is an interview. Yesterday, students also practiced the 3-part thesis (handout). We then used the Ode article to practice outlining. I encourage students to use the outline form for the book report essay or the social entrepreneur essay.

Monday, July 16, 2012, bring in your abstracts for the book report essay. We might go over to A-202E after our break. I'd like everyone to find a book review, an essay or some scholarly work referencing your book or its themes.

Presentations

The presentations will be Tuesday, July 17. Hopefully, we can finish in one day, both weeks. The SE essay presentations tend to go longer. Plan for 3-5 minutes for both presentations if you are flying solo--10 minutes max. After each presentation there is a self-reflection (written and posted) and each student has to respond to each presenter indicating what worked well (posted and given to the student on their abstract). This is not due the same day, rather by the next day.

If you want me to make copies of the abstract(s), print one for me in advance. Give it to me Monday, July 16 and Monday, July 23.

If the plan is a joint presentation, make sure it is rehearsed.

Look at the day-by-day post for abstract guidelines. I have given samples of abstracts from Owl at Purdue University. Hacker might have something on it. I haven't checked.

Preparation for Book Report & SE essay assignments

Monday, July 16, 2012, also bring in five sources for the SE essay in MLA format. The outline for the SE essay is due Monday, July 23, 2012. Bring in a paper copy if you do not have a computer. Make sure you include a naysayer, foster empathy, that is let us know why we should care, and lastly, include meta-commentary. It goes without question that the paper should be coherent, that is have proper signals like transition and pointing words (They Say) connecting the ideas paragraph by paragraph.

SE Essay due date and presentation

The essay is due for peer review, Wednesday, July 25. We will have presentations July 25-26, 2012.

Course Portfolio
Portfolios are due Friday, July 27, 2012 by midnight. I will host a portfolio workshop the last week of classes, probably Monday, July 23, 2012. It will be an hour right after class in A-202E. If I have time, I will host another workshop perhaps Thursday, July 26, for an hour as well. We will play it by ear.

Today we watched one of the New Heroes' episodes on Muhammad Yunus. We then evaluated Grameen Banks website using the handout Professor Gerstle gave us Monday during the library orientation.

We spent most of the remainder of the class writing a collaborative essay on Half the Sky, using 3 of the 4 essay choices. Students worked in pairs or alone to write a 3-4 paragraph essay profiling one character from the book we divided into chapters.

Each paragraph of about 5 sentences was to utilize one block quote, one free paraphrase and one shorter citation.

Post the short essay here. Put the names of the authors here as well.

Homework is the write the Half essay and work on your revisions of Mighty which are due by tomorrow sometime.

Essay Assignments: Social Entrepreneur; Book Report
For due dates, look at the outline posted three weeks ago. I will add the dates later.

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 and a woman. 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 5-20 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 minimally pages. This does not include the works cited page or bibliography/reference page.


English 1A Social Entrepreneur Due Dates:

Planning Due by (share)_____________
Essay: Planning Sheet, Outline, Thesis due __________
First Draft(s)

Final Draft (during class time: appointments with professor to check off essay______________

SE Presentations: ___________
Abstract posted by:____________
The presentation is a quarter of the grade.

Supplementary Assignments

On-line Frontline World (on-line responses 3) Start by _______
Library Research sheet: _______________
Website Evaluation completed (worksheet) by _____________
List of sources (5) minimum in MLA format due (share in class)___________




Book Report Essay Assignment
This summer we are looking at Women & Girls

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 3-4 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.

Essay due__________

Presentations _________

Abstract posted by__________

1. Literature Circles: Today in class we are looking at practical applications for They Say in Half the Sky and in our own first essays. Students start by doing exercises 1 & 2 on page 70-72.

2. Develop character profiles for the key figures in each chapter. Also note the place and the presenting problem/solution. Are any of the solutions 100 percent effective? Why or why not? How do the authors keep the readers optimistic despite repeated failures or partial successes?

How do the authors develop empathy for the characters? Do the stories ever feel like too much?

3. Read Aloud Protocol (demonstration)

4. Revisions recommended (optional). If you chose to revise the first essay, for students who got C-, include a narrative indicating what changed between the drafts. Use Hacker for the rules that might govern the change. Have a works cited or reference page as well. Quote the error and write what the revised passage looks like now.

For example:

In Wanda Sabir's first essay, "Tough Love for Leymah," she makes many errors, so many she fails the assignment. Lucky for her, she was not alone in the deep blue sea of errors (smile). She decides to take advantage of the opportunity to revise her essay and decides to tackle it one paragraph at a time with the hopes of getting a passing grade this time around.

Her first error is dropped quotes, the authors in They Say, I Say, call them "hit and runs." She kills a lot of readers in this short yet deadly composition. There are at least eight accidents--I don't know how she is still operating in the English language. Her license should have been revoked.

The first error is in paragraph 3. She writes: "XYZ" (1). We don't know who is speaking. There are many rules pertaining to incorporating text into one's discourse. In this case, she should set the context in the signal phrase, so the reader while see how the citations follows from what is said prior: "Leymah Gbowee says while initiating a new policy at the ABC council meeting of the region (page number and author re: reference).

Wanda makes similar errors on this page elsewhere. She writes: "VNM." Once again there is no signal phrase, but this time, we know who is talking, so "She says, 'VNM'" would work here.

Not only does the writer play hit and run games with citations, she doesn't seem to know how to use MLA when citing in-text, whether that is at the end of a block quote or a shorter citation. She has a lot of trouble with quotes within quotes. Take for instance, the error in paragraph 10. Wanda writes, "OPL." (4).

And so on.

5. Homework --finish the book. We'll do the Initial Planning Sheet and outline in class. We will write an introduction on Thursday and share.

6. Freewrite--song or Walker (smile)

Our time was short in class today as we had a library orientation from 9-10:20 with Professor Steve Gerstle.


Freewrite & Cyber-Post 1
Post your freewrite here on: we talked about the subtleties or differences between these terms looking at our lives, at the lives of the women and girls profiled in Half the Sky: Freedom, emancipation, independence.

Library Reflection and Assignment & Cyber-Post 2

For the students present, reflect on the orientation: What did you learn about research? How can one ascertain whether or not a publication is scholarly? Name the databases and what kind of research they are best suited for. Use one of the databases or another on the COA website to find supporting information for the topic we are exploring for this essay based on the book Half the Sky: human trafficking, sexual exploitation, misogyny or societal neglect of their female population, education economic development or the girl effect (smile). . . .

Talk about whether of not the search was easy and what you found. This response is due by tomorrow afternoon.

Annotating Questions and Considerations

When reading Half, ask questions posed in They Say: Giving the context or "starting with what others are saying" (19-22); summarizing key parts which is helpful when one is trying to be objective (31-38); how to use quotations (42-50); agreeing, disagreeing and the "okay, but" response (55-66); how to keep your head above the waters of "they say." What do "I say?" (68-74).

We will do exercises: 1 (75-76) and 2 (76-77).

For Thursday, July 5, "Skeptics May Object: Planting the Naysayer in Your Text" (78-90).

We will do exercises 1 (90-91), and 2 (91).

We reviewed the introduction and talked a bit about the book, not much. In They Say, I Say, we looked at Part 2: "I Say" (55-101). Next week we will look at Tying It All Together (105).

Students are to read up to chapter 9 (149).

We will spend tiomorrow and Thursday, using the book to address the templates used in Part 2 and perhaps Part 1. We will look at signal phrases and block quotes.

Kristof and WuDunn do a great job in integrating sources. I have posted here the essay assignment for the three essays.

Tomorrow
Copy of the Mighty essay
Students are to bring in a copy of their Mighty essay with Initial Planning Sheet and Outline. There was confusion about when Essay 1 was due. Essays are due before the class meeting the day of unless otherwise indicated.

Book Report Essay
Bring in the book you would like to read for the book report essay tomorrow as well, no later than Friday, so I can see it.


Half the Sky Essay Assignment
Summer 2012

Half the Sky raises many issues about global gender equity. As you read start to formulate your thoughts and develop a question to answer in a persuasive essay.

If students like some of the topics we have already explored and their freewrite responses, certainly they can expand on previously contemplated topics such as micro-finance as a way to purchase freedom for many women in the world of Half the Sky, the benefits of education, and the power of alliances with other women and men within and without one’s society.

Other topics we have explored are the semantics of freedom—what is “power” or “empowerment”? Does the definition change when we compare regional change in the worlds of the women we meet in Half the Sky, or is the definition relatively consistent?

Is there a prototype or archetype for this philosophical empowered woman? What does she look like? Can we do selective breeding and mass produce these women so that the world changes overnight? Can we inject girls with a serum to prevent oppression once and for all? (I am not being literal here. Pun intended where applicable (smile).

Cultural traditions supported by women often continue oppressive practices many men are opposed to. How do women participate in their own oppression and disempowerment (if this is a word)?

Half the Sky is a sobering look at women abroad. It is written, however, in a way which makes most readers look for inequities at home, that is, gender-based inequities at home. Yet, despite the huge job in front of us (empathetic readers) the writers seem to balance despair with hope. How do they accomplish this task? Look at the text’s organization for clues.

Rape is one of the worse forms of violence against women. In societies which have centered its core values in the chastity of its women, a rape mares the reputation of the entire family. Rape dishonors the family name and often causes irreversible harm to the woman’s status thereafter—no one will marry her. These women and girls are often tacitly encouraged in some cultures to end their lives. In Half the Sky, though, we are introduced to women who do not think their vaginas are symbols of their worthiness. Who are these women and how are they fighting back?

Feel free to develop your own questions to explore. We will talk about this further in class. Each question needs to look at Half the Sky as a primary resource, of course, and then use two articles outside the book to support the movement or thinking connected to issues (moving outward). Students could also try to find a local or western first world nation connection in ones search for related materials. Use the library database where possible. Students do not have to cite the sources in-text, just read it.

The essay will be between 3-5 typed pages long. This includes a works cited page. Each essay will include 3-5 citations (1-2 per page); two of the 3-5 citations should be a block quote and another, a free paraphrase. Students also have to use ellipses in their block quote or in-text citation. I need to see that students know how to use these devices.

NOTE: The 3 page essay can only have 3 citations. 1 citation per page.

If students cannot develop their own question, so by all means use one of mine. If you want to develop your own, let me see it first, perhaps when you bring in the Initial Planning Sheets with outline: July 5, 2012.

Questions (Choose 1)

1. Identify three women who prove the authors’ thesis or purpose for writing the book. Be sure to state that thesis in your argument. (Do not retell the story. Use only what you need to prove your point.)

2. How do WuDunn and Kristof define empowerment using the lives of women in their book, Half the Sky?

3. Choose one or more of the successful interventions that save and improve women and girls' lives. Use profiles of women cited by the authors to show its success and why.

4. Half the Sky is a book that takes its reader on an emotional roller coaster. This is one of the criticisms students have cited in the past when critiquing the text. Talk about the authors use of emotional appeals to convince us of their issues urgency. Do you ever feel manipulated and if so, where in the text is this more evident than elsewhere? Is manipulation ever fair to an audience? Why or why not?


Half the Sky DUE DATES:

1. Essay Initial Planning Sheet due: July 5, 2012
2. Essay due for peer review: Monday, July 9, 2012. Bring in an electronic copy and a paper copy of the essay for the peer review.
3. Final essay draft with peer review due via email July 10, 2012: coasabirenglish1A@gmail.com

In the Half the Sky essay portfolio include freewrites and reading logs. Turn all of this in with essay.