Recap and Homework due March 15
Today in class we practiced Topical Invention, a strategy to develop sentences that answer the questions: What is it or was it? (definition); What caused it, will it cause, did it cause? (consequence); What is it like or unlike? (analogy or comparison); What does an authority say about it? (testimony).
We looked at the essay by Isaac Asimov in Models for Writers (Rosa & Eschholz 49-51) on intelligence. This is a definition essay. Your essay due in a couple of weeks is a definition essay.
In this essay your will define happiness. These four sentences will be used in the essay as topic sentences in your paragraphs and as the thesis.
We did a little mapping exercise on the topic "happiness," after spending an hour on the exercises in Writing with a Thesis. We got up to the "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" exercises. Read the two essays and the two students essays that follow on The Lottery. Students do not have to read the story to read the essays.
In both exercises the goal is to identify the writing which has a thesis.
We moved from the Topical Invention and review to reading the Asimov essay where we talked about annotation and thesis development. I forgot to mention and have us talk about the structure of this essay. The writer's introduction is four paragraphs long. He uses his life and that of his mechanic as a point counterpoint as he queries his notion of intelligence. We could tell that he and his mechanic were friends by the way his mechanic speaks to him and kids Asimov about being so smart he can't even solve a riddle.
Students, in groups, were charged with developing four (4) thesis sentences using Topical Invention strategies. The first step was to chose a question from THP assignment. One group of students used Google Docs to develop the sentences together. Next week, we will all practice this in our groups. It is an excellent strategy.
More on Topical Invention:
http://books.google.com/booksid=Qavqk92uRGYC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=define+topical+invention&source=bl&ots=KEg33QeWqw&sig=gI7kmiigdct8BatiJ0NUPCRhVgs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r5AbU_bvOsL1oASOrIG4Bg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=define%20topical%20invention&f=false
More on Topical Invention (Professor Sabir)
http://poeticsrapandtothersocialdiscourses.blogspot.com/2007/09/topical-invention.html
Here is an exercise using Topical Invention. (If you need it do it). Note that there are a couple other categories.
http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/bobtam/website/topical_invention.htm
Homework
Lastly, we watched the library tutorial on the basic search. Homework is to watch the others (there are 5 total) and bring in minimally three articles with MLA citations next week. Summarize one of the scholarly articles. This is last week's assignment. Some students might have already completed this. If a link is not active, just copy and insert into the subject or address line.
http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com/2014/03/research-using-gayle.html
Watch:
Here is a link to what is meant by scholarly articles:
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~janzb/courses/scholarly1.htm
I found that all the links except two work, but I had more success in Firefox than in Chrome.
Deciphering an Assignment Video:
Watch this one too. It is on clarity in assignments:
https://www.wou.edu/provost/library/clip/tutorials/deciphering_assignment.htm
Other Homework:
1. Students received three essays and a chapter from Models for Writers. If you have time, I would suggest you complete the From Reading to Writing package (Rosa & Eschholz 43-68).
2. I also suggest before you write your essay read Eduardo Porter's "What Happiness Is" (Rosa & Eschholz 456-460).
3. Your first mastery essay isn't due until March 22. Know which prompt you want to respond to. Develop four sentences using Topical Invention. Bring to class.
4. Complete Rubin's book.
5. Happiness Weekly Discussion: Topic 5: The Third Splendid Truth.
6. They Say, I Say. We have completed chapters 1-5. In your essay you will have to use at least three templates. Today we spoke about "Quotation Sandwiches" 47-49.
We looked at the essay by Isaac Asimov in Models for Writers (Rosa & Eschholz 49-51) on intelligence. This is a definition essay. Your essay due in a couple of weeks is a definition essay.
In this essay your will define happiness. These four sentences will be used in the essay as topic sentences in your paragraphs and as the thesis.
We did a little mapping exercise on the topic "happiness," after spending an hour on the exercises in Writing with a Thesis. We got up to the "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" exercises. Read the two essays and the two students essays that follow on The Lottery. Students do not have to read the story to read the essays.
In both exercises the goal is to identify the writing which has a thesis.
We moved from the Topical Invention and review to reading the Asimov essay where we talked about annotation and thesis development. I forgot to mention and have us talk about the structure of this essay. The writer's introduction is four paragraphs long. He uses his life and that of his mechanic as a point counterpoint as he queries his notion of intelligence. We could tell that he and his mechanic were friends by the way his mechanic speaks to him and kids Asimov about being so smart he can't even solve a riddle.
Students, in groups, were charged with developing four (4) thesis sentences using Topical Invention strategies. The first step was to chose a question from THP assignment. One group of students used Google Docs to develop the sentences together. Next week, we will all practice this in our groups. It is an excellent strategy.
More on Topical Invention:
http://books.google.com/booksid=Qavqk92uRGYC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=define+topical+invention&source=bl&ots=KEg33QeWqw&sig=gI7kmiigdct8BatiJ0NUPCRhVgs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=r5AbU_bvOsL1oASOrIG4Bg&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=define%20topical%20invention&f=false
More on Topical Invention (Professor Sabir)
http://poeticsrapandtothersocialdiscourses.blogspot.com/2007/09/topical-invention.html
Here is an exercise using Topical Invention. (If you need it do it). Note that there are a couple other categories.
http://www.cod.edu/people/faculty/bobtam/website/topical_invention.htm
Homework
Lastly, we watched the library tutorial on the basic search. Homework is to watch the others (there are 5 total) and bring in minimally three articles with MLA citations next week. Summarize one of the scholarly articles. This is last week's assignment. Some students might have already completed this. If a link is not active, just copy and insert into the subject or address line.
http://professorwandasposse.blogspot.com/2014/03/research-using-gayle.html
Watch:
Here is a link to what is meant by scholarly articles:
http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~janzb/courses/scholarly1.htm
I found that all the links except two work, but I had more success in Firefox than in Chrome.
Deciphering an Assignment Video:
Watch this one too. It is on clarity in assignments:
https://www.wou.edu/provost/library/clip/tutorials/deciphering_assignment.htm
Other Homework:
1. Students received three essays and a chapter from Models for Writers. If you have time, I would suggest you complete the From Reading to Writing package (Rosa & Eschholz 43-68).
2. I also suggest before you write your essay read Eduardo Porter's "What Happiness Is" (Rosa & Eschholz 456-460).
3. Your first mastery essay isn't due until March 22. Know which prompt you want to respond to. Develop four sentences using Topical Invention. Bring to class.
4. Complete Rubin's book.
5. Happiness Weekly Discussion: Topic 5: The Third Splendid Truth.
6. They Say, I Say. We have completed chapters 1-5. In your essay you will have to use at least three templates. Today we spoke about "Quotation Sandwiches" 47-49.
posted by Professor Wanda's Posse at 1:57 PM
1 Comments:
Not sure were to post this.
Dorothy Middleton
Professor Sabir
English 1A
15 March 2014
Summary
Take charge of your happiness
In the article, Take charge of your happiness, the author, Kelsey Husnick states that happiness is difficult to “define, quantify and keep track of”. She goes on to say that the author of, The Happiness Project, Gretchen Rubin describes happiness as an emotion that was not the same for each person and that we seem to all seek it, many seem to find it, yet when it is found, we are not sure what we have; not sure how to get more of it. Kelsey points out that Rubin’s book was a manifestation of a yearlong project to make her life happier by changing and working on things that would satisfy her yearning to be happier.
In the article Kelsey questioned, if most people would have the luxury of being off from work a whole year, and why one would need a whole month to reflect on one’s marriage and children. Although Kelsey didn’t agree with the length of the project, 12 months, she did find some value in some of the projects Rubin decided to tackle.
Kelsey admits that the reading was as she puts it, “a bit dry” but felt that there was some benefit in reading the book. She was of the mindset that, The Happiness Project did show that with a small about of effort we could make changes, such as drinking more water or keeping in touch with love ones, which could lead to some form of happiness.
Works Cited
Husnick, Kelsey. "Take Charge of Your Happiness." InfoTrac Custom Journals. Gale, n.d. Web. .
Rubin, Gretchen Craft. The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun. New York: HarperCollins, 2009. Print.
Post a Comment
<< Home