Class Canceled, 10/31

According to cuny.edu, classes at all CUNY campuses are canceled tomorrow. I will send out an email concerning the revised schedule. I hope everyone is safe. Take care of yourselves and your families.

For Wednesday, 10/31

Hello, this is a reminder that your research proposals are due in class on Wednesday. You will be handing in hardcopies, not emailing them to me. Please refer to the research assignment sheet for how to compose the proposal.

You are also required to bring your academic sources with you to class. If you can’t print out the hardcopies, then bring your laptops with you. You may also want to bring your laptops if you haven’t completed your research, though we might have time to put them to use. You should also bring the required course texts, They Say / I Say, and A Writer’s Reference.

Please note that you are required to bring the full text of your academic sources with you on Wednesday, not just the abstract or citation info.

If you were scheduled for a conference tomorrow, 10/29, we will have to hold them during regular office hours when classes resume.

Please contact me if you have any questions. I look forward to see you all back in the classroom on Wednesday. Wishing you all the best as we prepare to weather the storm!

What is critical thinking?

As I’ve said to several of you during our conferences, I’m more concerned with how your essays demonstrate your critical thinking than with grammar. In the linked article, “What Exactly is Critical Thinking?,” a professor of government is inspired by the presidential debates to define what he means by “critical thinking” when he requires it of his students. I found number 5 particularly compelling, though, as you know, we have been practicing what it means to consider opposing viewpoints (unlike much of the media, according to this professor).  Do you question why you think what you do about a particular subject when you craft your arguments?

Conferences…

will be held in my office. The location of my office is listed on the syllabus. Please email me if you have questions.

Upcoming Schedule

Hello, everyone,

Starting October 17th, we will have individual conferences with an interlude to attend a class session in the library on the 24th. Please email me as soon as possible to sign up for a date and time. Whoever contacts me first will get the spot of their choice. As people email me, I will update the blog to reflect what spots are available.

Wednesday, 10/17

10:15 Daniel

10:40 Zoe

11:05 Sarah

11:30 Marisa

11:55 Zachary

12:30 Unavailable

12:55 Unavailable

1:15 Apurbo

Monday, 10/22

10:15 Joe

10:40 Shuangshuang

11:05 Bryant

11:30 Britlin

11:55 Tiara

12:30 Unavailable

12:55 Hasan

1:15 Tamar

Wednesday, 10/24-Meet in Room 101A, inside the Media Commons of the Library building. YOU MUST HAVE YOUR CURRENT QC ID WITH YOU!!!, otherwise you will not be able to get in to the building. If you don’t have a current ID, please get one before 10/24.

Monday, 10/29

10:15 Unavailable

10:40

11:05

11:30 Unavailable

11:55 Joshua

12:30 Cyrille

12:55 Unavailable

1:15

Peer Review Monday!

Hi everyone,

Just a reminder that we will be doing peer review on Monday for your synthesis essays. Please bring four hard copies with you to class, and email me a copy as well. Let me know if you have any questions.

Writing Revolution?

The Atlantic Monthly is featuring a series on “how to best teach writing.” The series started with an article by Peg Tyre, called “The Writing Revolution.”According to the article, a large number of students at New Dorp High School were failing because of “bad writing. Students’ inability to translate thoughts into coherent, well-argued sentences, paragraphs, and essays was severely impeding intellectual growth in many subjects.” In other words, researchers found a connection between students’ ability to articulate their ideas through writing and how well they do in other areas of academic study.

The Atlantic Monthly’s featured debate around the teaching of writing can be found here. Take a gander at the different perspectives; you may find something you’d like to include later on in the semester when we start working on the research papers. Or, you’re more than welcome to use something from this series in your synthesis paper in addition to two of the assigned readings.

Homework, assigned 3 October 2012

Hello all,

For next week, please read Ch. 8 of TSIS (“Connecting the Parts), and pages 42-44, 265-266, and 274-275 in A Writer’s Reference for discussions of transitions.

For your blog post, I’d like you to excerpt several (about 3) paragraphs from your visual analysis essay in which you have already used, or should revise to add, transitions. So, you will be reproducing parts of your essay for your blog post and either pointing out where you have already used transitions, or revising to add transitions. Please highlight the transitions in bold.

In addition to adding transitions to the excerpt of your essay, I would like you to “plant a naysayer,” or anticipate and respond to an objection using templates from Ch. 6 of TSIS, which you should also highlight in bold.

Your homework is due by 5pm on Monday, October 8th. (We do not have class because of the holiday)

*Please bring your books to class on Wednesday, October 10th.

Bring your books to class on 10/3/12!

Just a reminder to bring your books with you to class tomorrow, especially A Writer’s Reference. You will be doing group work, and you will need the book. We  will have a contest of sorts, and the winning group will receive extra credit.