Thurs. 9.29

 

I really like the colors in this picture.

Today's notes and homework:

10th

We are still introducing our unit on American Rationalism. The UNIT GOALS include: 1) Be able to explain American Rationalism and its differences from Puritanism IN YOUR OWN WORDS.

2) Be able to analyze a text in terms of its rationalist elements. In other words, be able to explain what elements in a text give evidence that the writer was using a ratinalist world view, with its characteristic (diagnostic) assumptions and methods.

We discussed what happens when we compare puritans to rationalists on major issues

What can we trust?

What is God like?

What is human nature

What is nature

How do we solve problems

How do we understand religion?

Where does B. Franklin stand in this comparison? On most of these points he’s clearly leaning toward the rationalist approach.

HW: Study: be prepared to compare Puritans to rationalists and explain differences…

11/12: We discussed using the EBSCO databases for your research. I NEED SOME SORT OF DRAFT TOMORROW.

8th: Your essay about a person you respect is due tomorrow.

9th: Two paragraphs discussing the implications of the differences between the Babylonian religion and Christianity. In other words, why does it matter whether God has always been God, or had to win a war and be declared God by a council of gods? Why does it matter whether the earth is presently as God made it, or is fallen and awaiting redemption?

Monday 9.26 Notes and Assignments

Hope you are doing OK today! One place I'd like to be able to travel to:

10th: After you turn in your essay tomorrow, we'll move on to the next phase of American literature, the period of Rationalism.

11/12: We discussed the importance of putting quotations in context, introducing them and explaining them--or 'transitioning in and out of the quotation'--so that the reader understands a) the original writer's purpose, b) the place of the ideas in the larger 'conversation' about your topic, and c) the function of this particular bit of information in your own argument.

8th: We will write one more descriptive essay. Due Friday, min. one page typed and double spaced, a description of a person you admire. Your description will explain what it is about that person that you find worthy of respect, admiration or emulation.

9th: We are working on an essay contrasting the Babylonian world view, as seen in the Enuma Elish, with a biblical view of the purpose and structure of creation. While your arguments will be grounded in facts about the E. E. and the Bible, you will me making analytical connections (finding patterns and principles) and drawing evaluative conclusions. 1 1/2 to 2 pages typed. Due date to be announced (TBA) but hopefully sometime next week.

Wed 9 21 Assignments

From Tuesday

10^th: Vocab lesson three exercise A.

11/12: Continue your research. Proposed outline due WED.

8^th: Vocab lesson three exercises A, B, C.

9^th: Read the rest of the Babylonian Creation handout. Outline the main events of the story—summarize them in sequence.

WED.

10^th: Vocab exercise A

11/12: Continue your research; begin drafting your Definition Essay.

8^th: No homework.

9^th: Vocab. lesson three exercises A, B, D.

Monday 9.19 Notes and Assignments

Oops--a little late getting this up. 'Almost complete'.

10^th Read the biography of Anne Bradstreet on page 108; then read ‘Verses upon the Burning of Our House’, page 109.

ASSIGNMENT: Write a 1 p. typed essay, due Monday 9 26: What does this poem reveal about Bradstreet’s faith in God?

            What you need to accomplish in your essay includes:

            1) Communicate an answer to the question: your THESIS

            2) Explain HOW the poem does this—analysis and examples

            3) Revise and edit your early draft(s) effectively.

FOR TOMORROW: 1) Be ready for vocab. quiz.

            2) Read the assignment.

            3) Outline the sequence of ideas in the poem—events and the writer’s responses.

            Remember that you don’t have to understand every word and phrase of a text to understand its overall meaning.

           

11/12: We discussed: A) How to paraphrase and summarize another 'voice' in the conversation. You need to frame the summary/paraphrase in a way that supports your own argument, without distorting or falsifying the source. Don't quote out of context, don't fall victim to the 'closest cliche' method of interpretation. Let your reader know what the source actually said and thought, but also make your own view clear.

B) The outline and specific research plan that's due WED.

Fourth Period: Eighth Grade: Brainstorm, organize, then write a description of a trip you took. When you finish, review for Tuesday’s vocab quiz.

Fifth Period: Ninth Grade: Read the rest of the handout from Friday. As you read, make a list of things that differ from the biblical account of the creation. Then write a paragraph explaining some of the ways this story differs from the Bible.

            When you finish, review for Tuesday’s vocab quiz.

Friday 9 16 Have a Good Weekend

No homework for 8th, 9th and 10th.

Juniors and Seniors:

1) Due Wednesday, a proposed outline of your next essay, as specific as you can make it, AND a list of specific research questions you'll need to answer to be able to write the essay. In other words, what do you intend to say, and what facts and authorities do you need as evidence for your arguments?

2) A substantially complete draft of this second essay is due Oct 3, and a final draft is due Oct 11. YOU NEED TO BE DOING RESEARCH NOW. College students frequently work over the weekend. You may need to do the same.

Thurs 9 15 Notes and assignments

Part of the 'Chi Rho' page from the Book of Kells.

10th. Read three Roger Williams poems in the lit. text, 'Boast not', 'The Courteous Pagan', and 'The Indian Says'. Write a discussion of what the poems seem to be saying about relations between the English colonists, the Indian population, and the teaching of the gospel.

11/12: Keep working on your research. We'll discuss how to frame your 'definition' thesis questions, and how to focus your research topics early in the research process.

Notes in class: Remember that you have two purposes when you summarize or paraphrase: to build a part of your own argument, but also to be fair to the people whose views you're representing.

8th: Write sentences for all the vocab words; the meaning of the word should be clearly implied by the context of the sentences you're writing.

10th: Write sentences for seven of the vocab words.

Have a good evening.

Tues 9 13 Notes and Assignments

The school network was down Monday. Here are the homework assignments for yesterday and today.

10th Due Tuesday: The editing handout from Monday: mark the page to correct errors and point out weak writing.
Wednesday in class essay: Why do you think the Puritans tortured and executed innocent people in the Salem witch trials? Can we learn anything from their mistakes? This assignment is due at the end of class Wed. You can type or write your essay ahead of time and turn it in, or you can bring notes, outlines, and reading materials to class and write it in class.

11/12: Due Wed.: Discuss in writing the topic you have in mind for the next essay: what term or idea do you want to define, in the process of preparing your final research essay?

We discussed in class A) What information you need to keep track of while preparing to document research sources   B) Vague and specific, 'grounded' and speculative research questions.

Remember, there are three categories of research question, all valuable. The first is the broad, speculative TOPIC QUESTION; this helps shape your research and the purpose of your writing, but is too broad to actually answer fully in a single research paper. The second is the ANALYTICAL QUESTION, which addresses specific issues within the topic, such as causes and effects, comparisions, etc. The third, most specific is the FACTUAL QUESTION, which leads to specific FACTUAL ANSWERS about specific data and observations. These answers are necessary to support your ANALYTICAL ANSWERS.

We also discussed some various ways of placing your own ideas in the context of a larger conversation; see Chapter One of They Say, I Say; see especially the templates on pages 21ff.

8th: Due Tuesday: Write a description of a dream or dreams you've had. Write in as much specific detail as possible.
Due Wed.: Choose two things you know how to do and make a list of the steps needed to accomplish each task.

9th: In class essay due Wed, discussing the possible reasons for the similarities between the Walam Olum and Genesis creation accounts. You can bring your finished essay, typed or handwritten, or you can bring notes, texts and outlines and complete your essay in class.

Rhetoric: Final draft of Socrates/Aristotle essays due Thursday.

Thurs 9 8 Notes and Assignments

A Maya sun god.

9 8 11 Notes and Assignments

10^th Read the Cotton Mather selection (handout). Make notes that will help you answer these questions:

1. Was Mather biased? (i.e. was he an objective observer and reporter? How did his preconceptions and pre-judgments possible affect his interpretations of what he observed?)

2. How is what he reports different from a trial today? Would testimony taken in the witch trials be allowed in court today?

3. Did you have any problems reading the material, due to vocabulary, old-fashioned phrasing, etc.?

11/12: We discussed the next assignment, a ‘Definition Essay’—p. 4 of the syllabus.

A completed final draft of this essay will be due on or around the 4^th of October.

Some terms related to your research topic you might define in this essay include ‘loaded’ terms, a crucial or key idea—perhaps the central term of your topic—and controversial terms.

The assignment requires that you use AT LEAST two sources other than a dictionary; but to do a really effective job, and to ensure that your research project is progressing as needed, you should already have many more likely sources identified and read by the end of September.

How can you write a 3 page paper defining a word or term? Using some of your analyitical skills. In addition to defining by explanation, you can define by:

            Contrast: define and explain some opposing term or idea.

                        Example: Define ‘pro-life’ in part as opposed to ‘pro-choice’, or ‘gun control’ as opposed to ‘gun rights’.

            Exclusion: explain and define ideas and terms that are not part of the term you’re defining (why are they excluded? How are they related?)

            Parts and wholes: what are some subordinate parts, aspects or elements of the idea you’re defining?

8^th:

HW: Do vocabulary exercises 2 B, C, and D.

9^th Read Navajo Origin and Walam Olum selections. For each, make notes about how this creation myth differs from the creation accounts in Genesis, then about any similarities it might have to the Genesis narratives.

RHETORIC: Please look at the due dates for your Aristotle vs. Socrates essays. Are you on schedule? If not, why not?

Am I your personal assistant who’s supposed to remind you of appointments and due dates?

Wed 9 7 Notes and Assignments

Oops. I got busy Wednesday afternoon and forgot to post this.

10^th: Think about where the Puritans went wrong? Why did they publically whip Quakers, and torture and hang people falsely accused of being witches?

11/12: Research questions sometimes lead where we didn’t want to go. Are you prepared for facts that don’t fit your preconceptions?

8^th: Vocab 2 A, and finish your revised ‘Place’ paragraphs for tomorrow.

9^th Vocab 2 A, B, and D.

Tuesday 9 6 11 Notes and Assignments

Welcome back. Hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend.

I now have a Facebook page, but I won't accept friend requests from current students. Nothing personal, but I see you all the time; my Facebook account is to keep up with people I don't see all that often. Once you leave ACA--or after I do--then we can be Facebook friends.

I've been looking at some Maya art recently. Here are some stone carvings that are probably as much as a thousand years old:

 

And here's your homework for tonight:

10^th:  VOCAB Quiz Tomorrow! Read 99-100. Review 101-105. Write an evaluative paragraph on this topic: Is the Puritan habit of interpreting specific events as expressions of God’s will valid as they practiced it? As always in academic writing, use formal voice and use specific examples and analysis in support. Bonus for TYPED responses. Due tomorrow.

In the reading, the ‘common prayer’ refers to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, the rituals and liturgy for the Church of England, which many Puritans rejected as being too catholic.

11/12: ‘Final’ drafts due tomorrow.

HW: Use your ‘They Say, I Say’ homework to make a list of research questions. Be as specific as possible.

8^th: Voc quiz tomorrow. Rewrite ‘My Place’ paragraphs—due Thursday.

9^th: Vocab quiz tomorrow.

In-class writing for today (due tomorrow). Write a paragraph explaining the characteristics of a myth. Use examples, etc.

RHETORIC: No more rhetoric classes but work is still due. Revised thesis statements TOMORROW, please.

Friday 9 2 11 Some notes and NO HOMEWORK for most of you

Did you know that 'Labor Day' is to honor not only working men and women but also the 'labor movement'--i.e. labor unions that fought greedy 'robber barons' and their responsibility-deflecting corporations for fair wages and reasonable working hours in the United States?

The other day at Walmart, the only thing I could find made in USA was the antifreeze.

(Tuesday: I just noticed how much this picture of Samuel Gompers looks like Mr. W.!

10th: No homework. Vocab quiz WED., not Tues.

11/12: You have those essays due next week, but enjoy the weekend.

8th: No homework. Vocab quiz WED. not Tues.

9th: No homework. Vocab quiz WED. not Tues.

Rhetoric: Most of you need to REWRITE your inadequate thesis statements and have a paragraph or two drafted by WED at the latest.

Love and happy LABOR DAY. D.

Thurs 9 1 Notes and Assignments

The quest for knowledge sometimes leads

into out of the way places.


10th: Read the handout and answer these questions:
1. What were the people who went exploring looking for? Did they find it?
2. Where did the seed corn come from? (Explain your answers in some detail.)

11/12:
Keep in mind the due date for your 'final' draft of the Personal Narrative Essay. We discussed using authoritative sources in your research essays, and said that Wikipedia is not usually a source you will cite, but is useful for getting an overview of a topic, discovering subtopics, terms and names, and especially (sometimes) for the links and notes at the bottoms of the articles.

8th: We discussed some of the responsibilities and dangers of thinking for yourself. No homework.

9th: Be ready for an open-notes quiz on yesterday's discussion of the characteristics of myths.

Rhetoric: Thesis statements and outlines due TOMORROW by the end of class. Work on them now for a better grade!