Student-Led Lit Discussion Schedule

December 9

• The Science of Happiness  p 374 TERRENCE 
• Act the Way You Want to Feel p333 CAITLYN

• December 11

• Positive Feeling and Positive Character p 361 CARTE’A
• The Organic Manifesto p 460 NATASHA

December 16

• From Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience p 319 YANNELY
• The Gift of Fear p 268 TRAVIS

December 18

• Hiding/Seeking p 507 JUSTIN
• Cafeteria Consciousness p 451 BRYAN

Transitions

• First, using the transitional words and phrases handout, add at least 4 transitional words and phrases to the following paragraph and repost:

One reason people lie is to achieve personal power. Achieving personal power is helpful for someone who pretends to be more confident than he really is. One of my friends threw a party at his house last month. He asked me to come to his party and bring a date. I didn’t have a girlfriend. One of my other friends, who had a date to go to the party with, asked me about my date. I didn’t want to be embarrassed, so I claimed that I had a lot of work to do. I said I could easily find a date even better than his if I wanted to. I also told him that his date was ugly. I achieved power to help me feel confident. I embarrassed my friend and his date. This lie helped me at the time, since then it has made me look down on myself.

• Next, also using the handout, write one paragraph on the topic of your choice of at least 6 sentences that incorperates 4 transitional phrases and/or words and post online.
• Last, when you are finished, look at your essay and incorperate some of these phrases and words into it in preparation for draft 3 to make your ideas flow more smoothly into each other.

Some suggestions for your paragraph topics:

• Registering for classes
• Getting to school in the morning
• Any "how to" instructions: ex: How to ask for a date or How to ask for a raise

Caveat: Using first, next and last should be avoided for this assignment. Also, please do not take any "shortcuts" such as modifying existing writing unless it is your own as this will not have the same impact upon your writing skills.

Revision and Editing

View the following suggestions for revision and continue to revise and edit your essay.

Prezi- 5 Paragraph Essay

Click here to view the Prezi presentation on the 5 paragraph essay we will discuss and view in class next week.

Don't forget to email me the latest draft of your essay no later than this Sunday night.

Is Google Making Us Stupid?

Carr's argument is based on history, scientific studies and his own experience, as well as that of others. Take an opposite position and discuss what evidence you would use in writing a counter argument to his text. (3 paragraph minimum)

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in Persuasion/Advertising/Writing

Here is the PPT that I used during our class discussion. You can view it here.

Take a few moments to watch the video below-- it will take about 12 minutes total. Then, answer the following questions regarding the federal campaign for fatherhood, as created by the Ad Council.




Be specific in answering the following:

1. Who is the target audience for the ads?
2. What messages are being communicated by the ads? In what way are they communicated?
3. What rhetorical device are the ads using?-- be specific to each ad if they are using different devices.
4. Was there anything that was surprising about the ads?
5. Discuss the choice of spokespeople for the ads.
6. Write your an appeal to fathers which focuses on the values the ads communicate using appeals to Ethos, Pathos and Logos. (This should be one full paragraph, minimum.)

Black Men and Public Space

Please respond to the following questions in a minimum of 5 sentences. 


1. How relevant is Staples' essay (written and published in 1986) today? Do you think young black men have the same effect on public space in 2011 as Staples' experienced twenty-five years ago?

2. What IS Staples' attitude about this phenomenon? Is he bitter? angry? disappointed? understanding? (Give evidence). And what IS his purpose? Explore the connection between his tone and his purpose. 

3. How does Staples consider and appeal to his audience? Does he avoid alienating or accusing his reader? If so, how? 

4. Share your own experiences as they pertain to the essay--when you've instinctively judged someone as a threat, for example, or when you've been perceived as a threat yourself. 

5. Explore the idea introduced in par. 2 and reinforced in the analogy of the hiker's cowbell: that "being perceived as a threat is a hazard in itself". 

6. What, if anything, can be done to avoid or reduce these incidents? (Where do such assumptions come from? Can we ever stop making snap judgments?)

Respond to TWO of your classmates posts-- add, critique or comment on their ideas. You should have a total of 8 posts.

Posting-- About YOU

It's one thing to introduce yourself to a group-- you make a few statements, we ask a few questions-- but putting the essence of who you are into a compelling statement… well that's another thing entirely. Using this link to following page as a guide, draft a compelling statement that sums up who you are in a way that makes us want to know more about you. This will be your online profile or "about me" for the class.

Remember, you're not selling a product, you're selling you. Think about what your "brand" is and how you can communicate it. Is it serious and business-like, intellectual, artistic, or perhaps fun and witty?

On the liked page, you may find the links to Seth Godin's page and Matt Cheuvront's page more helpful examples than the rest, as they are selling their writing and personal services respectively. You may choose to write in the first person point of view (I am…) or the third person point of view (He, She, They are…).

Your post should be a minimum of three substantial paragraphs.