Saturday, December 22, 2007

 

Final Presentations English 201 8-9 a.m.






Friday, Dec. 21, the presentations were outstanding from Elesha's discourse on Craig's List to Elizabeth's presentation on the first deaf Catholic Priest. Students were prepared and rehearsed. After Seonhea's presentation on Mimi Silbert, I wasn't certain what students would be able to say but Sirong and Jamiesha did a great job. Karl's talk on Dr. Robert Scott was informative, while Kenyatta's presentation on Wendy Tacoda, was interesting also. My notes are at the college where I still have to complete the grades. I had students writing when we left after 6 p.m. Some students didn't come to class like Jack. Others didn't turn in their portfolios like Matthew and Dorothy and Robert and Raymond. You can still get your work in. It would be a shame to have come this far and not pass.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

 

Final Presentations English 201 1-3 PM







 

More Final Presentation Photos English 201 1-3 PM Dec. 19, 2007






Wednesday, December 19, 2007

 

Final presentations this afternoon

The final presentations this afternoon were impressive--how many ways can one say: "Mimi Silbert and Delancey Street Foundation"? Well, certainly, seven times, plus one is plenty. Yet, each student from Chesi to Jonathan, Johnae and Haile, Mike and Sophia, presented another angle on what one student said is the most successful rehabilitation program in the country. Okay, so everyone except Frank and Dorothy, Dylan and I leave at 2 p.m., when Raymond walks in, another "Silbert" protegee and well, if one could imagine--Raymond's presentation was just as refreshing--no notes, passionate and inspiring. It was great!

Dylan's presentation on Al Gore was fun, especially after I snatched his essay which he was reading. We then had a conversation about Global Warming and why we should care. It was great!

Matthew's talk about Wendy Kopp and Teach for America was impressive. He passed out an abstract, a bio on Kopp and then proceeded to talk about this marvelous program that gets graduates from Ivy League colleges and universities into low-income classrooms to help teach. Matthew is going to open a school where the curriculum is relevant and applicable to the lives of the children, similar to what Tupac talked about when addressing the inequities of the public education system, which doesn't, he said, prepare children for life.

I asked students to evaluate the course and the instruction anonymously. The feedback was generally favorable. I got the usual --if you were a bit more organized.... I told you at the start of the course that my methodology is fluid...like a river; the writing process for me is one that is connected to a larger universe one cannot always control. I literally go with the flow.
I guess people thought I was kidding. If you don't like my open-ended teaching style, where the learning process is cumulative--the end is just as important as the middle and certainly the beginning--I suggest you take this course with another teacher...you don't want to feel frustrated. You are in an academic shopping mall where there are many chefs and fine dining establishments, not all suitable to your tastes. They are all 5-star or so we hope. Try the menu which suits your digestive system to avoid gastric problems. College is supposed to be fun!

Next semester, for those who are continuing with me, I plan to get papers back to you a lot more timely. I have an assistant to help me now. I forgot to return papers today, so if you can't find a few things Jessica and Jonathan and Chesi and Sophia, I have it and will put the grade on your check-list for Too $hort and the Jay-Z summary, the library assignment, the evaluating a website assignments and some early group essays.

Back to the presentations
Dorothy's presentation on the founder of The Women of Color Resource Center was informative. What was most interesting was her analysis of the research process, how she found the information --it sounded like a treasure hunt. It was also great the way Dorothy saw areas where the goals and objectives of WORC matched her own career goals. She also spoke about shared values and mentioned another organization, the Women's Economic Agenda Project or WEAP, which also had as its mission women's economic and political empowerment. Dorothy is a former WEAP employee.

Other outstanding presenters include: Sophia who involved the class by having a volunteer read the abstract. Her presentation was animated and smooth. She maintained eye contact and knew her material well.

Haile was the last presenter in the Mimi Suite, so he talked about himself and how the research process helped him become a better writer. He also let students know he was available to help with math classes--he is a tutor here at the COA, Chesi's in fact. Chesi, first to present, was so well-organized that she set the tone for the Mimi Silbert Hour :-)

Debbie and Jessica both chose Reggie James as their social entrepreneur, which was great since Reggie is a person who graduated from COA and is now a student trustee for the Peralta College District. Their presentations included photos of Reggie and copies of the Laney College Tower where he is editor.

Sheila's presentation on her pastor was heartwarming. Her passion and love for her minister and the role he has played in her life and her child's life was wonderful to hear.

Mike had great quotes to share on Mimi Silbert, as did quite a few other presenters. Considering the fact that none of you has taken a speech class--a graduation requirement, everyone is to be applauded who was brave enough to get in front of the class and defend your paper. I hope the student feedback was helpful.

For those who were not able to present because we ran out of time, please feel free to come by Friday morning, Dec. 21, L-235 and join my early morning class at 8 a.m. Final call for portfolios is Friday, Dec. 21, by 10 a.m.

Super Natural in San Francisco
Thursday, Dec. 20, MC Super Natural will be at Slim's in San Francisco. Remember the field trip I had to cancel two months ago, well Ankh Productions is trying it again. I'm thinking about going, after I call first to make certain it's actually happening. Tickets are $20. All ages are welcome and the doors open at 8 p.m. There will be Def Jam poets warming the house up before the headliner comes on.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

 

Portfolio Sample

Click the comment section here to read a student's portfolio in my English 1A class. This is the minimum. He handed in his cheklist with grades and his notes, freewrites and reading logs as paper copies.

 

English 201 final class meeting

This morning students watched presentations I'd recorded on video last semester. We clarified questions about the portfolio and I reminded students that I'd be around Monday, Dec. 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for those students who'd like to work on their portfolio essays, assemble their portfolios and work on any essays they needed to revise.

Dinner this evening should be fun at Delancey Street Restaurant. Many of us are meeting at the Lake Merritt BART Station at 5 p.m. in front of the station agent's booth. Other students are meeting us in San Francisco. Dress warmly!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

 

English 201 1-3 FINAL DEC. 19, 12-2 P.M. IN A-200

I made a mistake on the earlier post. You final is Wednesday, Dec. 19. We will conduct our finals in A-200. If there are any technology requests, please make them by Monday, Dec. 17. Send me an email. We do not meet, unless you are coming to the study session to work on the portfolio assembly Monday, Dec. 17, 10-2 p.m.

 

Edited narrative--both classes

I have edited the narrative for those students who are failing the course and for the confused. All students can include a grade justification, so read the revised narrative just in case. I gave students copies in class this afternoon. I'll make them available at my office for everyone else.

Also, if you are behind, write one essay for the Evolution of a Revolutionary. It needs to be between 2-3 pages. Many students are responding to the questions as if they are freewrites; the essays need to exhibit a mastery of the writing process in content and form. Edit the essay before posting. I need to see the separate paragraphs. If you'd rather email the essay responses to me and I can post them with comments and grades, I don't mind. Several students have not turned in their research essays. I should have read them all by now. If you have not revised the essays and resubmitted it for a grade, do so. The portfolio is not supposed to contain essays I have not seen before. You cannot submit and essay for the first time there. There are many students who I haven't seen in a while who are still on my grade roster. Several popped into the English 201 afternoon class today late and left early.

Many students had the aptitude to earn an A in this course, who are now going to squeak through with a C, if as I said, the research essays, the midterm, and Evolution of a Revolutionary essay, and one other essay, which can be from another course, plus the portfolio essays are turned in.

The other academic essay has to use research and have a works cited page in MLA format. In the afternoon class students wrote an essay based on one of the New Heroes programs. Chesi, Michael, Debbie and Jessica arrived on time and were able to complete the assignment. Other students came in too late to write this essay, so they responded to one of the prompts given for the Guy book.

None of them were completed in time. We then went to my office and I showed the students who missed Monday's class samples of digitized student portfolios.

Portfolio Checklist2, Fall 2007 FOR A C GRADE

Name_________________________________________________________________________________

Class________________________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address______________________________________________________________________

Phone number and email address_______________________________________________________

In your portfolio include three-four essays that reflect the range of your writing. These essays should include the revisions, essay planning sheets, and peer comments. Do not give me original work. All essays should be digitized. Freewrites and reading logs can be submitted as copies. Do not give me original work. One of the essays can be an academic essay from another course.

Essay 1
The introduction to the portfolio asks students to think about the semester and what skills and/or knowledge have they gained which they plan to use in their lifelong pursuit of knowledge and education.

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


Grade Justification
What grade do you think you earned in the course? If you have a strong argument with proof: graded work. I will consider it.


Your essay and the attached copy of a completed grading sheet are the evidence.


Do you have any questions about writing or anything else?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Teacher Research
Can I use you writing in teacher research projects? I will give you full credit and inform you of its use. Indicate Yes or No. Please circle one.

Evaluation
In a third response evaluate the semester: teacher, textbooks, assignments, methodology, etc. Please be frank and feel free to offer suggestions.

 

Portfolio Checklist: All Students

Major Assignments all classes Fall 2007
professorwandasposse@gmail.com
(510) 748-2131 office (L-236)

Name_________________________________________________________________________________
Section______________________________________________________________________________

Mailing Address_____________________________________________________________________
Phone number______________________________________________________________________
Email address _________________________________________________________________

Put the grade next to the assignment. Your average is your course grade so far. Remember, your grade is based on writing passing essays – C and above. A C- is not a passing grade. Fill this out and give to me with your CD or disk on or before the day of the final completed. I will add your course grade.

The major essays are the ones based on texts we are reading, plus the final essay on a social entrepreneur. If you missed the earlier essays you can still pass the course. You do not have a chance at an A though. Check this against the blog. The more detailed description of the narrative essays is attached.

Assignments
Artifacts
Hip Hop ___________
American Culture _________

Essays
Jeff Chang __________
Too $hort ___________
Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes_________

A Rose Grew From Concrete writing __________
Tupac Songbook writing ___________
(Some of it is collaborative, some is on the website)__________

Cyber Essays such as: such as Propaganda Techniques, Evolution of a Revolutionary…

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Midterm__________
Reading Logs from Dyson ______________
Dyson thematic outlines ________________

Jena 6 ___________
PLIES/Jena 6 (English 1A)________________

Jason Young and Brenda’s Got a Baby (English 201 8-9) _____________

Reading to Write freewrites (2) ______________
Outlining and Clustering Chapter 7 from Dyson (English 201 1-3) due 10/17 _____________

Research Cyber Assignments: Social Entrepreneurs (3) _____________
Planning sheets, vocabulary and questions ______________


Library Assignments________________
Evaluating a Website____________________
English 1A Library assignments for three-session workshop on information literacy _____________

Research Essay Planning Sheet ______________
Research Essay Outline _____________________
Research Essay Peer comments _________________
Research Essay Grade_______________
Research Essay Abstract for day of presentation ________________
Bring an outline or short summary of your research paper for classmates to have as a guideline to comment on about your paper and give you feedback.

Research Essay presentation grade _____________________

Cyber Essays for Evolution of a Revolutionary (3-5)________________

Play (English 1B)_______________

Elephant Man (English 1B) Cyber assignment _______________
Blood Beats Assignment (English 1B)________________

Course Grade____________

Grade Narrative: I will email it to you.


Anything else?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Extra Credit Essay

This morning students read portfolio essays from other classes. The extra credit essay is to revise one of the Evolution of a Revolutionary essays already posted. Students are to submit both drafts.

Tomorrow we will begin our portfolio essays. make sure you have your syllabus tomorrow also. Look at your goals for this semester. I will return some early writing to you I have kept for this moment. Remember the letter I wrote students which we read that first week. Don't forget the presentations about American and Hip Hop culture.

Bring two essays to class that reflect your growth and development as a writer this term to reflect on in Essay 2. I am working on the portfolio check-list. Oh, tomorrow we will also hear student essays. Everyone is invited to bring theirs to share. I have video tapes of student presentations. I'll show you a few.

Dinner at Delancey Street
Since there are only 9 people going to dinner tomorrow evening to Delancey Street, all the entrees are available for the $20 cost. This means you can order: the chicken entree, the gumbo, or the Blackened Meatloaf with garlic mashed potatoes and glazed carrots, Pasta Primavera with fresh tomatoes, garlic, basil and asparagus, pr Latin Scallop Ceviche.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

 

Early Class, English 201 8-9. 1-3 class read also

Today we watched another New Heroes segment. This one was about Maria Teresa Leal and the women of Coopa-Roca.Visit http://www.pbs.org/opb/thenewheroes/meet/leal.html
The business is a cooperative where women in Rio de Janeiro create fashion designs which Leal sells to high fashion distributors in Brazil and beyond for these women who have found a way to hold family together and create a better life for themselves through this business opportunity which in some cases passes from mother to daughter.

Anyone who is in the class or was enrolled this semester can come. If anyone wants to bring a guest and has not let me know, please so so now. I have to get numbers into the event planner at the restaurant.

Extra Credit Essay
Wednesday, Dec. 12, we will write an extra credit essay. For those who are opting out, you can review student portfolios and work on your portfolio essays. I will have a workshop for the portfolio process Monday, Dec. 17 from 10-12 noon. Come by the Writing Center if you'd like help with anything.

Check your email. I have sent people their grades and edited research essays.

Portfolio Assistance
I am hosting a workshop Monday, Dec. 17, from 10-12 for students who would like help assembling their portfolio. Please drop by with a disk or CD and all your work from this semester.

Monday, December 10, 2007

 

Delancey Street Restaurant, 600 Embarcadero @ Brannan in San Francisco

Thursday, Dec. 13, I have made reservations for dinner at Delancey Street Restaurant for 6 p.m. The restaurant is located on the San Francisco embarcadero, just down the street from Pac Bell Park. We will catch the BART and get off at the first San Francisco Station, Embarcadero, walk over to the street car platform and take a F-train and get off on Brannan at the restaurant.

The two entrees I ordered are: Rotisseried Rosmary and Garlic Chicken, served with grilled vegetables and Serious Soulfood Gumbo with crab, chicken, shrimp, sausage and rice. We could only have two entrees so I didn't choose the vegetarian option. I hope this isn't a problem. If it is, we can talk about a possible solution.

Let me know what entree you'd like and for how many. You can email your choices to me, no later than Tuesday early afternoon. Send it to: professorwandasposse@gmail.com.

The four-course meal, for $20.00 also includes: Appetizers: Corn chips and Salsa Cruda and a Basket of Onion Rings; a Salad: organic Field greens with balsamic vinaigrette, served with baskets of assorted breads. Dessert is Vanilla Bean ice cream with homemade chocolate dipped biscotti. Drinks are an additional cost.

We'll meet at Lake Merritt BART Station at 5 p.m. to ride over together. Others can meet there.

 

1-3 CLASS

We met in the classroom briefly before heading over to the Writing Center where students looked at digitized samples of portfolios. The portfolio essay questions are posted below in an earlier post. I will give students a portfolio check-list which includes the essay questions on Wednesday. If you'd like to turn your portfolio in a little later than the due date, 12/19, let me know. Wednesday, Dec. 12,we will write an essay looking in the hand gun violence this year on universoty campuses, at churches and in shopping malls. What is going on? What do you think are reasonable solutions to the problem?

 

Early Class, English 201 8-9

Today in class, we watched the New Heroes video profile of Muhammad Yunus, investment banker and social entrepreneur. We read an article earlier this semester about him. After the program ended and we had a little discussion, students wrote a three paragraph essay in response to the questions the research essay was supposed to answer: what is the problem the social entrepreneur wants to answer? How does he or she get the community involved? What are the measurable outcomes for the community and for the social entrepreneur?

Some of these questions, like what did the SE gain, will be implied, not necessarily stated. For Yunus, besides the fact that people are no longer starving, he might feel happy that people no one trusted or valued: the poor, now represent a population business is willing to take a risk. He could also be proud of the fact his trust was not misplaced.

A by-product or benefit to society is certainly the value Bangladesh society
places in its women and girls and the value mothers and fathers now have in their daughters. I'm sure in the recent past, women and girls were seen as homemakers exclusively which while important, is not seen as valuable, or as valuable as the man's role as provider. Now, thanks for Grameem Bank, women are also providers which gives them more negotiating power in the family structure and within the Bangladesh community.

Students turned in their fast draft. Tomorrow we will write another essay after watching a video. We were going to read a play. We might still do this. Wednesday
we will respond to a current event article about the recent shooting in Colorado.

If students would like to see what student portfolios look like visit me in my office. I will post a portfolio here. Click on comment to see a few. Thursday, we'll practice the introduction to the portfolio.

Dinner at Delancey Street
I will post the details about the dinner here later on today. I am finalizing the dinner plans now.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

 

Research Essays

Pick up your essays outside my office this afternoon or Friday. They will be in envelops.

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

 

1-3 p.m. finals schedule

For the English 201 class that meets from 1-3 all applies below except the date of the final, which is, Wednesday, December 19, from 12 noon to 2 p.m. We will conduct our finals in A-200. If there are any technology requests, please make them by next week.

Today in class, many students were still working on their research essays. I'm surprised that they still aren't in. I'll try to send you your grades and edited essays via email, if I have your address today. I am reading essays now.

 

Final Days, Portfolio Narrative Assignment edited 12/12/07

The portfolio narratives (These are essays)

1. The narrative will look at the 18 weeks, the themes we looked at this semester, the poetics of hip hop and Tupac Shakur. Talk about what you've learned and discovered this semester about writing and yourself, college and life, which have transformed or changed you.

What have you learned about yourself 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.

2. The second part of the narrative looks 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 to a later paper. Often you can more easily see the differences in your writing and a better example of mastery of certain concepts. Also discuss skills you need to improve and how you plan to address that.

Besides the two essays, I also want you to include the midterm essay and research essay, also the Byron Hurt essay or it's substitute. We will work on the narratives together next week, Monday, Dec. 10, in the Writing Lab. We will meet in the smaller lab, L-235.

You have a copy of the assigned essays this semester. The check-list is the same with grades posted next to the assignment. We will look at this the last day of class. Our final for the 8-9 a.m. class is Friday, Dec. 21, at 8 a.m. We will meet in the Writing Center, L-235. If you need technology, let me know next week.

Extra credit essay
The extra credit essay assignment will be posted to the blog by next week so you can read the prompt in advance. You will have 50 minutes to write the essay. This essay can replace the Hip Hop essay if the grade is higher or just serve as more practice. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO TAKE THE EXAM.

Note: Wednesday, Dec. 12, I asked students to revise one of the essay responses to Evolution of a Revolutionary in the early class. The afternoon class wrote an essay in response to the Maria Teresa Leal story in the New Heroes video series narrated by Robert Redford. For the afternoon class, none were written well enough to replace another assignment.

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

Grade Justification
What grade do you think you earned in the course? If you have a strong argument with proof: graded work. I will consider it.


Your essay and the attached copy of a completed grading sheet are the evidence.

Do you have any questions about writing or anything else?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Teacher Research
Can I use you writing in teacher research projects? I will give you full credit and inform you of its use. Indicate Yes or No. Please circle one.

Evaluation
In a third response evaluate the semester: teacher, textbooks, assignments, methodology, etc. Please be frank and feel free to offer suggestions.

Portfolio due date
Your portfolios are due Friday, Dec. 21 the day of the final. They are to be digitized. No exceptions. The only paper copies are the freewrites. Do not give me your originals. I can make copies, if you can’t.

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

 

Assessment

Today, in a free write students told me what specific areas they'd like me to look at when reading their essays. For example, a student might be concerned about organization and the use of evidence to support claims.

Students also told me if they'd like examples of certain types of essays for their edification. Most did.

I reviewed the Writing Process with students (Hacker 2-57), just in case students were not familiar with that section of the book where Hacker reviews the types of paragraphs (applicable to types of essays). We spoke about the similarity between paragrasphs and essays. Paragraphs have topic sentences, the equivalent in an essay is a thesis. Paragraphs have a conclusing sentence, essays have a conclusion. Paragraphs have supportive sentences that prove the topic sentence; essays have supportive paragraphs which prove the thesis. One is a microcosm of the other. Similar to a well told story, paragraphs also have a beginning, middle and an end.

I also reminded students of earlier class meetings where we reviewed rhetorical strategies like definition, narration, examples, cause and effect, problem/solution and of course, argument (42-51). I believe everything is an argument and the other rhetorical strategies are ways writers address certain issues or topics depending on the audience, purpose and topic. We spoke about coherence and the importance of transitions (Hacker 50-56).

I reminded students about the essay responses to The Lottery, I gave you earlier this semester. If you don't remember the student essays, one had a thesis and the other essay was what we call "plot summary."

I don't mind giving students copies of essays, but if you have Hacker, look at the section first. There is also an example of a student essay that needs editing (Hacker 30-33), and the same essay revised (Hacker 34-38)

We also discussed plans for the dinner party next week at Delancey Street Restaurant in San Francisco, Thursday, Dec. 13, 6 p.m. Let me know if you'd like to go and how many will be in your party, so I can make a reservation.

Homework is completing the Guy essays by next week. I will give you the portfolio information by Thursday. We are meeting in the smaller room between the labs.

Monday, December 03, 2007

 

Afternoon class 1-3

The afternoon class was small, but we had a great time analyzing several of Tupac's poems to see if they used inductive or deductive reasoning. Students present please post your syllogisms and arguments here. We also watched the Revision Strategies video. I let students go early so that they could start their homework based on the Jasmine Guy book. It is listed below. Remember, post all 5 essay responses there. You can also respond to each other's essays. This will be our cyber discussion of the book.

If you haven't finished your research essay, and you haven't spoken to me. Please do so.

I printed out the assignment. If you want a copy check my mail slot by L-236 (my office).

 

Evolution of a Revolutionary Cyber-Assignments due between Dec. 3-Dec. 12

Weeks of December 3-12, respond to 5 of the following questions in separate essays here. Each essay response should be about 250 words (at least three paragraphs with a clearly stated thesis). Please edit your essays before posting them. Use Evolution of a Revolutionary to support your claims with page numbers (MLA).

Oh, if there is something you'd rather comment on that I have not listed here, please send me an email with your recommendation and I can add it to the list.

Essay topics
1. Talk about the structure of the book and whether or not you think it works given Guy's purpose. Hint: read the preface. Use examples.

2. How does the author use her life to help tell Afeni's story? The two women seem so different: Guy is a new mother, Afeni's children are grown, one is dead; Guy had a good relationship with her parents; Afeni didn't; Afeni grew up poor; Guy did not. Yet, the two women are also the same. How does getting to know Afeni, help the author, Jasmine Guy, get to know herself?

2. Evolution of a Revolutionary is the story of a friendship. There are many examples of friendship given in the book, that between the two women and elsewhere. What is friendship as defined in the pages of Evolution of a Revolutionary?

3. How is Afeni a product and a victim of her environment both historically and presently?

4. Talk about how the similarities between Afeni and her son Tupac Guy are uncovered as she converses with her friend.

5. One of the themes in Evolution of a Revolutionary is family. Related to this are the themes: forgiveness and responsibility. Talk about the theme family and forgiveness, family and responsibilty. Do you think Afeni will ever be able to forgive herself? How is telling this story theraputic?

6. Evolution of a Revolutionary is also a story about self-love and acceptance. Talk about how the Black Panther Party allowed Afeni the space to be herself in all of her black majesty. Who was she prior to this transformation.

7. How does Afeni's name change reflect a new outlook? Who was she prior to this transformation? What remnants are left of the old self?

8. Choose a chapter or two and discuss what you liked, what worked and also what didn't work.

9. Guy is an eloquent writer; share a few passages spanning 3-5 chapters that you felt captured an idea beautifully and tell us why. Talk about Guy's writing style.

 

Still Catching Up

This morning students were busy helping each other edit essays and copy them to my disk. Some students are resisting technology. Your essays need to be digitized for the portfolio, no exceptions. We'll talk about this more this week. I'll show you examples. I want to put together a class collection of the Tupac midterms and any other writings students want to include. I also want to pull together a collection of the social entreprenuer essays. To do this I have to have the essays digitized. If anyone wants to do this for the class for extra credit, let me know. We are going to combine all my classes: English 201, English 1A and English 1B.

Students who had already completed their research assignments worked on the McClintock essay question. It's due sometime tomorrow. Bring the Guy book tomorrow. After we finish watching the revision strategies video we will discuss chapter 7. We will meet in the middle room and then move to the smaller lab tomorow and Wednesday, in the early class.

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