Booth, pages 31-50

Have you ever done research in the steps like the ones the writers in Booth propse in these pages? If so, how did it go and what was particularly frustrating or exciting about the steps and why? If you have never explored a topic in depth and/or moved from a topic to question, do you believe that these steps would have improved a research essay you wrote in the past; if so, describe briefly what happened in that research writing and how the steps in Booth would have helped/improved the essay you wrote. If you don't think they would have helped, discuss why not.

Craft of Research, pp. 3-27

Have you ever thought of research the way the writers of The Craft of Research are describing it in these pages? What have been some of your myths/misconceptions about research in the past? Why do you think you held those myths/misconceptions? After reading these pages, how do you think of research now? Are your opinions the same or are they changed? Why or why not?

South Park and the Open Society

Over the weekend, watch an episode of South Park, either via YouTube, etc. or on Comedy Central when it plays. Analyze the episode-- does it make the sort of political statements that Curtis and Erion suggest? And, do you agree with their assumption that South Park does offer "more than crude animation and tasteless jokes expressed with a juvenile and offensive vulgarity" (par.1)? Does the humor and vulgarity undercut the possiblity of any such political message? Explain.

Education as the Practice of Freedom: responding to bell hooks

How would you summarize, in your own words, what bell hooks means by "The Education as the Practice of Freedom"? hooks discusses her time in high school as "education that merely strives to reinforce domination." Discuss your own experiences with these two different types of educational experiences-- have you experienced education that works to reinforce domination? Have you experienced education that practices freedom? Describe your experiences briefly and how they were those types of educational practices that hooks describes. And don't forget to also respond back to your fellow classmates and talk to one another.

Picking Essays from Signs of Life

For Friday, I'd like you all to skim/scan, etc. the Table of Contents in Signs of Life in the USA. We're going to be reading five essays from this text as sample academic essays. But, since this is your class, not mine, I'm not going to pick the essays. I want you all to pick them as a class. Of course, you can't read all the essays in order to decide which ones we'd like to study and discuss as a class. However, read the titles in the Table of Contents, and when one looks interesting to you, go to the page where the essay starts because each essay has a short italicized blurb before the essay starts that gives information about the author and what the essay will be about. Next, here on the blog, list five essays that you think you'd like to read. Number them 1-5, 1 being the essay that you would MOST like to read. From your responses, I'll then begin seeing what topics/themes etc. emerge that the class as a whole seems to care about the most and we'll decide on the essays from there.

Welcome to Ms. McCray's English 2000!

For Wednesday's class, after you've read through and reviewed the syllabus and daily schedule, please comment on the following (at least 100 words):

What concerns or questions do you have about English 2000? What are you particularly excited about after reading and reviewing the course information? What strengths do you feel you could bring to our learning community, and what do you believe may be one or two of your weaknesses?

Please read through the blog comments to this post first and respond also in your comment to your fellow classmates.