Sophomores - Work for the week of Nov. 5th

Due  Monday November 5th
Minutes: N/A, Alisa, Calvin
Reading HW: Read Book 3 of The Odyssey - Consult our "Reading Guide" to direct your reading.
HW: Considering our discussion in class about quote selection and providing a speaker and context for our quotes, make sure that you have selected effective quotations for your paper due Wednesday.  Begin writing up a draft in which you introduce and explain your quotations.


Due Wednesday November 7th
Minutes: Alex, Antony, Madina
Reading HW: Book 3 and 4 of The Odyssey  
HW: Answer questions in our "Reading Guide" in correlation to each book.  Bring in a draft.


Due Thursday November 8th
Minutes: Jean, Aimee, Shazif
Reading HW: Book 5 of The Odyssey
HW: Answer questions in our "Reading Guide" in correlation to each book.


Due Friday November 9th
Minutes: Sharon, Tik, Sen
Reading HW: Quiz on Books 1-5 of The Odyssey  
HW: Study!


Due Tuesday November 13th
Minutes: Steven, Timothy, Vanessa
Reading HW: Book 6 of The Odyssey 
HW: Hand in "Telemacchus' Hero's Journey" assignment.
Answer questions in our "Reading Guide" in correlation to each book.


Due Wednesday November 14th
Minutes: Ivan, Belinda, Mindy
Reading HW: Books 7 and 8 of The Odyssey 
HW: Answer questions in our "Reading Guide" in correlation to each book.

Freshmen - Work for the Week of November 5th

Due Monday November 5th
Minutes: N/A N/a
Reading HW: Ch. 6
HW: Please define sex as a form of romantic expression and compare this definition to how Orwell portrays sex in 1984.  Why does Winston have sex with a prostitute?  Does he enjoy this sexual encounter?  Why or why not?


Due Wednesday November 7th
Minutes:  Mo, Michael
Reading HW: Ch. 7
HW: How does Winston view the power of the proles?  Consider the "Occupy Wall Street" movement of the past two years.  What similarities/differences can you see between the proles and the Occupy protesters?


Due Thursday November 8th
Minutes: Mahdi, Joydeep
Reading HW: Ch. 8, Book 2 Ch. 1
HW: Please read the following article and compare it to a particular quotation found in chapter 8.  Please explain your quote selection and how it connects to this article.


Due Friday November 9th
Minutes: Pablo, Daisy
Reading HW: Book 2, Ch. 2 and 3
HW: Let's try to make some direct comparisons between Winston's sexual encounter with the prostitute and his former wife Katherine in Book I Chapter Six and his encounter with Julia in these chapters.


Due Tuesday November 13th
Minutes:  Camille, Stepan
Reading HW: Book 2, Ch. 4 and 5
HW: How is the room above Mr. Charrington's shop a kind of respite for Winston and Julia?  How does this place fuel Winston's desire for rebellion?  How does Julia feel about the Brotherhood?  What happens to Syme?  What does it mean when Winston calls Julia a rebel from the waist down?


Due Wednesday November 14th
Minutes: Janet, Sean
Reading HW: Book 2, Ch. 6 and 7
HW:

Freshmen E.C. - Famine in N. Korea

Considering today's discussion of euphemistic language and the manipulation of ideas, I'd like to read the New Yorker article titled "The Good Cook" found here.  The article follows a N. Korean refugee's experience living in N. Korea and the propaganda machine of the N. Korean government.

Your responsibilities will be to look for connections between 1984 and the content of this article.  How does the government maintain control of the country and its citizens?  What is the condition of the country?
How does the N. Korean government attempt to manipulate citizens' perspective of the rampant famine?

PLEASE LIMIT YOURSELVES TO ONE COMMENT.  I'LL LET YOU KNOW WHEN YOU CAN RESPOND PAST THIS LIMIT.

Sophomores - Work for the week of October 22nd

Due Monday October 22nd
Minutes: Jim J. ,Tommy Sun, Ava W.
Reading HW: 
HW: Please bring in a draft for revision.

Due Tuesday October 23rd
Minutes:  Daniel Z., Thomas Sucheki
Reading HW: Please review the commonly made mistakes found here.  Reread your work and proofread using these steps.
HW: Final draft due.  In addition to your draft, I'd like you to also include an additional typed page that reflects upon the various steps we have discussed in the past week: Brainstorming, reading our work aloud, connecting premises and conclusions, peer editing, and proofreading.  How will this help you better prepare for writing in the future?  Does this past week help you understand what takes place in writing a successful paper?  How will you manage your time in the future.

Due Wednesday October 24th
Minutes:  Jessica K.
Reading HW: N/A
HW: N/A

Due Thursday October 25th
Minutes:  Shuaib B.
Reading HW: Read book one of The Odyssey
HW: Please begin to brainstorm by reading over your newly distributed assignment and determining what expectations you must fulfill for this next assignment.

Due Friday October 26th
Minutes:  Tashfiq H., Calvin Chen, Amy J.

Reading HW: Read book two of The Odyssey
HW: Please identify Telemacchus' call to adventure and supernatural aid.  Please provide quotations and explain how the quotations prove the existence of each of these steps.  This will be handed in as a major writing assignment.



Due Monday October 29th
Minutes:  Farhan A,Alisa S., Calvin Ye
Reading HW: Read books three of The Odyssey
HW: Considering our discussion in class about quote selection and providing a speaker and context for our quotes, make sure that you have selected effective quotations for your paper due Wednesday.  Begin writing up a draft in which you introduce and explain your quotations.

Freshmen - Work for the week of October 22nd

Due Monday October 22nd
Minutes: Alex S., Bowen W. 
Reading HW: Chapter Two of 1984.
HW: How are we being watched in our own society?  Try to think of three ways that our actions and words are monitored.  How do you feel about this?  Are you comfortable in knowing that most of your actions/conversations are being recorded?  Does this infringe upon your privacy?  Will privacy exist in the future?

Due Tuesday October 23rd
Minutes:  Tracy T., Xiaowen W.
Reading HW: Chapter Three of 1984.
HW: What does Winston's dream tell us about his inner most desires?  What do we know of Winston's past?  Please find quotes to support your answers.  Additionally, write a response for this thought question: Why might the Party directly disassociate people from their pasts?

Due Wednesday October 24th
Minutes:  Carol W., David X.
Reading HW: N/A
HW: N/A

Due Thursday October 25th
Minutes: Jackie X., Jenny Y. 
Reading HW: Chapter Four.
HW: Complete work from class today.  Make the logical connections between quotes and concluding ideas.

Due Friday October 26th
Minutes: Mark A., Alice Y. 
Reading HW: Chapter Four and Five.
HW: Considering yesterday's lesson on euphemisms and reductive language, what is the function of Newspeak?  How does Newspeak help the Party maintain control?  Please find two quotations that supports your argument.


Due Monday October 29th
Minutes: Mo A., Michael A. 
Reading HW: Chapter Six of 1984
HW: Please define sex as a form of romantic expression and compare this definition to how Orwell portrays sex in 1984.  Why does Winston have sex with a prostitute?  Does he enjoy this sexual encounter?  Why or why not?

Extra Credit - Sophomores

And now for something completely different...

As we come to a closing our week long stint of discussing writing, I'd like you take a look at an article from the New Yorker.  I often praise the New Yorker as some of the best analytical and expository writing* that I have ever read.  I think it would benefit all of us to read an article from the New Yorker and discuss the fundamentals of how this article is successful as a piece of expository writing.  So, your job is to consider the following:

-Is the tone of this article professional?  Is it too academic?  How do you feel about the article's tone?  Is it engaging or alienating?  Why?

-Is this article effectively informing you about K-Pop?  After reading the article, do you feel as if you have a firmer understanding of the topic being discussed?

-What arguments does this article present abot K-Pop?  Do you think the author does a good job in proving these arguments?  Does he use sufficient and powerful evidence to prove this point?

-How effective is the article's introduction?  How effective is article's conclusion?  What techniques does the author employ in both introduction and conclusion to achieve a provocative introduction/conclusion?

-Any other general ideas that strike you about the writing in the article.

Here's the article "Factory Girls" by John Seabrook.

Have fun with this, it is a great article that I found fascinating.  I'm excited to see how we react to the writing within this article and how someone like John Seabrook can take something as trivial as mindless pop music and elevate it through intelligent and interesting discussion.  If Seabrook can achieve this discussing K-Pop, we can achieve similar goals with almost any topic.




*Expository writing is a type of writing where the purpose is to inform, describe, explain, or define the author's subject to the reader.  

Sophomores - Work for the Week of October 15th

Due Monday October 15th
Minutes:  Razwan M., David Y., Matthew B., 
Reading HW: 
HW: Please present notes that display you have brainstormed ideas for your next paper due this Friday.

Due Tuesday October 16th
Minutes Radhika K., VOLUNTEER?, VOLUNTEER?
Reading HW: Please read the following post and its comments.
HW: Please type up the first draft of your paper.  Be sure to read your work aloud and mark up your first draft by underlining sentences that might sound confusing or awkward.  You do not need to modify these sentences.  Simply identify them and their awkward tone.  Bring this draft into class, we will be focusing on how to modify our sentences to make them increasingly comprehensible.    

Due Wednesday October 17th
Minutes:  Jacky L., Brian C., VOLUNTEER?
HW: Please type up the first draft of your paper.  Be sure to read your work aloud and mark up your first draft by underlining sentences that might sound confusing or awkward.  You do not need to modify these sentences.  Simply identify them and their awkward tone.  Bring this draft into class, we will be focusing on how to modify our sentences to make them increasingly comprehensible.    

Due Thursday October 18th
Minutes: VOLUNTEER?, Andy Zou, Leina S.
Reading HW: Review the comments I've given you on your first major assignment.  Attempt to understand and catalogue your mistakes so that you do not make these mistakes again.  Please review this document which explains how to read your essay comments.
HW: Purchase a folder for your many writing assignments.  Revise your draft by using your graded assignment.  Find the mistakes you've made on your first paper and be sure they do not occur on this current draft.  Bring this draft into class.


Due Friday October 19th
Minutes:  Karandeep A., Jared May, Andrew G.
Reading HW: Please finish Sophocles' Oedipus the King.  We will be using an online version found here and here. 
HW: Do you think Oedipus' punishment is appropriate?  Is his self-inflicted wound appropriate?  Please explain why in both cases.  I'd also like you to analyze the final exultation of the chorus as it speaks rather directly to our assignment.  What example of duality exists in the chorus' final words?


Due Monday October 22nd
Minutes:  VOLUNTEER?, Tommy Sun, Ava Wang

Freshmen - Work for the Week of October 15th

Due Monday October 15th
Minutes:  Rina L., Derrick L.
Reading HW: Read the following article.
HW: Please present both sides of the issues.  Why does the NAACP think schools like Stuyvesant should modify their enrollment policies?  Do you agree or disagree with this assertion?  Should a simple score on the exam to get into Stuyvesant be the only qualification for enrollment here?



Due Tuesday October 16th
Minutes:  Christy C., Kevin M.
Reading HW: Read the following article.
HW: Please present both sides of the issues.  Please give your own definition of affirmative action.  Do you think affirmative action is fair?  Do you want your background to be considered when you apply for college?  Apply for a job?  Why or why not?  Do you think that Abigail Fisher is right or wrong in this particular Supreme Court case?  Why was affirmative action instituted in the first place?  When will the right time be to repeal affirmative action?

Due Wednesday October 17th
Minutes: Adam M.,  Lianna P.
Reading HW: Please watch the following video entitled "Does government have too much power?"
HW: Please analyze the argument being presented in this video.  What powers does the government have according to Deneen Borelli ?  What particular issues does Borelli raise that display the "power" of government?  What powers do you think a government should have?  What powers should the government shouldn't have?  Do you think our government has too much power?

Due Thursday October 18th
Minutes:  Kyle M., Dristi T.
Reading HW: Internet research.
HW: Please research two examples (each) of counrties that experience less/more freedoms than the United States.  What do you think it is like to live in these countries, given the amount/lack of freedom there?  What would our country be like if we had no freedoms at all?

Due Friday October 19th
Minutes:  Alina S. Neil V.
Reading HW: Please read Chapter One of 1984
HW:  Research what major events in the world had transpired leading up to 1948, the year Orwell completed this work.  What events do you think motivated Orwell to write about a totalitarian dystopia?  Please be able to identify the following terms: Proles, Oceania, Airstrip One, Thought Police, Thoughtcrime, and the Party.  

Due Monday October 22nd
Minutes: Alex S., Bowen W. 
Reading HW: Please read Chapter Two of 1984
HW: How are we being watched in our own society?  Try to think of three ways that our actions and words are monitored.  How do you feel about this?  Are you comfortable in knowing that most of your actions/conversations are being recorded?  Does this infringe upon your privacy?  Will privacy exist in the future?

Sophomore Extra Credit

DISCUSSION CLOSED.  PLEASE SEE EXTRA CREDIT POSTED TODAY INSTEAD.

Sophomores - Work for the Week of October 9th

Due Tuesday October 9th
Minutes: Girish B., Xiaohan L., Shuxing L.
Reading HW: Read Sophocles' Oedipus the King to page 37.  We will be using an online version found here and here. 
HW: Why does Oedipus accuse his closest friend Creon of treason?  How would you characterize Oedipus accusing his brother-in-law?  Why can't Oedipus recognize that he is the source of his own problem?  Can you think of a situation where one cannot see that s/he is the source of his/her own problems?  Why do we blame others for our mistakes?  

Due Wednesday October 10th
Minutes: Wendy C., Stefan H., Patrick N.
Reading HW: Read Sophocles' Oedipus the King to page 48.  We will be using an online version found here and here. 
HW:  Trace examples of sight and blindness throughout this excerpt of the play.  How does Jocasta's presence initiate Oedipus search for identity?  Identify how Oedipus and his wife begin to piece together their intersecting stories.

Due Thursday October 11th
Minutes: Annique W., Shuiab B., Denis V.
Reading HW: Read Sophocles' Oedipus the King to page 71 due Friday.  We will be using an online version found here and here. 
HW: What is the function of the chorus throughout this play?  Please select a particular scene that includes the chorus and attempt to discern its function through a discussion of the text.

Due Friday October 12th
Minutes: Cardy W., Mahir S., Eric Z.
Reading HW: Read Sophocles' Oedipus the King to page 71 due Friday.  We will be using an online version found here and here. 
HW: 


Due Monday October 15th
Minutes: 
Reading HW: 
HW: Brainstorm for your new writing assignment.  I'll be looking for some brainstormed ideas on Monday.

Freshmen - Work for the Week of October 9th

Due Tuesday October 9th
Minutes: Max K., Leon H.
Reading HW: Be sure to complete Frankenstein through Vol. III Ch. V
HW: Find a quote to support your side's argument for our fishbowl!

Due Wednesday October 10th
Minutes: Rui L., Anika H.
Reading HW: Finish Frankenstein
HW:  We will finish the fishbowl assignment today and will have some time towards the end of class to discuss the following question: Considering the many deaths in Victor's life, is his punishment appropriate?  Is the creature entitled to this form of revenge?  Or is this justice?  Is this punishment sufficient for Victor's crimes?  Once his family is gone, Victor resolves to hunt the creature down.  How have the two, creator and creature, become dopplegangers?

Due Thursday October 11th
Minutes: Mei L., Felicia L.
Reading HW: Please read this telling of the myth of Prometheus.  
HW: Consider how an alternate title for Frankenstein is The Modern Prometheus.  Why do you think Shelley attributed this title to her novel?  What similarities can you make between the story of Prometheus and the story of Frankenstein?

Due Friday October 12th
Minutes: Jordan L., Kevin L.
Reading HW: Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech
HW: Vonnegut's short story was written in 1961.  MLK's speech was deliver in 1963.  It would be criminal to not discuss these two words together.  Compare these works and their perceptions of equality.  What was Vonnegut's motivation in writing such a story?  What lesson might he be attempting to portray?


Due Monday October 15th
Minutes:  Rina L., Derrick L.
Reading HW: Read the following article.
HW: Please present both sides of the issues.  Why does the NAACP think schools like Stuyvesant should modify their enrollment policies?  Do you agree or disagree with this assertion?  Should a simple score on the exam to get into Stuyvesant be the only qualification for enrollment here?

Freshmen - Extra Credit Discussion

Podcast found here.

We've been researching whether or not we believe the creature to be an innocent/guilty party in Shelley's Frankenstein.  This seems like a wonderful opportunity to look outside of our novel and explore the possibilities of evil being an inherent trait or a result of one's upbringing and environment.

Let's listen to the following podcast, an episode of Radiolab, that focuses on some of these very issues.

I'd like you to post your response considering the following:

-If we are to consider the creature's inclination to kill as part of his nature, perhaps we can explain why some people commit murder.  Maybe some people are simply born "bad?"  Does everyone have some "dark" side?  Why do people do bad things?  Why do humans wish death upon others?  Can we explain human cruelty?  How do people prevent themselves from committing terrible acts like murder?  Is murder something that only irrational people are capable of?

-I'd like you to weigh in.  Do you think some people are "natural born killers?"  Explore the ideas presented in the podcast and react to the stories presented within.

-Do not merely comment but ask questions and engage fellow students in discussion.  Do you dis/agree with any ideas posted in the discussion?  Let's respond in a public forum, professionally of course.