Wednesday, October 23, 2013

E.C. - Freshmen - Amy Chua and Parenting



As a  class we discussed Amy Chua's controversial article "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior".  We noted how Chua's parenting style emphasized a particular kind of success.  I'd like you in the extra credit to comment on Chua's perception of success and if happiness has any role in this definition.  Be sure to quote Chua when necessary.  I would like you to also dig deply through the article's comment section for any particularly insightful/ridiculous ideas.

This should then lead you to consider, if someday you are a parent, how do you intend to raise a child?  What do you want for your child?  I think it behooves us to ask our parents these very questions as they surely had considered such questions in their lifetimes.  Interview a parent and ask how to raise a child.  How can a parent ensure that the child comes out the way that s/he wants?  Were your grandparents successful in raising your parents?  Let's see what you can find and how your research influences your future child.

E.C. Juniors - Do Schools Stifle Curiousity?



Please watch the following TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson entitled "Do Schools Kill Creativity?"  Here is a transcript for the speech.

Your job is to assess Robinson's argument.  You have spent a massive portion of your life in school and so you are perfectly capable of weighing in on Robinson's ideas using your own experience as evidence.  How does Robinson establish his point?  Have you ever attend a class that stifled your sense of creativity?  How do academic institution teach young people to become servile, complacent automatons?  Or is your experience different?  When have you been encouraged to express your creative, individualistic side?  Do you feel as if you are free to explore your interests?

Let's not only analyze Robinson's ideas, but each others.  Read your fellow commenters' words and chime in.  Add a link to a releveant article and we'll respond.  Get started!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Work for the Week of October 21st - Seniors



Monday October 21st
Minutes: N/A
Reading HW: Ch. 15-17
HW: Paper due.

Tuesday October 22nd
Minutes: Asma
Reading HW: Finish the Bell Jar
HW: What is the symbol of the bell jar?  Does Joan exist?  What future do you foresee for Esther as the novel ends?

Wednesday October 23rd
Minutes: Gurleen
Reading HW: Find an article of interest.
HW: Women's Wednesday!  Select an article and provide a short analysis of its contents.  Why does this article stand out to you?  What are the implications of this piece?  Why is it important for our class to address this issue?

Thursday October 24th
Minutes: Chris
HW: How do these tropes influence our perception of female gender roles?  Do you play video games? What is the experience of being a female gamer like?  Why are the dynamics between male and female gamers so pronounced in the virtual world?

Friday October 25th
Minutes: Ida
HW: What parallels can you establish between "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Bell Jar"?  How is illness depicted in both pieces?  Why is Esther successful where the narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is not?


Monday October 28th
Minutes: Othilla
Reading HW: Read up to page 33 The Handmaid's Tale
HW: What is different about this world?  What is the society that Atwood has created?

Work for the Week of October 21st - Freshmen



Monday October 21st
Minutes: Jason., Momo
Reading HW: Voice in the Wall, Half and Half
HW:  Perfect paragraph draft due.

Tuesday October 22nd
Minutes: Ming, Karen J       
Reading HW: Read "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior" by Amy Chuacomment section,
HW: Is Amy Chua making a strong argument in her piece?  What are her goals as a parent?  Do you believe her children are happy?  How does Chua's parenting style compare to your parents?
 Final PP draft due today.

Wednesday October 23rd
Minutes: Claudia, Karen Y
Reading HW: "Two Kinds" and "Rice Husband" 
HW: N/A

Thursday October 24th
Minutes: Warren
Reading HW: "Four Directions" "Without Wood" 
HW: Both of these stories reveal several examples of paranoia.  I'd like you to find four examples of paranoia, jotting down each textual example and the corresponding page number.

Friday October 25th
Minutes: Kenneth
HW Postponed for Monday


Monday October 28th
Minutes: Larissa
Reading HW: "Best Qualities" "Magpies"
HW: What lesson can we learn from the birth of the magpies?  I'd like you to take a situation in your life that makes you sad and try to see how you can overcome this sadness by looking at the "brighter side" of life.  

Friday, October 18, 2013

Work for the Week of October 21st -Juniors


Link to "A" rumination papers.

Monday October 21st
Minutes: Alex O., Andrew G.
Reading HW: Ch. 7 + 8
HW: Why does Vonnegut wait so long to write about the firebombing of Dresden?  How is the aftermath of the fire bombing depicted?  Why does Vonnegut portray the soldiers as a sort of barbershop quartet?

Tuesday October 22nd
Minutes: Samiha, Joyce
Reading HW: Ch. 9, 10 Slaughterhouse Five
HW: Paper due.

-Let us suppose that this is not a story about time travel.  How could you explain the "time travel" and the extraordinary events that Billy Pilgrim experiences in a rational manner?  How is Pilgrim a kind of proxy for Vonnegut?  How is this war novel just as real as O'Brien's work?

Wednesday October 23rd
Minutes: Austin, Jiaqi
Reading HW: Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron and MLK's "I Have a Dream Speech"
HW: How could Vonnegut's 2081 be inspired by MLK's speech?  What is the intended absurdity of Vonnegut's work?  What message is Vonnegut perhaps attempting to depict?

Thursday October 24th
Minutes: Meril

Friday October 25th
Minutes: Edward, Hyunwoo
Reading HW: "Running" by Gil Scot Heron and the correlating song.
HW: Compare the lyrics of this song to our class discussion about forgetting memories.  What is the inherent value of "running" away from our memories?  I expect six sentences.  I will check this on Monday.


Monday October 28th
Minutes: Ray, Pierre

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Work for the Week of October 15th - Juniors



Tuesday October 15th
Minutes: Karen H., Mcvvina L.
Reading HW: Ch. 5 Slaughterhouse Five
HW: How and why does Vonnegut choose to insert himself into Billy Pilgrim's story?  How is Vonnegut's storytelling similar/different to Tim O'Brien's?

Wednesday October 16th
Minutes: Tommy C., William T.
Reading HW: N/A
HW: Please bring in a draft of your paper.  Email me a draft as well so that I can see your progress.  You will lose credit if you do not email me a draft by midnight October 15th.

Thursday October 17th
Minutes: Victor M., David L.
Reading HW: Ch. 6 Slaughterhouse Five
HW: How does Billy describe Dresden before its bombing?  Please find a description of Hiroshima/Nagasaki before their bombings.  What did these cities look like?

Friday October 18th
Minutes: Jason L., Kim C. 
Reading HW: N/A
HW: Draft for revision.

Work for the Week of October 15th - Freshmen



Tuesday October 15th
Minutes: Daniel A + Maddie (scheduling problem), can't read the handwriting. 
Reading HW: “Scar”, “Red Candle”, “Moon Lady”
HW: N/A

Wednesday October 16th
Minutes: Charles, Andy
Thursday October 17th
Minutes: Lucy, Sam
Reading HW: “Rules of the Game”
HW: I'd like you to compare the relationship you have with your parents to the relationship Waverly has with her mother.  What similarities and differences do you note?  Please write a minimum of six sentences.

Friday October 18th
Minutes: Claire, Cassandra
Reading HW: Workshop Day!
HW: Draft for revision.  Two perfect paragraphs due Monday October 21st.