Sunday, Sept. 30th, 2012--7 pm

Greetings,

Just a very quick reminder--please remember to bring the handout about notecards and bibliography cards that I distributed at the end of class on Friday. Thanks!

And of course, you will be bringing your Rules of Thumb text as well.

See you in the morning!

Friday, September 28th, 2012--4:15 pm

Hello,
Here is a copy of out of class essay assignment #2 which was distributed in class today.
We will continue our discussion on Monday. Be thinking about some possible topic choices.

English 1A, Fall 2012---C. Fraga

Date assigned: Friday, Sept. 28*

Rough draft (optional): due no later than Friday, October 12

Final draft due: Monday, October 22

*You have three weeks (which includes four weekends) to research, write, and edit this essay before submitting.

Details:

1. MLA format

2. At least 4 outside sources on your Works Cited page

3. Please, no Wikipedia

4. No formulaic, 5 paragraph essay

5. Underline thesis statement

6. Everything you need to know about how to document research in MLA format as well as to conduct research can be found in your Rules of Thumb textbook. Of course, I will be going over MLA details in class as well.

7. Utilize the bibliography and note card system I will teach and follow the instructions for submitting the final draft. (These instructions will be written on the board during class on Sept. 28^th.)

8. This essay is worth 200 points: 100 points for content and organization and 100 points for sentence structure, grammar, etc.

OUT OF CLASS ESSAY ASSIGNMENT #2

Course theme: the significance of home

Every family, at some point, must face something extraordinary and/or challenging that impacts the family entity. How do members of the family cope, adjust, and/or “deal” with the event/situation?

I am not referring to the everyday “bumps in the road” that occur for all families. Instead, I am asking you to consider the family unit when faced with an especially challenging situation. These situations could include but are not limited to:

• death

• birth

• infidelity

• serious injury

• dementia

• serious illness

• divorce

• unemployment

• new employment

• moving to a new home/state/area/country

• the return of a war veteran

• moving BACK home after initially moving OUT

• alcoholism

• drug abuse

Select ONE situation that you are most interested in exploring. You will conduct research (and possibly personal interviews, if possible) in order to write an essay that offers the reader background on the topic and makes an assertion about what elements of a particular situation impact a family in the most challenging of ways and supports it logically and interestingly.

Your thesis might read something like this:

When a family member develops dementia, the challenges are often devastating, yet the disease definitely impacts family members more than the dementia patient.

Or…

When a couple divorces, it most certainly impacts the children still living at home; however, it is the older children who have already moved away that are most affected by the split.

2nd posting for Wednesday, September 26, 2012 -- 5:15 pm

Hello again,

I have completed scoring the quiz on One Amazing Thing.

Out of 77 English 1A students (my three sections),  there were only 25 students who earned a perfect score of 50. Huge congrats to all of you.

There were several others who earned very close to 50. Also impressive.

However, this SHOULD have been a quiz where all of you earned a VERY easy 50 points. It is obvious that:
1. some of you are not keeping up with the reading assignments
2. you forgot to bring the novel to class
3. or ????

A low or failing score on this one quiz is certainly no indication that you will fail the class.
It is just ONE quiz.
However, it may be a "wake up call" for some of you. :)

Wednesday, September 25th, 2012 -- 4:45 pm

Hello,

below you will find the reading assignment for Packet #4, due to be read by next Wednesday, October 3rd. The packet consists of two short stories. As you will note from the syllabus, there is NO Question and Comment due for this packet. :)

"Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter" (a short story by Chitra B. Divakaruni)
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/issues/98apr/dutta.htm
(please note, this story is in two "parts")


"A Family" (a short story by Guy de Maupassant)
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/Afamily.html

Monday, Sept. 24th, 2012--5:45 pm

Hello,

Reminder--Q and C due for Packet #3 tomorrow. There are two short stories to read, thus you will be submitting TWO Q and Comments--one set for each story.

Also, due to be read in its entirety is One Amazing Thing by this Friday. Remember to bring the novel with you to class.

FOR MY 8 AM, SECTION 88 CLASS ONLY: PLEASE BRING ONE AMAZING THING TO CLASS ON WEDNESDAY AS WELL AS ON FRIDAY.

Monday, Sept. 24th, 2012 8:05 am

Good morning,

A reminder and a few bits of valuable information...

If you submitted a rough draft for out of class essay #1, please remember to attach it to the back of your final draft before submitting on Wednesday.

As you are completing your final editing and proofreading of out of class essay #1, please consider the following:

• Check for unacceptable errors as well as for other sentence level errors mentioned on the bottom half of your handout on unacceptable errors.
• Underline your thesis statement.
• Eliminate wordiness and repetitiveness.
• Write clear transitions between paragraphs.
• Give your essay a title. Center it and do not type it in all caps, do not underline it, do not type it in a different font. and do not put quotations around it.
• Be sure each paragraph has a concise, specific and focused topic sentence and discusses one main topic only.
• Run a spell check program.
• Type your last name and the page number in the upper right hand corner of each page.
• Since it is a narrative AND an analysis essay, it is perfectly acceptable to use the pronoun "I" but do not add unnecessary words to your sentences such as "I think" or "I believe." For example, do not write: I think my grandmother's house was the truest home I experienced in my childhood. Instead you would write: My grandmother's house was the truest home I experienced in my childhood.

Sunday, Sept. 23rd, 2012, 9:50 pm

Greetings,

I have completed reading through the rough drafts for out of class essay #1 that were submitted.
These drafts, with my comments, will be returned tomorrow in class.

Be sure to check this blog tomorrow because I will be posting some general tips and reminders based on my viewing of the rough drafts submitted, so all of you can benefit from the information.

See you tomorrow.
I will try to get to class early; you may begin the in class essay as soon as I arrive and you pick up the prompt sheet.