Practice Final Exam #1 - Article A1 and Reminders

Hello All,

I hope that you each had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. In case you need a copy, here you can find a PDF of the Kohn article, "No Contest: Play, Fun, and Competition." This is the first article for Practice Exam #1.

Be sure that you have thoroughly read and annotated this article for Tuesday's class. Upon entering the classroom you will receive a copy of the second article for the Practice Exam. You will then compose a five-paragraph essay (intro, body, conclusion) that compares and/or contrasts these two pieces. You may devote one paragraph to your opinion (this may also be simply included in the conclusion), but be sure that it appears at the end of your essay and that it is connected in some way to the readings!

Therefore, to take this exam you will need the following:

1. about five sheets of loose leaf paper (I do not want paper ripped from spiral notebooks)
2. two writing implements (preferably pencil so that you can neatly correct mistakes)
3. a fed body and an alert mind

I ask that you double-space your documents so that I can easily provide comments to you directly. You will be given the entire period to complete this in-class assignment, a total of nearly 110 minutes. Be on time so that you can utilize every second! Remember the breakdown: 15 minutes to read, 80 minutes to write, 15 minutes to proofread and revise. The Final Exam period is 120 minutes long, giving you an extra 10 minutes to compose your essay.

I plan on copying your pieces in pairs so that we can perform a peer-edit on Thursday. Furthermore, you will be called up to my desk to speak with me where we will go over your essay one-on-one.

Should you have any questions I encourage you to email me. I will get back to you as soon as I possibly can. Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend everyone.

Best,
s.

IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR THURSDAY'S CLASS

Hello All,

I am writing to you now to inform you of two important things.

First, at the end of class yesterday I wrongly stated that the essay is due Tuesday. According to our schedule the essay was scheduled for this Thursday. Nevertheless, the slip-up is my mistake and therefore you are granted this one... meaning essay #3 and revision #2 are due this Tuesday (11/23).

The second important thing is that for Thursday's class you must bring all written work that you have completed for the class thus far! This means bring all previous essays, revisions, and drafts that you have in your possession. I will be holding short one-on-one meetings with each of you to discuss not only your writing but also your general "status" in the class. As we are entering the final three weeks of class, it is important for you gain some constructive criticism from me so that you may double your efforts in this final stretch. Once again, you must bring all written work that you have completed for the class thus far on Thursday! If you do not you will be asked to leave and marked absent!!!

Email me with questions should you have any concerning this change in the schedule.

See you all Thursday,
s.

Recent Articles on Facebook (Sample Secondary Sources) and a Reminder

Here are links to two New York Times articles that you may sample for the upcoming essay. The first concerns the freedom of speech in the workplace regarding an employee's Facebook status posting. The second discusses potential changes in online privacy.

As a reminder for our next class meeting, I would like you to bring all three texts from this segment of the course; i.e., Braden, Hempel with Lehman, and Westlake.

Essay #3 Topic Ideas (and Theses) for 11/11

Hello everyone. Again I hope that you found today's "field trip" to be beneficial and informative. Scott is certainly an energetic gentleman and you can be sure to find him in the Library most days. Just visit the Reference Desk!

Below I would like everyone to post a topic idea for Thursday. This should be a topic that you plan on pursuing in your upcoming paper, due one week from this Thursday!

Also post a potential thesis statement that you plan on arguing in your essay.

Remember to get these in by Thursday's class meeting (in truth, it shouldn't take you more than a few minutes at most to compile and post this assignment). Having all these ideas presented online should help everyone formulate stronger and more focused theses when the time comes to begin writing.

Slight Change in the Schedule

Hello all. Please make note of the following small changes to the schedule.

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T 11/9:

~ Field Trip: Using the Library the Internet: Vital Academic and Scholarly Resources (Meeting Room CL205) 
~ Discussion of Braden’s essay

~ Handout – Proper Citation in a Works Cited Page and Annotated Bibliography

Reading – BH, p.379-387, 392-400

Th 11/11:

~ Proper usage of the semi-colon, colon, and quotation marks

~ Continuation of discussions on Westlake and Braden's texts 
~Review of e-journal #10

T 11/16:

~ Review of Braden, Hempel with Lehman, and Westlake
~ In-class activity: selections from BH, p.382ff, Ex. 34-1 & 34-2; p.386f, Ex. 35-1; p.398ff, Ex. 37-1 & 37-2
No additional reading or writing assignments… work on your paper and revision!

Th 11/18:

Essay #3 Due – bring two extra copies of your document to class to perform a peer-edit!
Revision #2 Due – be sure to staple the original draft copy behind the revision copy in order to receive credit!

Library "Field Trip"

Hello all,

For our class "field trip" tomorrow (11/9), please report to CL205 at 2:00pm sharp. We will be directed by Scott Scheidlower during this important informational session on how to research secondary source material. Again, our "field trip" begins tomorrow at 2:00 o'clock sharp

Hw #10 for 11/9

Below find the prompt for e-journal #10, due Tuesday 11/9.

After reading Braden, consider any lines of thought presented in the following prompt when responding: Many would argue that the Internet is merely another window through which the public may be spied upon by “big government” or by secret agencies. Do you feel that Braden and Westlake share a similar argument regarding this issue? According to these authors, and in your opinion, what are the weakest points (literally, sites) of the Internet? What are some potential results of the Internet’s ability to replicate and publish information? Do you feel that you participate in citizen-surveillance? Do you contribute to content on the web? If so, what kind? What of the Internet are you most wary about? Use at least two, properly cited textual examples in your response.