Thursday, August 28th

What we covered on Thursday, August 28th: 

* Read aloud and discussed "Nor Hell a Fury" and "Where You Go When She Sleeps" 
* Talked about how metaphors are working in both poems and how to use these metaphors within the context of the literacy narrative 
* Talked about the concept of a "thesis question" (as per the Allyn and Bacon Guide) and related this to the subtle thesis you'll be writing for your literacy narratives
* Listened to and discussed several songs in class and talked about how these songs give hints about where the song is going and what its goal is, just like a subtle thesis would
* Briefly discussed "Reading the River" and talked about how it functions as a model for a literacy narrative

Homework for Thursday: 

READ: 

* "Deciding to Live" by Dorothy Allison (Page 1, Pages 2-3, Pages 4-5, Pages 6-7) Note: if the text is too small, click the "zoom" button on the right-hand side (the little magnifying glass with the plus sign in it)

TYPE, PRINT AND BRING TO CLASS: 

* Find a song that has a subtle thesis and answer the following questions:

1) What is the thesis?
2) What question or problem does the thesis address?
3) What does the thesis foreshadow about the song? 
4)   Give an example (at least two complete sentences!) of how a verse in the song ties back to the thesis.

Tuesday, August 26th

Reminder: 

By now, you should be thinking about topics for your literacy narrative. Remember that your topic should be connected in some way to Civil Rights or Water Disasters. If you're thinking of doing something not connected to either of these things, run it by me first! 

What we covered on Tuesday, August 26th: 

* Discussed Write What You Like essays in small groups and in class
* Learned how to access the Allyn & Bacon Guide and read "Letter to the Editor" and "A Festival of Rain" 
* Discussed the differences between open- and closed-form prose 
* Talked about the Chris Rose piece, "Hell and Back." Discussed how Rose uses the metaphors of an empty tank of gas and  zombies to get his audience to empathize with what it feels like to be depressed 
* Went over the Literacy Narrative Prompt and Rubric
* Brainstormed potential literacy narrative topics 

Homework for Thursday: 

READ: 

* "Reading the River" by Mark Twain (Mercury Reader, pgs. 66 - 67) 
* Concepts 1 and 2 in the Allyn and Bacon Guide (pgs. 6 - 15) 
* The following two poems: "Nor Hell a Fury" by Catherine Pierce and "Where You Go When She Sleeps" by T.R. Hummer

WRITE: 

* Read both poems multiple times and answer the following questions (in complete sentences) for each poem: 

1) What was your emotional reaction to this piece, and how did the imagery affect you? 
2) What is/are the metaphor(s) being used in this piece?
3) How did the metaphors affect your understanding of the piece? 
4) Did you like the poem? Why or why not? 

(You should have two sets of answers to these questions, one for "Nor Hell a Fury" and one for "Where You Go When She Sleeps") 

Thursday, August 21st

REMINDER:

* For Tuesday, make sure that you're able to access the Allyn and Bacon Guide through MyWritingLab: I will be assigning readings from this book next week! In order to access the A&B, log onto Desire2Learn, click the tab farthest to the right, and sign into MyWritingLab. When you're logged in, click "View eText." 

What we covered on Thursday, August 21st: 

* Collected Best/Worst experiences essays (if you didn't have one in class, print your essay and bring it to class on Tuesday!) 
* Introduced the idea of a "literacy" as "competence." Explained that the literacy narrative is just a story about how some experience in your life has caused you to view something differently

* Discussed "Learning the Language" -- talked about what jargon Perri Klass uses as a doctor and how that changed how she related to her patients, and to other people 
* Talked about what kinds of jargons we use in our own everyday lives via our hobbies, professions, skills etc. 
* Discussed awareness of audience and composed three different text messages (to your parents, your significant other, and your best friend) and discussed how being aware of one's audience changes the way you talk to different people 
* Emphasized the importance of details by writing about an object that you loved as a child, and an object that you always wanted. Strong, specific details make your writing come alive!

Homework for Tuesday: 

READ: 
* "Hell and Back" by Chris Rose, Mercury Reader, pgs 16 - 25

WRITE: 
* A 1-2 pages of whatever you have fun writing. (I lovingly call this the "write what you like" assignment). The point here is to show me the kind of writing that you enjoy and are most comfortable with. If you like to write stories, write me the first page or two of a story. If you like poetry, write me that. Write me original lyrics. Write me an essay about a topic you like. Write something that you're passionate about, and bring it to class on Tuesday. 

Welcome to Composition 101!

This is your blog for the semester. You can check the blog for useful information, such as your homework for the day, updates about the class, links to readings and supplementary materials. This blog will be updated every class period and it should contain everything you need to know about the day's class and its assignments. Online readings, model essays, and homework assignments will be posted here, so you'll need to check it regularly.

What we covered on Tuesday, August 18th (aka the first day  of class): 

* Introductions

* Office Hours (MW 10:30 - 11:30 in Faner 2238)

* Syllabus 

Homework for Thursday: 

ACQUIRE:
* The Mercury Reader (at the bookstore)
* Your tablet (at the library)

READ: 
* The syllabus addendum  
* "Learning the Language" by Perri Klass (pgs 41 - 46 in the MR) 

DO:

* Add $10 to your Debit Dawg account
* Prove that you visited the blog by commenting on it with your favorite band or musician OR email me a link to the blog. (emilyrosecole@siu.edu)

WRITE: 
* A 1-2 page essay (typed, double spaced) about your best and worst experiences with writing. (Note that this does not necessarily mean "in an English class" -- anything writing-related counts!) Print this essay and bring it to class on Thursday; I will collect it.