Course Recap for Thursday, January 29, 2015

Description vs Narrative

What is the difference between a description of a person or place and a narrative about a person or place?  That's the question we attempted to answer in our discussion today.

Homework

• Read "Hills Like White Elephants" by Ernest Hemingway.  Look at the lines of dialogue and in the margins take notes of the information that is revealed there.  Does the line tell you something about the characters, about the plot? What function does it serve? What do you learn about the story from each line? Based on your notes, write a paragraph summing up what you learned about the function of dialogue in this story.

Course Recap for Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Last week we talked about how to describe inanimate objects.  This week we are going to talk about describing people. 

Characterization

How do we characterize other people?  How do we show people who we are?  We looked at several pieces to determine the kind of details we can use to reveal important information about our people.

In Sister Flowers, Mrs. Bertha Flowers is a classy, intelligent, forbidding, yet kind woman.  We learned this from information about the way she dresses (she wears gloves), the way other people act around her (people carry her groceries), the way she speaks (she enunciates everything very clearly), and the way she treats others (the respect she shows Marguerite's mother).  These are all examples of showing information instead of telling it.  Angelou could have just said that Mrs. Flowers was well-educated but she decided to show us this fact instead. 

In the prose poem "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid, we found out a lot of information about the speaker based on the advice she gives us.  We were able to determine she was a poor, minority woman who believed in keeping up appearances.  She values traditional gender roles but she also want her daughter to stand up for herself.  Nowhere in the poem does the speaker say "I am old-fashioned" or "I'm Caribbean" but we can infer this from the little details she provides us about her everyday life.  The same thing is true for "The Day Lady Died" by Frank O'Hara.  We were able to determine that the speaker was a white, wealthy, super-educated, older (possibly retired) male who loves Billie Holiday without him telling us those things directly.  We know this based on the details he provides us of his daily routine. 

Your challenge over the next few days is to write about a place or person significant to you.  You need to determine first what overall impression you want the reader to leave with in the end. Let that guide what details you decide to include.  Try and be specific as possible and avoid telling whenever possible.  Instead of saying Mike is really neat, say Mike wipes every surface of his house with a wet cloth everyday.  Instead of saying Shelly is really sweet, tell us about how when you first met Shelly she offered you her umbrella when it was pouring rain because she knew you had to walk down the street to your car.  Don't just say the park was empty.  Tell us how you were able to hear the squirrel climbing up the tree even though he was several feet away from you and how each breath you took echoed loudly in the darkness.  Not only will it paint a more vivid image, it will also be a lot more interesting to read.

Homework

• 500 word paper describing a person or place that is significant to you via Google Docs. (Due Thursday)
• Friday's Blog Post Prompt: What is story?  What makes a good story (Due Friday)

Course Recap for Thursday January 22, 2014

We took it back to the basics in order to make sure that we establish a common vocabulary and a basic understanding of how the English language works.  First we discussed the basic parts of speech.

Parts of Speech

• Nouns are person, places, or things.
• Verbs are actions or words that express existence such as is, was, has
• Sentences are a group of word that express a complete thought via a subject and a verb.  You must have both in order for it to be a sentence.  There must be some noun doing something in your sentence.
• Paragraphs are a collection of sentences centered around a specific idea or concept called the main idea.  
• These are the building blocks of most forms of writing.

Paragraphs are typically organized using a specific text structure.  They are organized to achieve a specific goal.  Examples of text structure include:

• Description
• Narration
• Definition
• Persuasion
• Process
• Cause and Effect
• Compare and Contrast

We will be focusing on description over the next week or so.

Then we talked about genre.  Genre is a category of writing with it's own set of rules and conventions.  Often times several different text structures can be used in the same genre of writing sometimes even the same paper.  Text messages can be descriptive, narrative, and or persuasive.  News articles may include paragraphs that describe a place, define a concept, and compare and contrast two related issues, all in the same article.  You will become a more versatile writer when you can determine what text structures are appropriate for what genres of writing and how do they change from genre to genre.

Homework due by the beginning of class Tuesday

• Read "Sister Flowers" by Maya Angelou pg 87-92
• Answer Questions for Close Reading on page 92 in a Google Document. 
• Your first two blog posts are due.  No prompt for this week.  Write about whatever you want.  Remember that your Friday post is your first post for your blog (unless you already completed one, then you're ahead of the game), so you might want to introduce yourself and give your audience an idea of who you are so they can know what to expect when they read your blog.  

Welcome to ENGL 151 Freshman Composition

Hello I'm Mickey Moses, and I am your instructor for ENGL 151.  Welcome to the class, and welcome to our blog.  This blog is our class's central hub.  Here you can find class recaps, homework assignments, readings, and helpful links. 

Our class syllabus is located to the right of this post underneath Class Documents.  It lists the rules and expectations for this course.  We will read through the entire document in class, but some of the major points you want to remember are....

1. Come to class everyday.  Attendance is important and necessary in order for you to pass this class.
   
2. Complete all your assignments.  You cannot get points for work you do not complete.
   
3. Be respectful of me and your classmates. 
   
4. Don't cheat. 
   
5. Ask questions and participate in class discussions.   

How you should be in class.





I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you.

Homework for Thursday January 22

You will complete this assignment on Google Docs (docs.google.com). I want you think about something you've written over the past few days.  It can be anything, a grocery list, a text message, an email.  Who was your audience for this piece of writing? What was your purpose?  What goal did you hope to accomplish with it?  Now reflect on how your audience and purpose affected what you said and how you said it.  Answer these questions in a brief paragraph.  Be sure to hit the share button and share it with me (micealaya.moses@gmail.com), or it won't be turned in.