Homework for Tuesday, Feb 18

Hi Class,

For Tuesday, February 18th,  bring in a newly revised page 1 of Essay1. In order to do this, first, print out and study the Thesis Handout, found under the “Readings” menu tab. Second, revise your page 1 in terms of paragraph structure: think of the first paragraph as the place to write the introductory definitions and the summary of your favorite article. The second paragraph should then move into the thesis statement. Make sure that it has a modifier in it (like “while”), so that your thesis has an argument in it. Third, make sure that you take out words and phrases such as “everybody knows,” “we all think about home,” “you know.” These are vague and impossible to support. Fourth, bring both the old and the new versions to class on Tuesday.

Email any questions that you have.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

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Sentence Revision

Here’s a summary sentence that we will work on in class; it can be improved in numerous ways:

“Santiago is writing about the story of a girl who comes from DR and hopes to get into the 8th grade and found the principle oppositional.”

 

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Four Ideas about Home

Four Brief Thoughts on Home:

These ideas on home might help us prepare for our first formal essay.

 

Maya Angelou (American Author and Poet): “I believe that one can never leave home. I believe that one carries the shadows, the dreams, the fears and the dragons of home under one’s skin, at the extreme corners of one’s eyes and possibly in the gristle of the earlobe.” (from Letter to My Daughter, by Maya Angelou. New York: Random House, 2009).

 

Gaston Bachelard (French Sociologist): The home is our “first universe” and our “first world.” Such space is important, but size does not matter; a simple hut has more dream potential than a mansion. What matters is the degree of intimacy and intensity of our experience there. (from The Fate of Place, by Edward S. Casey. Berkeley: U of California P, 1998. 290)

 

Svetlana Boym (Russian-American Literary Critic): “To feel at home is to know that things are in their places and so are you; it is a state of mind that doesn’t depend on an actual location.” (from The Future of Nostalgia, by Svetlana Boym. New York: Basic, 2001. 251)

 

Immanuel Levinas (Lithuanian-French Philosopher): “The privileged role of the home does not consist in being the end of human activity but in being its condition, and in this sense its commencement.” What is accomplished by the home? These four: our ability for recollection, our ability to have intimacy, our ability to work, and our ability to make representations of the world. (from Totality and Infinity, by Immanuel Levinas. Pittsburgh: Duquesne UP, 1969. 152-4.)

Best wishes,

Prof.  Scanlan

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New Reading: Howard Gardner

Hi Class,

For the Howard Gardner reading (in case you do not have the book yet), please go to the “Readings” menu tab and see Reading #4.

 

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan

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Reading 3 Is Now Posted

Hi Class,

I’ve posted the Steve Brody article under the “Readings” menu tab.

Have a good weekend.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

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Welcome Students

Hello Students of section D352!

This site will grow and develop during the semester, just like you will grow and develop as critical readers and writers.

If you have any questions, please let me know via email:

sscanlan@citytech.cuny.edu

The course policy and syllabus are located in the Policy menu bar. Take some time to look around our course site; we will refer to it often.

 

Best wishes,

Prof. Scanlan

 

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