ENG1101 Comp 1101 (D377)2 Sg2014

Hi Class,

1. What is a photograph?

2. Why do we take, keep, share, and discard photographs?

3. How should we make sense of photographs?

The French sociologist and critic Roland Barthes wrote about photography, and he came up with several useful terms for studying photographs.

1. Studium: The studium of a photograph is the public and historical background of a photo. The studium is context and it is the general understanding. The studium of a photo must be visible, and it is the cultural reading of the faces, the gestures, the buildings, the actions within a photo.

2. Punctum: The punctum of a photograph is highly individual, not public. The Punctum pierces the viewer in a particular way. The punctum, which must be visible,  pierces the viewer like a arrow, raising certain individual memories and consciousnesses. The punctum bruises me but not you. The punctum is about loving, while the studium is about liking.

The larger image:

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

Here is the peer review for Essay 1–should you need it.

PeerReviewComp1-Essay-1-Spg-2014

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

To prepare to turn in Essay 1 on Tuesday, Feb 25, please do the following:

Put all process work in a paper folder–with your name on it:

In order to revise and proof your work:

Revision:

Proofing:

Best,
Prof. Scanlan

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

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.”

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

Hi Class,

I posted the Howard Gardner reading “Five Minds for the Future” on the “Readings” menu tab…just above the journal template.

Cheers,

Prof. Scanlan

Hi Class,

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

Have a good weekend.

Best,

Prof. Scanlan

Hello Students!

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