To Do Before Class:

READ AND ANNOTATE: “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin.

WRITE:  Blog Post (at least 300 words) In “A Talk to Teachers,” James Baldwin writes:

I would try to make [the student] know that just as American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, so is the world larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger – and that it belongs to him. I would teach him that he doesn’t have to be bound by the expediencies of any given administration, any given policy, any given morality; that he has the right and the necessity to examine everything.

First of all, what do you think of what James Baldwin was saying? What do you think he means when he says “the world is larger?”

Secondly, what do you think you have the “necessity” to examine, or the obligation to learn more about? To put it another way: what do you wish had been taught to you in school that wasn’t? Why do you want to know about these topics?

Class Topic:

Rhetorical Analysis, Annotated Bibliographies, & Genre

In-Class Activities:

Rhetorical Analysis Worksheet

You will want to go over the Annotated Bibliography Road Map from the assignment sheet as well as previous student examples of source entries 

Slide show on the reflective annotated bibliography  

We have also provided some examples of source entries here.

Genre discussion: In Unit 2, you will look at three sources from three different genres. Now is a good time to review the idea of genre. You can use this slide show, or this slide show (I like this one better– and it includes a worksheet!).

To Do After Class:

READ AND ANNOTATE: “Research Starts with a Thesis Statement” from Bad Ideas about Writing

READ AND ANNOTATE: “Schools are Killing Curiosity” from The Guardian 

WRITE: Blog Post (at least 300 words): 

What is something you were interested in when you were a kid? Are you still interested in that topic? How did asking questions help you learn more about that topic?

If so, how has your curiosity changed and grown over the years? And what role did the educational system play in your curiosity (good or bad)? 

If you are not interested in this topic anymore, what do you think happened to that interest? Do you remember the specific time you LOST interest?  What did you become interested in instead (and why?) 

THINK: Start thinking about a topic you are interested in, something you might want to know more about.  This can be something heavy, like police brutality, or it can be something that seems on the surface more light-hearted, like ballet.  The only criteria is that you are actually curious about it.  

This may seem like strange advice, but it can be helpful to go for a walk and think about topics you’d like to write about. Come home and jot down a few notes. By 10/18 you will be expected to have some idea of a topic you’d like to research, even if it’s a bit vague.