“Reading Lucy” by Jennifer Egan

On Wednesday, we’ll discuss Jennifer Egan’s essay, “Reading Lucy” from the collection Brooklyn Was Mine. Everyone received a copy in class.

Write a blog post about “Reading Lucy” by the end of Tuesday. In your post, consider any of the following:

  • how does the essay represent Egan’s story of how she learned about history?
  • what is Egan’s relationship to Lucy, and how does it develop?
  • how has Egan conveyed Lucy’s story?

We will discuss these questions in class, and will look at how Egan incorporates her research into her essay.

Good luck preparing for your speeches!

drafting a summary of happiness (and sadness)

According to Brian Merchant in “The Happiest and Saddest Places in NYC, According to Twitter,” researchers at the New England Complex Systems Institute (NECSI) have used Twitter to determine that the happiest place in NYC is Times Square and the saddest is Maspeth Creek, Brooklyn.

details:

–about the study

-when it took place, and for how long

-used 600,000 tweets for their study

-how tweets were used to determine happiness/sadness

–why researchers think these were the results

–parks=happy, transit hubs=sad

Cover letter for Project 2

Please write a letter addressed to me that will help me understand your work on Project #2. It should answer the following questions in any order you like:

1-what are you most proud of in your essay?

2-what in your essay still needs work?

3-what in the assignment gave you the most trouble?

4-what stands out to you from completing this assignment?

5-is there anything I should know about you as a writer, student etc that will help me as I read your essay?

If you have not yet submitted your essay, please explain why, when you will, and use the letter as an opportunity to let me know what’s giving you trouble.

Blogging for Wednesday, Friday

A few important assignments are coming due this week. First, Project #2! Be sure to have your final version posted here on the blog before the start of class. If you have any final questions, feel free to ask them in the comments here. Your post should use the Project 2 category, plus your group’s tag and any other tags you find appropriate. In the subject line, give your project a title–don’t just write Project #2! Be sure to include a Works Cited list for the  citations for the sources of your two quotations.I have included citations for our readings on the Readings page on our site. Use the appropriate citation.

You’re also posting a reflection on your experience with Brooklyn Historical Society. Here are the instructions: Write a blog post in which you reflect on working with maps in the archives at BHS. What impact will this experience have on your work in this Learning Community this semester? If you think your experience working with archives, working in the Othmer Library at BHS, or working with BHS more generally will have a more long-lasting impact on you, write about that as well. Use the category Homework, and the tag BHS plus your group’s tag and any others you find appropriate.

For the end of the week (Friday at 5:00pm): Using the text of the questions below, write a post with the information your group collected on each map to share with your classmates, along with photographs that would be useful for someone who cannot visit BHS to examine the map. Use the category Classwork, the tag BHS, your group’s tag, and any additional tags that would be helpful for organizing this post in our site. If your call slip indicated that you cannot share photographs on the site, we’ll password-protect the post. We’ll agree on the password in class.

Reading the citation:

1-What is the map’s call number?
2-What is the map’s title (if available)?
3-Which collection does the map belong to?
4-When was it made?

Physical description of the map:
5-What size is the map (approximately)?
6-What colors does it use?
7-What materials were used to make the map?
8-Who made the map?

Map content:
9-What location does the map depict?
10-What details does it include?
11-What time period does the map depict? Is this the same as the time when it was made?
12-What is familiar to you about the location depicted in the map?

Interpretation and Reflection:
13-What is the purpose of the map?
14-Why did it survive prior to becoming part of the archives at BHS?
15-Why did BHS incorporate it into its collections?
16-What is familiar or unfamiliar about the map?
17-What additional information would you want to better understand the map?
18-Where is City Tech in relation to this map?

Readings for Wednesday

Before Wednesday, please re-read “Who Knows Brooklyn” and “View of the World from 9th Avenue” by Saul Steinberg:

On the Saul Steinberg Foundation Web site

On Wikipedia

To help you think about Steinberg’s illustration, consider how it is a map. Some questions you should answer in your post are:

What information is accurate, and what is inaccurate?

What do the inaccuracies mean?

What do you understand about the map from its title?

What is The New Yorker magazine and why was this an appropriate cover for one of its issues?

Follow-up from 9/30 for 10/2

At the start of our field trip, I distributed a handout with questions for further reflection. Use these questions to guide you in writing your reflection of your experience today on the walking tour and visiting the Brooklyn Historical Society. Please post this as soon as possible so that your groupmates can reply in comments, since we will not have time in our next class to discuss our reactions and reflections. It was great to hear from so many of you in class at BHS today, and I look forward to reading about your experiences there and around Brooklyn.

On Wednesday, we’re going to the Ursula Schwerin Library, which is the name of City Tech’s library. It’s on the 4th floor in the Atrium building. Please meet there at 11:30 instead of going to Prof. Davis’s classroom. He and I will meet you there, as will Prof. Maura Smale, one of our instructional librarians. To prepare for this visit, please read “Who Knows Brooklyn?” by Ben McGrath. I can provide printed copies on Wednesday.

I also note that your drafts of Project #2 are due electronically at the start of class. Instead, please bring an electronic copy of your draft–as much of Project #2 as you can complete, in as presentable a draft as possible–and I will give instructions for submitting and commenting. Since we’ll be in a computer classroom, you must have your draft with you electronically to be able to upload it during class–either on a flash drive, or in your email, or another way if you have another idea.

Please feel free to ask questions by commenting on this post.

 

Walking New York

As we discussed in class, after you read “A Literary Visitor Strolls in from the Airport” by Charles McGrath, please write a post about your experience walking in New York City. Maybe you want to write about the longest walk you ever took, or a walk that was memorable for another reason, or reflect on walking in Manhattan versus another borough, or on streets versus walking in parks, or during the day versus at night. You don’t need to draw a comparison–just write about walking in New York.

As always, I look forward to reading your posts!

Homework from class on 9/18

For homework, write a summary of “City Limits” in a blog post. That means it should be roughly 250 words. Use the handout on writing a summary to help you decide what belongs in your summary and what does not. Choose the category “Homework” and add any tags you think are appropriate for your post. Also choose the tag for your group–I’ve added them all for this post, so you can just choose it from the list of tags. Publish your post by the end of the day on Friday.

Before class on Monday, comment briefly on the summaries of each of your groupmates. You can find them easily by clicking the tag on the right-hand sidebar of our site. Your comments might include suggestions to improve the summary, aspects of the summary that you would like to incorporate into your own summary, comments about the style of the writing, or questions you have about something they’ve included. Remember that we want comments to be encouraging, and that any comments should be respectful and helpful.

Additionally, you must revise Project #1 based on the comments I made in class and in my letter to you.

I look forward to reading your work!