Category Archives: Announcements

Wrapping Up the Semester

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We made it! We’re just about through with the course, so I’m sharing a few things to keep in mind as we wrap up this semester:

Essay 2
This final essay, worth 30% of your overall course grade, is due on F 12/15 at 1pm. Submit via Dropbox as a Microsoft Word document (label correctly!). Refer to the Essay 2 page on our site for details on this assignment and the submission link. Also, refer to our in-class writing workshops (your notes, and the class notes about them), the feedback from me in our conference(s) about your draft, feedback on Essay 1, and the Writing Resources page on our site. Also, check out the blogs I made on Tips for Revising Essay 1, which also apply to this essay.

Final Course Reflections
Individual Final Course Reflections, worth 10% of your final course grade, are due by the start of class, 2:30pm, on Tu 12/19. You will be submitting the reflection privately (only I will see it) via Dropbox, as a Microsoft Word document (correctly labeled) and you will also bring one printed copy to our last class. Refer to the Final Course Reflection page on our site for details on this assignment and the submission link.


Final Assignment Grades + Final Course Grades
The deadline for professors to submit final course grades for the Fall 2017 semester is W 12/27 at midnight. Please wait to view your course grade online through CUNYfirst (I will not be giving out final course grades via e-mail). Final grades are non-negotiable, though I am always more than happy to discuss them / your work with you at any point in person, to review the breakdown and the grades’ rationale. If you would like to discuss any of your grades and / or receive additional feedback on your Essay 2 or Final Course Reflection, e-mail me to do so (we can always also schedule an appointment to discuss your work in-person when we return to campus at the end of January, when the new semester starts up).


Thank you, & stay in touch!
Finally, it was a pleasure to work with you all this semester. I wish you the best of luck wrapping up the semester and on your final exams, and in your future endeavors at City Tech, & beyond. You all worked incredibly hard this semester, and I really appreciate your consistent effort and good cheer each week. I hope you enjoyed yourselves and learned a lot about literary fiction and critical thinking / reading / writing / reflection, and that you enjoyed reading some great short stories and novels. Have a wonderful winter break & happy holiday season (best of luck in 2018!), & don’t hesitate to be in touch /stop by my office in future semesters to discuss your work in this course and beyond, chat literature in general, or just say hi  :)

 

City Tech Science Fiction Symposium on 12/6: Extra Credit Opportunity!

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City Tech is holding its 2nd Annual Symposium on Science Fiction on Wednesday, December 6th. This event is free and happening all-day (9:00am-6:00pm) on campus: all of the day’s events take place in Namm 119 except for the final tour of the City Tech Science Fiction Archives (you don’t want to miss this: check out information about the collection to get a sense of what is there).

I encourage you to attend the Symposium, and in possible, to make the keynote, which is at 4pm. We are so honored to have Samuel Delany speaking then, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime treat 🙂 (You can learn more about Delany and his contributes to Science Fiction in this New Yorker article, “Samuel Delany and the Past and Future of Science Fiction”).

This is a totally optional event, but I encourage you to attend if you can and to share what you’ve learned with the class. If you attend a portion (or all!) of the Symposium on W 12/6 & blog in response by Su 12/10 you will get extra credit (yay!).

This extra credit will replace a missing blog if you missed some blogs, or it will count as extra credit if already you did all of your blogs (bonus points). Please note that, as always, there are only two grades for this extra credit blog: 100 and 0. If you attend the event and blog your responses/reflections thoughtfully and comprehensively, you will receive 100% (otherwise,  you will receive no credit). Don’t forget to take notes at the event, so you can include concrete details in your blog.

Please categorize your blog as “City Tech Science Fiction Symposium.”

Register Now for Spring 2018 Literature Courses

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As I mentioned in class, the English Department has an OpenLab site where students can view all of our upcoming literature courses. Check out our awesome line-up of courses for Spring 2018: https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/literature/

As you know, I’m teaching our upper-level “Topics in Literature” (ENG 3402) courses on “Self-Help Literature” this Spring, the same days/times as this class (Tu/Th 2:30-3:45pm). It should be a really interesting course, and a lot of fun too (and if fulfills writing-intensive, Common Core, and capstone requirements). Check out the poster below, and feel free to ask me more about the course if you’re interested 🙂

Download (PDF, 138KB)

Notes for Today 11/07/2017 (Terry will continue it)

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I volunteered to help Terry with the notes today, no biggie!

Pinch Hitting-  Something to do with baseball; In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play). 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinch_hitter 

Free Writing: Counted as a quiz guys!! ( Write about a theme or recurring theme; idea of narrator’s story telling.) Her way of telling a story, writing, thinking, etc…

Congrats Kina, you won this week for people’s choice for the description and extended use of RED !

Gem has been selected for featured post for talking about the role of women in her post!

Reminder: People’s Choice for parts III-VIII due Wednesday Nov.8th at night ( By 11:59 pm if you want exact details)

REMEMBER ESSAYS ARE DUE TUESDAY NOVEMBER 14TH !!!!!

Only 18 people posted in the blogs. SMH guys!!! the semester is almost over!! come on!!!

Mid-Semester Grades: If you have NOT heard from our lovely Professor Belli, then you are off the hook. She called out the names during class, if you did not attend class, email her just to be safe. You want to know whether you are failing or not right?

If you want to have a chat with her about any assignments ( including the essay) EMAIL her ASAP to book an appt with her. She will be available today 11/07, tomorrow 11/08, and Thursday 11/09. Come with printed material..

 
Story Telling: Pg.39-40

“It isn’t a story I’m telling but it is a story I’m telling.” – mixture of past and facts. 

  • Hierarchy– Color of dresses
  • Epigraphs
  • Descriptive
  • Imagery (Book uses lots of descriptions and imagery)
  • Narrative:
  • Table of Contents-Functional (sort of like a journal, what happens, not so much like a list.)
  • “Night”- has an importance

  • The night is mine, my own time, to do with as I will, as long as I am quiet. As long as I don’t move. As long as I lie still.” (37)

  • Night is he freedom, as long as she is quiet. 
  • Memories- She reminisces about her Daughter Hannah and Husband Luke. 
  • Meditation- During the day, her life is about waiting to be told what to do. Lots of free time. 
  • Offred time travels through her mind, she retains control of her mind while all else has been lost to her.
  • Subjective Narrative- All she has, cannot talk freely. 
  • Constantly revises the way she tells her story. Gilead, Red Center.
  • Propaganda- To persuade you to change your opinion.
  •  Narrator thinks back to how commander reads bible  by ceremony.
  • Free Association:  Something that makes you think about something else, and on and on… – Offred’s Style. 
  • Author is very attentive to detail.

  • “I need to be very clear, in my own mind.” (33)

    We will continue on Thursday 11/09/2017

Happy National Day on Writing!

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Friday, October 20th is National Day on Writing! You can more about this on NCTE’s (National Council of Teachers of English) website for the day. A primary way this day is being celebrated / organized is through the use of a hashtag: #WhyIWrite. As the website states,

“You see, people tend to think of writing in terms of pencil-and-paper assignments, but no matter who you are, writing is part of your life. It’s part of how you work, how you learn, how you remember, and how you communicate. It gives voice to who you are and enables you to give voice to the things that matter to you.

For the past 9 years, we’ve seen thousands of people share their responses and engage in activities around the theme of #WhyIWrite. Their collective voices are raising the volume on this issue.”

You can follow this live conversation unfolding on Twitter, and participate there if you want.

This is an opportunity to consider why you write, the role it has in your life, and perhaps even how your writing is expanding in new media composing environments (digital writing, blogging, videos, etc.) or in relation to fiction/this course. Anyone who wants to do so may post for extra credit (post by Su 10/22 at 11:59pm). This is an optional post, and can be approached any way you feel would be most appropriate (you can browse the national conversation happening online to get inspiration) … feel to be as creative as you’d like! And feel free to include images, videos, links, etc. [anything that will help us to understand why you write and what writing means to you]

*As you know, extra credit blogs will replace missing blogs (or count as additional credit if you’ve done all of them already). There are only two grades for these extra credit blogs (100 and 0). If you write a thoughtful #WhyIWrite post, you will receive 100% (an “A”) for the assignment. If you choose note to post (or if it is too short/not fulfilling the purposes of this task), you will receive a “0.”

Categorize as “#WhyIWrite.”

Extra Credit Opportunity: Brooklyn Book Festival on Sunday, 9/17

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The Brooklyn Book Festival is almost here, and on Sunday, 9/17, there is an amazing line-up of talks. The event is local, free, & no tickets are required. Visit the links above for full details.

This is a totally optional event, but I encourage you to attend if you can and to share what you’ve learned with the class. If you attend one more more talks & blog in response by start of class on Tu 9/19, you will get extra credit (yay!).

This extra credit will replace a missing blog if you missed some blogs, or it will count as extra credit if already you did all of your blogs (bonus points). Please note that there are only two grades for this extra credit blog: 100 and 0. If you attend the event and blog your responses/reflections thoughtfully and comprehensively, you will receive 100% (otherwise,  you will receive no credit). Don’t forget to take notes at the event, so you can include concrete details in your blog.

Please categorize your blog as “Brooklyn Book Festival.”

IMPORTANT: Classroom Moved to Namm 705

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Hi everyone:

I just found out that our classroom has been moved to Namm 705. We will be meeting in Namm 705 today, and for the rest of the semester (this is a permanent change).

There will be a sign on our old classroom (Midway 305), but hopefully we’ll be able to spread the word to most of you before class begins. Please email/txt any classmates whose contact info. you have, to let them know. The info. on our OpenLab course site is also updated, as is the classroom info. in CUNYfirst.

Please confirm that you got notice of this classroom change by replying to this post (you can just write something like, “yup,” or “got it”). Thanks so much, and glad we’ll be able to write on the board going forward 🙂

Cheers,
Professor Belli

HW for Thursday (8/31)

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Hi everyone:

Lovely to meet you all today, and to start to get to know you! And thanks for bearing with things as we improvised, since the whiteboard was destroyed & the computer didn’t work and we couldn’t project the OpenLab as planned.

As I mentioned in class, everything you need to know for the course, and everything you need to do for HW is here on this site (remember, the course site URL is at the top of the Syllabus). Your first stop here should always be the Schedule, which has up-to-date info. on readings, assignments, and deadlines.

If you’re new to the OpenLab and need help getting started, check out these posts (the “OpenLab Help” category) I made that explain how to get an account, join the course, make a post, categorize, comment, add images, etc..  Remember to always read from the bottom up (the newest posts are on top!)

As discussed, the HW is on the Schedule. Remember that HW is due on the date listed, so to see what is due for today, check today’s date (Tu 8/29). You should

  • Register for OpenLab account, join our course site, and familiarize yourself with its content and navigation (look at OpenLab Help to get started blogging)
  • Review Syllabus & Blogging Guidelines

To see what is due for our next class (Th 8/31), check that date. Before Thursday’s class, you also need to do the following:

  • Watch this very brief slideshow on The Elements of Fiction (remember to take notes!), and read/annotate “The Story of an Hour” and “For Better Social Skills, Scientists Recommend a Little Checkhov” (both handed out in class today).
  • Finally, don’t forget to make your Introductions post (by W 8/30), and to read through/comment on your classmates’ posts before class.

Things are pretty self-explanatory on our course site (if you take some time to read through everything), but as always, feel free to email me with any questions or just leave a comment (“reply”) here on this post. And don’t worry: once you get the hang of the OpenLab, it’s actually quite fun! Looking forward to seeing you on Thursday 🙂

Cheers,
Professor Belli

*P.S. Thanks Nick for taking Class Notes today! If you’re feeling ambitious, please type them up and post them to the site (categorizing as “Class Notes”). Class Notes should be posted no later than the night of class, going forward.