Category: Uncategorized

Agenda:

1–Freewrite: what do you need to do to finish this essay?

****Quotations, finding Q and making them relate, add length, organization, clean up/edit, matching quotes to photos, relating terms, ideas, and photos, Details and stories, transitioning between ideas within a paragraph and transitions from Para to Para, What kind of story to tell?, introduction

2-Q and A on essay 1

3-Peer Review

4-Submission info for Essay 1

Homework due before class on Monday, Sept, 30:

Finish Essay 1 over the weekend. Make sure to edit, proofread, and spellcheck before uploading to our Openlab site. Category: My Photo Essay. Students may upload a PDF or Word document. Or, students can paste the entire essay into the editing block tool–like Virtual Coffeehouse #2.

NOTE: I need to cancel office hours today (Tuesday, Sept 24). Sorry, to do this at the last minute. Email any questions that you have. In addition, I can stay after class on Wednesday if you have questions.

————————————–

Agenda:

1–Review Quiz 1 (note taking review)

2–Review coffeehouse 2 student examples

3–Review Essay 1 instructions, especially the rubric.

4–Approval of student photos

Homework for Wednesday, Sept 25:

Work on Essay 1 and bring in a printed draft for peer review. Goal: at least two full pages. The photos do not need to be in color, but they should be on the essay so that your peer reviewer can see them.

Agenda:

1–Quiz 1

2–Discuss Terms: Review Reality Effect, Studium, Punctum, and then terms 14-28

3–Student Example of a Photo Essay

4–How to post an image

—

14–Rule of Thirds: A tool for composing in which an image is divided into nine equal parts and the focal point is aligned with the intersecting points of the grid lines. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

15–Depth of Field: A photography term that describes where the sharp focus is. A shallow DOF will blur the background (f1.4) and a deep DOF will keep all objects in focus (f22). See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field

16–Balance: Describes the harmonious combination of elements (texture, color, form, and shape) in an image.

17–Composition: The arrangement or structure of the formal elements that make up an image.

18–Focus: Refers to the areas of the image that are the sharpest. Focus can create areas of emphasis and influence the mood of the image.

19–Foreground, middle ground, and background: describe the areas in the front, middle, and back of the composition.

20–Framing: describes the area within the boundaries of the photograph.

21–Light: refers to the light and dark areas in the image. Light in the image can be natural or artificial. This is different from value, which describes the range of light to dark tones in the image.

22–Line: describes a dominant path of movement in an image. Lines can vary in direction and length. For example, they can be horizontal or vertical, straight or curved. By creating paths through the image, lines help communicate information and influence our interaction with the image.

23–Scale: describes relationships of each part of the composition to the whole and to each other part.

24–Shapes: are created from lines. They can be organic and irregular, or geometric and organized.

25–Space: describes the area between objects. Space between objects contributes to the perception of depth in the image.

26–Pattern: refers to repetition in the image. Textures can be repeated, but so can shapes and other elements.

27–Proportion: is related to balance, but it refers to the specific combination of the sizes of different elements in the image.

28–Vantage point: is the position from which the photographer takes the photograph. The vantage point can be from a particular angle: straight on, or at a diagonal, for example. It can also be elevated, at a distance, or close in proximity.

Homework due Monday, Sept. 23: Getting Started on the Photo Essay

1–Take at least three photos. They can be of anything, but we need to establish some rules. For my class, unless they are in the distant background, do not photograph people without their permission–be super friendly and professional (get their name so you can use it in the caption). For my class, do not photograph small children. Do not take photos that embarrass you or anybody else. Keep it “rated G.” You may edit your photos, but please keep a record of what app/software/filter you used (for example: Lightroom or Glitch Studio or Slow Shutter, there are many others). 

2–Decide on three photos that you want to post on our website (Virtual Coffeehouse #2). Make sure to give each photo a clear title.

3–Below each photo, provide the title, then write a short paragraph (about 75-100 words) explaining why you took the photo and what it means to you. Use our terms and handouts to guide you. If they are connected, great! If they are the photos you want to use in your essay, great. If you are not sure they are what you want to write about for your photo essay, no worries. This is good practice.

**Category: Virtual Coffeehouse #2. We will discuss how to post images on Wednesday. Total word length: 200-300 words.

How to post an image

Agenda:

–Review and discuss Essay 1 instructions

Possible topic sentence for a conclusion: Finally, I would like to reflect on three things that I learned while writing my photo essay: photo composition, the college sentence (the thesis blueprint), and dominant impression.

–Freewrite

–New Photo Terms

–Discuss Calle’s and Berger’s essays

Homework due Wednesday, Sept 18: Study for Quiz 1

Prepare for Quiz 1 by reading Susan Sontag’s essay “On Photography” (it’s actually a short selection of a longer essay). Pay close attention to what she says about photographs/photography AND families, tourism,  experience, voyeurism, violence, weapons, and death. The quiz will cover the main points in Cole, Berger, and Sontag. 

Agenda:

1–Freewrite (The Still Life)

2–Discuss Teju Cole’s essay

3–New Terms 11-13 (see below)

4–Sentences: The Thesis Blueprint (complex sentence type…also the college sentence)

• While X, I think Y.
• Thesis blueprint = College Sentence =  Complex Sentence type

While Webb and Barthes are both great writers, I prefer Barthes because of the philosophy that he provides.

–apples to apples!

–Complex sentence: dependent clause + independent clause.

–Focusing sentence: Notice that the two books are in the center of the photo, and there are two small objects on either side. Next, notice that to the right is my hand sanitizer and to the left are my earbuds.

5–Homework

Continuing with our 28 photo terms:

11. Reality Effect:

A term made famous by Roland Barthes to mean the photographic illusions that add to a photo’s realism. In other words, the details that make a photo seem real rather than fake or fantasy. Therefore, it helps to describe a photo has having a high reality effect (see Jeff Roberts’s photo on our OpenLab site) or a low reality effect (see Cindy Sherman’s photos, for example). From Barthes’ The Rustle of Language (1984).

12. Studium:

Roland Barthes also made these two terms famous.

The studium of a photograph is the public and historical grounding of a photo. The studium is the photo’s context and its general understanding, which includes the precise time and place and weather. The studium of a photo must be visible not hidden. Additionally, the studium includes the cultural reading of people (their faces and clothing), gestures, buildings, trees, and actions within a photo.

13. Punctum:

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

*These definitions are from Barthes’ Camera Lucida. Hill and Wang, 1981.

Barthes’ example of punctum:

Little Italy. New York, 1954. Photo by William Klein

“What I stubbornly see are one boy’s bad teeth…”

Homework due Monday, Sept 16, before class.

#1: Study Studium and Punctum (above)

The following essays are in the Readings menu tab

#2 Read Sophe Calle’s short photo essay “Souris” and take notes. How did this photo essay make your feel? How does it compare to Rebecca Norris Webb’s photo essay? What is the reality effect of the images?

#3 Read John Berger’s essay “Understanding a Photograph.” Take notes. What are Berger’s main points? Write down at least three questions that you have. There is nothing to turn in, but I will call on each student. Cole, Berger, and Sontag will be the focus of Quiz 1, which will take place on Wednesday, September 18.

 New Office Hours: I need to change the time from 1-3 to 3-5 on Tuesdays due to overlapping meetings. Sorry for the change.

Hi Class,

Here’s our agenda:

1–Freewrite

2–Discuss Homework (Email)

3–Diagnostic using the Reading Photos Form (in-class writing assignment)

4–Photography Terms (1-10)

5–Practice Posting to OpenLab. Students can watch a video on how to do so by going to the Video menu tab.

6–Homework

Diagnostic Day (15 minutes in class writing; not graded; 10 points awarded)

Prompt: Beginning Questions, Type, Observation, Close Reading

Title: The abandoned farmhouse at the Kelvin A. Lewis Farmstead in Creeds, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Source: Wikimedia Commons

URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farmhouse_at_Kelvin_A._Lewis_farm_in_Creeds_13.jpg

Photographer: PumpkinSky

Date 16, Dec 2017

***If time, let’s discuss how to read this photo and one photo in the Readings menu tab

Photography Terms (Eventually, we will learn 28 photography terms)

1. Portrait Photo
2. Documentary Photo
3. Commercial Photo
4. Art Photo
5. Photograph
6. Photography
7. Photo Essay
8. Story (and Narrative)
9. Dominant Impression: The most important, dominant, powerful element in a photograph. It is what the viewer notices first.
10. Decisive Moment:

“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression” (1952, from the preface of The Decisive Moment).

A more precise definition is from a Washington Post interview from 1957: “Photography is not like painting,” Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. “There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative”, he said. “Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever.” Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Cartier-Bresson#cite_note-26

How to post to OpenLab:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/blog/help/writing-a-post-block-editor/

Homework:

Homework due Wednesday, Sept 11 (before class):

Read Teju Coles’ essay “Perfect and Unrehearsed,” and write a 200 word reflection on your favorite photo from his essay. In your reflection, use at least two of the terms we covered in class (we covered 10). For example, what type of photo is it? Does it tell a story? If so, what is the story (this may be subjective, but that is okay). What is the dominant impresssion? If you want to discuss the decisive moment, great! What is the moment? Describe what is happening. Post this reflection to Virtual Coffeehouse #1. Make sure to use the correct Category before publishing. And make sure to proofread and spellcheck your work. 

Hello Class! Here’s our agenda for today:

1–Freewrite

2–Attendance

3–Finish OpenLab tour

4– Cornell Note Taking System

5–Discuss the photography timeline

6–Reading Photos Form (Readings menu tab)

7–Text and Image: Rebecca Norris Webb (Readings menu tab) (helpful beginning image: https://www.neaq.org/)

HOMEWORK DUE MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9 (before class)

1–Read Portwood-Stacer:

Portwood-Stacer, L. (2016, April 26). How to email your professor (without being annoying af). Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@lportwoodstacer/how-to-email-your-professor-without-being-annoying-af-cf64ae0e4087#.1m6lc0rkd

2. Before class on Monday, send me an email (worth 10 homework points) using your City Tech email that includes:

1–Clear Subject Line

2–Greeting

3–Humanity Line

4–Body: the body of your email should explore one of the photos that we discussed during Wednesday’s class. Make sure to identify the photo with the relevant source information (title, date, photographer, source).  By explore, I mean to use our Reading Photos Form to write about type, observation, and close reading. Approximately 200 words. This is a formal writing assignment, so please take care to proofread and edit your work.

5–Closing

6–Signature

Welcome to Composition 2

ENG1121 Section D533

Homework assignments, readings, reflections, and helpful links will be posted here. In general, I will post the lesson agenda and homework right before class. I will put the homework in a gray box, and it will usually be at the bottom of the post.

Right now, the site is in its infancy, but it will grow throughout the first few weeks of class.

Agenda for Wednesday, August 28, 2024:

NOTE: WE DO NOT HAVE CLASS ON MONDAY (LABOR DAY)

1–Introduction and how are you doing?

2–What are your expectations for this course? writing, reading, vocabulary, research, essays, grammar, commas, punctuation, critical thinking, [sentences, practice, engagement]

3–Attendance

4–OpenLab Tour: Syllabus and Main Menu Tabs

5–Text and Image: Rebecca Norris Webb (Readings menu tab)

*If time: Cornell Note Taking System

Homework due Wednesday, September 4. Be prepared to read from your answers

1–Spend 5-10 minutes looking around our website. What do you think of the links? The videos? The readings?

2–Sign up for OpenLab if you have not already done so. Register for my class. The videos may help.

3–Read “History of Photography Timeline” in the Readings menu tab…scroll to the bottom. And in your notes (either a physical notebook or on your digital device) write down: two ideas that were surprising to you; two ideas that you already knew; and two questions that you have about the reading. Students will not turn in this homework; it is meant for discussion. I will call on each student to contribute.