classwork – Ways of Seeing

Preparing for the ENG 1101 final exam

Skim the reading

look for names or dates or quotations that stand out
who/what/when/where/why
important or key words
main idea–underline or circle
underline words you don’t know to look up after skimming

Reread the text to annotate it:

paraphrase difficult ideas
list main idea of each paragraph–in the margins
number the paragraphs
vocabulary!–write in the definitions and make sense of the sentences with your new understanding of the words
what is the thesis of the reading?
what controversies does it address?
try to anticipate the questions
what would you quote to support an answer to the anticipated questions?
parallel experiences

Add to these ideas in the comments!

Powerful photographs–continued

For our last class, we read Nora Ephron’s “The Boston Photographs” and examined the images her essay refers to. For our next class, we will consider the photographs published in Jet magazine that depict the brutalization of Emmett Till.

One collector of civil rights memorabilia has provided an archive of the various issues of Jet magazine relevant to this discussion. Before you click through to view the images, please brace yourselves–these are extremely disturbing images.

You might also look at this compilation of newspaper articles following Emmett Till’s murder. At the bottom of the page, you can download the FBI report, which includes materials from the time of the incident and more recent reporting.

Taking a step back, the Wikipedia page could be a good place to get started to understand the events that led up to and that followed Till’s murder.

Reply here with a comment about the choice to publish these photographs. You might write about what motivated the choice, or even what Ephron would say based on what she wrote in “The Boston Photographs,” or how these images matter today in relation to the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Are there other sources you consulted that were helpful for you? Please share them with us in your comment.

The Boston Photographs and Project #4 peer review

Keywords:

controversy
journalism
mid ’70s
morality
ethics
reality
publicity
(social) media
explicit material
censorship
AP wire (service)

What would you add to the paragraph, particularly where I have left ellipses to indicate where more information is needed?

Nora Ephron’s short essay, “The Boston Photographs” addresses a controversy surrounding the publication of graphic images of a failed rescue attempt… and how they motivate different reactions among editors and readers. Taken by Stanley Forman using a motorized camera that allowed him to take three photos per second… Although some readers argued it was sensationalist and unethical to do publish these photos that they saw as violating the “privacy of death” only to serve the newspapers’ own interests, editors… Ephron challenges… and ultimately sides with their value as good photojournalism because …

Some saw it as very controversial while others saw it as a window into the reality of death.

Supporting points:

photographer was attempting to photograph the rescue–good photojournalism
negative reaction: response against the breach of the privacy of death
“Death is a constant in life, so we shouldn’t shy away from its depiction, [nor] should it be censored”: issues of fire safety, fire escapes, slumlords, ghetto life

For Project #4 peer review:

Comment on two classmates’ projects, giving any of the following feedback:

how to make the project the right length
thesis statements
organization: does the thesis statement offer a plan for organizing the rest of the project (ie, works as a roadmap)?
examples: are they the three you wrote didactic panels for?
title for the book?
what’s missing?
what’s extraneous?
what’s superfluous?
positive feedback: that it fulfills the task, perhaps in an exceptional way; interest in the approach you’ve taken, the style you’ve written about it, the examples you’ve included
neutral feedback: reflect back what you understood the project is about

Peer review and Posters

For Didactic Panel peer review:

is this paragraph about one piece in particular?
anything missing?
anything extra?
is it nearly 60 words?
how can it be exactly 60 words?

For Poster Review:

How effective is the poster in communicating with the audience? Which are the most effective?
eye-catching
- sizes of images and text: balance or shift
- effective color use
- visual hierarchy
- framing
- typography
clear language
- topic clearly identified
- research understandable

ENG 1101 Project #3 final peer review

Where do we need to focus in the final revision?

thesis statements
- does it establish an organization?
- is it relevant to the assignment?
incorporating quotations
- works cited list
- parenthetical citations
- do they provide authority?
is the route in keeping with the requirements of the assignment?
- it goes from City Tech to a train or vice versa
- it remains within a reasonable walk from City Tech

Didactic Panel for the Poster

describe Tom Phillips’s project
guidelines for our project
- in a used book, represent different projects and concepts
- re-envisioning of the book’s theme
use inspiration from Tom Phillips to incorporate visual and written expression: a goal of our Learning Community
the complete project is slated to be on display in the library in the Spring 2016 semester

First sentences:

The Humument book by Tom Phillips was an inspiration for this project.
Tom Phillips’s Humuments refashioned books as platforms for visual art while making use of the book’s written contents in order to create something entirely different.
Sourcing inspiration from Tom Philllips’s A Humument, Learning Communities COMD 1100 and ENG 1101 teamed up in order to curate a project that includes both text and visuals.

Draft of text for the poster:

Sourcing inspiration from Tom Phillips’s altered text, A Humument, COMD 1100 and ENG 1101 teamed up in the Ways of Seeing: Adventure with Image and Text Learning Community to curate a project that integrates both words and visuals. Like Phillips, students found inexpensive used books to transform into new artistic creations both in appearance, using ink, paint, pencil, cut-outs, folding, and burn-out, and in theme. The resulting work merges image and text for each new project or concept in both courses.

Didactic panels

Due: by the time the layout team is meeting on Thursday!

For our Learning Community poster, students will represent their Humument project with one or two pieces, plus didactic panels for each. We discussed what didactic panels are: short notes that aim to teach the viewers about the work of art and the materials, techniques, and ideas that were used to create it.

In writing your didactics, aim to write one or two paragraphs, approximately 150 words to start (we can adjust), that use the terminology from Graphic Design to describe what you have created.

Didactics are written in third person.

One example we looked at was from Maxime Rossi’s Père Lachaise, 2010.

We also read a description of didactic panels.

Writing about sources

As we build our annotated bibliography and draw on the sources we have collectively included, we need to figure out how to incorporate them into Project #3’s pitch. Look at some examples from Gerald Graff and Stephanie Birkenstein’s writing resource, They Say, I Say to see how they recommend writing about sources. In particular, check out the templates for “Capturing Authorial Action,” “Introducing Quotations,” and “Explaining Quotations,” which you can find in this PDF copy of a section of their book, pages 165-167.

ENG 1101 Project #3 peer review and annotated bibliography

Peer review:

Choose a Project #3 draft from our site. Read the first paragraph. In a comment, let the author know:

Is it clear what the theme of the route is?
What is the thesis statement?

If you can’t tell from the first paragraph, keep reading. Let the author know where in the draft you understand 1 and 2.

Annotated bibliography:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/03/

http://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography/

http://libguides.citytech.cuny.edu/AnnotatedBibliography

Add to our shared Annotated Bibliography. Follow the instructions posted there.

Writing a Persuasive Argument

Your second assignment: the pitch

Now that you’ve decided on the route, write a persuasive argument for beta testers of the app to convince them that they would want to take your proposed walk, and what the reward or rewards will be for that extra investment of time and effort. This should be approximately 750-900 words. Due M 11/9 for peer review

How do we organize a persuasive argument?

Eliminating most sounds by occupying quiet environments lead to a more relaxed route.

Rather than taking the traditional route, a quieter route that leads app users through X, Y, and Z can offer app users a more relaxed experience.

Although walking along Jay street is the fastest way to get from the A/C/F/R station to City Tech, a route that passes A, B, and C would be a better way to start the day because it offers app users beautiful inspiration.

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30

Tag: classwork