Author: Andrew Stone

Homework 2.1

Category: Unit 2

Part 1

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? 

 

Part 2

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 our next class you will be expected to have some idea of a topic you’d like to research, even if it’s a bit vague.

Category: Unit 2

HW d.2 (Difficulty Paper)

REREAD and ANNOTATE: “Later”

WRITE: Using your plan for re-reading as a guide, re-read (and annotate in a different color than the first time) “Later.” When you’re done, write another 300 words about what you learned from rereading. Again, be specific, quoting from the text! You don’t need to submit this as a post. Instead, follow the instructions below and include in your difficulty paper.

The difficulty paper is 3 parts:

1. 300 words on what you found difficult or confusing (HW d.1)

2. Plan for rereading, which you did today during class, and

3. 300-word reflection after rereading (the prompt above).

Remember the difficulty paper is worth 5% of your grade. You just have to turn all three parts in (by the start of our next meeting) to get those points. Please put all 3 parts together in one document and submit them as a google doc or PDF to the difficulty paper submission folder in the shared Google Drive folder.

Homework d.1

Category: Difficulty Paper

Part 1

Continue work on your Unit 1 assignment! No post necessary for this part of the homework assignment.

Remember, the Unit 1 assignment is not officially due until October 3rd (10/3) by the start of class, but you will probably want to get your narratives in pretty good shape before we start the next mini-unit.

When you’re ready to submit your Unit 1 assignments, go to the Google Drive tab on the Openlab menu bar, and select Unit 1 Assignment Submission Folder. I’ll remind you of how to submit over the next couple of weeks as well.

Part 2

READ and ANNOTATE: “Later”  (in the Later Library on the Procrastination Station– www.yourprocrastinationstation.com).  

WRITE: After reading and annotating “Later,” write an Open Lab post of approximately 300 words in which you reflect upon the article. What, particularly, did you find confusing, irritating, boring or otherwise difficult? 

Please note: I want you to BE SPECIFIC. Quote from the text directly. That is, if you were particularly dumbfounded by a particular passage—quote that passage, and explain WHY you found it confusing. If the vocabulary was difficult, quote a particularly difficult passage, and try to figure out what the author might have been trying to say. Explain WHY you found their particular word choices difficult. Dig deeply! 

My point in asking you to do this is that usually the places you struggle the most are the places you are doing your best thinking. I want you to stay there a while, even if it’s to explain to me why you don’t understand!

Category: Difficulty Paper

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