Sunday, April 21, 2013--4:30 pm

Greetings,

A few things... and Packet #10 assignment:

1.  For students in sections 1 and 4, if you choose to revise out of class essay #2, the first revision is due by Friday, April 26th. Please refer to the syllabus on details about how to submit a revision

2. For students in section 7, if you choose to revise out of class essay #2, the first revision is due by Monday, April 29th. Please refer to the syllabus on details about how to submit a revision.

3.  A few students in section 7 asked if they could keep their copy of Musings on Immigration that we used for Group Work #3 last Friday.  Since we were finished with the work, I agreed. Any students from other sections who wish to have a copy, just ask me on Monday. I will bring them to class just in case.

4. Packet 10 Assignment: (due on Wednesday, April 24)
"Nate Silver: Does Racism affect how you Vote?"
http://www.ted.com/talks/nate_silver_on_race_and_politics.html

5. Please note that Friday, April 26th is earmarked as a day for you to work on out of class essay #3. This translates to no class on Friday, the 26th.

6. Please bring the sample student essay #3 to class tomorrow, Monday, the 22nd. Please be sure you have read it and recorded your evaluation on your copy. (This was distributed in class last Monday)

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013--6:45 pm

Hello,
below you will find a copy of the assignment distributed and discussed today in class: Out of Class Essay #3.

Also, on Friday, before we begin the group work session, you will take the second part of Quiz 5 (20 additional points) that you did not respond to today.

English 20--Spring 2013

Prof. Fraga

Out of Class Essay Assignment #3 (200 points)

Assigned: Wednesday, April 17

Rough Draft (optional) Due:  no later than Wednesday, May 1

Final Draft Due:  Monday, May 6 REMEMBER TO ATTACH THE VIEWING JOURNAL TO YOUR FINAL DRAFT. IF IT IS SUBMITTED, IT IS AN AUTOMATIC 20 POINTS DEDUCTED FROM YOUR EARNED SCORE AND THESE 20 POINTS CANNOT BE EARNED BACK IN A REVISION.

Requirements:

·      MLA format

·      If you utilize any outside sources (not required) you must follow MLA format for in- text citations, Works Cited page, etc.

Before you began viewing the first season of Breaking Bad, I assigned a mandatory “journal” of sorts; you were to take notes during and/or soon after you viewed each episode. You were also to (eventually) select a character to focus on more carefully than others. These notes will now be a valuable source as you write your last out of class essay for this course.

Assignment:

Write an in-depth character analysis of one of the characters in the first season of Breaking Bad. Write your essay for an audience that has viewed these episodes. In other words, be specific but you need not relate the entire story line.

Your essay must include the following:

• An introduction/description/background of your character

• Assertions about your character

• Supportive evidence from the episodes that support your assertions (how did you come to the conclusions you did regarding your character?)

Your supportive evidence might include but is not limited to:

• what others observe/say (or don’t observe/say) about your character—either directly or in private

• the actions of your character in particular situations

• the reactions/responses of your character in particular situations

• what drives this character

• what terrifies this character

• what pleases this character

• what does this character long for

• what does this character need

Your thesis must be assertive…it is YOUR opinion as a viewer of these episodes.

Whether or not you LIKE or DISLIKE this character is not an issue in this essay.

Whether you LIKE or DISLIKE the series is also not an issue in this essay. Proving to the reader that this character has the attributes (good, bad, layered, shallow) that you assert he or she has is your goal.

Your thesis might read something like this:

Once Walter learns of his terminal cancer, he seems very unstable and irresponsible; however, his behavior truly represents a very determined, focused and highly intelligent, strictly moral father and husband.

or…

Marie is a very insecure and lonely woman who is unhappy and uncomfortable living in the shadow of her power-driven DEA husband and her happily married and very bright sister, Skylar.

Monday, April 15th, 2013--7:30 pm

Greetings,

A few things:

1. Packet #9, due to be read by Friday, April 19:
"Writing to America:  Banned in Tucson" by Luis J. Rodriguez
https://www.facebook.com/notes/california-gold-the-sacramento-valley-chapter-of-reforma/banned-in-tucson-luis-j-rodr%C3%ADguez-progressive-april-2012/292771537459843

2. We WILL be discussing the TED Talk on Sex Slavery, so please be sure to carry any notes you may have taken while viewing with you to class until we complete our discussion.

3. Thank you, again, to all students who attended class today and completed the feedback form regarding the use of Breaking Bad as curriculum for English 20. Lots of very valuable suggestions and commentary!

SECOND POSTING FOR SUNDAY, APRIL 7TH--10:30 pm

Hello again,
somehow,
someway,
from the time I posted the first note here around 8:30 pm and now...
I have been hit with a migraine.
Not good.
In fact, I think I am going to have my husband drive me to Urgent Care to get a magic shot...it appears that it will be THAT kind of migraine.
Which is to say,
I am forced to cancel class tomorrow. I am so so sorry!
See you Wednesday in MUCH better shape that I am right now, hopefully.
Have a good, safe Monday.

Sunday, April 7th--8:30 pm

Greetings,

I had every intention of posting this entry sooner, but alas, English 1A research essays have kept me very distracted, and not in a particularly GOOD way....:)

Below you will find a few items of interest:

1. Assignment for Packet #8, due on Wednesday April 10th--(TWO ITEMS):

"NYT Correspondent Talks on Ties between Human Trafficking, Illegal Immigration"
http://journalism.indiana.edu/notices/nyt-correspondent-talks-on-ties-between-human-trafficking-illegal-immigration/

"The Fight Against Sex Slavery"
http://www.ted.com/talks/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia.html

2. Reminder about Quiz 4 on Part III of the Handbook THIS FRIDAY, APRIL 12TH.  All the information you need to prepare for the quiz is on the syllabus. It is an open notes quiz.

3. New assignment, NOT on syllabus:
 Please write (TYPE)  at the top of your paper: MUSINGS ON IMMIGRATION. Then list or write whatever comes to your mind when you hear the word "immigration" There is no incorrect way to do this. There is no word or length requirement. You can choose to list by bullet points; you many want to write a paragraph or two, or? It is VERY important that you complete and submit this assignment correctly or you will be unable to receive credit. This assignment must be submitted in person, not through email. This assignment is worth 25 points--half of the 50 points possible for Group Work #3 on Friday, April 19th.
DIRECTIONS: YOU MUST TYPE THIS ASSIGNMENT AND YOU MUST NOT PUT YOUR NAME ANYWHERE ON THE ASSIGNMENT. It is due this Friday, April 12th.

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

Greetings,
I hope all of you are having a most wonderful spring break so far.
Below you will find the assignment for Packet #7 (5 items), due to be completed by Wednesday, April 3rd, the day we return to class. The overall topic is immigration, which rears its head in Breaking Bad, but not too obviously until later in the series. However, it IS a significant issue to study--its history and its rhetoric.

PACKET #6 (due to be viewed and/or read by Wednesday, April 3)

1.  http://www.myimmigrationstory.com/WYSO%2090%20SEC.mp3
(under two minute audio)

2. "Illegal Immigrant Deaths Set Record"
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=130369998&m=130370353
(audio)

3.  "Obama's Immigration Policy--What it Means"
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-immigration-questions-20120616,0,4472636.story

4. "Could you Pass a U.S. Citizenship Test?
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2011/0104/Could-you-pass-a-US-citizenship-test/Who-signs-bills
(Please take this on line test and be prepared to discuss the "results" in class.)

5. "Pros and Cons of Illegal Immigration"
http://immigration.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000842

Sunday, March 17th--10:30 am

Greetings,

and for those who celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, have a lovely one!
(my son's name is Patrick Mahony, so you can imagine that it is a big deal in my household. :)..)

1. Writing Response #5 occurs tomorrow, Monday. We will also be discussing episode 6 of Breaking Bad. Additionally, I will be addressing any questions you may still have regarding out of class essay #2. (We will be looking at a sample student essay either Wednesday or Friday this week.)

2. Packet #6, which is due to be read by Wednesday the 20th, is actually posted for you below. It is a handout that you will need to read, print out and bring to class. I will be "filling in" the blanks at the end of the handout during my lecture.

English 20-- College Composition II

C. Fraga

PACKET 6:

How to Critically Read an Essay

Educated adults exist in a delusional state, thinking we can read.

In a most basic sense, we can.

However, odds are, some of us cannot read, at least not as well as we would like.

Too many college students are capable of only some types of reading and that becomes painfully clear when they read a difficult text and must respond critically about it.

Intelligence and a keen memory are excellent traits and most students have learned to read in a certain way that is only useful for extracting information. Thus, students are often fairly well skilled in providing summary.

However, the act of reading to extract information and to read critically are vastly different!

The current educational system in American primary schools (and many colleges) heavily emphasizes the first type of reading and de-emphasizes the latter.

In many ways, THIS MAKES SENSE.

Reading to extract information allows a student to absorb the raw materials of factual information as quickly as possible. It is a type of reading we all must engage in frequently.  However, each type of reading calls for different mental habits. If we do not learn to adjust from one type of reading to another when necessary, we cripple our intellectual abilities to read critically.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN READING TO EXTRACT INFORMATION AND READING CRITICALLY.

1. They have different goals.  When students read to extract information, usually they seek facts and presume the source is accurate.  No argument is required.  On the other hand, when students read critically, they try to determine the quality of the argument.  The reader must be open-minded and skeptical all at once, constantly adjusting the degree of personal belief in relation to the quality of the essay’s argument.
2. They require different types of discipline.  If students read to learn raw data, the most efficient way to learn is repetition.  If students read critically, the most effective technique may be to break the essay up into logical subdivisions and analyze each section’s argument, to restate the argument in other words, and then to expand upon or question the findings.
3. They require different mental activity.  If a student reads to gain information, a certain degree of absorption, memorization and passivity is necessary. If a student is engaged in reading critically, that student must be active!!! He or she must be prepared to pre-read the essay, then read it closely for content, and re-read it if it isn’t clear how the author is reaching the conclusion in the argument. 
4. They create different results.  Passive reading to absorb information can create a student who (if not precisely well read) has read a great many books. It creates what many call “book-smarts.”  However, critical reading involves original, innovative thinking.
5. They differ in the degree of understanding they require.  Reading for information is more basic, and reading critically is the more advanced of the two because only critical reading equates with full understanding.

ULTIMATELY, WHAT WE WANT IS THE CONSCIOUS CONTROL OF OUR READING SKILLS, SO WE CAN MOVE BACK AND FORTH AMIDST THE VARIOUS TYPES OF READING.

FIVE GENERAL STAGES OF READING

1.      Pre-Reading—examining the text and preparing to read it effectively (5 minutes)

2.      Interpretive Reading—understanding what the author argues, what the author concludes, and exactly how he or she reached that conclusion.

3.      Critical Reading—questioning, examining and expanding upon what the author says with your own arguments.  Skeptical reading does not mean doubting everything you read.

4.      Synoptic Reading—putting the author’s argument in a larger context by considering a synopsis of that reading or argument in conjunction with synopses of other readings or arguments.

5.      Post-Reading—ensuring that you won’t forget your new insights.