oops...one more reminder...
Please bring your Grade Sheet and all your returned/graded work to class on Monday....
along with a device to calculate your grade.
Thanks!
Friday, May 6, 2011
Friday evening, May 6th
Hello!
Just a reminder...
if you choose to revise essay 3, it is due no later than Wednesday, May 11th.
if you choose to re-revise an essay you have revised previously, that is also due no later than May 11th.
Have a great weekend, be safe, and I will see you on Monday.
Just a reminder...
if you choose to revise essay 3, it is due no later than Wednesday, May 11th.
if you choose to re-revise an essay you have revised previously, that is also due no later than May 11th.
Have a great weekend, be safe, and I will see you on Monday.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 28th
Greetings...!
I have decided to cancel class on Monday to give you more time to complete the take home test on The Unwanted.
Below is the test. Use your time wisely.
English 1A, Spring 2011, Professor Fraga
TAKE HOME TEST ON THE UNWANTED (200 POINTS)
DIRECTIONS: Please respond to the following questions. All questions must be numbered and typed, double-spaced. This test is due on Wednesday, May 4.
1. SELECT A ‘CHARACTER’ FROM THE MEMOIR, THE UNWANTED. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT CHARACTERISTICS (at least two) ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THIS PERSON? FOR EVERY ASSERTION YOU MAKE ABOUT THIS PERSON, YOU MUST SUPPORT IT WITH AT LEAST THREE VERY SPECIFIC SUPPORTS FROM THE BOOK. THIS RESPONSE WILL BE EVALUATED ON YOUR ABILITY TO MAKE AN ASSERTION AND SUPPORT IT LOGICALLY AND ARTICULATELY. (100 POINTS)
2. WHICH SCENE IN THE BOOK AFFECTED YOU MOST DEEPLY? EXPLAIN HOW IT AFFECTED YOU AND WHY. (40 POINTS
3. THIS MEMOIR REFLECTS A WEALTH OF VARIOUS THEMES/TOPICS, INCLUDING OUR SEMESTER-LONG THEME OF HOME. SELECT ONE THEME THAT THE MEMOIR SUGGESTS AND OFFER EXAMPLES FROM THE BOOK TO SUPPORT YOUR ASSERTION. (6O POINTS)
EXTRA CREDIT (OPTIONAL)
Kien Nguyen suggests several books to readers for further reading; one of
these books is by Wallace Stegner. What is the title of this book? (2
points)
Nguyen wrote a novel based on his grandfather’s life. What is the name of
this novel? (1 point)
I have decided to cancel class on Monday to give you more time to complete the take home test on The Unwanted.
Below is the test. Use your time wisely.
English 1A, Spring 2011, Professor Fraga
TAKE HOME TEST ON THE UNWANTED (200 POINTS)
DIRECTIONS: Please respond to the following questions. All questions must be numbered and typed, double-spaced. This test is due on Wednesday, May 4.
1. SELECT A ‘CHARACTER’ FROM THE MEMOIR, THE UNWANTED. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT CHARACTERISTICS (at least two) ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THIS PERSON? FOR EVERY ASSERTION YOU MAKE ABOUT THIS PERSON, YOU MUST SUPPORT IT WITH AT LEAST THREE VERY SPECIFIC SUPPORTS FROM THE BOOK. THIS RESPONSE WILL BE EVALUATED ON YOUR ABILITY TO MAKE AN ASSERTION AND SUPPORT IT LOGICALLY AND ARTICULATELY. (100 POINTS)
2. WHICH SCENE IN THE BOOK AFFECTED YOU MOST DEEPLY? EXPLAIN HOW IT AFFECTED YOU AND WHY. (40 POINTS
3. THIS MEMOIR REFLECTS A WEALTH OF VARIOUS THEMES/TOPICS, INCLUDING OUR SEMESTER-LONG THEME OF HOME. SELECT ONE THEME THAT THE MEMOIR SUGGESTS AND OFFER EXAMPLES FROM THE BOOK TO SUPPORT YOUR ASSERTION. (6O POINTS)
EXTRA CREDIT (OPTIONAL)
Kien Nguyen suggests several books to readers for further reading; one of
these books is by Wallace Stegner. What is the title of this book? (2
points)
Nguyen wrote a novel based on his grandfather’s life. What is the name of
this novel? (1 point)
Friday, April 22, 2011
Friday evening, April 22, 2011
Greetings...
A few reminders--but nothing that is not already on the course outline.
1. Be sure to have completed reading The Unwanted by Monday's class.
2. Essay 3 is due on Wednesday.
Have a wonderful and safe weekend.
See you Monday.
A few reminders--but nothing that is not already on the course outline.
1. Be sure to have completed reading The Unwanted by Monday's class.
2. Essay 3 is due on Wednesday.
Have a wonderful and safe weekend.
See you Monday.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday afternoon, April 17, 2011
Hello,
Here is the assignment for Reading Packet 5 and 6. Check your course outline for due date, etc.
There are two items...one is an audio (about 15 minutes) to view and the other is a short short story. I provide you with the story below.
"Boots to Books: The Rough Road Home"
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=8c310eacfeb08aba2e7f1e29411543e9
The following is a short short story titled "The Wig."
THE WIG
By Brady Udall
(First Prize: Story’s Short Short Competition)
My eight-year-old son found a wig in the garbage Dumpster this morning. I walked into the kitchen, highly irritated that I couldn’t make a respectable knot in my green paisley tie, and there he was at the table, eating cereal and reading the funnies, the wig pulled tightly over his head like a football helmet. The wig was a dirty bush of curly blond hair, the kind you might see on a prostitute or someone who is trying to imitate Marilyn Monroe.
I asked where he got the wig and he told me, his mouth full of cereal. When I advised him that we don’t wear things we find in the garbage, he simply continued eating and reading as if he didn’t hear me.
I wanted him to take that wig off but I couldn’t ask him to do it. I forgot all about my tie and going to work. I looked out the window where mist fell slowly on the street. I paced into the living room and back, trying not to look at my son. He ignored me. I could hear him munching cereal and rustling paper.
There was a picture, or a memory, real or imagined, that I couldn’t get out of my mind: Last fall, before the accident, my wife was sitting in the chair where now my son always sits. She was reading the paper to see how the Blackhawks did the night before, and her sleep-mussed hair was only slightly longer and darker than the hair of my son’s wig.
I wondered if my son had a similar picture in his head, or if he had a picture at all. I watched him and he finally looked up at me but his face was blank. He went back to his reading. I walked around the table, picked him up, and held him against my chest. I pressed my nose into that wig and it smelled not like the clean shampoo scent I might have been hoping for, but like old lettuce. I suppose it didn’t matter at that point. My son put his smooth arms around my neck and for maybe a few seconds we were together again, the three of us.
Here is the assignment for Reading Packet 5 and 6. Check your course outline for due date, etc.
There are two items...one is an audio (about 15 minutes) to view and the other is a short short story. I provide you with the story below.
"Boots to Books: The Rough Road Home"
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=8c310eacfeb08aba2e7f1e29411543e9
The following is a short short story titled "The Wig."
THE WIG
By Brady Udall
(First Prize: Story’s Short Short Competition)
My eight-year-old son found a wig in the garbage Dumpster this morning. I walked into the kitchen, highly irritated that I couldn’t make a respectable knot in my green paisley tie, and there he was at the table, eating cereal and reading the funnies, the wig pulled tightly over his head like a football helmet. The wig was a dirty bush of curly blond hair, the kind you might see on a prostitute or someone who is trying to imitate Marilyn Monroe.
I asked where he got the wig and he told me, his mouth full of cereal. When I advised him that we don’t wear things we find in the garbage, he simply continued eating and reading as if he didn’t hear me.
I wanted him to take that wig off but I couldn’t ask him to do it. I forgot all about my tie and going to work. I looked out the window where mist fell slowly on the street. I paced into the living room and back, trying not to look at my son. He ignored me. I could hear him munching cereal and rustling paper.
There was a picture, or a memory, real or imagined, that I couldn’t get out of my mind: Last fall, before the accident, my wife was sitting in the chair where now my son always sits. She was reading the paper to see how the Blackhawks did the night before, and her sleep-mussed hair was only slightly longer and darker than the hair of my son’s wig.
I wondered if my son had a similar picture in his head, or if he had a picture at all. I watched him and he finally looked up at me but his face was blank. He went back to his reading. I walked around the table, picked him up, and held him against my chest. I pressed my nose into that wig and it smelled not like the clean shampoo scent I might have been hoping for, but like old lettuce. I suppose it didn’t matter at that point. My son put his smooth arms around my neck and for maybe a few seconds we were together again, the three of us.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thursday evening, April 14, 2011
Greetings.
I do hate to interrupt you as you work furiously on your marriage essay...:-)
but here are a few things you need to know for Monday.
First, remember to bring a blue or green book to class and please make an extra effort to be on time. Students will want to get started right away and it is often annoying to have students arrive late after everyone has begun.
As we briefly discussed after viewing the film, Arranged, it is a film that suggests many significant topics for discussion.
Home, of course, is just one of them.
Other main ideas/scenarios to consider in preparation for the in class writing:
1. After viewing the film, weigh some of the pros and cons of having a marriage arranged. Make an argument which supports or rejects this tradition as perhaps a possible solution to lowering America's divorce rate. Be specific.
2. Each of the main characters--Rochel and Nasira-- experience a rite of passage. In other words, both women appear to have gained a lot of insight and maturity by going through the arranged marriage "process." Select one of the women and discuss her rite of passage...who she was prior, during and after the "arranging" and what did she seem to gain as a result of her experience?
3. What do you think was the screenwriter's purpose for including the following characters in the film: the school principal and the young boy that Rochel tutors? Be specific. What do they contribute to the film and its many topics?
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Greetings...
Below is a copy of the out of class assignment #3 that was distributed on Monday.
There are other handouts concerning this assignment that were also distributed.
If you have not been in class, you will need to ask me for those.
And speaking of being in class...
I am more than a little concerned that a few of you did not attend class at all last week...??!!
English 1A, Spring 2011
C. Fraga, Instructor
Course Theme: The Significance of Home
Out of Class Essay Assignment #3
Assigned: Monday, April 4
Rough Draft due (optional) no later than Wednesday, April 20
Due: Wednesday, April 27
(you have over three weeks to complete this essay)
TOPIC: What are the ‘ingredients’ for a successful marriage?
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. (Mignon Mclaughlin)
Marriage is not just spiritual communion, it is also remembering to take out the trash. (Joyce Brothers)
To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you're wrong admit it; Whenever you're right shut up. (Ogden Nash)
Assignment: Even with the current high divorce rate in the United States, couples continue to choose marriage as a way of life. Most couples marry with the intention and confidence that their marriage will be successful and will last forever.
Write an essay in which you explore the ingredients (or elements) required for a marriage to be successful and long lasting. Focus on a minimum of four ingredients/elements.
Conduct research and talk/interview those who you feel might have some helpful, interesting and relevant opinions and experience with this topic.
The most important thing to remember about this essay is that you will need to be very SPECIFIC. Avoid rambling and using mostly vague terms. Your essay will benefit from specific examples from professionals as well as interviewees.
Suggestions for people to interview: your parents; your grandparents; relatives; siblings; teachers; neighbors; marriage counselors, etc.
Information/opinions about what constitutes a successful marriage is quite simple to locate. I spent only 20 minutes doing a cursory search on the Internet and found many intriguing articles.
Your Game Plan:
1. Research and read read read as much as you can about the topic.
2. Interview at least three people about this topic.
3. From your research, reading and interviews, select the four elements YOU feel are the MOST ideal and necessary ingredients for a successful, lasting marriage.
4. Write your thesis statement—an assertion based on your findings.
5. Plan the organization of your essay.
6. Write your essay.
7. Proofread and edit very carefully and thoroughly.
Reminders:
• Follow MLA format.
• Double space entire essay.
• Must have in text citations and a Works Cited page.
• Use 12 pt., Times New Roman
• Use at LEAST three outside resources plus at LEAST information from three interviews. In other words, these six minimum resources will be found on your Works Cited page as well as cited within your essay.
Below is a copy of the out of class assignment #3 that was distributed on Monday.
There are other handouts concerning this assignment that were also distributed.
If you have not been in class, you will need to ask me for those.
And speaking of being in class...
I am more than a little concerned that a few of you did not attend class at all last week...??!!
English 1A, Spring 2011
C. Fraga, Instructor
Course Theme: The Significance of Home
Out of Class Essay Assignment #3
Assigned: Monday, April 4
Rough Draft due (optional) no later than Wednesday, April 20
Due: Wednesday, April 27
(you have over three weeks to complete this essay)
TOPIC: What are the ‘ingredients’ for a successful marriage?
A successful marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person. (Mignon Mclaughlin)
Marriage is not just spiritual communion, it is also remembering to take out the trash. (Joyce Brothers)
To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you're wrong admit it; Whenever you're right shut up. (Ogden Nash)
Assignment: Even with the current high divorce rate in the United States, couples continue to choose marriage as a way of life. Most couples marry with the intention and confidence that their marriage will be successful and will last forever.
Write an essay in which you explore the ingredients (or elements) required for a marriage to be successful and long lasting. Focus on a minimum of four ingredients/elements.
Conduct research and talk/interview those who you feel might have some helpful, interesting and relevant opinions and experience with this topic.
The most important thing to remember about this essay is that you will need to be very SPECIFIC. Avoid rambling and using mostly vague terms. Your essay will benefit from specific examples from professionals as well as interviewees.
Suggestions for people to interview: your parents; your grandparents; relatives; siblings; teachers; neighbors; marriage counselors, etc.
Information/opinions about what constitutes a successful marriage is quite simple to locate. I spent only 20 minutes doing a cursory search on the Internet and found many intriguing articles.
Your Game Plan:
1. Research and read read read as much as you can about the topic.
2. Interview at least three people about this topic.
3. From your research, reading and interviews, select the four elements YOU feel are the MOST ideal and necessary ingredients for a successful, lasting marriage.
4. Write your thesis statement—an assertion based on your findings.
5. Plan the organization of your essay.
6. Write your essay.
7. Proofread and edit very carefully and thoroughly.
Reminders:
• Follow MLA format.
• Double space entire essay.
• Must have in text citations and a Works Cited page.
• Use 12 pt., Times New Roman
• Use at LEAST three outside resources plus at LEAST information from three interviews. In other words, these six minimum resources will be found on your Works Cited page as well as cited within your essay.
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