For Thursday's class, please read "The Politics of Cohabitation" and "Til Children Do Us Part" (pages 129-140) -- available in a PDF on the course website, on the Unit III page. (You do not need to read the introduction piece before the essay.) This is a change from the homework assigned in class today, as the newest edition of the book these readings are taken from does not have Stephanie Coontz's piece, "Why Marriage Today Takes More Work."

Also, for each article, write down 3 words, 2 phrases, and 1 sentence that capture the meaning of the text. You may do this in your journal and will not need to turn it in.

Remember that you can also start working on Project III, specifically the introduction, as you do not have to have done your observation in order to write this section of the lab report.

Thursday is also St. Patrick's Day -- remember to wear green!

Welcome back from Spring Break! I hope everyone had an enjoyable week and was able to recover some energy.

If you missed today's class, please be sure to get the notes from a friend or classmate. We discussed active and passive voice and why and when to use each one, and this is a major concept for Project III -- one I will be sure to look for in your final draft.

The homework for Tuesday is as follows:
(1) Be sure to finish the in-class activity in your journal. (I will be checking this at the end of the unit; you must have all 20 sentences.) Go to this site, and under "Sentence Structure," complete Exercises #1 and #2.

(2) Find the Project III Active/Passive Voice HW assignment under the Unit III page of the course website. Complete this assignment, and be prepared to turn it in at the beginning of class tomorrow. Please type this assignment.

Over Spring Break, please be aware of the following:

(1) Your Harriet the Spy Response Essay will be due at the beginning of class on Monday, the 14th, right after Spring Break. You can find the guidelines on the Unit III page.

(2) You are not required to complete the observation for Project III over Spring Break, but I strongly encourage you to do so. This will help with time management when you return from break.

Have a fantastic break and I will see you when you get back!

For Tuesday's class, please remember to:

(1) Read pages 133-142 in the NFG -- the chapter on Lab Reports. Note that you only have to skim the sample lab report included in those pages; it will be beneficial to pay attention to the language used and the sentence structure. However, do NOT skim the information following the sample report, as you will be quizzed on that information tomorrow.

(2) Research the "Stanford Prison Experiment" and the "Milgram Experiment." (Try to avoid Wikipedia if you can.) Read the descriptions of the experiments and summarize them in your own words in your journal. This is not a formal homework assignment so you do not have to turn it in, but I will look for it during the end of unit journal check.

(3) Be prepared for tomorrow's quiz.

Please remember to bring (1) a copy of your rough draft and (2) a hard copy of the Project II Peer Review sheet (NOT the checklist!!!) to class on Thursday. You  may also choose to print these items out at the beginning of class if you have money on your WolfPrint account.

Also, remember that the deadline for Project II has been extended until Monday, February 28th, but that you are free to turn it in this Friday if you are happy with it. The open-note uber-quiz and journal check will still take place on Friday, and you will also write your cover letter during Friday's class.

Enjoy y

Just a few things to keep in mind over the weekend:

(1) As you are working on Project II, please keep in mind that, when writing your body paragraphs, you do NOT have to fit your main ideas/points into the categories of Logos, Ethos, or Pathos. Those are just some of the many suggestions for main ideas. If you'd like to talk about music or dialogue or imagery, you are more than welcome to do so, and all of those things are not considered to be appeals to ethos, logos, pathos. We focused on them in class since they were the new topics -- most of you had probably learned about imagery and symbols and themes in your high school English classes.

(2) Remember that your thesis sentence can in fact be several thesis sentences -- it can be more than one sentence long. It also does not have to have three prongs -- it can have either more or fewer "prongs."

(3) Lastly, I am switching the order of class next week: we will have our in-class drafting day on Tuesday and we will push the Peer Review back to Thursday. This should give you a little bit more time to work on your drafts so as to have the best work possible for the peer review.

Also, remember that there is an optional extension for Project II until Monday, February 28th. You can turn your paper in on Friday if you would like to, but you do have until Monday. However, we will start with the Social Sciences unit on the 28th.

Enjoy the wonderful weather this weekend!

For Thursday, please remember that:

(1) Rough drafts for Project II will be collected at the beginning of class. You must turn in a copy of your rough draft at that time, even if your conference is not until Monday/Tuesday of next week. If you do not turn in a rough draft, you will not receive credit for the conferencing and you will be counted absent.

(2) There will be a quiz on MLA formatting/citations on Thursday. This quiz is not intended to be difficult and is taken directly from the information covered in today's class.

(3) You should read the following short articles concerning the "controversy" involving Emma Thompson and the slang of British school children:

• Actress Emma Thompson attacks use of sloppy language (BBC)
  
• Teen slang: What's, like, so wrong with like? (BBC)
  
• Emma Thompson's attack on slang: the pedants' battle may be lost (The Telegraph)

Just a reminder that there is no specific homework assignment or reading that will be due for Monday, February 14th. Instead, you should be working on your rough draft, which will be due on Thursday of this week, February 17th.

With regards to the rough draft, please be aware that while you do need to have a substantial draft to turn in on Thursday, it does not need to be a complete 5-7 page draft. The goal of the individual conference for this unit is not to proofread the final product, but rather to assist you with the drafting process, to give you a chance to ask questions and check on things about which you may be unsure as you are writing the draft, not afterwards.

For that reason, your rough draft should include (1) an introduction which contains all of the elements that we discussed in class; (2) a working thesis statement which previews where your argument will go at the moment; and (3) some early attempts at body paragraphs which utilize the MEAL Plan structure.

Please remember that you are not required to attend individual conferencing but if you do not show up at your scheduled time, you will be marked down as having two absences. You will also receive those two absences if you do not turn a rough draft or if your rough draft does not meet the criteria outlined above. These guidelines are designed to help you avoid procrastination and to ensure that you get started on your draft in order to have plenty of time to work on it.

Have a great weekend!

For Thursday's class, please remember to

(1) Read pages 49-56 of the Norton Field Guide. This reading deals with textual analysis, which might serve as a refresher reading for Project II (which will ask you to analyze the specific text of your film trailer).

(2) Read over the 4 sample Rhetorical Analyses of film trailers available on the Unit II page. These 4 samples vary in the grade they received, and part of Thursday's in-class discussion will involve "grading" them. Come to class prepared to discuss which ones deserve which grade, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of each one.

(3) It would be beneficial to read over the Project II Assignment Sheet and bring any initial questions you have to class on Thursday. Keep in mind that not all of the project requirements will make sense at the moment; we will be discussing specific ideas on class during the coming weeks as well as practicing the rhetorical analysis of trailers in class.

Enjoy your Wednesday off!

Just as a general reminder -- please remember that if you are absent from class, it is your responsibility to (1) figure out what you missed; (2) get the day's notes from a classmate/friend; (3) arrange to make-up or hand-in any work which you might have missed.

Also--please remember that according to ENG 101 policy, you are only allowed to miss 8 classes without a penalty -- after the 9th absence, you will automatically fail the course. (Note: Three (3) tardies equals one (1) absence.) It does not matter whether these absences are excused or unexcused!!!