Week Thirteen Assignment

Everyone listens to music, some perhaps more than others.  I absolutely love music...most every genre.  My first love is classic R&B and Motown music...it is what my mom listened to when I was a kid and I still thoroughly enjoy listening, especially to Sam Cooke.  I am a huge AC/DC fan.  My kids bought me an AC/DC mug for mother's day a couple of years ago.  My head starts banging anytime I hear "Highway to Hell" or "Thunderstruck".  I think Angus Young is the best damn guitarist in heavy metal.  I love rap...especially the stuff from my generation (after all hip hop really took off in the 80s when I was a teenager --I remember Will Smith as part of  DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince way before he was a movie star and Queen Latifah as a rapper before she  was a talk show host).  I am a huge Public Enemy fan (I still have the first cassette I bought of their Yo!Bum Rush the Show album) and I love Run D.M.C.  I clearly prefer East Coast rap. I also enjoy jazz music (in fact, I am listening to my Diana Krall station on Pandora right now).  Music not only makes our lives enjoyable; it makes our lives meaningful. 
I want you to select the top ten songs that represent your life, so don't just focus on what you are currently listening to, but also what you loved in the past.  Along with listing your life playlist, you will need to explain why you choose each song on this playlist (a detailed explanation...not a "just because I like it" explanation).

Week Twelve Assignment

Since as a Composition course, our focus is on skill building not necessarily memorizing content.  I want you to answer the following questions:

By the time you leave college, what are the top five skills you wish to gain?  Be sure to elaborate on what they are. Then explain why you wish to gain each of  these particular skills. (Remember they are skills NOT knowledge of your field/major!)

Week Nine and Ten Blog Assignment

Hitchcock Films - Small Group Activity /Blogging AssignmentS:

While writing is a recursive (loopy and repetitive) process that involves social activity and self-discovery, it is also a "trans-discipline" (across/ through most disciplines) because it can be found in all fields of study that attempt to convey a message since writing is something used by all disciplines to communicate ideas.  Which means it is IN most everything but I also believe it can INCLUDE everything – it is both trans-disciplinary and interdisciplinary.  Interdisciplinary is a way of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic that is too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single discipline or profession.  It draws on disciplinary perspectives and integrates/synthesizes their insights through construction and communication of a more comprehensive perspective.

Your task is to examine Hitchcock in an interdisciplinary fashion.  To do this, we are going to first work in assigned groups researching a particular disciplinary perspective on Hitchcock.  Your group will then present this perspective in a class blog that includes informative text, visuals, and links to web resources.  We will then read what each other discovered and synthesize the various insights from each group into an individual blog that presents a comprehensive understanding of Hitchcock Films and Hitchcock’s style.  This work will be completed outside of class as we are watching and discussing the films in class. 

Groups and Topics:

Group #1 –  Ethics in Hitchcock Films

Michaela Bauer

Wyatt Cadmus

Andrew Fahler

Jamie Kimbler

Kayla Rethmel

Group #2 – Psychology in Hitchcock Films

Emma Bedan

Tyler Davie

Aerica Firman

Drake Moening

Jeffrey Watson

Group #3 – Historical Context of Hitchcock Films

Madison Bennett

Javier Castillo

Michael Gilliland

Zach Morris
Joshua Whitfield

Group #4 – Technology/Science of and in Hitchcock’s Films

Justin Bergquist

De'Ante Evans

Hannah Hesterman

Nick Rath

Jarod Woodland

Due dates:

Completed Group Blog Post– Monday, March 21st. 

Individual Blog Post synthesizing/integrating information from all groups – Monday, March 28^th.  

Week Eight Blog Assignment

I want you to go back to Chapter One in Hjortshoj's The Transition to College Writing and reflect on the differences between High School and College.  I would like you to elaborate on TWO of the five "basic, categorical differences" (on pp 10-12) that he highlights by summarizing his ideas as well as adding your own experiences and then add two original differences that he didn't mention but you have experienced as you have transitioned to college.  Be sure to elaborate on these two original ideas.  (So you should have a total of four points of difference that you share with your reader.) In addition, explain why we create these myths or illusions (essentially lying to ourselves) about college and why this kind of lying is not helpful. 
Your audience is a high school senior. You should write in epistolary format (like a letter).  

Week Seven Blog Assignment

Just a reminder...no blogging required this week.  Work on the second essay (due next Friday, March 4th) and study for the midterm exam (Friday, February 26th).

Week Six Blog Assignment

Watch the following video:

Everyone has some regrets, what is your biggest regret? Does your regret follow the same "not" pattern? Explain what it is in detail and why you regret it. Could you "turn around" this regret so that you no longer feel regretful? If so, how? 

How does having regrets relate to our course theme of lies and deception?  

Week Five Blog Assignment

For this week's blog, I want you to first watch the following TEDtalk:

Now in your written response answer the following questions:

• Explain what Meyer means by stating that lying is a cooperative act? Do you agree? (Be sure to explain.) What does she mean when she states, lying is a way of connecting what we wish we were with what we are?
• Would you agree with Truth #2? We are against lying but covertly for it? Explain your response. 
• What are some of the techniques used to spot liars? Why would we want to learn some of these techniques?
• Do you agree with Meyer that honesty is worth preserving?  How can we create a cultural/societal change regarding lying?

Week Four Blog Assignment

This week's assignment is...NO ASSIGNMENT.  I want you to focus your writing skills on completing the rough draft of your first essay for Friday's peer review activity.  Therefore, you do not need to complete the two blog posts and two comments this week.  I will put a blog assignment up for next week, so be on the look out for that. :)

Week Three Blog Assignment

Audience awareness is extremely important when writing because it influences everything from topic to word choice and sentence structure. As students, you often write only for your instructor. This can make your writing very dry and boring. Blogging is an excellent way to reinforce the need for audience awareness because you are writing for a "worldwide" audience not just your instructor.

Your blog assignment this week is to examine the advertisements below.  View by simply clicking on each video. Who do you think the intended audience is and why for each ad?  Be sure to utilize specific details from the ad to elaborate on your "why." Why should we be critical of intended audience in advertisements and other information that surrounds us?

Week Two Blog Prompt

Narration is just one of many strategies for developing an essay. Narrative writing is essentially telling a story, often relying on personal experience. Effective narrative writing:

1. is told from a particular point of view,
2. makes and supports a point (has a purpose),
3. is filled with precise detail,
4. uses vivid verbs and modifiers,
5. uses conflict and sequence as does any good plot,
6. may use dialogue.

For your blog assignment this week, you are to write a narrative consisting of about 400-500 words. I want you to choose a vivid childhood memory - for example, you might think of the first time you rode a school bus, of a time when you went to the principal's office, of a first encounter with a friend, of a first A on a test or paper, of the first time you earned money to buy something you really wanted, and so on. Narrate events related to that childhood memory so that your reader will understand why the event was important and memorable. 
After watching the TEDtalk, "How Reliable is your Memory?," do you trust how well you have remembered the event that you narrated?  Is it important? Why or why not?

Blogging Requirements and First Blog Prompt

Welcome to the blogging (web log) experience! You will be keeping a blog as part of Composition this spring semester. Your blogging requirements involve two components:
1. You need to post to your blog at least one entry each week. This entry needs to be one complete paragraph following standards of good grammar and punctuation. Generally, your weekly entry will be based on a writing prompt that I will post for you on the class blog; however, sometimes your post will be based on a topic of your own choosing.
2. You will need to also read and comment on at least two of your classmates' blogs each week as well. These comments need to address writing and style not content. Once everyone has created their blog, you will be able to find a list (labeled "students") at the right hand side of this class blog page that will link you to everyone's blog.

For your first blog today, I would like you to respond to the following prompt:
You wake up in jail and have no memory of how you got there. As you pace around the cell, you find five items in your pocket from the night before. As you look at each piece, the night slowly comes back to you. Write about your night, why you have these five items (and give a detailed description of each of these five items), and how you ended up in jail.

Have fun blogging!!