Reading and Writing Assignments
ENG 108-10

 

Post Test Information

The Post Test will begin Wednesday, December 2 with an in-class reading. We will then discuss the reading. You may make notes on the handout. Any questions about the reading should be addressed at that time. At the end of the class, the handouts and any other notes you take will be collected. YOU MAY NOT TAKE ANY NOTES/HANDOUTS OUT OF THE ROOM. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL FAIL THE CLASS. You may discuss the article outside of class or look up anything you want; however, you will not be permitted to bring your outside class noted to the exam room.

On Monday, December 7, You will have your handouts and notes returned. YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO BRING ANY MATERIAL TO THE TEST ROOM. IF YOU DO, YOU WILL FAIL THE CLASS.  You will then be given the question for the post-test and you will have 75 minutes to answer the question which will be based in part on the reading that you did. YOU WILL WRITE YOUR TESTS IN A BLUE BOOK, not the computer.

In order to pass, you have to receive a 4 from two readers. If one person gives your essay a 3 and the other gives it a 4 or higher, it will go to a third reader.

YOU MUST ATTEND CLASS ON BOTH WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2 and MONDAY, DECEMBER 7. If you are unable to come to class on either day, contact me before class.

Due Date	Assignment
Sept 9 W	Read: "The Paterson Public Library" by Judith Ortiz Cofer (pp. 112-116). Write a paragraph in which you answer the question, "Why is Cofer now able to be so sympathetic towards a girl who terrorized her?" (question 6)
Sept 14 M	Read: "The Myth of the Latina Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" by Judith Ortiz Cofer (pp.323-328)
Sept 16 W M=MONDAY W=WEDNESDAY reading writing	Read:" "Advanced Biology" by Judith Ortiz Cofer (pp. 456-463). Hint: before reading, look at the questions at the end of the selection to get some idea as to what is important. Having read "The Myth of the Latina Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria" as well as the two other works by Cofer, write a 2 page essay in which you address the following question: What are the myths about your sex/ethnic/cultural/religious/professional group?  Continue to revise your 1st papers and post your revisions to the Forums.
Sept 21 M	Read: "Nobody Mean More to Me Than You and the Future Life of Willie Jordan" by June Jordan, pp. 135-148. Before you read this selection, look at the questions at the end of the selection.Be prepared to comment on these questions. Write: Answer question 1 on p. 149: "Whatever our race/ethnicity, do you react at all negatively when you hear "Black English"? Is no, why do you think this is. You can also answer this question by substituting any other non-standard-English speech pattern.
Sept 23 W	Finish Writing and post your final draft of your "myths" essay. Read: Mike Rose's "Politics of Redemption", pp. 125-130. Continue to work on writing your essay on speech patterns
Sept 28 M	Write: Question 2 on page 130: Suppose Marita's teacher had said, "If she can't write a paper without plagiarizing, maybe she doesn't belong in college." How would you reply? You may want to answer the more general question: "If students can't write, they don't belong in college." Read: "Racist Arguments and IQ" by Steve Jay Gould (pp. 302-305). Take a look at how his essay ties into that of Rose and Jordan. Grammar: Word Choice.
Sept 30 W	Developing details: How do you move from a simple one sentence response to a fully developed. Application: Revising your papers.
Oct 5 M	Read: "TV's Black World Turns--But Stays Unreal" by Henry Louis Gates (pp. 184-192). Write: How, in your own experience, do television images fail to work as a depiction of reality or, as Gates puts it, as "an agent of social change"? Pick a group of people with which you are familiar--women, the elderly, Jews, Italians, the working class, to name a few examples--and analyze the depiction of that group of people on television. Choose one program and analyze it in detail or find commonalties across several programs. (question 1 on page 192)
Oct 7 W	Read: "Class Struggle in Hollywood" by Benjamin DeMott (pp.192-197). How do class and race(see above) interact in what we see on television? Final draft of essay on Black English due.
Oct 12 M	Continue to work on TV paper. Developing details. We will be going over the papers that you handed in on Wednesday.
OCT 14 W	Final draft of essay on stereotypes in the media due.
OCT 19 M	Read: "Premature Pragmatism" by Barbara Ehrenreich (p. 131) There will be a practice test given in class based on the reading.
OCT 21 W	Grading exercise. Practice Test 1 Print copy for class. Do not discuss the papers--I want each person to grade it on their own according to what we will be discussing in class.
OCT 26 M	Using the Internet, look up some shows featuring leads from the group you chose. Make sure that you keep track of all the WEB sites you visit by URL so that you can get the documentation you need. For your TV paper, find some information on several shows. Many shows have their own WEB sites now. Many shows have their own WEB sites now. Some also have ones set up by fans. Look at as many as you need. What is the central plot of the show? What are the interaction of the characters? How are the characters presented. What social message, if any, is presented? What groups/subgroups are being targeted? How are the characters presented? What are some of the stereotypes? What are some of the biases in the information presented on the WEB sites? Does the WEB site build up expectations for the program? Who wrote the WEB pages? Also see: Criteria For Checking Internet Sources. by Susannah Chewning, Dept. of English, William Paterson University.
OCT 28 W	Continue to look up information on the WEB and start to prepare your first draft.
NOV 2 M	Write: First Draft Due
NOV 4 W	Discussion of WEB sources.
NOV 9   M	Write: Second Draft Due
NOV 11 W	Write: Final Copy of TV/WEB Paper Due
NOV 16 M	Practice Test II: Read: Wiring the Classroom BEFORE class and be prepared to start writing at 3:30. You will have 40 minutes for the test and you are expected to be present. I may be a little late today as I have a meeting in the next building. Take the time to reread the article. Write: Practice Post Test Question: The article that you have read deals with some of the advantages and disadvatages of techology in education. Using some of the examples in the article along with your own observations, write an essay in which you discuss the role technology should play in education today. Some of the issues that you can address are: Where can technology be used effectively? What are the limitations of technology in education in terms of effectiveness as well as the problem of unequal access adressed in the article. You will have 40 minutes. Make sure tht you proofread your paper.
NOV 18 W	Grading exercise. Practice Test 2 Print copy for class. Do not discuss the papers--I want each person to grade it on their own according to what we will be discussing in class. Start reading the essays when you come to class or before class if you have time. For each essay, score the paper from 1(lowest) to 6(highest). Give a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 to at least one paper. Start by reading essays A, C, E, L, P, I and H
NOV 23 M	Discussion of Post Test, Grammar Review
NOV 25 W	READ: Essay for Practice Test If you are not in class on today, read this article; there will be a test on it on Monday.
NOV 30 M	Practice test 3 on above essay. Wait for class.
DEC 3 W	START OF POST TEST -- ASSIGNMENT WILL BE HANDED OUT AND DISCUSSED IN CLASS. MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE IN CLASS FOR THE ENTIRE PERIOD. (See details above.) IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO BE IN CLASS, CONTACT ME AS SOON AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORK.
DEC 7 M	WRITTEN PART OF POST TEST: YOU WILL HAVE TIL 4:45 SO BE ON TIME. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO BE IN CLASS, CONTACT ME AS SOON AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORK

 

Reading Supplements
Judith Ortiz Cofer	Notes from Cofer Interview with Cofer Example of a paper written on Cofer's works

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