APELC Class Notes
APELCers, we spent the first half of class Thursday and Friday revisiting clauses, phrases, and syntactic (and lexical) categories, and playing with others’ and our own words in a mimicking exercise. We completed the second half of our time together in the liberry where you continued to draft you narrative arguments, which, as you well know, are due on Monday.
I’ve encouraged you last week to pay attention to issues surrounding WikiLeaks, too significant a news item since the most recent dump of documents to not be paying attention to. Here’s more:
- “Wikileaks Reveals U.S. Tax Dollars Fund Child Sex Slavery in Afghanistan”
- “The 24-hour Athenian democracy”
- “Silencing WikiLeaks A Free Speech Challenge For U.S.”
- “Web Attackers Find a Cause in WikiLeaks”
Have a fine weekend. It’ll all be over soon.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, yesterday and today we talked over the Douglass text, more in fourth period on Tuesday than in third and fifth on Wednesday because of our wacky schedule. We met in the liberry for the last two thirds of class on Tuesday and for the entire period on Wednesday where students drafted their narrative arguments and I conferred with others over their free-response revisions. You do have a reading for homework; please attend the details on your class page.
I decided after fifth period on Monday to post the “damn” words I proscribed from student papers here on out. This should help those that find them too numerous to remember. The words are
- Aspect
- Factor
- Efficient
- Kids (this was the word I couldn’t read)
- Hooks
- Uses
- Vivid
- Paints
- Choppy
This list will continue to grow, and, of course, there’re other phrases I’ve mentioned in class that remain forever banned from your papers, and I’ll remind you as needed.
If you’re not following the news about WikiLeaks, you really should do what you can to educate yourself about this most important development in foreign relations. You can start with these:
- “State’s Secrets” at the New York Times (see also “The War Logs” about the organization’s first major document dump to attract worldwide attention)
- “WikiLeaks: A Reminder Of The Pentagon Papers” from Morning Edition
- “The Inner Workings Of WikiLeaks” from All Things Considered
Also, as Hanukkah begins tonight, here’re two more fun pieces from NPR:
- “Tracing Hanukkah’s U.S. Roots … To Cincinnati?” from Morning Edition
- “No Gelt, No Glory: A Dreidel Champion Is Crowned” from All Things Considered
We’ll see each other next class, boys and girls.
APELC Class Notes
Juniors and seniors, yesterday and today we worked with the White text and discussed a bit the nature of time. These are the same links to posted to interesting resources on time last year over this same discussion which you might find interesting:
- “Time” at the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- “Time for philosophers” and “The philosophy of the quantum spook”, both at The Philosopher’s Zone
- “A Brief History of Infinity: Space and the Universe” at BBC Documentaries
In third period we talked in circles about determinism and free will. These are heady concepts, but worth your time and mental energy.
We spent the second half of the block in the liberry where you continued to draft your narrative arguments, and I conferred with students over their free-responses.
You have homework; details, as always, are on you class page.
I’ll see you next week.
APELC Class Notes
Because of the odd schedule this week, I decided to wait until today to post for the entire week. We processed Huttmann and Kroll, and in both of our discussions I asked you what it meant to be a person: What conditions or properties determine personhood, what degree of control do we exercise over our bodies and minds and our actions and our thoughts, do we have the right or even the ability to determine our own ultimate fates, et cetera?
We also talked about making moral judgments as such related to the two texts. Many assented to the proposition “It is not possible to assert that any given action, behavior, idea, et cetera, is good or bad or right or wrong”, but many of the same then argued that the execution of Robert Harris was, in fact, wrong. I challenged those students to reconcile these contradictory ideas; thus was a brief, informal introduction to the concepts of cultural and moral relativism, not exactly the same, but related in that moral belief is subsumed by cultured.
Finally, in third period Wednesday, we briefly touched on truth, and when I asked for a definition, I suggested that truth is what best corresponds to and what coheres with reality.
Take time further investigate Robert Harris, and the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, the subject of one of the brief articles I handed out in class.
I’ll see you next week.
English 9 Class Notes
Freshmens, we completed Of Mice and Men today, and we discussed George’s justification in shooting his friend. An ironic idea was suggested by students on both days: George had to kill Lennie to save him. I was dubious of this claim, but we worked with it and expressed yourselves in practice composition. We briefly reviewed the six traits of writing, particularly ideas, organization, and conventions, and I presented you with a paragraph template, a graphic organizer for controlling placement of your ideas. It looked very familiar to you because it mimicked the format you’ve been using to answer questions related to all of the reading we’ve been doing since August. Such paragraphing will be the main method of assessment next semester.
You composed a practice paragraph in which you argued whether George acted in his and Lennie’s best interest by shooting him in the back of the head at the base of his skull and spine. You completed this by the end of the period, and some had time to do homework and read independently.
I was very pleased with the discussion the novella engendered. Many of you made great points. if you’re interested in reading and learning more, I’ll direct you to the “Euthanasia” , “Friendship”, “Honor”, and “Sacrifice” at Wikipedia.
We’ll begin The Odyssey next week, kids. I’ll see you then.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, yesterday and today we talked over the Tan text, and we touched on issues of ontology, identity, self-esteem, beauty, body image, and ideal forms.
The discussions in each period were interesting and informative. I asked at what point we stop “being ourselves” and change to find group acceptance. We talked a lot about media messages, especially those directed toward adolescent girls. In third period, David wondered if it was really a problem to appreciate “Ideal” forms when I asked why we continue to consume media that presents mixed messages and if we’d consume the same media if they reflected, in this case, actual body types we encounter in the population that don’t match the ideal. Then in fourth, if I recall accurately, it was Selina (correct me if I’m wrong) that noted that the “ideal” changes over time.
Here’re two items relevant to our discussion that you might find worth your time, unfortunately the second is only an excerpt:
Finally, in fourth period I mentioned a new song from Sesame Street that’s making an impression, and which my daughter loves:
Here’s the story behind the song at ABC news, and commentary from The Root.
I’ll see you in the liberry on Monday, kids.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, we completed, as much as we could, our discussion of Gelsey and Dinh, and I was a little unnerved by many students’ indifference (?) toward privacy or at least their fourth amendment rights. It was intriguing. Coincidentally, and relevant to our discussion, I found this today at Newsweek: “What the Internet Knows About You”. And I’d be curious to hear your reaction to the following video from LAPD’s iWatch LA program:
It’s curious that this particular video is no longer on the website.
We talked a little your attitudes toward politics and the federal government, and many of you mentioned that issues of trust and corruption were important in assessing your feelings. For kicks, I recommended you look up the following politicians known for their recent scandals, all having to do with sex and money:
- Elliot Spitzer (D, former Gov. NY)
- Charles Rangel (D, former Rep. NY)
- William Jefferson (D, former Rep. NY)
- Mark Foley (R, Rep. FL)
- Larry Craig (R, former Sen. ID)
- Eric Massa (R, former Rep. NY)
That’s all for now. Have a fine weekend and I’ll see you Monday.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, yesterday and today we talked about privacy and the USA PATRIOT Act. During our discussion several items came up that I encouraged you to research because of their relevance to our texts. They were:
- Probable cause
- Reasonable suspicion, Terry stop
- FISA Court
- Oscar Grant
- TSA full body scanners (millimeter wave scanner)
I mentioned Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols when we discussed home-grown terrorism, and I was absolutely stunned that only two or three of you ninety-one knew anything about these men. And those few only admitted scant, incomplete knowledge. Again, know who these two people are.
In addition to the informal request that you familiarize yourself with the items above, and the formal order to attend the homework on your class page, here’s some further:
- “Court Ruling on Wiretap Is a Challenge for Obama”
- “Judge says man within rights to record police traffic stop”
- Carlos Miller’s blog “Photography Is not a Crime”
Again, boys and girls, you must move beyond your assumptions about what you think you know and learn and engage important issues, no matter what side you of the political divide you occupy.
See you next class.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, you finished the quarter with your third free-response yesterday and today. It was also the third type of writing you’ll be required to do for the AP exam at the end of the year. I’ll have these essays and your revisions of and cover sheets for free-response 2 ready to return to you we meet after break.
You do have homework which is detailed on your class page, and I’d like you to refamiliarize yourself with The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, too, so we can begin a discussion of his text.
I want to leave you with some links before I close. Two are related to free speech and its limits: “Supreme Court weighs arguments over ‘Thank God for dead soldiers’ funeral protest” and “High Court: Does Father’s Pain Trump Free Speech?”. Read the first for background then listen carefully to the second for a question by question, answer by answer summary of the hearing. What do you think?
The last link is to an NPR series that aired this week, “Living in the Middle”, about the “middle-class”. The middle-class has come up a lot in our discussions (and it’ll continue to do so), and this series of reports examines the idea of the middle-class and what it means to be middle-class in various parts of the country today. It’s really worth taking time to investigate the origins and rise of the middle-class, and then listen to the audio. As always, I encourage you talk with your parents about what the term means for them and for you. Do you consider yourself middle-class?
Have a great break. I’ll be thinking of you while I’m riding the Mad Hatter’s Teacups with the fam and eating delicious mouse-meat corn dogs.
Peace.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, yesterday and today you read two opinions on same sex marriage. After we tied up loose ends with Buckley, you spent the first part of the period reading and preparing for discussion, and we discussed the idea of marriage and commitment the second half. Opinions varied and discussion got heated, and we didn’t even get to the heart of the readings: We talked mostly about the nature of the institution, and I expect the discussion next class will be eventful.
I can’t forget to recognize Kate in fifth for courageously defending her opinions on marriage against a barrage of questions and comments from other-minded peers. This is the second time she’s faced such an onslaught and lived to tell about it. You’re a great sport Kate!
Here’re some links that I may inform your reading and thinking for next class:
- “Marriage” and “Polygyny”
- “Same-sex marriage in the United States” and “California Proposition 8 (2008)”
- “U.S. divorce rates for various faith groups, age groups, & geographic areas”
- “Study breaks down divorce rates by occupation”
- “Southern Baptist leader says divorce rates, not gay marriage, should be primary concern”
- “Couples study debunks ‘trial marriage’ notion of cohabiting” (and see the PDF near the end of the article)
Take some time to scour these, see how they may inform your own opinion.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, we discussed a little the imminent synthesis essay you’ll complete on Thursday and Friday, free-response 3. I misspoke myself when I told third period we’d have six timed-writings this semesters; we’ll only have five, and you’ll complete the fifth on the last day of the semester. (We’ll begin revision conferences the second day back from winter recess.)
We also discussed the Buckley piece today and talked about why we don’t complain. This commentary was written almost fifty years ago, and you all seemed to agree that things haven’t changed much; rather, you observed that as our dependence on technology has increased, our apathy has also increased. Two notable exceptions I mentioned were the incredible turn-out for the 2008 presidential election and the rise of the so-called Tea Party. Please familiarize yourself with the latter; it’s too important a movement to dismiss, as some pundits initially suggested we should.
APELC Class Notes
Today, APELCers, I summarized and reviewed key concepts and vocabulary I’ve presented to you since the beginning of the school year, and I conferred with students over their free-response revisions.
I’ve mentioned Lady Gaga’s speaking out against our military’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, and I’ve been meaning to post a link, so here it is: “Recording artist Lady Gaga speaks at rally “.
Also, I mentioned the following video in class last week of Sarah Palin fans being interviewed while waiting in line to meet and have the former Alaska Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate sign copies of her book. The audio on my workstation has been giving me trouble, so I wanted to post the clip here:
I don’t post this as an expression of my own political values or to be critical of Sarah Palin. Rather it’s an object lesson of the dangers of uninformed, uncritical thinking, the type of which we’ve been discussing in relation to your most recent free-response essay. Keep in mind the design considerations of the editors (decidedly left of center) who put this text together: It’s likely that those who were able to answer the interviewer’s questions intelligently were cut from the final piece. And understand that this type of poor, unwarranted evaluation exists on both sides of the political divide.
See you next class.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, yesterday and today we processed, quite capably, I think, the Declaration of Independence. I believe our effort on the document continued to reveal the possibilities of the alternate relationship among logos, ethos, and pathos I’ve argued since re-introducing you to the terms. Because of the time I deemed important to dedicate to working with the document (still far too little in my estimation), some revision conferences had to be pushed to next week, and I’ll confer with those students affected on Monday.
Very importantly, while I conferred with writers in the second hour of each period, other students began their first official note review over our work with the charter document. The process will seem tedious at first, but it’s a vital class component, and should help students practice developing ideas and theses, and synthesizing texts with others throughout the year. In this way critical thinking will become recursive, and class content, holistic. The note review should be completed for Monday, when I’ll collect the notes and review from one class. Also check your class page for two reading and question and answer assignments for Monday, that will themselves serve as the seed for a new note-set and review.
As we finished our definitions of fundamental class concepts this week, that last being ideas about language: what language is, our assumptions regarding grammar, syntax and attendant issue, et cetera, Emma, Derussa, and I shared some some informal discussion about animal “language” during lunch on Wednesday. Emma mentioned a TIME article she’d recently come across, “Inside the Minds of Animals”; the New York Times ran an interesting article about language in particular in 1995, “Chimp Talk Debate: Is It Really Language?. I argued that while animals do demonstrate communicative ability, they don’t possess language, as such, and I’d encourage curious students interested in this topic to read over the “Animal language” entry at Wikipedia.
Relatedly, I also argued the limits and criticisms of “Evolutionary Psychology” and its criticisms. You might read these articles, too: “Why Do We Rape, Kill and Sleep Around?” from Newsweek, and “A brainwave for catching a criminal?” from The Guardian.
Finally, you might examine this book review by linguist John McWhorter (several of whose books you’ll on my shelves): “Don’t Believe the Hype About Aborigines, Yiddish, or Ebonics”.
Have a fine weekend, kids.
APELC Class Notes
Juniors and seniors, while I conferred with some students yesterday and today others processed the Declaration of Independence. We finished (for now) definitions of fundamental language concepts (far later than we should have), and on Monday I’ll summarize all of the key concepts I’ve offered you since the beginning of the year that’ll continue to inform our inquiry.
My enumeration and our discussion of the fundamentals of language reminded me of a recent story from Manhattan about a mild professor of literature and her showdown with corporate fascists: “Grammar stickler: Starbucks booted me”; news of this brave woman’s struggle even went global. Of course, this story highlights the problems of the popular assumptions most people have about language, and really delineates the matters of taste of the presumed preachers of high culture and the objective understanding of those who actually study language as it is spoke. See commentary at the Language Log’s: “Gricean bagel rage”; and more apt analysis at The Economist: “Does “a bagel” imply no butter?”.
We’ll get to the heart of the Declaration of Independence next class.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, yesterday and today we concluded our discussion of the Bush text, and from your own identification of logoi and analyzed their relationship to ethoi and pathoi. After that activity, things got contentious with my enumeration various understandings of grammar from the oft-referenced “Grammar, Grammars, and the Teaching of Grammar” by Patrick Hartwell, published in College English in 1984. If you’re curious about Hartwell’s credentials, try this this memorium from a page dedicated to his memory.
The issue of grammar is one of my favorites to discuss with students, because the actualities of language challenge and force reconsideration of long-cherished beliefs. (See my notes on National Grammar Day from 2008). Such discussion usually courts controversy (“DEA wants to hire Ebonics translators”), which is generally productive―recall Ellie’s assertion in fourth period the other day that offense, or at least conflict, breeds progress.
If you’re brave enough, and you still don’t believe me (and thousands of linguists, anthropologists, philosophers, sociologists, psychologists, and neuroscientists and their research) about the nature of grammar, you might read this fairly short and simple student paper about grammar, and pedagogy in particular, from the online publication Intertext at Syracuse: “The Systematic Teaching of Grammar:A Critique”. And if you really want to see a grammar (a description) of a language, or a language variety, challenge yourself with the grammar (grammar 1 from the list) of Black English Vernacular.
Oh, we had a timed-writing today, too.
We’ll discuss grammar more on Monday, and we’ll also try to determine what a democratic value is.
APELC Class Notes
APELCers, yesterday and today we finished examining the Bush text. I pointed out a few more logoi for you, but then broke you into groups so you could properly process the text on your own: You were to frame, proof, and evaluate it according to the (updated) How to Process a Text handout on your class page. Next class, a representative will present some his or her group’s findings for the class. Keep in mind that the identification of various logoi is not an end in itself, nor is inferring the ethoi or pathoi they effect. Rather, it’s to identify big ideas and decide how the former three inform the speaker’s text and motivate audiences to physical, measurable action.
As an addendum, during its discussion, one group mentioned the recent proposed (and canceled) Koran burning, a natural topic relevant to the text we’ve been looking at and the events of the day. I informally polled each class about the limits of its speech-tolerance, but the results were vague. Was this a free-speech issue? An issue of taste? Of offense?
I thought of this famous quotation from Evenly Beatrice Hall, which often enjoys use when first amendment disputes arise, to think about: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Would you defend, to the death, the right to burn the Muslim text? Here’re two opinions to consider:
- “If Terry Jones burns the Koran, he’ll also set fire to America’s identity”
- “Pastor Terry Jones, as right as John Brown”
I also asked if deleting a Koran existing on my hard drive, say as a .pdf or even .mp3 audio version, would be the same as burning an actual bound copy. The former are physical things. What do you think? How do you apply your reasoning to other religious texts? To any other books?
This also engendered the (essential, existential) questions: “What is a ‘thing’? What makes a thing what it is?” What’s the difference, for example, between a book and the ideas it contains or the ideas that inform it? If I burn a book, do I destroy its ideas? And further, what’s an idea? Can one destroy an idea?
See what you can come up with for next class.