English 1006
Prompt #5
17 September 2013

Narrowing our focus

Completing tasks, reading prompts

If you haven't noticed, I've put a records page up on the main course Web page. You can (should) check it to see how you're doing, and to make sure I haven't missed a task you've completed. You should make it a habit not only to read prompts when they're distributed in class, but to reread them afterward to make sure you understand what's been assigned, and have completed the work.

email addresses

Most immediately, there are still a number of people who have not updated their Moodle course profile to include their STU email address rather than an off-campus hotmail or gmail address. This matters because in order to receive emails from me and others in the course you'll need to set your mail up in such a way that you receive mails to your STU address, and are identified as sending them from that address. The last prompt, and an email I sent to those off-campus addresses on Sunday, reminded people about this. You need to check your profile and make sure your STU email address is there; you also need to make sure you can send email from your STU address. An email will be sent to all the STU addresses of folks in this class tomorrow, and you'll need to respond to it.

In class today

Everyone should have brought an article, as explained in the last prompt. If you don't have one, you can't participate in class today; you'll need to go away and do the assignment. When you've got an article, email me with details (author, title, publication, date) and if I get your email today I'll see if there's a way for you to do what you need to before Thursday's class.

I'll begin by dividing the class into groups of three or four. Each group will need to do the following:

First, everyone should carefully read all the articles in the group. About each article, you should ask the following questions:
  1. Is the article long enough and substantial enough to be worth discussing?
  2. Is the article found in a medium (newspaper, public Web site) that is edited and officially published?
  3. What's the basic issue or problem or dispute behind the article? What might people disagree on?
  4. Are there really people you know who might hold the different views or opinions you've identified?
  5. How interesting do you think the article is likely to be to members of the class?
When you've all read the articles, discuss them in the light of those questions and decide on one you'd recommend we all read and discuss. When you've done that, fill out the form I'll give each group and give it to me, along with all the articles you've used. When you're filling out the form, be as detailed and persuasive as you can about the reasons for your choice and your recommendation. I suggest working on a written draft separately, and then putting it on the form.

If you prefer, and  a member of the group is ready to do this, you can also key it onto the online version of the form (there's a link from the main course page), print it, and hand it to me. Or, even easier, you can save it as a file and send it to me attached to an email. In any case, I need to have it by 3:45.

Feel free to go to the lab to do this; when you're done and I have the form (either on paper or electronically) you're finished with English 1006G for the day.

For next time

Watch for an email tomorrow with something to read for Thursday afternoon.

Go to the previous prompt
Go to the next prompt
Go to the list of prompts
Go to the main working site for English 1006G