No Dessert for You, Now Go to Your Tower!

No Dessert for You, Now Go to Your Tower!

In considering the above article, please respond to the following for a total of 5 posts, 3 of your own, 2 in response to another student's posts:

1. Should children have the types of surroundings that the article describes? Make an arguement for or against it and then respond to your fellow students and their opinions about it.
2. Consider the square footage in the article (if you need to look up the formula to determine square footage, Google it!); How much space is reasonable for a child?  Does ample space  protect a child or isolate them?
3. Pick out one quote from the text-- either a direct quotation or a selection of text-- and analyze it. Why did it stand out as important to you?

Be scholarly in your approach and provide examples, solid reasoning for your arguement and as always, respectful of your fellow students views. Each post should be a minimum of 4-6 sentences.

Transitional Words and Phrases

• First, using the transitional words and phrases handout, add at least 4 transitional words and phrases to the following paragraph and repost:

One reason people lie is to achieve personal power. Achieving personal power is helpful for someone who pretends to be more confident than he really is. One of my friends threw a party at his house last month. He asked me to come to his party and bring a date. I didn’t have a girlfriend. One of my other friends, who had a date to go to the party with, asked me about my date. I didn’t want to be embarrassed, so I claimed that I had a lot of work to do. I said I could easily find a date even better than his if I wanted to. I also told him that his date was ugly. I achieved power to help me feel confident. I embarrassed my friend and his date. This lie helped me at the time, since then it has made me look down on myself.

• Next, also using the handout, write one paragraph on the topic of your choice of at least 6 sentences that incorperates 4 transitional phrases and/or words and post online.
• Lastly, when you are finished, look at your essay and incorperate some of these phrases and words into it in preparation for draft 3 to make your ideas flow more smoothly into each other.

Some suggestions for your paragraph topics:

• Registering for classes
• Getting to school in the morning
• Any "how to" instructions: ex: How to ask for a date or How to ask for a raise

Caveat: Using first, next and last should be avoided for this assignment. Also, please do not take any "shortcuts" such as modifying existing writing unless it is your own as this will not make the same impact upon your writing skills.

Introduction and Conclusion Styles

The first draft of Essay 1 is due today! You surely have written a spectacular introduction and a novel conclusion to this essay. However, in order so that we may practice versitility in our writing, please write two different introductory paragraphs for it, each one featuring a different method from the handout in class. They will each showcase your brilliant thesis statements, much as a diamond is set in platinum.

When you are done, please also write two different conclusions for a total of four posts.

Paragraphs should be 4-6 sentence long, and each paragraph should be posted separately. Feel free to use the internet for research.

Exit Exam Preparation Workshop Schedules

Tutorial Services/The Writing Center at HCCC will hold Exit Exam Preparation workshops for the following Spring 2011 courses: ESL IV & V, Basic English I, Basic English II & III, College Composition I, Basic Math, and Basic Algebra. 

Students should register for the workshops that correspond to the courses that they are enrolled in this semester. Each of the workshops will meet once a week for six consecutive weeks beginning the week of March 21. To view the schedules, please see the announcement at the MyHudson page.

Nevada Politicans Debate an Older Profession

As always, keep your language and ideas academic in nature and make each posted answer 4-6 sentences in length as a minimum.

1. Answer the following questions based on the reading, Nevada Politicans Debate and Older Profession in 4-6 sentences and then respond to 2 of your peers for a total of 6 posts.
   Respond to another student's ideas-- agree, disagree, or add to what they have written in some way. Do not merely restate or parrot their statement. As always, be respectful and academic.
1. Pick out one quote that was significant to you. Explain it and why it was significant.
2. What biases did you have, for or against the subject, while reading this text? When did you become aware of it and did it hinder your evaluating the text in an objective way?
3. What ideas were you unfamiliar with from the text and how did you approach that information?
4. Pose one question you have about the text. 
5. Attempt to answer someone else's question.
6. Respond to another student's ideas-- agree, disagree, or add to what they have written in some way. Do not merely restate or parrot their statement. As always, be respectful and academic.

The Carrot Some Vegans Deplore

The Carrot Some Vegans Deplore 

As always, keep your language and ideas academic in nature and make each posted answer 4-6 sentences in length as a minimum.

People often go to extreme lengths to prove a point they are trying to make to call attention to an issue. This can span a range of forms, from non-violent protests, ad campaigns, demonstrations, lawsuits, and boycotts to terrorism. But the message that these protests take can be as imprtant as the issue they are intended to call attention to.

1. What message are the vegans in this article sending by using the tactics they are choosing?
2. Does the fact that some people may view strip clubs/nudity negatively outweigh the message these vegans are trying to communicate?
3. What impact does their message have on you personally-- was it effective in bringing these issues to your attention in a way that made you think about their message?
4. Pick out one quote that was significant to you. Explain it and why it was significant.
5. What biases did you have, for or against the subject, while reading this text? When did you become aware of it and did it hinder your evaluating the text in an objective way?
6. What ideas were you unfamiliar with from the text and how did you approach that information?
7. Pose one question you have about the text. 
8. Attempt to answer someone else's question.
9. Respond to another student's ideas-- agree, disagree, or add to what they have written in some way. Do not merely restate or parrot their statement. As always, be respectful and academic.

Moving from Topic to Thesis

Please view the following Power Point slideshow presentation:

Moving from Topic to Thesis

Web of Popularity, Achieved by Bullying

Answer the following questions based on the reading, Web of Popularity, Achieved by Bullying in 4-6 sentences and then respond to 2 of your peers for a total of 6 posts.

1. Pick out one quote that was significant to you. Explain it and why it was significant.
2. What biases did you have, for or against the subject, while reading this text? When did you become aware of it and did it hinder your evaluating the text in an objective way?
3. What ideas were you unfamiliar with from the text and how did you approach that information?
4. Pose one question you have about the text. 
5. Attempt to answer someone else's question.
6. Respond to another student's ideas-- agree, disagree, or add to what they have written in some way. Do not merely restate or parrot their statement. As always, be respectful and academic.

Should Photos Come with Warning Labels?

Answer the following questions based on the reading, Should Photos Come with Warning Labels in 4-6 sentences and then respond to 2 of your peers for a total of 6 posts.

1. Pick out one quote that was significant to you. Explain it and why it was significant.
2. What biases did you have, for or against the subject, while reading this text? When did you become aware of it and did it hinder your evaluating the text in an objective way?
3. What ideas were you unfamiliar with from the text and how did you approach that information?
4. Pose one question you have about the text. 
5. Attempt to answer someone else's question.

Introduce yourself

Next class we're going to jump right into our discussions-- both online and in our seminar. To make sure you get off to a good start, begin by posting an introductory paragraph about yourself. This should be about 5-7 sentences.

Don't worry, we'll get to know each other a little better later on. This is just to make sure that you've gotten an account and understand the basics of posting online. As always, be sure to read the directions and welcome before you begin.

AF

Assignment Schedule for January/February

The assignment schedule can now be found below the header "Basic English 3" as a dedicated page to make it easier for you to find the info you need!

Welcome

Dear students:

Welcome to Spring 2011. We will be using our blog as a forum for written communication and as resource for course-related information. You will find information such as a general outline of what is taking place in class/what will be due in the upcoming weeks, PDFs and links of select handouts and extra materials of interest to you, as well as the course syllabus should you lose it. Please check this site frequently, as it is updated regularly. 

I recommend the following:

• A Gmail account to make it easier for you to interact with and sign on to our blog, which is powered by Google. 
• That you save your log in and password somewhere accessible so you are not delayed when assignments are given if you forget your information. 
• That you "follow" the blog. It will make it easier for you to find the link.
• That you write the web address accurately in your notebook for use at home. (Note: http:// without the "www") 
• That you copy, cut and paste information from Word into the comment field of our blog just in case there is a problem. (Students have sometimes run into glitches and lost their carefully thought out responses. Don't let this happen to you!) 
• That you read your comments for coherence, spelling and logic, making sure it applies to the questions asked. 

In addition, you may wish to sign up for a Twitter account and follow me. This will be another source of info for you to stay in the loop if I am running late, cancel class or just to receive links to short readings or thoughts that may be of interest to you. My Twitter SN is AferranteHCCC. You can see Twitter updates on the right hand side of the blog and the link will bring you directly to my page.

Wishing all you a successful semester,
Angela Ferrante

Read These Directions First: Online discourse

So here is how this will work: I will get the online discussion started by positing a consideration, offering an opinion, or posing a set of questions based on an article.

Each of you will not only respond to me first, but to at least three students after your first comment. We'll keep the language professional and academic, as is the case for your homework and in-class assignments. As for a minimum response, let's begin with an "oversized" paragraph of 5-7 sentences per response per individual.
Be sure you are answering the question fully and completely.

Remember to:

• Proofread your work before you hit that "Publish" button.
• Create at the appropriate number comments (each between 5-7 sentences)—to me and to your peers.
• Keep the language professional, academic, and on-point.
• Sign your full name at the bottom of each response you make.
• Choose a screen name that is appropriate and allows you and your work to be easily identified by everyone in class. You want credit for your work! I suggest your full name, first name/last initial, or first initial/last name.
• Comment within the appropriate post.

*Tip- you may find it helpful to work in Word so that you can spell check your response and as a precautionary measure against losing your response should something "happen" during the publishing process.


Reminders:

• Do not use IM language (e.g., ";-)," "u r kewl," "4", "lol," "brb," etc.)--this is a college-level discussion, not a private conversation. 
• Do not use slang; Again, this is a college environment where people use professional and academic language. 
• Do not state an opinion without stating why you think/feel the way you do.
• Do not re-phrase someone's comment or just agree with him in order to have something to say--"Think before you type" means exactly that. 
• Do a self-check for potentially offensive ideas or language. 

This is what a typical student comment should look like:

Response to Alba: So in other words you're saying that people who are not beautiful have no opportunity in life to succeed because of the way we judge them. I think that is wrong. Children are very sensitive and they can sense when adults make fun of them or treat them differently because of their look. Those children are the same people, that when the grow up, they also become ugly from inside, as a result of the way they were treated when they were child. That is still one of the biggest taboo that we have, judge someone for their look, before we even give them a chance to talk.-- Yuleina Mac Donald

Lastly, the ideas presented in your responses should be your own, or you should be adding something new to the discussion. Hopefully, this weblog will grow as your skills grow and this will also serve to put a new spin on an old "tried and true" method of collegiate discussion.

Participation on this blog counts as an assignment. Inappropriate, rude, or offensive language is unacceptable and will be removed from our blog. Three such offenses during the semester will result in questionable comments being submitted on paper to me, a NC for each offense, and could also result in failure for the course.

Comments that do not meet the minimum requirements will be deleted.