You must include three essays (at least one with a Works cited page and in-text citations) plus a cover letter.

(The fourth essay, which does not go in your portfolio, can be turned in through Thursday, May 17.)

Unless you make arrangements to email me a final version of one essay Thursday evening, you should plan to bring in hard copies on Thursday, if you have not already passed them in.

I will be on campus from 8 am to 4 pm, in the following places at the following times (even if I am in another class, please feel free to just walk in–it will be a hectic day):

8-9:15   in B113

9:30-11   in my office, K226

11-12:15 in K205

12:30-1:45  in K104

2-4 in the Writing Center in B117

If you canot find me, please send me an email. I will have my phone on all day and will respond promptly.

Good luck!! (Email if you have questions, or drop by to see me.)

IDEA: International Debate Education Association

Hot Paper Topics (from St. Ambrose University Library)

NYTimes Room for Debate

Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues (thanks, Laura!)

Click to see suggestions for issues connected to various themes.

Arts

• Postmodernism versus modernism? (This is quite a complex issue, difficult to handle in several pages.)
• Should arts programs be cut (or expanded)?
• Graffiti art or vandalism? (or should graffiti artists be prosecuted?)
• How has digital music changed the listening experience?
• Is motion-capture technology (such as in The Polar Express) good for actors, or does it make the actor’s job obsolete?
• Is the internet the death of hiphop?
• What can art museums do to attract younger visitors (or to increase visitors)?
• Will drawing technology (such as drawing apps on iPad, e.g.) make paints (and other media) obsolete? Is that a good thing for artists?

Business

• Should the government provide bailouts for companies that go bankrupt? (an awfully large issue!!)
• Should small towns with many local businesses allow big corporations (e.g., WalMart) in also?
• Does it take a college degree to get a well paying job

Family

• why young adults have a hard time to get used to live with their parents?

• can you really find the perfect person to get married?

1.  Breastfeeding–I know a lot of people who think it’s gross and the benefits are exaggerated, but I breastfed all three of my children and I know how natural it is and have really seen the benefits. I’m also interested in researching if there are any known long-term benefits.

2.  Stay at home Moms vs. Working Moms–Touchy subject but I know I can get some great information for both sides. (This is a familiar issue–maybe something more narrowly focused on a proposal about how to manage work/family balance?)

3.  The benefits from reading to your kids before they can read.  This is a great topic for me, I’m very passionate about it!

4.  Same-sex parents and the adoption issues, some people believe they shouldn’t be allowed to have kids.

• Can men and women be “Just” friends?

• living together takes preparation for marriage or playing at commitment?

• Do fathers matter?

• teen pregnancy and parenting: how do they react when they know about it? they react good or bad? what goes into their minds?

Sports

College Out West,joining the Big East  ….How would you organize college athletic conference ……

Should Penn state cancel its Season?

Should Penn State Cancel Its Season?

“a fan’s guide to the NBA lockout”
-why were NBA lockout?
-The NBA was closed in September 7, 2011because of ecomancey (not enough money).
-NBA have been missed sixty-eight games since, it seems terrible.

“UFC heavyweight fails drug test”
-why heavyweight used drug?
-they want to more increase their muscle and weight
-Heavyweight fails drug test because they are not succeeded and cannot play fight anymore

“Nike Inc”
-why are people love the NIKE company?
-they feel so comfortable with nike sneakers and good design
-nike sneakers colors style and also clothes
-sports sneakers running, football, basketball, tennis, and etc.

Should you be an American citizen before you s

Who has the best career ? Tom Brady or Peyton Manning

The N.C.A.A Should Diversify?    (the N.C.A.A  will make  over 700 million in TV  revenue for basketball tournament this month… ) basketball players are  compensated fairly?

Food

• Should the government expand (or cut or change) the use of food stamps?
•  Is the world producing enough food?
•  Is the spike in wholesale food going to ruin us?
•  Do more people depend on cooking from scratch or buying cooked food?
• Could farms now-a-days stay running without illegal help?
• Should you trust the ingredients/ fat content in all foods?
• Are all foods fattening?
•  Should the government try to modify what we eat?
• Should the government cut back on farm spending?
•  Is it your fault or the foods fault?
• Can anti- obesity campaigns promote health?
•  Do doctors look at this as rise’s in their careers or a do

Technology

Health/medicine:

• Should animals be used in scientific research?
• Should sex education be increased in school to help reduce teen pregnancy ? (what are current stats on teen pregnancy? is it increasing or decreasing? why?)
• In California when you have a mammogram , the radiologist reads it right away and if they suspect something the patient can have an ultra sound . Why aren’t we doing the same ?
• Insurance companies should pay for allergy medicine even though it’s over the counter !
• Should men get paternity leave from work?
• Are patients sufficiently educated about generic drugs? (what factors influence whether doctor will write generic scripts?)
•   Genetic Research, Bettering the lives of humanity or destroying it
• Should insurance companies pay for IVF? Should there be age limits, or other ethical guidelines?
• Organ transplants , bone marrow transplant
• The care of  people at nursing homes (What’s the controversy??)

Education

• Should college be for everyone?  Does going to college guarantee a job?  What happens to the individuals that are not college material?
• Should students who receive financial aid be required to go to school full-time?
• Should college grads get a break on student loans?
• Student debt, Fool’s Gold?  Is it worth putting yourself in a financial hole that you might never get out of?
• College degrees without going to class.  How effective are they?
• Should college be for everyone? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/03/01/should-college-be-for-everyone/the-working-class-gets-little-support-for-training
• Should Home-Schooled kids play sports for high school teams? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/02/08/should-home-schoolers-play-for-the-high-school-team
• Will women get ahead by going back to school? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/01/11/will-women-get-ahead-by-going-back-to-school
• Are teachers overpaid? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/01/02/are-teachers-overpaid
• Should the school day be longer? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/09/26/should-the-school-day-be-longer
• Do we spend too much time and money on education? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/08/23/spending-too-much-time-and-money-on-education
• Woman’s Choices: School vs. Children http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/07/14/womens-choices-school-vs-children
• Can Young Students learn from online classes? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/04/05/can-young-students-learn-from-online-classes
• Should College Grads Get a Break on their loans? http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/10/27/should-college-grads-get-a-break-on-their-loans
• What are the benefits of recess? http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2103768,00.html

Overall project. First, looking at all of the paragraphs, is there overlap of material?

Paragraph writing.

• Is para. focused on one main idea, given in a strong topic sentence?
• Does para. contain enough specific, researched info? Consider both length of para. and depth of material.
• Are sentences logically ordered and connected?

Research writing.

• Check for plagiarism. Look at original source to make sure writer has not copied and pasted or used language too close to the original source (unless quotation marks are used).
• Are in-text citations done properly? (Generally either author’s last name, or title of article or webpage if no author, or qtd. in <author’s name> if indirect quotation.)
• Does writer use signal phrases to introduce quotations?
• Is tone appropriate (no use of “I” or “you” for annotation).
• Check Works cited entries for individual’s work.

Proofreading.

Check paragraphs for sentence boundary issues( fragments, run-ons), spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc.

Once you’ve given feedback on each group member’s paragraphs, compile a Works cited page using everyone’s sources, listed in alphabetical order.

Print out with image, paragraphs (separated by lines or some other visual separator), and, on a separate page at the end, a works cited page.

Also, I’d like to emphasize that the bulk of your paper should be directly observed details. In observing and recording these details, your goal should be to identify patterns in the subculture: in the way it works, the values that its members share, the ways they communicate and interact, their patterns of behavior, or some more narrowly focused question (such as the different ways that male and female members interact). Ethnographies typically also acknowledge the researcher’s previous experience with and preconceptions about the subculture.

On the next page is a compilation of suggestions for ethnographies (by theme) and some links to samples:

the arts

subcultures: graffiti artists, jazz  musicians (or pick your music genre), tattoo artists, marching band, glee club, church choir, karaoke singers, drama club or community theater group,

fieldsite/event: Gallery opening at BCC on 3/8 (or other gallery openings), AHA night (also 3/8), Gallery Night Providence (3/15), concert (I don’t think a play would work as well since you can’t see much more than performance; more like review than ethnography), coffeehouse,

business and economics

subculture: small business owners, factory workers,

fieldsite/event: any retail space (look at how its merchandise is arranged to maximize sales and draw in target audience: see Malcolm Gladwell’s “The Science of Shopping” for ideas),

crime and justice

subculture: school security officer, police officer, probation officer, security guard,

fieldsite: courthouse, police station,

education

the environment

family:

food:

Groups: Workers (servers, cooks, stockers) , customers/shoppers, culinary students, food critics, nutritionists
Places: Supermarkets, restaurants, coffee shops, kitchens, cafeterias, bakeries, gardens, farms, soup kitchens, farmer’s markets
Events: Bake sales, festivals, feasts, family dinners, food drives, holidays
Etc: Food Network, cultures

health and medicine

sports

subculture: athletes (pick yor sport and age/gender), sports fans (high school, college, pro),

Locations: highschool sports game, gym class, locker room, sports bar, field, specialized sporting goods store (Rhode Runner, Solstice Skateboarding)

technology

subculture: gamers, online faculty (or other teachers who use technology),

fieldsite: cell phone store, Best Buy (though quite a broad subculture–the Geek Squad is probably better), Apple store,

12:30 Wed.

Some students feel uncomfortable with the whole idea of peer review, either feeling inadequate themselves to offer feedback to other students (“I’m not the teacher!”) or not trusting the feedback of other students (“What does he know? He’s not the teacher!”)

The most important thing to realize is that your job as a peer reviewer is not to grade (or judge or evaluate) either the particular piece of writing or the writer but rather to respond as a reader in the following sorts of ways:

• mirroring back to the writer what the piece seems to be about, the main thing it seems to be saying
• pointing out places where you as a reader are engaged, intrigued, or confused
• suggesting places the writer might add detail to make a scene more vivid or evidence to make an argument more convincing
• giving feedback on how the organization of the piece helps or hinders your understanding
• appreciating the writer’s style and use of language (word choice, sentence rhythms, etc.)

Tone is very important to consider in making your comments, particularly when the comments are in writing where tone of voice is missing. It’s important, of course, to be respectful and kind, but also to be honest. Try using phrases such as “it seems to me” or express your comments as questions (what did you do when X did Y?) or suggestions (maybe add description of setting here) rather than absolute commands (cut this!!).

There are many other benefits of peer review beyond just about getting specific advice you can use to revise your own piece. It’s invaluable for a writer to develop a sense of audience, the awareness that you’re writing for someone beyond just yourself (or a teacher). Also, it’s often what you get as a reviewer is just as valuable, if not more so. Reviewing the work of others helps you to think about writing from the perspective of both reader and writer. It’s easier to develop critical reading skills when you’re reading essays that aren’t entangled with your own ego. The goal: gradually to develop the objectivity to turn those critical skills onto your own writing. And on a larger scale, reading the work of classmates can help to develop the class into a community of writers whose support and feedback can give you motivation to write for more than just a grade.

See the section on Peer review under the Writing tab (in process section) for some additional info (a video and link at the bottom of the page).

From your class’s list of student blogs to the right, locate the two students immediately following your name; make sure they’ve posted their memoirs, and if not, skip down to the next name to find someone who has . Read those essays, using links on the right, and post a comment on each essay that includes the following info:

• What seems to be the main “message” of the essay? What does the author seem to be saying about this experience/person/etc. that you can connect to on a more universal level? Point out any resonant lines that seem to have particular significance or emotional power (which may or may not be developed in the rest of the essay).
• Consider the writer’s use of specific detail. Identify any particularly sharp, effective use of detail (by para. number or context, as in “I really get a clear picture of Uncle Eddie”). Indicate places where you think the writer might add more detail (either because something is unclear or could be made more vivid or engaging or understandable). If possible, include questions for the writer: “Could you give an example of a time when your gramma was cruel?”, “This seems to be the crucial scene of the essay. Maybe add some dialogue here?”)
• What is/are the most successful aspects of the draft? What/s working well? You might indicate a particular part of the essay (lead, fight scene, reflection at the end) or point to the author’s voice or tone, choice of subject matter, vivid descriptions, wonderful style, etc.

I’m a little behind on posting details of assignments, so I thought I’d get the quick version up here. All classes are doing the rhetorical analysis assignment this week (for f2f classes, assignment deadline is next week; for online class it’s Sunday, 2/12). You need to have your theme proposal approved in order to start this assignment. Your first step is to find an advertisement related to your ad and get that posted on your blog. 

Video of how to post images on blog

I’m also going to be posting lists of your blogs organized by theme, so that you can easily share ideas, etc. So by all means go ahead and post your ad as soon as you find one–it may help someone else think of an angle/topic that he/she hadn’t considered.

Also, now that themes are (or should be) approved), you will be starting reading journal this week.  You can start by going to the fourth tab under Reading (on finding articles to read and videos to watch) and look through the reading/viewing lists. If you find another article you’d like to read (that’s well-written, of “substantial” length, and available online), please feel free to suggest it to me. I’d like to be able to preview articles ahead of time, but I welcome some help with adding to the reading lists!

If you have any questions about either the rhetorical analysis assignment or the reading journal process, please post them here as comments to this post, so that everyone can see question and answer.

I’ll be posting some info this afternoon about choosing a theme and guidelines for your proposal…Proposal will not be due until Wed. or Thursday for both f2f and online classes.Below you can read some of the brainstorming two classes came up with last week as well as some of my own thoughts. While you’re considering choices, you may also want to browse through some of the readings I’ve selected here.

Monday, am: Sorry for the delay. More classes brainstorming today, and I’ll post summary results later today. The main thing I’d like to emphasize is that I’d like you to select a theme that will provoke you to ask some questions and that will allow you to write about things you may not already know the answer to. I hope that you’ll be able to see both writing and researching as a way to discover your thoughts, not merely confirm what you already knew. I’d like to see this sense of curiosity in your proposal, so that you’re not focused, for example, on just writing about your high school football career and why Bill Bellichik is the greatest coach in the history of the NFL. If you pick sports, for example, I’d like to see a broader perspective on things like the psychology of the sports fan, an analysis of sports marketing, why Title IX in college sports has not translated into greater exposure for women’s professional sports. You may want to browse through the readings on your chosen theme to get some ideas. Click to the next page for some ideas from your colleagues (and a few from me).

Technology:

personal: learning how to use some sort of technology, your connection to your cell phone

observational: gamers, online communities, hospitals, electronics stores, mechanics

argument: paperless checking, security, video games, bootlegging, effects on children, environmental effetcs, connecting world cultures, texting while driving, viruses, Facebook, paper vs. screen reading, plagiarism, privacy, ID theft

The arts

personal: producing your own art work (painting, music, drama, dance), visiting museums, school band, you rconnex to music

observational: concerts, art shows, galleries, DJ, local artist, theater rehearsals, art store

argument: filesharing, effects on literature, blu-ray, changes in how we listen to music, censorship, digital/analog music, effects of digital cameras

Education:

personal: your own school experiences, favorite teacher, struggles with a subject, first day at BCC, how you ended up at  BCC

observational: classroom, daycare, home schooler

argument: budgeting for the arts, teacher-student ratios, special needs services, cost of college/textbooks, effects of technology, tie between degree and $, drop out rates

The environment

personal: experiences in nature, camping, learningoutdoor sports, travel (effect on life decisions), walking

observational: park ranger, arborist, bird watchers, garden club, feed store

argument: recycling, global warming, pollution, aquaculture, loss of species diversity, overpopulation, ozone depletion

Health and medicine:

personal: surgery (you rown or family member’s), why I want to be a nurse/doctor/health professional, mental health issues (anxiety, depression, bipolar), staying fit, dieting, pregnancy/abortion

observational: nursing homes, doctor’s office, hospitals, medical labs, fitness centers, drug rep, AA meeting (or other support group)

argument: pregnancy rates, drug addiction/alcoholism, health care costs, organ donation, stem cell research, cloning, medicare funding, effectiveness of therapy, living wills, holistic medicine, euthanasia

Food:

personal: learning to cook, cultural connex, family traditions, cooking implements, recipe files, dieting, allergies, comfort food

observational: dieticians, restaurants, kitchen, grocery stores, bakeries, fish stores, coffee shops, farms, culinary school

argument: health codes/FDA, advertisement, hormones/additives, eating disorders, food pyramid, obesity, world/US hunger, feeding infants

Crime and justice:

personal: getting arrested, trial experiences, jury duty, a relative/friend’s criminal experiences, being a victim

observational: courthouse police station, prison, warden, probation officer

argument: death penalty, prison overcrowding, racism, false accusations, felony vs misdemeanor, insanity plea, effects of poverty, gang violence

Sports:

personal: your own involvement insome sport, exerience as a sports fan, playing sports in college

observational: coaches/players, game, athletic stores, ski shops, skateboard shop, batting cages, gym, college basketball game

argument: gym class requirement, Title IX, contracts, gambling, lock-out, steroids, psychology of sports, fans, head injuries in football, use of technology to replace umpires/refs

Family and relationships:

personal: death in the family, marriage and divorce experiences, relationship to parents or siblings, extended family, drug use in family, financial issues, domestic disputes, breakups

observational: nursing homes, family dinner table (etc.), library

argument: custody issues, divorce rates, unwanted pregnancies, impact of finances, single parent issues, adoption

Business and economics:

personal: work experience, learning about $, shopping

observational: store (with a well-defined subculture). office, banks, unemployment centers, small business owner

argument: unemployment, tie to education

Feel free to approach this as “creatively” as you’d like. Some of my students in the past have responded to this prompt with a poem. If you’d like to include something visual, a photograph or several, to illustrate your words, go right ahead!

(And don’t tell me, as one of my students did, that you are not a writer! You’ve been a writer from the first time you started putting words on paper, maybe at age three or four.) Here’s a sample from my daughter. Bonus points to first person who can identify this in comments!