for Tuesday -

n/a

1. Finish composing bio article and type it up

2. Read chapters 1 and 2 in Reading Contexts

3. Prepare for quiz on CIC procedure

4. Read over syllabus and bring any questions to class.

for Tuesday -

• Interview assignment - use the questions and answers you gathered in class to write a biographical magazine article on your partner. Try to imitate the tone, style, and conventions of the two articles we looked at in class. The article should be about a page or two long, include quotations, and should be designed to introduce your partner to your classmates. Save the piece as "Article(initials).doc"
• Read John Berger's Ways of Seeing.
• Define your term - each of you has been assigned one of four terms to define for class. Read Berger's article and pay special attention to where your term appears. Your task is to define your term in the context of Berger's article. This means that a dictionary definition will be insufficient. You want to answer the following questions in your definitions: What does the term mean for Berger?; How is it used in the article?; Why is it important for the argument Berger makes? This definition should fill about a page or so. Save it as "Definition(initials).doc"
• What are my goals? - Write a one page reflection on what you hope to accomplish in this class. Please take this seriously as we will refer back to it throughout the quarter. Seriously consider what it is that you want to get out of this general writing course and how you plan to acheive your goals. Save this reflection as "Goals(initials).doc"
• Remember to bring each of your articles to class in 2 electronic forms (email, disc, flashcard, ftp).

for Thursday -

• Reread Berger, this time more closely using your questioning skills.
• Write an abstract of the article. This will be three paragraphs and less than 2 pages double spaced. In the first paragraph introduce the question or issue that Berger is addressing. In the second paragraph, discuss the method and types of evidence he uses, basically what he does to prove his point. In the third paragraph, sketch out some of the conclusions he comes to. Please bring a paper copy to class to turn in. It is recommended that you save an electronic copy in your student folder in preparation for the portfolio.
  
• Reply to your peer's online posts

for Tuesday -

• Reread the Berger article.
• locate the claim, evidence, stakes, and warrants

for Thursday -

• If you can, please send in an email or bring in on disc a digital photo of a bulletin board/ dormroom picture collage.
• Post responses to The Studio on the E-Post. Include both your original reaction, your Bergerian response to the picture (if you made one), and your Bergerian response to your own first reaction (if you made one).
• Write a 2-3 page argument in which you try to prove that Berger's ideas either do apply or do not apply to some other form of media besides fine art. This is not much space, so be sure to focus and discuss your strongest points. Please bring a paper copy to class, but as always, you are advised to put an electronic copy in your student folder.

for Tuesday -

• Post your response to the bulletin board E-Post as soon as you can so people can use it for their paper.
• first draft of Major Paper 1. See link for description.

for Thursday -

• Review peer's papers. See instructions.
• Collect the peer responses to your paper, either off email or from the LAN.
• Prepare for conference. See memo sheet.
• Remember there is no class today because we will be meeting in conferences and working on drafts.

for Tuesday -

• turn in final draft of Major Paper 1

for Thursday -

• Read Ramamurthy (p.599)
• Select 5 terms that you think are essential to understand to get Ramamurthy's argument. Write strong contextual definitions (meaning, defining how they are used in the text) of each of these terms. A good sized paragraph should be good for each. You should also use quotations to establish and explain your descripton. (outcome 2).

for Tuesday -

• Write an abstract of the Ramamurthy essay similar to the one you wrote for the Berger essay. It should be in three paragraphs, the first describing the issue or problem Ramamurthy is dealing with, the second, explaining how she goes about answering that problem, and the third hinting at her solution to the problem.
• From what you know about advertisement, create an ad using MSWord that you think might be effective. The ad does not need to be ultra complex or finely tuned, but we should be able to look at it and see what techniques you were using to sell your product. Any product is acceptable, either one that exists or one you invent.

for Thursday -

• Do a close reading on one of the case studies  in Ramamurthy's article. You are trying to analyze her method. What is it that she looks for? What types of things does she pay attention to? How does she get beyond simply saying that ads try to sell you something? How does she get beyond ads try to make you want to be like the people portrayed in the pictures? Write one-two pages and bring a printed copy to class.

for Tuesday -

• Using the analysis of Ramamurthy's method you and your classmates made, analyze an ad that you find on the internet. This ad can be for anything and have any content you find interesting. Write two pages breaking down the ad's strategic formal elements and the constitued and constituting characterization of culture.  Be sure to find an ad that you have something to say about. (beer, perfume, car, jeans ads are all usually fruitful, but just about anything works) How is the ad working? What does it say about cultural attitudes, meanings, values, commodities, etc.?

for Thursday -

• Write a one page argument for how Ramamurthy's argument should be used. So we know that advertisement use photo techniques to imbue commodities with false meanings that can lead to hegemony and illusory social relations. Great, so what? Do we picket advertising agencies? Do we research every product we buy to death to make sure it is not made by wage slaves? Do we just make sure we don't "fall" for ads that make us think we can be like Britney Spears? Do we do nothing because her argument doesn't matter? What is the practical use of her argument, the real life application of what we learn from her article, if there is any at all? Remember this should be an argument, so you need a claim and evidence (though it might be more in the form of logic than quotation). Please bring a printed copy to class for discussion.

for Tuesday -

• First draft of Major 2. See instructions.

for Thursday -

• Review peer's work. See instructions.
• Prepare for conference. See memo sheet.