A Muslim NYPD cop is set to sue the city and the feds after he was targeted by air marshals, triggering a year-long probe in which he was stripped of his gun and badge. More here...
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Muslim Cop Pulled Off Flight as Terrorist Risk
A Muslim NYPD cop is set to sue the city and the feds after he was targeted by air marshals, triggering a year-long probe in which he was stripped of his gun and badge. More here...
Friday, August 14, 2009
Required Texts for Fall 2009
Amazon links are for information purposes only.
Angels in America by Tony Kushner (both plays)
How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? by Moustafa Bayoumi
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Oscar Wao Paper (#5)
This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!
Paper #5 Topics for Junot Diaz’s novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Choose ONE of these topics. Use the topic as a “lens”: Your paper’s content is to be a comment on what happens when you look closely at the novel from the point of view of this “critical lens.”
Expectations for the paper:
Topics:
Narrative Authority
In this paper, explain and comment on how the writer uses his authority as “the writer” to express certain points of view, descriptions of time and place and characters’ lives. One example of this is when we discussed the use of “language of power” in a brief passage when Oscar is beaten up by a trio of thugs.
Struggle Against Oppression
In this paper, describe and comment on ways characters have collided and resisted the oppressive nature of their lives. be sure to discuss the political, social and self-imposed “imprisonment” experienced by selected characters.
Family = Destiny (Inheriting the Fuku)
In this paper, discuss and comment on how family members both embrace and shake off the curse of the fuku in their lives. Be sure to explain how the family became so cursed and how Oscar is only the latest, although, perhaps, not the last family member to live it.
The novel as historical (political) fiction
In this paper, you will NOT attempt to validate or disprove any of the truthfulness or representations of the historical facts presented by Junot Diaz. Instead, discuss and comment on how history is used as a historical narrative that serves as a backdrop to the story of Oscar Wao, the impact this history has on the characters’ lives (regardless of how true or not it is in the novel) and how the writer’s analysis of historical events contributes to a reader’s understanding of the time, place, setting and characters.
Outlines were suggested during a class discussion and are not available here.
Paper #5 Topics for Junot Diaz’s novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Choose ONE of these topics. Use the topic as a “lens”: Your paper’s content is to be a comment on what happens when you look closely at the novel from the point of view of this “critical lens.”
Expectations for the paper:
- Shows you have read the text by selecting relevant examples from a broad range of pages and areas of the novel.
- Shows a clear understanding of the topic with meaningful discussion of the connection between the topic and the novel’s content.
- Demonstrates skill in organizing and developing the topic through the use of strategies such as (1) identifying ways power is used and abused, (2) describing how characters’ lives are impacted by living in “political fictions” and (3) discussing how the writer shows the character’s lives as taking shape by colliding with the political fictions. (Numbers 2 and 3 are different in that folks may simply live under political fictions and never resist them.)
Topics:
Narrative Authority
In this paper, explain and comment on how the writer uses his authority as “the writer” to express certain points of view, descriptions of time and place and characters’ lives. One example of this is when we discussed the use of “language of power” in a brief passage when Oscar is beaten up by a trio of thugs.
Struggle Against Oppression
In this paper, describe and comment on ways characters have collided and resisted the oppressive nature of their lives. be sure to discuss the political, social and self-imposed “imprisonment” experienced by selected characters.
Family = Destiny (Inheriting the Fuku)
In this paper, discuss and comment on how family members both embrace and shake off the curse of the fuku in their lives. Be sure to explain how the family became so cursed and how Oscar is only the latest, although, perhaps, not the last family member to live it.
The novel as historical (political) fiction
In this paper, you will NOT attempt to validate or disprove any of the truthfulness or representations of the historical facts presented by Junot Diaz. Instead, discuss and comment on how history is used as a historical narrative that serves as a backdrop to the story of Oscar Wao, the impact this history has on the characters’ lives (regardless of how true or not it is in the novel) and how the writer’s analysis of historical events contributes to a reader’s understanding of the time, place, setting and characters.
Outlines were suggested during a class discussion and are not available here.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Class Update for This Week and Final Sessions
This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!
Monday, April 20 - Class was cancelled due to illness .
FOR NEXT WEEK (April 27):
- Finish reading Junot Diaz's novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
- Complete assignment indicated below "Language of Power" - bring a typed response for sharing in class. It is not an essay; it may have bullets or other lists.
- Optional: Supplemental and enrichment reading - George Orwell's essay "Politics & the English Language" which takes up the issue of power and the uses (and abuses) of language
- Wayne will return the Cosmo paper with a grade. If you attended class on 4/20 by 6:30, Wayne took your draft of the Angels paper. This, too, will be returned with feedback.
- Give some thought and begin notes on a possible topic for Oscar Wao paper. Consider favorite characters, political fictions, use of narration, the impact of political fictions on the characters.
CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE GEORGE ORWELL ESSAY
Ignore the syllabus directions to bring 25 copies of a paper! We will NOT be undertaking the publication activity this semester.
Agenda for April 27:
Looking at samples of Angels drafts together (6:00-6:45)
Writing about Oscar Wao (6:45-7:00) and share responses
Political fictions in the novel (charting activity - 7:00-7:30)
Language of Power and the homework assignment (7:30-8:00)
Topics for the Oscar Wao paper (8:00-8:15)
Conferences (8:15-8:45)
FOR MAY 4:
- BRING TWO COPIES - Draft of Oscar Wao paper for peer review (syllabus indicates a draft is due April 27 so this is a revised due date)
- Bring Final Draft of Angels paper for a grade
FOR MAY 11 (Last class session):
- Bring final draft of Oscar Wao for grade
- In-class course reflection
- Get back Angels paper with a grade
Reminder: Please complete the online course evaluations! The English department - and the university - take these seriously and ask that you complete them for every class.
LANGUAGE OF POWER
Assignment - in lieu of meeting on 4/20 - related to Junot Diaz's novel
Please read the passage from the novel and the directions very carefully. After reading the directions, you may find it helpful to copy/paste the passage to a Word document to complete the assignment.
Directions:
To prepare for class on 4/27 we will look closely at the use of language to signify (or represent) various kinds of power in the novel. Read the passage below and identify and explain the uses of power by the characters, between the characters and by the author. Wayne suggested in class there were at least ten kinds of power represented in the passage.
"Uses of power" is intended to mean ANY representation of, but not limited to, the following:
advantage / disadvantage
weakness / strength
truth / lie (deception)
Monday, April 20 - Class was cancelled due to illness .
FOR NEXT WEEK (April 27):
- Finish reading Junot Diaz's novel Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
- Complete assignment indicated below "Language of Power" - bring a typed response for sharing in class. It is not an essay; it may have bullets or other lists.
- Optional: Supplemental and enrichment reading - George Orwell's essay "Politics & the English Language" which takes up the issue of power and the uses (and abuses) of language
- Wayne will return the Cosmo paper with a grade. If you attended class on 4/20 by 6:30, Wayne took your draft of the Angels paper. This, too, will be returned with feedback.
- Give some thought and begin notes on a possible topic for Oscar Wao paper. Consider favorite characters, political fictions, use of narration, the impact of political fictions on the characters.
CLICK HERE FOR A LINK TO THE GEORGE ORWELL ESSAY
Ignore the syllabus directions to bring 25 copies of a paper! We will NOT be undertaking the publication activity this semester.
Agenda for April 27:
Looking at samples of Angels drafts together (6:00-6:45)
Writing about Oscar Wao (6:45-7:00) and share responses
Political fictions in the novel (charting activity - 7:00-7:30)
Language of Power and the homework assignment (7:30-8:00)
Topics for the Oscar Wao paper (8:00-8:15)
Conferences (8:15-8:45)
FOR MAY 4:
- BRING TWO COPIES - Draft of Oscar Wao paper for peer review (syllabus indicates a draft is due April 27 so this is a revised due date)
- Bring Final Draft of Angels paper for a grade
FOR MAY 11 (Last class session):
- Bring final draft of Oscar Wao for grade
- In-class course reflection
- Get back Angels paper with a grade
Reminder: Please complete the online course evaluations! The English department - and the university - take these seriously and ask that you complete them for every class.
LANGUAGE OF POWER
Assignment - in lieu of meeting on 4/20 - related to Junot Diaz's novel
Please read the passage from the novel and the directions very carefully. After reading the directions, you may find it helpful to copy/paste the passage to a Word document to complete the assignment.
Directions:
To prepare for class on 4/27 we will look closely at the use of language to signify (or represent) various kinds of power in the novel. Read the passage below and identify and explain the uses of power by the characters, between the characters and by the author. Wayne suggested in class there were at least ten kinds of power represented in the passage.
"Uses of power" is intended to mean ANY representation of, but not limited to, the following:
advantage / disadvantage
weakness / strength
truth / lie (deception)
How is the "language of power" expressed in this passage?
Oscar was lucky; if he had looked like my pana, Pedro, the Dominican Superman, or like my boy Benny, who was a model, he probably would have gotten shot right there. But because he was a homely slob, because he really looked like un maldito pariguayo who had never had no luck in his life, the capitan took Gollum-pity on him and only punched him a couple of times. Oscar, who had never been "punched a couple of times" by a military-trained adult, felt like he had just been run over by the entire Steelers backfield circa 1977. Breath knocked out of him so bad he honestly thought he was going to die of asphyxiation. The captain's face appeared over his: If you even touch my mujer again I'm going to kill you, pariguayo, and Oscar managed to whisper, You're the ex, before Mssrs. Grundy and Grod picked him up (with some difficulty), and squeezed him back into their Camry, and drove off. Oscar's last sight of Ybon? The capitan dragging her out of the Pathfinder cabin by her hair.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
What’s Ahead for Monday, April 6
This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!
Bring the following to class:
1. Draft of Cosmopolitanism paper for Peer Review
2. Text of Angels in America (have it read by this class, too!)
3. Notes on a PAIR of characters you find most interesting and as possible topics for the paper
4. Read the New York Times obituary for Roy Cohn (see link at right)
Class Agenda:
1. Writing about Angels in America (starting class with a prompt)
2. Peer Review of Cosmo paper
3. Share responses to peer review
4. Read aloud a scene from the play
5. What do we notice? (What do you hear that connects to a political fiction?)
6. Time permitting: View DVD film of read aloud scene
7. Topics for Angels paper
Still need a topic for Cosmo paper?
Enemies of Cosmopolitanism – In this paper you will explain the basic premises of cosmo and present worldwide cultural and political foes to the emergence of cosmo attitudes and philosophy
Why Cosmo Matters in the World Today – In this paper you will articulate 3-5 reasons why cosmo matters in the world today. Identify an issue cosmo potentially responds to and why it might be helpful to see the issue form a cosmo point of view
Whose Culture Is It Anyway? – In this paper you will write a brief synopsis of Chapter 8 and research a recent antiquities looting case to explain it from a cosmo point of view.
Another option is to choose ONE of the scenarios from the class activity. – In this paper you will address the questions in 3-5 paragraphs for each questions.
Scenario A - The City Art Museum has had a ten-foot high African statue on display for two hundred years. The statue comes from the (fictional) nation of Republic of Tora. Nicknamed “Otto” after the German “explorer” who first introduced the piece to the Western world, it is now believed to be extremely valuable and spiritually important for the Torians and they now want it back. Sadly, the Republic of Tora has been in a suffocating civil war for the past five years and there is no end in sight. The City Museum has refused to turn over “Otto.”
What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do if you were the director of the museum?
Scenario B - A large community of faithful (let’s call them the Dutilites- duti for “duty” and “-lites” for followers) have essentially turned the six blocks of their immediate neighborhood into an “exclusive zone” with their own bakery, butcher shop, meeting house (their version of a church or temple), two schools, a clinic and various other retail stores. They are known by their distinctive blue robes for both men and women. Included in this neighborhood are two blocks of public streets that the Dutilites want to block pedestrian and auto traffic of anyone who is not a Dutilite (visibly obvious from the absence of the blue robes) on certain days of the month in accordance to their worship calendar. At the moment some residents who are non-Dutilites DO remain on these blocks, although very few. These are city streets and are not private property. The group’s leaders have been blocking the streets with move-able barriers as a deterrent to autos but want greater authority to do it.
What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do to accommodate this group while respecting the needs of the non-Dutilites?
Scenario C - The local library in a small town has made public the following: they have received a formal written request from the national group African Interests & Rights (A.I.R.) that all copies of the classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain be removed from the shelves. The director of the local library has appealed to the community for help in respectfully denying the request. The group plans a protest rally at the library and a community support meeting with the slogan “Breathe OUR A.I.R. – Ban toxic books!” A.I.R. asserts that the novel is offensive for it use of the N-word, the outmoded and racist depiction of blacks and its condescension to black dignity with the white boy Huck in the role of supervisor or parent of both he and Jim, an adult black male. The library has refused to agree to the ban. The mayor wants the library to pull the novel “temporarily until the noise dies down.”
What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do to respond to A.I.R. if you were in charge?
Bring the following to class:
1. Draft of Cosmopolitanism paper for Peer Review
2. Text of Angels in America (have it read by this class, too!)
3. Notes on a PAIR of characters you find most interesting and as possible topics for the paper
4. Read the New York Times obituary for Roy Cohn (see link at right)
Class Agenda:
1. Writing about Angels in America (starting class with a prompt)
2. Peer Review of Cosmo paper
3. Share responses to peer review
4. Read aloud a scene from the play
5. What do we notice? (What do you hear that connects to a political fiction?)
6. Time permitting: View DVD film of read aloud scene
7. Topics for Angels paper
Still need a topic for Cosmo paper?
Enemies of Cosmopolitanism – In this paper you will explain the basic premises of cosmo and present worldwide cultural and political foes to the emergence of cosmo attitudes and philosophy
Why Cosmo Matters in the World Today – In this paper you will articulate 3-5 reasons why cosmo matters in the world today. Identify an issue cosmo potentially responds to and why it might be helpful to see the issue form a cosmo point of view
Whose Culture Is It Anyway? – In this paper you will write a brief synopsis of Chapter 8 and research a recent antiquities looting case to explain it from a cosmo point of view.
Another option is to choose ONE of the scenarios from the class activity. – In this paper you will address the questions in 3-5 paragraphs for each questions.
Scenario A - The City Art Museum has had a ten-foot high African statue on display for two hundred years. The statue comes from the (fictional) nation of Republic of Tora. Nicknamed “Otto” after the German “explorer” who first introduced the piece to the Western world, it is now believed to be extremely valuable and spiritually important for the Torians and they now want it back. Sadly, the Republic of Tora has been in a suffocating civil war for the past five years and there is no end in sight. The City Museum has refused to turn over “Otto.”
What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do if you were the director of the museum?
Scenario B - A large community of faithful (let’s call them the Dutilites- duti for “duty” and “-lites” for followers) have essentially turned the six blocks of their immediate neighborhood into an “exclusive zone” with their own bakery, butcher shop, meeting house (their version of a church or temple), two schools, a clinic and various other retail stores. They are known by their distinctive blue robes for both men and women. Included in this neighborhood are two blocks of public streets that the Dutilites want to block pedestrian and auto traffic of anyone who is not a Dutilite (visibly obvious from the absence of the blue robes) on certain days of the month in accordance to their worship calendar. At the moment some residents who are non-Dutilites DO remain on these blocks, although very few. These are city streets and are not private property. The group’s leaders have been blocking the streets with move-able barriers as a deterrent to autos but want greater authority to do it.
What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do to accommodate this group while respecting the needs of the non-Dutilites?
Scenario C - The local library in a small town has made public the following: they have received a formal written request from the national group African Interests & Rights (A.I.R.) that all copies of the classic novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain be removed from the shelves. The director of the local library has appealed to the community for help in respectfully denying the request. The group plans a protest rally at the library and a community support meeting with the slogan “Breathe OUR A.I.R. – Ban toxic books!” A.I.R. asserts that the novel is offensive for it use of the N-word, the outmoded and racist depiction of blacks and its condescension to black dignity with the white boy Huck in the role of supervisor or parent of both he and Jim, an adult black male. The library has refused to agree to the ban. The mayor wants the library to pull the novel “temporarily until the noise dies down.”
What is the cosmopolitan view towards the situation?
Is there any additional information you would want before making a decision?
What would YOU do to respond to A.I.R. if you were in charge?
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Photojournalist Denies He's an Artist
This post is NOT for Fall 2009 students!
When Shepard Fairey surfed the internet looking for images of Obama, he didn't expect to find THE ONE taken by Mannie Garcia.
When Shepard Fairey surfed the internet looking for images of Obama, he didn't expect to find THE ONE taken by Mannie Garcia.
In this New York Times story the photojournalist Mannie Garcia describes what it has been like to be linked to the famous poster created by Fairey. He also explains that he is not an artist himself but that he doesn't TAKE pictures, he MAKES pictures!
Read the full article here - and let us know in class if you read it and what you think about his comments. Does he support Fairey's use of the photo in his poster?
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