Lessons, Week of 1 September 2014

English 1301 YOU and some old dude… Week of 1 September 2014 Posted to angryverbs.blogspot.com on Saturday, 30 August. An attempt to post this to BlackBoard will be made on Saturday, 30 August. 1. Remember the mission: learning to write objectively in the detached, third-person voice as a young professional identifying and solving career challenges. Professional reading and writing are not for amusement; they are for building your career. 2. Yes, of course you may say “Bless you.” Don’t shout it, though, or say it simply in order to call attention to yourself. 3. This week we will conclude the administrivia and begin DESCRIPTIVE WRITING. Read your handouts. 4. About your journals – each morning a writing prompt will be posted. This is a warmup / class opener to help you make the transition from whatever you were doing before to class. Begin this as soon as you enter to room. Never wait to be told to begin anything; passivity is your enemy. Your response should be finished before roll call is concluded. This is not for a grade unless you don’t do it. Note also the requirement that you write exactly ten syllables per line. This is a very rudimentary beginning to learning blank verse (which is NOT free verse), which will be most useful in the spring term and will help you discipline your prose writing now and in the future. I look forward to reading your entries while you are taking tests and writing in-class assignments. 5. We will finish discussing the syllabus (which, of course, you have already read for yourself) and then briefly discuss the other handouts (which, of course, you have already read for yourself). 6. Read all of your handouts before the next class meeting – but surely you’ve already done so. 7. File your handouts, your notes, and your returned work in a notebook, which will grow and grow as the term progresses. Keep it up to date. Bring it, blank paper, your book, and a few black or blue pens to every class. 8. There is a common misconception that a class in a community college is easier than the same class in a four-year school. This is not true; the state of Texas mandates the curriculum for core subjects in all public colleges and universities, regardless of size. Classes in a community college are often smaller, and this can make possible some small amount of individual classroom assistance. When the class is large, individual assistance is minimal. For the first two or three writing assignments I have in the past always read each student’s rough draft in class so that the second and graded draft would would benefit. In a class of thirty-three this is impossible. Crunch (metaphorically, of course) the numbers: if the instructor takes only five minutes with each student’s paper, that adds up to almost three hours. Thus, you will receive instruction and assigned readings, and will then be given a writing assignment due the next week. That will be the only draft I read, and that of course is for a grade. This is more rigor than my essentially nurturing nature likes, but this rigor is in truth the norm in college. You have been blessed with outstanding English language arts instruction in Jasper schools, and that you have been permitted to enroll in college English means that you responded well to that instruction. Your high school teachers and your counselors believe that you can succeed. However, neither they nor I have any control over your choices or external demands on your time. In a high school class you spend an hour or so each of five days under close supervision; in a college you spend much less time in class. That remaining time is not time off; you must exercise self-discipline and take yourself to your study desk or the kitchen table without anyone telling you to do so. I will never give you an outside assignment due within a week, so not only are there no excuses for not accomplishing your work. The old standbys of “I was sick last night,” “My computer was broken last night,” and “I had a family emergency last night” are embarrassing. Begin an assignment the moment you receive it. I am always in the building at least an hour before class, and will happily stay after class. I urge you to bring your drafts at those times if that is possible for you. 9. Attendance – remember that attendance is required. However, remember also that both classes will follow the same program, so if you miss your class you can make it up by making the other class within the week. Also, if Jasper High School is off on a day when Angelina College is not, I will be here anyway. You can come to college that day and work in the library or the student commons, and that too will remove an absence. This is probably a little shaky, but it’s the best I can do for you. 10. The buzz – thirty three people in one room are going to buzz. Don’t buzz so much that you miss information you need to hear. 11. Cheap, shallow flattery is always welcome, but it doesn’t help your grade; quoting C. S. Lewis in your papers, well, that just might.