Lesson Plan Über Alles

New Books for Spring 2015

Practical Argument for 1A. Use Tobias Wolff's Our Story Begins or Autobiography of Malcolm X for final research paper (argumentation).

Elements of Argument for 1C. You probably don't need another book.

Semester is January 20-May 15 with holiday on February 16. Spring Break is March 16-19.

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Annotated Bibliography 4

English 1A: Use a College Text and Alternate Malcolm X with Tobias Wolff

Essay Option 3 of your Tobias Wolff stories is an argument. You can use that in the summer. For fall and spring, you use Malcolm X.

Two Promising Critical Thinking Books

Both from Bedford St. Martin's: Practical Argument and Elements of Argument. The books cover all the student learning objectives, which is a good thing. My problem with college texts is that I too often feel like a functionary for another instructor's vision. But I need those SLOs.

The State of the Novel

The unmaking of the novel in modern life is discussed in this Atlantic article.

Debate Topic for Critical Thinking: Reparations

The Case for Reparations in The Atlantic would make a great debate topic.

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Vegan Vs. Paleo Debate

The 'Case for Reparations' is solid, and it's long past time to make them

How To Tell Who Hasn't Read The New 'Atlantic' Cover Story

Grammar and Writing Lessons Spread Out Over the Semester

 

1. Clauses, independent, dependent, phrases

 

2. Comma splices, run-ons

 

3. Fragments

 

4. Pronoun shifts

 

5. Noun-pronoun agreement

 

6. Parallelism

 

7. Subjunctive verb tense

 

8. Essential and non-essential clauses

 

9. Dangling modifiers

 

10. Thesis complexity for analysis and argumentation; at least 4-6 lessons

 

11. Signal phrases and integrating quotations

 

12. Who and whom

 

13. Basic comma rules

 

14. Paragraph transitions

 

15. Paragraph cohesiveness, topic sentences

 

16. Participles, gerunds, infinitives

 

17. Possessive case

 

15 Educational Video Resources

I found this link to 15 video resources, including Ted Talk, Yale, etc.

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Love in the Time of Cholera for Critical Thinking Class

 

 

Here's a possible essay assignment for Critical Thinking class:

"Love is a chimerical beast, a creature that makes life more bearable and at the same time more unbearable. Or put it this way: Life with this creature of madness is insufferable. But life without it is even more so." Develop a thesis that addresses the words above in an analysis of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera.

When Does a Lecture "Write" Your Student's Essay?

Here's a teaching dilemma I face: If I'm teaching a unit on the connection between morality and happiness as evidenced in Eric Weiner's The Geography of Bliss and the writing assignment is to analyze that connection, how do I avoid lecturing on this connection? And by providing these connections, am I not simply writing my students' essays?

I find it difficult to analyze the assigned text without in effect "writing" the students' essays. Any solutions?

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Power, Identity, and the Poison Kool-Aid of White Supremecy in Octavia Butler's Kindred

I've been looking for a book to complement Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow. I want something that deals with racism before the New Jim Crow emerged in the 1980s. I don't want the book to be too dry. I was thinking of a novel I read about 18 years ago, Octavia Butler's Kindred. The students could develop a thesis that addresses the connection between power, identity, and the poison Kool-Aid of white supremecy or something like that.

I could supplement my lectures with The Strange Career of Jim Crow and documentry excerpts from Many Rivers to Cross.

I would have to discuss the science fiction genre and perhaps have an assignment about the ways in which the novel transcends and elevates science fiction.

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Newly Discovered Octavia Butler Stories to be Published in June!

New Octavia Butler

And still sci-fi's Octavia E. Butler rises: A graphic adaptation. A literary society. Is a 'Kindred' movie next?

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