Ellison Reading

I have scanned the Ellison text in full and am providing it here. Please download this short story and print it so that you can annotate the text as you read it. It is mandatory that you bring this to class on Monday.

Remember to try to think and read actively as we discussed in class. Hacker offers her readers some excellent advice regarding active reading skills on page eighty-seven of The Bedford Handbook.

Should you wish to perform a timing at home over the weekend to see how many words per minute you average when you read, here's how:

1. Count the number of words per line of text. Do this for the first three or four lines so that you can establish a rough average (e.g., twelve words per line).
2. Mark your beginning point, set a timer for one minute, and start reading!
3. When the timer signals a minute has expired, mark your ending point. Even if you have read only one or two words on a new line, you should count this as your last line read. 
4. Count the number of lines you read and multiply the result by the average you obtained earlier (e.g., sixteen lines read, times twelve words per line, equals one-hundred ninety-two; 16 x 12 = 192).
5. Your goal is to achieve a higher score each time you perform this activity. Three-hundred to three-hundred and fifty words per minute is the speed at which the average adult reads; therefore, you should strive to reach this benchmark. This may indeed take time, but remember that active reading is a skill like any other: it must be learned, honed, and perfected through continual practice. Recall that you may use your hand or pencil to perform the "underlining technique" as you read. This helps you remain focused and will therefore aid in your ability to both read quickly and to absorb and retain the information you encounter. 

Enjoy the strange and grotesque, yet meaningful, short story you will be reading. Have a good weekend. See you in class Monday.

Essay #1 Rubric, Updates, et al.

Each of you will most likely find it pleasing to learn that I have pushed back the due date of the first essay until Monday, 9/27. I feel that we could use the extra day for preparation and further thesis-building practice in class.

The updated rubric can be found here.

Do not forget to bring two copies of your essay to class on the twenty-seventh, as we will be performing an in-class activity called a peer-edit. If you come to class without these extra copies you will be asked to leave and therefore marked absent!

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Some important updates and announcements also need be made concerning the blog and the course:

• Be sure to read the Formal Paper and Essay Descriptions before handing in your paper. These should guide your writing and interpretation of what makes a "good" versus a "poor" paper.
• Notice that I have heavily updated the Schedule of Readings and Written Assignments to reflect the many changes to our weekly classroom encounters. I will be continuing to update this schedule as each segment of the class commences, therefore be sure to check the blog and schedule frequently so that you stay aware and current with the course's requirements.
• I have also included everyone's email listings on the Email Roster page. Please visit this page to double check that your address is indeed listed correctly. If changes/corrections need be made, please leave a comment at the bottom of the roster page or email me with a notice; this is for everyone's benefit.
• As there have been many hiccups with the availability of our course texts at the College Bookstore, I have provided handouts in class and also scanned portions of the texts on this blog. Please be sure to locate these online readings, print them, and bring them to class when we are reviewing the material.

Rhetorical Strategy (HW#4 for 9/20)

Since the Bedford Handbook seems to be as rare as the dodo at the College Bookstore, I've included the reading as links below. Please visit them so that you may complete your reading (Section 3c) for this Wednesday, 9/15. I ask that you print these pages and bring them to class, if at all possible. You will need to save them to your computer and then open them with Adobe Acrobat. Here is the link.

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After doing the reading in the Bedford Handbook (p.67-75), answer the following prompt by commenting to this posting below to complete the homework for 9/20.

Argue for or against the use of cellphones in two paragraphs, using a different paragraph strategy/rhetorical device in each. Be sure of head each paragraph with a label that identifies which strategy/device you are employing to argue your point.