Read these:
1) A Brooklyn College overview.
2) An essay on Dickinson's poems. (Read at least first page.)
3) Finally, an essay by the novelist Joyce Carol Oates. (Read the first three screens worth -- to the end of the paragraph that begins: "Surely there is a witty irony that lightning can be domesticated ...")
Friday, April 27, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Parameters for Essay
Formatting:
1) Minimum four pages.
2) 12 point or smaller type
2) Times New Roman or similar font
3) Black ink
4) One-inch margins
Structure:
1) Introductory paragraph that at minimum roughly follows the format discussed in class (thesis statement and background/explanation in whatever order you choose).
2) Body paragraphs (at least three) that develop your primary arguments in each paragraph. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence (first sentence) that essentially states your point, followed by a development of that argument, examples, and if appropriate a quote. The last sentence of each body paragraph should wrap up the argument made within.
3) It's perfectly alright to have other body paragraphs (for example, ones that talk about how to solve the problem you're discussing, or that further develop arguments in other body paragraphs). But there must be at least three body paragraphs that directly develop the arguments in favor of your thesis.
4) A conclusion that summarizes the essay's conclusions.
Writing:
Try to make your writing concise, logical, striking, and grammatical.
I hope you're enjoying your break! See you in a week!
1) Minimum four pages.
2) 12 point or smaller type
2) Times New Roman or similar font
3) Black ink
4) One-inch margins
Structure:
1) Introductory paragraph that at minimum roughly follows the format discussed in class (thesis statement and background/explanation in whatever order you choose).
2) Body paragraphs (at least three) that develop your primary arguments in each paragraph. Each paragraph should have a topic sentence (first sentence) that essentially states your point, followed by a development of that argument, examples, and if appropriate a quote. The last sentence of each body paragraph should wrap up the argument made within.
3) It's perfectly alright to have other body paragraphs (for example, ones that talk about how to solve the problem you're discussing, or that further develop arguments in other body paragraphs). But there must be at least three body paragraphs that directly develop the arguments in favor of your thesis.
4) A conclusion that summarizes the essay's conclusions.
Writing:
Try to make your writing concise, logical, striking, and grammatical.
I hope you're enjoying your break! See you in a week!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Example of Body Paragraph
[Topic:]Currently pilots are only tested for psychological problems at the time of hire. [Explanation]That's a big problem, because it's well known that people's psychological condition can change with time. In addition, flying planes can be a very stressful job. It doesn't make sense to put pilots under such stress without recognizing the need to give them psychological tests periodically. In many other high stress professions, people are required to undergo regular testing. [Example:] For example, members of the U.S. military and people who work in high risk jobs in combat zones are given regular tests and have access to counseling. [Quote:] "We would be in a lot of trouble," said Mark Saunders, head of the American Testing Association, "if we didn't do testing of people like CIA officers." [Wrap-up sentence:] If these other professions require regular testing, then so should pilots.
(material in this paragraph are for demonstration purposes only and do not necessarily bear any resemblance to persons living or dead)
(material in this paragraph are for demonstration purposes only and do not necessarily bear any resemblance to persons living or dead)
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Lit'rature Explained
This week's Sunday Review of The New York Times focused on writing and language. Here are three pieces on:
what makes writing good,
how language learning helps us,
and how fiction works in the brain.
We'll read and discuss these in class this week. I'll let you know due dates, etc. in class on Monday.
what makes writing good,
how language learning helps us,
and how fiction works in the brain.
We'll read and discuss these in class this week. I'll let you know due dates, etc. in class on Monday.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Monte Cristo Vocabulary, Part 2
Chapter 45: impassable,
irksome, condescension, temperate
Chapter 46: abated,
auspices, yonder, apoplectic, phantom
Chapter 47:
distraught, reconciliation, resolute, ineffable, supplications, torpor, desolation,
scrutinizing, austere
Chapter 48: notary,
convulsively, stupefied, injunction, filial, candor, ominous, recourse, ruffian
Chapter 49:
misapprehension
Chapter 50:
amorous, laden, contemptuous, dainty, perceived, ascend, reminiscence,
sonorous, aperture
Monday, February 20, 2012
Writing contest info
Essay for the contest should be 500 words or less. Poems have no fixed limit, but don't overdo it. The two topics are:
1) Exploring themes of intolerance, prejudice and hate. Communicate through essay or poem how the tragedy of Sept. 11 reinforces the need to teach our young people about the Holocaust and the consequences of what intense prejudice, hatred, and discrimination can bring about.
2) The Holocaust Experience of Jews from the former Soviet Union. (This does not require that you have some personal connection to this topic.)
Good luck writers!
1) Exploring themes of intolerance, prejudice and hate. Communicate through essay or poem how the tragedy of Sept. 11 reinforces the need to teach our young people about the Holocaust and the consequences of what intense prejudice, hatred, and discrimination can bring about.
2) The Holocaust Experience of Jews from the former Soviet Union. (This does not require that you have some personal connection to this topic.)
Good luck writers!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Quotes
For Wednesday, write your interpretation of ONE of the following quotes:
Jealousy contains more of self-love than of love.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.
George Eliot
Jealousy is a dog's bark which attracts thieves.
Karl Kraus
Monday, February 6, 2012
Count of Monte Cristo Vocaublary
Chapter 1: bespoke, countenance, obsequious, imperceptibly, proverb
Chapter 2: insinuation
Chapter 3: promontory, cordiality, mesmerized, demented, vengeance
Chapter 4: donned, piquant, epicure, betrothed, commissary, consternation
Chapter 5: annihilation, plebeian, suffused, partisans
Chapter 6: jaunty, dowry, betrothal, partaking, haggard
Chapter 7: formidable, gendarmes, repugnance, abode, gaol, dungeon
Chapter 8: banished, sanguine, pang
Chapter 9: boisterously, conspiracy, adherents
Chapter 10: usurper, ineptitude, scaffold, recompensed
Chapter 2: insinuation
Chapter 3: promontory, cordiality, mesmerized, demented, vengeance
Chapter 4: donned, piquant, epicure, betrothed, commissary, consternation
Chapter 5: annihilation, plebeian, suffused, partisans
Chapter 6: jaunty, dowry, betrothal, partaking, haggard
Chapter 7: formidable, gendarmes, repugnance, abode, gaol, dungeon
Chapter 8: banished, sanguine, pang
Chapter 9: boisterously, conspiracy, adherents
Chapter 10: usurper, ineptitude, scaffold, recompensed
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Contact information
By far the most effective way to contact me is through the email providedby Engrade. However, I can also be reached at (718) 724-8500. Leave a message, and I will return the call as soon as possible. You can also email at my Dept. of Education email: pvilbig@schools.nyc.gov.
Grades/class info
Grades will be based on the following:
Tests/ at home writing and projects (including creative writing projects): 60 percent
Classwork, quizzes, and homework: 40 percent
Total: 100 percent
How we'll work:
For creative writing, we will use a workshop approach, in which you'll share your work with other writers in the class and get their feedback. (More on this later.)
For each book or literary work we read, you’ll be expected to read about 15 pages a night. In addition you will sometimes have homework in which you'll be asked to write brief responses or answer questions about your reading or topics for class discussion. You can expect that for each book or literary work, you'll write one at-home essay and have one to two tests. Pop quizzes occur whenever the teacher (me) gets the sense that students are not reading the material!
IMPORTANT: Grades are cumulative. That means the grades you make now count as much as the grades later in the semester. So it's important to work hard from the very beginning and not dig yourself into a hole in the first weeks of our class.
We will use Engrade, an online grading system in this class. I’ll give you information shortly about how to register. You’ll have your own account, where I’ll post grades. Your parents or guardians should be given access to your account.
Tests/ at home writing and projects (including creative writing projects): 60 percent
Classwork, quizzes, and homework: 40 percent
Total: 100 percent
How we'll work:
For creative writing, we will use a workshop approach, in which you'll share your work with other writers in the class and get their feedback. (More on this later.)
For each book or literary work we read, you’ll be expected to read about 15 pages a night. In addition you will sometimes have homework in which you'll be asked to write brief responses or answer questions about your reading or topics for class discussion. You can expect that for each book or literary work, you'll write one at-home essay and have one to two tests. Pop quizzes occur whenever the teacher (me) gets the sense that students are not reading the material!
IMPORTANT: Grades are cumulative. That means the grades you make now count as much as the grades later in the semester. So it's important to work hard from the very beginning and not dig yourself into a hole in the first weeks of our class.
We will use Engrade, an online grading system in this class. I’ll give you information shortly about how to register. You’ll have your own account, where I’ll post grades. Your parents or guardians should be given access to your account.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Edgar Allen Poe birthday
Today (Thursday) was the 203rd anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe's birth. For years a mysterious figure had visited his gravesite and left behind a bottle of cognac each on year on his birth date. He didn't show this year. Here's a video that goes into the background.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
How to use peer review feature on turnitin ...
Go to this url on turnitin to find a tutorial on how to use the peer review feature of turnitin.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
A Plethora of Words
imperviousness, indelicacy, abnormal, drudgeries
intermittent, perverse, mused, coexists
ostensible, credulous, impartiality, implication
dejection, altruism, aloof, innocuous
prosaic, proverbially, panoramic, inexorable
intermittent, perverse, mused, coexists
ostensible, credulous, impartiality, implication
dejection, altruism, aloof, innocuous
prosaic, proverbially, panoramic, inexorable
Monday, October 31, 2011
Homework for Tuesday
Give your assessment of Chapter 3. Create a brief summary. Then choose the moment that you find either most important or most striking and explain the significance of the scene, and why you believe it's important. (This doesn't have to be the most dramatic scene or the most important from the standpoint of plot.)
Monday, October 24, 2011
Times articles
Choose one of the following articles and write a response in which you a) briefly explain what the article is about and briefly state your opinion or view in response to it (first paragraph); b) detail the articles main points (second paragraph); and c) elaborate on your opinion in response, using evidence from the article to back up your point (third paragraph). One page minimum. Due Monday, October 31.
Use turnitin.com to file your work.
Articles: horses, Murakami, homework, bike trip, end of Nazism in Germany
Use turnitin.com to file your work.
Articles: horses, Murakami, homework, bike trip, end of Nazism in Germany
Monday, October 17, 2011
Hurrah! More vocabulary!
disparities, contortions, solicitations, obstinately
subdued
irrepressible, lamentable, whimsical, nebulous aspirations
rambling, milieu, tumult, credulity, inclination
deluded, idiosyncrasies, foreboding, antagonistic, prosperity
irrepressible, lamentable, whimsical, nebulous aspirations
rambling, milieu, tumult, credulity, inclination
deluded, idiosyncrasies, foreboding, antagonistic, prosperity
Saturday, October 1, 2011
What are stories supposed to do?
Remember when we talked about Junot Diaz on our first day of class? In addition to being a novelist and short story writer, he's the editor of a literary magazine, the Boston Review. Here's how he describes what he's looking for in a good short story. (I'd like you to consider how this could apply to your own writing)
“I’m looking for fiction that resembles the Thirty-Mile Woman from Toni Morrison’s Beloved: ‘She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.’ Or as Takashi Murakami puts it: ‘We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future, even if only momentarily. It is the moment in which, even if we don’t completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched by it. This is what we have come to call art.’ I’m looking for fiction in which a heart struggles against itself, in which the messy unmanageable complexity of the world is revealed. Sentences that are so sharp they cut the eye."
“I’m looking for fiction that resembles the Thirty-Mile Woman from Toni Morrison’s Beloved: ‘She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.’ Or as Takashi Murakami puts it: ‘We want to see the newest things. That is because we want to see the future, even if only momentarily. It is the moment in which, even if we don’t completely understand what we have glimpsed, we are nonetheless touched by it. This is what we have come to call art.’ I’m looking for fiction in which a heart struggles against itself, in which the messy unmanageable complexity of the world is revealed. Sentences that are so sharp they cut the eye."
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