Article of the Week (2/28 - 3/4)

We will be beginning the early stages of our research project next week so I want you to start thinking about issues and ideas and topics you are interested in, curious about, worried about, wondering about, upset about, etc.

This week you will choose your own article of the week. Here is what you are responsible for the following:

• Find an article about a topic that interests you 
• This article must be at least 1200 words (use wordcounttool.com to verify the length). 
• Print the article. Annotate the article. 
• Make sure there is ample evidence of your active reading. 
• Write a one page response to the article in your notebook.  Include one in-text parenthetical citation after a direct quote or paraphrased portion of the article.
• Create a citation for your article using Noodlebib. Print the Works Cited page. 

On Friday you will hand in:

• The printed/annotated article (25 points) 
• the one page response (25 points) with a correct in text citation (10 points) 
• the Works Cited page with one entry (15 points)

Saying No to $1 Billion

I read an interesting article in The Atlantic yesterday about the Sioux nation and their struggle to reclaim ancestral lands unethically taken from them.  It is a very interesting piece related to the Seneca article we just read.

Crafting an Essay Lead

Opening an essay is tough.  Once you get past the lead (opening sentence or sentences) and the thesis, usually it is clear sailing.  Take a look at the following site to remind yourself of possible essay  leads.  This should be a review of what you've learned in prior years, but if we need to spend more time on it we can.

What Does it Mean to Be American? (Part Deux)

What does it mean to be an American?  As we've discussed, there are a million different ways to answer this question.  You can tell a story about something that happened to you.  Or you can focus on a few key characteristics and develop an idea.  You can write about what it doesn't mean to be an American.  All we ask is that you be thoughtful, creative, complex, interesting, and blow our doors off.  

As usual, if you need help we are both here to read drafts, conference, etc.  Feel free to Google the question and find other resources to help you figure it out.  Lastly, if you need to see some samples, visit Teen Ink and look at the nonfiction or opinion sections to see some stellar writing. 

The New Jim Crow: How the War on Drugs Gave Birth to a Permanent American Undercaste

In class today I read some statistics from a section of a book relating to our conversations about stereotypes, self perception, and what it means to be an American.  Here is that article. 

Book Response (Due 2/18)

This week you have a required response for your novel.  I want you to try to connect the ideas from your novel to this overarching unit question we are discussing.  What does your novel say, either directly or indirectly, about the American experience?  What does it say about being American?

(For some of you, this may seem a stretch.  Try to make it work.  Stretch yourself.)

Whole Class Participation

I wanted to help you get a better idea of what I expect from you during class discussion. Being able to articulate your ideas in public and navigate an evolving discussion is an extremely important life skill. In college and in the workplace, you will be required to talk, collaborate, tell stories, present, etc.

So, here are the characteristics I expect you to exhibit during class discussion:

• Freely participated
• Supported Opinions
• Made significant contributions
• Stayed on task
• Cooperated with peers
• Modified thinking when appropriate
• shared personal experiences, opinions
• showed confidence in own judgement
• encouraged others to participate (appropriately)
• displayed tolerance for differing opinions

President Obama's State of the Union Address

Yesterday in class we read the first few pages of President Obama's State of the Union. In case you missed it, here is what we wrote about:

Write a half page response in your journal. In your opinion, how does Barack Obama define our nation in 2011. Are there sections you disagree with? Strongly agree with? Please explain.

What Does it Mean to Be American?

Your Task:  Write an essay explaining what you think it means to be American.  

Guidelines:

• This can be a personal essay, an essay of definition, a descriptive essay, or a persuasive essay. 
• In addition to development, language use, organization, and development, you will also be graded on the sophistication of your ideas.  This can be a complicated question.  We are reading several texts that make different assertions about what it means to be American (Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Barack Obama’s “State of the Union,” the article on the Seneca Nation) and we expect you to consider all of these sources, as well as your prior learning and lived experiences, as you attempt to answer this question.  
• Due Thursday, February 17th

Seneca's Long, Tragic History

This week's Article of the Week has to do with the Seneca Indians and appeared in the Buffalo News.  Here is the link to the original article.  I will not be printing any more articles as I have come to believe that many of you (usually the same people) are becoming negligent with your articles.  You may print a copy of the article from the link above.

The Legacy of High-School Cliques

This week's article is "The Legacy of High School Cliques," which recently was published at Newsweek.

One possible thing you could explore in your response is what this articles says about America.  What can you infer?

What do you hear America Singing?

Today in class we took a look at Walt Whitman's poem "I Hear America Singing." Here's the full text of that poem:

I Hear America Singing
I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
- Walt Whitman

____________________________________________________________
For homework, we asked you to do a little writing. Here is that assignment:

I Hear America Singing Writing Activity
Walt Whitman tries to capture the spirit he saw in America in his poem “I Hear America Singing.”

Now, it’s your turn. Mimic Whitman’s style and list the things you hear America “singing.” What does this poem look like in 2010? What does this country sound like in 2010?

You may think that you don’t hear America singing at all. Maybe it’s screaming. Maybe it’s murmuring. Maybe it is rapping. I don’t know. Feel free to go off and spin Whitman to your liking.