Note to Week 3 Facilitation Pairs

Sam & Suyi, Adam & Nathaniel:
Here are some guidelines for facilitating class discussion

• Work should be evenly balanced between the two of you.
• You can glean potential discussion questions from our blog (this won't apply to Sam and Suyi).
• Your goal is to ensure that the class understands the most important concepts from your reading section. Ask questions, pose ideas, provide examples to illustrate difficult concepts, etc. Be thorough--don't skip over any major ideas from your reading. Don't be afraid to disagree with classmates if you feel that they are misunderstanding the text; you can politely offer your own interpretation.
• Keep the discussion going: be prepared to ask follow-up questions in response to things your classmates say. You can gauge when it is time to move on to the next topic.
• Be prepared to offer your own responses to any questions that you may ask. However, your goal is to facilitate discussion, not do all the talking. Only jump in with your own thoughts if you feel it will be helpful to the class.
• Prepare a handout of the key ideas/questions that you would like to cover. Please make 23 copies (1 for each student in the class). It would be an excellent idea to run this by me first, so I can give you feedback.
• You will have about 30-40 minutes to facilitate. Do your best to include everyone. If a few people are doing all the talking, you are absolutely welcome to call on other students. As long as you are polite & keeping everyone on topic, it is up to you how you would like to guide the discussion.
• Having visuals to point to is always helpful (especially since our theme is graphic narrative), but it is not required.

Adam & Nathaniel,

You two will be presenting on UC, Ch. 6 and an article by Mitchell Stephens. I'll be posting that soon as well.

Good luck and thank you for being the first two pairs to lead discussion! Please e-mail if you have any questions at all.

Announcements & HW

Dear Class,
I'm still running into problems with some of the documents I want to post for you. While I try to figure out a solution, I'm just going to give you a brief rundown of the information you need for this weekend:

Homework to do for Tuesday:
1) Read UC, Ch. 4-5
2) 1 page mini-essay: typed, double-spaced. Choose 4-5 "signs" to analyze. (I'm using the term very loosely; you can choose soup can labels, storefront signs, company logos, signs around campus, etc. Just be sure that all your signs belong in the same category--i.e. don't choose 2 soup labels and 3 signs around campus). Using concepts from Ch. 1-4 of UC and the Berger article, analyze how the signs communicate with the viewer. How do they work? Since this is only a 1-page assignment, you have the option of mentioning all your signs in your Introduction, but only doing a close analysis of one of them in your body section. You do not need a Conclusion. Be sure to print copies of these signs and attach them to your essay when you turn it in.

*That's it for Tuesday. If I work out the electronic document issues, I will post the items for you to download soon, but do not worry about them for now.

Post #3: Berger & UC, Ch. 3

For your new blog post, please write on the following:

1) Define McCloud's concept of "closure" in your own words. Watch a short clip of any film (about 10 minutes). Note any examples of closure you see. Comment on how these instances function in the film. How do they add to the impact of the movie? [1 paragraph]

2) Read the Berger article. Then come up with one question you have in response to the article and one interesting point that it makes. [1 paragraph]

HW John Berger Article

You should see a total of 10 pages:

1) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfNWN0cWo0NHIy&hl=en

2) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfN2Y1Z2c0bmZn&hl=en

3) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfOWQ4OTR6dGQ2&hl=en

4) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfMTFjOXBkOGRqYg&hl=en

5) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfMjRmZnZkYzhnMg&hl=en

6) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfMTNmdm1tbWQ1Zw&hl=en

7) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfMTVoYzI2MjhnZA&hl=en

8) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfMTc5Z3Bkdm1oYw&hl=en

9) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfMTlnc3d0cXBmag&hl=en

10) http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Acrf44hLlmFDZGN2Yzl3eDdfMjFjczI2YnJ4OA&hl=en

Note:

After clicking on a link, go to File, go to Page Setup, click on Landscape, and choose regular 8 1/2 X 11 paper. THEN print.

Post #2: UC, Ch. 1-2

After reading chapters 1-2 of Understanding Comics, answer the following questions here on the blog (follow the same instructions as for post #1):

1) What are 2 questions that came up for you while you were reading these chapters? [i.e. anything that was confusing, unclear? other questions that the reading made you think of?]

2) Why does the author spend so much time trying to pinpoint a definition of "comics?" On p. 23, he even approves of the idea that his definition will probably be rejected in the future. Why, then, is it so important for him to nail down a specific definition?

3) For you, what are the top 2 most intriguing ideas that the author raises in these 2 chapters? Spend at least 1 paragraph per idea, explaining why you find them so interesting.

Optional question to think about (and answer if you would like to): What is one thing that you see (in the world around you) that you think you will "see" differently now? Explain.

p.s. Don't forget to see my announcement below! :)

Announcement--No Class 9/8

Dear Class,
You'll be getting a detailed calendar soon, but in the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that we will not be having class on Tuesday, 9/8 (I will be out of town). Enjoy having that day off!

Post #1: Welcome!

Welcome! For your first blog post, answer the following question:
Why are you in an Honors English class?

To post your response, click on "comments" (at the bottom of this post, next to the tiny pencil icon), type your response in the box, choose "Name/URL" (you don't need to enter a URL), type your name, and click "post comment."