Olivia and Summer's Log
Today we started class by writing a “WILDCARD!!!!!!!” notecard. Then Mat read us the poem “I Will Not Die According to My Time Sheet” by Alain Ginsberg found at http://www.onmetatron.org/poetry/alain-ginsberg-three-poems/ . Next, Darian read her log from the previous class. Mat then mentioned that we should start taking notes on the mini-presentations because it will be beneficial for project 3. He pulled up the page http://matwenzel.wixsite.com/2135/single-post/2017/06/26/How-to-discuss from his blog to give us guidelines for what to say during the discussion for the presentations. Autumn then began with her presentation on the issue of abortion rates in Iceland of babies that are predicted to have Down Syndrome. She showed a Facebook video of a pro-life teenage girl discussing the issue which may be rewatched at https://www.facebook.com/studentsforlife/videos/10154766697567927/. The focus of the video was a misleading title of a news article posted by CBS “Inside the Country Where Down Syndrome is Disappearing.” Then Mat threatened to call on random students to get involved with the discussion on Autumn’s presentation, but we did a good job discussing a very controversial topic and he didn’t have to call on anyone. People mainly commented on the misleading and possible missing information from the video. No matter our personal views, the majority of the class agreed that the video did a good job of picking apart the title of the article. Next, Alex gave his presentation on a music video for the song “Good Company” by Jake Owen found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJlGtyzIRm8. He talked about how the video is atypical for a country song because it includes a small island in the Bahamas. Alex has a personal connection to this video because the artist is from his home town and Alex has also been to the island featured in the video (Grand Cay). Alex gave us background on the poverty level in this area which gave us more understanding for an otherwise confusing video. Again, our discussion was good and Mat didn’t have to call anyone out.
For future discussions, Mat created a blog post entitled “How to discuss…” (http://matwenzel.wixsite.com/2135/single-post/2017/06/26/How-to-discuss) with guiding phrases that help to create a discussion. Next, Darian leads discussion and talks about her issues with finding relevant sources for project 2. Mat asked us to open our annotated bibliographies to share our least relevant sources to show just how far we can stretch our sources to fit our topic. We found that it’s best to go beyond the topic by researching different aspects of the topic that might not be entirely relevant, but still useful.
Next, we took another look at the syllabus. Mat reminded us that if anyone is having issues with meeting deadlines due to personal reasons, to let him know. Mat also told us that there will not be class next week and that a 1,000-word draft of paper 2 is due for our conferences (which are also next week). Mat said he will make a blog post about signing up for conference times using the same program as the last time. Mat emphasized the importance of project 2, reminding us that it is the “cake” whereas projects 1 & 3 are the “icing” (still important!).
Then we discussed Mat’s “Summary, Analysis, Evaluation” (http://matwenzel.wixsite.com/2135/single-post/2017/10/16/Summary-Analysis-Evaluation) blog post, which includes links that will help with writing research papers (aka project 2). Mat tells us to avoid using formal words that sound like they come from an academic journal because he’s looking for a project only you can create. Mat reminds us to, after integrating quote, analyze it in your own words and explain how it relates to your paper (or don’t “plunk” quotes in your paper). He also tells us that even when paraphrasing, we need to make sure we’re using parenthetical citation. Finally, some ideas of what to include in our analysis of a text include: the intended audience, assumptions, and problems that arise from this particular genre or the text itself.
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