Review of Week 10 and Preview of Week 11

Review of Week 10

[by Declan]

Tuesday (March 20) 

All of Tuesday’s class was spent on our project 3 group presentations. After this the class took a short break and then headed to the library for fourth hour. During fourth hour Dr. Seaman reminded us of the type of research we should be collecting for our upcoming projects 4a and 4b. Then we were instructed to use the library’s resources and begin researching our topic or begin deciding upon a topic. Meanwhile Dr. Seaman walked around and aided everyone with their research.

Thursday (March 22)

Dr. Seaman began Thursday’s class by reviewing our class schedule from now until the end of the year. Projects 4a and 4b as well as some discussion on movies we will be watching make up the remainder of our school year. We were urged to keep the annotated bibliography in back of our minds and to begin the project early. Then a sign up sheet was passed around for next Tuesday’s class. Everyone in class will be meeting with Dr. Seaman next Tuesday for a brief discussion on our annotated bibliographies. During the meeting we will discuss where we plan on going with our research in hopes of narrowing down a paper topic.

The class moved onto discussing “Planting a Naysayer in Your Text” from They Say I Say. Dr. Seaman started the discussion by asking the class what the benefits were to planting a naysayer within an essay. Julia responded by saying it shows that you are informed and Cameron said that it directly takes on any doubt or concern a reader may have. Dr. Seaman questioned further, asking for a reason that is not about convincing a reader. It can get repetitive if you continually bring up the same points over and over. By bringing in a naysayer it makes you change how you present your view. It can stretch the limits of your thinking and expand your ideas. It may even change your opinion. After this discussion Dr. Seaman reminded us that not all the research we collect has to agree with our argument. We should seek out some naysayers to include in our papers, but it is still important choose reputable source. Westboro Baptist Church was brought up as a bad example of a naysayer because of their extreme views.

Then our discussion changed topics and we started to talk about Gatto’s essay “Against School”. The initial conversation was about Gatto’s main argument. Tom argued that Gatto believes our traditional school system limits teachers and students. Dr. Seaman added that, according to Gatto, the system encourages eternal childness. Then we were asked if we could find the use of naysayers in Gatto’s essay. Mac said that Gatto introduces a naysayer when talks about George W. Bush and the no child left behind act. Cam asked why Gatto didn’t introduce a naysayer when he talks about all the successful historical figures that didn’t go to school. There is an easy argument against it and if he did introduce a naysayer his claim would be stronger.

The class ended with an argument over Gatto’s last sentence. Many people believed it should have been better explained and it just left everyone hanging. Then we spoke about the books we read in high school and why new books should be introduced. Dr. Seaman reminded the class again to start our annotated bibliographies early. Also to look for naysayer to use in our papers.

Preview of Week 11

[by Dr. Seaman]

Tuesday, Project 4a (part 1: Anntotated Bibliography) is due before class at 3:30 in OAKS. Instead of holding class and Fourth Hour as a group on Tuesday, we will have scheduled individual meetings in my office. (See the schedule of meetings here.) Please bring a copy (electronic or print copy) of your Annotated Bibliography to the meeting with me. Be prepared to talk with me about where you see yourself heading from this point as you work toward your proposal, which is due next Tuesday, April 3. Before you come to the meeting, please review the assignment for the Proposal.

On Thursday, we will discuss our final essay reading from Acting Out Culture, Kozol’s “Preparing Minds for Markets.” This essay in some ways develops much further ideas we’ve seen raised briefly in past essays we’ve encountered in the “How We Learn” section.  We will also look closely at the assignment description for the Proposal and will analyze a sample Proposal, considering the different rhetorical moves common to proposals.