Eh 200 Summer 2010 Class 17

Class Seventeen

Housekeeping: (Suggested: 5 Minutes)

• Précis, outline, final draft of paper two

• MLA Works Cited Sheet:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/05/

Your homework for today was the following:

Homework: Complete draft of your presentation — 3-4 pages total. You already have a draft of pages 1-2. You do not need to finish your PowerPoint for tomorrow, but it would be wise to storyboard at least two more slides — this will reduce your workload later in the week.

Let’s begin today by getting a sense of how long our papers are, and how they sound. You will be getting into groups of four.  In your groups, you will each be standing up and reading your work. While you read, your class mates will be considering the following: (see  handout) (Suggested: 30-40 Minutes)

When you are done, give the sheets back to the presenters they belong to.

Go over your sheets and compile a two paragraph journal entry for yourself on what the current issues are in your draft and how they might be improved.

Group Discussion: (Suggested: 5 -10 Minutes)

Class Discussion: (Suggested: 5-10 Minutes)

Break

Let’s return to the intended outcomes of the course, which we began to consider on day one.

·         Identify and analyze the concept of professionalism as it is associated with themes of work and play in twentieth- and twenty-first century American literature, and articulate how it bears on their current expectations of the modern work-force.

·         Use narrative rhetoric to express their social and professional aspirations, and also as a means for describing the social and professional aspirations of co-workers and employers.

·         Demonstrate familiarity with the writing process: the student can create, develop, and complete a mid-length research document with minimal external assistance, including peer review, and achieve a grade of C or higher.

·         Construct a formal oral presentation appropriate for an entry-level professional position.

·         Demonstrate the capacity to make firm correlations between social issues as they are addressed in relevant literature and contemporary cultural concerns that bear on the student’s anticipated program of study

The presentation is making us do a lot of this work, but I wanted to move towards the end of the semester with a few related activities to drive some of these key points home

In-class Journal Writing: (Suggested: 10 Minutes)

Now at the end of the semester, what is your understanding of play and its relationship to class, income, and setting?

Provide examples from the stories to support your claims and observations.

Group Discussion: (Suggested: 10 Minutes)

How do you envision yourself playing this summer? How will this play relate to our class conversations, if it does at all?

Group Presentations, seated.

World of Work

Journal Entry: (Suggested: 10 Minutes)

What is your understanding of work and its relationship to class, income, and setting?

Provide examples from the stories to support your claims and observations.

Group Discussion: How do you envision yourself working this summer? How will this work relate to our class conversations, if it does at all?

Group Presentations, Seated

Pragmatic American Dreams:

The word “pragmatic” essentially means “practical” or “reasonable.”

A “pragmatic” American Dream, then, is a dream that is reasonable for you. In class, we have defined the American Dream as:

The American Dream is the desire to grow and develop as an individual by expanding your awareness of social and economic possibilities as they exist within an American context.

Given that the middle-income economic grouping many of identify with is likely to shrink in the coming years, what does it mean to have a pragmatic American Dream going forward?

How can you ensure your continued development as an individual and citizen if the mid-twentieth century fantasy of the white picket fence, two-car garage;, and two-point-five kids ideal is no longer a practical reality for many people under the age of 40, and maintaining it is no longer as easy for people over 40?

Bonus Question: As an educated individual within such a society, do you have any extra responsibilities with regards to your fellow citizens?