Class: Remember that I cancelled class on Thursday so you could attend the Vietnam (Is Not) 50 event and possibly do the extra credit assignment (see post below). On TUESDAY, we'll be doing an in-class response over the first part "Stellar Nebula" of Beautyland. So keep reading it and you can get me the first set of questions as late as Tuesday. On Tuesday I'll give you new reading/questions for Thursday's class.
See you then!
THE “VIETNAM IS (NOT) 50” SYMPOSIUM, CELEBRATING THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF THE VIETNAM WAR. Thursday, October 23rd in the University Center, ESTEP Room
Session 1: 9:30-10:45: Historical Perspective of the Vietnam War, The War and American Politics, and the Vietnamese in Oklahoma, featuring Drs. Bean, Pappas, and Thuan Nguyen, Founder of the OKC Asian District Cultural Association
Session 2: 11:00-12:15: Vietnamese War and American Film, Vietnamese Art, and Vietnamese Music, featuring Drs. Walling, Prof. Jenn Peek, and Drs. Aguirre and Berman.
Session 3: 12:30-1:45: Performance from the ECU Band Ensemble, discussion of The Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and Talk about the Controversial Documentary, Daughter of Danang, about the impact of the War, featuring Drs. McMahon and Grasso.
Session 4: 2:00-4:30 (ish)
A
screening of the Vietnamese language film “Mai (2024)” a “bittersweet drama
about an unlikely relationship between a massage therapist and a playboy became
the highest-grossing Vietnamese film in the country’s history when it was
released in 2024.”
Session 5: 7:00
A
reading by Vu Tran, Vietnamese-American author of the 2015 novel “Dragonfish”
(a NY Times Notable Book) and the director of undergraduate studies in creative
writing at the University of Chicago.
EXTRA CREDIT RESPONSE (can count for 2 missed reading responses, can forgive 2 class absences, OR you can get 3 extra points on your final grade. BUT, you must give more than 1-2 sentences for each one—really try to respond honestly and think about your responses.) Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Which presentation in the session most interested you and why? How did the speaker address the question “why does it matter?” throughout their presentation, and what made you understand it? Also, how could tell why it mattered to the presenter themselves?
Q2: Rick Steves, a travel writer, notes that “Travel can help us understand that our potential enemies are not cut-and-run mercenaries, but people with spine motivated by passions and beliefs we didn’t even know existed, much less understand” (17). How did this session shed light on reasons behind the Vietnamese War OR the Vietnamese people themselves, many of whom we were once at war with? How do you now understand either one differently?
Q3: How did this presentation help you understand why history isn’t just something in a textbook, but something ‘alive’ that we still have to deal with in our daily lives? What role does history play in at least one of the presentations, and why is it so easy to miss or ignore?
Q4: How does one of the presentations remind you of (or have a conversation with) one of the readings from our class? Think about the essays, the film, and the book we’re currently reading, and consider what issues and ideas are discussed in both. Explain the connections that you saw and why reading/listening to one can help you with the other.
For
Tuesday: Bertino, Beautyland, “Stellar Nebula: Birth” (pp.3-87)
NOTE: You don’t have to read this entire section for Tuesday’s class, but read as much of it as you can. The questions below don’t require you to have read every last page, though the more you read, the easier they are to answer.
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: Adina is born around the same time to Voyager 1 spacecraft launches into space, carrying its ‘golden record’ with information about the human race. The book suggests that Adina is also a space probe of sorts, though on a very different journey. In what ways is she a scientific satellite, taking in and giving out information? What can ‘we’ learn from her?
Q2: How
is Adina a lot like
Q3: After
reading a book, Adina tells the ‘superiors’ that “there are endless ways a
human can achieve connection if they broaden their perception.” When the
superiors ask “HOW MANY FATHERS CAN A HUMAN HAVE,” she replies, “Infinite”
(40). What do you think she means by this, and why might this be similar to
Q4: Is it possible that Adina isn’t an alien from another planet sent here to record the Earth? What are some of the clues that this isn’t exactly true and/or only a possible truth? OR, is it possible that we like to consider ourselves “aliens” at one time or another in our childhoods?
FINDING SOURCES FOR PAPER 2: TWO EASY WAYS
1. EBSCO Discovery Service (via the Linscheid Library’s website)
Do a search just like you
would on Google, except this way, you’ll find peer-reviewed, authored,
legitimate sources that really inform your conversation. After your search,
click on “Full Text” to make sure the sources are easy to find (not behind a
paywall, etc). Let’s say I wanted to write a paper on Tolkien’s The Hobbit,
which would be one of the works of art I most believe in. A quick search for
“Tolkien + The Hobbit” yields many, many articles, including one a few down
called, “J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit: Realizing History Through Fantasy,”
a book review from the journal, Mythlore.
A Useful Quote from the article: “As Tally reminds readers in the introduction, “the humility and down-to-earthiness” of Bilbo and by extension the narrator, serve to bolster Tolkien’s vision of history, grounded in the reality that “‘the wheels of the world’” are not always turned by men of power, but by the humble, unremarkable, and ordinary”” (Beronio 256).
Beronio,
Bianca. J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit: Realizing History Through Fantasy
Tally Robert T. Jr. 2024. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=13447883-2615-3213-9c9d-223220ad6b3f.
2. Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org):
Search for terms in
Wikipedia, which is an interactive, collaborative encyclopedia. If you search
for simply “fireflies” you’ll get an entire article about it, but don’t use
that…scroll down to the bottom to the “References.” These are all the sources
the author used to write the article, and these lead to actual articles with
authors from legitimate publications. For example, by going to the page on “The
Hobbit,” I found a cool article from The Smithsonian Magazine On-Line entitled,
“The Hobbit You Grew Up With Isn’t the Same as the Original, Published 75 Years
Ago Today.”
Useful Quote From the article: “Fans might be surprised to find that the version of The Hobbit that they know and love doesn’t exactly match the text of the book’s first edition. Remember the riddle game that Bilbo and Gollum play deep in the goblin caves?...Well in the very first edition of the book…Bilbo and Gollum part peacefully. Gollum admits that he’s been beat, and lets Bilbo go on his way. Tolkein had to change that chapter to fit with the later trilogies, in which Gollum returns and seeks the ring” (Eveleth).
MLA Citation (from the Reference citation):
Eveleth, Rose (
%20-%20Page%205.jpg)
Answer TWO of the following for our next class:
Q1: In “Angel,”
Pete is arguing with
Q2: In “Eagle,”
Q3: The last two chapters are called "Angel" and "Valkyrie," which are NOT the names of birds, though both of them technically fly. Why do you think Landis moved away from bird names in these two comics? What changed about the stories or Clark's maturation process here?
Q4: "Valkyrie" is the only comic, other than "Hawk," that shows Clark fighting a villain, though in this comic, he is LITERALLY Superman fighting a traditional supervillain (Lobo). However, what makes this battle more than just a bang-pow brawl? How does the battle become symbolic of a larger 'fight' that Clark has to overcome?
English 1213
Paper #2: The Real Thing
INTRO: In the comic “The Real Question,” the character with the strange name says, “I don’t need a body. I’ve lived on, and will live on, in the head, the heads of the authors who write me…I’m living in your head right now…Ideas are agency” (Landis). What he means by this, of course, is that a single idea can live forever when passed from one mind to another, over decades or even centuries, becoming as real as anyone who ever lived. Maybe more real, since more people know the idea than the people who dream them. So a symbol, like Superman, can live for a thousand years if enough people keep him alive in their minds and believe in his existence (or what he represents).
PROMPT: For your second paper, I want you to write about a work of art that is extremely meaningful for you—something you literally believe in. By ‘art’ I mean a book, movie, show, song, or actual piece of art that isn’t exactly real—that portrays fictional characters and events or ideas—but that feels to you as real as anything else in your life. Explain how you first discovered this work of art, and why you connected with it: what it seemed to teach you or helped you see or understand. Then discuss why it has stayed with you over time, and also what others see in it as well. Consider how it, like Superman, has continued to evolve over time, so that many people in many different times and lands can identify with it. Do other people see the same thing you do? Or do you see something unique when it lives inside your head?
REQUIREMENTS: For this paper, you need at least FOUR sources, ONE of which must be Superman: American Alien. Obviously, you don’t have to write about Superman, but you should use these ideas in the comic to help you discuss your own work of art. Then find at least THREE sources that help you discuss it, either articles or interviews or websites about the work of art itself, or anything that helps explain “why does it matter?” to us, as well as “why it matters to you.”
PAGE LIMIT: Up to you, but be sure to actually address the assignment, and have a CONVERSATION with your sources.
CITATION: Cite all sources using MLA or APA format. If you need help figuring out how to cite sources, check out this helpful site: https://owl.purdue.edu/ (choose MLA or APA Guide). Include a Works Cited page for all your sources.
DUE: Tuesday, October 14th
by
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: “Parrot” seems to allude to the fact that parrots can imitate human speech
and ‘pretend’ to be something they’re not. While
Q2: The style of these two chapters is dramatically different from one another and from the pervious comics, as “Parrot” is bright and humorous, while Owl is angular, fuzzy, and tense. Why might Superman in particular be so adaptable to all these different stories and approaches? It might be harder, for example, to tell a Batman or Wonder Woman story this way.
Q3: In “Owl,”
Q4: In the short comic after “Parrot,” which is entitled “The Real Question,” the alien known as Mxyzpltlk breaks down the “fourth wall” and talks directly to the reader. Why are comics able to do this more effectively than a traditional novel? And what does he mean by the sentence, “We are gods. You are just puppets”?
Below is the sign-up sheet for conferences next week, which is ALL we are doing next week. In the conference, I will not only give you back your paper, but will also give you the reading/questions for Superman: American Alien for NEXT Tuesday. If you haven't signed up for a conference, please let me know which of the open slots you can attend, or let me know another time you can come.
CONFERENCE
SIGN-UP SHEET FOR NEXT WEEK
9:20 Ramsey
9:30 Destiny
9:40 Kaitlyn
9:50 Lauren
10:00 Yareli
10:10 Julie
10:20 Prizma
10:30 Aubrey
10:40 Bethany
THURSDAY
9:00 Seth
9:10
9:20 Sujal
9:30 Abishek
9:40 Karsen
9:50
10:00 Nova
10:10
10:20
10:30
10:40 Cindy
,NOTE: Read the first two
stories/chapters of the book, "Dove" and "Hawk" for
Wednesday's class. If you're confused about where to stop, you can stop reading
where you see the full page of
Answer TWO of the following
Q1: Discuss how the art in one of the chapters helps to tell the story, and is also appropriate for that story. Why would this story be much different if we switched illustrations with the other story? Discuss at least one specific panel or page in your response.
Q2: What does
Q3: Most modern heroes,
and especially super heroes, tend to be more “gray” than “white,” and less “super”
than “suspect.” How does “Hawk” discuss the thin line between being a hero and
a villain for
Q4: In-between the two chapters, there is a two-page illustration called “The Castaways.” How does it connect the two stories without “telling” us outright? Why can single picture do this even more powerfully than a paragraph or an entire story?
Class: If you missed class on Thursday, or just blocked all of last week out, here is the handout we went over in class about citing sources in your paper. Also, the revised course calendar for the next few weeks follows, which has us starting Superman: American Alien on Thursday, so be sure to buy the book from the bookstore if you haven't already (or get a digital copy on-line)!
CITING SOURCES FOR
PAPER #1
In Weinsten’s science-fiction story, “Openness,” the characters live in a world where everyone is surrounded by layers of information, which allow people to interact with people virtually, without speech or normal contact. One of the main characters, Katie, teaches senior citizens to use this new technology. However, as the story explains, “Her main challenge, she said, was getting older folks to understand the value of their layers. “Every class they ask me why we can’t just talk instead,” she shared as we lay in bed. Though Katie and I occasionally spoke, it was always accompanied by layers” (Beliot). This is interesting because…
INTRODUCE quotations/sources before you quote them. Give us context for the quote: who said it and where. Also set up the source—don’t assume we all know it. QUOTE AND CITE PROPERLY: use the page number from the handout OR the website title. RESPOND TO THE QUOTE: Be sure to explain why you quoted this passage and/or what you think it adds to the conversation.
WORKS CITED PAGE: List all your sources in alphabetical order (only one for this paper, but others will have multiple sources)
Weinstein,
Alexander. “Openness.”
REVISED COURSE CALENDAR FOR NEXT WEEK-FALL BREAK
T 16 Intro: Superman & Comics/ Paper #1 due
R 18 Superman: American
Alien, “Dove,” “Hawk”
T 23 Paper #1 Conferences
R 25 Paper #1 Conferences
T 30 Superman: American Alien, “Parrot”
& “Owl”
OCTOBER
R 2 Writing Workshop #5
T 7 Superman: American Alien,
“Eagle,” “Angel” & “Valkyrie”
R 9 FALL BREAK
NOTE: The questions and reading for Tuesday's class are in the post BELOW this one.
English 1213
Paper #1: Welcome From the
Future!
GUIDING QUOTE: “She taught senior citizens how to successfully navigate their layers. She’s helped a retired doctor upload images of his grandchildren so strangers could congratulate him, and assisted a ninety-three-year-old widow in sharing her mourning with the world. Her main challenge, she said, was getting older folks to understand the value of their layers. “Every class they ask me why we can’t just talk instead.” (Weinstein, “Openness”)
PROMPT: Since we’re now in the “future,” even though it looks like the present to us, it’s a good time to ask the question: do you think people are generally happier, more adapted, more prepared, or simply more satisfied with their lives than they were 25 years ago (circa 2000)? Have advances in technology, communication, travel, entertainment, and education put us on the road to a better, brighter tomorrow? Would ECU students of 2000 be envious of the Class of 2029’s reality?
Answer this question by looking at 1-2 things you have today that ECU students didn’t have in the year 2000 (or not in the same way as we do today). Have these things increased our happiness, our understanding (of society, of each other), and/or our education? Can we do without them today? Should we? Imagine you’re talking to someone from the year 2000 who doesn’t have or use these things, and try to explain why they’re important to you, and what they do for you on a daily basis. Can you justify these changes, or do you feel you need to apologize for them? Would you get rid of them…or would you be excited to share them with the Class of 2004? You might also think about whether college is easier or harder today thanks to our ‘future’ advances?
REQUIREMENTS:
LINK TO STORY: https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/i-was-a-teenage-werewolf/
Answer TWO of the following:
Link to Story On-Line: https://www.beloit.edu/live/news/1024-openness
After reading, answer TWO of the questions for Tuesday’s class:
Q1: What are the “layers” that the narrator constantly refers to in this story? How does it relate to our own processes of displaying our identities on-line today? Do you think we could ever get this this point (and would you want to)?
Q2: Once the narrator becomes involved with Katie, he remarks, “There was something beautiful about sharing things in the old way—the two of us walking by the shore, the smell of the pine sap, the summer air cooling in the afternoon—and for the first time in years, I wished I had a sketchpad with me” (145). Why do the layers prevent this kind of interaction with other people and the world? Do we have the same problem with our own “layers”?
Q3: What does the author mean when he writes, “We were the first generation to grow up with layers, a group of kids who’d produced thousands of tutorials on blocking unwanted users but not a single one on empathy” (148)? Why might we consider this one of the main ideas of the story—and what the narrator, himself, learns through this relationship?
Q4: How could we argue that this story, for all its science fiction technology, is actually about a completely different kind of “layers” that we all have (not just the internet)? In other words, how is this story about the difficulty of having meaningful relationships in general, even aside from technology?
NOTE: If you missed Thursday's class, I will leave a few copies of the essay in the box on my door (HM 348). Please pick one up if you would like to read it in hard copy form. There is a link to the article on-line, but it might not work for everyone, so don't rely on it: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/05/is-facebook-making-us-lonely/308930/
For Tuesday's class, read the article and answer any TWO of the following question in a short response--at least a few sentences, and try to give me a personal response rather than an answer. By that I mean, tell me what you think, and not just what you think the 'right' answer is (because there isn't one).
VOCABULARY (a few words you might try to define in the essay--we'll discuss them in class): alienation, encapsulates, neuroticism, confidant, autonomy, irrelevance, phenomenon, labyrinth, "correlation is not causation," integration, gaucherie, Luddite, narcissism, stoic
Answer TWO of the following...
Q1: This is an older article from 2012, so we're now in the 'future' of this article. The author claims that Facebook tends to make us "broader but shallower" (289). Do you agree with him? Has Facebook continued to do this in the 10+ years since this article has been written? And what about other forms of social media more popular today? Are they all making us increasingly lonely...or has a reverse trend occurred in one of these forms (Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc.)?
Q2: Marche claims in the article that the problem isn't just with Facebook (or that Facebook isn't the chief cause of our loneliness). Rather, he states that "We are lonely because we want to be lonely. We have made ourselves lonely" (293). What do you think he means by this? What examples does he use in the essay to support this strange claim?
Q3: The author claims that one of the advantages of Facebook (and social media in general) is "smooth sociability" (298). What does he mean by this phrase, and have you experienced this yourself? What might be the downside of this kind of socializing: meeting people without having to break the ice, so to speak?
Q4: The essay opens not with a thesis statement or any discussion of Facebook at all, but with a kid of obituary of a formerly famous Hollywood actress. What is the significance of this Introduction, and why does it serve as a kind of 'thesis' all on its own? How does it begin to make sense the more we read of the essay?
Welcome to the Course! In this section of Freshman Composition 2, we'll work on making you a more confident reader AND writer through a loose theme of 'science fact and fiction,' which will help you explore many of the BIG conversations of the 21st century. Even if you don't care about space, aliens, superheroes, or robots, this class is really about US, and our moment in time right now. Thinking about the future is always a way to look at the present, and better understand the past, since we're never "in" the future--it's always the present. That's what makes stories about the worlds to come so interesting. They're always speculative, meaning they're always a way to ask "what if," or maybe, "why did this happen?" The essays, stories, and books in this class are designed to make you question yourself and your society, and become a better reader and writer in the process.
BE SURE TO BUY THE TWO BOOKS FOR THE COURSE! They should be in the bookstore by now, and are both pretty cheap. I'll also give you several handouts/links of readings throughout the semester, but these books are mandatory reading for the class.
Guiding Quote for the Class: “It is called the Overview Effect. It’s not a
single epiphany, but rather a series of them, all triggered by the simple act
of staring at the world from space…The orbital view is harsh and
matter-of-fact. There is beauty below, but humans are everywhere, their cities
and suburbs filling the most livable spaces, the indelible signs of industry
stitched across the others. This is your final epiphany: It’s not a big world
at all. It’s smaller than you can possibly describe” (Sofge, “The Early
Adopter’s Guide to Space Travel”).
