No blog post for Week 9!
Your blog post revisions need to be completed by Friday, August 19th, at 5 p.m.
All you need to do is tag the post with the original week’s tag (week5blog, etc.) and also with the tag “revision.”
The riots that have been taking place in London since Sunday evening (and in greater England since Monday evening) are relevant to Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, since it deals with individuals who have been isolated and kicked out of their economic systems (i.e., Julius going offline).
In a broader sense, many of the texts that we’ve read this quarter are about how economic systems work — how they set up life for individuals — and also when those systems fail, either through collapse, or fail to allow individuals to provide a good life for themselves and their families.
There is no single answer that explains the London riots. However, the fact that they are happening suggests that on some level, the economic system in England isn’t working.
Your assignment for Wednesday is to read up on the riots, and bring two contrasting perspectives on them to class. These perspectives can take the form of a blog post, an article online, or even tweets. Post links to your two pieces of information in comments below. (If you want to link to a single Tweet, click on the date (7 Aug) associated with it. Not everyone can bring the same article, or tweet, etc. — so look through to see what other people have found.
Wikipedia has a summary of the cause of the riots that is a good starting point. It’s not by any means complete, but it’s a good entry.
The BBC is London’s oldest television/radio news source.
The Guardian, the Telegraph, and the Independent are London’s three major newspapers.
You can also find info on the riots by searching for the #LondonRiots hashtag at Twitter .
You don’t have to find info from these sources — you can also look at other news sources or blog posts from throughout England, or elsewhere.
I look forward to seeing what you find.
Write about your preliminary thoughts for the second major paper assignment. (This may involve sketching out the character and environment that you intend to focus on, or, if you haven’t completely decided, you can write about the characters whom you’re thinking of choosing between.) In either case, give your readers a preview of the ideas and questions that you want to engage: what things do you think need to be discussed?
Here is the assignment sheet for Major Paper #2.
Take 1-3 sentences* from the excerpt of The German Ideology that you read last week, and write an exegetical commentary on them.
An exegetical commentary simply explains the sentences: describe what Marx is suggesting, interpret it, and explain why it matters.
Your goal is to take one small idea from Marx, and explain it to someone else. Think of your audience as being like our class, or someone whom you think of as your intellectual peer.
* 1 sentence is quite enough — if you choose 3, they should be consecutive; and the only reason to choose 3 sentences is that you think that readers need all three to understand Marx’s meaning.
The second round of conferences works in the same format as the first set: same groups, same round robin format.
There is one difference: you are expected to read each of your group members’ drafts, and comment on them, posting your comments to the blog post. Remember that you need to do this at least 24 hours before the conference meeting.
Conferences will again be held in Parnassus Coffee (if it’s noisy, we’ll grab one of the tables outside the main room).
You need to coordinate with your other group members to choose a conference slot. When you know which slot you want, have one person from your group comment on this post to claim it. If absolutely none of these slots work for your group, then please let me know ASAP, and we’ll find a time that *does* work.
There is no class on Wednesday or Thursday of next week.
Wednesday:
10:15-11:15 a.m.: Caitlin, Theresa, Inez, Phillip (pending confirmation from other group members)
11:30-12:30 p.m.: Vivian, Nathan, Becca, and Chelsea
1:00-2:00 p.m.
2:30-3:30 p.m.
Thursday:
10-11 a.m.
11:30-12:30 p.m.: David, Averi, Ashley, and Thomas
1:00-2:00 p.m.
2:30-3:30 p.m.
On Monday, your 1-page (double-spaced) prospectus* is due; and I’d like you to post a version of that prospectus as your blog post for next week. The two can be pretty similar, but I’m assuming that they won’t be 100% identical, if only because you’d say things differently to your classmates than if you were saying them only to me. And I encourage you, if you want to test an idea out, to use the blog post for this purpose.
This way, even before our next round of conferences, you’ll be able to get feedback from your writing group members, and you’ll also learn sooner what they’re working on, so you’ll be better able to give feedback when we reach that next set of meetings.
*I don’t mind if you go over the limit — tell me what you can, so that I can be helpful.
Because you’re preparing for conferences, and commenting on people’s posts, you do NOT need to post additional comments this week on the blog.
This week, what you blog about is your choice. You can refer to any of the readings that we’ve discussed so far, or any concept. Remember to follow the general guidelines for blogging:
• Remain focused on a specific topic or question
• Present a balance of evidence and commentary, using quotations and citations
• Explain why your subject matter is important – why it matters to this class, and why it needs to be written about, and discussed.
–but other than that, it’s up to you. I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
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