Agenda, December 18

• Due Now: Revision of narrative. Cut word count by 10%. Staple new copy on top of draft. Post new word count on first page of new draft. Highlight words removed in old draft. 
• Due Friday, January 8: Complete and accurate Bibliography
• Due Monday, January 18: Write a 4-7 page synthesis paper that answers the question "What, if anything, is society's obligation to the poor?" Build your essay around classroom readings and independent research. Details to follow.
• Do over winter break: Read for pleasure.   

Agenda

1. Argument o' the Week
2. Bibliography work time

Agenda, December 17

• Due Now: "The Roots of Honor," in The Language of Composition 
• Due Friday: Revision of narrative. Cut word count by 10%. Staple new copy on top of draft. Post new word count on first page of new draft. Highlight words removed in old draft.    

Agenda

1. Says

Agenda, December 16

• Due Now: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Now: "The Roots of Honor," in The Language of Composition 
• Due Friday: Revision of narrative. Cut word count by 10%. Staple new copy on top of draft. Post new word count on first page of new draft. Highlight words removed in old draft.    

Agenda  

1. Show, Don't Tell 
2. Two (and a half) obvious strategies in "Strawberry Fields ..."
3. Says

Agenda, December 15

• Due Now: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Now: Write a narrative about a time you didn't have enough money OR about a time you needed help. 600-750 words. MLA format. Include the word count under the date on your first page.
• Due Wednesday: "The Roots of Honor," in The Language of Composition 
• Due Friday: Revision of narrative. Cut word count by 10%. Staple new copy on top of draft. Post new word count on first page of new draft. Highlight words removed in old draft.    

Agenda  

1. We fight evil 
2. A Purposeful Discussion of "Strawberry Fields," Part 1: How do you know it's his purpose?
3. A Purposeful Discussion of "Strawberry Fields," Part 2: How does he try to convince you he's right?

Agenda, December 13

• Due Now: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Now: Write a narrative about a time you didn't have enough money OR about a time you needed help. 600-750 words. MLA format. Include the word count under the date on your first page.
• Due Wednesday: "The Roots of Honor," in The Language of Composition 
• Due Friday: Revision of narrative. Cut word count by 10%. Staple new copy on top of draft. Highlight words removed in old draft.    

Agenda 

1. Titles
2. Peer Review
3. Tighten Your Belt
4. A Purposeful Discussion of "Strawberry Fields"

Agenda, December 11

• Due Now: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/14: Write a narrative about a time you didn't have enough money OR about a time you needed help. 600-750 words. MLA format. Include the word count under the date on your first page.
• Do this week: Go see Little Women! It's a world premier!     

Agenda 

1. Essay questions? (Remind me about the one in my e-mail)
2. Friday Freeishwrite
3. So what?
4. "Strawberry Fields" forever (or at least for the rest of the period)

Agenda, December 10

Due Dates:

• Due Now: "A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift, in The Language of Composition 
• Due Now: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/14: Write a narrative about a time you didn't have enough money OR about a time you needed help. 600-750 words. MLA format. Include the word count under the date on your first page.
• Do this week: Go see Little Women! It's a world premier!     

Agenda 

1. Essay questions? (Remind me about the one in my e-mail)
2. Swift's Purpose (in as close to his own words as you can get)
3. How does he do it?
4. "Strawberry Fields" forever (or at least for the rest of the period)

About our Ehrenreich discussion ...

I saw this online in the wake of our discussion about whether the problems in "Serving in Florida" needed to be solved. If you agree with the author, can you articulate her evidence? If you disagree with the author, can you refute her claims logically?

There are too many ads on the site for me to hotlink it directly, so I've pasted the article below. I've hotlinked the title in case you'd like to be bombarded by ads.

"What I Learned From 4 Years Working at McDonald's"
by Kate Norquay

From 18-22, I spent four years working at McDonald's. I worked a mix of part- and full-time over these years, always failing to find a "better" job. I never advanced up the rungs, never was a manager, never achieved anything of significance in my time there.

Basically, I was the absolute stereotype of a deadbeat McDonald's worker. Lazy, stupid, with no initiative.

Over the years, I saw this stereotype play out in a number of ways. The faces of my parents friends falling when I told them what I did. The snide remarks, "Do you still work at McDonald's?" or "I could never work at a place like that." Encouragement from my friends, "Just don't show up to work today!" (Because it's not a real job.)

And it played out in my own mind. I was a terrible worker -- too slow, clumsy and resentful of my circumstances. I quietly decided that I was too good for McDonald's. I constantly justified myself, "It's suuuuuch a shit job! But I need money hahaha." I was a bookish good student who enjoyed intellectual conversation. I wasn't meant for this useless physical labor.

I didn't improve. And what's more I didn't want to improve. Why should I try to be good at something that was beneath me?

But after a few years, my attitude started to change.

I started to be proud of my job.

I asked myself, what is the difference between McDonald's and the entry-level jobs other students have? Why is my job so much more pitiful than others?

Is it because I work for a big corporation? No, because otherwise jobs at Starbucks or Target would be just as embarrassing.

Or because the company is unethical? H&M and the Gap reportedly use slave labor.

Maybe because I work in fast food? But a job at Chipotle isn't quite as bad.

Because it's not intellectual? No, jobs in retail and reception seem okay.

And then I realized.

McDonald's is supposed to be a job for people who can't do anything else. I noticed that the majority of entry-level jobs didn't hire people who looked like the people I worked with.

At McDonald's, there were people with disabilities, overweight people, people who weren't conventionally attractive, people who couldn't speak much English, young teenagers and a lot of racial diversity. These people made up the backbone of the store. They were respected as some of our best workers.

Then I would look at a store like Starbucks, and the majority of the time, I would see people who looked like me. White, early 20s, reasonably attractive, slim, English speakers.

This was the bias that both me and the people around me were applying to my job. I meet the criteria for a "good" job at a clothing store. People who come from good backgrounds aren't supposed to end up in McDonald's alongside those who couldn't do better if they tried.

If you're a white girl in your early 20s, you will be ridiculed for working at McDonald's. But I don't think the same applies for disabled people or middle-aged immigrant women, for example. Their friends aren't quietly snickering, "When are you going to get a real job?" Because this is the job we expect them to have.

McDonald's is gross and greasy. But my humiliation, and that of my friends and my family wasn't because I made burgers. It was because I was supposed to be better than that. Supposed to be more intelligent, more hard working and more talented than the people I worked with. I deserved a "good" job. I had an inflated sense of self that comes with being a person of privilege.

I realized this attitude was way grosser than shoveling fries. Because I am not better than a McDonald's worker.

Sure, maybe I have different skills. I have no muscles and I fluster under that kind of pressure. I'm always going to be better at desk jobs than labor jobs. But this is not because I'm more intelligent or more skilled or worth more than a great McDonald's employee.

There are different types of labor, and just because we treat the work done by marginalized people as worthless doesn't mean it's true.

I am not as hard working as my co-workers, who sometimes pull 20-hour shifts to make sure no customer has to miss out on their midnight hamburger.

I am not as smart as our manager-turned-engineer. He learned how to fix all the machines so we didn't have to call a mechanic.

I am not as organized as those who predict and order the ingredients for thousands of customers a week, knowing that if they screw up, it's not just an angry boss to deal with. Customers always wait in the wings, ready to scream, throw drinks and use racial slurs over a lack of ketchup. I'm not patient enough to deal with that.

These things are skills.

And if you think you are better than those people, because you work in retail or organize files as a receptionist, you are wrong.

For me, my time at McDonald's was invaluable. Yeah, I never want to scoop fries or make burgers again, but I learned something more important. I started to chip away at my arrogance. I challenged the ways I dehumanized people for their job. I stopped equating dislike for big shitty companies with dislike for their foot soldiers. I developed more empathy.

And if that is supposed to be an embarrassing blip in my resume, I really don't get it.

Agenda, December 9

Due Dates:

• Due Now: "A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift, in The Language of Composition 
• Due Tomorrow: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/14: Write a narrative about a time you didn't have enough money OR about a time you needed help. 600-750 words. MLA format.
• Do this week: Go see Little Women! It's a world premier!     

Agenda

1. Essay questions? (Remind me about the one in my e-mail)
2. How to break the plot pyramid
3. 6 5 Swift Steps
4. How does he do it?

Agenda, December 8

Due Dates:

• Due Now: "A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift, in The Language of Composition 
• Due Thursday: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/14: Write a narrative about a time you didn't have enough money OR about a time you needed help. 600-750 words. MLA format.
• Do this week: Go see Little Women! It's a world premier!     

Agenda

1. If you want to know more about Swift ...
2. 6 Swift Steps
3. How does he do it?

Agenda, December 7

• Due Now: Common Place Assignment #3. Follow your Genius. 
• Due Now: "A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift, in The Language of Composition 
• Due Wednesday: "In the Strawberry Fields," by Eric Schlosser, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/14: Write a narrative about a time you didn't have enough money OR about a time you needed help. 600-750 words. MLA format.
• Do this week: Go see Little Women! It's a world premier!     

Agenda

1. Common Place Review
2. Narrative Brainstorming
3. Initial Thoughts on "A Modest Proposal"
4. How does he do it?
5. We really ought to listen to this.

This may or may not count as evidence ...

Ripped from today's headlines ...

Agenda, November 34

• Due Now: "Serving in Florida," by Barbara Ehrenreich, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 11/37: Common Place Assignment #3. Follow your Genius. 
• Due Monday, 11/37: "A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift, in The Language of Composition  

Agenda

1. People First Language
2. Argument o' the Week
3. Ehrenreich's Rhetoric

Agenda, November 33

• Due Now: "Serving in Florida," by Barbara Ehrenreich, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/7: Common Place Assignment #3. Follow your Genius. 
• Due Monday, 12/7: "A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift, in The Language of Composition  

Agenda

1. Imagery and Purpose
2. Ehrenreich and the 1 A
3. Ehrenreich and the other A
4. Open discussion on "Serving"
5. Three dominant strategies

Agenda, November 32

• Due Now: "Serving in Florida," by Barbara Ehrenreich, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/7: Common Place Assignment #3. Follow your Genius. 
• Due Monday, 12/7: "A Modest Proposal," by Jonathan Swift, in The Language of Composition  

Agenda

1. Imagery and Purpose
2. Ehrenreich and the 4 A's

Agenda, November 31

• Due Now: "On Dumpster Diving," by Lars Eighner, in The Language of Composition. It would be wise to review your notes about how to read an essay. 
• Due Wednesday: "Serving in Florida," by Barbara Ehrenreich, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/7: Common Place Assignment #3. Follow your Genius.  

Agenda

1. A quick titles exercise
2. Eighner's Purpose
3. Says / Does / Because x 4
4. 9 questions
5. Eighner's structure 

In your copious free time ...

Eighner alludes to Emerson (remember him?) toward the end of "On Dumpster Diving." If you have time and interest, you might want to read Emerson's essay "Self-Reliance" to develop a fuller understanding of Eighner's claim. We won't have class time to discuss this essay, but I'm always free during lunch or after school.

Click here to read the essay.

Agenda, November 30

• Due Now: "On Dumpster Diving," by Lars Eighner, in The Language of Composition. It would be wise to review your notes about how to read an essay. 
• Due Now: Bring your Grapes o' Wrath text.
• Due Now: Bring your Education Synthesis. 
• Due Now: Bring your multiple-choice practice section.
• Due Wednesday: "Serving in Florida," by Barbara Ehrenreich, in The Language of Composition
• Due Monday, 12/7: Common Place Assignment #3. Follow your Genius.  

Agenda

1. Portfolio Maintenance
2. How did you do on the final?
3. But he's asking us stuff we don't know!
4. Open Dumpster discussion
5. Guided Dumpster dicussion 
   

Agenda, November 24

Due Dates

• Optional Synthesis Revision: Review my margin notes and the checklist for your essay. Identify the single most urgent problem to address in your revision. Make a plan to address that problem. Meet with me to discuss that plan.
• Due Now: Three quotations - properly punctuated - from The Grapes of Wrath that answer the question "What - if anything - is society's obligation to the poor?" Include a brief statement of the context of the quote.
• Due Monday, 11/30: "On Dumpster Diving," by Lars Eighner, in The Language of Composition. It would be wise to review your notes about how to read an essay. 
• Due Monday: Bring your Grapes o' Wrath text.
• Due Monday: Bring your Education Synthesis. 
• Due Monday: Bring your multiple-choice practice section.  

Agenda

1. Fun, fun, fun (Lang style)