Ewrt 1 b class 1

EWRT 1B

Week 1 Class 1

Agenda

Presentation: Green Sheet; Syllabus; Website Lecture: Identity and social expectation Discussion: What is Identity? When do we "pass" as someone different from ourselves? In-class writing: How do we express our own identities? How much do we reveal about ourselves? How do we decide?

Adding the Class• I can only take 32 students• If you are on the waiting list, you can stay. I won’t hand out add

codes until Wednesday of next week, and then, only if there is room.

• As we go over the syllabus, consider whether you will stay in the class. If you want out, please let me know, so I can offer your seat to another student.

• If you are not on the waiting list, it is very unlikely you will get into the class unless we have a mass exodus after the syllabus!

The Green Sheet• What you will find here– Course Requirements

• Assignments and values• Participation

– Required Materials– Class Policies

• Plagiarism• Conduct and Courtesy

– The Class Website• How to sign up for an

account• How to post your

homework.

Texts and Required Materials: PRIMARY TEXTS Available on the Website • Chesnutt, Charles “The Passing of Grandison”• Far, Sui Sin, “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian”• Hughes, Langston, “Passing,” (the poem), “Passing,” (short story), and “Who’s Passing for Who.” • Morrison, Toni, “Recitatif”

Available at the Bookstore • Hwang, David Henry, M Butterfly Available through Amazon and other book sellers• Feinberg, Leslie, Stone Butch Blues

SECONDARY TEXTS Available on the Website • Assorted Journal Articles

Requirements:

• Active participation in class discussions and regular attendance. You will earn real points for your participation in activities.

• Keeping up-to-date on the assignments and reading. • Formal writing: Three out of class essays and two in-class

essays.• A series of writing posts to the class website: responses and

QHQs.• Terms tests, reading quizzes, and in-class assignments.

Grading

Class Policies• Essay Submission:• All out of class essays are to be submitted to me electronically before the

class period in which they are due. They must be submitted as an attachment in Microsoft word. No other saved forms are acceptable. If you do not have Microsoft word software available, leave yourself time to save and send your work from a library computer. Essays must also be in MLA format. I will read and return essays in the order they are received, with comments both in the text and in the margins. To see comments and suggestions, go to “view” and click on “mark-up.” You may revise from this electronic document. Remember to accept or discard comments and remarks as appropriate.

• Attendance:• Attendance is a significant part of this course, and success in this course

depends on regular attendance and active participation. Participation points will be part of our daily activities. If you are not in class, you cannot earn these points. You should save absences for emergencies, work conflicts, weddings, jury duty, or any other issues that might arise in your life.

• • It is your responsibility to talk to me your absences or other conflicts. Work

done in class cannot be made up. If you must be absent, please arrange with a classmate to get assignments and notes. Also, please arrive on time, as you will not be able to make up work completed before you arrive, including quizzes.

• Tests: – We will have several terms tests during the quarter. I will offer

one opportunity late in the quarter to retake (or make-up) one of the first three terms tests.

• Late Work

– I do not accept late work. I do, however, extend an opportunity to revise either essay #2 or #3 for a better grade. If you miss an essay due date, you may submit that essay when the revisions are due on the last day of the term. This does disqualify you from revising another essay.

Conduct, Courtesy, and Electronic Devices:• In this class, we will regularly engage in the discussion of topics that may stir

passionate debates. Please speak freely and candidly; however, while your thoughts and ideas are important to me and to the dynamics of the class, you must also respect others and their opinions. Courtesy will allow each person to have the opportunity to express his or her ideas in a comfortable environment.

• Courtesy includes but is not limited to politely listening to others when they contribute to class discussions or while they give presentations, not slamming the classroom door or walking in front of classmates giving presentations if you do arrive late, and maintaining a positive learning environment for your fellow classmates. To help maintain a positive learning environment, please focus on the work assigned, turn off all cell phones and iPods before class, and do not text-message in class. If your behavior becomes disruptive to the learning environment of the class, you may be asked to leave and/or be marked absent.

• Academic Dishonesty:Plagiarism includes quoting or paraphrasing material without documentation and copying from other students or professionals. Intentional plagiarism is a grave offense; the resulting response will be distasteful. Depending upon the severity, instances of plagiarism may result in a failing grade for the paper or the course and possible administrative action. All assignments will be scanned and scrutinized for academic dishonesty. Please refer to your handbook for more information regarding plagiarism.

Syllabus

• The syllabus is a tentative schedule of agenda. • It may be revised during the quarter.• Use it to determine how to prepare for class.

What we will do in class

Homework due before the next class

Current Assignment

The Quarter Plan on the Syllabus• Sections are identified by color– Essay 1 is turquoise– Essay 2 is orange– Essay 3 is blue– Essay 4 is lavender– Essay 5 is gray

• Exams and paper due dates are written in red• Holidays are marked in green

Website: • Our class website is http://palmoreenglish.wordpress.com. In order to do the

homework, you must establish an account. To make your own FREE Word Press account, go to wordpress.com and click on the large, orange button that says, “Get started here.” The system will walk you through a series of steps that will allow you to set up your own user-friendly Word Press blog, sign up for just a user name, or sign in with your Facebook account. Make sure you sign in with YOUR Word Press username before you post on our class page so you get credit for your work.

• If you prefer not to use your own name, you may use a pseudonym. Please email me your username if it is significantly different from your real name.

• If you cannot establish your website and username, please come to my office hours as soon as possible, and I will help you with the process. Much of our work will take place online, so establishing this connection is mandatory.

On the Website• Writing Assignments• Reading Assignments• The Green Sheet• The Syllabus (The Daily Plan)• Writing Tips• Helpful Links• Your Daily Homework Assignment (which is where you post

your homework.)

Posting Homework• On the front page of the website, you will find

the homework post after each class. • Below that post on the right, are the words

“Leave a comment.”• Click there and a comment box will open. Post

your homework in the comment box and click “Post Comment.”

Is this class too hard? How many essays?

Is this classHistory 10?

This class is going to be so easy! What are we going

to read?

Questions?

What is Identity?

IDENTITY: A person’s mental representation of who he or she is.

Components of identity include a sense of personal continuity and of uniqueness from other people. In addition to carving out a personal identity based on the need for uniqueness, people also acquire a social identity based on their membership in various groups—familial, ethnic, occupational, and others. These group identities, in addition to satisfying the need for affiliation, help people define themselves in the eyes of both others and themselves.

Identity• What is it?

– Write down both a dictionary type definition and what it means to you personally.

• Next, reflect on your culture and the dimensions of that culture that contribute to your identity. Take two minutes and jot down some notes to yourself. – Where in your life does your culture emerge?– How do you see yourself within your culture?– How does your family manifest culture?– What would you tell others about your culture?

More ideas about defining cultural identity?

• Music• Food• Faith, religion• Values• Language• Family structure

How do these qualifiers figure into identity?

• Education• Race• Gender• Sexual Orientation• Social Class

Nitza Hidalgo’s “three levels of culture”

– The Concrete: This is the most visible and tangible level of culture. These aspects of culture are often those that provide the focus for multicultural "festivals" or "celebrations.”

– The Behavioral: This level of culture clarifies how we define our social roles, the language(s) we speak, and our approaches to nonverbal communication.

– The Symbolic: This level of culture includes our values and beliefs.

Let’s consider how we define ourselves within Hidalgo’s “levels.” Which aspects of identity go into which category?

– the Concrete: This is the most visible and tangible level of culture. These aspects of culture are often those that provide the focus for multicultural "festivals" or "celebrations."

– the Behavioral: This level of culture clarifies how we define our social roles, the language(s) we speak, and our approaches to nonverbal communication.

– the Symbolic: This level of culture includes our values and beliefs.

How Do We Want to be Seen?

–Are we the concrete? The behavioral? –Or the Symbolic?

How do we see others?– When you meet somebody, which of those items (under

any of the categories) do you use to understand them culturally?

– Is your attempt to understand others culturally consistent with how you want to be viewed and understood?

– What forces in our society might contribute to our simplification of the culture of others, even though we don't want to be defined simplistically ourselves?

Course Theme: Passing• Historically, passing has been defined in terms of racial passing. It refers to a deception

that allows a person to take advantage of certain roles or opportunities from which he or she might be barred in the absence of this posed identity. The most common racial passer, of course, was the African American who lacked those characteristics typical of his race. These mixed race people had physical appearances that allowed them to be perceived and treated as if they where white. But passing is not limited to African Americans assuming white roles in society; it is not even limited to a racial basis. People pass in a variety of ways and for a variety of reasons—from African Americans who pass for white, to Jews who pass as Gentiles, to gays who pass for straight, for women who pass for men—and the opposite of all of these. Reverse passing, though less prevalent, also exists in multiple forms.

• How does our judgment of people lead to the desire or need to “pass”?

In-Class Writing

• How do we express our own identities?

• How much do we reveal about ourselves and when do we do so?

• How do we decide? • What does society expect from

us in terms of revealing who we are?

Homework• Establish: Your Webpage or Username • Explore: The class webpage • Post:#1 Finish in-class writing and post it.

• Post #2: Write a paragraph or two describing a time when you

were unfairly judged on concrete identity characteristics. • OR Write a paragraph or two describing a time when you

passed as someone or something you were not. The passing can be either purposeful or inadvertent.