Final piece

Constantines "Working Full-Time" from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

The purpose of your final piece of writing is summative. The paper should give you a chance to look back on the class and think about what you'll take away from our semester together. DON"T give me a reading of a text narrative. Instead, think about what you've learned. Or, about how particular texts have changed the way you think. Or, even, about the different kinds of activities we did in the class - - wiki assignments, YouTube, twitter etc. The essay will give you a chance to sum up what's been most important about the class for you. It will also give me a chance to read some non-evaluative feedback about the class. Your self-reflective essay should be 2 to 3 pages long.

You can either:

a) use the following quote from Barbara Neely's Blanche on the Lam to organize your essay: "All us invisibles."

b) or just write a self-reflective essay.

The essay is due on Thursday, December 16, by noon. You can either: write the essay in google docs and send me a link to share it; or, attach it as an email to profhanley@gmail.com.

Questions? Concerns? Let me know!

For Tuesday (November 30)

Start reading Barbara Neely, Blanche on the Lam.

And . . .don't forget, your digital commentaries are due!

Digital Commentary

As you get started with your digital commentary, be sure to visit the wiki page for instructions and a new page for my evaluation rubric.  This rubric will give you some help in gauging the success of your commentary.  Read the rubric before you start recording, collecting, mixing, etc.

Also, note: I'll be holding "virtual office hours" on Tuesday (November 23) from 10 a.m. to Noon.  You'll note a new icon or badge in the upper right-hand corner of the mother blog - - "Virtual Office Hours."  Beneath the icon, you'll see a message: Available.  Simply click on the blue link (Chat with Prof Hanley) and a chatbox will open up.  When we greet each other, be sure to identify yourself as you will appear anonymously to me.  (If I can get up to techno-speed, I may transfer the office hours to a virtual chatroom.  Stay tuned.)

Enjoy your break!  Relax, read, get refreshed.

Digital Commentary

Don't forget: no class in the classroom this Thursday (November 18).  Instead, I'll hold extended office hours: from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.  This is a chance for you to conference about your digital commentary projects, check the gradebook, and of course check out the quality work of my interior decorator!

Tuesday (November 9)

For Tuesday, let's start Philip Levine's poetry collection, What Work Is.  Read the first six poems ( "Fear and Fame," "Coming Close," "Fire," "Every Blessed Day," "Growth," and "Innocence").  Tweet your questions!

For Thursday (October 28) and more

Don't forget - - the next four stories from Magic of Blood: "The Magic of Blood," "Al, in Phoenix," "Romero's Shirt," and "Churchgoers."  Tweet your discussion questions!

Also, your novel assignment is due on Thursday.

For Tuesday (October 26)

Don't forget: read the first four stories in Gilb's collection, The Magic of Blood.  Tweet your discussion questions before class.

For Thursday (Oct. 21)

Comrades - - sorry for the missed class on Tuesday.   I was at the dentist's office.

For Thursday, October 21, we'll finish up our discussion of On the Waterfront.  If you haven't tweeted questions, please do so!

Also, I've posted an assignment on our first three novels to the class wiki.  Please take a look at it and bring any questions, concerns, confusions, etc. to class on Thursday.

For Tuesday (October 19)

We'll continue discussing On the Waterfront (1954). Don't forget to tweet your discussion questions (#english630).

For Thursday (Sept. 30)

Jacob Lawrence on Prezi

For Thursday, we'll look at Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" (1941). Browse through all 60 panels.

Pick out a couple that you really like. Some things to pay attention to: how does Lawrence's vision of African-American life in the South compare to Attaway's? what are the elements of Lawrence's "folk" aesthetic? in Lawrence's series, what are the meanings that surround the Great Migration?

Be sure to tweet a discussion question about the "Migration Series" (#english630) before class.

For Tuesday (September 28)

Don't forget: we'll start discussing William Attaway's Blood on the Forge (1941) on Tuesday. Try to read to page 74.

Also, you might have a look at Jacob Lawrence's "Migration Series" (1940-41), which we'll be talking about on Thursday.

For Thursday (September 23)

If you haven't yet - -post your cultural object analysis!

We'll start finishing our discussion of Martin Eden. Be sure to have read the novel to the end! And tweet your discussion questions (don't forget to include the hashtag: #english630 ).

For Tuesday (Sept. 21)

Don't forget: there is no set reading assignment for Tuesday. Continue reading Martin Eden so that by Thursday, September 23, we can discuss pretty much the whole novel.

Do remember: I've put our first Martin Eden assignment up on the wiki. Take a look at it. It's due on Tuesday, September 21, before class.

For Tuesday (9/14)

Read up to about chapter 16 in Martin Eden. Don't forget to tweet your discussion questions, using our hashtag (#english630). (Virtual/ebook versions of the text are available here and here.) And, make sure that you take a look at our Life in the Iron Mills assignment!

For Thursday (Sept. 9)

Don't' forget for Thursday:

1) read the first 8 chapters of Jack London's Martin Eden

2) tweet a discussion question about Martin Eden; again, don't worry about the direct tweeting format; instead, we'll be using hashtags; the hashtag for your tweet to our class is: english630

(What is a hashtag and how do I use them? You can check out this twitter help page and the video below. In a nutshell, just tweet and end your tweet with the hashtag #english630)

3) check your sfsu.edu email for an invite to the class wiki - - create your google account via the link in the email using your sfsu.edu address (you'll know that all is well when, after logging in, you see the "create page" and "edit page" buttons in the upper right-hand corner of the page) - - and start looking at and working on our Life in the Iron Mills assignment

Sending direct tweets

For Tuesday, you want to finish reading Davis's "Life in the Iron Mills." You'll also be tweeting me with discussion questions. You must tweet your discussion question before 6 p.m. on Monday.

What is a discussion question? After you've finished Davis's narrative, sit back and relax a bit. Think about narrative episodes, character actions, the narrator, the language of the text - - anything that strikes you as odd, confusing, intriguing, or frustrating about the text. Formulate a question. Tweet the question to our class twitter account (@english630). Your discussion question should probably be open-ended, e.g. not a simple yes/no question (like: was Rebecca Harding Davis born in 1831? etc.); and, the questions should be authentic, e.g. reflect a real response to the text.

How do I tweet directly to our class twitter account? If you're using the Twitter website, you'd normally tweet by simply writing something in the box under the question "What's happening?". This tweet will be sent to all of the people who are following you. A direct tweet will only go to the twitter user whom you choose. It's a bit like the difference between a chat room and an instant messenger.

Direct tweeting is simple. Instead of simply writing something under the "What's happening?" box, you make a couple of simple changes. Before your message, you type "d+[username]+ [message]." In other words, to send a direct tweet to our class account, you would type:

d english630 What year was Rebecca Harding Davis born?

(NB: if you are using a twitter application - - like TweetDeck or Nambu, etc. - - on your desktop or mobile device, you should be able to use the same syntax [ d+username+ message]. Some of these applications do offer shortcuts.)

If you'd like, try a direct tweet test before you tweet your discussion question. I'll try to reply to it.

Thursday (August 26)

For Thursday, we'll start Rebecca Harding Davis's "Life in the Iron Mills." Try to read at least half of this short novel/long short story, originally published in 1861. You might find it interesting to review Davis's biography, even in its shortened web form.

Time to set up your twitter account

Here's a good, easy guide to how to start tweeting, i.e. join twitter. After you've created your twitter account, be sure to follow @english630. This is our class twitter feed. Once you've signed up and started following @english630, fire a direct tweet at @english630 to make sure everything is working.

One great feature of twitter is that you can tweet from your desktop, your mobile phone, or your laptop. Here's the twitter guide to integrating twitter and your phone. If you're interested in using a twitter client for your desktop - - so you don't have to log into the twitter page to check and read tweets - - here's a video that reviews some of the more popular and free clients (standalone applications):

Welcome!

Welcome to the class blog for our Literature of Labor class! Here, you'll find a copy of our syllabus, announcements, assignments, updates, and a variety of other items. Check in often!