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Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2008 by JStallings and filed under , , , ,

We will be discussing DeLillo's White Noise through chapter 34 on Monday.  We will write over this in about a week, so please keep up with your reading journals.

Another great discussion (From the Board below) over the censorship!  The debate was heated at times, so we'll be writing our own argumentative articles this weekend.  By now you are all familiar with the basic structure of an argumentative article, but here's a quick outline to help you with your writing:

Read More......
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Posted on Thursday, September 11, 2008 by JStallings and filed under , ,

Trying something a bit different this time.  Black text paraphrased or "quoted" from the articles you brought in, blue text is your words.  (Please comment below if you feel I've misrepresented what you stated, or if you would like to clarify something.)

I missed the title of the first article (if you presented, please fill us in), but here is a link to the second, "Are these books Really 'Required Reading?'" and the last "Golden Compass: Athiesm for Tots."

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We will continue this discussion tomorrow.

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Posted on Friday, September 05, 2008 by JStallings and filed under , , ,

We've chosen to explore the issue of book banning for our articles next week.  I've listed a few sources below for those who would like to get a head start.  Remember, we are looking at arguments for book banning on Tuesday and against book banning on Thursday.

As you are searching, remember that you are looking for articles arguing one side or the other of the issue, not an "overview" of the debate.  Here is a good one about Harry Potter:

Parents Against Bad Books in Schools is an organization devoted to raising awareness of inappropriate material in books available in public libraries.  This page contains a number of links to articles that may be worthy of discussion.

Your analyses should be written according to the guidelines I gave you in this post.  Remember, you aren't arguing for or against the issue (we do that in class), but explaining how the author structures his or her argument.

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Posted on Friday, September 05, 2008 by JStallings and filed under ,

We'll read through chapter 21 (through The Toxic Airborne Event) for Monday.  Here are a few shots from the board:

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Have a great weekend!

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Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 by JStallings and filed under , , ,

Amazing discussion today, guys.  It gave me a chance to passively moderate the discussion while you all ran wild.  I think we'll keep this up, unless there are any objections.  Comment below if you have a concern or another idea.

From the board:

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Be sure to keep up with your reading journals.  I cannot stress enough how important these will be when we begin writing our papers.

[Note: I wasn't planning on posting these images, as they don't accurately capture the discussion we (you) had.  It was a dynamic document created as you talked, so things were erased.  I've added notes to clarify a bit, but next time I'll keep a more legible record. If you were absent today, I would greatly appreciate any feedback or questions about what we did, in order to help me clarify our discussion.]

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Posted on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 by JStallings and filed under , ,

"Conservatives Find the Girl of Their Dreams"

"Arguments about Uniforms"

"The Death of the Credit Card Economy"

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Posted on Monday, September 01, 2008 by JStallings and filed under , ,

As we decided in class on Friday, we are reading through chapter 10 of White Noise this weekend.  (We will read through the first section, chapter 20, by Friday if you want to get a head start.)  Here are a few themes you might want to focus on in your reading journals:

Death

  • "'I have trouble imagining death at that income level.'" . . . "'Maybe there is no death as we know it. Just documents changing hands'" (6).
  • "Who will die first?" (15).
  • Is this what it's like, abrupt, preemptory? Shouldn't death, I thought, be a swan dive, graceful, white-winged and smooth, leaving the surface undisturbed? (18).
  • "'I want to immerse myself in American magic and dread'" (19).
  • "'All plots tend to move deathward'" (26).
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