Our agenda for Monday, Sept. 15th

8:00-8:15: housekeeping (everyone have the book?); schedule check-in; questions?

Opening discussion: What’s satisfying about our technologically mediated relationships?

8:30: Read through all posted comments:

• Do they fulfill the assignment? (Go back to the bottom of the previous post remind yourself of the task)
• How fluidly do they integrate quotation and paraphrase?
• How successful are they overall in summarizing the selected section of the text?

“Like” what you think are the two most successful responses, and comment on one by answering the questions above. Then we’ll discuss your choices.

Remember what we discussed about smoothing out quotes and providing any missing information about multiple speakers:

9:30:  Introduction to our first formal writing assignment, modes of definition; the purpose of defining (assignments sheets will be distributed on Wednesday)

Dictionary definition: including a formal definition of a word from a dictionary before developing your point. Even common words may require you to take this route so that you and your reader have the same frame of reference

Expert’s definition: presenting an expert’s definition of a term to show that you have found support for your understanding of a word

Comparison-contrast: contrasting your definition of a word with the way it is typically used or with the dictionary definition of the term; if it is an unfamiliar term, you might show how it is similar to another concept

Description: defining a term by describing its characteristics: size, shape, texture, color, noise, and other revealing traits

Exemplification: giving examples and illustrations of ma concept to enable your reader to understand it better; these can get specific and should supplement the definition

Negation: explaining what something is not in order to limit the definition and eliminate misconceptions

For additional information about how to approach definition essays, see this sample, which we’ll work with during class on Wednesday: Writing a Definition Essay

 

FOR WEDNESDAY’S CLASS:

Please read chapter 3, “True Companions,” and do the following:

Select ONE term or concept addressed in the chapters we’ve read thus far from the list below.

• intimacy
• “the robotic moment”
• companionship
• “sociable” robots

Explain it as a reader and a writer. In other words,

• define what this term means in the context of Turkle’s argument (please cite the page/pages where it appears and decide whether quoting Turkle’s exact use of it is necessary),
• explain why understanding this term, whether a general concept or a specific phrase, is important to grasping the argument of the chapter as a whole (it may help to tie it back to the chapter title like we did in class), and
• indicate how Turkle creates her definition: does she use any particular strategy from the list that appears at the start of this post?
  

Please post your response no later than 9 pm on Tuesday, September 16th. Your comment should be approximately 200 words and smoothly integrate quotes from the text with your own paraphrases.

Finally, if you have any “robotic” companions from when you were growing up, ones that would fall into Turkle’s categories of machines that we might have relationships with, bring them to class on Tuesday. We’ll start class discussion with a brief investigation of these objects!

Our agenda for Wednesday, Sept. 10th

8:00 – 8:15: Announcements and housekeeping. Any new class members? (Fill out course info sheet and get a syllabus!) Review blog and note new theme. Note library visit and changes to reading schedule. How to access LAGCC email on your phones (the app is Outlook 365 for Android and iPhones and Exchange for Windows phones). Possible class photo? Note privacy options for blog

8:20-9:40: Discussion of Author’s Note and intro–What does Sherry Turkle tell us about herself, in her own words?

Our aim, in brief–working together: What language is most important to quote if we want to understand the way Turkle describes her stance as a researcher? How would we paraphrase Turkle’s background based on the quotes we’ve collected? How would we summarize her claims about her stance on the subject of technology use and what her book is “really” about?

Class notes from today can be found here!

9:40-9:50: Break

9:50-10:10: Repeat exercise in small groups using one section from the introduction; share quotation, summary, and paraphrase paragraphs.

FOR MONDAY 9/15: Please read chapters 1 and 2 of Alone Together. Embedded here are PDFs of Chapter 1 and Chapter 2. By Monday morning, everyone should have the book with them in class (please bring it with you every time we meet).

On Wednesday morning you began writing a paragraph that integrated quotation, paraphrase, and summary, based on three quotes from one section of Sherry Turkle’s introduction. Complete that paragraph on your own, focusing on defining the term or phrase introduced in that section’s subtitle (“the robotic age,” “connectivity,” or “romance with machines”). See the class notes if you need a reminder of how we moved from quotation to paraphrase and summary.

Then, after you’ve read chapters 1 and 2, select one section from either chapter (separated by one of the capitalized subtitles) and compose a second paragraph of about 150-200 words based around three quotes from that section. As you move from quotation to paraphrasing and summary, aim to define for your reader the meaning or main point of the subtitle of the section you chose.

For additional advice about quoting and paraphrasing sources, please see Gordon Harvey’s Writing with Sources, Chapter 2 (especially pages 15-16): http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic930980.files/WritingWithSources.pdf

*Please post no later than 6 pm on Sunday night. I will read and record all responses at that time. Posts that come in after this cannot count toward your course grade.

**I recommend that you compose in a word processing program first, then cut and paste your comment to avoid losing your work if the website freezes for some reason. Paste these two paragraphs in a single comment on this post (scroll down to “Leave a reply” to post a comment).

Welcome to English 101!

8-9:30 am: information sheets, class member introductions, syllabus overview

9:30-10:15: Writing exercise, what’s due for Wednesday

For next class: you will be able to access a PDF of the author’s note and  PDF of the intro  to the required text, Alone Together, here [it will be scanned and posted immediately after class]. Please complete this reading and send me an email by midnight tomorrow, Tuesday, 9/9, using the following template:

Dear Professor Zino:

Include an opening sentence that shows me you’re thinking about who’s reading your email — ME!–and you’re trying to relate to your audience: remind me how we know each other, say something about adjusting to the first week of classes, etc. Anticipate your audience’s interests, concerns, or priorities.

Tell me how you found the first reading. How much did it resemble something you’d read on your own? Note the page of a particularly challenging passage; quote it.

Summarize an idea you’re especially excited to discuss when we return Wednesday morning.

Conclude by telling me when/if you have the required text.

Sincerely/thank you, etc.

[full name]

Please use this format for all emails. Send you email to dzino@lagcc.cuny.edu.