Leading Up To Week 10

Assignment for Oct 31/Nov 1
For Oct 31/Nov 1, see the post just before this one for the instructions -- you need to post to turnitin.com an example of a flawed statistical study that you will discuss in class. Due to instructor absence last week, this assignment is postponed for now. We will discuss it at the upcoming class.

Groups for Presentation Leading Up to Essay 4
If you have been absent ever since we formed groups, you may no longer be in a group at all. You need to contact me at jjung@elcamino.edu so that you do not end up having to present all on your own.

Class Cancelled October 24 AND 25

Class is cancelled for October 24 and 25. Please meet with your groups at the library or elsewhere if necessary. Otherwise, go home!

For the Tuesday class only, the groups presenting on Juliet's mom, Juliet's dad, and Pauline's dad will present first on November 7. The others will present on November 14. You will only get a little time on October 31 to meet with your group, so do what you have to do tonight or outside class.

If you are in the Wednesday class, the groups presenting on Juliet's mom, Juliet's dad, and Pauline's dad will present second on November 15. Everyone else will present on November 8.

If you were never placed in a group, email me right away at jjung@elcamino.edu to avoid being dropped from the class.

Leading up to Week 9

• I have posted Participation grades for the first half of the semester on turnitin.com. Use the gradebook feature on that site to view. This is out of 100 points with 100 points more being given at the end of the semester. There is no reason that the second score can't be much higher or lower than the first score. 20 of those points come from the first-week assignment. The other 80 are based on participation in weeks 2-8.

• I get many extra credit requests at the end of the semester. My reply is always that the opportunity to raise the grade is present all semester long in the form of Participation points. Owning the texts is helpful. Reading them, more helpful still.

Heads up: At the upcoming class I will ask you -- before class on on Oct 31/Nov 1 -- to find and post an example of a flawed/misleading statistical study. Due to instructor absence on 10/24 - 10/25, this assignment has been postponed for now. There are different ways a study can mislead. The problem might be with ambiguous terminology, inaccurate graphic representations, faulty conclusions, bad assumptions, or illogical methodology. An example of a bad statistical study due to ambiguous terminology: A study showing that 75% of English major graduates are successful after college. "Successful" is not defined, which could lead to meaningless results. Example 2: A study showing that 30% of homes in a neighborhood contain at least one criminal. What is a criminal? Does that include people who speed, who walk their dogs off-leash, who were cited for a noisy party, who littered?

Post your example (a link to the article) to the turnitin.com Discussion Forum as you did for the DUI ad. Your post should consist of the link to the article. You will explain the problem with the study in class.

Leading up to Week 8

• Continue bringing Elements of Argument to class.  Essay 2 is due at next class, following guidelines in syllabus as before.
• Scores for Essay 1 are posted on turnitin.com. There is a gradebook feature in turnitin that will show your score as well as feedback.
• It's important that Essay #2 reflect a thorough familiarity with the text and its details. Essays that look like they could have been written without having the read the novel won't get satisfactory scores.
• Office hours on October 16 and October 30 only will be changed to 4-6 pm

On Oct 17-18, everyone was placed into a group for the purposes of the Honora Parker Murder presentation. The groups are listed below. If you were absent please tell me at jjung@elcamino.edu promptly the way you want your group to contact you (email or phone). And indicate your permission for me to give that info to your group. Also, see the syllabus for Essay #4 under the timeline section -- you will see that an annotated bibliography is due as hard copy at the next class. Yes, in addition to that being the Essay 2 deadline. Read the instructions in the syllabus and google "what is an annotated bibliography" to see what to do. How many sources do you need? As many as you can reasonably find and contribute to your group.

If you were in class but had an absent member in your group, I will send you contact info for that person via whatever email address you supplied to turnitin.com. No need to contact me.

TUESDAY CLASS

Juliet's Mom (Axis of Evil)
Shivan
Michael
Marlon
Javier

Juliet's Dad (Legion of Doom)
Leslie
Matt
Jasmine
Gunner

Pauline's Mom (Zany Abusers)
Regina
Danielle
Sarai
Dijun

Pauline's Dad (Combustible Pandas)
Ashley
Lilia
Haozhang
Annika

Juliet (Spambots Unleashed)
Nic
Patricia
Stephanie R
Stephanie N

Pauline (Disenfranchised Ghouls of the Hard Rock Cafe)
Matt
Megan
Jason

WEDNESDAY CLASS

Juliet's Mom (Axis of Evil)
Takayuki
Braulio
David
Fabiola

Juliet's Dad (Legion of Doom)
Masselin
Charlie
Julio
Gerardo

Pauline's Dad (Raiders of the Lost Arf)
Cynthia
Karin
Cherise
William
Ceejay

Juliet (Combustible Pandas)
Juan
Cindy
Diana
Nuttako

Pauline (Disenfranchised Wraiths of the Hard Rock Cafe)
Christopher
Andrew
Yesenia
Adriana
Sue

Preparing for Week 7

It's extremely important to finish reading Notes on a Scandal before the deadline listed in class and to bring the book to class that week. No participation credit will be given that day to anyone without a text. This is our only day to lay a groundwork for writing the essay, so better preparation means better discussion, which means better essays.

We viewed the film Notes on a Scandal in class. If you were absent, you must view it on your own. It is not on Netflix streaming unfortunately, but it can be rented for streaming for $2.99 at Amazon Instant Video. It is also available on DVD from Netflix, and can be purchased on DVD for one cent plus shipping at Amazon. It can also be borrowed from many local public libraries.

In addition to bringing the novel Notes on a Scandal to class, continue to bring Elements of Argument as well.