Assignments

Here are the main assignments for the quarter, listed in reverse order.

Reading Place   Essay #2                                                                                  60 Points

Walden                                                                                                  600-800 words

March 8/9 Read/annotate Thoreau w/ essay in min

Monday 3/10– Discussion & pair/share idea

Wednesday 3/12  Essay draft due for in class peer review & work time

Friday 3/14- final draft due.

Henry David Thoreau’s importance in American environmental writing can’t be overstated.  In addition, his essay “Civil Disobedience” powerfully influenced Mahatma Gandhi and the civil rights movement. You’ll need to read him thoughtfully and carefully, but he is always worth the effort. His major themes are a Romantic pastoral primitivism, spiritual quest, frugality, and ecology. He’s a strong critic of his own culture/community as well.

You are to read “Where I Lived and What I Lived For” from Thoreau’s Walden and then explore a couple of his other works at http://thoreau.eserver.org/   or  http://www.thoreausociety.org/reading-room.  I recommend the essay “Walking.”Look at some of his famous quotes here  http://thoreau.eserver.org/quotes.html.  Be prepared to post and explain one key passage and share why you chose it for class on Monday.

Option 1-Thoreau Homage/Imitation

Henry David Thoreau has prompted responses from innumerable authors in the 160 years since the publication of Walden. This response will be a Thoreauvian imitation that connects a place or activity in your life with a larger philosophical belief captured in a quip or aphorism (or at least a key quote). Just as he uses daily activities as illustrations or metaphors for larger ideas, you are to construct a response that echoes his style and perhaps his language and responds to or updates one of his ideas. As an homage to Thoreau, you should also name check him or his place. Connect/contrast it with one other text (can mean video or article or poem) that we’ve read this term. Cite all Thoreau quotes/paraphrases and outside texts. 

Option 2- Thoreau Satire

People often dislike those who tell them how to live, and Thoreau has had his share of haters. Here you should write a satire of Thoreau that adopts some if his ideas or language or places or actions, and critique them humorously and purposefully. Don’t omit the last part, your satire should suggest/state why this idea/activity earns your disrespect. What do you propose/suggest in its place? Connect/contrast it with one other text (can mean video or article or poem) that we’ve read this term. Cite all Thoreau quotes/paraphrases and outside texts.   

Option 3- Close Reading/Commentary/Explication

Choose a passage or paragraph approximately a half page in length.  Print a copy and carefully mark everything you notice such as allusions, symbols, poetic language. Break the passage up into sections and be prepared to explain how Thoreau structures his ideas to make his point.  Write a commentary essay that explains what the passage means and HOW it makes that meaning.    HERE is the commentary guideline I mentioned in class. 

3.  Transhumanism Project-  This project should draw on the texts and discussions of the first two weeks of class and draw some thoughtful conclusions. Three options:

• Visual/or written inquiry essay  responding to Thoreau’s quote- “Men have become the tools of their tools.”   (webcast, RSA animate style illustration, or 2-3 minute video)  Inquiry essay description HERE. 
• How should SPA students use cell phones?  Essay w/ graphic/visual aspect linking education, technology, and the SPA classroom experience. (800-1200 words)
• Diary & reflection of a technology fast- (48-72 hours). (pencil & paper allowed).  The reflection, like the inquiry essay, should incorporate two of the texts/videos we've considered thus far (or something new you've found) as external guidposts

Evaluation Criteria:

•  The inquiry & technology fast assignments require thoughtful, personal reflection moving toward (if not quite arriving at) conclusions around your relationship to technology.
• The SPA cell phone policy is persuasive writing.  It should use research which could be conversations with classmates or research on 'best practices' for classroom cell phone use.  Ideally, it could be (and perhaps should be) posted on the opinion board to influence the community dialogue.
•  The writing in all cases should be precise and lively. Wordiness and weak verbs should be eliminated. These assignments, like the blogs, value voice over structure. Take some risks. If you're unsure here, please stop in during tutorial or before/after school. Effective titles, openings, and conclusions help, too.  Cite any sources. 
• If you're working on visuals, know that I greatly value the challenge here.  Even a simple webcast requires good lighting, a simple, non-distracting background, and effective placement of the screen (hint, don't aim the camera up your nostrils). Getting it right takes rehearsal. Here's a fabulous video tutorial on cut out animation from Monty Python's Terry Gilliam. Mary Merrill has some experience here, too.  

2.  Blog posts-  Your blog, like most blogs online should do three basic things.  You should create a lively sense of personal voice and use some personal experience.  You should take one idea and develop it both personally and connect it to outside elements such as articles, books, pictures, other blogs, or videos.  Finally, while the writing is personal, it should be clear and well edited. 

1. Discussion Guidelines   Due the day after you lead your discussion.

\

·  

·