End of quarter

Hey everyone:

Here are some important updates/ dates to keep in mind:

We will present our book club book reports next Thu, June 2nd. So be ready:

• Turn in a book review to me as a group.
• As individuals, turn in a sheet that explains how you contributed to the review and how your group worked as a group.
• For the class, present a brief synopsis and you impressions of the book and its relevance to the class. You can split this duty up or nominate one individual from the group.

Next Tuesday the 31st, I invite anyone and everyone to share their websites in progress and get constructive feedback from all of us. You can also continue working on them; we will be in the lab. We can continue sharing/workshopping Thu after the book reviews.

Your final web projects are due to me (email me the web address (url)) by June 9th at noon. Please also place you annotated portfolio in the cardboard box outside my office (Ellis 344) by that time.

Here are specific requirements for your portfolio:

• Start with an annotated table of contents. this means you list items in the order they appear (i.e. fieldnotes, artifact 1, artifact 2, freewrite from class #), beneath each listing you should write a short paragraph explaining the significance of that item to your overall experience researching and writing. Why are you including it?
• Include whichever writings/ artifacts/ maps/ descriptions/ photos you think are significant. You can organize this in any way that is meaningful to you (in a folder/binder, in an envelope, in a book, in a mobile, whatever)
• Include a final reflection letter about your research process in general and your writing experiences this quarter. The focus of the portfolio is showing me what was most important to you as a researcher/writer. Your website will probably not include all the same things, since it is meant for a public audience.

See below

See the post on the week's schedule for the conference schedule for Thursday. If you missed class and have not signed up for a conference, lease email a time, you'd be available, or come at one of the times listed that has fewer than 3 people.

Library

To get to the databases:

Click "Academic Search Complete" just above the second search box on the library main page. Then click choose databases (in the upper right hand area). Click the ones you wand and then OK. Click "peer-reviewed" box below before you search. To get more results try truncating your search terms. So instead of blogging, I type blog* and then it could come back with blogging, bloggers, blogged, or blogs.

This week.

This Week’s Agenda:

Today: We will be sharing our interviews and having a research sharing-fest. Also, some in-class writing. I will be responding to the interviews you sent me and/or posted on your blog.

Assignment: Begin some secondary research into your subculture. Try to find three good sources. ****Write a 1-2 page synopsis of what you know so far about your subculture. You can try to come to some conclusions, or you can raise some questions by the end of the 2 pages. Send this to me before (by a lot) your scheduled conference. ****

The Rest of the Week:

I’d like to schedule small group (3 or fewer) conferences (you may choose), where I can give you feedback on your interviews, your 1-2 page synopsis, and discuss the direction of your project. I can discuss with you at this time an estimated grade based on the work you’ve done so far and the interview.

Here are possible times to sign up for (they can bleed into next week if we need them to):

These will take place at Donkey Coffee.

Wednesday:

10:00

10:30

11:00

11:30

Thursday:

10:00

10:30

11:00

11:30

12:00

12:30

We'll pick times in class.

My family story Late

So here is exactly what I wrote in class last time and you can react how ever you would like to.

My grandmother was “dating” a man named Delford Olmspacher, no kidding. It sounds like an explosion of spit, and he was like an explosion in our family. Everyone hated him, eventually even my grandmother. He was an alcoholic, and drank Wild Turkey on the front porch at night. One year, my grandmother invited him to make the Thanksgiving turkey. My aunt Vicki, whom Delford called “the buffalo” hated him more than everyone else did. She and her son came unsuspecting, carrying in green beans and sweet potatoes, to Thanksgiving dinner while Delford was cooking in the kitchen. He was spreading Jiff peanut-butter all over the skin of the poor turkey, “to hold in the moisture,” and then dousing it in Budweiser, between swigs of his own. This is what he was basting the turkey in. He said he got the recipe from a magazine. The buffalo, upon seeing the chef’s work, threatened to leave. My grandmother accused her of trying to ruin her Thanksgiving, to which she replied that my grandmother had ruined it herself by inviting this idiot to cook dinner. Eventually, my father calmed them all down, and after football, we all sat down to the PG and Beer Turkey. My Aunt Vicki, who was far from religious, spontaneously, perhaps sarcastically, decided to lead us all in grace, inviting us all to hold hands around the table while she thanked the Lord for his bounty, and then she proceeded to only eat her own green beans and sweet potatoes. Not one bite of turkey. I remember it tasted normal, I think. Eventually, Del and Big Red (my grandma) broke up. He stayed at the house a long while after, still drinking, probably moreso, and yelling to his delerium tremens phantoms in the yard. She did kick him out after a year. He died in the next year. They say he fell asleep smoking, but my family believes he spontaneously combusted. One night he’d had too much, and took his hallucinations a little too seriously, and KaBoom! Byebye Delford Olmspacher.

If you haven't, please post a prose version of your interview to your blog. I'll be posting updated reminders/schedules soon.

Updates and clown video

So,
Next Tuesday: You should have completed your interview.
The Following Tuesday: You should be ready to turn it in to me (via paper, email or blog)

For Thursday:
Read Ch. 5 in FW. Pick something interesting to talk/write about.
Respond to two classmate's blogs.
Get moving on your book club!!!
Contact informant and schedule interview.

Be prepared: As we move forward in class, we will be moving more into "workshop" mode. this means we will be writing in class and out of class and sharing in class with more than just one person (sometimes with everyone). This will start with in-class writing next time. Bring all your notes/writing so far.

Jan Damm's Clown routine as example of posting video. Enjoy!

late post

Sorry to post this a little late everyone:

So what did I add to the syllabus yesterday, let's see....

• email me your consent form so I can give you feedback before you go out interviewing.
• make sure you have set up a time and person to interview.
• come up with ten questions for that interview.
• reading as mentioned on syllabus
• there are links on blackboard, under Class Links: "The Woman with Two Vaginas" and "Smiling Indians." To pair with "Smiling Indians," follow the link to the excerpt of Smoke Signals. {To the left is a picture of Sherman Alexie, the screenwriter of Smoke Signals, smiling wonderfully.} If you go in to it at 5:00 minutes, you'll be at the scene I'd like you to watch. They are on a bus.
• Please email me one discussion question based on any reading so far that interests you, so that I can let your interests lead our discussion.

I will work on the schedule for the rest of the quarter to give to you tomorrow. Can I assume everyone can get an interview in the next week? Let me know if that is rushing it too much for you.


Here is a funny clip for Sherman Alexie at the People of Color Conference in Seattle 2006. He's in the middle of the story at the beginning, but the rest is really worth it.



Lydia