EWRT 1BWeek 1 Class 1

Adding the Class• I will only take 30 students• As of now, I have 40 who are enrolled or on the waiting list.• If you are on the waiting list, you can stay. I won’t hand out

add codes until Monday of next week, and then, only if there is room.

• As we go over the syllabus, consider whether you will stay in the class. If you want out, please let me know, so I can offer your seat to another student.

• If you are not on the waiting list, it is very unlikely you will get into the class unless we have a mass exodus after the syllabus!

Requirements:

• Active participation in class discussions and regular attendance.

• Keeping up-to-date on the assignments and reading. • Five formal papers, two of which will be written in class. • A series of posts to the class website = journal/ blog. • Tests, quizzes, and in-class assignments.

Texts and Required Materials:

PRIMARY TEXTS Available on the Website • Chesnutt, Charles “The Passing of Grandison”• Far, Sui Sin, “Leaves from the Mental Portfolio of an Eurasian”• Hughes, Langston, “Passing,” (the poem), “Passing,” (short story),

and “Who’s Passing for Who.” • Moraga, Cherrie, “La Guera• Morrison, Toni, “Recitatif” Available at the Bookstore • Feinberg, Leslie, Stone Butch Blues • Hwang, David Henry, M Butterfly SECONDARY TEXTS Available on the Website • Assorted Journal Articles

CLASS POLICIES:

• Academic Dishonesty:Plagiarism includes quoting or paraphrasing material without documentation and copying from other students or professionals. Intentional plagiarism is a grave offense; the resulting response will be distasteful. Depending upon the severity, instances of plagiarism may result in a failing grade for the paper or the course and possible administrative action. All assignments will be scanned and scrutinized for academic dishonesty. Please refer to your handbook for more information regarding plagiarism.

• Attendance: Attendance is a significant part of this course, and success in this course depends on regular attendance and active participation. If excessive absences become a problem, you may be dropped from this course (see your handbook for more on De Anza’s official attendance policy). Tardies and early departures may count as absences. You will be allowed two absences during the semester though you are still responsible for timely submission of all work due on any day you are absent. Because YOU WILL LOSE 10 POINTS PER ABSENCE after two absences, you should save them for emergencies, work conflicts, weddings, jury duty, or any other issues that might arise in your life.

• Conduct, Courtesy, and Electronic Devices: In this class, we will regularly engage in the discussion of topics that may stir passionate debates. Please speak freely and candidly; however, while your thoughts and ideas are important to me and to the dynamics of the class, you must also respect others and their opinions. Courtesy will allow each person to have the opportunity to express his or her ideas in a comfortable environment.

• Courtesy includes but is not limited to politely listening to others when they contribute to class discussions or while they give presentations, not slamming the classroom door or walking in front of classmates giving presentations if you do arrive late, and maintaining a positive learning environment for your fellow classmates. To help maintain a positive learning environment, please focus on the work assigned, turn off all cell phones and ipods before class, and do not text-message in class. If your behavior becomes disruptive to the learning environment of the class, you may be asked to leave and/or be marked absent.

• Participation: • Participation includes doing all work asked of you inside and outside of

class, maintaining a positive learning environment for your classmates, and contributing to class discussion.

Website:

• Our class website is http://palmoreenglish.wordpress.com. In order to do the homework, you must establish an account. To make your own FREE Word Press account, go to wordpress.com and click on the large, orange button that says, “Get started here.” The system will walk you through a series of steps that will allow you to set up your own user-friendly Word Press page. You may use either your name or a pseudonym, if you prefer to remain anonymous. Make sure you sign in with YOUR Word Press username before you post on our class page so you get credit for your work. Please email me your username if it is significantly different from your real name.

• If you cannot establish your website and username, please come to my office hours this week, and I will help you with the process. Much of our work will take place online, so establishing this connection is mandatory.

Syllabus• The syllabus is a tentative schedule of agenda. • It may be revised during the quarter.• Use it to determine how to prepare for class.

For Example

Terms Tests QHQ• The terms are listed

on the website. We will go over a few each time we meet. We will have four terms exams. The first three are worth 25 points. The last one is comprehensive and will be worth 50 points.

• A QHQ is a thoughtful response to your reading. They will be posted on our website for all to read and consider. The directions for writing the QHQ are posted on the website under “writing help.”

Questions?

What is Identity?

A person’s mental representation of who he or she is• Components of identity include a sense of personal continuity

and of uniqueness from other people. In addition to carving out a personal identity based on the need for uniqueness, people also acquire a social identity based on their membership in various groups—familial, ethnic, occupational, and others. These group identities, in addition to satisfying the need for affiliation, help people define themselves in the eyes of both others and themselves.

Cultural Identity

•What is it?•Think of it in terms of both a dictionary type definition and what it means to you personally.

Suggest dimensions of culture that contribute to your identityReflect on your own culture and the dimensions of that culture with which you identify. Take two minutes and jot down some notes to yourself.

• Where in your life does your culture emerge?• How do you see yourself within your culture?• How does your family manifest culture?• What would you tell others about your culture?

Volunteer?

• I need someone to come to the board to write down ideas on the board.

More ideas about defining cultural identity?

•Music• Food• Faith, religion• Values• Language• Family structure

How about these?

• Education•Race•Gender• Sexual Orientation• Social Class

Defining ourselves versusDefining others

How do these differ?

Nitza Hidalgo’s “three levels of culture”

• the Concrete: This is the most visible and tangible level of culture. These aspects of culture are often those that provide the focus for multicultural "festivals" or "celebrations."• the Behavioral: This level of culture clarifies

how we define our social roles, the language(s) we speak, and our approaches to nonverbal communication. • the Symbolic: This level of culture includes our

values and beliefs.

Consider further how you define yourself within these categories. Look over the categories and the items on the board for a few moments. Put our list into their proper categories.

• the Concrete: This is the most visible and tangible level of culture. These aspects of culture are often those that provide the focus for multicultural "festivals" or "celebrations."• the Behavioral: This level of culture clarifies

how we define our social roles, the language(s) we speak, and our approaches to nonverbal communication. • the Symbolic: This level of culture includes our

values and beliefs.

The Concrete• Which items go here?

The Behavioral?• And which here?

The Symbolic?• And here?

How do we see others?

• When you meet somebody, which of those items (under any of the categories) do you use to understand them culturally?• Is your attempt to understand others culturally

consistent with how you want to be viewed and understood?• What forces in our society might contribute to

our simplification of the culture of others, even though we don't want to be defined simplistically ourselves?

Passing

•How does our simplistic judgment of people lead to the desire or need to “pass”?

In-Class Writing

• How do we express our own identities? • How much do we reveal about ourselves and

when do we do so? • How do we decide? • What does society expect from us in terms of

revealing who we are?

Homework

• Make your webpage.• Writing: Finish your in-class writing and post it.• Blog Shot #1 Write a paragraph or two describing a time when

you were unfairly judged on concrete identity characteristics. OR

• Write a paragraph or two describing a time when you passed as someone or something you were not. The passing can be either purposeful or inadvertent.