Class #3 Post-Game and Reminders for Wednesday

Huge thanks to the students who took the first 7 scene analysis worksheets. They did a great job providing a model for the rest of you and providing us with lots to discuss today. Be sure to read their further thoughts if you haven't seen the SAW documents.

Reminders: 

-Watch episodes 1.11-1.13. If you're behind you really need to catch up or you will find out something important on Wednesday you weren't ready to find out yet. I don't want to say what!

-Scene Analysis Worksheet 8-10 and Article Analysis Worksheet 1-5 for those signed up for it (due Tuesday night 9pm).

-Read the Brooks article. It builds on the McMillan article, so you'll want to make sure you're familiar with that first.

-Please check to see if your computer can use the Re-Up properly; if not there are several alternatives.

Miss Piggy = McNulty, Kermit = Lt. Daniels, Fozzy = Bunk, Beaker = Prez. Discuss.

Also: Do not click this link until you watch episode 1.12, but this is an article about other shows and movies the actors in The Wire have appeared in.

Class #2 Post-Game and Reminders for Monday

Sunday night update: First 7 scene analysis worksheets are now available for pre-class browsing. Click the tab above or open your Google Docs.

There was a side of me that wished for a snow day this morning, but I'm glad the class met because we accomplished a ton today. I feel like we got to know each other better and it seems that y'all have many interesting insights about "The Wire" as well as a good connection to the they say I say concepts.

You should have received an email, or perhaps several, notifying you that I shared you Google Docs for the scene analysis template, scene analysis sample, and sign-up spreadsheet. I can't link to them here because as you guys pointed out, the link feature doesn't seem to work. But I uploaded copies of the template and sample onto the Scene Analysis page. The spreadsheet is linked here, but of course you would have to email me which slot you wanted since that link wasn't an editable version.

Like I said, this afternoon (Wednesday) is a great time to come to my office to resolve any technical issues. I'll be here in Enterprise 314 until about 6:00 4:30 4:00 <-- Sorry, I don't want to get snowed in and sleep in my office.


Reminders:

-Watch The Wire, episodes 1.4-1.10. This is our longest viewing block, so I wanted to put it at the start of the semester before our schedules get crazy. As I said today, the main thing you'll get out of the first season is probably familiarity with the characters and their speaking rhythms. Anything else is gravy.
-Read the McMillan article. I will be using it as a sample on Monday to demonstrate how to do the Article Analysis.
-If you still haven't filled out your survey, print this and bring it to me on Monday. The scene referred to in question 13 takes place in episode 1.2. (Here's a repost of the summary of class responses to questions #12 and #13 on the survey. Have a look.)
-If you still haven't written a test post to the blog, please do so.
-If you still haven't signed up for your Scene Analysis and Article Analysis, time's a'wasting. Remember, you can change your slot later, but you would need permission of the other student to trade.
-As soon as possible, you need to check to make sure you are able to access the Re-Up. Using VLC as your video viewer and selecting the "save link as" option on your browser should resolve most software issues. If your problem is download speed, you can bring a laptop to my office and I'll batch transfer them.
-Continue asking me questions by email, blog, or office hours about any of this stuff you're not clear on!

Links: I translated D'Angelo's tattoo (力英). Granted I only know about 200 words of Chinese, but those two are pretty basic.

Quick Remedy for Google Docs problems

Most of you seem to be accessing Google Docs pretty easily, but for those who are having trouble, the first thing to check is your browser. It works very poorly with Internet Explorer but should work well with Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. The next thing I can try after that is to share to your alternate email address; as you know the GMU email addresses sometimes misbehave.

Late Night / Early morning note for those who notice it. I have made the blank template and sample available for the Scene Analysis worksheet. Click "Scene Analysis" above and follow the links.

Class #1 Post-Game and Reminders for Wednesday

Nice to meet everyone today. Wednesday I will walk you through the scene analysis worksheet and amuse you with my inability to pronounce your names properly. Please feel to email me or post any questions to the blog here. I will also be in my office for unscheduled office hours for most of Monday and Tuesday afternoon if someone wants some tech. support help, etc.

Reminders:

-Get access to Blogger and write a test post to this blog by clicking the comments below if you haven't already done so (maybe a question about that crazy spreadsheet?).
-Buy They Say / I Say and read introduction & chapter 1.
-Watch The Wire episodes 1.1-1.3. Please notify if there is a problem with that.
-Browse other episodes to see if your video software works.
-Get access to Google Docs. (If you want to use an identity other than your GMU address, please click the option that says "request access to the document" and I will add your other address to the list.)
-Browse the course articles, check your calendar for the semester, and use the spreadsheet to decide and enter when you will complete your Scene Analysis and Article Analysis worksheets.

Answers/Errata:

-A student asks, "do we need to do the exercises at the end of the They Say / I Say chapters? No, I will build my own exercises for that into the worksheets.
-A student asks, "Other than watching the first three episodes from a general analytical point of view, are there any aspects that you would like us to pay particular attention to?" Good question. For the first three episodes, the main task is probably figuring out who all the characters are and how to understand their speech. Once I give you the scene analysis worksheet template on Wednesday, you'll have some specific guidelines for watching.
-The syllabus for the H07 section was supposed to read 10:30-11:45, not 10:30-10:45. Sorry if this disappoints anyone, ha ha.
-The survey was supposed to say what grade are you seeking in English 302. I can't help with your Writing 101 grade especially since most of you already took it!

Links:

-A selection of your classmates' answers to survey question 12 (academic disciplines) and question 13 (the chicken nuggets dialogue).
-The real Mr. Nugget. Well actually there are two. The first inventor was a very successful academic researcher. The inventor who helped McDonald's patent the idea is a multibillionaire. So maybe that's a point in Wallace's favor.
-People who get interested in the part of the McMillan article that discusses the history of American television crime dramas should check this out on the PBS website.

Welcome

This is the course blog for English 302H. I'll use it to make announcements and adjustments to our schedule. You'll use it to extend our class discussion. Some of your writing assignments will be posted here as well. Both sections I'm teaching will share this same blog site, so hopefully we'll get an interesting exchange of ideas.

There is only one required textbook for the course, and it is available at the GMU bookstore. Click on the Articles tab above to access the other reading materials for the course. You can either use an existing Google/Gmail I.D. or make a Blogger I.D. Let me know if you have any difficulty and I can help.

Please write a test post in the reply below so I can make sure the blog is working for everyone. It would be best if your test post was some kind of question or comment about the course syllabus. Read it carefully! I will give everyone a printed copy on the first day of class, but for now here is the 9:00 version and the 10:30 version.

I look forward to meeting all of you soon.