In-Class work for 10/28

1) Report on what you found today regarding your event. Include a link if possible. Some questions to consider: were you surprised by how the Times covered it? What do you think your article reveals about how the event was viewed at the time? How do you think this view has changed? Is your article an editorial or a news article? If it's an editorial, what point of view does it represent and whom do you think it speaks for? If it's an article, do you think it succeeds in being objective, and why or why not? What does this article make you want to find out?

2) After you've posted, respond to some of your colleagues. Do you agree with their analyses of their sources? What have they missed?

3) For Monday, read Mark Engler's essay "Visions of Dominance." In your notes or on the blog, see if you can figure out Engler's core argument: what is he saying about the causes of the Iraq War? What groups had power in making this war come about? Can you figure out who he's arguing against?

Extra Credit: If you attended the poet laureate reading, describe you impressions. What interested you, suprised you? How would you describe Ryan's poetry?

Images of War

Eugene Delecroix, Lady Liberty Leading the People, 1830.

Matthew Brady, Harvest of Death, 1863.

Week of October 25th

Martin Luther King gave the speech "Beyond Vietnam" on April 4, 1967. Some reactions to his antiwar activism at the time (primary sources):

From the New York Times.

From Civil Rights activists.

From a university dean.

What do you notice about these responses?

Here's one way King responded:

A thought on similar ideas, from the writer James Baldwin.

“The American Negro has the great advantage of having never believed that collection of myths to which white Americans cling: that their ancestors were all freedom-loving heroes, that they were born in the greatest country the world has ever seen, or that Americans are invincible in battle and wise in peace, that Americans have always dealt honorably with Mexicans and Indians and all other neighbors or inferiors, that American men are the world’s most direct and virile, that American women are pure. Negroes know far more about white Americans than that; it can almost be said, in fact, that they know about white Americans what parents – or, anyway, mothers, know about their children, and that they very often regard white Americans that way. . . . " - James Baldwin

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Thursday, October 21st: Interview a Colleague

Tell me a story. Ask your partner these qusetions about their research topic. If you're confused by their answer, tell them. Add follow-ups if you want to know more. You can help your partner brainstorm possible answers to look for.

1) Tell me who the players are. What groups of people or individuals in both countries are using their power, or responding to power? What did they do? Be specific, ie 'industrial workers in Chicago," not "the average person"; "they had a sit-down strike," not "they protested.")

2) Tell me the key things that were going on between the United States and your country during the time you're going to write about. Try to be as specific as you can with dates and events.

3) Tell me what you think. Based on what you've found so far, what have you noticed about this relationship? Would you argue that the relationship between these two countries is an imperial one, or something else? If something else, how would you define that something else?

After you've interviewed eachother, write a 'revised brainstorm' that describes how you've narrowed your topic, the heart of the story you're going to tell, and what you need to find in your additional sources.

In Class Work for Thursday, October 14th

In class today, use the databases we looked at yesterday - CUNY plus, Academic Search Complete, JSTOR, and google scholar to look for sources. You can also work with course materials. Be sure you keep track of your sources.

At the end of the course period, post your progress on your blog: what sources did you find, skim or read that you think will or won't be helpful? Are you finding a clearer focus for your essay? Think about our core question: what is the nature of the relationship between these two countries? Is it an imperial relationship, or something else? Think about the different groups you're discovering on each side.

For Monday, post a draft of your annotated bibliography, using the sources we've found so far. You'll have time to continue to revise this and find new sources throughout next week. You can find a sample annotated bibliography here.

You can also use this course period to work on your revision of essay number 1. Keep in mind the language work we did in class (see below). Also work with Chapters 1-3 of They Say for help with how to use your sources.

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What do you notice about this sentence? How would you fix it?

The thing that I find most interesting about the article that we read for class which is called Global Realization by Eric Schlosser is the fact that someplaces people they are protesting against McDonalds you just wouldn't think that a fast food restauraunt would be worth the trouble it's just hamburgers but it turns out that for some people it's like it's about more than just the food.

Hearts and Minds: In-Class Work, 10/7

After watching the film Hearts and Minds, write a post of 300-500 words about your reaction to the film. Some questions you might consider:

1) Peter Davis gives us the voices of a wide range of people affected by the war. Which voices seemed to you particularly striking or important? Who said something that you didn't expect to hear?

2) The film also mixes different kinds of sources: interviews, news footage, scenes from old movies. We see scenes from football games, and a scene in a brothel. Davis is also very careful about placing very different scenes next to each other. Describe some of the choices he made as to what to include and how to put it together. What do you think he wanted to achieve with these choices?

3) In Professor Johnson's class you've been discussing ideology. Based on the film, what ideologies do you think led to U.S. involvement in Vietnam? How do we see these ideologies being passed on?

4) In the film we see many graphic scenes of war. Many were shown on the news in the United States while the war was being fought. In more recent wars, fewer of these images have been seen by the public. Do you think these images serve a purpose? Should they be shown?

As you can see, there's a lot to talk about. Take the time to read each other's responses, to reply, and we'll continue the discussion next Tuesday, bringing in your reading of interviews from Appy. Also for Tuesday, read "On the Rainy River" by Tim O'Brien, thinking again about the ideology that leads this particular American to the decision that he makes.

If you're revising your essay #1, you can also work on this for next week. Revision of essay 1 are due on Thursday, October 21st.