04.28.08
Posted in Daily Agendas at 12:14 pm by JohnWalter
- General Questions
- Announcements:
- Our Common Final will be during the scheduled Common Final time (Friday, May 2, 11:30 AM - 2:30 PM) in our regular classroom. Some things to keep in mind:
- You will need writing materials (pens or pencils and paper–a blue book, which you can buy from the school bookstore is useful but not required);
- you may bring your copy of the “War as Metaphor” essay with annotations and notes; and
- the prompt will likely ask you to “question, confirm, or modify” Hartmann-Mahmud’s ideas, so you may want to think about how you could go about doing that. Developing some specific ideas that draw from the text and and from your own experience, knowledge, etc. would be a good idea.
- If you have not done so, please see the Syllabus Addendum announcement.
- The portfolio and/or revisions will be due at 12:00 PM, Wednesday, May 7.
- Discussion of “War as Metaphor.”
- Homework: Prepare for the Common Final and work on revisions and/or portfolio.
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04.25.08
Posted in Daily Agendas at 10:08 am by JohnWalter
- General Questions
- Announcements:
- The reading for the English 101 Common Final will be Lori Hartmann-Mahmud’s “War as Metaphor.” To access the reading, please do the following:
- Go to the Randall Library web site;
- click on the Databases & Articles link on the left-hand menu;
- click on EBSCOHost;
- click the box for the Academic Search Premier database and click the Continue button;
- in the Find box at the top, type the author’s last name: Hartmann-Mahmud;
- “War as Metaphor” will be one of the choices as you scroll down the list.
- Please see the Syllabus Addendum announcement.
- Sample portfolio essays with their tables of contents have been posted.
- Discussion of “War as Metaphor.”
- Homework: Please review the “War as Metaphor” summaries to see if you believe they need to be revised or have any questions about the essay. Also think about how you might write an essay in response to “War as Metaphor.” Come to class Monday with specific questions and specific ideas.
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Posted in Handouts, Resources at 8:40 am by JohnWalter
Provided here as .pdf documents are examples of an acceptable (mid C to low B range) portfolio essay and its table of contents and an excellent (B+ to A range) portfolio essay and its table of contents.
- Portfolio I (.pdf) is an example of an acceptable portfolio essay, with its table of contents.
- Portfolio II (.pdf) is an example of an excellent portfolio essay, with its table of contents.
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04.24.08
Posted in Announcements at 1:12 pm by JohnWalter
As we discussed in class on Wednesday, April 23, you have the option of completing the Portfolio (worth 40% of your grade) or using your Projects as the major portion of your final grade (worth 65% of your grade). Regardless of which you chose, you are welcome to and strongly encouraged to revise your projects. If you have any questions, please contact me as soon as possible. You are also strongly encouraged to schedule a meeting with me to discuss your portfolio and/or revisions, either individually or in small groups.
The portfolio and/or revisions will be due at 12:00 PM, Wednesday, May 7.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 1:01 pm by JohnWalter
Assignment
The purpose of the portfolio is to allow you to reflect upon the material we have covered and the work you have done in this class. Specifically, it is to allow you to take stock of the course and what you have learned. Your portfolio will consist of two sections: 1) a portfolio essay and 2) supplementary material. The purpose of your portfolio is to demonstrates your learning and achievement in this course to date. Your portfolio will contain the various documents necessary to help you make your case, the essay in which you make your argument, and a table of contents to help make your portfolio clear. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Common Final at 10:12 am by JohnWalter
The combined group summaries of “War as Metaphor” is available for download as a .pdf document: “War as Metaphor” Combined Summaries. Neither these combined summaries nor the individual group summaries posted below have been edited. I’ve posted exactly what was sent to me. You will want to review the material, and we can spend some time in class on Friday deciding if these need to be revised.
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04.23.08
Posted in Common Final at 10:50 pm by JohnWalter
paragraph 1 - 2 : As she speaks about the “mapping” she might mean that people start at the end of the map instead of the beginning - metaphorically speaking. We tend to go straight to overcoming the “enemy” without thinking rationally. There could be other ways of handling the situation that we look over.
paragraph 3-5 : The main goal we think of when we hear the word “war” is to wipe out the enemy, but you can’t do that when it’s over a concept. People don’t realize that these problems come from within our own society. The author provides a good example of this when mentioning that people that do drugs may do them to fill a void in their life that society has created.
paragraph 6 : People don’t analyze the reason for war or why it is happening. The US is somewhat one-sided in their views and doesn’t share a perspective that the enemy would have. We’re also only willing to help if something is done our way in return. Fighting a war on something such as terrorism won’t do anything. What needs to be questioned and maybe changed is the way our govt. or policies are set up. We need to think of why the terrorists dont like us and try to compromise with them instead.
paragraph 7 : President Johnson got the point of going to the root of the problem with poverty, but we are seeing the problems of it again. Maybe the cause is capitalism ? If we changed the way our society is set up in those terms, it may solve the problem with out having to go to “war”.
paragraph 8 : We should stop trying to solve everything as if it’s a fight or war. Just searching for the real problem is what needs to be done.
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Posted in Common Final at 9:21 pm by JohnWalter
The War metaphor simplifies things too much to the point of distortion. Basically, we have gone into a war with a concept which has no clear enemies, allies, effective weapons or end. We are spending all this time and money and lives on a war which may never be resolved. What we should be looking at is a way to understand the terrorisim and all of it’s political, and cultural aspects. We need to self reflect and consider if what we are doing is really effective. We should be honest and open about our foreign policy, our role as the superpower, and the future of an international community.
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Posted in Common Final at 9:21 pm by JohnWalter
The government uses the term “war” to generalize working to fix a problem such as over-population, drugs, or poverty. Then they associate war terms with the problem (enemy) and the solution (ammunition). Mahmud then tells how it is difficult to fight a war against a concept because it is so vast, and “efforts become misguided.” fighting a war against a concept is like fighting a losing battle. For instance, poverty will always exist as well as drug users, so to try and completely eradicate them would be impossible. However when fighting against the concept if people are left poverty stricken it is seen as “collateral damage.” The reason for using the term “war” in the first place is to make main-stream America feel more comfortable with our efforts at fixing the problem. They can associate better with the terms “enemy” and “weapons” “hero” etc. making them feel like a goal is being accomplished.
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Posted in Common Final at 9:20 pm by JohnWalter
¶ 1
Defines a metaphor, the purpose of it, and the power a metaphor holds. The author does this to establish what a metaphor is so that she can dispute an analogy to a metaphor later on in the article.
¶ 2
Defines what war is and elaborates on the explicit government action, agendas, and funds that go along with war. Introduces patriotism and “unpatriotic,” showing the general public’s view on war and how a lack of support isn’t tolerated in America. Again, this is to establish a sense of what the author believes war to be.
¶ 3
The author clearly states in this paragraph how the purpose of the article is to explore the implications of declaring war on a concept. She examines declaring war on a concept versus declaring war on a concrete enemy and she provides three “detrimental effects” of declaring war on a concept: 1) It seeks to simplify the problem, 2) It promotes an apolitical approach to the problem, and 3) It discourages a search for the root of the problem. Declaring war on a concept prevents the debates and discussions that will lead to a resolution of the problem. Therefore, the author makes her point clear that declaring war on a concept will solve no problem.
¶ 4
The fourth paragraph further goes on to express how a war on a conceptual idea cannot be successful. A concept, such as drugs or poverty, is integrated into society; since it is not separate, there is no distinct enemy. There is no clear starting point or ending point, no weapons or treaties. A war against a concrete enemy target is too different than a war against a social problem or concept, therefore it will not work.
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