The Bean Eaters

We will discuss this poem during week two.  Please read it and think about the specific examples the author provides and the specific examples supplied by your own imagination.  Take a moment to think about the mental picture the poem creates.  Jot down some notes about the appearance of the room, the people, and anything else that appears in your mind.

The Bean Eaters
by Gwendolyn Brooks
They eat beans mostly, this old yellow pair. Dinner is a casual affair. Plain chipware on a plain and creaking wood, Tin flatware. Two who are Mostly Good. Two who have lived their day, But keep on putting on their clothes And putting things away. And remembering . . . Remembering, with twinklings and twinges, As they lean over the beans in their rented back room that is full of beads and receipts and dolls and cloths, tobacco crumbs, vases and fringes.

Email Assignment

During week one, we will discuss what a professional email should look like.  In this assignment, you will write an email that possesses the characteristics we discuss in class.

Your email should be based on the following scenario: You are preparing to drive to campus for your English final exam.  While walking to your car, you come face-to-face with a gorilla that has escaped from the zoo.  You run back inside and call the state police.  The police order you to remain inside until the animal is captured.  You go inside and sit down at your computer to email your instructor.

Your assignment, due at noon on Tuesday, September 4, is to send me the email you would write in the above scenario.  Feel free to make up any details needed to make the email effective.

The Red Wheelbarrow
by William Carlos Williams
so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water beside the white chickens.

Communication Is Imperfect

Notice how specific language gets the reader closer to the speaker's reality, but the two realities never completely match.

(From A First Look at Communication Theory.  Griffin, Em.  2003.)

Non-Verbal Communication Examples

Below is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial designed by Maya Lin, and the Marine Corps War Memorial by Felix de Weldon.  What does each sculpture seem to be saying about its respective war?  Why do you think so?  How are these conclusions the result of specific choices by the artists?

FALL 2012 BEGINS HERE

Hello.  I will be using this blog throughout the course to post assignments, readings, and announcements.  Feel free to explore older posts to get an idea of what I've done with previous classes.