Online English 101 - Class Discussion

Week 1 (due 6/21)	Week 2 (due 6/28)
Week 3 (due 7/5)	Week 4 (due 7/12)
Week 5 (due 7/19)	Week 6 (due 7/26)

NOTE: try the Message Board ASAP! It's a good idea to bookmark the page! If you have any trouble, please contact me by e-mail or by phone so that we can work out the problem.

The discussions are designed to insure that you read the material fully and carefully, to think about the works you read, and to share your ideas with other students in your class. Not only will this allow you to get the most information and enjoyment from what you read, it will also help you to see the variety of techniques that YOU can employ in your own writing to effectively describe, narrate, argue, etc.

This is what you do:

For this assignment I will be grading primarily on content (the ideas and information you include in your responses to the questions), not on form (grammar, punctuation, syntax). To get maximum points you will want to draw material from the readings (which you quote and document) and material from your personal experience and from the larger world.

"Boom"

Discuss one of the following:

1. The poem has the sound of a sermon being preached from a pulpit, but it's a very odd sermon that incorporates an odd mix of images. Explain how the poem's imagery (word choice, references) suggests that Americans confuse spiritual values with material values. Be sure to cite a few examples (quote lines from the poem) to illustrate your point.

2. "Boom" is a satire attacking Americans' obsession with material things. Do you think it's a fair attack? Why or why not? If you think "yes," discuss a couple of examples of the sorts of material things Americans are obsessed with (be VERY specific, as specific as Andy Rooney is in "Wrappings"); if you think "no," cite a couple of very specific examples demonstrating that Americans are basically spiritual people.

"Interface"

Discuss one of the following:

1. Early in his essay David Sudnow shows how video gaming can transform a roomful of peace-loving Berkeley intellectuals into cheering war-mongers (at least in the gaming world). How influential do you think video/computer gaming technology really is in shaping behavior and attitudes? Cite specific examples to support your assertion.

2. The very end of Sudnow's essay seems confused. He talks about "A keyboard for painters, a canvas for pianists ... All the customary boundaries get blurred when you're painting paragraphs, performing etchings, sketching movies, and graphing music" (Sudnow 275). What is he suggesting by mixing up methods of creation and the media usually assoicated with them (eg. one normally paints paintings not paragraphs)?

"Understanding the Difference"

1. At the core of this essay and Phyllis Schlafley's "Understanding the Difference" are two issues: 1) are there certain roles and occupations that should be limited specifically to women and those that should be reserved specifically to men? 2) how many of the observed gender differences (inclination towards passivity, global vs. analytical thinking, etc.) are determined by nature (heredity, genetics) and how many by nurture(environment, upbringing)?

   Cite some examples that you are personally aware of where boys and girls are raised differently, differences that may encourage them to be programmed into traditional roles. Be sure to cite specific examples.

"Mad Magazine" and "The Soaps..."

Discuss any one of the following:

1. At the root of Winn's essay is the debate over whether children should be cushioned from harsh reality (since childhood is, after all, short), or whether they should be made aware of the real world (with all of its hypocrisy and dangers) at a young age. Discuss this idea. You may want to support one side over the other, or you may wish to show the pros and cons of each stance.

2. How does the image of "good" women portrayed in soap operas (at least in Efron's essay) compare to the image of "positive" women in P. Schlafley's "Understanding the Difference"?

3. Even if we agree that Efron is correct in her portrayal of "good" women in soaps as passive, domestic, etc., so what? Do you think that television drama (which is, after all, fantasy) has the power to shape people's thinking and behavior?

Handmaid's Tale Discussion Questions

Discuss any one of the following:

1. One of the central concerns of the novel is the nature of communication, both oral and written. This is apparent at the very beginning when the women in the gymnasium whisper their true names from cot to cot. Discuss what the book suggests about the power of communication (also the power of denying communication) and the weaknesses of communication (consider Offred's constant referrals to her reconstructions, to storytelling, to the historians' unwillingness to wholly accept the handmaid's account).

2. On one level the book is about freedom. Just how free are the different characters in the book? Aunt Lydia comments about "freedom from" (33) and says, "We were a society dying of too much choice" (34). Do you agree? Just how free are we (think about both "freedom to" and "freedom from")? At what point would you be willing to give up some freedoms?

3. How, exactly, does Gilead come into being in the novel? You might want to consider the role of the radical right (Sons of Jacob), radical left (Offred's mother and, to some extent, Moira), and the silent majority (Offred) in bringing this about. Just how credible is this (do you think it's possible)?

NOTE: you may wish to look at Handmaid's Tale links for further information.

Survey

1. Review of the online course. Please discuss what you found helpful, and what you found confusing. Which readings did you like most (and why), and which did you like the least (again, please explain why). Which writing assignments seemed the most intersting, and which were the least (why? why? why?). What did you think about the Message Board class discussions? Finally, what changes would you recommend? Please be very specific.

     

Copyright ©: John Corbally