Week Three (9/23)

In Class
1. Read/Discuss: Effective Academic Essays III.II The Body Paragraphs (packet, pages 8-9)
2. Writing a paragraph to use in an essay: 
a. As a group, put together a topic sentence that supports ONE of the following thesis statements for "Bloodchild" from last week: 
  1. In "Bloodchild," Butler calls into question topics such as loyalty, consent and respect for oneself and your partner. 
  2. In the short story "Bloodchild," Octavia Butler dramatizes the impulsive struggle of the main protagonist - Gian, and the way of passive rebel which his mother choose to protest against the supremacy of Tlic race.
  3. Butler's unsettling portrayal of the symbiotic relationship between the human Terrans and alien Tlic demonstrate how the need for compromise is necessary for coexistence. 
  4. The uneven exchange in Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild" highlights the power struggle between the two species and how much sacrifice is needed for survival.
  5. In "Bloodchild," Butler describes where the Terran live as a Preserve. I am going to prove that the "Preserve" is actually a sexual slavery compound.
       FORM HERE. Responses HERE. 
b. Once I have approved your topic sentence, write the rest of the body paragraph by using evidence from "Bloodchild" and commenting on the evidence HERE (again). Please ONLY summarize evidence--No quoting from the story yet. Responses HERE.  
c. Read/Discuss: Effective Academic Essays IV: Using Sources (packet pages 12-18) and the two sources you examined for homework. Questions HERE. Responses HERE 
d. Now add information from a source to your body paragraph HERE (again).
Responses HERE.  
4. Writing a paragraph to use in Wikipedia: 
For your given topic on "Bloodchild," write a body paragraph with a neutral topic sentence followed by a summary/paraphrase that explains or expands it (try NOT to quote!) HERE

Assignments due Sept. 30 
  1. Read  the short stories "The Evening and the Morning and the Night" and "Speech Sounds" and their Afterwords (pdfs on Blackboard; the book is also on reserve in the Library.)
  2. Log on to Wikipedia. Go to your Sandbox, click on Edit, and create a heading titled ""The Evening and the Morning and the Night." Create a subheading 1 titled "Summary."  In your own words ONLY, write a 150-word summary of what happens in the story. Do NOT quote. Do NOT closely paraphrase summaries from outside sources, as this is against Wikipedia policy, as explained in the handout "Avoiding plagiarism on Wikipedia."  
  3. Below the summary of "The Evening and the Morning and the Night," create another subheading 1 titled "Quotes." Using bullet points, copy three quotes from the story that you think should be included in the Wikipedia entry on it. 
  4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for "Speech Sounds."
  5. Help us prepare for next week's class discussion of these two stories by filling out one of these forms (15 points):
6. Complete The Wikipedia Adventure