Click here for access to the BMCC Fall 2023 Academic Calendar, which lists important dates and deadlines for the semester.
Yearly Archives: 2022
29 posts
This is a Zero Textbook Cost course, which uses OER (Open Educational Resources) in lieu of a textbook. All required materials can be accessed in the Weekly folders.
Please visit the Blackboard home page for your section and access the E-learning Orientation on the gray navigation panel. This is a mandatory assignment and should be completed by the end of the first week. A 20-question quiz at the end of Week 2 will include material from the Orientation.
Even in an online course, lively discussions are at the heart of an interesting class. These are the main forums for interaction in an online course and are also the primary means of showing your presence in the class. Our discussion forums are different than most because you will be interacting with students from all my ENG 201 sections, not just your own. This is a big community! The weekly discussions can be accessed in two ways: through the main menu (above) or through the page for each week (side menu). Directions and prompt appear when you click on the discussion board. Discussion Board Etiquette Please respond in full sentences in correct English (not in texting language). Please use upper and lower case. Disagreement with the opinions of others is fine–even encouraged—but please show respect for fellow classmates in your responses.
Click here to create an account with Commonlit. This is a zero textbook course (ZTC), and many of the assignments will come from this interactive website. Please create your student account right away so that you do not miss any assignments. Your class code is: UUG96N8D LBPD6EQ
This is a synchronous online course. Students are required to attend one Zoom meeting, which meets on Thursday from 10:00 to 11:15. Students are required to be on camera during weekly Zoom meetings. You are free to use artificial or blurred backgrounds. If you are uncomfortable with this policy, please change courses to one in which this request is not made. In addition, you are responsible for completing all the tasks on each weekly page. The tasks are varied and include reading, listening, viewing, and discussing activities. Each week begins on Monday and ends on Sunday. From time to time, you will be directed or linked back to the Blackboard platform to take quizzes or submit essays. Your grades will still be recorded in the Blackboard grade center. Be sure to check on your progress during the semester. Professor Conway can always be reached by email a cconway@bmcc.cuny.edu
Class participation via the discussion board makes up a significant percentage of your overall grade (20%). How to receive full credit (100%) for each weekly discussion board. Submit your first post by Friday of each week at the latest. This is worth 80% of the weekly grade. Respond to the post of one other student by Sunday. This is worth 20% of the weekly grade. Make sure your first post is at least 150 words in length. Make sure your response to another student is at least 75 words. Comments such as “Nice post” or “I agree” are friendly but will not receive credit. Make sure you post in the week in which the discussion was assigned. For example, post your Week 3 response during Week 3. A few other notes about discussion board grading The highest grade an original post can receive if it is submitted on the weekend is 75% Posts submitted as attachments will not be opened. Discussion boards cannot be “made up.” This is because once a discussion has closed, there is no one in the forum with whom to discuss anything. Understand that if everyone posted on the weekend, there would be no ongoing discussion during the week.
The High Cost of Plagiarism Plagiarism will be dealt with firmly. A student who plagiarizes will receive a permanent grade of zero (0) for the essay or discussion in question. All essays will be submitted through Turnitin, which features plagiarism detection capability. Suspected plagiarism, even if it passes the Turnitin detection function, will be turned over to the Student Life Manager for Student Conduct and Academic Integrity. If you hope to pass this class, do not plagiarize. Every student is required to view the short plagiarism video in order to have a complete understanding of what plagiarism is. This will preclude the excuse that anyone has “accidentally” plagiarized.
Quiz 1: Friday 9/25 – Sunday, 9/3 See Short Week for details. Quiz 2: Monday, 9/4 – Sunday 9/19 See Week 2 for details. Quiz 3: Monday, 9/18 – Sunday, 9/24 See Week 4 for details Quiz 4: Monday, 9/25 – Sunday, 10/1 See Week 5 for details Quiz 5: Monday 10/9 – Sunday, 10/15 See Week 6 for details Quiz 6 – Midterm Monday, – Sunday, See Week 9 for details Quiz 7: Monday, – Sunday, See Week 10 for details Quiz 8 – Final Quiz Thursday, 12/14 – Sunday, 12/17 See Final Exam Week for details Note: Quizzes cannot be made up. Students have an entire week in which to complete each quiz.
Essay Due Dates Story Essay 1st Draft due: Sunday, October 8 (See Week 5 for details). Story Essay Final Draft: Sunday, October 29 (See Week 7 for details). Db Essay due: Sunday, October 22 ( See Week 8 for details). Poetry Essay 1st Draft due: Sunday, November 5. (See Week 9 for details). Poetry Essay Final Draft due: Sunday, November 12 Research Essay 1st Draft due: Sunday, November 19 (See Week 11 for details) Research Essay Final Draft due: Sunday, December 4 In order to be reviewed all essays must contain a Work Cited page. Under this, students must sign an Academic Integrity Pledge. Please read the academic integrity prompts carefully. They are not all the same.
How to View Instructor Comments on Written Work It is very important that you review instructor comments on your graded essays. This way you can correct errors and do better on future essays. To see your grades, navigate back to your Blackboard course and follow these steps: Navigate to Essay Submission Links on Blackboard. Go to the Essay you want to review Click on VIEW/COMPLETE Click on the blue tab that says VIEW. When you get to your essay, you will see my comments on the essay itself. Then, on the right-hand side, click the icon that looks like a piece of paper with a pencil on top of it (the third blue icon down). My written comments to you will appear in a small window to the right of this. Above this, you can click to listen to my Voice Comments. How to Check Quiz Answers Go to TOOLS Click on MY GRADES Scroll down to the quiz you want to review and select. Under CALCULATED GRADE, click the blue score. The quiz will open and show answers.
Zoom Office Hour: Thursday 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. https://bmcc-cuny.zoom.us/j/87375607026?pwd=dzdSYmVJU0xNTmhYSHlNbDU3ZzNxQT09
A Message from the Writing Center The Writing Center supports writing across the curriculum by working with students and faculty to maximize the effectiveness of writing projects and student awareness of best practices. We work with all students who have writing projects, including those from the Social Sciences, Critical Thinking, and Writing Intensive courses. If you need help with your essays, please do take advantage of this free service. Click here to find out how to schedule writing/tutorial help at BMCC. Click here to sign up for the Writing Center. Click here for the Fall 2023 Writing Center schedule. How To Access Online Tutoring? 1. Students can use their current BMCC username and password to log in to Upswing from any internet enabled device from the Online Tutoring website (https://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/students/lrc/online-tutoring/): 2. To access online tutoring: Step 1: Go to https://bmcc.upswing.io/ and click on Log in Now. Step 2: Enter your BMCC Username and Password. Step 3: Select Meet with a Tutor. Step 4: Search for the subject or class you need help with. Step 5: Schedule a session with a certified BMCC tutor. Step 6: Click Go to Room on the tutoring section of your profile and get to it!
Help with Sentence Structure Run-on sentences, comma splices, and sentence fragments are the most common errors in essays. Please review the quick guide below for correcting these mistakes in sentence structure. For correcting run-on sentences and comma splices, review this PDF file. For correcting sentence fragments, click this link for a short video. Sentence Structure and Grammar Exercises Click this link to access the OWL at Purdue Writing Center “Sentence Structure” Page. On the navigation panel on the left of the screen, you can choose from a number of lessons and practice exercises.
Welcome to Week 15 of our course. This is the last full week of the Fall 2023 semester, but the last official day of class is Monday, December 11th. During this time, we will be finishing our reading of The House on Mango Street. There will be one final discussion board that is due on Monday; however, you do not have to respond to another student. Please be sure to address the prompt and post a personal and original response. The link to the final discussion board can be accessed through the Discussion link on the main menu (top menu) or on the Week 15 page at the bottom. The final quiz will be available from 9:00 Thursday, December 14 through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, December 17th. Once the quiz has closed, it will not be reopened.
Welcome to Week 14 of our online class. This week will begin our reading of the short novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. I look forward to hearing your discussion board responses to the vignettes that compose this affecting coming-of-age story.
Welcome to Week 13. This week, we will be exploring the writing of Raymond Carver, known for his precise and pared-down writing style. Note: There is no Zoom class on Thursday, November 23rd. Please use your time off to complete your overdue essays. There are only a couple of weeks left in this semester, and you simply will not pass without the essay component, no matter how many Zoom classes you may have attended. Happy Thanksgiving!
Welcome to Week 11 of our course. This week we will be exploring the genre of fairy tales. We’ll be reading several works centered on the Snow White Story. These include the fairytale “Little Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm and the poem “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Anne Sexton. An excerpt from the book The Uses of Enchantment by famed psychologist Bruno Bettleheim, will add much to think about with respect to themes and symbolism. The research essay will be assigned this week. All overdue essays must be submitted by the end of this week.
Welcome to Week 10 of our online course. This week we will be reading “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, a story that combines tragedy with elements of dark, laugh-out-loud humor. In the discussion board, please make sure you read and address the prompt specifically. Most of you are doing this, but I’m finding that a number of posts are not responding directly to what is being asked. Note: There is no quiz this week.
Welcome to Week 9 of our online course. This week we will be completing our segment on poetry. Readings will include examples of lyric, dramatic, and narrative poems. We will also read/hear two poems by your colleague Patricia Jackson. There is no quiz this week.
Welcome to Week 7 of our online course. This week we will finish reading Oedipus the King and enlarge our discussion of the play Be sure to complete Quiz 5 by midnight, Sunday, October 15th. Celeste Conway is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Topic: Thursday Zoom Class Time: Oct 12, 2023 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting https://bmcc-cuny.zoom.us/j/84748923355?pwd=N09YOGU2bnVnVWRvWDZGNEM2RXpOZz09 Meeting ID: 847 4892 3355 Passcode: 789192 — One tap mobile +19292056099,,84748923355#,,,,*789192# US (New York) +16469313860,,84748923355#,,,,*789192# US — J
In the beautiful and haunting story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, a great change takes place in a remote village on a seaside cape after a beautiful drowned body washes to shore . Prompt: Why do you think I might have assigned this as the first story of the course? To submit your Week 1 post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that reads “Add title,” type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 2” (example: John Hart Discussion 2). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 1 Discussion” (or whichever week is current). Never choose anything in the box that reads “Category Sticky.” Leave that box as it is. It will say “Select a category.” Leave it like that. Click for screenshot. 5. To add media (optional), click the “add media“ button in between the title box and the text box. Do not add the image directly to the media library. To get the image to show in the tile preview, go to “featured image > add featured image, in the lower right-hand side.” Click for screenshot. 6. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 7. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full […]
Prompt: In a post of at least 150 words, please respond to the following two questions: In what way did you connect with the narrator in “Salvation?” Why? Refer to specific scenes or language in the story. In what way did you connect with the narrator in “Araby?” Refer to specific scenes or language in the stories. To submit your Week 2 post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that reads “Add title,” type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 2” (example: John Hart Discussion 2). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 3 Discussion” (or whichever week is current). Never choose anything in the box that reads “Category Sticky.” Click for screenshot. 5. To add media (optional), click the “add media“ button in between the title box and the text box. Do not add the image directly to the media library. To get the image to show in the tile preview, go to “featured image > add featured image, in the lower right-hand side.” Click for screenshot. 6. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 7. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full credit.
A Chat GTP-generated essay on “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara would probably discuss economic disparity, lack of equal opportunity, racial inequity, and other broad social issues. What might you write about in an essay that is less about socio-economic issues and more about other interesting/important details or elements in the story? What title would you give this essay? To submit your Week 3 post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that reads “Add title,” type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 4” (example: John Hart Discussion 3). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 3 Discussion” (or whichever week is current). Never choose anything in the box that reads “Category Sticky.” Click for screenshot. 5. To add media (optional), click the “add media“ button in between the title box and the text box. Do not add the image directly to the media library. To get the image to show in the tile preview, go to “featured image > add featured image, in the lower right-hand side.” Click for screenshot. 6. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 7. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full credit.
COVID was a plague that affected the modern world. Think back to those days and compare/contrast the behaviors of the American population that you personally witnessed during this plague with the behaviors of the people of Thebes as seen in Oedipus the King. Refer to specific scenes/quotes from the play. If you were in another country, please discuss the behaviors you witnessed personally among the people of that country. To submit your Week 6 post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that appears, type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 6 (example: John Hart Discussion 6). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 7 Discussion.” 5. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 6. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full credit.
Compare/contrast the pared down writing style of Raymond Carver to the style of another writer whose work we have read this semester. Provide examples from both stories to support your ideas. To submit your Week 13 post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that reads “Add title,” type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 13” (example: John Hart Discussion 13). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 13 Discussion” (or whichever week is current). Never choose anything in the box that reads “Category Sticky.” Click for screenshot. 5. To add media (optional), click the “add media“ button in between the title box and the text box. Do not add the image directly to the media library. To get the image to show in the tile preview, go to “featured image > add featured image, in the lower right-hand side.” Click for screenshot. 6. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 7. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full credit.
Which of the vignettes from The House on Mango Street from pages 81 through the end affected you the most? Be sure to include at least one quote from the vignette in your response. Do not use a vignette from last week’s discussion. To submit your post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that reads “Add title,” type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 16 (example: John Hart Discussion 16). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 3 Discussion.” DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING UNDER THE BOX THAT READS “CATEGORY STICK.” LEAVE THAT AS IT. (It will read “Select Category.”) 5. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 6. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full credit.
Let’s use this as a test forum so everyone can experience how the Db posting works. Please just introduce yourself and say about what interests you and how you feel you can contribute to the course. To submit your Week 2 post, follow the steps below. 1. Scroll up to the black strip at the top of the screen and click the black “plus” sign inside the white circle. It is located to the right of the course title. 2. In the box that reads “Add title,” type in a title that includes your first name, last name, and the words “Discussion 2” (example: John Hart Discussion 2). 3. Type your response in the text box. Remember that your first post must be at least 150 words in order to receive full credit. 4. Navigate to the right side of the screen and choose the Post Category “Week 2 Discussion” (or whichever week is current). Never choose anything in the box that reads “Category Sticky.” Click for screenshot. 5. To add media (optional), click the “add media“ button in between the title box and the text box. Do not add the image directly to the media library. To get the image to show in the tile preview, go to “featured image > add featured image, in the lower right-hand side.” Click for screenshot. 6. Publish the post by clicking the blue button on the right. 7. Please leave a thoughtful reply to the post of one other classmate. Remember that your comments to others should be at least 75 words in order to receive full credit.
