Welcome to the final two days of our ENG 201 course. Please complete the grammar reviews on the “Monday and Tuesday” page. Please also take the 10-question sentence structure quiz on Blackboard and participate in the final discussion board. You do not have to respond to another student. However, you must post by midnight on Tuesday, December 13th. The final quiz will be available from 9:00 a.m., Thursday, December 15 through 5:00 Sunday, December 18th. It has been a pleasure getting to know you through your writing and discussions. I wish you all a very happy holiday season and a restful break from your studies. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to the course.
Celeste Conway
Prompt: In a post of about 150 words, please tell which of the semester’s readings had the most meaning for you and why. To submit your Week 4 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 4). 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 4 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.
I just wanted to jump in here, which I don’t usually do. So many responses come so close to the meaning of this story, and some touch at the heart of it. Observations about the negative effects of obsession are very relevant and well expressed. But then the question becomes: Why is the boy so obsessed? Why does he need this focus in his life? What does the girl represent to him? A closer look at the character of the boy suggests answers to these questions. And by the way, don’t be fooled by his failure to buy the girl a gift. Ask yourself if the girl would have cared about him even if he were able to buy her a little tea set or trinket from the bazaar? One last request for when you are posting: In the “Category Sticky” box to the right, please do not change anything. Leave that to read “Select a Category.” In the box underneath this, which reads “Categories,” check the box for the current week, and then click the blue “Publish” button. Thank you!
I wanted to respond to the Week 4 discussion about “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara. I was very impressed by many of your comments in which you compared two characters from the story. Many of you discussed Mercedes, who serves as the “outlier,” as Eoin observed in his post. Clearly, she learns nothing from the expedition and only feels more hopeful that she might someday be accepted into the society represented by the clientele of the toy store. I don’t think she realizes how unrealistic that dream of acceptance actually is. There was also some excellent discussion of the interesting character Miss Moore, whom some critics say represents Black empowerment soon to come historically. I was glad to see mention of the other minor characters too, each of whom has slightly different reactions to what Miss Moore is trying to show them. They are so insulated in their world that they do not even realize their own poverty until this trip to the toy store. Some of you focused on Sugar, Sylvia’s best friend, who arrives at an intellectual response to “the lesson.” She is able to make observations about societal inequity and pose rhetorical questions about democracy, but that is as far as she takes the lesson of Miss Moore. It is only Sylvia who learns something about herself. She is an interesting, dynamic character, who runs through a gamut of emotions during the story. At first, she is cynical, wisecracking, and offhand about the venture. She is the clear leader in the group, which is why Miss Moore entrusts her with the taxi money, yet as the story develops readers see that there is deep vulnerability behind her tough exterior. She truly understands that she is not part of the world she has just been introduced to, […]
I just wanted to pop in here to give some general feedback about your posts for the first two weeks. Week 2: Your responses to “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” were sensitive and intelligent. Some of you mentioned the compassion that is seen in the story. Others focused on the idea of keeping an open mind and having a willingness to change. Others wrote about the importance of imagination and inspiration. All of these observations were wonderfully expressed, and many directly addressed the prompt about why I might have assigned this story as the first. All were valid and part of the reason. One answer by Alex Barrios hit particularly close. He wrote, “Maybe some of us are the village, and this course is our Esteban.” For me, this story is about the power of stories to change lives. In the story, a community comes together to create a story from their imagination about a man who has no story when he washes onto the store. In their made-up story, they imagine a life for him that is greater than their own. Then they set out to change their own lives to live up to the myth they have created. My hope is that the stories we read in this class will expand your perspectives in a similar way. I hope that at least one of the works of literature we read in this course will stay with you forever. Yes, I mean it. Forever. Week 3: What I noticed and appreciated about most of the Week 3 responses was the clear response to the prompt about the change in the narrator. Sometimes students who are new to studying literature end up retelling the story rather than analyzing it. In ENG 201, we are not writing book reports like the […]
Click here for access to the BMCC Fall 2022 Academic Calendar, which lists important dates and deadlines for the semester.
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.
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: 6WNW87K The name of the class is: Introduction to Literature Fall 2022. Thank you for your cooperation.
This is an asynchronous online course. There are no Zoom meetings nor in-person sessions. Each week, 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
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.
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.
Essay Due Dates Essay Introduction due: Sunday, October 2 (See Week 5 for details). Essay First Draft: Sunday, October 23 (See Week 8 for details). Research Summary due: Sunday, November 6 (See Week 10 for details). Essay Final Draft due: Sunday, November 20 (See Week 11 for details ). In order to be reviewed all essays must contain a signed Academic Integrity Pledge. Below the Work Cited page, please type the following and type your full name. I hereby pledge that the information in this essay is my own original work and that all phrases or quotes taken from other sources have been correctly identified via quotation marks/in-text citation. YOUR NAME
Quiz 1: Wednesday, 1/25 – Sunday, 1/29 See Week 1 for details. Quiz 2: Monday, 1/30- Sunday 2/5 See Week 3 for details. Quiz 3: Monday, 2/6 – Sunday, 2/12 See Week 4 for details Quiz 4: Monday, 2/13 – Sunday, 9/19 See Week 5 for details Quiz 5: Monday 2/27 – Sunday, See Week 7 for details Quiz 6 – Midterm Monday, 10/17 – Sunday, 10/23 See Week 9 for details Quiz 7: Monday, 10/24 – Sunday, 10/30 See Week 10 for details Quiz 8 – Final Thursday, 12/15 – Sunday, 12/18 See Final Exam Week for details Note: Quizzes cannot be made up. Students have an entire week in which to complete each quiz.
BMCC Grading System A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F 93 – 100 90 – 92 87 – 89 83 – 86 80 – 82 77 – 79 73 – 76 70 – 72 67 – 69 63 – 66 60 – 62
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 Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 11:00 – 12:00 Tuesday Link https://bmcc-cuny.zoom.us/j/85294501969?pwd=b2ZlNEZoUTFzbkpkL2JrMVRMRkFkQT09 Wednesday Link https://bmcc-cuny.zoom.us/j/84762842637?pwd=OE55N0gxNnNEd25JK1Vna2Nzdis3Zz09
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. Tutors work with all students who have writing projects, including those from the Social Sciences, Critical Thinking and Writing Intensive courses. Click this link to access BMCC’s Online Writing Center for help with writing for your English course.
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.
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 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.” 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: We know by the language and perspective of the narrator that “Salvation” is a coming-of-age story told by an adult looking back on a painful childhood experience, which results in an epiphany. In what ways is the young narrator different from the way he was at the beginning of the story? 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 3” (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.
Choose two characters from “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara and compare their response to the experience of visiting the FAO Schwarz toy store. To submit your Week 4 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 4). 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 4 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.
“Araby” by James Joyce is not a love story. What is “Araby” really about? 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 5” (example: John Hart Discussion 5). 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.
In the essay about suspense in her story “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” O’Connor writes that readers, like the ancient Greek viewers of tragedy, “should know what is going to happen in this story so that the element of suspense in it will be transferred from its surface to its interior.” We know what the story is about on the surface. What do you feel the story is about in its “interior?” To submit your Week 8 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 8” (example: John Hart Discussion 8). 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 8 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 […]
In Oedipus the King, the Chorus functions as the collective voice of the citizens of Thebes. The Odes, sung by the chorus, also exemplify one of Aristotle’s criteria for great tragic theatre: “language enhanced by varying beauties.” Select one passage from this week’s reading (You do not have to discuss the entire ode) sung by the Chorus and write a 150-word post in which you analyze the meaning of the passage and give examples of some of the beautiful language employed. Include the line numbers for us. Be sure to include the quoted material. Please do not use a passage that someone has already used. And please do not Google this. Trust your own intelligence. * 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 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 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.
Aristotle has written that “poetry is a higher form than history.” He qualifies that history is the story of a particular event that happens at a particular time to a particular person or group, while literature is the story of what is universal in the human experience. What timeless human experiences or behaviors do you find in your reading of Oedipus the King? To submit your Week 7 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 7 (example: John Hart Discussion 7). 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.
Prompt: How does the theme of the Emily Dickinson poem “The Wife” relate to Mrs. Mallard’s emotional state in “The Story of an Hour?” In order to receive credit, you must refer to the totality of the poem, not just the first four lines. Please include direct quotes from the poem to support your points. Please avoid repetition of what others have already noted. To submit your Week 9 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 9” (example: John Hart Discussion 9). 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 9 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.
Please complete all three steps in your response this week: Identify the author and the literary work you are focusing on for your research essay. Please share the actual word-for-word thesis statement of your research essay in your post. Explain what specific kind of secondary source information you feel will support your thesis. Identify the BMCC databases you have explored to date and what the results have been. 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 10 (example: John Hart Discussion 10). 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.
In what ways have your ideas about poetry changed or broadened in response to the Week 11 readings and activities? Please be specific and refer to a particular activity and what you took from it. 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 11 (example: John Hart Discussion 11). 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.
In the article “How to Read a Poem” from the Poets.org website (linked in both Weeks 11 and 12), the poet William Carlos Williams, in acknowledging the challenges of reading poetry, writes that a reader must “complete” what the poet has begun. With specific reference to one of this week’s poems, explain how you “completed” what the poet set in motion. In your answer, be sure to refer specifically to the article and to quote from your chosen poem to illustrate your response. 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 12 (example: John Hart Discussion 12). 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.
Prompt: In her critical overview of “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (Activity 2) scholar Rena Korb discusses several different interpretative views of the story. One interpretation reads the story as a sort of “inverted fairy tale.” Other critics see the story as “a tale of initiation” into the evils of a depraved American culture. Still others may read the story as a “feminist allegory.” Ideas in these interpretations often overlap, and there is no one simplistic key to understand the story. With reference to the article by Korb, discuss your own understanding of the story, which may include ideas not mentioned by the critic. 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 […]
What specific observations in Bettleheim’s psychologically oriented reading of the story strike you as insightful and relevant to “Little Snow White,” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, or the poem “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Anne Sexton? Warning: Any comments that maintain that “Little Snow White” is just a simple tale for children that should not be overanalyzed will not receive credit. To submit your Week 14 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 14” (example: John Hart Discussion 14). 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 14 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 one of the vignettes from pages 3 – 53 of The House on Mango Street made the strongest impression on you? In a post of at least 150 words, identify the vignette and discuss its theme or central idea, explaining why it resonated for you. Please do not discuss the same vignette someone else has discussed, if possible.
Which one of the vignettes from The House on Mango Street from page 81 through the end made the strongest impression on you? In a post of at least 150 words, identify the vignette and discuss its theme or central idea, explaining why it resonated for you. As with last week, please do not discuss the same vignette someone else has discussed, if possible. Do not discuss the same vignette as last week. 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 16 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.
Welcome to Week 16 of our online class. This is the last full week of our online course, but the semester extends through Monday and Tuesday of next week. Final Exams begin on Thursday, December 15th. Our final quiz will be available from 9:00 Thursday, December 15th through 5:00 p.m. Sunday, December 18th. For this week, please finish reading the short novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and take part in the discussion board. Next week, there will be a general discussion about the course.
Welcome to Week 15 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 14 of our course. This week we will 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. These works should be especially interesting as they follow last week’s reading of what some have called Joyce Carol Oates’ “inverted fairytale,” “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Final draft essay was due Sunday, November 20th.
Welcome to Week 13 of our course. This week we will be returning to the short story form for a reading of Joyce Carole Oates’s chilling work “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Warning: It may give you nightmares. Essay Final Draft is due Sunday, November 20th.
Welcome to Week 12 of our course. This week we will be continuing our segment on Poetry, looking at various forms, including lyric, narrative, and dramatic poems. There is no quiz this week.
Welcome to Week 11 of our course. We will now be starting a two-week segment on poetry. This week we will be focusing on the iconic form of the sonnet. The Research Summary form is due Sunday, November 6th. There is no quiz this week.
Welcome to Week 10 of our online course. And congratulations on making it through the first half of the semester! This week we will pause in our readings to focus on the research component of the essay you have been developing. The activities for the week are designed to help you locate a relevant secondary source in the BMCC library for your in-progress essay project. If your goal is to earn a high grade on this final project, I urge you to complete all activities. Be sure to take Quiz 7 by 5:00 Sunday, October 30. This quiz checks your knowledge of the research summary assignment.
Welcome to Week 9 of our online course. This week we will be reading a selection of short works from the 19th Century, which feature women protagonists: “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin and “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant, along with the Emily Dickinson poem “The Wife.” I look forward to reading your responses to these quite stunning works, which express the unspoken longings of married women from this bygone century. First draft Essay is due Sunday, October 23rd. Be sure your introduction has received a grade of at least C before submitting this assignment. Note: At the end of this week, a permanent grade of zero will be entered for students who have not yet submitted the Essay Introduction assignment. There is a 25-question multiple-choice midterm quiz this week, which covers material from weeks 1-9.. This quiz carries the same weight in terms of grading as all other quizzes.
Welcome to Week 8 of our online course. We are now at the halfway mark of the semester. Thank you again for your insightful and in-depth responses in last week’s discussion on Oedipus the King. That was my favorite discussion forum so far. This week we will be reading “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor, a story which combines tragedy with elements of dark, laugh-out-loud humor. Please be sure to complete all assignments on the page. I also look forward to more of your interesting comments in this week’s Discussion Board. There are officially no classes on Monday in observance of Columbus Day. There is no quiz this week.
Welcome to Week 7 of our online course. This week we will finish reading the reading of Oedipus the King and enlarge our discussion. I will be grading your essay introduction over the next week or so. Please be sure to review my comments/corrections on the essay itself and listen to my voice response. If you don’t know how to do this, please visit COURSE INFORMATION and scroll down to “How to Review Instructor’s Comments on Written Work.” It is critical that you review these comments. Be sure to complete Quiz 5 by 5:00 Sunday, October 9th. Note: BMCC is officially closed on Tuesday and Wednesday (Oct. 4-5) for Jewish holidays.
Welcome to Week 6 of our online course. This week will be exploring one of the great tragedies of Western literature, Oedipus the King. I look forward to reading your comments in the discussion board as we examine the complex character of the doomed king and ponder timeless questions about the human condition. There is no quiz this week. Essay Introduction is due Sunday, October 2. See Activity 4 on the Week 5 page for directions. BMCC is officially closed on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 26-27, in observance of the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashana.
Welcome to Week 5 of our OpenLab course. This week will be reading “Araby” by the renowned Irish writer James Joyce. I look forward to hearing your responses to this dark and soulful story. “Araby” will be accessed through the Commonlit website, which we will be using frequently during the term. If you have not yet created an account with Commonlit, please review the easy directions in COURSE INFORMATION. Note: You do not have to write the answers to the short questions on the CommonLit website; however, I do suggest that you review them to enhance your understanding of the story and in preparation for future quizzes. Essay 1, which is only a one-paragraph introduction, will be assigned this week. Please follow directions with utmost care. Be sure to complete Quiz 4 by 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Note: Please be careful when posting on the discussion board. Do not change anything in the “Category Sticky” box on the right side of the screen. Leave that to read “Select Category.” If you check that box, my instructions do not appear first. Under that box is the one where you will add a check next to the current week. Also, please title your post: First Name Last Name Week 4 Discussion. Thank you!
Welcome to Week 4 of our OpenLab course. This week will be reading “The Lesson” by Toni Cade Bambara, a story that is both funny and deeply serious. The story is written in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) rather than standard English. This will probably present no problems for most students; however, those for whom English is a second language may find the grammar and language a bit strange. I think you’ll all agree that the use of AAVE adds realism, authenticity, and humor to the narration. Please be sure to complete Quiz 3 by 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 18th. Note: Please be careful when posting on the discussion board. Do not change anything in the “Category Sticky” box on the right side of the screen. Leave that to read “Select Category.” If you check that box, my instructions do not appear first. Under that box is the one where you will add a check next to the current week. Also, please title your post: First Name Last Name Week 4 Discussion. Thank you!
Welcome to Week 3 of our online course. The week’s reading is the very short story “Salvation,” which is an excerpt from Langston Hughes’s memoir The Big Sea. We will also be looking at concepts of irony, which are at play in this story. Don’t forget to take Quiz 2 by 5:00 p.m. Sunday, September 11. Enjoy!
Welcome to Week 2 of our Open Lab class. This week we will be reading the beautiful and mysterious story “The Most Handsome Drowned Man” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I’m sure you will be entranced by the story and will enjoy the week’s tasks and activities. I look forward to hearing from everyone this week in the discussion board. Be sure to complete Quiz 1 by 5:00 p.m. this Wednesday (August 31)..
Welcome to Week 1 of ENG 201 Introduction to Literature on the BMCC OpenLab platform. I look forward to an interesting semester of reading, thinking, talking, and writing. Before exploring this website, please be sure to complete the E-Learning Orientation on your Blackboard home page. Next, please browse through the main menu above, which includes: Home, Announcements, Course Information, Help and Resources, Professor Conway, Questions, Shared Student Essays, and Discussions. Please pay special attention to Course Information. Now navigate to the Weekly Folders on the side menu. Click on Week 1 and complete the activities on the page.
At any time during the course, please post any questions or concerns about the course that you may have. If you have question, it’s likely that others may be wondering the same thing, so please feel comfortable to post here. Of course, you can also raise questions or concerns privately via email.