Announcements

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.

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.