Category: Assignments

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How Long ’til Black Future Month? Afrofuturism in Literature

“When I began writing science fiction, when I began reading, heck, I wasn’t in any of this stuff I read. I wrote myself in.”

— Octavia Butler

Boy, it’s hard to choose. But while it’s tempting to make you read everything Octavia Butler wrote, instead I will point you to two living writers.

N.K. Jemisin — like Natalie Diaz — is a winner of the MacArthur Foundation’s “Genius Grant.” (The title of this post is hers, for a book of short stories.) She is best known for a sci-fi trilogy called the Broken Earth series. It’s good! But I won’t make you read it. Instead, please watch this video the MacArthur Foundation made about her and this video of a famous speech she made at an award ceremony (the Hugos) about representation:

If you are going to write your response this week on literature, please also read this New Yorker profile of Jemisin.

N.-K.-Jemisins-Dream-Worlds-_-The-New-YorkerDownload

Another obvious heir to Octavia Butler is Nnedi Okorafor. You can read an excerpt from her (super amazing) Binti trilogy here:

https://www.tor.com/2015/08/17/excerpts-binti-nnedi-okorafor/
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Black Panther


Here are some resources about the movie Black Panther. Pay extra attention to these! In addition to being a nice example of Afrofuturism, they are related to the Roderique essay for the final. #multitasking.

Here’s the trailer, which we already watched.

And here are two articles to read about the movie’s relationship to Afrofuturism:

Why-‘Black-Panther-Is-a-Defining-Moment-for-Black-America-The-New-York-Times-1Download

And also this one: https://theconversation.com/towards-wakanda-chadwick-bosemans-passing-and-the-power-and-limits-of-afrofuturism-145300

Simple CSS

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Janelle Monae: What Is Revolution Without Song?

In discussions of contemporary Afrofuturism, it generally doesn’t take long for Janelle Monae’s name to come up.  (BECAUSE SHE IS AWESOME.)  I’d like to make you watch and listen to every single thing she has ever made, but I will settle for the following: 

“The Defiant Sci-Fi of Janelle Monae” 

(I recommend you check out the lyrics here, as well — bear in mind that the commentary on the lyrics is written by whomever cares to write it, and frankly not all of it is as careful as it could be: https://genius.com/1733622 )

Since we watched those in class, here are a few more:

“Tightrope” This is the one with the dance scenes in the Afrofuturism video:

“Turntables” 

Monae wrote this song for a documentary about Stacy Abrams. Not familiar with Stacy Abrams? Get familiar. She is one of the most important political organizers working today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stacey_Abrams

Lyrics here: https://genius.com/Janelle-monae-turntables-lyrics

Short article on “Turntables” (where the quotation in this item’s title comes from): https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/janelle-monae-turntables-interview-1057188/

This one isn’t Afrofuturism. “Hell You Talmbout” is a song Monae first wrote in 2015, in response to police brutality. “Say Her Name” is an updated version, focusing on Black women killed by police violence.

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Comma Splices


Comma splices are one of the most common sentence-level errors among intro college writers. Is this you? Maybe! Don’t worry: it’s totally fixable.

Comma splices happen when you have two INDEPENDENT clauses that you want to put into one sentence. You can do that, but you have to do it carefully. When all you do is smack a comma between them, nope, that’s not gonna work.

Commas are fantastic! The things they are best at are:

  1. Separating items in a list, like this:
    • I forgot my homework, my raincoat, my lunch, and my .
  2. Separating DEPENDENT clauses from independent ones, like this:
    • Because the house was on fire, I decided not to go back for my homework. [The stuff before the comma is a dependent clause; the stuff after is an independent clause.]
  3. Going BEFORE A CONJUNCTION when you use a conjunction to separate two independent clauses, like this:
    • The house was on fire, so I decided not to go back for my homework. [So is a conjunction here, linking two independent clauses.]
  4. Otherwise setting off phrases, especially non-restrictive phrases and appositives, like this:
    • My homework, which the dog did not eat, is unfortunately unavailable at this time.

Lots more about commas here.

What you CAN’T do with commas is connect two independent clauses. I made a ridiculous video about this during quarantine, starring the picture of Alexander Hamilton my friends have on their wall for unclear reasons. You can watch it here:

…or, if you are opposed to false mustaches, you can read this post on Grammarly: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma-splice/

The bottom line is this:

  1. A clause is a group of words with a subject and a verb.
  2. An independent clause is a clause that can be its own sentence, like “The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm” or “The crocodiles are angry.”
  3. A clause that CAN’T be its own sentence is a dependent clause. Like, “because I once cried my eyes out over The Good Fight season ending.” See how that feels unfinished?

OKAY. So a comma splice happens when you join two independent clauses with a comma, like this:

The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm, the crocodiles are angry.

Yeah, no. Don’t do that.

Fix it one of these ways:

  • Make two separate sentences:
    • The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm. The crocodiles are angry.
  • Separate the clauses with a colon or semicolon. (These have slightly different uses. More on that here and here.)
    • The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm; the crocodiles are angry.
    • The crocodiles are angry: The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm.
  • Join them with a conjunction:
    • The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm, and the crocodiles are angry.
  • Make one a dependent clause (and keep the comma!)
    • Because The Great British Bake Off has lost its charm, the crocodiles are angry.
JOINED TWO INDEPENDENT CLAUSES WITH A SEMICOLON; DIDN'T MAKE A COMMA SPLICE | image tagged in fist bump baby | made w/ Imgflip meme maker

Did you read this far? WOW.

In the comments, please write an example of a comma splice and an example of how to fix it.

Andy Dwyer - Too Afraid To Ask meme

Still lost? Try this Khan Academy video:

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How To Post On This Site

Here’s how to make a post on this site.

First, click the + button on the top navigation bar, circled in red here:

IF YOU DON’T SEE THIS: If you don’t have a plus sign, make sure that you are logged in to Open Lab. If you still don’t see one, contact me: possibly you are not officially a “member” of the course in Open Lab, which we need to fix.

Choose “post” from the drop down menu.

Put your title in the Title spot, and start typing in the text spot. You can use the plus sign on the right to see a ton of different “block” types — this is where you find options for embedding images, video links, files, and so on. It’s pretty fun!

When you are done, make sure you assign categories to your post. It won’t let you publish without having at least one.

Click on the gear symbol in the upper right, then in the righthand navigation that opens, make sure you are in “post” rather than “block.” Scroll down to see the category links.

In addition to whatever pre-existing categories are relevant, please CATEGORIZE with YOUR NAME and any other useful new ones, for instance, the name of the topic you are writing about. Categories make it easier to find your posts later.

Make sure you have signed your post!

Press Publish (upper right) when your post is ready to go. You can always preview it first.

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Terms and Ideas Final Exam 1 (Roderique)

Hey folks.

Here’s a space to start building our Terms and Ideas lists for Hadiya Roderique’s “The Case for Black Joy.” I’ll post the essay here and two ways to download it.

Read it, then comment in the terms and ideas format (brush up on that here), but since the final exam is VERY important, do FIVE terms and at least TWO ideas. Try to add to our group knowledge by looking at what has already been posted, so that there’s less repetition. If you see a term or idea someone has posted that you could add value to, please reply to their comment!

the-case-for-black-joy-by-hadiya-roderiqueDownload
the-case-for-black-joy-by-hadiya-roderique-1Download

A reminder on the Terms and Ideas form:

  1. Read the article (or essay or poem) first. Take note of things you need to look up. Look them up. Check that you are using a definition that makes sense.
  2. Mark sections of the text that introduce interesting ideas. This is much easier to do if you are reading on paper! If you are reading on-screen, write notes in a notebook. I know, it’s easier not to, but you will really, really wish you had done this when it is time to write a paper on this topic. Plus it makes you smarter.
  3. In you reply, list at least FIVE terms you looked up. This can mean just looking a word up in the dictionary — such as “tabernacle,” in the James Baldwin — or looking up a broader concept — such as “Congo Square” in wikipedia or similar. (Yes, wikipedia is fine for this purpose.)
  4. PROVIDE A SOURCE FOR YOUR DEFINITION. If you copy it word for word — which is fine for this assignment — PUT IT IN QUOTATION MARKS. You don’t need to use full MLA format for this assignment, though you are welcome to. A URL in parentheses or a link is fine. But get in the habit of giving credit to your sources.
  5. Next, write 1-3 paragraphs about TWO IDEAS in the text you think are worth further examination.
  6. After making your reply, return to the post and comment on 2-3 of your classmates’ replies. You may learn something! There are a lot of smart people around here.
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Terms and Ideas Final Exam 2 (Fromm)

Hey folks.

Here’s a space to start building our Terms and Ideas lists for Erich Fromm’s “Disobedience As A Psychological And Moral Problem.” I’ll post the essay here and two ways to download it.

Read it, then comment in the terms and ideas format (brush up on that here), but since the final exam is VERY important, do FIVE terms and at least TWO ideas. Try to add to our group knowledge by looking at what has already been posted, so that there’s less repetition. If you see a term or idea someone has posted that you could add value to, please reply to their comment!

disobedience-as-a-psychological-and-moral-problem-fromm-1Download
disobedience-as-a-psychological-and-moral-problem-fromm-1Download

After you read this essay, post a reply using the “terms and ideas” model. Watch the Terms and Ideas” video and read more about that model here.

A reminder on the form:

  1. Read the article (or essay or poem) first. Take note of things you need to look up. Look them up. Check that you are using a definition that makes sense.
  2. Mark sections of the text that introduce interesting ideas. This is much easier to do if you are reading on paper! If you are reading on-screen, write notes in a notebook. I know, it’s easier not to, but you will really, really wish you had done this when it is time to write a paper on this topic. Plus it makes you smarter.
  3. In you reply, list at least 3 terms you looked up. This can mean just looking a word up in the dictionary — such as “tabernacle,” in the James Baldwin — or looking up a broader concept — such as “Congo Square” in wikipedia or similar. (Yes, wikipedia is fine for this purpose.)
  4. PROVIDE A SOURCE FOR YOUR DEFINITION. If you copy it word for word — which is fine for this assignment — PUT IT IN QUOTATION MARKS. You don’t need to use full MLA format for this assignment, though you are welcome to. A URL in parentheses or a link is fine. But get in the habit of giving credit to your sources.
  5. Next, write 1-3 paragraphs about an idea in the text you think is worth further examination.
  6. After making your reply, return to the post and comment on 2-3 of your classmates’ replies. You may learn something! There are a lot of smart people around here.
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FINAL EXAM READINGS

The readings for the final exam are: “The Case for Black Joy,” by Hadiya Roderique, and “Disobedience as a Psychological and Moral Problem,” by Erich Fromm.

We will look at these together at the end of the semester, but YOU NEED TO STUDY THEM ON YOUR OWN, TOO. The best preparation for the exam is to read these repeatedly throughout the semester, until you feel them in your bones.

the-case-for-black-joy-by-hadiya-roderique

disobedience-as-a-psychological-and-moral-problem-fromm

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Special Languages

Think about the languages you speak –not just the kinds of big languages that get printed on the spines of dictionaries (English, Arabic, Spanish, and so on) but the languages that your smaller communities have built and use to, in Baldwin’s terms, “describe and thus control” their realities.

Many of these authors discuss the ways languages create and define group identities by inclusion and exclusion. How have you observed this in your own life? Think about the groups you belong to: what “secret languages” do you use? Choose one word or phrase that a groups you belong to uses that people outside of that group do not use and/or understand. In what ways does this word or phrase operate? Use at least one of our readings as an analytical framework or point of reference.

Write about this word or phrase in an essay of 750-1000 words. For your first submitted draft, you submit this essay via Turn It In on our Blackboard page. (See my email if you are confused.) Your final draft will be published as a blog post on this site.

First Draft due Saturday, 10/2, 11:59 pm

Final Draft due Sunday, 10/10, 11:59 pm

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On Grading

I keep wanting to have this talk during class time, and it keeps slipping away. So let’s start the conversation here and continue when we are together.

I’d like to know what your thought are on a fair way to evaluate the work you do in this course. I’d like us to come up with a system that rewards effort and growth without feeling punitive and awful. I think we can do this, at least in small ways.

Take a few minutes to poke around this website about “ungrading,” a new movement in evaluating student work. It’s okay if you don’t agree with any of it! I just think it is useful background to this discussion: https://www.jessestommel.com/ungrading-an-faq/ Feel free to google “ungrading” for more ideas.

Some parts of the course I have to grade the way the department wants me to grade. The final exam, for instance, is graded using this rubric, usually by me and separately by another professor. Take a look at the rubric:

NEWGradingRubric

Something I like about that rubric is that technical writing skills — spelling, grammar, that kind of thing — is evaluated separately from other writing skills, like argumentation (that’s basically the “thesis” column) and organization. There are some writers who are excellent at that kind of thing but still developing when it comes to things like subject/verb agreement, and I like that this rubric recognizes that.

Something I dislike about this rubric is that a thesis must be “clearly articulated” in order for me to recognize that it is “thought-provoking.” I like to be able to recognize ambition even when it could use greater clarity — which happens a lot.

In past semesters, I have used that rubric for all the major papers, on the grounds that it’s important for students to get used to what it rewards in order to have the best chance to do well on the final, but I don’t really like how much that feels like “teaching to the test.” In addition, it’s definitely not a good rubric for things like blog comments! So here is what I would like you to think about and address in your comments on this post:

  1. What do you notice about that rubric? What do you like or dislike?
  2. Do you think we should use this rubric for all major papers? For any of them?
  3. How DO you think it is fair to evaluate things like blog comments? Full credit for doing them on time? Some kind of extra credit for really good ones? What do you think makes a really good course participant? What should we reward and value?
  4. Are you interested in a system where you (individually or as a group) determine the goals for a particular project and submit your own assessments (which I can follow or tweak)?
  5. If you have had previous experiences with other non-traditional kinds of grading, share them! Or if you have had experiences with courses whose evaluation systems really worked for you, talk about that! Let’s build something good here.