[the] ENGLISH-BLOG [.com]

. . . If you are submitting to this blog post for your final exam, remember to add a few comments (after a line separator) at the END of your entry after the works cited (should be the FINAL, not first, revision of your term paper) explaining why this post was one of the most appropriate to your paper's topic/thesis. Don't forget that you need to do this for two blog entries and you need to submit a paragraph informing me of which two blog entries you submitted to and an explanation why to turnitin.com. All of these steps need to be completed to get credit for the final exam.

Good luck,

Dr. Hobbs

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." ~ William Butler Yeats

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*FROM April 23rd*

Image Source: http://k.b5z.net/i/u/2183976/i/calvin-writing.gif

First, your paper proposals were due here for an earlier assignment.

Now, I want a statement of your thesis and your primary arguments as discussed in tonight's class. Enter them in the comment box (see more instructions below):

Per the final exam: Based on the class election we held Wednesday night, there will be a take-home examination with ten questions (two-points each), similar to the mid-term but based on Jerzy Kosinski, August Wilson, and Jonathan Safran Foer. It will be due on turnitin.com by Friday May 2nd at 8:00am (no later). You will get the take-home exam in our next class meeting. I will enter grades the morning of May 2nd so I can’t accept it any later than that---you snooze, you lose!

Next week will still be a regular class meeting so expect a quiz as usual. You should finish reading the rest ofEverything is Illuminated. We will still do a regular homework assignment so also expect that. In the next meeting, a stapled, hardcopy of your revision of the term paper is due. You should do a new, revised version of the draft you have brought tonight based on the corrections you will received tonight in the peer-review. Your homework tonight will be to go to the same page on the blog where you previously submitted your proposal (show on overhead) and enter a new comment that states clearly your thesis in one sentence and your chief three arguments for proving that thesis.

If you were absent or late to class, here are the questions from the quiz covered. Again, you are responsible for this material.

1.Who is the protagonist of Foer’s Everything?
2.Circle the correct answer: A “shtetl” is (a) the Ukrainian word for “Jew” (b) a small Jewish village (c) none of the above
3.Why does Alex/Sasha speak in a strange/funny way?
4.State the country that most of the action in Foer’s Everything take place.
5. Circle the correct answer: Who narrates the parts of the story about the twentieth-century? (a) Jonathan (b) Alex/Sasha’s Grandfather (c) Alex/Sasha (d) Sammy Davis, Jr., Jr. (e) Yankel
6.What does Jonathan find ironic about Grandfather’s bigotry and the name of Grandfather’s dog?
7.Who wrote Everything Is Illuminated?
8.Circle the correct answer: Alex/Sasha and his family are (a) Polish Immigrants (b) Ukrainian Orthodox (c) Ukrainian Jews.
9.What is “Trachimbrod”?
10. What does “Sasha” mean and why do Alex’s family call him that? (If you don’t know the answer to that you may tell me what “Shapka” means).
11.Circle the correct answer. Everything concerns, primarily, (a) the story of Jonathan’s trip to the Ukraine (b) the history of Jonathan’s distant relatives (c) none of the above (d) both a and b.
12.The author and one of the chief protagonists of Everything have the same name. Circle the correct answer: Is this narrative (a) fiction or (b) non-fiction?

We then watched a film clip from the beginning half of the cinematic adaptation of Everything is Illuminated by Liev Schreiber (2005) and answered the following questions (see below). If you missed class and don't have a copy of the film, a lot of various clips can be found on Google Video HERE.

How is the story being told in the film as opposed to how it is being told in the book.
So far, you have read the first half of the book. As you watch the first part of the film version, what is missing?
What has been added?

Also, some of you wanted to know about the "free" knock-off version of Microsoft Office called OpenOffice.org. I often use it; it is very similar and has a version of powerpoint, excel, access, and word, etc. It's a free download and the address is: http://www.openoffice.org/

Just a reminder that anyone who has NOT submitted the FIRST DRAFT of your final paper to turnitin.com will automatically fail the term paper assignment. Please note that submitting your FIRST DRAFT to turnitin.com was a REQUIRED component of the term paper. I am looking at the record now and see that only about 2/3 of the class submitted the FIRST DRAFT of their papers to turnitin.com. For those of you who did submit their FIRST DRAFTS, you can ignore this warning. For those of you who did not submit your FIRST DRAFTS, I will open the folder up for ONE more day. The folder will be closed after Tuesday so BEWARE your final grade!

See you in our final meeting next week. It's been a pleasure!

Dr. Hobbs

*NOTE: As with all reading responses submitted to the English-Blog for EL 267, you must first submit the response to the proper space on www.turnitin.com (the date for which it was assigned). To get credit, the response must be present in both places by the deadline. Submissions to only one will not receive credit, so beware!