104AboutWar: April 2008

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Assignment for Thursday, May 1

Choose either of the following:

1. Put a link on your blog to a song, video, advertisement, or some aspect of
pop culture. Then write a short creative piece with a 250 word maximum that
connects to you in some thematic or personal way.

OR

2. Write a creative piece with a 250 word maximum that deals with war as a
metaphor. So, for example, you might write a piece about something you yourself
feel at war with, or you might write about conceptual wars such as the war
between right and wrong, or good and evil.

Due: Thursday morning, May 1

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Do Your Own Thing!

For class Tuesday, April 22nd, I'd like you to post something to your blog of your own choosing. It should be relevant to our class and it should include both your own writing and a picture or a link to a video. If you are wondering if your specific idea is too crazy or strange...don't. Go ahead with it. Proceed with confidence.

Due: Tuesday morning, April 22nd.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Vietnam Photo Archives

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/vietnam-photos/

http://www.vwam.com/vets/photos.html

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Assignment for Thursday, April 17th

The Civil War, or “The War Between the States,” occurred on American soil. The western-most battle of the war occurred about 40 miles from Tucson, at Picacho Peak. Go to www.civilwarphotos.net and select and post a photo to your blog from the many hundreds of choices. Then, find and post a link to an article related to the photo you chose. Then, combine your newly-gained historical knowledge and your extensive film-analysis vocabulary to analyze the photo you chose.

Due Thursday morning, April 17th.

Tuesday, April 15th In-Class Assignment

In your in-class group, after you have been assigned a year, go to the New York Times Interactive Website that synopsizes the last five years of the current war in Iraq. Then, using your newly-developed photo-vocabulary, choose one of the photos and discuss it with your group. What are the major elements and aspects of the photo? What, thematically is it trying to convey? What is the major source of its power? Be prepared to then "present" the photo to the class as a group.

Include, in your presentation to the class, a short recounting of what each group member was doing during the time that the photo was taken. Were you unaware, slightly aware, or very aware of the events that are depicted in the photo? Why?

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Assignment: Reading a Photograph

For Tuesday, April 15th, first go to nuovo.com/southern-images/analyses.html, and read the article, "Basic Strategies in Reading Photographs" posted there, becoming familiar with important terms and ideas associated with analyzing a photograph.

Then, go to www.schicklerart.com/auto_exh/RPCWar?page=1 and choose one photograph from the list to do a 250 word analysis. Use at least two of the terms you learned in the article posted above.

Due Tuesday morning, April 15th.

Matt Rotando's 104 Blog

www.104aboutwar.blogspot.com

Write an open letter to the citizens of the United States of America

As a student in English 104, a class that has focused primarily on war and how we communicate about it, write an open letter to the citizens of the United States of America, addressing the issue of what needs to be done to talk about war in our country. How can we improve our dialog about war? In what ways is it already good, and in what ways is it functioning poorly? What kinds of forums could you suggest to improve communicative interaction among citizens? Use at least one powerful and moving quotation from an article, essay, story, or film that you have read or watched in this class. 250 Word Minimum, 350 Word Maximum.

104 War Assignment

For My English 104 Students, I'd like you post a link on your blog to a recent (this past week) article about the current war in Iraq. Then, on your blogs, I'd like you to post a short summary (150 words or less) of the article, along with a short rhetorical analysis (150 words or less), paying special attention to frequently appearing words and phrases and what they tell you about the ideological position(s) of the author.

This is due up on your blogs by Thursday morning, April 10.

104AboutWar