Friday, November 30th

We have been using the large definition of CULTURE to provide us direction in our start of examining HISTORICAL CONTEXT.  We will first review the definition of culture and the expansion on the definition.

Now that you have read the selection from the ancient Mesopotamian text, The Epic of Gilgamesh, you need to think to the large aspects of culture that you feel can be explored further to start our analysis of Gilgamesh. 

The following will go in your notes. 

1. Select 4 large aspects of culture. You select which aspects you want to examine further, and that you feel is relevant.

2. With each of these aspects of culture, you will turn to our literary device, HISTORICAL CONTEXT. What events during the time of Gilgamesh's creation and transmission, do you think are relevant as a reflection of the culture that created the text? You can use your text book, but also look online. Please keep in mind the time period of the text... oral transmission and written text....  when you are looking for influence.

3. For each of the aspects of culture, you will then need to gather evidence from Gilgamesh that you feel is a reflection of the cultural/historical context.

Timeline to consider for The Epic of Gilgamesh:
2500 BCE- Earliest legend of Gilgamesh orally composed
1700 BCE- Old Babylonian version of Gilgamesh
1300 BCE- Standard version of Gilgamesh written down
650 BCE- Gilgamesh epic collected and copied for Ashurbanipal's library
612 BCE- Gilgamesh epic buried when Ashurbanipal's library destroyed. Lost for 24 centuries.
1849 CE- Austen Henry Layard unearthed remains of buried library.

 Tablet V- Epic of Gilgamesh 

Relevant Historical Connection to Current Day: 

Assyrian Guardian Figure- British Museum, London (Photo by Lara Cole)

Story on destruction of Nimrud by Isis: Isis Destruction of Ancient Assyrian Site

Wednesday/Thursday, November 28th/29th

1. Literary Device:
Historical Context: The influence that a time period has on the creation of a text.

Guided by the big aspects of culture, what components in the first section of reading, do you feel could have an impact on the creation of literature of the era.

2. Read pages 30-31. Take notes. Note the significant  literary devices. This is going to be a significant building block!

Utilize the Non-fiction strategies to help pull out important concepts.

3. Make sure that you have the following literary devices and definitions covered in the reading- 30-31.

• Archetypes
• Quest
• Epic
• Proverbs 
• Sacred Literature
• Myth
• Historical Context

3. Read pages 32-46 in your lit anthology- Gilgamesh 
- Utilize the non fiction strategies to help take notes on the first introductory pages.

Remember that literary devices are our entrance into analysis. So, as you are reading, be mindful of the HOW and WHY as you are keeping track of the WHAT. 

• Consider the device of Historical Context... and the notes on Mesopotamia... that could have an impact on meaning of the text. 
• Consider the big aspects of culture, and how they are represented in Gilgamesh. 

Tuesday, November 20th

1. Ancient culture quiz.
2. Hand turkey creation! Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 19th

1. Culture chapter reading quiz.

2. It is Literature Anthology Day! Literature Anthology Day!! YAY!! Lift with your legs.

3. For TUESDAY: read in Lit text book: Pages 16-27. Take very good notes. Remember informational text notes practices. Take GOOD NOTES!  Seriously!  In one section of your notes, please interact culture with the reading you are doing. 

We will have a reading quiz on TUESDAY!

You will need to bring your TEXTBOOK to class starting today. YAY!

Friday, November 16th

1. Papers were due to Schoology at 7:30. Good work, y'all! You are done!

2. How Culture Drives Behavior- Ted Talk

3. Psychology of Culture- Ted Talk

Take notes on:

• The process of examining culture... the how to.. 
• Tips/challenges that we should try to adopt according to the speaker.
• Any examples that resonate with you.
• What you are learning about the study of culture.

FOR MONDAY:

1. Finish reading the chapter on culture (From Wed/Thurs). Annotate and take notes. Be ready for

a quiz.

Wednesday/Thursday, November 14th/15th

Culture: 
Sociology understands culture as the languages, customs, beliefs, rules, arts, knowledge, and collective identities and memories developed by members of all social groups that make their social environments meaningful. Sociologists study cultural meaning by exploring individual and group communication; meaningfulness is expressed in social narratives, ideologies, practices, tastes, values, and norms as well as in collective representations and social classifications.
http://www.asanet.org/topics/culture

Further distinctive descriptions:

• Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.
• Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people.
• Culture is communication, communication is culture.
• Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behavior; that is the totality of a person's learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behavior through social learning.
• A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.
• Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions.
• Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other hand, as conditioning influences upon further action.
• Culture is the sum of total of the learned behavior of a group of people that are generally considered to be the tradition of that people and are transmitted from generation to generation.
• Culture is a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.

http://people.tamu.edu/~i-choudhury/culture.html

** Make sure that the above is in your notes by Friday, November 16th
__________________________________________________

1. Annotating Non-Fiction: Text Annotation Instruction- Non-Fiction

2. Read the following chapter on culture. You will read a section and take notes while you read. When you have a section done, you will compare notes with a partner on what you have written down and what you understand about the meaning. Take thorough notes on the reading. Please have this done by MONDAY, November 19th. There will be a quiz.

The Concept of Culture

2. Papers are due Friday, November 16th at 7:30 AM.

Tuesday, November 12th

1. Introductions and Conclusions-

Writing Introductions- UNC

Writing Conclusions- UNC

2. Writing an academic title-
Writing an academic title- colon method

UPCOMING:
Full paper and FINAL DRAFT due on Friday, November 16th at 7:30 AM.
This includes intro, body, conclusions, and works cited page.

Monday, November 12th

The typed draft of your paper is due today.

You will have 1 partner read through your paper marking the following:

Proofreaders:

1. The first read: You will start with the LAST sentence. You will read ONE sentence at a time until you are reach the top of the paper. Yes, you are reading the paper BACKWARDS. In this reading you are ONLY looking for grammatical and spelling errors, and sentence clarity.  Is there subject-verb agreement? Pronoun-antecedent agreement? Sentence mechanics are correct? Diction choices accurate? No "YOUS". No "I". If you find an error, make a comment in BLUE. Do not fix the error.

2. The second read: You will start at the TOP of the paper. In this read  you will be looking solely at CONTENT. Does the paper have a CENTRAL ARGUMENT/CLAIM? Is the evidence logical and sufficient to the claim? Is the evidence relevant? Does the entire paper support the requirement of the prompt? Are there appropriate WARRANTS following the evidence? Does it sufficiently address the purpose of writing? Mark errors or comments in RED. 

3. The third read: You will be assessing the SOURCE MATERIAL. Has the primary source been thoroughly examined and addressed in conjunction to the claim? Is there adequate SECONDARY support? Are they adhering to the standards of source materials: Objective, Relevance, Current, Scholarly (Think-Totem Pole of Academia).  Has the source material been introduced? Contextualized? Processed through warrants? Cited correctly? Mark your comments/errors/suggestions in BLACK!

4. The fourth read: You will start at the TOP of the paper. In this read you will be looking solely at STYLE and STRUCTURE. Is the tone appropriate for the audience and the content addressed. Does the introduction utilize the INTRO FORMAT? Is the ARGUMENT complete with utilizing Toulmin's methods of argument? (Claim, evidence, warrants) Does each section have a topic sentence that supports the overall claim? Does the paper utilize an obvious structure? Does is utilize active voice?  Do they use effective transitions? Between sentences? Between sections?  DO THEY UTILIZE careful and strategic DICTION and SYNTAX? Does the conclusion utilize the CONCLUSION format/purpose synthesizing the argument? Mark suggestions and comments in GREEN.

IMPORTANT-

4. The fifth read: You will be, again, starting at the TOP of the paper. In this read, you will be looking solely at FORMATTING. YOU NEED TO OPEN UP THE PURDUE OWL AND DO A LITERAL CHECK ON ALL COMPONENTS. DO NOT ASSUME!

Purdue OWL MLA Guide

Has the author appropriately addressed MLA Style Guide? Colon formatted Title?? Works Cited page done correctly? No differences in font, size, etc? Mark in PURPLE. 

4. In the sixth, and final, read. You will read through from top to bottom and read for the complete experience. Does the entire paper work together? Any last concerns? Mark in ORANGE. 

Pay specific attention to this proofing process. This is an excellent strategy to ensure that your final product achieves its intended purpose.

AFTER you are done PROOFING:
Look over your paper with the scoring guide below. This is the scoring guide I will be using to grade your paper. It is missing, however, the final column which is Works Cited and In-text citation.

Argument Rubric- Screen Shot  (The score points are 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 going from left to right)

November 9th

1. MLA Works Cited Practice: MLA In text Citation and Works Cited Practice Assignment

Use the Purdue OWL to help you complete the assignment. MLA Purdue OWL

Do on your own document. Turn in your fixed citations to Schoology.

2. After you are done, you will have today to work on your rough drafts of your paper.
The full body of your paper... textual support, citations, works cited page are all to be PRINTED OFF when you come to class on MONDAY.

We will go through a thorough proof reading session on Monday.
Email me if you have any questions.

November 7th/8th

1. Discussion of How to Read Like a Professor.
2. Check OUTLINE for Last Lecture paper with Mrs. Cole

Research evidence for your paper.

Monday, November 5th

"Remember, remember the 5th of November"

First:
1. Upload your paper's thesis/claim to Schoology.  This is due the first 10 minutes of class.
2. Upload a picture of your NOTES you took over the reading for today. This needs to be done at the beginning of class. This is due the first 10 minutes of class. 

________________________________

1. Working in small groups, you will work through the instructions for reading that you were given last class period:

• What is the overall point of the sections? Chapters? What is its thesis/claim? What is its goal? (This may come to you as you read) Track these ideas. 
• HOW are sentences functioning for the writer? Topic sentences? Data/evidence? Warrants? Narrative? Use the function to guide your comprehension. This will also help you distinguish what to write down and what to summarize. 
• How would you section off the ideas? Remember how paragraphing works. Use your new found skills to build meaning. 
• Look for transitions and the relationships they present in the surrounding text. I often square off transitions when I read. 
• Write some brief summaries of your findings when you finish a section.. a page... a chapter. 
• Obviously write down terms and definitions. 
• Finally, add your analysis and questions you have in your reading experience

Discuss: How do your notes look? Have you covered the above concepts? How have they impacted your reading? How "well" would you say you know the reading?

2. When you are done with your discussion, on your own, please look through a practice quiz over the reading. You do not need to write down answers.. but check that they are IN your notes! 

Found here: How to Read Questions
This will give you good feedback as to your comprehension of the two chapters.  

3. Discuss with your group: How quickly were you able to access the information? Did you have to look it up in your notes? Did you have it in your notes? 

Think about the difference in RENTING information and OWNING information. If you rent... you can't do anything with it.. and it is temporary. If you OWN the information, it is yours to alter, utilize, etc.

3. When your group work is done, you will be creating, on your own, a POSTER with an awesome piece of advice that you learned about reading! Make sure that you credit it to the author/citation. Post the poster in Schoology.

Friday, November 2nd

1. Read Chapters 1 and 2 of the book, How to Read Like a Professor. Don't worry, the chapters are small. The link is found here: Thomas Foster's How to Read Like a Professor Text

You will need to take notes on your findings. This is a nonfiction text; therefore, its goals are:

•  to inform,
•  instruct, teach, 
• challenge current ideas

When reading nonfiction, you need to approach it thinking like a writer. You have currently been working on writing structure and the components that need to go into writing to prove a point.

Sooooo, you need to enter into the text looking for its point!! 

NOTE TAKING GUIDE. Yes, you will take notes as you read.

As you are reading this text, you are to take notes on/annotate your reading. To help you with this process, as you are reading, things I encourage you to look for:

• What is the overall point of the sections? Chapters? What is its thesis/claim? What is its goal? (This may come to you as you read) Track these ideas. 
• HOW are sentences functioning for the writer? Topic sentences? Data/evidence? Warrants? Narrative? Use the function to guide your comprehension. This will also help you distinguish what to write down and what to summarize. 
• How would you section off the ideas? Remember how paragraphing works. Use your new found skills to build meaning. 
• Look for transitions and the relationships they present in the surrounding text. I often square off transitions when I read. 
• Write some brief summaries of your findings when you finish a section.. a page... a chapter. 
• Obviously write down terms and definitions. 
• Finally, add your analysis and questions you have in your reading experience. 

For Monday: 

1. Your paper's thesis is due. (Don't forget about your paper)

2. Your notes over your reading will be checked. 

3. You will have a quiz over the reading.