Mon 5/2
11:30 Cara
1:15 Jenn, Ashley
1:45 Lindsay, Bonita
2:15 Cate, Samantha
Tues 5/3
1:30 Kelsey, Tori
Wed 5/4
10:30 Amber
11:30 David
12:00 Gregg, Kelly
12:45 Caitlin, Gabriela
1:15 Joey, Bianca
2:15: Rebecca, Cassinda
Friday, April 29, 2011
RESPONSE TO OUTISIDE SOURCES
For your RESPONSE TO OUTSIDE SOURCES, imagine yourself as the Moderator of a Panel Discussion between your four sources.
To do this: first pick at least 4 points of comparison between your sources. The can be places where your sources agree, or disagree, etc. You might also discuss differences and similarities between the Methods Used by the author of each source, i.e. observation, interview, close reading etc.
Use these points of comparison to develop an outline for your RESPONSE TO SOURCES PAPER.
Then, fill in your outline with direct quotes and other examples you will use to build your Discussion of the sources.
*A note about Summary: It will be important to briefly summarize each source and its author's purpose. Of still greater importance will be the ways in which you analyze your sources by drawing comparisons, and making connections between them.
I will be passing a conference sign-up sheet around during class.
To do this: first pick at least 4 points of comparison between your sources. The can be places where your sources agree, or disagree, etc. You might also discuss differences and similarities between the Methods Used by the author of each source, i.e. observation, interview, close reading etc.
Use these points of comparison to develop an outline for your RESPONSE TO SOURCES PAPER.
Then, fill in your outline with direct quotes and other examples you will use to build your Discussion of the sources.
*A note about Summary: It will be important to briefly summarize each source and its author's purpose. Of still greater importance will be the ways in which you analyze your sources by drawing comparisons, and making connections between them.
I will be passing a conference sign-up sheet around during class.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday April 27
MEET IN WILSON 101 COMPUTER LAB
Schedule:
I. Free-writing:
1) consider your "Field Work" HW. What did you do? How successful was it? What would make it more successful? What's next?
2) consider your research: What sources have you found so far? What kind of source or information would complement what you have already? What would you still like to find out?
II. EVALUATIONS.
III. Independent Research. The remainder of the class period will be yours to find additional sources, or continue reading and evaluating sources you have already found.
*We'll also use this time to sign-up for conferences for Mon and Wed of next week.*
HW:
For Friday, 1) BRING YOUR FOUR SOURCES PRINTED OUT TO CLASS
and 2)have completed a second "Field work" task: another interview, observation, etc, and bring a brief write-up of your results.
Schedule:
I. Free-writing:
1) consider your "Field Work" HW. What did you do? How successful was it? What would make it more successful? What's next?
2) consider your research: What sources have you found so far? What kind of source or information would complement what you have already? What would you still like to find out?
II. EVALUATIONS.
III. Independent Research. The remainder of the class period will be yours to find additional sources, or continue reading and evaluating sources you have already found.
*We'll also use this time to sign-up for conferences for Mon and Wed of next week.*
HW:
For Friday, 1) BRING YOUR FOUR SOURCES PRINTED OUT TO CLASS
and 2)have completed a second "Field work" task: another interview, observation, etc, and bring a brief write-up of your results.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Scedule for Weeks of 4/25
Mon:
1) present Ethnographic Writing Project assignment
2) work on designing and planning Field Work
3) think about Response to Outside Sources
HW: Continue Research and Field Work studies
Wed.
1) Meet in WILSON 101 COMPUTER LAB to continue research
2) Sign-up for conferences
HW: Continue Research and Field Work studies
Fri.
1) Work on Response to Outside Sources
HW: Response to Outside Sources & Analysis of Symbolic Action due at Conferences: to turn in, for a grade
1) present Ethnographic Writing Project assignment
2) work on designing and planning Field Work
3) think about Response to Outside Sources
HW: Continue Research and Field Work studies
Wed.
1) Meet in WILSON 101 COMPUTER LAB to continue research
2) Sign-up for conferences
HW: Continue Research and Field Work studies
Fri.
1) Work on Response to Outside Sources
HW: Response to Outside Sources & Analysis of Symbolic Action due at Conferences: to turn in, for a grade
ETHNOGRAPHIC WRITING PROJECT
Your end-of-semester project consists of several distinct parts.
1) Response to Outside Sources: 3-4 pages, DUE AT CONFERENCES (MAY 2-4)
2) Your own write-up of a Symbolic Action, built around your Field Work, close reading(s) and your analysis of these: 2-3 pages, DUE AT CONFERENCES (MAY 2-4)
*You will turn both of these in at the conference, and they will be graded. Our goal at the conference will be to discuss how you combine these two papers into the longer paper (#3) described below:
3) A longer paper (at least 6 pages) that combines the two above, your outside sources, with your own research and analysis, FIRST DRFAT DUE MAY6, FINAL DRAFT DUE MAY 9
4) 12-20 photos that illustrate your project or some aspect of it, with captions, due at the Exam Period, FRI MAY 13. These your may display in hard-copy, or on your blog.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Deborah Luster and CD Wright ONE BIG SELF
Wed 4/20/11
Introduce and Discuss ONE BIG SELF
Last 10-15 min. view more photo-essays.
For Friday:
Finish ONE BIG SELF
Prompt for Friday Paper (optional): What is CD Wright able to "document" with her poetry that possibly could not have been documented with other writing methods? Essentially, what are the unique advantages of her writing poetry about the lives of women prisoners in Louisiana?
Looking Ahead:
Next Friday 4/29: 3-4 page response to sources due. You will want to summarize each of your four total sources, and then compare and contrast the sources both in terms of subject-matter, and also for the researching and writing methods used by each author. I will give you more formal information for this assignment on Mon 4/25.
Initial Draft of Ethnographic Writing Project due at CONFERENCES 5/2 - 5/4. For this project, you will combine your Field Research, your "library/internet" research, and your own analysis (which you've already practiced in your "Symbolic Action" papers into 1 cohesive research paper of at least 6 full pages. I will provide more formal information for this assignment also on Mon 4/25.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myz_W7A33As -- Luster on NPR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1IZYf6ODug -- Luster at San Fran MOMA
"I wanted to see if my art could handle that hoe"
"The obvious truth, people are people"
"What I wanted was to unequivocally lay out the feel of hard time"
From The Boston Review
The photographer Deborah Luster had already spent a year taking photographs of prisoners in Louisiana when she invited the poet C.D. Wright to accompany her to the minimum-security East Carroll Parish Prison Farm in Transylvania, Louisiana; the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel; and the maximum-security prison at Angola, Louisiana, the largest such facility in the United States. In the end, Wright wrote a series of poems to accompany Luster’s photographic project. Their image-and-text collaboration was published in 2003 by Twin Palms Publishers as a glossy art book with the title One Big Self: Prisoners of Louisiana. Inmates cooperated with Luster in deciding how they might be depicted (within the limits of a prison milieu, obviously); as a result, the photographs range from conventional portraits to images incorporating props, special clothing, or, conversely, degrees of undressing. Tattoos feature prominently in an environment where micro-control over the body is a preeminent struggle between imprisoned and imprisoner. Some of Luster’s subjects wear costumes for Halloween or Mardi Gras celebrations; some are dressed for prison rodeos or culinary classes. Not all are African American, though the majority are. They are divided fairly evenly between women and men.
Copper Canyon Press recently published Wright’s poems separately as One Big Self: An Investigation. By switching the original subtitle to “an investigation,” Wright emphasizes an exploratory descriptive mode that complements and comments on Luster’s more straightforward approach. Luster produced actual documents: she claims to have given nearly 25,000 wallet-size prints back to the prisoners she photographed. While Wright provides plenty of direct testimony—her own and from inmates—accrued during and after her visits, her writing also displays skepticism about poetry’s documentary capacities. After all, there’s more concrete information on the history of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to be gleaned from relatively short sections in history and reference books than in the 600-plus pages of Charles Olson’s The Maximus Poems. The transmission of pure information isn’t poetry’s task. But then, there’s no such thing as pure information, which is what almost every type of poetry reminds its audience. Language mediates; and poetry—perhaps more than any literary form—continually materializes its mediations.
Distrusting poetry as unmediated communication doesn’t necessarily hinder its imperative to convey. If anything, it gives it a sense of urgency and instigates creative forms of expression. Similarly, the trajectory of Wright’s poetry over three decades reveals an ongoing development of innovative ways to present precise details. Her writing in One Big Self consists primarily of found and constructed fragments, ambiguous lists, and partial confessions that fail to provide much consolation. “Nothing will be settled or made easy,” she writes near the end of the book where it might be tempting to generate summaries or conclusions. As anyone familiar with the work of Michel Foucault knows, the all-seeing panopticon is a primary means of control within modern prison systems—and in society at large. (Readers of Foucault are less likely to know that the panopticon structure was originally schemed as a way to subjugate not inmates but labor, as Peter Linebaugh points out in The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century.) Wright subverts this totalizing awareness and its dream of omniscience by letting slip what might not be known and what mostly eludes—so far—technology’s unblinking gaze: memory, hope, regret, love, and the fundamental errancy at the heart of what it means to be human.
Introduce and Discuss ONE BIG SELF
Last 10-15 min. view more photo-essays.
For Friday:
Finish ONE BIG SELF
Prompt for Friday Paper (optional): What is CD Wright able to "document" with her poetry that possibly could not have been documented with other writing methods? Essentially, what are the unique advantages of her writing poetry about the lives of women prisoners in Louisiana?
Looking Ahead:
Next Friday 4/29: 3-4 page response to sources due. You will want to summarize each of your four total sources, and then compare and contrast the sources both in terms of subject-matter, and also for the researching and writing methods used by each author. I will give you more formal information for this assignment on Mon 4/25.
Initial Draft of Ethnographic Writing Project due at CONFERENCES 5/2 - 5/4. For this project, you will combine your Field Research, your "library/internet" research, and your own analysis (which you've already practiced in your "Symbolic Action" papers into 1 cohesive research paper of at least 6 full pages. I will provide more formal information for this assignment also on Mon 4/25.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myz_W7A33As -- Luster on NPR
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1IZYf6ODug -- Luster at San Fran MOMA
"I wanted to see if my art could handle that hoe"
"The obvious truth, people are people"
"What I wanted was to unequivocally lay out the feel of hard time"
From The Boston Review
The photographer Deborah Luster had already spent a year taking photographs of prisoners in Louisiana when she invited the poet C.D. Wright to accompany her to the minimum-security East Carroll Parish Prison Farm in Transylvania, Louisiana; the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel; and the maximum-security prison at Angola, Louisiana, the largest such facility in the United States. In the end, Wright wrote a series of poems to accompany Luster’s photographic project. Their image-and-text collaboration was published in 2003 by Twin Palms Publishers as a glossy art book with the title One Big Self: Prisoners of Louisiana. Inmates cooperated with Luster in deciding how they might be depicted (within the limits of a prison milieu, obviously); as a result, the photographs range from conventional portraits to images incorporating props, special clothing, or, conversely, degrees of undressing. Tattoos feature prominently in an environment where micro-control over the body is a preeminent struggle between imprisoned and imprisoner. Some of Luster’s subjects wear costumes for Halloween or Mardi Gras celebrations; some are dressed for prison rodeos or culinary classes. Not all are African American, though the majority are. They are divided fairly evenly between women and men.
Copper Canyon Press recently published Wright’s poems separately as One Big Self: An Investigation. By switching the original subtitle to “an investigation,” Wright emphasizes an exploratory descriptive mode that complements and comments on Luster’s more straightforward approach. Luster produced actual documents: she claims to have given nearly 25,000 wallet-size prints back to the prisoners she photographed. While Wright provides plenty of direct testimony—her own and from inmates—accrued during and after her visits, her writing also displays skepticism about poetry’s documentary capacities. After all, there’s more concrete information on the history of Gloucester, Massachusetts, to be gleaned from relatively short sections in history and reference books than in the 600-plus pages of Charles Olson’s The Maximus Poems. The transmission of pure information isn’t poetry’s task. But then, there’s no such thing as pure information, which is what almost every type of poetry reminds its audience. Language mediates; and poetry—perhaps more than any literary form—continually materializes its mediations.
Distrusting poetry as unmediated communication doesn’t necessarily hinder its imperative to convey. If anything, it gives it a sense of urgency and instigates creative forms of expression. Similarly, the trajectory of Wright’s poetry over three decades reveals an ongoing development of innovative ways to present precise details. Her writing in One Big Self consists primarily of found and constructed fragments, ambiguous lists, and partial confessions that fail to provide much consolation. “Nothing will be settled or made easy,” she writes near the end of the book where it might be tempting to generate summaries or conclusions. As anyone familiar with the work of Michel Foucault knows, the all-seeing panopticon is a primary means of control within modern prison systems—and in society at large. (Readers of Foucault are less likely to know that the panopticon structure was originally schemed as a way to subjugate not inmates but labor, as Peter Linebaugh points out in The London Hanged: Crime and Civil Society in the Eighteenth Century.) Wright subverts this totalizing awareness and its dream of omniscience by letting slip what might not be known and what mostly eludes—so far—technology’s unblinking gaze: memory, hope, regret, love, and the fundamental errancy at the heart of what it means to be human.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Research for Ethnography Projects
HW for Friday: 5-7 Photo Essay with Thesis, topic sentence, and conclusion captions
For Wednesday: have Read ONE BIG SELF and be ready to discuss.
A few reminders as we move forward with your projects:
Keep in mind, 1) that scholarly articles are just one part of the research activities you will be doing for your ethnographic writing projects, and 2) in our reading so far, you have likely already encountered ideas, arguments, and examples you can use in your analysis of a Symbolic Action. **I want to remind you that IF you can make a connection between something Rebekah Nathan, for instance, writes about (an example she uses, an argument she makes,) and your own subject-matter, then you can and are encouraged to use Nathan as a source for your project. The great advantage of this is that when you use a source this way, you are already using it Originally and for your own purposes!
1. Looking at your project proposals, take five minutes and think back about the essays we've read over the last two weeks. Brainstorm connections you might make between what you plan to study and what you've already read. How do these articles provide a background or a foundation for your project?
2. Now, take 5 more minutes to brainstorm what further research questions that you have. What are you looking for that you think other scholars might have addressed?
3.Searching: You want to find out if there are other ethnographic studies that consider your topic. If so, these will be valuable to find. Using a variety of search terms, search through the contents of Ethnography Journal. Also try Project Muse, JSTOR, Google Scholar, and any other databases in the HUMANITIES. You might also try Academic Search Premier.
4. Ultimately, you want to consider as many sources as possible, and then have the opportunity to choose the BEST sources.
5. Requirements: I am requiring that you use at least 2 sources we've considered in class, and at least 2 SCHOLARLY sources that you find on your own. (You may consider more than this. Also, b/c I'm requiring that you use relatively FEW SOURCES, these sources should be WELL CHOSEN) Keep in mind, you can use these sources for a variety of purposes, including as BACKGROUND info, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS (if the article offers stats pertinent to your project), EVIDENCE of your claims about your subject. You can even attempt to apply the argument of one source to your own topic: For instance, you might seek to APPLY how Rebekah Nathan focuses the idea of FUN in college life to your own study of how college students greet each other at WESTFIELD STATE.
6. DUE DATES: On APRIL 29, you will turn in a 3-4 page write-up that summarizes all of your scholarly sources (from in class and from outside of class) and also explains how you plan to use these sources in your Ethnographic writing paper.
7. MORE DUE DATES:
5/2 - 5/4 Initial Draft Due: (CONFERENCES) this draft will incorporate your Field Research with your research into sources.
5/6: Revised draft due.
5/9: Final draft due.
*We'll come back to the computer lab on W 4/27*
blog: http://faufreshman.blogspot.com/2007/09/college-social-life-1101.html
http://www.pineforge.com/oswcondensed/study/articles/07/Stuber.pdf
Diffusion of Responsibility in a Nonemergency Situation: Response to a Greeting from a Stranger.
For Wednesday: have Read ONE BIG SELF and be ready to discuss.
A few reminders as we move forward with your projects:
Keep in mind, 1) that scholarly articles are just one part of the research activities you will be doing for your ethnographic writing projects, and 2) in our reading so far, you have likely already encountered ideas, arguments, and examples you can use in your analysis of a Symbolic Action. **I want to remind you that IF you can make a connection between something Rebekah Nathan, for instance, writes about (an example she uses, an argument she makes,) and your own subject-matter, then you can and are encouraged to use Nathan as a source for your project. The great advantage of this is that when you use a source this way, you are already using it Originally and for your own purposes!
1. Looking at your project proposals, take five minutes and think back about the essays we've read over the last two weeks. Brainstorm connections you might make between what you plan to study and what you've already read. How do these articles provide a background or a foundation for your project?
2. Now, take 5 more minutes to brainstorm what further research questions that you have. What are you looking for that you think other scholars might have addressed?
3.Searching: You want to find out if there are other ethnographic studies that consider your topic. If so, these will be valuable to find. Using a variety of search terms, search through the contents of Ethnography Journal. Also try Project Muse, JSTOR, Google Scholar, and any other databases in the HUMANITIES. You might also try Academic Search Premier.
4. Ultimately, you want to consider as many sources as possible, and then have the opportunity to choose the BEST sources.
5. Requirements: I am requiring that you use at least 2 sources we've considered in class, and at least 2 SCHOLARLY sources that you find on your own. (You may consider more than this. Also, b/c I'm requiring that you use relatively FEW SOURCES, these sources should be WELL CHOSEN) Keep in mind, you can use these sources for a variety of purposes, including as BACKGROUND info, STATISTICAL ANALYSIS (if the article offers stats pertinent to your project), EVIDENCE of your claims about your subject. You can even attempt to apply the argument of one source to your own topic: For instance, you might seek to APPLY how Rebekah Nathan focuses the idea of FUN in college life to your own study of how college students greet each other at WESTFIELD STATE.
6. DUE DATES: On APRIL 29, you will turn in a 3-4 page write-up that summarizes all of your scholarly sources (from in class and from outside of class) and also explains how you plan to use these sources in your Ethnographic writing paper.
7. MORE DUE DATES:
5/2 - 5/4 Initial Draft Due: (CONFERENCES) this draft will incorporate your Field Research with your research into sources.
5/6: Revised draft due.
5/9: Final draft due.
*We'll come back to the computer lab on W 4/27*
blog: http://faufreshman.blogspot.com/2007/09/college-social-life-1101.html
http://www.pineforge.com/oswcondensed/study/articles/07/Stuber.pdf
Diffusion of Responsibility in a Nonemergency Situation: Response to a Greeting from a Stranger.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Mon 4/11 - Fri 4/15
1. Class Meets in Bates 3 Computer Lab for Wednesday.
2. 5-7 photo essay related to a "Symbolic Action" or "Symbolic Event" with captions that act as Thesis, Topic Sentences, and Conclusions due Friday.
3. Tonight, the poet Richard Wilbur will give a reading in Scanlon banquet hall at 6pm.
4. Wed. 6pm Scanlon Living Room: open reading. Students and faculty are invited to read "new works" 5 min. limit.
2. 5-7 photo essay related to a "Symbolic Action" or "Symbolic Event" with captions that act as Thesis, Topic Sentences, and Conclusions due Friday.
3. Tonight, the poet Richard Wilbur will give a reading in Scanlon banquet hall at 6pm.
4. Wed. 6pm Scanlon Living Room: open reading. Students and faculty are invited to read "new works" 5 min. limit.
Friday, April 8, 2011
Read 1 of the following for Monday and write 2 paragraph summary
A Study of Online Communities
The Yellow Man Tapes (about Navajo storytelling)
(note, you may have to login and go through the library website to access The Yellowman Tapes)
Photo Essay: Farming in Massachusetts
Neighborhoods Project (Durham, NC)
The Yellow Man Tapes (about Navajo storytelling)
(note, you may have to login and go through the library website to access The Yellowman Tapes)
Photo Essay: Farming in Massachusetts
Neighborhoods Project (Durham, NC)
Monday, April 4, 2011
Assignments for week of 4-4 --4/8
For Wednesday:
Read and summarize (in 2 paragraphs or so), and be ready to discuss 1 of the following (chosen in class)
"A Walk Through The Jewish Divorce Ceremony"
"Consider the Lobster"
"Sexism and Misogyny: Who Takes the Rap?" (about 'gangsta rap')
For Friday:
1) Read pages 7 - 19 of THE TRUTH NEEDS NO ALLY
2) Symbolic Action Paper -- approx 2 pages of writing
This paper should include: 1) an original photo, 2) analysis of a "symbolic action," (consider its meanings, histories, evolution, importance, etc) 3) reference to at least one of our readings so far, and 4) some preliminary plans/ideas for future research: what kinds of ethnographic writing might be useful in continuing to study your topic?
Read and summarize (in 2 paragraphs or so), and be ready to discuss 1 of the following (chosen in class)
"A Walk Through The Jewish Divorce Ceremony"
"Consider the Lobster"
"Sexism and Misogyny: Who Takes the Rap?" (about 'gangsta rap')
For Friday:
1) Read pages 7 - 19 of THE TRUTH NEEDS NO ALLY
2) Symbolic Action Paper -- approx 2 pages of writing
This paper should include: 1) an original photo, 2) analysis of a "symbolic action," (consider its meanings, histories, evolution, importance, etc) 3) reference to at least one of our readings so far, and 4) some preliminary plans/ideas for future research: what kinds of ethnographic writing might be useful in continuing to study your topic?
Unit 3: Ethnographic Writing
Unit 3: Ethnographic Writing and Photography (scroll down / click "read more" for schedule and key terms)
INTRODUCTION: In this unit, we will explore the philosopher Clifford Geertz (among others) idea of Culture as Symbolic Action that is understood through its Context. Through a variety of research methods, writing processes, and photographic undertakings, students will complete a variety of smaller scale assignments that will culminate in a major project that will combine close reading, analysis, field research, “library” research, and photography. Along the way, we will read, analyze, and discuss other texts authored by writers engaged in similar processes.
GOALS: 1) Further develop student abilities to engage in academic conversations. 2) Use writing, reading, research, and photography as an occasion for finding, analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information. 3) develop responses to other writers’ inquiries 4) advance students’ own analysis and arguments in conversation with that of other writers 5) continue to practice writing, research, and photography as a process in which writers rethink and revise their work 6) Practice ethnographic means of researching and writing 7) consider how photography can play a vital role in ethnographic research
PROCESS: Through a variety of research methods, smaller scale writing and photography assignments (including short analysis papers, photographic essays, and responses to reading), students will design, create, rethink, and revise an Ethnographic Inquiry/ Thick Description of the symbolic actions associated with some aspect of local culture. For instance: The symbolic actions (in this case decorations) of freshmen students living in a dorm, and the context in which these actions have meaning.
AUDIENCE: The scholarly community.
ASSIGNMENTS / GRADING:
1) Symbolic Action Reflection Papers (2): Describe a symbolic action and document it (or some aspect of it with a photograph). Apply your own analysis, and make reference to other writers’ methods and/or insights. For the second of these papers, you will also suggest some methods of further research you might apply.
* Friday Papers Grade
2) Project Proposal: An organized and formal write up explaining your project, its importance, the methods you will use to study it, the research and outside sources you will seek and apply to it, etc.
3) 5-7 photo PHOTO-ESSAY with captions. *Friday Paper Grade
4) 7 Source Annotated Bibliography. 10% of Major Project Grade
5) Response to Outside Sources (aka Review of Literature). 3-4 page response considering what your sources say, and how they interact with each other. 10% of Major Project Grade
6) Ethnographic Writing Project: A “Thick Description.” 6-7 page paper using observation, interview, close reading and other analysis, and outside research. 60% of Major Project Grade
7) Photo display: 12 – 20 photos with captions, and Presentation. 20% of Major Project Grade.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Class 3/28
1. What is culture? How do you know it when you see it? How do you understand and participate in it? can you think of times when you didn't understand a cultural event, custom, etc?
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wed 3/23: HW for Friday
Meet again in Wilson 101.
1) Bring printed copy of what you typed today.
2) Have Reflection to turn in. This is mandatory if you have not turned one in already this week.
We'll sign up for conferences in class on Friday.
1) Bring printed copy of what you typed today.
2) Have Reflection to turn in. This is mandatory if you have not turned one in already this week.
We'll sign up for conferences in class on Friday.
Monday, March 21, 2011
HW for Conferences etc / Conference Schedule
Conferences Meet at Jazzman's in Ely
Wed. 3/23:
12 Gabriela, Kelsey
1230 Kelly, Lindsay
100 Amber
130 Jenn, Ashley
200 Joey, Samantha, Bianca
Thurs 3/24:
2:00 Gregg, Tori
Fri 3/25:
100 Cassinda, Rebecca
130 Cait Giglio, Bonita
200 Cara, David, Cate Santos
1. Come to conference with a complete revised draft and a short description of how you have changed your essay since today, and what questions you have.
2. Re-write of Eggleston essay due in my mailbox by end of the day Wednesday
NOTE: All CONFERENCES WILL BE HELD BESIDE JAZZMAN'S IN ELY CAMPUS CENTER
Wed. 3/23:
12 Gabriela, Kelsey
1230 Kelly, Lindsay
100 Amber
130 Jenn, Ashley
200 Joey, Samantha, Bianca
Thurs 3/24:
2:00 Gregg, Tori
Fri 3/25:
100 Cassinda, Rebecca
130 Cait Giglio, Bonita
200 Cara, David, Cate Santos
1. Come to conference with a complete revised draft and a short description of how you have changed your essay since today, and what questions you have.
2. Re-write of Eggleston essay due in my mailbox by end of the day Wednesday
NOTE: All CONFERENCES WILL BE HELD BESIDE JAZZMAN'S IN ELY CAMPUS CENTER
Friday, March 11, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Class 3/9/11
1. Consider differences in the relationship between the photographer, subject (the photographed), and viewer as we see them in the photos of Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, and Walker Evans.
personal writing then discussion
2. Walker Evans Many Are Called (photos taken secretly on the subway)
3. View your "Guide Photos" and discuss.
NOTE: Just to clarify: photos for your "Guide" need to be photos YOU take for the purpose of this assignment (other people's photos, and even photos you have taken previously aren't acceptable for this project)
HW:
1) Friday Paper due Friday (see assignment sheet for prompt)
2) Read "A Country Letter" in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" and be ready to discuss Friday
3) Rough Draft of Guide and 3-4 page introduction due in Class Monday 3/21 (first day back from break)
personal writing then discussion
2. Walker Evans Many Are Called (photos taken secretly on the subway)
3. View your "Guide Photos" and discuss.
NOTE: Just to clarify: photos for your "Guide" need to be photos YOU take for the purpose of this assignment (other people's photos, and even photos you have taken previously aren't acceptable for this project)
HW:
1) Friday Paper due Friday (see assignment sheet for prompt)
2) Read "A Country Letter" in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" and be ready to discuss Friday
3) Rough Draft of Guide and 3-4 page introduction due in Class Monday 3/21 (first day back from break)
Monday, March 7, 2011
Walker Evans /Many Are Called/
http://books.google.com/books?id=94x5gNZha3sC&printsec=frontcover&dq=walker+evans+many+are+called&source=bl&ots=CQdj3oWM9B&sig=w8Ze_aGilEI8LqYKqtygJf4SVGk&hl=en&ei=egh1TbG8CKLB0QH336HFAQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10&sqi=2&ved=0CEkQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4156233
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4156233
Friday, March 4, 2011
Questions about the Preface of LUNPFM
what does Agee mean when he writes, "the effort is to recognize the stature of a portion of unimagined existence, and to contrive techniques proper to its recording , communication, analysis, and defense"? (xiv)
What does Agee mean when he writes, "if complication arise that is because they (Agee and Evans) are trying to deal with [the lives of tenant farmers] not as journalists, sociologists, politicians, entertainers, humanitarians, priests, or artists, but seriously"? (xv)
What does it mean that the photos are "not illustrative" but "coeqaul" to the writing? What is the difference for us, as readers, to think of them this way?
What is Agee getting at when he writes, "This is a book only by necessity." More seriously, it is an effort in human actuality..." ?(xvi) (also see p. 13)
Why is the work "curious" according to Agee? (7)
Why is Agee not worried if he bores us? (10)
Why does Agee say, " A piece of the body torn out by the roots might be more to the point" (13) ?
Who is the book written for, according to Agee on p. 14-15? Is there irony or sarcasm in his explanation?
Why shouldn't this book be thought of as Art? (p.15)
What does Agee mean by his analogy of turning a phonograph player as loud as it will go and placing your ear directly against the speaker? (p.15)
How do you explain Agee's guilt and enthusiasm for this project?
What does Agee mean when he writes, "if complication arise that is because they (Agee and Evans) are trying to deal with [the lives of tenant farmers] not as journalists, sociologists, politicians, entertainers, humanitarians, priests, or artists, but seriously"? (xv)
What does it mean that the photos are "not illustrative" but "coeqaul" to the writing? What is the difference for us, as readers, to think of them this way?
What is Agee getting at when he writes, "This is a book only by necessity." More seriously, it is an effort in human actuality..." ?(xvi) (also see p. 13)
Why is the work "curious" according to Agee? (7)
Why is Agee not worried if he bores us? (10)
Why does Agee say, " A piece of the body torn out by the roots might be more to the point" (13) ?
Who is the book written for, according to Agee on p. 14-15? Is there irony or sarcasm in his explanation?
Why shouldn't this book be thought of as Art? (p.15)
What does Agee mean by his analogy of turning a phonograph player as loud as it will go and placing your ear directly against the speaker? (p.15)
How do you explain Agee's guilt and enthusiasm for this project?
Class 3/4: Agee etc
1. Go over schedule:
*for Monday, 1st ten pages of Sontag essay "American Seen through Photographs, Darkly," make a blog post addressing key points and questions about the reading
*for Wednesday, 2nd ten pages of Sontag essay.make a second blog post with key points and questions. Be ready to discuss
* also for Wednesday, post 5 photos on your blog as a beginning to your photographic "guide"
* for Friday, "A Country Letter" from LUNPFM. Friday Papers due. See schedule for prompt.
2. Brainstorm places you might make a photo. guide to. Share. 10 minutes.
3. Discuss Agee, Discuss Friday Papers.
*for Monday, 1st ten pages of Sontag essay "American Seen through Photographs, Darkly," make a blog post addressing key points and questions about the reading
*for Wednesday, 2nd ten pages of Sontag essay.make a second blog post with key points and questions. Be ready to discuss
* also for Wednesday, post 5 photos on your blog as a beginning to your photographic "guide"
* for Friday, "A Country Letter" from LUNPFM. Friday Papers due. See schedule for prompt.
2. Brainstorm places you might make a photo. guide to. Share. 10 minutes.
3. Discuss Agee, Discuss Friday Papers.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Class 3/2: Walker Evans and Farm Security Admin Photos
1. Consider Reality Television
2. Consider Evans and Other Farm Security Admin photos (in groups, then discuss)
3. Preview Agee's writing
HW:
3/4: have read all material in Let Us Now Praise Famous Men up to p. 45
Prompt for Friday Paper: Offer a brief reading, in the form of a short compare/contrast essay, that discusses how Agee’s writing style and Evans picture-taking style fit together, and compliment each other.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Unit 2 Schedule and Assignments
Writing and Photography Unit 2: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men the Farm Security Administration
In this unit we will consider how photos and writing can be used to document people and place. In many ways, in this unit we will continue to question:
*What is the relationship between photography and “the truth”?
*How do these “documentary” photos, and the writing that goes with them, construct the place and the
people they document?
*What assumptions, both aesthetic and cultural, underlie the photos of Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange,
and others of the Farm Security Administration?
*How do the photos function symbolically, and how do we read them?
*Note: Let Us Now Praise Famous Men is on reserve at the library.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Works Cited Page Link / Westfield Reading and Writing Center
Class Fri. 2/25: Peer Editing
1. self-reflection: what was your plan for revision after the conference? how did you implement that advice? what questions do you have?
2. announce Writing and Reading Center
3. Peer Editing:
* read your classmates' paper and answer the following questions (you may write directly on the paper, and also attach a sheet of notebook paper for the longer questions)
4. go over Works Cited page
HW: final draft due Monday. Bring Let Us Now Praise Famous Men to class Monday (you'll have reading from that book next week)
2. announce Writing and Reading Center
3. Peer Editing:
* read your classmates' paper and answer the following questions (you may write directly on the paper, and also attach a sheet of notebook paper for the longer questions)
4. go over Works Cited page
HW: final draft due Monday. Bring Let Us Now Praise Famous Men to class Monday (you'll have reading from that book next week)
Friday, February 18, 2011
Class Fri. Feb 18
1. Five minutes writing and reflecting on William Eggleston essay assignment.
2. Discuss Questions related to William Eggleston essay.
3. Share Susan Sontag photos
4. Discuss answers to thought questions for Wednesday.
5. Share Friday Papers
6. Time-permitting: Share source summaries
HW:
Complete initial draft due Tues / Wed.
Revised draft due Fri.
Final due Mon. 2/28
*Let Us Now Praise Famous Men* by James Agee is next -- you'll need that book by 2/28
2. Discuss Questions related to William Eggleston essay.
3. Share Susan Sontag photos
4. Discuss answers to thought questions for Wednesday.
5. Share Friday Papers
6. Time-permitting: Share source summaries
HW:
Complete initial draft due Tues / Wed.
Revised draft due Fri.
Final due Mon. 2/28
*Let Us Now Praise Famous Men* by James Agee is next -- you'll need that book by 2/28
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Conference Times Tues and Wed 2/22 and 2/23
Tues
IN ELY, NEXT TO SUBWAY
10:30: Kelsey, Cate S, Cara
11:15: Kelly, David
12:00: Bonita
12:45: Cait G
IN THE CLASSROOM
1:40 Joe, Bianca, Samantha
Wed.
IN ELY, NEXT TO SUBWAY
10:30: Gregg, Gabriela
12:00: Rebecca, Cassinda
12:45: Ashley, Jenn, Tori
IN THE CLASSROOM
1:40: Lindsey, Amber
IN ELY, NEXT TO SUBWAY
10:30: Kelsey, Cate S, Cara
11:15: Kelly, David
12:00: Bonita
12:45: Cait G
IN THE CLASSROOM
1:40 Joe, Bianca, Samantha
Wed.
IN ELY, NEXT TO SUBWAY
10:30: Gregg, Gabriela
12:00: Rebecca, Cassinda
12:45: Ashley, Jenn, Tori
IN THE CLASSROOM
1:40: Lindsey, Amber
Class 2/16
1.Sample Friday Papers.
2. In-Class Writing: Either answer questions I have written on your Friday paper, or attempt to answer the questions posted below.
3. Time permitting: share source summaries.
HW:
For Friday:
1) Friday Paper due. Prompt: Write an analysis on one Eggleston photo. What can you speculate it meant to him? What does it mean to you? What evidence do you find in the photo? Most importantly: Why do you think it is considered art? Why should we care about it?
2) Post a picture to your blog that you feel relates to some aspect of Susan Sontag's Plato's Cave essay (this is your choice, do whatever you want)
For Tues/Wed: Group conferences. Initial draft due at Conference.
2. In-Class Writing: Either answer questions I have written on your Friday paper, or attempt to answer the questions posted below.
3. Time permitting: share source summaries.
HW:
For Friday:
1) Friday Paper due. Prompt: Write an analysis on one Eggleston photo. What can you speculate it meant to him? What does it mean to you? What evidence do you find in the photo? Most importantly: Why do you think it is considered art? Why should we care about it?
2) Post a picture to your blog that you feel relates to some aspect of Susan Sontag's Plato's Cave essay (this is your choice, do whatever you want)
For Tues/Wed: Group conferences. Initial draft due at Conference.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Eggleston Thought Questions for 2/16
1. What do the photos mean to Eggleston?
2. What do they mean to you?
3. What does it mean to be a viewer of Eggleston's photos? (What does it mean to view something that you know has a personal meaning to someone else, but not know what exactly that meaning is?)
4. What makes these photos ART and not just snapshots? (why should we care?)
2. What do they mean to you?
3. What does it mean to be a viewer of Eggleston's photos? (What does it mean to view something that you know has a personal meaning to someone else, but not know what exactly that meaning is?)
4. What makes these photos ART and not just snapshots? (why should we care?)
Sample Reflection: Sontag Vs. Eggleston
Caitlin Giglio
February 11, 2011
English Composition: Photography
Friday Paper 2
When I look at works of photography I see life. What I mean when I say this is that from my experience taking photos I’ve realized that it is easy to stand behind the camera and lose one’s self for awhile. It’s very simple to do. I don’t have to be a professional photographer to pick up a camera and capture an image. This is one of the points that Susan Sontag makes in her passage, “In Plato’s Cave”. In a way photography can be classified as an open door to a world where a picture is more important than the real thing. Where a person can spend more time photographing an object rather than admiring or absorbing the beauty of the object itself.
Sample Reflection Paper: Vulnerability
Bianca Oberg
Friday Paper # 2
2/10/11
Vulnerability
In comparing William Eggleston and Susan Sontag, I have found an interesting component. At one point in her essay, Sontag describes photography as such, “To take a photo is to participate in another person’s mortality, vulnerability, mutability.” I believe in Eggleston’s Guide, Eggleston is showing the lives of his subjects, and they all seem to be vulnerable. Many aspects of each photo can show their vulnerability with the way his subjects are positioned in the frame. Another way he shows vulnerability is with the facial expressions of his subjects and whether or not they are making eye contact with the camera. Lastly, in Eggleston’s photos his people are in motion, and the candid aspect to the photographs enhance the feeling of vulnerability.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Class Monday 2/14
CLASS MEETS IN BATES 4 COMPUTER LAB TODAY
1. Continue Research Individually for 15 minutes.
2. In groups, present your findings to each other and make a master list of the Best Sources. (10 minutes)
3. Send me an email (jchristian@wsc.ma.edu) containing a list of the group's Best Sources -- (10 Minutes)
(The sources must be listed in MLA format, with a 2-3 sentence description of each source -- Tell what it is and why it might be helpful.)
4. Time Permitting: discuss Friday Papers from last week.
HOMEWORK:
For Wednesday:
Read 1 Source found by you or your group. Take lots of notes on it. On your blog: Post a 2 paragraph response to it explaining how you might use it in your Eggleston Essay.
For Friday:
1) Friday Paper due. Prompt: Write an analysis on one Eggleston photo. What can you speculate it meant to him? What does it mean to you? What evidence do you find in the photo? Most importantly: Why do you think it is considered art? Why should we care about it?
2) Post a picture to your blog that you feel relates to some aspect of Susan Sontag's Plato's Cave essay (this is your choice, do whatever you want)
1. Continue Research Individually for 15 minutes.
2. In groups, present your findings to each other and make a master list of the Best Sources. (10 minutes)
3. Send me an email (jchristian@wsc.ma.edu) containing a list of the group's Best Sources -- (10 Minutes)
(The sources must be listed in MLA format, with a 2-3 sentence description of each source -- Tell what it is and why it might be helpful.)
4. Time Permitting: discuss Friday Papers from last week.
HOMEWORK:
For Wednesday:
Read 1 Source found by you or your group. Take lots of notes on it. On your blog: Post a 2 paragraph response to it explaining how you might use it in your Eggleston Essay.
For Friday:
1) Friday Paper due. Prompt: Write an analysis on one Eggleston photo. What can you speculate it meant to him? What does it mean to you? What evidence do you find in the photo? Most importantly: Why do you think it is considered art? Why should we care about it?
2) Post a picture to your blog that you feel relates to some aspect of Susan Sontag's Plato's Cave essay (this is your choice, do whatever you want)
Friday, February 11, 2011
Revised Calendar Writing and Photography
Mon 2/14: Meet in Bates 4 Computer Lab to continue research
Wed 2/16: Regular class, preparing for Unit 1 essay: Bring Eggleston Guide
Fri. 2/18: regular class, Bring Eggleston Guide, Friday Paper due
Mon. 2/21: President's Day Holiday
Tues. 2/22: Monday schedule, Class Canceled for Conferences (initial draft due at conference)
Wed. 2/23: Class Canceled for Conferences (initial draft due at conference)
Fri. 2/25: Revised draft due, Peer-editing, Friday Paper due
Mon. 2/28: Final draft due
Wed 2/16: Regular class, preparing for Unit 1 essay: Bring Eggleston Guide
Fri. 2/18: regular class, Bring Eggleston Guide, Friday Paper due
Mon. 2/21: President's Day Holiday
Tues. 2/22: Monday schedule, Class Canceled for Conferences (initial draft due at conference)
Wed. 2/23: Class Canceled for Conferences (initial draft due at conference)
Fri. 2/25: Revised draft due, Peer-editing, Friday Paper due
Mon. 2/28: Final draft due
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
WED 2/9/11 CLASS
CLASS MEETS IN THE LIBRARY TODAY
FRIDAY WE WILL MEET IN THE BATES 3 COMPUTER LAB
HW: Friday paper due. Prompt: Write a thesis-driven reflection in which you apply Susan Sontag's ideas (and your own) to gain new understanding of William Eggleston's Guide.
On Monday: Groups will present their research findings.
FRIDAY WE WILL MEET IN THE BATES 3 COMPUTER LAB
HW: Friday paper due. Prompt: Write a thesis-driven reflection in which you apply Susan Sontag's ideas (and your own) to gain new understanding of William Eggleston's Guide.
On Monday: Groups will present their research findings.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Class Monday 2/7
1. Considering Susan Sontag's "In Plato's Cave"
*How does Sontag influence your ideas about Eggleston's work? How could you use her essay as a source in your William Eggleston essay?
2. Time permitting: view thesis statements / photo-essays / etc
HW:
1) CLASS MEETS IN ELY LIBRARY ON WED.
2) CLASS MEETS IN BATES 3 COMPUTER LAB FRI
3) For Wed. Come to class with a good thesis statement for your William Eggleston essay. Also, come to class knowing what larger context you want to link Eggleston's photos to: History of Photography, Art and Art Theory, Social/Cultural Aspects of his work, etc... (this will help you as you begin researching)
4) For Friday: FRIDAY PAPER DUE. If you are writing this week, please consider how Susan Sontag's insights might be applied to Eggleston's Guide.
*How does Sontag influence your ideas about Eggleston's work? How could you use her essay as a source in your William Eggleston essay?
2. Time permitting: view thesis statements / photo-essays / etc
HW:
1) CLASS MEETS IN ELY LIBRARY ON WED.
2) CLASS MEETS IN BATES 3 COMPUTER LAB FRI
3) For Wed. Come to class with a good thesis statement for your William Eggleston essay. Also, come to class knowing what larger context you want to link Eggleston's photos to: History of Photography, Art and Art Theory, Social/Cultural Aspects of his work, etc... (this will help you as you begin researching)
4) For Friday: FRIDAY PAPER DUE. If you are writing this week, please consider how Susan Sontag's insights might be applied to Eggleston's Guide.
Notes on "In Plato's Cave"
p.3 For one thing, there are a great many more images around.
Photos alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at.
To collect photos is to collect the world.
Photographs are really experience captured.
p.4 To photograph is to appropriate the thing being photographed.
Photos, more than print, turn the world into mental objects.
Photos get lost, bought, sold, become valuable....
Photos alter and enlarge our notions of what is worth looking at.
To collect photos is to collect the world.
Photographs are really experience captured.
p.4 To photograph is to appropriate the thing being photographed.
Photos, more than print, turn the world into mental objects.
Photos get lost, bought, sold, become valuable....
Susan Sontag Friday paper
Kelly Vanderley
English Comp 2: Photography
“Friday Papers”
Photography has grown its own form of art. As our society has bloomed with technology so has the fundamental qualities of photographs that make up the world around us. In Plato’s cave, an introduction reading to Susan Sontags book on photography she mentions the specific details of the Art and truth behind a photograph. To William Eggleston, photography is a system of visual editing among its other elements that an individual photographer can capture. For both, William and Susan, photographs allow the ability to express images around us as tangible objects that are to be collected and cherished.
English Comp 2: Photography
“Friday Papers”
Photography has grown its own form of art. As our society has bloomed with technology so has the fundamental qualities of photographs that make up the world around us. In Plato’s cave, an introduction reading to Susan Sontags book on photography she mentions the specific details of the Art and truth behind a photograph. To William Eggleston, photography is a system of visual editing among its other elements that an individual photographer can capture. For both, William and Susan, photographs allow the ability to express images around us as tangible objects that are to be collected and cherished.
Susan Sontag Friday paper
Ashley McLain
English Comp 2 Writing/ Photography
February 4, 2011
Week 3 Friday Paper
From analyzing why photographers take photos of realistic objects I came to realize that this is the same idea that Susan Sontag has placed within her essay In Plato’s Cave. Sontag expresses her thoughts that taking photos is influenced by our world and which we live in.
English Comp 2 Writing/ Photography
February 4, 2011
Week 3 Friday Paper
From analyzing why photographers take photos of realistic objects I came to realize that this is the same idea that Susan Sontag has placed within her essay In Plato’s Cave. Sontag expresses her thoughts that taking photos is influenced by our world and which we live in.
Friday, February 4, 2011
Class 2/4/2011
1. Considering Thesis Statements:
what makes a good one? (and practice) (look at sample reflection paper)
2. Continue looking at Photo Essays / Other Photographers
3. Introduce Susan Sontag's "In Plato's Cave" (time permitting)
HW:
1. Write, and post to your blog 3 excellent possible thesis statements for either a Friday Paper, or your Unit 1 William Eggleston essay
2. On Monday we'll spend the bulk of the class going over Sontag, so be ready with questions and ideas
3. Class to Meet in Ely Library on Wed (you must have a thesis statement and research topic by that date)
4. Class to Meet in Bates Basement Computer Lab on Fri for continued research
what makes a good one? (and practice) (look at sample reflection paper)
2. Continue looking at Photo Essays / Other Photographers
3. Introduce Susan Sontag's "In Plato's Cave" (time permitting)
HW:
1. Write, and post to your blog 3 excellent possible thesis statements for either a Friday Paper, or your Unit 1 William Eggleston essay
2. On Monday we'll spend the bulk of the class going over Sontag, so be ready with questions and ideas
3. Class to Meet in Ely Library on Wed (you must have a thesis statement and research topic by that date)
4. Class to Meet in Bates Basement Computer Lab on Fri for continued research
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Sample Friday Paper
Cara Cole
Writing and Photography
William Eggelston’s guide
Friday paper 1
To sum up the appearance of Eggleston’s work in one word, would be simple. He seeks to capture the simplicity of a southern life and knows where to look for it. Eggleston’s childhood in the south is represented in each photo as if he knows each person and has been to each place. There is a simplistic nature about these photos and that’s what Eggleston intends for the viewer to see, however they also seem to be a paradox of some sorts. Although the physical appearance shows what looks like a quiet life in the south, the actual meaning of these people and places are much more complex. For example, the bike pictured on pg. 80, to us is a simple, green bicycle, however it may not be an accident that that photo is also the front cover. That bike is complex in that it belonged to somebody, someone with a story, possibly Eggleston himself. These photos are no accident, they are simple, everyday, items but to Eggleston they have a meaning, and that’s why he chose them.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Questions for Class Mon 1/31 and HW for Wed
What does Szarkowski mean when he says photography is a process of Visual Editing?
What does this idea of Visual Editing suggest about photography's relationship to The Truth?
How do you think / feel these ideas figure in peoples' fascination both with taking and viewing photos?
HW:
For Wed / Fri: After you present your photo essay, please make a short blog post in which you 1) display a representative photo of a photographer you researched, and 2) write a brief explanatory paragraph about that photographer.
For Fri: (reminder) Read Sontag's "In Plato's Cave." Follow instructions on essay assignment sheet.
What does this idea of Visual Editing suggest about photography's relationship to The Truth?
How do you think / feel these ideas figure in peoples' fascination both with taking and viewing photos?
HW:
For Wed / Fri: After you present your photo essay, please make a short blog post in which you 1) display a representative photo of a photographer you researched, and 2) write a brief explanatory paragraph about that photographer.
For Fri: (reminder) Read Sontag's "In Plato's Cave." Follow instructions on essay assignment sheet.
Friday, January 28, 2011
HW for Monday, etc
For Monday:
1) Look back at your list of photographers listed in the Szarkowski reading. Pick one or two, and see what you can find out about him or her using Google, Wikipedia: try to get a feel for that photographer's pictures, and style. How does it relate to Eggleston?
2) Over the weekend, compose a photo-essay of 4-6 photos (somehow influenced by the photos you've viewed). Try NOT to simply make the essay tell a story. Post these on your blog. Half the class will present Mon, half will present Wed.
3) For Friday, you will need to read Susan Sontag's "In Plato's Cave" which is in On Photography, and also available as a link on this blog. If you are writing a Reflection Paper for Friday, then please consider Sontag's ideas alongside your own. Even if you are not writing a Reflection Paper, please write a short (2 paragraph) summary of Sontag's essay on your blog, and please list any questions it raised for you.
1) Look back at your list of photographers listed in the Szarkowski reading. Pick one or two, and see what you can find out about him or her using Google, Wikipedia: try to get a feel for that photographer's pictures, and style. How does it relate to Eggleston?
2) Over the weekend, compose a photo-essay of 4-6 photos (somehow influenced by the photos you've viewed). Try NOT to simply make the essay tell a story. Post these on your blog. Half the class will present Mon, half will present Wed.
3) For Friday, you will need to read Susan Sontag's "In Plato's Cave" which is in On Photography, and also available as a link on this blog. If you are writing a Reflection Paper for Friday, then please consider Sontag's ideas alongside your own. Even if you are not writing a Reflection Paper, please write a short (2 paragraph) summary of Sontag's essay on your blog, and please list any questions it raised for you.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
William Eggleston's Guide essay assignment and calendar
William Eggleston essay assignment
Eng 102, Writing and Photography
INTRODUCTION: For this essay, you will pick a single photo that is somehow representative of the concerns/interests you detect in William Eggleston’s Guide. You will then want to offer a Close Reading (a thesis-driven, specific analysis) of that picture, in the context of the rest of the Guide. Then, you will want to bring in at least 3 sources that will both help you in making your claims about Eggleston’s work, and also to situate your analysis in-terms of The History of Photography, Social/Cultural Concerns, The Role of Art in Society, or other broader critical lenses. Finally, you will want to include 4 of your own, original photos, meant to illustrate, or demonstrate, or further, or expand your essay.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Student Blogs
on Wednesday, complete the following:
1) Create a blogger account at blogger.com and choose a theme for your blog.
2) Create a POST comprised of your HW due today. (and an additional Welcome post if you want)
3) Import a "Links" sidebar and link to the William Eggleston Trust
4) Import a "Blogroll" sidebar, name it Student Blogs, then link to the class blog and each other's
5) For HW: Import an Eggleston-inspired picture to your blog, and, in a sentence or two, explain how your work relates to Eggleston's
Reminder: Response paper (with at least one original photo due Friday)
1) Create a blogger account at blogger.com and choose a theme for your blog.
2) Create a POST comprised of your HW due today. (and an additional Welcome post if you want)
3) Import a "Links" sidebar and link to the William Eggleston Trust
4) Import a "Blogroll" sidebar, name it Student Blogs, then link to the class blog and each other's
5) For HW: Import an Eggleston-inspired picture to your blog, and, in a sentence or two, explain how your work relates to Eggleston's
Reminder: Response paper (with at least one original photo due Friday)
Monday, January 24, 2011
"Reading" Eggleston's Guide
1. This book claims to be a Guide or sorts. What could it be a guide to? How does it function as a guide?
2. Take 10 minutes to look back through Eggleston's Guide and pretend you are watching a movie or slideshow.
What do you notice about the order of the pictures? How do they move between outside and inside? On what page do people first appear in the pictures? How do the colors (and maybe your emotional reactions to them) change as you browse through the pictures? What repeated patterns and colors do you detect? How are the photos composed? What does the photographer seem interested in?
Considering all of these things, what claims can you make about how Eggleston has put this book together, and why it is in the order it is in?
2. Take 10 minutes to look back through Eggleston's Guide and pretend you are watching a movie or slideshow.
What do you notice about the order of the pictures? How do they move between outside and inside? On what page do people first appear in the pictures? How do the colors (and maybe your emotional reactions to them) change as you browse through the pictures? What repeated patterns and colors do you detect? How are the photos composed? What does the photographer seem interested in?
Considering all of these things, what claims can you make about how Eggleston has put this book together, and why it is in the order it is in?
HW for Wednesday and Friday
FOR WEDNESDAY: Read carefully John Szarkowski's Introduction to Eggleston's Guide.
1. Each group will be assigned to take notes on one or several of the following:
What does S. write about the art of Photography in general? (list 5-7 representative sentences and page #)
What does S write about Eggleston's Photos in specific? (list 5-7 representative sentences and page #)
What does S. write about the use of color in Photography? (list 3-5 representative sentences and page#)
What does S write about Art in general? (list 3-5 representative sentences and page#)
What comparisons does S. make between Writing and Photography? (list 3-5 representative sentences and page#)
2. Everyone also keep a list of each other photographer S. lists.
3. Pick 1 term you do not know from each page and define it. Some examples to get you started: Romantic, vernacular, Faustian Ambition, sotto voce, eidetic memory, etc
This homework will be checked in class Wednesday (remember: we'll be meeting in the computer lab in the Bates Basement)
FOR FRIDAY:
Mandatory Friday Paper DUE: 500-600 words, with 1-4 original photos somehow inspired by Eggleston. Use the questions we consider in class Monday to get you started in offering a unique reading on Eggleston's work. Make sure to include at least 2 short, direct quotations (properly cited) from Szarkowski's essay.
1. Each group will be assigned to take notes on one or several of the following:
What does S. write about the art of Photography in general? (list 5-7 representative sentences and page #)
What does S write about Eggleston's Photos in specific? (list 5-7 representative sentences and page #)
What does S. write about the use of color in Photography? (list 3-5 representative sentences and page#)
What does S write about Art in general? (list 3-5 representative sentences and page#)
What comparisons does S. make between Writing and Photography? (list 3-5 representative sentences and page#)
2. Everyone also keep a list of each other photographer S. lists.
3. Pick 1 term you do not know from each page and define it. Some examples to get you started: Romantic, vernacular, Faustian Ambition, sotto voce, eidetic memory, etc
This homework will be checked in class Wednesday (remember: we'll be meeting in the computer lab in the Bates Basement)
FOR FRIDAY:
Mandatory Friday Paper DUE: 500-600 words, with 1-4 original photos somehow inspired by Eggleston. Use the questions we consider in class Monday to get you started in offering a unique reading on Eggleston's work. Make sure to include at least 2 short, direct quotations (properly cited) from Szarkowski's essay.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
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