Author Archives: JSylvor

Hi Everyone,

Now that the “Recalibration Period” is over, it’s time to get back to work!  Please get into the habit of checking this site every day.  This is where I will post assignments, share information from CUNY and Baruch, and provide you with information about our schedule for Zoom calls, office hours, and more!

• I have shared some information about support that Baruch is offering to students during these challenging times under the RESOURCES tab above.  Please take a look at it, and consider trying one of these support groups.  You may find it really helpful to connect with other students who are having an understandably difficult time lately! There is also a link to a wide variety of resources that CUNY has available for students, so please take some time to explore their offerings too.  If there is something you need that you don’t see covered here, please send me an email, and I’ll see what I can do.  We are all in this together.
• Your Literary Analysis essays are available on turnitin.com.  Once you have had a chance to read my comments, please email me to schedule a time to discuss your paper one-on-one.  These sessions can be brief, but they are MANDATORY.
• We will be having a ZOOM call on Monday morning at 10:00 am.  Stay tuned for the link to the call and more information.  We will be using this call to talk about your RESEARCH PROJECTS, your next major assignment.  I will be posting some information about the project in advance of our call, so make sure you check the blog before logging on to our call on Monday.

I hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy!  I am thinking about you and looking forward to reconnecting on Monday.

Take care,

Professor Sylvor

WHY?  We are living in a strange and unprecedented time.  Not only is the Coronavirus threatening lives all over the world, but the rhythm of our daily lives has been completely disrupted.   This seems like a perfect time to keep a journal.  This will give us an opportunity to reflect on what’s going on around us, to consider our own reactions to this unsettled time, and to create a written record of this chapter of our lives.  Journal keeping can be particularly helpful in times of heightened anxiety by giving us a chance to express  thoughts and feelings that we might otherwise keep bottled up.

WHAT? From now until the end of the semester, you will be writing in an online journal for a minimum of 20 minutes at least three times a week.  What you write is entirely up to you, but I may occasionally post some questions to act as journaling prompts.  Some questions you may consider as you get started are:  What is going on right now? How do I feel about it?  What’s next?  What is the hardest thing for me right now?  What am a feeling okay about?  What keeps me up at night?  What am I going to do tomorrow?

Don’t overthink it; just get use to working that writing and reflection muscle!

HOW?  You will create a document in Google Docs for your journal.  Be sure to assign the document a title that includes your name (i.e. Jennifer Sylvor’s Journal).  Share the document with me ([email protected]).   Each time you write in your journal, just keep adding to the same document, being sure to date each entry.

WHEN? You can choose how often you want to write.  Just be sure that you are writing at least three times a week.  I will be looking at the journals periodically – just to make sure that you are writing consistently.

 Displacement in Popular Culture:

Displacement is a popular motif in many forms of popular culture (The terms “popular culture” refers to any cultural production that is designed with a mass audience in mind.) Our work for this week is to think about how displacement works in some of the culture that we consume. This could include movies, television, fiction, popular music, video games, and more.

1) Your first task is to watch at least three of the clips I’ve linked to below. Then comment on this blog post with the following information: Which clips or episodes did you watch? Explain what the displacement is in each case. In the case of humorous examples, please explain how the humor works – what makes this element funny? And how is the humor related to the displacement? You may also want to think about the relationship between the displaced person (or people) and the host community he/she enters. What role does the displaced person play? Feel free to also comment more broadly on anything else you notice while watching these selections. Your response should be 350 words, minimum and must be posted by Wednesday, March 25^th (11:59pm!).

Superman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIy3dam_Aoo

Fresh Prince of Bel Air

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7el0u3

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl4bOuGNMwo

Mork and Mindy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O3HH74KtlU&list=PLdSitq2h7vCKiT9PsFnnUlxkhuBpA8mKN&index=3&t=0s

Green Acres (theme song)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HKI5FML8U4

The Jeffersons

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x54msjn

2) Your second assignment is to find a text of your own that conforms to the same model of displacement you identified in the examples I shared.   Your text could be a movie, television show, cartoon, video game, or song.   Once you have selected your text, identify a representative clip that you can share on the blog. In addition to providing your clip, please post a description of your text that explains how it conforms to the model of displacement we’ve seen in the examples I provided. Who is the displaced individual? What does displacement do for him/her? Does it function as a kind of curse or burden, or does the displaced person possess some sort of advantage (like Superman)? What is the relationship between the displaced person and his/her new community? What role does he/she play? Your analysis should be 400-500 words in order to receive credit for the assignment. This assignment is due by Friday, March 27^th at 11:59pm.

Hi Everyone,

We won’t be starting our online assignments until next week, but I wanted to check in to see how you are doing? I hope you are continuing to make some progress on your Literary Analysis essays, but I understand that it might be challenging with so much going on in the world.  Please feel free to send me your drafts via email this week, so that I can comment on them and give you some guidance.

I miss you, and I miss the rhythm of the work week.  I am guessing that some of you are feeling anxious or disconnected too, so I just wanted to invite you to stay in communication with me and with your classmates.  To that end, I would love to know what’s going on with you.  How are you practicing “social distancing”? How is your family managing with all this stress and uncertainty?  What are you most worried about?  How are you spending the time when you would ordinarily be in school or doing homework?    Feel free to share your response as a comment to this post.  Also, if it feels more comfortable, you can also reach out to me personally — particularly if there is something going on that you need real, practical help with.  Remember – I am your professor, but I am also a mom, a giver of free advice, and a fellow New Yorker; I am here to help you get through this crazy time!!!

Take care (and keep washing your hands!)

Professor Sylvor

Hi Everyone,

Most of you were in class yesterday when I shared plans for us to move our class online, effective immediately.  However, the CUNY Chancellor has announced a change in policy that affects our short term plans.  All CUNY campuses will have an “Instructional Break” beginning today, March 12th and continuing until March 19th, when distance learning will begin.  This week will give faculty and students a chance to pause, take a deep breath, and prepare for distance learning.

So, what does this mean for us?

First of all, I am postponing the due date for your Literary Analysis essays to conform with this break. Those essays will now be due on Friday, March 20th. As you revise your essays, please feel free to share your drafts with me, so that I can continue to offer feedback.

Second, we will not be commencing our experiment in distance learning until Monday, March 23rd.  Plan to log on to our blog on that Monday morning to receive your first assignment.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions or concerns.  We are all making this up as we go along, but I, like the rest of your professors, will do my best to support your continued learning and well-being during this temporary disruption.

Take good care of yourselves!

Professor Sylvor

Hi Everyone,
Just a reminder that for Monday, February 24th we are reading Junot Diaz’s short story “Fiesta, 1980.”   The link to the text is under the “Readings” tab above. (This is a change from what is on your syllabus.)  Please be sure to come to class with a printout of the text! Happy Reading….
Thank you!!!

Just a reminder that, as we discussed in class on Monday, part of your homework for Wednesday, February 5th is to come up with three possible ideas for your Personal Narrative and to post them here on our class blog.  If you don’t have a hard copy of the assignment, you can find it above under “Essay Assignments.”  Do your best to flesh out your ideas fully, so that we have a clear idea of what you have in mind.  Feel free to come up with ideas that respond to more than one of the options I’ve offered you for this assignment.  Post your ideas as new, freestanding blog posts rather than attaching them as comments on this post.

Looking forward to discussing your ideas on Wednesday!

Professor Sylvor

Hello! This will be our course blog for English 2150 this semester.  I can’t wait to meet all of you and begin working together.  We will be using this blog regularly during the semester. You will be responding to questions, commenting on your classmates’ posts, and uploading assignments to the blog when asked to do so.  You will also be creating original posts to share ideas and materials with the class.  We are all authors of the blog.  This means that you should feel free to use this platform as an extension of our classroom space for discussion, collaboration, resource sharing, etc….  (Of course, all the rules of civility that apply in the classroom also apply here on blogs@baruch!).  Bookmark the site’s url, and get in the habit of checking it regularly!

See you on Monday!

Professor Sylvor