Author Archives: JSylvor

Hard to believe that we have reached the end of the semester!!! Luckily for you, most of your work for English 2150 is behind you. Here is the plan for this final week:

• Creative Re-Mix: On Monday and Wednesday, you will be presenting your Creative Remix Projects to the class. Please plan ahead and figure out how you will be accessing any audio/visual materials during your presentation. I recommend either posting a link to your materials here on the blog, placing your Creative Re-Mix in your personal English 2150 Google Drive Folder, or sending your materials to me at [email protected]. Get to class a few minutes early in order to make sure that everything is ready for your presentation.
• End of Semester Reflection and Grade Proposal: After our final class on Wed, 5/15, your final responsibility for English 2150 is to complete your End of Semester Reflection and Grade Proposal. Please set aside at least 30 minutes for this, and do not try to do it on your phone!!! As I explained at the beginning of the semester, you will be assessing and evaluating your own performance this semester, taking into account the quality of your work, the effort you’ve made, the consistency of your performance, your contributions to class, the seriousness and maturity of your approach to learning, and other relevant metrics. Based on your own self-assessment, you will be proposing the grade that you believe you have earned this semester. While I do reserve the right to adjust that grade (up or down) if there is a wide gap between how you see your own performance and how I see it, in most cases, the grade that you propose will be the one that I submit to the Registrar. In order for me to meet my deadlines, your End of Semester Reflection and Grade Proposal must be completed by midnight on Monday, May 20th. In the event that you do NOT complete this reflection by Monday, I will assume that you have waived the privilege of proposing your own grade and will assign you a grade in the traditional way.
• Staying in Touch: If you need to speak with me over the next two weeks, feel free to reach out via email or request an appointment. Beyond this semester, please know that my door (both literal and metaphoric) is always open to my students, so do not hesitate to reach out any point if you need advice, academic support, letters of recommendation, or just want to say hello. I will not be teaching over the summer, but will be checking my Baruch email regularly.

Congratulations on reaching (almost) the end of your first year of college!!! It is a real achievement, and you should be proud of yourselves, even if the path has been bumpy at times.

• Monday, May 6th: Visit to Union Square Greenmarket: We will be meeting at our classroom and walking down to Union Square together. You will be receiving an assignment to guide your visit, but will be free to walk around the market on your own.
• Wednesday, May 8th: Review Market Visit and Discuss Creative Re-Mix: Please bring your completed Greenmarket Visit sheets with you to class and post a picture from the market to the blog before class. Be prepared to present a “progress report” on your Creative Re-Mix project in class.
• Creative Re-Mix: Proposals were due by May 3rd. Please see me or get in touch ASAP if you have not yet had a proposal approved. Presentations of the the Creative Re-Mix will take place on 5/13 and 5/15.

I hope everyone had a peaceful and restorative Spring Break and that you are returning to school energized and focused, ready to complete the semester on a high note.

• Analytical Research Papers – Most of you have already received comments back from me on your research papers. Please read the comments carefully, and see me if you have any questions or want to go over any part of the paper. If I have NOT received your paper yet, please keep in mind that it is your responsibility to get in touch with me to discuss your situation, so reach out!
• Field Trip – On Monday, May 6th, we will be visiting the Union Square Greenmarket. We will meet in our regular classroom and walk there together. We will not be returning to the classroom that day, so plan accordingly.
• Creative Re-Mix – On Monday, May 13th and Wednesday, May 15th, you will be presenting your Creative Re-Mix to the class. Hopefully, you settled on an idea before Spring Break and have either made some progress or have given some thought to your plan. In a comment on this blog post, please share your plan for the Creative Re-Mix. If you are still struggling to settle on a plan, provide two possibilities of projects you might pursue. The sooner you post your idea, the sooner you will get feedback. Please share your Creative Remix idea no later that this Friday, May 3rd.

Monday, April 15th: Drafts Due! Come to class with three copies of your draft printed out. We are back in our regular room.

Wednesday, April 17th: Bring your drafts with you to class together with your Peer Review Worksheets. We will be working with our drafts and also discussing the Creative Re-Mix Project.

Sunday, April 21st: Analytical Research Papers Due. Place your completed draft in your personal English 2150 Google Docs Folder. Be sure to give the file a name that makes clear what it is.

We are taking advantage of being in the Computer Lab again and completing today’s classwork electronically. Use the links below to access the two separate assignments you will be completing. Once you have accessed the original file, make a copy of it to complete on your own. Place your completed Working with Sources document and your completed Progress Report in your personal English 2150 folder.

1. Working with Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yBzFGzYx8iOs-b8OpJfJxLAzfpf_h2P7/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100709557675898087497&rtpof=true&sd=true
2. Progress Report: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SDAzu2FsTA_2bHfS3hFODfUdL8tcK9yQPSuSeuLwfuk/edit?usp=sharing

Reminder: You are required to use a minimum of four sources for this paper. At least one of these sources must be a source you accessed through the Newman Library. Additionally, one of your sources should be a “non-traditional” source. (This might mean film or video, a social media post, an interview you conduct yourself, a photograph, etc….)

If you are absent on April 10th, you can find the MLA Guidelines we will be following for this assignment on the blog, under the “Writing and Language Resources” tab at the top of the blog.

This week is focused on researching and drafting your Analytic Research Papers.

• Monday, April 8th: Meeting in the Vertical Campus in Room 6-145. Use Newman Library Databases to identify sources for research.
• Wednesday, April 10th: Meeting in Vertical Campus, Room 6-145. We will be reviewing the guidelines for in-text citations and Works Cited list. Please have one source available to you that you will be using for your paper.
• Monday, April 15th: Drafts Due!!! Please bring three copies of your draft with you to class (back in our regular room) — No excuses. Late drafts will not be accepted.

On Monday, April 8th and Wednesday, April 10th, we will be meeting in room 6-145 in the VC. This room is computer lab, and both days will be important work sessions. Come to class on Monday with your clearly articulated “Guiding Question”, ready to research your topic using the resources of Baruch’s Newman Library. Be sure to have any other work you’ve done on your research paper (outlines, preliminary research, lists of sub-questions, etc..) accessible to you during these sessions.

Remember, your drafts are due on Monday, April 15th, so we want to make the most of every day!

• Monday, April 1st: Three Topics posted to blog before class. These should be three ideas that you are genuinely interested in considering for your Analytical Research Paper. Take a look at the broad categories mentioned on your assignment sheet, and think about the ideas your group generated on Wednesday if you feel stuck.
• Wednesday, April 3rd: Proposals Due. Please come to class on Wednesday with a hard copy of your Research Proposal. Additionally, place the file containing your research proposal in your personal ENG 2150 folder. That way, I will be able to give you feedback on your proposal before next Monday’s class. A Research Proposal is a short document that lays out what you hope to explore in your Analytical Research Paper. It should include both your Guiding Question (the central question that you are asking in this paper) as well as sub-topics or sub-questions that you expect to address in the paper. Your proposal should also explain why this is an important topic to explore and an important question to be asking.
• Monday, April 8th: We will be meeting in the Vertical Campus in room 6-145, a computer lab. In this “working session” we will be reviewing how to use the Newman Library’s online databases and discussing how to find and evaluate sources. The more work you do ahead of this session, the more progress you will be able to make. I recommend coming to class with a preliminary outline for your paper. This will allow you to organize the material you encounter in your research into the appropriate sections of the essay before you actually start drafting your essay.

Please share three ideas for possible Analytical Research Paper topics here on the blog. Post your ideas as comments on this post. Even if you already have a clear idea of what you want to research, you still need to come up with three ideas to share here. All three ideas should be topics that are genuinely of interest to you and that you believe would make good research subjects. I can’t wait to hear your ideas! Make sure your ideas are posted to the blog by noon on Monday.

• Mid-Semester Reflection: Please set aside some time to complete your mid-semester reflection. You can find the form HERE. As I explained in class, this is a good opportunity for you to think about how the semester has gone so far and to do some goal-setting for the second half of the semester. Please complete the form no later than Friday, March 29th.
• Homework for Wednesday, March 27th: Listen to any one of the food-themed podcast episodes linked to HERE. Share a brief (one paragraph) response to your podcast in the form of a blog post. Some things you might want to include: What was your podcast about? What was YOUR main takeaway from listening? Would you recommend this podcast to your classmates? (why or why not) What are some questions raised by the episode? Please share your post no later than noon on Wednesday. Be prepared to talk about the podcast in class.