Hi Everyone,

Thanks for a good discussion today. Here is the Keats Imitation Exercise that is due on Thursday. We’ll be discussing and reading from your poems on Thursday so make sure to bring them! For those who were not in class today you can find the Keats poem and the Amy Tan reading here. Make sure to read, take notes on, and be prepared to discuss the Amy Tan essay as well. Ask yourself: can I write something like this? How would I go about writing an essay like this? What advice can I take from the essay about how to tell a story about myself?

Finally, click here for a link to our first writing assignment. I’ll bring hard copies on Thursday and we’ll discuss the assignment/brainstorm ideas for it in class too. Take a look now and start coming up with possible ideas for your essay. See you on Thursday.

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for a great discussion today. Looking forward to continuing it in the coming weeks.
Here are the two informal writing assignments that I want you to complete for Tuesday. You can handwrite them or type them. I’ll ask you to share in small groups but you won’t turn these in.

1) Identify one passage, one sentence, or even one fundamental concept (like “attentional commons”) in Matthew Crawford’s “Attention as a Cultural Problem” and write a brief (about one paragraph) response to the passage/sentence/concept. You might want to disagree with a point, agree with it, both agree and disagree, or whatever. Just identify something that interested you and write about it.

2) In the second paragraph of his chapter “Attention” (available here for those of you who were not in class today) William James claims that “Voluntary attention, in short, is only a momentary affair.” But, he argues, in these brief acts of attention, we learn a great deal about ourselves and the world around us and we gain the motivation to continue paying attention. With this concept in mind, write a paragraph about a brief but important experience of “voluntary attention” in your life.

Here’s an example from my life that might give you some inspiration: I’ll never forget the feeling I first had when I was able to play a C mixolydian scale on my guitar from the lowest position to the highest position. It took a lot of practice and I made a lot of mistakes. It seemed when I was practicing that I just couldn’t do it no matter how “voluntary” my attention was. Then one moment, when I was more relaxed and not really thinking about it, I suddenly did it. I immediately tried to repeat the scale but I couldn’t quite get it the next time. I had to take another break and try again. Eventually it became second nature. But it was that first “spontaneous” experience of voluntary attention that got me started.

I’m sure you’ve all had an experience somewhat similar to this one. The memory may be buried deep but its probably there. Think about it and write about it.

Finally, make sure to read the William James chapter closely and be prepared to discuss it. Its a little bit dense but if you stick with it, it gets easier. Have a great weekend.

Welcome to English 2150!