A Brief Overview

Through out the class we will be using basically two texts and one style guide. The first text is an anthology put together by Diane Durkin and Lisa Gerrard called Seeking Common Cause: Reading and Writing in Action. Now I don't actually own this book as I use copies of the texts to be read provided for me. The second text that we are using is the New York Times. As I am not a student of the class, I don't have to buy this, but it is provided for me which is really quite nice in the grand scheme of things.

The class is broken into three units - the first of which was completed on October first with the submission of the students first "long" paper of six pages. In this unit the students looked at the image of self in regards to the popular media. We looked at images in the New York Times and advertisements in magazines such as People, US Weekly, and others of that sort. We also read pieces that were concerned with plastic surgery and body image. While still in this unit we took a trip to a local art gallery to view artwork that was concerned with women in suburbia. Students also used these images to frame their final paper for the unit.

With the closure of the unit we have moved to the image of self in the work place. We are looking at different jobs and perhaps sexism, or racism in the workplace as the class is all females with a handful of non-white students. We have not really delved into this unit too far yet as the first class and a half was spent watching a documentary on Wal-Mart and how awful the corporation really is. Then Columbus Day struck and we missed class. We began by reading a piece by Mike Rose and students are looking at different types of jobs, and what they mean to the individual.

In the most recent class, students were asked to create a collage based on the themes we have been discussing and their personal feelings. Some students took pictures from magazines, while others took titles or words from the New York Times. Students were then asked to write a response paper for next class, explaining individual pieces of their collages and the overall grand view of them.

Now that I'm caught up - to a degree - I can keep this thing updated when I get back from class.