Rushkoff Supplemental

Here is another playlist (roughly 12 minutes long) to help you out with our Rushkoff reading.

The playlist contains clips of the following: 

• Father Knows Best and I Love Lucy (the '50s TV that Rushkoff mentions) 
• The Tracy Ullman Show (on which the Simpsons family first appeared) 
• The Simpsons (an extended opening to the show) 
• A commercial for Mr. Microphone (the toy parodied in "Radio Bart")
• A scene from "Radio Bart" (in which Sting and others sing "We're Sending Our Love down the Well")
• A dinner scene involving the Warren family (from Father Knows Best)
• Short dinner scenes involving the Simpsons family (from The Tracy Ullman Show)

 

Johnson Supplemental

To supplement the Johnson reading, and to give you visual support for the shows he references, I have compiled this playlist of YouTube clips. In total, this playlist's run-time is roughly 25 minutes (edited down from over an hour of video).



 



Note: The playlist ends with the final scene of The Sopranos. The show did end in this way: cutting suddenly to black, followed by 10 full seconds of black before the end credits appeared. At the time, some fans expressed irritation. They thought their TVs had malfunctioned, or they saw the ending as ambiguous and as a cop-out. Other fans saw it as the perfect ending for this series. They noted the allusion to the restaurant scene in The Godfather, and they claimed that the scene provided clues to what would follow (Tony's death).

Assignment for 11/16

Assignment for Friday, 11/16 (to be completed before class):

• Swiftly reread Johnson's "Watching TV Makes You Smarter." Then read Stevens' "Thinking outside the Idiot Box." Bring both texts to class. Be prepared to discuss them.
• In Doc Sharing's "Media and Technology" section, print out, read and annotate Rushkoff's "Bart Simpson: Prince of Irreverence." Along with the printout, bring to class three discussion points.
• In TSIS, read and annotate Ch. 9 (pp. 121-28). Bring to class three discussion points.
• Bring to class a printout of one of your essays (for a writing activity).

Assignment for 11/9

Assignment for Friday, 11/9 (to be completed before class):

• In Doc Sharing's "Media and Technology" section, print out Johnson's "Watching TV Makes You Smarter" and Stevens' "Thinking outside the Idiot Box." Bring these texts to class.
• For Johnson's text, read and annotate the printout. Along with the printout, bring to class three discussion points.
• For Stevens' text, just bring the printout to class.
• Prepare to take Writing Exam #3. For instructions and tips, see the previous post.
• We will again meet in Drescher 203 to take the exam. If you choose not to type your essay, bring a blue book to class.

Writing Exam #3 - Information and Tips

On Friday, 11/9, you will take the third in-class writing exam. Writing Exam #3 will focus on our four "Fast Food and Health" readings: Zinczenko's "Don't Blame the Eater," Campos' "Being Fat Is OK," Balko's "What You Eat Is Your Business" and Warner's "Junking Junk Food." 

Once again, I will provide you with the specific writing prompt on the day of the exam, and then you will have 80 minutes to compose an essay that responds to the prompt.


Bring to class all necessary materials:

• A large blue book
• All four texts, annotated (including the Zinczenko text in TSIS)
• Pens (not pencils)
• A paper English dictionary or thesaurus (optional)

Here are some tips to prepare for the exam:

• Reread and re-annotate the four readings.
• In each reading, note where the writer makes strong points. Explain why these points are effective.
• Note where the writer's argument is lacking. Explain why the argument is weak.
• Focus on the specific "moves" that each writer uses. Where does the writer effectively use the TSIS moves that we have learned? Are any moves lacking? How might these moves have strengthened the writer's argument?

Here are some tips to use during the exam:

• Be aware of the time. Manage your time wisely.
• Spend 10-12 minutes on writing a quick outline. Without such an outline, your writing might ramble off-topic.
• Respond directly to the writing prompt. 
• Use textual evidence (in other words, draw from the readings) to support your claims.
• Write clearly. I will need to be able to read your writing. If I cannot read your writing, then you might receive no points for this exam.

Winning Annotation

To be an "A" student in our class, one who goes above and beyond, you will want to be an active (not passive) reader, interacting with every assigned text. As I've mentioned before, interacting with texts requires annotation.

Below is an example of winning annotation from your classmate Juanita. I suggest that you emulate Juanita here, annotating all texts thoroughly. 

Assignments for 10/26 and 11/2

• Assignment for Friday, 10/26 (to be completed before class):
• Reread and re-annotate Zinczenko's "Don't Blame the Eater" (TSIS, pp. 195-97).
• What new understanding do you have of this text? Be prepared to discuss the text in class.
• In Doc Sharing's "Fast Food and Health" section, print out, read and annotate Campos' "Being Fat Is OK."
• Bring to class this printout and three discussion points.
• In TSIS, read and annotate Ch. 10 (pp. 129-137). This chapter focuses on metacommentary. (We will cover Ch. 9 at some other time.)
• Bring to class three discussion points.
• In Doc Sharing's "Common Essay" section, print out, read and annotate the two texts to be used for the exam. Bring these texts to class.
• Develop one possible writing prompt based on these two texts. (As an example, think of the writing prompt for Writing Exam #1.) The purpose here is to anticipate what the Common Essay Exam will ask of you. Prepare to share your writing prompt in class.
• Assignment for Friday, 11/2:
• Meet in Drescher 203 to take the Common Essay Exam.
• In eCompanion's Webliography, open Warner's "Junking Junk Food" and Balko's "What You Eat Is Your Business." Print out these texts, and bring the printouts to class.
• For Warner's text, just bring the printout to class.
• For Balko's text, read and annotate the printout. Along with the printout, bring to class three discussion points.