Junot Diaz writes “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao”, a novel (fiction) that got lots of attention and popularity since 2007, when it is announced as one of the best books of that year according to the New York Times “ # 1 Fiction Book of the Year.”. Diaz views, in this novel, a different life phase of a young Dominican man; how different! In the way, if I am allowed to say, what we know about a typical Dominican man character, at least most of us believe so….The character of Oscar Wao that his whole life is going around the “ fuku” curse circle. There are too many ways to describe the novel and its character. Briefly, “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” “…..is a book about love, about passion, about a character that would do anything [stupidly] to pursue love.” (Sentimental Education, Gustave Flaubert). 

Wednesday's (5/9) Homework: Reposting this from email here as a reminder

Reading questions: You will be put into groups and each group will present their thoughts on the following. 1) What do you think Orwell's elephant represents? 2) How does Orwell's essay contradict popular culture's view of weapons? 3) What does this say those who feel weapons are necessary in certain situations? What can be said about those situations? 4) Respond to Orwell's statement about masks. -- Other assignments: Come to class ready to write a body paragraph. Bring at least 2 database sources and at least 5 keywords you used to find those sources in the database. In class, we will work to incorporate the relevant segment of one of those sources into a body paragraph.

TIps for Conclusions

Here's a great site over at Harvard on writing conclusions. It's a little over a page, but there's much to learn from reading through it. In case you don't get through it (or don't want to), you might want to bookmark it just the same. Regardless of what you do with it, I'm going to go over a few of these points in class tomorrow and give some examples on how to each tactic might be approached.

Junot Diaz

I went to see Junot Diaz yesterday and let me tell you guys something, he is no ordinary author who bores you with their advance vocabulary. He knew how to grab the audience attention which surprised me because I thought he was just going to talk nonstop about writing or himself. But he proved me wrong.
Junot came on stage and spoke a bit and then read one his short stories called, Alma. Then he went to questions and answer discussion. Finally, he read a part from The Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Who ever didn't go, you missed out. His words were inspiring.
 -Melissa R.
[he signed my book : ) ]

New Junot Diaz story up at the New Yorker

Diaz's new short story is called "Miss Lora." You can find it here (It's free. For now...).

Essay 4, Due 4/23

In a well-developed essay, choose a person you admire and compare them with Oscar Wao. This admired person can be real or fictitious. In other words, you may compare Wao to any superhero, villain, cartoon or movie character (this includes anime, graphic novels, role-playing and/or videos games, etc). Be sure to first identify and isolate specific points of comparison that you will use to illustrate how each is similar or different, and then use these points as the basis of your comparison.

Please use a minimum of 4 sources (less than four will receive a grade of No Credit) These sources must be integrated throughout your essay in MLA in-text citations and gathered in a correctly formatted MLA Works Cited page.

Due Date: Monday, April 23.

Should college be for everyone?

Some tough questions, here.

[Source: http://www.theysayiblog.com/]

The above link discusses a NYTimes article, here.

Indispensable Essay Tips for ENG1101

In case you've ever found yourself asking what might detract from that A paper, here's a quick reminder of some common formatting requirements that you might overlook:

1) An MLA Works Cited page

2) MLA in-text citations

3) 600-750 words

4) Double-spaced

5) Stapled

6) 5 paragraphs (Minimum. This is a guideline.)

7) Has a strong thesis (Remember, think of this as what you're saying in response to what "they say" (whoever "they" is))

8) Handed in on time

9) Fulfills the assignment
-answers the question fully
-doesn't flagrantly wander off topic/turn into a paper whose aim is completely foreign to the actual assignment

Oscar Wao questions

Here are a few questions we've been mulling over:

1) Why does it seem the general tone of the novel is heroic? (We've noticed that each time the narrator talks about Oscar (and Lola, and Beli), they are discussed as if they were heroes.) So, let's look for connections between the rest of the text and this.

2) Do you find that the book parodies people of Dominican descent? How? What are some ways we might defend this parody?

3) How does the narrator in Oscar Wao establish authority? In other words, how does he go about convincing us that we should believe him?

4) The book begins with a poem the last line of which is "either I'm nobody, or I'm a nation." How is Oscar like a nation? How is Oscar representative of the Dominican diaspora?

5) If this book is "about Oscar", why have we seen so little of him so far into the book?

6) ...

Body Paragraphs Inspired by Oscar Wao

Please take note of the formula (1) MAIN IDEA, (2) clarify/restate/define, (3) explain importance of the MAIN IDEA, (4) use of examples and/or source and, (5) comments on the source.

I've labeled each section below.

--

(1) Oscar Wao is considered an atypical Dominican male. (2) By the narrator's standards of Dominican manhood -- sexual prowess, charm, extroversion, sociability -- the book's protagonist is a complete failure. (3) In this way, Diaz reveals how minority groups internalize stereotypes and how US mainstream culture rejects those that can't be neatly categorized. (4) Oscar is an outcast because of his lack of "Atomic-level G," his incompetence in bedding women and his overall social awkwardness. These factors distance Oscar from any 'coolness' he might have. Even the genre fiction Wao loves to read has historically been dismissed by mainstream literary minds for being irrelevant, "light" and not to be taken seriously. [source needed] (5) However, instead of poking fun at Oscar, the narrator greatly sympathizes with his plight, almost reverently; his tone is one of honest pity. It's the kind of tone we have when we gossip about a child who we know will one day become famous or important, or who might one day be our boss.

I thought that it might be interesting to watch this interview with Diaz, I really enjoyed, I hope you guys enjoy watching it too.

Open Office - Microsoft WORD Alternatives

WORD is expensive, there's no doubt about that. Since I require that you submit papers in WORD-readable format, for those of you who don't have WORD (or Microsoft Office) there's a free alternative: Open Office (which includes powerpoint and excel alternatives, too).

I've been using OO for over 3 years and I've never had a problem with it. From what I can tell, the functionality is very similar to WORD.

Junot Diaz

I'd appreciate your assistance in compiling a list here of Junot Diaz/Oscar Wao sites that you find valuable. Simply post them in the comments section and we'll stockpile them for future reference.

I'll start it off: "Natas"

The Annotated Oscar Wao. This is probably the best thing I've seen all day. What a resource!

Even Oprah loves Junot.

Cover Letter

This will be something that you attach to ALL essays for this class, just like we did today:

Cover Letter
(Answer on a separate sheet of paper and attach to each essay you hand in to me)

What do you see as your main points?
How did you go about writing and what happened?
Where in the paper were you challenged? What was easiest for you?
What is the most difficult, most rewarding or most entertaining part of the writing process?
Which part(s) are you most satisfied with? Least satisfied with?
What questions do you have for me as a reader?

Monday 3/5

Quick write topic:

What does it mean to de-eroticize culture?

Homework for Monday, 2/27, and Wednesday, 2/29

For Monday, we'll be peer reviewing the essays of those 5 or 6 people in each section. We will look at their essays in class.

Everyone else MUST bring in a rough draft of what they have completed of Essay 1. This means that no matter how much you have written, you must hand in something typed up.

For Wednesday, consider the following quote:

"There is nothing practical about a practical joke." Be prepared to explain your interpretation of this.

A bit long, but relevant to our discussion on race and context

here's the link, and I'd be interested to hear your comments on it.

Homework Reminder

Please remember that in addition to a schedule change and library session next week (if you weren't in class today, you'll need to ask someone in your group), you will also be expected to write 1 body paragraph using ONE of the four Main Idea sentences.

[In other words one of the sentences below will be the FIRST sentence in your body paragraph. I will grade you on how well you develop the paragraph based on the 5 part formula I've given you in class. I will also assign an in-class follow-up writing assignment based on this exercise, so be sure you prioritize this.]

1) A hoax is a prank with magic in it.

2) Being required to multitask limits our creativity (or productivity).

3) Our tolerance of pain is subjective.

4) Friendship is more important than love. (You may choose to replace "important" with another adjective.)

See you next week.

UPDATE***

Here's next week's schedule, as a reminder:

Monday -- NYCCT is closed

Tuesday -- Classes follow a Monday schedule (we meet this day)

Wednesday -- Our class meets at its regularly scheduled time, but in the Library (4th Floor, Atrium Bldg.)

The Word B***h

                When speaking of the word Bitch, it is assumed automatically that is it being referred to how a woman’s persona is described, well because it is simple a major reason it is used. People say things like “that bitch is a dumbass”, not considering that the person they are saying this too, might become a very insecure person. Woman now-a-days have become more strong, but strong in a way where they have more of an attitude towards men because they feel that men down grade them so much, that they have to fight to be above them. It was said that woman years ago were gentle and more “flower” like, because they received that respect, guessing that men felt they had crazy power, they have the right to offend and not acknowledge women and their hard work. One simple word can change society in a crazy way, woman now feel like they have to think twice about saying or doing something without someone calling them a B***h or saying they are doing “B***h” things. It is sad that this word has changed woman and how they act in a negative way but, this is the way it is for now until someone finds another reason to use this word. 

(Tatiana L., Antonio T., Abraham H., Travis G.)

Gay

The term gay was originally used into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "happy", "cheerful" etc. The term later began to be used in reference to homosexuality, having a sexual attraction to a person of the same sex, which the word is still being used today. Nowadays people are using the word Gay to describe something that isn't "cool". For example people will be saying things like going to class is gay, or the movie is gay, or this type of music is gay. Recently a rapper by the name of Tyler the Creator has used the word "gay" a lot in his songs about five hundred times, many people today thought of him as a homophobic. Which he later decline in a old interview he had by saying "I'm not homophobic. I just think f*ggot hits and hurts people. It hits. And gay just means you're stupid. I don't know, we don't think about it, we're just kids. We don't think about that sh*t. But I don't hate gay people. I don't want anyone to think I'm homophobic - Tyler The Creator. If he doesn't want people thinking he's homophobic, then why does he continue to use this word to say something that isn't "cool". Even people in today society use the word "gay" just to insult people its the same as calling someone fat or stupid even though they're not. In today world the word gay will always have a negative effect on a person, who knows how long this will last until the word gay gets its old meaning by being happy, and cheerful etc.

Group - Christian Rodriguez, Stanley ____, Christopher ____, Daniel_____, James _____

F***

The "F" word is referred to a vulgar word in most cases. The definition of F*** is an act of sexual intercourse. Today in our society, sadly, the use of the "F" word is common. Some people say the "F" word to show anger, annoyance, or impatience. For example, if someone is so mad at a person, and they do not want to see them they would probably say " What the f***, leave alone!" That's how they would express themself. Also the use of the "F" word by a child is more shockng than a teenager or an adult. When a child says the "F" word it sounds more bad than when a teenager or adult does because children are supposed to be innocent and no word like that should come out of their mouth. Unfortunatly, when a teen or adult  uses that word we don't mind as much.. We hear it everyday outside, at the subway, in school, or even at home. The meaning of the F*** word has changed over the years.

GROUP:(Hector,Ji,Aaisha,Zinab and Orlando)

The word Stupid

The word Stupid, 'A lack of intelligence or common sense, ' Is now being used entirely different from that of the original definition. When the word "stupid" is being used, it is commonly used to discourage someone, usually to mean someone is dumb, foolish, obtuse, fatuous, etc. Now when you hear the word 'Stupid' the word can be meant as something or someone is Interesting, amusing, entertaining and so on.
In short, for someone to say "Yo those sneakers are stupid!" Can actually mean the Sneakers are very nice; or for a more oxymoron approach, for someone to say " You're stupid smart," actually means you're very smart. Mainly the way you use the word stupid is in correlation in what you and your peers are doing. Calling someone stupid when they're crossing through a highway will have a significantly different meaning than when the word stupid is being used when you receive an A or you exam. The word "Stupid" is now used to have either an encouraging or discouraging affect amongst your peers.

YO

Group: Melissa Romero, Bryan Gomez, Yisha He, Fu Chen, Brian Zhu, Victor Rodmanijr

Teenagers and young adults use it to stop or grab someone's attention. It is also replaces words like "hi" or "hey". A typical way yo is used, is when someone does not know your name. Instead of saying, Mark, how you doing?, it is used, yo, how you doing? Yo is also used to downgrade people or act tough but it is usually an offensive word. Its an innocent word but for some reason, it has expanded in many ways that can hurt someone. But of course, it all depends on the person and their tone. 

Ways yo is used:
-yo, wait up!
-yo son!
-what's yo problem?

-yo, come here

Definition: get someone's attention, express excitement or greet someone.

Yesterday’s discussion 2/8 (Extra)

For the laughter:

After the discussion of the "N" word and on certain people being able to use certain words, I recalled a comedian named Tim Minchin, who made a song relating to this point. 

The video can be seen on youtube: Tim Minchin Prejudice 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw

Son

The text book definition of son would be a boy or man in relation to either or both of his parents. In the minority communities there has been changes to the perception of this word, now its not only a father and son bond but also a friends bond. It is being spoken in a sense of one person relating to another. People use this word to call there friends , an example would be " hey son how you doing". Like many other words context is key , circumstances make it unusable. It can't be used to address someone you respect or are supposed to have a sense of respect towards them like a teacher or your parents. This word , like many others, is an example on how consensus of a concept is not necessarily the best for the society.
Group : Emmanuel Oviedo, Carl Wolfe , Terrell Jones , Dreana _____ , Manuel _____.

Chink

GROUP: Roody Innocent, Abdoulago Diallo, Johnathan Tse, Olivia Chalumo, Dashuang Ni, Yasmin Elwasli

Would you answer someone if they called you "chink"? Like many words today, chink has transcended from our ordinary vocabulary into a derogatory slang word. Now, it has manifested itself into its own meaning. In the dictionary, chink means a crack, chip or narrow opening but chink isn't being used properly by slang users. They use it to refer to people of East Asian decent in a demeaning manor. The word chink holds the same power, offensiveness, and terms as the "N" word does. Often enough, oriental cultured persons would call each other chink as African Americans call each other nigga, but if another race were to address the primary race as such, it abruptly becomes an insult. It seems that no matter where you are, there is a cultural word for a race to address each other. These words are very delicate yet powerful and may stimulate additional issues when being used the wrong way.

Bitch

Group Members: Robert Rivera, Mahumdul Robin, Shaniqua Walker & Kendra King-Porowne
The definition of the word bitch means female dog. In today's society, the term is used in a different context. Teens/young adults use the word in a friendly way. Women often refer to themselves and others as a bitch. However, if a man were to call a woman a bitch, she would take offense automatically and would consider the word to be disrespectful and hurtful. The words meaning can vary depending when, where, why, and how it's being used. For instance, if a woman was being malicious or disrespectful, she would be considered a bitch. Her attitude isn't positive and thats when the meaning of the term bitch changes into something negative. From a woman's perspective, a positive example of when being called a bitch is if a woman is refering to her friend as a bitch. Instead of saying "That's my friend," she'll say, "That's my bitch." The word bitch can either has a positive effect or negative effect on a person depending on how it is being used.

Thought-piece

If you could reduce one aspect of human (inter)action by 20%, which aspect of our existence would it be? Why?

This is how I feel about punctuation (and bad jokes).

Introduction - Essay 1

[I mentioned that I'd be writing an introduction to our Freedom Essay along with you. I'm posting it here.]

After watching CNN repeatedly broadcast from dozens of angles as both towers fell into Manhattan's floor; of businesspeople leaping from upper story windows, their arms and legs flailing in midair; of despairing and defeated rescue workers limping through that ashen tomb of invisible and instant death; who among us did not at some point cry out for swift and aggressive retaliation? In the wake of such a disaster, it is customary for the media and the US government to placate Americans by making two types of promises. The first is a vow of instant justice for the guilty party. The second is an incessant call for “enduring freedom” to be quickly meted out by US military mobilization and later, invasion and bombardment. This latter example (that of enduring freedom) illustrates how the concept of “freedom” has been transformed since 9/11. From that fateful day onward, when we hear politicians and US citizens speak of freedom, what we are really hearing is a call to oppress others. Our quest for freedom has become inextricably linked to stealing freedom from others.

Addition to our blog

You'll notice a new category to the right. These are readings I'd recommend to those who really want to get to the next level with regard to our writing. Elements of Style links to a free version, but the others are linked to amazon, where you may purchase the book). You may choose to look for these in the library, or you may just decide that what you learn this semester is enough. Regardless, it's good to have some books to turn to if you need them, which is the whole reason I posted the links here.

"To My Old Master"

I spoke about this letter in my 10 am class today. We were discussing how freedom for some (and equality...eventually) leads to others losing rights. This might be one example we use in our essays.

Regardless of whether you use it or not, it's a great read and worth reading. It's also a great "F*** You" to a former slaveowner.

Read more here

First Essay Assignment - Gloria Naylor (2/6)

Since it seems uncertain whether everyone will have purchased The River Reader by next week, I'm posting a link to the first essay we'll be discussing.

You can get a full-text version here.

And since your first essay assignment will be to write a definition essay, here, here and here are some valuable links.

Welcome to our blog for English Composition (ENG 1101), Spring 2012!

To the right you'll see a few links to what have generally been very useful web sites. Over the next few weeks, I strongly suggest taking a look and familiarizing yourself with these resources. They'll make your life much easier, I promise.