For tomorrow (or today if you feel like it) the reading is an excerpt from a book called "Bootstraps from an Academic of Color" by Victor Villanueva. The word academic in this case means a person who studies (a noun) as opposed to being academic (the verb of action) to study. Villanueva discusses his struggles as a first generation college student to learn the language of the academy.He talks about experiences that built his confidence as a reader and writer and experiences that demoralized him as a student. He also talks about writing strategies that he found success with as he developed a personal style as a writer. I too, am a first generation college student and can vividly recall always feeling a little out of place next to my friends who came from families where a college degree was something every family member possesses.
The opening of this reading describes the term 'code switching' which is changing between languages or registers (word choice) in various situations. Just last week, I was sitting with a fellow instructor talking about life when I said, "Me and Sophia..." right away I became self conscious because I had used grammatical phrasing that gave away my background as a nonacademic. A 'real academic' would always choose, "Sophia and I..." My friend probably didn't notice and she still respects me as a colleague, but will always feel like she is much more brilliant that me because she never makes these mistakes.
As you read try to think about your insecurities as a college student. Even if you are not a first generation student, college is going to be a time of change in your life. Think about the challenges that Villanueva overcame and how he overcame them. Think about what you have already identifies as potential challenges and how you have thought about conquering them. Think, finally, about all the unknown challenges that you will face. How will you overcome these as they appear?
There is no blog post due today. Watch the two videos below and try to make connections. All three, (the videos and the reading) tie together because they talk about finding you academic voice without losing your voice that is unique.
Instead of the blog post on Thursday bring to class three questions you have or problems you are having with the final assignment along with some type of pre-writing plan. This plan can be any thing from an outline, to bullet point notes, a list of quotes, or a bunch of bubbles thoughts. Remember that your letter must have a theme so it would be a good idea to have a working thesis on Thursday. Your Cornell notes should be helpful in finding quotes and themes.
The Case Against Good and Bad: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-case-against-good-and-bad
The Power of Simple Words - http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-simple-words
The opening of this reading describes the term 'code switching' which is changing between languages or registers (word choice) in various situations. Just last week, I was sitting with a fellow instructor talking about life when I said, "Me and Sophia..." right away I became self conscious because I had used grammatical phrasing that gave away my background as a nonacademic. A 'real academic' would always choose, "Sophia and I..." My friend probably didn't notice and she still respects me as a colleague, but will always feel like she is much more brilliant that me because she never makes these mistakes.
As you read try to think about your insecurities as a college student. Even if you are not a first generation student, college is going to be a time of change in your life. Think about the challenges that Villanueva overcame and how he overcame them. Think about what you have already identifies as potential challenges and how you have thought about conquering them. Think, finally, about all the unknown challenges that you will face. How will you overcome these as they appear?
There is no blog post due today. Watch the two videos below and try to make connections. All three, (the videos and the reading) tie together because they talk about finding you academic voice without losing your voice that is unique.
Instead of the blog post on Thursday bring to class three questions you have or problems you are having with the final assignment along with some type of pre-writing plan. This plan can be any thing from an outline, to bullet point notes, a list of quotes, or a bunch of bubbles thoughts. Remember that your letter must have a theme so it would be a good idea to have a working thesis on Thursday. Your Cornell notes should be helpful in finding quotes and themes.
The Case Against Good and Bad: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-case-against-good-and-bad
The Power of Simple Words - http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-simple-words
tuesday_june_23.pptx |
excerpt_from_bootstraps_(villanueva).pdf |