INSTRUCTOR
Owen M. Williamson, MA
In case of absence, or if class is ever cancelled due to circumstances beyond Instructor control, students are still expected to complete and submit all assignments shown on this Calendar page if possible.
Week 7:
MONDAY:
How to research. [Academic success strategies] [Library research]
Dispelling the myth of the lone genius creating knowledge. Research and the idea of the community of scholarly discourse. [Academic success strategies] [Critical thinking] [Library research]
Tentative exercise: Kennedy (click for link), p. 70 [Paraphrase], [Applies to theme / discipline]
Discuss Fine Arts activities. (e.g., films, art exhibits, music events, museum, theater production, etc.)
Public speaking activity—declamation. [Applies to theme / discipline] [Public speaking]
Wednesday:
Work Group 7 will discuss Progymnasma 7: Commonplace.(Argue against some evil that is the opposite of the semester thesis).
Written exercise
Scenario; Your closest female friend at UTEP calls you, crying, to tell you that she is unexpectedly pregnant. [Don't worry: If you are a male, you are not the father!] She is not married. Due to her religious beliefs abortion is out of the question, but her family is yelling at her and telling her that now she's a mother-to-be she needs to quit wasting time and money on college, stay home, concentrate on getting proper prenatal care, and get ready to be a full-time parent for the next 18 years. She's depressed and crying and doesn't know what to do.
Your task: Write her a strongly persuasive five-paragraph letter convincing her not to drop out of college. Strictly follow the the ILPEC format (Introduction, Logos, Pathos, Ethos, Conclusion).
What do professors expect from you?
Make
office visits. Professors want you to visit them during scheduled
office hours.
Understand
the syllabus. Professors expect you to consult the course
syllabus and understand course requirements.
Use
knowledge. Professors insist that you think about and synthesize
seemingly unrelated topics.
Be
responsible. You have to know what is required when it comes to
being organized and prepared for class; in short, professors expect you to
take responsibility for yourself.
Borders, 1st edition.
Assignment: Response or discussion.
FRIDAY:
Meet at the Cotton Memorial Bldg. for tour of KTEP.
Monday:
1. Read Kennedy (click for link), 105-8 (example).
2 Read Borders chapter 6: Avoiding Hazards Along the Way.
Wednesday:
1. Complete Life Event Scale. Bring along for next week's class.
2. Explore each of the following links: UTEP
Friday:
1. Do Progymnasma 7. . [Applies to theme / discipline]
2. KTEP report. [Academic success strategies—note taking] [Critical thinking]
Progymnasma 7: Commonplace. Argue against some evil that is the opposite of the semester thesis.
Write a five-part argument against some commonplace bad attitude that would result in rejecting the semester thesis. Use your own words, and give your own thoughts and feelings.
Following the instructions below, strongly attack one of the following commonplace bad attitudes (choose one that is closest to what you might say!):
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"I have to keep attending college so my parents won't yell at me or kick me out, but I hate every moment of it."
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"My job comes first, and it doesn't leave me nearly enough time for any extra study. I can barely keep up as is!"
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"College is all about partying, girls (guys) and fun, not about spending all day and all night studying. Hey, I have a social life! They're crazy if they think I'm gonna spend every night with my nose in a book!""
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"I don't wanna learn all this stupid crap. I'm not interested in being a damned scholar! I just want a degree so I can work as a nurse (or a cop, or a physical therapist, or a coach, or a preschool teacher, or a computer game designer). And once I graduate, I swear I'll never crack a book again!"
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"I only care about my major. All these other courses and requirements are just unnecessary busy-work."
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"My brain would burn out! There's no way I could study that much, not if I want to keep my sanity!"
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"I'm here to play sports. I just need a 'C' to stay eligible until I can go pro."
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"Dude, I'm a kid! They expect me to act like some grown-up but I'm not mature enough yet for college."
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"College professors are just a bunch of sell-outs. All they want is to fill our heads with their lies so that when we graduate we can go out and fool the next generation. But I'm not gonna live like that!"
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"I'm only here to grab a few college credits; I don't want to make college into my damn life!"
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"I hate reading. I hate history. I hate science. And I really hate math. Why on earth would I want to study those subjects beyond the absolute minimum that the professor requires?"
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"They lecture your ears off. What I'm looking for is hands-on job training, and I'm not getting it!"
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"Hey, I'm the customer here, and the customer is always right. I pay my tuition, and if I wanna get a 'C,' or even flunk, that's my perfect right! It's a free country! What right do they have to order me around?"
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"When I study I cram everything that's gonna be on the exam, ace the thing, and then totally forget it all on the way out of the room. It works, but studying anything extra just screws up the process."
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I'll do what they tell me to do to pass, but I'll be damned if I'll kiss up and do even more than they ask! For eighteen long years I've spent my life kissing up and doing what I was told. Now it's finally time for me to step up and do what I want to do, not what some old professor is trying to convince me to do extra."
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The professor says just to give back what's in the book, not to go off on our own."
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"My culture is different. We just don't see studying and book-learning as that important."
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"I'm just here to get the financial aid, not to work my behind off! I don't get paid any overtime for studying extra."
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"I'm just here to try out college and see if I like it, not to get all wrapped up in it! If it isn't fun I'll go in the Army or do something else with my life."
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"Why study more than you have to? This book stuff is all B.S. Everybody knows that what counts in the real world is who you know, not what you know. I need to be out making social and professional contacts, not just studying."
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"The climate is changing, the economy is crashing, people are dying in Juárez and in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ordinary people from Cairo to Wisconsin are finally standing up all and saying 'No!' And in the middle of all this you want me to spend my life in front of a computer, studying? No way! What the world needs now is action!"
Do not just argue in favor of the semester thesis, but instead attack the particular bad attitude you chose above.
Instructions:
- Begin with the contrary or a contradiction (tell what the opposite of this commonplace attitude would be)
- Introduce a comparison, comparing a different or alternative attitude to what is attacked
- Examine the bad motivations of anyone who would hold this commonplace attitude.
- Employ a digression with a defamatory conjecture as to the past life of the person accused (i,e., what bad experiences, choices or actions in their past life might have made them think this way?)
- Repudiate the idea of taking pity on such a person. Show why he or she is even beyond "pitiful."
