Discussion n. 5 due March 3

COMMENT

Son of Italy and The Italian: which of the two made the bigger impression on you? And, what made an impression (talking about the movie, remember the score was not part of it. It's a silent movie, so skip references to the music.)

REPLY Read the comment of a classmate written after yours. It must be a comment you don't agree with but don't start with the predictable: "I am sorry but I disagree.....". Jump right in. Be nice, but make your argument.

Discussion n. 4: due March 3

Let's see if you are 'honest' and follow my directions:

Open SON OF ITALY on a page at random. RE-READ that chapter and the one before or after that (total of two chapters).

See if you discover something you had missed the first time.  What is it? How does that relate to your own previous take on the book, or the conversation we had in class, or new thoughts and ideas?

In the COMMENT, specify what chapters you reread (don't use the number, give us a few clues) and the new stuff you discovered, and explain why it has new meaning for you.

REPLY to at least one comment posted after your own (yes, come back to read what other people had to say.)

Discussion n. 3: due FEB 25

On the course homepage open the lecture notes for last week.


Go through the outline. We didn't cover everything I had planned, however:

• what TOPIC do you wish we had discussed more in depth (or, if we didn't get to it, you wish we had discussed?)  WHY?
• what TOPIC we discussed that you thought was a waste of time? WHY?
• what TOPIC would you have introduced that is not in the outline? WHY?

IN A SEPARATE PARAGRAPH:

still relating to the lecture's outline, is there a question you would like to ask?


As usual, REPLY to a comment: choose a comment that was written AFTER yours.

Discussion 2: due Feb 18

In the first 60 pages of SON OF ITALY you came across an infinite amount of DETAILS.

Don't focus on the plot, the action, the major themes etc. etc. etc.

COMMENT:

FOCUS on one small detail, something that had an impact on you and that most other people probably noticed but did not spend much time thinking about.
Instead, for you it had a particular meaning.
Why? What is it that led you to choose it?

Read your classmates' comments first and avoid repetition.

REPLY: choose the comment of someone who wrote AFTER you did (you will have to come back.) Choose something you had NOT thought about or you had NOT noticed and explain why this comment caught your attention.

Discussion 1: due Feb 11

BEFORE you start writing, read the comments left by other students. (If you are the first one to post, you have an open canvas.)
AVOID repeating the same topic/issue over and over. Even if you choose the same general topic, find in it an original detail or aspect.


COMMENT: Thinking back about the first class, what is ONE detail, or piece of information that you remember vividly?

Describe it and explain WHY it means something to you.

(If your comment is widely off target I will remove it: it's not personal, I just want to make sure the conversation stays on track.)

REPLY:  from the comments left by classmates choose one you find particularly interesting or intriguing or original and tell him/her why you selected it.

Due Feb 11: introductions follow up

I had to remove some of the introductions: I insist that you must think before you start writing. No stream of consciousness and no "whatever."
Same goes for style: punctuation, upper case where needed etc., proper grammar, no text-style abbreviations.


ASSIGNMENT:

Go back to the first posting: read the comments that appear BEFORE YOURS, in ASCENDING ORDER (from the last to the first: this will prevent having a bunch of replies to the first two or three due to 'reader's fatigue.')

Choose one that you find particularly interesting and REPLY. Explain the reason of your choice.

ALSO: come back to answer the polls (work in progress.)