Session 1: Friday 25 August
Introduction to the class.
Session 2: Friday 1 September
• Before you begin your homework, be sure to read through the Introduction to the course and Description of assignments (click on the tabs at the top of the page). You'll need to follow the instructions given there to write your post correctly.
• First blog post due. Long post. Topic: Describe a New York City encounter with someone from a culture or ethnicity different from your own. Remember to follow the guidelines for posts: give your post an interesting title; include some piece of research; use in-text citations and provide a Works Cited listing of your sources using the MLA format.
Session 3: Friday 8 September
• Find an article in a serious news source (for instance: The New York Times, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, or The New Yorker magazine) and respond to it. Choose a serious news topic (no tragic fires in the Bronx, sports news, or fluffy lifestyle pieces). You can choose a factual report of a current event or an opinion piece. Bring the article to class—either print it out (if you find it online) or cut it out of the printed publication. In class, we will work with the articles that have been brought in.
• Second blog post due: Short blog post. Write a three- to four-sentence summary that clearly describes what the article is about. At the bottom of the post, provide a Work Cited entry for the article you have summarized.
Session 4: Friday 15 September
• Third blog post due. Long blog post. Topic: Find an article in a serious news source (for instance: The New York Times, The Village Voice, New York Magazine, or The New Yorkermagazine) and respond to it. Choose a serious news topic (no tragic fires in the Bronx, sports news, or fluffy lifestyle pieces). You can work either with a factual report of a current event, or with an opinion piece. In your post, be sure to tell us enough so we understand what the article was about, and express your opinion about the subject. Be clear whether your source is persuasive (an opinion piece designed to convince us of something) or expository (a simple news story recounting facts).
You will be graded both on the quality of your post and on the seriousness of the article you choose.
Note: revisions to schedule appear in red.
Friday 22 September and 29 September: No class. I presume these are Jewish holidays, although they are not marked as such in the academic calendar.
Session 5: Friday 6 October
• Fourth blog post due. Long blog post. Topic: Describe a personal experience of art or music in the city and how it affected you. (Remember to follow the guidelines for posts).
• The article for the mid-term exam will be handed out in class today. If you are absent, e-mail the professor at calderhead123@gmail.com and he will send you the file to print out at home.
Session 6: Friday 13 October
• Read the midterm article before class.
• Fifth blog post due: Short blog post. Write one paragraph proposing a topic for your research paper.You do not have to do research for this assignment. Just explain the topic you’d like to choose, and why it interests you. Remember that the professor must approve your topic after seeing your proposal. We will post everyone’s approved topics on the blog site today.
Session 7: Friday 20 October
• Begin your background reading on your topic. There is nothing you need to post.
• Review the midterm reading and make sure you are familiar with it. Bring the reading to class.
• The mid-term exam will be given in class today.
Session 8: Friday 27 October
• Sixth blog post due: Short blog post. Topic: Write about three sources you have found for your paper. Tell us how each source sheds light on you topic and why you trust that source. The three sources should be listed at the end of the post using the MLA Works Cited format.
• In class today, we will write outlines for your research paper.
Session 9: Friday 3 November
• Seventh blog post due: Long blog post. Topic: Choose one part of your research paper outline, and write that section as a blog post. Give this post its own title (not the title of your paper), and include MLA-style citations and a Works Cited section at the end.
Session 10: Friday 10 November
• Eighth blog post due: Long blog post. Topic: Choose one part of your research paper outline, and write that section as a blog post. Give this post its own title (not the title of your paper), and include MLA-style citations and a Works Cited section at the end.
Session 11: Friday 17 November
• Ninth blog post due. Short blog post.
Choose one of these topics:
Topic 1: Now that you have been working on the research paper for some time, are there any gaps in your research? Find one more good source. In your post, tell me what you discovered in this new source. (One paragraph is fine)
Topic 2: If you feel you have found lots of source material already, tell me the most surprising fact you've uncovered about your topic. (One paragraph is fine)
Session 12: Tuesday 21 November
Note that this class meeting is not scheduled on Friday. Please let me know in advance if your work schedule prevents you from attending class on this day.
• No post this week: work on your research paper.
24 November: no class. Thanksgiving holiday.
Session 13: Friday 1 December
• The research paper is due today.
• The reading for the final exam will be handed out in class. If you are absent, e-mail the professor at calderhead123@gmail.com and he will send you the file to print out at home.
Session 14: Friday 8 December
Responding to requests from students this term, I have decided the final research paper will be due on this day. It should be printed out and ready at the beginning of class. We will discuss the final exam reading in class. No blog post is due on this date. But if you wish to make up any missing blog posts, you may post them. Since they are posted after the due dates, I will note them, but you may not receive a fully graded post. (It is unrealistic to post more than two posts the week. Trust me.)
Exam week: 14-20 December
Please check exam dates on OSSES.
Michael Boateng
ReplyDeleteEnglish 12
Class # 51148
Section D18
New York City Experience
New York City is one of the largest City in the world. It has an estimated population of about “8,550,405, as of July 2015 by the United States Census of Bureau. New York City is also a tourist attraction City and attracts about 50 million foreign and American tourists each year. It has numerous number of tourist attraction sites such the Ground Zero (The World Trade Center), the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, the Central Park which is about 843 acres. Inside New York Central Park, there is a children museum and some restaurants. Alongside the park you can find one of the famous museums in the City called The Guggenheim museum which is situated on the 5th avenue.
The City has a Heliport, waterways and tunnels. One of the water crossing ways is the Hudson River Waterway which you can cross to New Jersey. It has subways trains and airport as well. The biggest and busiest airport is the John F. Kennedy international airport and the other one is LaGuardia airport.
New York City has marvelous and sensational tall buildings. The buildings are well designed and is good to see this yourself. The City is always busy with sidewalks crowded especially during the morning and evening rush hours.
As a cab driver in the City, I usually come across with different people from all walks of life and chat with these people when they get in my cab. When you are in the City of New York, you could see so many different people talking in many different languages with different cultures and different ethnicity some of whom look scurry and some are not. There is always traffic and congestion. Parking is one the problem in the City of New York. Parking on the street for an hour will cost you 50 cents for 15 minutes and parking in the garages will cost you more and safer than on the street.
Another thing about the City of New York is that, the City doesn’t sleep for the whole 24-hour period. You would find people strolling the City with some having fun on the street especially, Time Square. The City can also boast of Madison Square Garden which is said to be one the worlds famous arena.
One of the places people use to visit in the City is the Rockefeller Center. This place is always crowded in the Christmas season as people go there to see the Christmas Tree mounted for the Christmas festivities. Is good for experience the New York City life a little. There are a lot of fun in the City and different places to visit. Food and clothing are relatively cheaper in the City.
New York City is a place to be in a life time.
Work Cited
"Current and Projected Populations." NYC Population. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2017. .
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMICHAEL BOATENG
ReplyDeletePROFESSOR CHRITOPHER CALDERHEAD
ENGLISH 12
SECTION D 18
CLASS # 51148
“Pregnancy Problems Tied to Caffeine”
Caffeine is a bitter alkaloid that has PH of more than 7 and act as a stimulant drug. It increases your blood pressure, increases your blood flow to the heart and has a dehydrating effect.
Caffeine is not just found in coffee but it can be found in chocolate drinks, teas, energy drinks and sodas or colas. Caffeine is most likely to cause insomnia and it not recommended for women who are planning to get pregnant or pregnant women.
From his article “Pregnancy Problems Tied to Caffeine” in the New York Times (21st January, 2008) edition, Denis Grady write that too much caffeine during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage. He continues to emphasized the need for pregnant women or women trying to get pregnant to completely avoid caffeine during the first trimester. This is because the first trimester is said to be the crucial period and this when most common miscarriage happens. So excessive consumption of caffeine can harm the pregnancy (fetus).
American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology study released in 2008 shows that 200 milligrams or more caffeine daily by pregnant women can cause miscarriage as to those who do not consume caffeine.
Work Cited
Grady, Denise. "Pregnancy Problems Tied to Caffeine." New York Times, 21 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.
MICHAEL BOATENG
ReplyDeleteENGLISH 12
PROF. CHRISTOPHER CALDERHEAD
SECTION 18
CLASS # 51148
“A New Death Toll for Smoking”
Cigarettes smoking among men and women is on the rise and above all the youth. Cigarettes smoking is one of the major problems in New York City and America in particular.
Smoking cigarettes not only damage your lungs but it has so many adverse effects on the body.
Smoking cigarette causes cancer of the lungs, mouth, throat, the liver, pancreas and the bladder. It can also cause asthma, heart attack and most important cigarettes smoking lowers your life expectancy. Cigarette smoke contains more toxic chemicals including Carcinogen (a cancer causing agent). It also contains Nicotine, an addictive substance which can elevate your mood and your heart rate.
From his article “A New Death Toll for Smoking” in the New York Times (October, 31st 2016) edition, Nicholas Bakalar writes about the new study that shows the percentage of all cancer deaths in the United States which is assigned to cigarette smoking (“28.6%”). He went on to cite an example of tobacco laws by World Health Organization (WHO) which requires the enforcement to protect premature deaths. World Health Organization suggest that there should be an increase in the retail price of cigarette by “75 percent” but no State has payed heed to this.
In Ghana West Africa, tobacco excise duties are higher. It is about 100 percent higher which made it difficult for consumers to patronized the product. The Food and Drug Authority (FDA) which is the regulatory body to control this has ban smoking in all public places and offenders would face the possible prosecution.
Moreover, the writer cited how “political and economic influence has translated into weaker tobacco control policy and cheaper cigarettes where taxes on them are lower”. It could be better if there is a high tax on tobacco which will reduce the number of cigarette smoking.
The City University of New York has also taken a bold decision for its “No Smoking” in any CUNY campuses. This is very good initiative and is yielding a good result.
Work Cited
Bakalar, Nicholas. "A New Death Toll for Smoking." The New York Times, 31 Oct. 2016. Web. .
MICHAEL BOATENG
ReplyDeletePROF. CHRISTOPHER CALDERHEAD
ENGLISH 12
03/02/17
SECTION D 18
CLASS # 51148
My Musical Concert in The City
It was Saturday March, 6th 2016 at 7pm, my family and I went to a musical and concert show at Devine Assemblies of God Church located at 182nd street on third avenue in the Bronx. This musical and concert show was to mark the 59th independence celebration of my country Ghana. The theme for this occasion was “Celebration Ghana’s 59th Independence with Music. What I saw in the church auditorium was simply remarkable. The auditorium was decorated with beautiful Ghanaian flag colors (red, gold and green) respectively. Together with the colors were beautiful lightning systems on the stage. There was a huge turnout for this memorable day.
When you look around the room, you can see a large number of musical instrument ready to be played. These instruments include, Flute, Trumpet, Kettle Drum, Piano and Guitar.
At the function, most of them were dressed in their traditional Ghanaian dresses (kente cloth) but the occasion drew more people from all walks of life so there were a few people who had dressed in formal attire.
After we took our seats, the master of ceremony (MC) came to the stage to welcome and thank everyone for being part of the night. The program has just begun. There was a huge audience present as the program was free. The music that was played wasn’t only Ghanaian music but foreign classical music was played as well. Among the piece that was played was from John Sabastian Bach. The song title is “Jesu, Joy of Mans Desiring” Another memorable hymn that was also played was Amazing Grace by John Newton. When this particular song was played, everyone was filled with joy and happiness. Everyone enjoyed the music so much that they shouted for more and the orchestra provided us with an encore. The show was supposed to end at 3:30am but couldn’t wait to the climax of the program.
I enjoyed being part of this and would recommend everyone to attend a concert or musical show in his or her lifetime as mine was a memorable one.