Last Updated: Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

Students w/more than 7 absences must obtain a note excusing their absences from Dr. Holmes. Students with 7 or more EXCUSED and/or UNEXCUSED absences will have 10% deducted from their final grade. Students with 3 or less absences will receive an extra 5%.

Here is information about each of the assignments (all written assignments should be at least 2 pages in length):

Survey: Complete the survey in Reading the News Part One.

News Headline: Write a new headline for the article on online news at the beginning of reading the news part one (see link on this website)

Blog: compare and contrast an article from a traditional news source with information from a blog. Be specific and discuss which one you think is more reliable.

Rihanna: discuss an article on the incident between Rihanna and Chris Brown. What questions were asked in the article? Do you think the journalist sensationalized the event?

Daily Show and Colbert: Watch the Daily Show and the Colbert Report. Discuss whether you think these are informative shows and if they could replace daily news. Be specific.

Links: Daily Show Colbert Report 

Nobel Peace Prize: President Obama was recently awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his diplomatic skills. Do you think he deserved it? Refer to articles on the subject and discuss your point of view by supporting it with facts.

Quote: Write about one of the quotes at the beginning of the Reading the News Project Part One.

Cheerios Research Paper: Research whether the FDA was correct in insisting that Cheerios is a drug because of its marketing claims. 5 pages typed.

Michael Jackson: Anaylze several news reports about the death of Michael Jackson. How was his death described? What were the connotations in the headlines?

Report: Choose one of the following incidents to write a report on: Iraqi Man Runs Over His Daughter (see the news headlines and reports about this incident and write your own article while reporting facts), the fire alarm incident at Saint Paul's College, or an important local event. Cover the event, but try to make the incident you are reporting interesting to your audience.

Movie Review: Write a review of a movie. Do not simply cut and paste a movie review  from the internet. Discuss your criteria for evaluating the movie. Rate the movie. Discuss some scenes from the movie and support your viewpoint. Do not be too brief.

August 20th, 2009

Reading the news requires an awareness of how the news is packaged and presented. What is newsworthy and what is not is dependent upon what many in the mass media imagine the public will find newsworthy. The way we analyze, assess, and think critically about the news has changed in the 21st century. In this first class, we will discuss our different views about the news and complete the survey in Reading the News Part One.

* Keep all of your assignments in a loose leaf notebook/folder

* Keep copies of your assignments if possible

* You may turn in assignments by email, but you must turn in a hard copy as well (in case I do not receive the email for some reason)

* brainstorm on the news

* complete survey in Reading the News Part One

* write about the quotes that we read in Reading the News Part One

* take a news headline or a series of news headlines and try to detect bias in the headline. You may answer any of the following questions: what was unusual about the headline? Do you feel that the headline was newsworthy? Do you detect any bias/hidden assumptions in the headline? You may get the headlines from news websites such as CNN.com, MSNBC.com, ABCNews.com, the Huffington Post, etc.

* bring a printout of the survey to the next class, as well as a printout of the headlines

August 25th, 2009 Tuesday

* create your own title for the article at the beginning of Reading the News Part Two,

Under-35s lead the shift into online news.

* google news: go to google news and find two different articles about Michael Jackson (the articles should have been written around the same time). Analyze the differences between the two articles. Do you detect any bias and how are the articles written differently? Give several examples.

* study the definitions of the grammar terms I gave in class and be prepared to discuss them for the next class.  You may study them on the following links:

grammar 1 drill 2 3 

August 27th, 2009 Thursday

* We will discuss the journal assignments next Tuesday. Also, you will turn in your assignments next Thursday (journal assignments)

* In class, we reviewed grammatical terms for a quiz that we will have next Thursday:

Examples given of each grammatical term:

preposition: in, at, to, above, before, over, beside, inside, outside, under, underneath, on, by, etc.

adverb: He is very tall. He ran very fast. He thinks quickly.

noun: He drove a car.

definite/article: He drove the car. (definite article) 

He drove a car. (indefinite article)

compound sentence: two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction

coordinating conjunctions: and, but, nor, or, for, so, yet

He passed all of his classes, and he was a star athlete.

The following is NOT an example of a compound sentence:

He bought an apple and an orange.

They went to the store, but he forgot his money.

She wants to drive, yet she has no license.

Note that you have to invert the subject and the verb in the second independent clause when using nor as a coordinating conjunction:

I don't have any shoes to wear, nor do I have any clothes to wear.

This is NOT an example of nor as a coordinating conjunction:

Neither he nor she knew the answer.

This sentence only consists of one independent clause.

James wanted a basketball, or he wanted a football for his birthday.

You can study for the test, or you can goof off with your friends.

The following is NOT an example of or as a coordinating conjunction forming a compound sentence:

He could buy a basketball or a football if he had the money.

The following is NOT an example of for as a coordinating conjunction:

He needed books for his English class.

For is a preposition in the example above.

This is an example of for used as a coordinating conjunction:

He ordered two Big Macs, for he was hungry.

He wanted to kill him, so he could become king.

The following is NOT an example of so functioning as a coordinating conjunction:

He was so tired.

So is an adverb in this case.

The word yet can also function as an adverb:

I haven't studied yet.

Independent clause: a part of a sentence that can form a sentence on its own; it has  a subject and a verb

The sentence below has two independent clauses:

He studied for the test all night long, but he failed anyway. 

Dependent clause: a clause that cannot form a sentence on its own; dependent clauses usually begin with a subordinating conjunction

When you study, you should turn off your cell phone.

If you are hungry, you should eat at the cafeteria.

While you write your paper, you should avoid talking to your friends.

Before you go to the game, you should finish your assignments.

Notice that dependent clauses at the beginning of a sentence are always followed by a comma. A dependent clause is typically followed by an independent clause, and together, they form a complex sentence.

DC + IC = CS Dependent clause + Independent clause= complex sentence just as

IC + IC linked together with a coordinating conjunction=compound sentence

IC+ DC = CS

If the independent clause comes first, then there is no comma in the complex sentence:

You should eat at the cafeteria if you are hungry.

You should avoid eating at the cafeteria whenever you can.

I studied before I went to the game.

complex sentence: a sentence consisting of one independent clause and one dependent clause

I know how you study for tests.

subordinating conjunctions: a type of conjunction that forms a dependent clause and usually begins the clause

when, although, where, how, why, whenever, because, if, unless, since, before, after, while, as, as long as, even though, though, and the list goes on. There are many subordinating conjunctions in the English language; they can usually be identified because they begin a dependent clause.

conjunctive adverb: however, thus, therefore, then, etc. These are adverbs that link together clauses

correlative conjunctions: neither... nor..., both... and..., whether...or..., either... or are paired conjunctions.

Neither he nor she knows the answer.

compound-complex sentence: a sentence using subordination and coordination

He knew how he should have studied for the test, but he didn't organize his time effectively.

action verb: a verb that expresses action

linking verb: a verb expressing a state of being

He is full.

He seems exhausted.

transitive verbs: a verb with a direct object

He smashed the desk.

intransitive verb: a verb without an object

He just arrived.

She looked at him.

adverbial particle (a marooned preposition): a preposition that has become part of a verb through idiomatic use

He picked up the trash.

She threw up.

adjective: a part of speech describing a noun

The yellow bird flew to South America.

demonstrative pronouns: this, that, these, and those, such

reflexive pronouns: himself, herself, ourselves, myself, themselves, etc.

personal pronoun (nominative): I, she, he, they, we, you

personal pronoun (objective): me, you, him, her, us, them

personal pronoun possessive (genitive): my, mine, your, yours, his, hers, etc.

indefinite pronouns: some, each, somebody, anyone, anybody, any, all, none

relative pronouns: who, which, whose, that, whom (placed at the beginning of a dependent clause in a sentence)

I know the person whom you met yesterday.

interrogative pronouns: who, which, whose, whom (NOT that); used to form a sentence

restrictive clauses: a type of dependent clause beginning with that; it functions as an adjective

The book that you read in class is  interesting.

nonrestrictive clause: a type of dependent clause beginning with which; it functions as an adjective and has a comma before which

The book, which you read yesterday, is on your desk.

adverb clause: a type of dependent clause that functions as an adverb (it usually answers one of the following questions: how, when, why, where, under what conditions?)

When you study, you should avoid drinking too much coffee.

adjective clause: a type of dependent clause that functions as an adjective (it describes a noun)

The man whom you met is a celebrity.

The book that you read is not worth reading.

noun clause: a type of dependent clause that functions as a noun (it usually answers the question "what?" and replaces a direct object in most cases)

I think that you know the answer.  (What do you think?)

I know what you have been studying. (What do you know?)

elliptical clause: a noun clause without the subordinating conjunction. The presence of the subordinating conjunction is implied.

I know we haven't studied grammar enough.

For instance, the subordinating conjunction "that" is dropped from the sentence.

I know that we haven't studied grammar enough.

September 8th, 2009

Tuesday

* Today, I returned the grammar tests and discussed the results of the grammar test.

* Two new assignments: collect two articles on the topic about whether Cheerios is a drug and two articles on the Chris Brown-Rihanna incident. Discuss the bias in both of the articles. What facts did the journalists emphasize? What was different about the two articles? What was left out? Be specific.

Assignments due:

Reading the News: Complete this survey under Reading the News Part One

Michael Jackson articles essay: Compare and contrast two different articles about Michael Jackson's death. How did the journalists approach the subject matter? Did they organize the facts surrounding Michael Jackson's death differently? What does the title of each article reveal about the journalist's way of interpreting the news? Do you feel that any of the articles left important facts out? Could the journalists have presented the material differently? Be specific and write about how the articles are organized. Do not repeat information in the articles.

Rewrite the news headline "Under-35s lead the shift into online news" This is found in the "Reading the News" link

Quote In "Reading the News" Part One, there are a series of quotes about reading the news and bias. Take one of the these quotes and write a paragraph about it while giving examples of the concept in the quote.

News articles choose two articles or one news article and discuss the way the writer presented the material. Do you see any indication of bias? Did the writer leave anything out?  Write at least one page.

Cheerios Find articles on whether Cheerios is a drug or not. Discuss how the facts in the articles were organized. What points were left out, what points were included, and how did each writer demonstrate a particular bias? Be specific and give detailed examples from each article. Write at least one page.

Here are some helpful links:

Cheerios 1 2 3

Cheerios and cholesterol 

Cheerios doesn't lower cholesterol 2

Rihanna-Chris Brown Discuss the Rihanna-Chris Brown incident. Discuss how the facts in the articles were organized. What points were left out, what points were included, and how did each writer demonstrate a particular bias? Do you feel that the media are invading the privacy of these two individuals? Do you think they are being treated differently because they are celebrities? Be specific and give detailed examples from each article. Write at least one page.

Here are some helpful links:

1 2 3 4 5 6  7 

Thursday, September 10th, 2009

* Watch the Colbert Report episode on Cheerios at this link: Colbert 

* Also, do you watch the Colbert Report or The Daily Show? Do you think these satirical forms of journalism/talk shows coud ever replace traditional forms of media? Watch an episode of the Colbert Report and of The Daily Show. Write a paragraph describing your views of these shows. Do you find them informative and entertaining? Could these shows replace mainstream sources of news? Why or why not?

* Go to a blog about a major controversy in the news. Choose a blog that deals with health care, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, or the economy (any one of these topics). Then, choose an article from a traditional source of news (an article from CNN on the same topic). Which source did you find more informative and why? Do you feel that blogs will ever replace traditional forms of news? Write a one page essay describing your views on this subject. Be specific and refer to the blog and the article. Attach the articles to the one page essay you write.

* Go to Dr. Comprone's blog for this class and post a comment about a subject for our class. Share your ideas with your other classmates. I have created a post for Cheerios for our class. The link to my blog is under my picture. You may use your original email account or create a Gmail account with the same email address.

* Work on the Cheerios and Chris Brown assignments and see the links above

9/29/09 Tuesday

* Today, we discussed questions for a research paper. We are now going to have the midterm test be the research paper. Next Tuesday and Thursday, you should bring your research material (at least four to five articles with diverse points of view) to class and write the research paper as an in-class essay.

* In your research paper, you should pose important questions and analyze research

* What type of claims does General Mills make with Cheerios? Are these claims similar to the claims Crestor and Lipitor make?

* Begin your essay with the question: Is Cheerios a drug?

* the first paragraph should deal with the controversy. Explain to your audience in the first paragraph what the controversy is and when it first occurred.

* Here is a tentative outline

       I. Introduction: define the controversy and make your thesis statement. Your thesis statement can be defined further after you conduct some preliminary research. State the problem or question you are dealing with and highlight its importance.

       II. Define what a drug is and relate the different definitions of the word drug to the controversy.

       III. Discuss the FDA's warning to Genergal Mills.

       IV. Compare and contrast the advertisements of cholesterol reducing drugs to Cheerios advertisements.

         V. Discuss whether the FDA is impartial or whether the FDA is catering to special interests and lobbyists.

       VI. Conclusion: You should return to your thesis in your conclusion. You should also summarize the main points of your argument. Finally, you should draw some conclusions or restate the problem if you are uncertain about the answer.

* In your research paper, you should speculate about the reasons why the FDA made the extraordinary claim that Cheerios is a drug?

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Research papers are due by next Tuesday. Please complete them and type them for next Tuesday. I would appreciate it if you can send me a copy to my gmail account before class if possible. Remember that you must also turn in a hard copy of your paper if you turn in your paper by email.

* Also, read "Reading the News Part Three." We will analyze together in class Obama's Nobel Peace Prize award and how four major news networks interpreted this event. We will analyze word choice, selection of sources, and connotations, and inclusion/exclusion of information. We will begin with CNN and MSNBC, and then we will turn to Fox News and the Huffington Post's coverage of Obama's award.

Questions about word choice: Did Fox News and Huffington Post reveal their biases in their articles? What words reflect a conservative bias in Fox News' coverage of the event? How did the Huffington Post reveal its liberal bias? Did CNN and MSNBC also reflect a liberal bias in their reporting?

Questions about selection of sources: What sources did the different news networks use? How legitimate were they? Can you do any background research on the sources?

Questions about inclusion/exclusion of information: What information did you find excluded and why do you think this information was excluded? What information was included? Did all the articles include the same information?

Tuesday, October 12th, 2009

Here are the four articles that I would like you to read for Thursday's class. In Thursday's class, we will divide into groups and discuss the media reception about Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

CNN MSNBC FOX Huffington

These are also some amusing news reports as well:

Huffington

Red State 

Saturday Night Live 

Rush Limbaugh

Place a comment on the blog about one of the links under amusing news reports on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

Thursday, October 14th, 2009

Today, we divided into groups and discussed news articles from various sources--the sources listed above. We examined the language in the news reports in order to discuss bias. Also, for extra credit, start an account with Twitter and follow some Tweets on Obama's Nobel Peace Prize.

Some students did not attend class--if you did not attend class, please evaluate the articles separately and write a two page paper comparing and contrasting the different news sources. How did the writers develop their ideas? How did they organize their ideas? What language did they use to describe Obama's reception of the Nobel Peace Prize? Did the titles of the articles reveal bias? Whose point of view did the journalist mention first? What connotations did some of the words used in the article reflect? For example, if the article describes Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize as a liberal trend, what connotation does the word "trend" have in the context of the article? What information was left out of the articles you examined? Do you think the journalist included enough information and facts? Were any of the facts dubious or questionable? Can you avoid having your own bias when you interpret bias?

Wednesday, October 21st, 2009  

The following students received a deficiency because of missing students. Some students turned in extra work this half of the semester, but they didn't turn in other assignments. In that case, I awarded them a grade for some of the missing assignments. If you are in that situation, please talk to me. Also, please turn in any missing assignments ASAP so I don't have any gaps in my gradebook. If you did turn in one of these assignments, but did not receive a grade, please show me the assignment again so I can put it in my gradebook ASAP. You must keep hard copies of all work turned in.

Student's Name                    Missing Assignments

Fred Boone: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote

Cameron Boswell: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote

Ashlee Boyd: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Blog (these assignments need to be turned in again for a grade)

Deonte Bracey: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Quote, Grammar Test #1, Blog

Lyniece Bradford: Quote, Daily Show and Colbert, News Headline, Survey

Quantae Cooley: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Research Paper

Brandon De Jesus: Survey, Blog, Quote, Daily Show

Vincent Desir: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Research Paper

Laquetta Goode: Survey, Headline, Blog, Quote

Gregory Goodwin: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Research Paper, Grammar Test #1, Blog

Aaron Johnson: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Research Paper, Blog

Ronald Kent: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Blog

Clarissa Lee: News Headline, Daily Show and Colbert

Tiffany Merrit: News Headline

Joshua Moore: Survey, News Headline, Quote

Nashawn Palmer: News headline, Blog, Daily Show, and Rihanna

Victor Rivera: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote

Korey Rose: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Blog, Grammar Test #1

Joseph Samuels: Grammar Test, Quote, Daily Show and Colbert

Decarlos Smith: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote

Lawrence Smith: News Headline, Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Daily Show

Sierra Smith: Survey, News Headline, Blog, Quote, Daily Show

Terrell Valentine: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote

Montavias Weaver: Survey, Headline, Daily Show and Colbert, Rihanna, Michael Jackson, Quote, Research Paper, Blog

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

You should write an opinion article (3-4 pages) on Barack Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Here are several opinion articles so you can see how to write them. An effective opinion article should be informative and instructive. You should demonstrate a knowledge of the subject, and you should refute the opposing side's position. You also should demonstrate intelligence in your essay by showing a masterful, complete analysis of the subject.

Links:

Obama doesn't deserve the prize 

Obama deserves the prize 

2 

Cornel West's opinion 

Links (how to write an editorial):

editorial 

Tuesday, October 27th, 2009

Today, we began writing the editorial on Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The editorial essay should involve an informed opinion about whether Obama deserved the prize or not. I will examine your paper based on the following criteria: research (did you include credible research? Did you define what the criteria are for a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize? Did you find some interesting information on Obama's reception of the Nobel Peace Prize?); style (did you write in an academic style? How did you write your sentences? Were they grammatically correct? Did ideas connect together? Did the writing flow?); and lastly, argumentation (how logical was the argument? How emotionally persuasive was the argument?

In class, we wrote our papers, and Thursday, we will continue writing our editorials.

Here are some helpful links:

Nobel Prize Committee's decision 

President Obama's comment that he did not deserve the prize 

list of past recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize 

other controversial figures who won the prize

facts about the Nobel Peace Prize (Adolph Hitler was a candidate for the prize at one point, and Gandhi never received it!)

Hitler nominated for Nobel Peace Prize (but did not receive it!) 

Obama's Two Wars 

Obama does not want to rush decision about Afghan War

November 3rd, 2009 Tuesday

Write a two page report of an event that you experienced or that someone else experienced. We chose in class three possible events you could write about:

1) the fire alarm going off at Saint Paul's College in the middle of the night (write a report and answer all of the important questions, such as when, how, why, were, etc.)

2) a burglary on campus

3) an Iraqi father runs over his twenty year old daughter (see different articles and write your own report of the event)

see link below:

Iraqi 

2 

3 

Construct your own article based on the information that you gather from these sources. Select your own choice of verbs and construct your own interpretation of the event while sticking to the facts.

When writing your report of the event,

1) gather as many facts as possible

2) evaluate the event and use descriptive language to capture your audience's attention about the event

3) use different sources and observe different points of view

4) examine opposing interpretations of the event

5) highlight the significance of the event

On Thursday, bring your papers to class. You will get a chance to read your papers about the event. We will also discuss how bias affected our interpretation of the event.

November 5th, Thursday

1) write a two page review of a movie. Justify your evaluation of the movie. Describe the characters, actors, plot, and message of the movie. Evaluate the movie in terms of other movies in the same genre and discuss its value as entertainment.

2) complete your report of an event

November 10th, Tuesday

Today, we will read our reports in class, and we will also discuss our movie reviews and the format for making a movie review.

When you write your movie review, write:

1) about the film. List the length of the film, who produced and directed it, the main actors, the setting, the theme, and discuss some of the scenes

2) do not discuss the ending of the movie and do not reveal all of the events in the movie, but avoid being too general

3) compare the movie to other films that are similar if possible

4) make your review entertaining by trying to capture your audience's interest

5) develop your opinion about the film you watched and discuss it from an original perspective

6) keep the review around 500 words in length

Here are some helpful links:

how to write a movie review 

how to write a movie review 2nd link 

video on how to write a movie review 

another link with helpful tips 

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Today, we read "Navigating the News in a Digital Age" and "News Paradigm Shift: Where Do We Go From Here?". In these articles, the authors contend that traditional news has been replaced by the Internet. How has the Internet transformed the way news is disseminated?

Follow the news story of the Fort Hood shooter, Major Hasan. What information is being excluded about the incident at Fort Hood? What do you think the consequences of his actions are? How do you think the news stories have evolved since the incident? Do you think they have covered different points of view? Is Hasan's shooting a symbol of how many Muslims feel they are the object of the war on terror? Should they be allowed to serve in the military?

see my blog: www.drcomprone.blogspot.com

Place a comment on my blog about this story and your reaction to it.

Nov. 5

Hasan 

Times 

blog 

blog 2

Islam