Welcome to English 101!

Our main text for this semester will be They Say I Say 4th Edition with Readings by Gerald Graff et al (ISBN: 978-0-393-63168-5). The readings in this book relate to five major questions:

1. How can we bridge the differences that divide us?
2. Is college the best option?
3. Are we in a race against the machine?
4. What’s gender got to do with it?
5. What’s there to eat?

We all have opinions about food, and I’m excited to share with you this semester’s thought-provoking, food-related texts for the Final Exam. We will be using an excerpt from Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and an excerpted version of David Foster Wallace’s Consider the Lobster.  

Over the semester, we will write three essays, and have one final exam. We will spend ample time discussing the texts, and how best to compose our responses to them, and to what other thinkers have said about them. We will practice how to compose a compelling and original thesis-driven essay sparked by our responses.  

This class uses interactive learning more than lectures, and your opinion always matters. I include a Student’s Choice section in most classes, so turn up ready to share readings, videos, memes, or ideas that relate to the themes of our class. I look forward to hearing your voices, reading your writing, and to teaching you strategies for bringing your voices into larger conversations. 

See you in class!