Friday, December 6th--7:30 pm

Hello,

a few things:

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY.

1. Below is the schedule for oral presentations next week, by class.
2. Please attend class both days, Monday and Wednesday.
3. Instead of comparing grade sheets on Friday, we will do that on Wednesday after the oral presentations. The  presentations will not take the entire class period. So...Wednesday, Dec. 11th will be our LAST CLASS SESSION. IMPORTANT! PLEASE BRING ALL OF YOUR GRADED WORK TO CLASS ON WEDNESDAY, ALONG WITH YOUR GRADE SHEET.
4. If you have not already revised out of class essay 1 or 2, and you wish to revise out of class essay 3, which was returned to you in class today, you must submit that revision no later than Friday, December 13th. We will not have class that day, so you will have to submit it to my dept. mailbox in the English dept. in Calaveras. IMPORTANT: IF YOU PLACE WORK IN MY DEPT. MAILBOX YOU MUST EMAIL ME AND LET ME KNOW THAT IT IS THERE. I WILL THEN EMAIL YOU BACK TO LET YOU KNOW I HAVE RECEIVED IT. PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS ON YOUR SYLLABUS FOR SUBMITTING REVISIONS.

English 1A, Section 2
Monday, Dec. 9th
Calvin
Abbie
Tristan
Klarissa
Chloe
Sarah
Teresa
Gerald
Grace
Ricky
Wednesday, Dec. 11th
Arnold
Sahab
Madhuri
Alex
Daniel
Adrian
Jovar
Halei
Kyle
Sierra
Danielle
Lane
Stone

English 1A, Section 4
Monday, Dec. 9th
Brandon Vazquez
Haley
Tara
Trevor Jones
Bret
Belinda
Gina
Makala
Brandon Vang
Sameh
Roberto
Robert
Wednesday, Dec. 11th
Gheremie
Isabella
Noemi
Susana
Franci
Trevor A.
KJ
Harmanpreet
Igor
Casey
Jan
Denny

English 1A, Section 81
Monday, Dec. 9th
Melissa
Manpreet
Nadien
Duke
Sarah
Kaitlyn D.
Jacky
Reyna
Caitlyn D.
Jeremy
Zane
Wednesday, Dec. 11th
Jonathan
Kaitlyn C
Eileen
Pablo
Olivia
Patricia
Vikram
Alyssa
Justin
Noella
Brenden

Thursday, December 6th--4:30 pm

Hello!

Just a short note.

I am reading and grading your out of class essay #3. It appears that many of you did not read the prompt correctly.

The main essay prompt, worth 75 points, asks you to select a few characteristics (in class, we discussed that characteristics is plural, which means at least two characteristics) AND for each of those characteristics, you were to provide at least three very specific supports.

I am just noting this in the blog so I do not have to keep writing this note on several of your papers. :)

See below:

Essay Prompt

SELECT A ‘CHARACTER’ FROM THE MEMOIR, THE UNWANTED. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT CHARACTERISTICS ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THIS PERSON? FOR EVERY ASSERTION YOU MAKE ABOUT THIS PERSON, YOU MUST SUPPORT IT WITH AT LEAST THREE VERY SPECIFIC SUPPORTS FROM THE BOOK. THIS RESPONSE WILL BE EVALUATED ON YOUR ABILITY TO MAKE AN ASSERTION AND SUPPORT IT LOGICALLY AND ARTICULATELY. (75 POINTS)

Tuesday, December 3, 2013--5:45 pm

Greetings,

It is fairly clear that many of you are just now, today, getting to writing out of class essay 3.
There has been a flurry of emails to support this. :)
As I mentioned in class, writing a character analysis requires some thinking and planning in order to write a well supported, articulate and insightful response. It is not impossible to write at the last minute, but it is not recommended.
Use common sense. The memoir provides many many details that reveal so much about each "character." Naturally, I expect your response to reflect that fact.

Wednesday, November 27th, 2013--10 am

Greetings,

below you will find the Packet 8 assignment to view and read. It is due to be completed by Monday, December 2nd. It is also noted on your syllabus.

Packet #8 Assignment (one article and one video):

http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/04/19/human-trafficking-mixing-up-views-on-immigration-to-the-united-states/

http://www.ted.com/talks/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia.html

ALSO!
Have a wonderful and safe holiday. :)

Monday, November 25th

Hello,

I posted on the blog a week ago about taking this entire Thanksgiving week off from classes.
When I post, I always assume that all students read the blog! :)
(it is a requirement of the course...ahem...)

However, I received a few emails from students who were not aware.
So I felt compelled to tell all of you, again!

:)

(please refer to the post from November 18th)
I noticed only 59 students read the blog on the 18th. I have 75 1A students, so that is why I am a bit concerned.

PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY--Tuesday, November 19th--9:25 pm

Hello,

I am currently in Santa Rosa with my mother. She has suffered another stroke. I will not be able to be back on campus until tomorrow afternoon, so I will have to cancel all my morning classes, which means all three of my 1A sections. I am so sorry for this inconvenience.

If you have a rough draft to submit for essay 3, you have two options:

1. you can place it in my faculty mailbox in the English Dept. mailroom in Calaveras.
2. you can email it to me as a Word document

We will obviously move tomorrow's discussion about the reading to Friday.

Again, I am so sorry for this late notice!

Monday, November 18th, 2013--9:15 pm

Greetings,

A few things:

1.  The oral presentation assignment was assigned and discussed in class on September 9th. It was also posted on the blog on the same day. I explained it in great detail, and I believe most of you took down notes as well. It is really straightforward, but AFTER you carefully review the handout and your notes, and there are any questions that are still up in the air, please ask me. :) Again, sign ups for the presentations will be on Friday this week.

2.  A few of you are still confused about Q and C homework. You have only four Q and C assignments for the semester, and you have completed all four. All reading assignments that do NOT have "Q & C due" written after them on the syllabus do NOT require a Q and C. :)

3.  In the past, I always gave my students the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off simply because the majority of students were already out of town for the holiday. Gradually, the entire week became fairly absent of students in my classes. Consequently, I began to give my classes both Monday and Wednesday of Thanksgiving week off. And it will be that way this semester as well. :)
Unfortunately, I realize that OTHER instructors do not follow my reasoning and you may be required to attend other classes that week.

Sunday, November 17th--7:45 pm

Hello,

As the semester quickly speeds to a finish, I wanted to give all of you a friendly reminder about the oral presentation assignment that was assigned and discussed the first week of classes.

We will have sign-ups for those on Friday.

See you tomorrow! :)

Friday, November 15, 2013--7:15 pm

Greetings,

Below you will find a copy of the handout from Wednesday that provides a synopsis of the film we viewed, along with the three prompts for In Class Essay 2 on Monday. You will have the full class period to respond to ONE of the prompts.

REMEMBER TO BRING A BLUE OR GREEN BOOK TO CLASS ALONG WITH A PEN.

FROZEN RIVER (2008)------Full Synopsis

A desperate single mother living in upstate New York resorts to smuggling illegal immigrants into the United States as a means of making ends meet in first-time feature director/screenwriter Courtney Hunt's emotionally wrenching drama, winner of the Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Feature at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Ray Eddy is in an impossible position; it's two days before Christmas and her husband has suddenly disappeared with all of the family savings. Now, as the newly single mother of two realizes the futility of attempting to cover the house payments on her meager Yankee One Dollar Store wages, her children are forced to exist on a nutritionally devoid diet of popcorn and Tang. Deciding that her only hope for survival is to find a man who will support her and her children, Ray sets out to find a husband but instead makes the acquaintance of street-smart Mohawk Lila Littlewolf. Lila, too, has been struggling to keep her head above water amidst economic despair, and has recently stumbled across a rather unconventional solution to her dire financial situation. Lately, Lila has been earning a living by smuggling illegal immigrants into the U.S., but her tribal elders vehemently disapprove of the scheme and have recently attempted to stop it by forbidding the local auto dealers from selling her a car. As fate would have it, Ray's Dodge Spirit may just be the only thing the destitute mother can count on anymore, and as this unlikely pair gas up the tank for a daring dash across the iced-over St. Lawrence River, their fates become forever intertwined in ways that neither could have ever anticipated. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

(Melissa Leo (Ray) was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress and Courtney Hunt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best First Screenplay)

ESSAY PROMPTS:

*******************************************************************************************

1. Do you consider the film, Frozen River, an authentic film? In other words, do you believe Lila and Ray’s lives are portrayed by the writer/director in a genuine and realistic manner? Support your response with specific examples from the film.

********************************************************************************

2. Frozen River appears to be a film that is littered with symbolism. Some of the elements that could be considered symbolic of a particular theme or idea are:

·      the frozen St. Lawrence river

·      the double wide trailer

·      the landscape

·      the infant in the duffle bag

·      the blowtorch

·      Ray’s collection of bubble bath that she never uses

DO YOU SEE OR NOTICE OTHERS?

You will select at least three symbols utilized in the film and explain their significance specifically

*********************************************************************************

3.  How might you complete this sentence? However you fill in the blanks, you will then write an essay supporting your assertion specifically.

The film, Frozen River, is less about________________________________________________

and more about________________________________________________________________________.

Thursday, November 14th, 2013--9 pm

Hello!

I am working my way through the essay 2 revisions and I need to stop and vent for a moment....:)

It has taken me almost two hours to go through seven revision submissions. (!!!???)
This is due to students simply not revising EVEN the errors I DID note...
And many did not highlight their changes in the revised copy.

Just a gentle reminder:
When you revise, you are the editor and proofreader. I, of course, note some problems and suggest ways to strengthen your writing. However, I do not note every single error. For example, if I noted that you had a lot of wordiness in your essay, I edited a small section to illustrate for you. But I did not edit out all the wordiness.

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013--2 pm

Greetings,

I hope all of you were able to enjoy the Monday holiday and perhaps catch up on some much needed rest...?!

Please read the following blog carefully; there is a  lot of information! :)

Below is the assignment for Out of Class Essay #3, which was assigned and discussed in class on Friday, November 8th.

Also below you will find the assignment for Packet #7, due on Wednesday, November 20th.

Reminders about Out of Class Essay 3:

• Each of the three prompts should be considered separate assignments. However, please staple them altogether when submitting. Also, remember to underline the thesis sentence in each response.
• The Works Cited page must have, at a minimum, the memoir recorded in MLA format.
• Be sure to mention the title of the memoir at least once, preferably at the beginning of each response.

OUT OF CLASS ESSAY #3

English 1A, Fall 2013. Professor C. Fraga

100 points possible

Essay Prompt

SELECT A ‘CHARACTER’ FROM THE MEMOIR, THE UNWANTED. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT CHARACTERISTICS ACCURATELY DESCRIBE THIS PERSON? FOR EVERY ASSERTION YOU MAKE ABOUT THIS PERSON, YOU MUST SUPPORT IT WITH AT LEAST THREE VERY SPECIFIC SUPPORTS FROM THE BOOK. THIS RESPONSE WILL BE EVALUATED ON YOUR ABILITY TO MAKE AN ASSERTION AND SUPPORT IT LOGICALLY AND ARTICULATELY. (75 POINTS)

Short Answer:

WHICH SCENE IN THE BOOK AFFECTED YOU MOST DEEPLY?  EXPLAIN HOW IT AFFECTED YOU AND WHY. (10 POINTS)

Short Answer:

THIS MEMOIR REFLECTS A WEALTH OF VARIOUS THEMES/TOPICS, INCLUDING OUR SEMESTER-LONG THEME OF HOME. SELECT ONE THEME THAT THE MEMOIR SUGGESTS AND OFFER EXAMPLES FROM THE BOOK TO SUPPORT YOUR ASSERTION. (15 POINTS)

Optional Rough Draft due no later than Wednesday, November 20th

Final Draft Due:  Wednesday, December 4th

********************************************

PACKET #7 ASSIGNMENT

"Readers Share Immigration Stories"

http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/share-your-immigration-story/?_r=0

Wednesday, November 6th--6:20 am

Good morning,
I apologize for such a late notice.
(I so rarely become ill!)
But alas, it has been a rough night and I am going to have to cancel my classes for today.
Again, I am so sorry for such a late announcement.
See you Friday.

Saturday, November 1, 2013--7:15 pm

Greetings...

Reminder to section 2 students only:
If you plan to revise out of class essay #2, the first revision is due no later than Wednesday, November 6th.
***********************
For students in sections 4 and 81, you will be receiving out of class essay back on Monday.

If you choose to revise, the first revision must be submitted no later than Wednesday, November 13th (since Monday, November 11th is a holiday and the campus is closed in recognition of Veteran's Day).

Thursday, October 31st, 2013--4:30 pm

Hello,

and happy Halloween.

There will be no class tomorrow, Friday, November 1st.
Please use the extra time wisely.
The Unwanted must be completed by Monday.

Have a safe weekend.

Monday, October 28th, 2013--8:15 pm

Hello,

a couple of things....

1. please remember to bring your copy of Full Body Burden to class on Wednesday.

2. I have read 11 of the out of class essay #2 assignments that were submitted today. I will not reveal what section I am working on now, but I am beyond shocked at the quality, or lack of quality, I am finding. Out of the 11 essays, only two are passing. The other nine are F's. (????)

I am a bit speechless so I suppose I will end this entry for now.

See you Wednesday.

Second posting for Friday, October 25th, 2013--2:45 pm

Greetings,
below you will find a copy of the evaluation checklist I will be utilizing when I read and score your out of class essay #2. You may find it helpful to refer to as you complete the final editing and proofreading of your essay.

NAME_______________________________________________________ENG 1A, section____

Evaluation of Out of Class Essay # 2—THE RESEARCH PAPER

How to Read this Evaluation: This evaluation is divided into two sections: Content and Organization and MLA Documentation. The overall strengths of the essay are noted first. Problem/errors in each of the two categories will be checked if applicable. Please note that all items checked will be marked directly ON your essay at least once. However, ALL errors are not marked. If you choose to revise, you will need to take this into consideration.

Strengths Found in this Essay:

Content and Organization—worth 100 points--_______(points earned)

Problems that Impact Readability:

_____sentence structure (comma splices; run on sentences; fragments; punctuation errors; tense shifts; misspelling; issues with capitalization)

_____wordiness

_____repetitiveness

_____lack of sentence variety and length

_____flat, uninteresting vocabulary

_____lack of sufficient development

_____weak or non-existent transitions between paragraphs

_____uses “you” and “your”

_____too many main ideas in one paragraph

_____thesis statement is not underlined

_____thesis statement is not an assertion and is not debatable or opinionated

_____unacceptable errors found (number found:_________) THESE WILL BE CIRCLED.

_____other issues:

MLA Research Documentation—worth 100 points--_______( points earned)

_____notecards out of order                           _____incorrect set-up of essay

_____bibliography cards out of order           _____missing a title or title not in

                                                                                                MLA format

_____problems on Works Cited page                        __________lack of academic sources

_____problems with in-text citations

_____too many direct quotations—not enough paraphrasing

_____missing page numbers or pages numbered incorrectly

_____other issues:

Total Score Earned:____________(200 points possible)

Friday, October 25th, 2013--7:15 am

Good morning!

A few things....
first, a huge thank you to those students in section 81 who attended the play last evening!
And a special thank you to those who were kind enough to let me know that you would be unable to attend. I completely understand that "life things" come up that prevent us from activities.

*************

Important! Please arrive to class on Monday with the research essay already assembled and in the envelope. Do not wait until you arrive to class to organize. Thank you! :)

On the outside of your sealed envelope, you need only to write your name and section number. 

*************

PACKET #6 ASSIGNMENT--Q & C due--for Wednesday, October 30th

"Hidden City" by Ian Frazier
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/10/28/131028fa_fact_frazier

Tuesday, October 22, 2013--9 am

Greetings,

Below you will find the following:

1. A document ("How to Critically Read an Essay") for you to print out and bring to class tomorrow, Wednesday, October 23

2. Details about Full Body Burden's author, Kristen Iverson, and her visit to our campus.

3. Details about Thursday evening's date at the theatre (FOR SECTION 81 STUDENTS ONLY)

**************************

English 1A-- College Composition I

C. Fraga

How to Critically Read an Essay

Educated adults exist in a delusional state, thinking we can read.

In a most basic sense, we can.

However, odds are, some of us cannot read, at least not as well as we would like.

Too many college students are capable of only some types of reading and that becomes painfully clear when they read a difficult text and must respond critically about it.

Intelligence and a keen memory are excellent traits and most students have learned to read in a certain way that is only useful for extracting information. Thus, students are often fairly well skilled in providing summary.

However, the act of reading to extract information and to read critically are vastly different!

The current educational system in American primary schools (and many colleges) heavily emphasizes the first type of reading and de-emphasizes the latter.

In many ways, THIS MAKES SENSE.

Reading to extract information allows a student to absorb the raw materials of factual information as quickly as possible. It is a type of reading we all must engage in frequently.  However, each type of reading calls for different mental habits. If we do not learn to adjust from one type of reading to another when necessary, we cripple our intellectual abilities to read critically.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN READING TO EXTRACT INFORMATION AND READING CRITICALLY.

1. They have different goals.  When students read to extract information, usually they seek facts and presume the source is accurate.  No argument is required.  On the other hand, when students read critically, they try to determine the quality of the argument.  The reader must be open-minded and skeptical all at once, constantly adjusting the degree of personal belief in relation to the quality of the essay’s argument.
2. They require different types of discipline.  If students read to learn raw data, the most efficient way to learn is repetition.  If students read critically, the most effective technique may be to break the essay up into logical subdivisions and analyze each section’s argument, to restate the argument in other words, and then to expand upon or question the findings.
3. They require different mental activity.  If a student reads to gain information, a certain degree of absorption, memorization and passivity is necessary. If a student is engaged in reading critically, that student must be active!!! He or she must be prepared to pre-read the essay, then read it closely for content, and re-read it if it isn’t clear how the author is reaching the conclusion in the argument. 
4. They create different results.  Passive reading to absorb information can create a student who (if not precisely well read) has read a great many books. It creates what many call “book-smarts.”  However, critical reading involves original, innovative thinking.
5. They differ in the degree of understanding they require.  Reading for information is more basic, and reading critically is the more advanced of the two because only critical reading equates with full understanding.

ULTIMATELY, WHAT WE WANT IS THE CONSCIOUS CONTROL OF OUR READING SKILLS, SO WE CAN MOVE BACK AND FORTH AMIDST THE VARIOUS TYPES OF READING.

FIVE GENERAL STAGES OF READING

1.      Pre-Reading—examining the text and preparing to read it effectively (5 minutes)

2.      Interpretive Reading—understanding what the author argues, what the author concludes, and exactly how he or she reached that conclusion.

3.      Critical Reading—questioning, examining and expanding upon what the author says with your own arguments.  Skeptical reading does not mean doubting everything you read.

4.      Synoptic Reading—putting the author’s argument in a larger context by considering a synopsis of that reading or argument in conjunction with synopses of other readings or arguments.

5.      Post-Reading—ensuring that you won’t forget your new insights.

********************

AUTHOR KRISTEN IVERSON ON CAMPUS!

WHEN???

Tuesday, November 12, 7 pm

University Union Ballroom

Also!

For Learning Communities only...

A Q and C Discussion with the Author

Wednesday, November 13, 10 am

University Union Ballroom

******************************************

FOR SECTION 81 STUDENTS ONLY

Thursday, October 24th

Almost, Maine

Let's meet in the lobby (or outside if we are unable to enter without a ticket first) of the Playwright's Theatre, which is located in Shasta Hall, on campus.

Please be there by 7:45 pm

Free parking for theatre goers in Lot 2, starting 45 minutes prior to the show and ending 45 minutes after the show.

• 
  

Sunday, October 20th, 2013--3:15 pm

Greetings,

please bring to class tomorrow, Monday, October 21st:

1. Rules of Thumb
2. small sticky notes

OTHER THINGS:

1.  PACKET 5 ASSIGNMENT (2 items)--due Friday (don't forget, this requires a Q & C)

"Boots to Books: The Rough Road from Combat to College"
(This is an approximately 14 minute video and a short article)
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=8c310eacfeb08aba2e7f1e29411543e9

"For Many Returning Veterans, Home is Where the Trouble is"
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/03/opinion/03mon4.html


2. Reminder: The Unwanted: A Memoir of Childhood must be read in full by Monday, November November 4th.

3. Reminder:  Out of class essay  #2 is due on Monday, October 28th. Review carefully your notes on how to submit your final draft. (I received only seven rough drafts for this assignment. This is highly unusual and has me a little concerned that maybe some of you are falling behind. The semester really moves quickly now; we are halfway through.)

Thursday, October 17th, 2013--8:30 pm

Greetings,

Again, have a wonderful and safe weekend.
No class tomorrow, as if you would forget! :)

Also, those who are submitting an optional rough draft tomorrow for essay 2, the deadline for you to e-mail me a copy is at midnight.

Wednesday, October 16th--9 pm

Greetings,

As I mentioned to the 9 am and 11 am classes today, I will be unable to hold classes this Friday, October 18th. I have an all day meeting in the bay area that I thought I could "skip" but it is becoming not as possible to do at this point.

So...
NO CLASS THIS FRIDAY.
ALL THREE SECTIONS ARE CANCELLED: SECTIONS 2, 4 AND 81.

If you are planning to submit a rough draft for out of class essay #2, please EMAIL me your draft as an attachment in Word. I will make comments on your draft and email it back to you over the weekend.

See you Monday!
Be safe and have a most wonderful weekend.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013--6:15 pm

Hello,

FOR ALL SECTIONS:

Please be sure to bring Full Body Burden to class on Wednesday and Friday this week.

FOR SECTION 81 ONLY:

Please be sure to bring the two readings on the family meal to class on Wednesday.

OTHER REMINDERS:

• The due date for submitting a revision of out of class essay #1 has passed. (It was Monday)
• If you plan on submitting a rough draft for out of class essay #2, it is due by this Friday

Saturday, October 12, 2013--11:15 pm

Greetings...

As you know, the third and last quiz on Rules of Thumb is Monday!

If you refer to your Rules of Thumb, quiz 2, the very last item, worth 40 points, asked you to take the information I gave and put it in MLA format as it would appear on the Works Cited page. Most of you earned all 40 points. You simply had to look up how to correctly arrange the information. There will be ten of these on the quiz. For example, one of the citations may be something like this:

A book titled At the Zoo. It is written by Alice Button and was published in Boston by Peter Pan Publishing Company in 1978.

The correct answer would be:

Button, Alice. At the Zoo. Boston: Peter Pan Publishing Company, 1978. Print.

Obviously you will need your Rules of Thumb book to complete the quiz.

THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS ONLY FOR SECTION 81 STUDENTS:

Please bring your copy of Full Body Burden to class on Monday, along with Rules of Thumb. Besides for the Rules of Thumb quiz 3, there will be a very short quiz on Full Body Burden, chapters 1-3. If you have read these chapters, it should take you about five minutes to complete. 

Also, for Wednesday, be sure to bring the two readings on the family meal, Packet 4, from last week. Group Exercise 2 will take place on Wednesday.

Tuesday, October 8th--4:20 pm

Greetings,

the earlier website I posted for "The Magic of the Family Mean" apparently requires a subscription in order to view. It has not previously been so. However, I have posted the reading below for your convenience.

The Magic of the Family Meal--by Nancy Gibbs

Close your eyes and picture Family Dinner. June Cleaver is in an apron and pearls, Ward in a sweater and tie. The napkins are linen, the children are scrubbed, steam rises from the green-bean casserole, and even the dog listens intently to what is being said. This is where the tribe comes to transmit wisdom, embed expectations, confess, conspire, forgive, repair. The idealized version is as close to a regular worship service, with its litanies and lessons and blessings, as a family gets outside a sanctuary.

That ideal runs so strong and so deep in our culture and psyche that when experts talk about the value of family dinners, they may leave aside the clutter of contradictions. Just because we eat together does not mean we eat right: Domino's alone delivers a million pizzas on an average day. Just because we are sitting together doesn't mean we have anything to say: children bicker and fidget and daydream; parents stew over the remains of the day. Often the richest conversations, the moments of genuine intimacy, take place somewhere else, in the car, say, on the way back from soccer at dusk, when the low light and lack of eye contact allow secrets to surface.Yet for all that, there is something about a shared meal--not some holiday blowout, not once in a while but regularly, reliably--that anchors a family even on nights when the food is fast and the talk cheap and everyone has someplace else they'd rather be. And on those evenings when the mood is right and the family lingers, caught up in an idea or an argument explored in a shared safe place where no one is stupid or shy or ashamed, you get a glimpse of the power of this habit and why social scientists say such communion acts as a kind of vaccine, protecting kids from all manner of harm.

n fact, it's the experts in adolescent development who wax most emphatic about the value of family meals, for it's in the teenage years that this daily investment pays some of its biggest dividends. Studies show that the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders and consider suicide, and the more likely they are to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their vegetables, learn big words and know which fork to use. "If it were just about food, we would squirt it into their mouths with a tube," says Robin Fox, an anthropologist who teaches at Rutgers University in New Jersey, about the mysterious way that family dinner engraves our souls. "A meal is about civilizing children. It's about teaching them to be a member of their culture."

The most probing study of family eating patterns was published last year by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University and reflects nearly a decade's worth of data gathering. The researchers found essentially that family dinner gets better with practice; the less often a family eats together, the worse the experience is likely to be, the less healthy the food and the more meager the talk. Among those who eat together three or fewer times a week, 45% say the TV is on during meals (as opposed to 37% of all households), and nearly one-third say there isn't much conversation. Such kids are also more than twice as likely as those who have frequent family meals to say there is a great deal of tension among family members, and they are much less likely to think their parents are proud of them.

The older that kids are, the more they may need this protected time together, but the less likely they are to get it. Although a majority of 12- year-olds in the CASA study said they had dinner with a parent seven nights a week, only a quarter of 17-year-olds did. Researchers have found all kinds of intriguing educational and ethnic patterns. The families with the least educated parents, for example, eat together the most; parents with less than a high school education share more meals with their kids than do parents with high school diplomas or college degrees. That may end upacting as a generational corrective; kids who eat most often with their parents are 40% more likely to say they get mainly A's and B's in school than kids who have two or fewer family dinners a week. Foreign-born kids are much more likely to eat with their parents. When researchers looked at ethnic and racial breakdowns, they found that more than half of Hispanic teens ate with a parent at least six times a week, in contrast to 40% of black teens and 39% of whites.

Back in the really olden days, dinner was seldom a ceremonial event for U.S. families. Only the very wealthy had a separate dining room. For most, meals were informal, a kind of rolling refueling; often only the men sat down. Not until the mid--19th century did the day acquire its middle-class rhythms and rituals; a proper dining room became a Victorian aspiration. When children were 8 or 9, they were allowed to join the adults at the table for instruction in proper etiquette. By the turn of the century, restaurants had appeared to cater to clerical workers, and in time, eating out became a recreational sport. Family dinner in the Norman Rockwell mode had taken hold by the 1950s: Mom cooked, Dad carved, son cleared, daughter did the dishes.

All kinds of social and economic and technological factors then conspired to shred that tidy picture to the point that the frequency of family dining fell about a third over the next 30 years. With both parents working and the kids shuttling between sports practices or attached to their screens at home, finding a time for everyone to sit around the same table, eating the same food and listening to one another, became a quaint kind of luxury. Meanwhile, the message embedded in the microwave was that time spent standing in front of a stove was time wasted.

But something precious was lost, anthropologist Fox argues, when cooking came to be cast as drudgery and meals as discretionary. "Making food is a sacred event," he says. "It's so absolutely central--far more central than sex. You can keep a population going by having sex once a year, but you have to eat three times a day." Food comes so easily to us now, he says, that we have lost a sense of its significance. When we had to grow the corn and fight off predators, meals included a serving of gratitude. "It's like the American Indians. When they killed a deer, they said a prayer over it," says Fox. "That is civilization. It is an act of politeness over food. Fast food has killed this. We have reduced eating to sitting alone and shoveling it in. There is no ceremony in it."

Or at least there wasn't for many families until researchers in the 1980s began looking at the data and doing all kinds of regression analyses that showed how a shared pot roast could contribute to kids' success and health. What the studies could not prove was what is cause and what is effect. Researchers speculate that maybe kids who eat a lot of family meals have less unsupervised time and thus less chance to get into trouble. Families who make meals a priority also tend to spend more time on reading for pleasure and homework. A whole basket of values and habits, of which a common mealtime is only one, may work together to ground kids. But it's a bellwether, and baby boomers who won't listen to their instincts will often listen to the experts: the 2005 CASA study found that the number of adolescents eating with their family most nights has increased 23% since 1998.

That rise may also reflect a deliberate public-education campaign, including public-service announcements on TV Land and Nick at Nite that are designed to convince families that it's worth some inconvenience or compromise to make meals together a priority. The enemies here are laziness and leniency: "We're talking about a contemporary style of parenting, particularly in the middle class, that is overindulgent of children," argues William Doherty, a professor of family social science at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and author of The Intentional Family: Simple Rituals to Strengthen Family Ties. "It treats them as customers who need to be pleased." By that, he means the willingness of parents to let dinner be an individual improvisation--no routine, no rules, leave the television on, everyone eats what they want, teenagers take a plate to their room so they can keep texting their friends.

The food-court mentality--Johnny eats a burrito, Dad has a burger, and Mom picks pasta--comes at a cost. Little humans often resist new tastes; they need some nudging away from the salt and fat and toward the fruits and fiber. A study in the Archives of Family Medicine found that more family meals tends to mean less soda and fried food and far more fruits and vegetables.

Beyond promoting balance and variety in kids' diets, meals together send the message that citizenship in a family entails certain standards beyond individual whims. This is where a family builds its identity and culture. Legends are passed down, jokes rendered, eventually the wider world examined through the lens of a family's values. In addition, younger kids pick up vocabulary and a sense of how conversation is structured. They hear how a problem is solved, learn to listen to other people's concerns and respect their tastes. "A meal is about sharing," says Doherty. "I see this trend where parents are preparing different meals for each kid, and it takes away from that. The sharing is the compromise. Not everyone gets their ideal menu every night."

Doherty heard from a YMCA camp counselor about the number of kids who arrive with a list of foods they won't eat and who require basic instruction from counselors on how to share a meal. "They have to teach them how to pass food around and serve each other. The kids have to learn how to eat what's there. And they have to learn how to remain seated until everyone else is done." The University of Kansas and Michigan State offer students coaching on how to handle a business lunch, including what to do about food they don't like ("Eat it anyway") and how to pass the salt and pepper ("They're married. They never take separate vacations").

When parents say their older kids are too busy or resistant to come to the table the way they did when they were 7, the dinner evangelists produce evidence to the contrary. The CASA study found that a majority of teens who ate three or fewer meals a week with their families wished they did so more often. Parents sometimes seem a little too eager to be rejected by their teenage sons and daughters, suggests Miriam Weinstein, a freelance journalist who wrote The Surprising Power of Family Meals. "We've sold ourselves on the idea that teenagers are obviously sick of their families, that they're bonded to their peer group," she says. "We've taken it to an extreme. We've taken it to mean that a teenager has no need for his family. And that's just not true." She scolds parents who blame their kids for undermining mealtime when the adults are co-conspirators. "It's become a badge of honor to say, 'I have no time. I am so busy,'" she says. "But we make a lot of choices, and we have a lot more discretion than we give ourselves credit for," she says. Parents may be undervaluing themselves when they conclude that sending kids off to every conceivable extracurricular activity is a better use of time than an hour spent around a table, just talking to Mom and Dad.

The family-meal crusaders offer lots of advice to parents seeking to recenter their household on the dinner table. Groups like Ready, Set, Relax!, based in Ridgewood, N.J., have dispensed hundreds of kits to towns from Kentucky to California, coaching communities on how to fight overscheduling and carve out family downtime. More schools are offering basic cooking instruction. It turns out that when kids help prepare a meal, they are much more likely to eat it, and it's a useful skill that seems to build self-esteem. Research on family meals does not explore whether it makes a difference if dinner is with two parents or one or even whether the meal needs to be dinner. For families whose schedules make evenings together a challenge, breakfast or lunch may have the same value. So pull up some chairs. Lose the TV. Let the phone go unanswered. And see where the moment takes you.

Monday, October 7, 2013--8 pm

Greetings!

1. If you plan to revise Out of Class Essay #1, the first revision is due next Monday, October 14th. Remember, you can only revise ONE of the three Out of Class Essays. Also, you must make the decision within a week of receiving the graded essay back. YOU CAN REVISE THAT ONE ESSAY AS MANY TIMES AS YOU WISH--THERE IS NO DUE DATE AFTER THE FIRST ONE, WHICH IS ALWAYS A WEEK AFTER YOU RECEIVE IT BACK.

2.  I noticed that in each section of 1A today, there were students without the Rules of Thumb text. I am not sure why; the quiz was listed on your syllabus, I reminded you about it last Friday, and I also reminded you in a blog entry. If you do not have the text due to financial reasons, you should have made arrangements with me to borrow a copy or to request that I make you copies of the pages. Of course, you also could use your class phone list. This is the second of three Rules of Thumb quizzes; if you still do not have the text, I am confused as to why I do not know about it.

SUMMARY:

• KEEP CURRENT WITH THE CLASS BY FOLLOWING THE SYLLABUS AND READING AHEAD.
• READ THE BLOG! :)

3. The following is for Section 81, Learning Community, students ONLY.

--remember, we are meeting for class on Friday at the Student Union's Information Desk. 11 am sharp!

--a quick change of times for the play we will be attending on Thursday, October 24th, on campus. The play begins at 8 pm, NOT 6:30 pm

Sunday, October 6th--6 pm

Hello,

Below you will find a copy of the Out of Class Essay Assignment #2 which was distributed and discussed last Friday, October 4th.

Also, a reminder: please arrive to class tomorrow with your topic chosen for Out of Class Essay #2.
And...bring your Rules of Thumb textbook, of course!

We will NOT have time, unfortunately, to discuss Montana 1948 tomorrow; however, please bring the novel to class on Wednesday and Friday.

English 1A, Fall 2013---C. Fraga

Date assigned: Friday, October 4

Rough draft (optional): due no later than Friday, October 18

Final draft due: Monday, October 28

*You have a little over three weeks (which includes three weekends) to research, write, and edit this essay before submitting.

Details:

1. MLA format; typed & double spaced; Times New Roman font

2. At least 4 outside sources on your Works Cited page

3. Please, no Wikipedia

4. No formulaic, 5 paragraph essay

5. Underline thesis statement

6. Everything you need to know about how to document research in MLA format as well as how to conduct research can be found in your Rules of Thumb textbook. Of course, I will be going over MLA details in class as well.

7. Utilize the bibliography and note card system I will teach and follow the instructions for submitting the final draft. (These instructions will be written on the board during class on Friday, October 4)

8. This essay is worth 200 points: 100 points for content and organization and 100 points for sentence structure, grammar, etc.

OUT OF CLASS ESSAY ASSIGNMENT #2

Course theme: the significance of home

Every family, at some point, must face something extraordinary and/or challenging that impacts the family entity. How do members of the family cope, adjust, and/or “deal” with the event/situation?

I am not referring to the everyday “bumps in the road” that occur for all families. Instead, I am asking you to consider the family unit when faced with an especially challenging situation. These situations could include but are not limited to:

• death

• birth

• infidelity

• serious injury

• dementia

• serious illness

• divorce

• unemployment

• new employment

• moving to a new home/state/area/country

• the return of a war veteran

• moving BACK home after initially moving OUT

• alcoholism

• drug abuse

Select ONE situation that you are most interested in exploring. You will conduct research (and possibly personal interviews, if possible) in order to write an essay that offers the reader background on the topic and makes an assertion about what elements of a particular situation impact a family in the most challenging of ways and supports it logically and interestingly. Your essay should include A MINIMUM of four distinct challenges.

Your thesis might read something like this:

When a family member develops dementia, the challenges are often devastating, yet the disease definitely impacts family members more than the dementia patient.

Or…

When a couple divorces, it most certainly impacts the children still living at home; however, it is the older children who have already moved away that are most affected by the split.