You'll find here a sample and explanation of the format each "Before Reading" will follow and a few short assignments to ease you into the course.

The title of each assignment will appear in the box above, right below "Before Reading."

The due date for the work is located in the heading on the Work Here page. Generally, work is due by Thursday.

Titles of Readings, Page Numbers, and Date Published
I think the heading explains this

Introduction to Assignment: #1
This is where you'll find a brief overview of the focus for this week's assignment. Along with the introductions to the individual writers in the textbook, it will provide the necessary background to help you understand the work we're reading.

Terms and People to Know
Since we're going back in history, there are some, well, historical definitions you'll need to understand the material. You'll find them here.

Questions to mull over as you interpret the story
(Note: the questions you need to answer are found, surprisingly, in the "What to do to complete Assignment" below)

What to Do (questions to be answered, where to send them) to Complete This Assignment

All of the work for this week (with the exception of #3) will be emailed in one batch labeled "Weekly Assignment #1." See how to submit homework for more instructions.

Five short tasks are due to familiarize yourself with the course.

1. Read the Course Introduction and syllabus (if you haven't already done so) on the Start Here page.
2. Read America's Self-Portrait ( Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)  July 2, 2006; Lexile Score: 870 ; 21K, SIRS Renaissance) and Defining America U.S. News & World Report  June 28/July 5, 2004; Lexile Score: 1300 ; 80K, SIRS Researcher. Answer the Question #1 (Assignment #1) posed in the next section (see below).
3. send a "This is Me" email to the class. In it answer questions such as the following

"What’s your major?"
"What’s your favorite short story/who's your favorite wrier?" "Why"
"What's your favorite food?"
"What other courses are you taking this semester?"

I realize this kind of assignment sounds corny/stilted/artificial, but one of drawbacks (and, of course, benefits) of an online course is its anonymous nature. The best way to avoid feeling isolated is to get to know one another, and the best way to do this is to keep in regular contact with your classmates – which I hope to encourage with this uh. . . . assignment.

4. answer questions on Class Discussion Bulletin Board (accessed by clicking on the icon from the Course Menu to the left) .
5. Answer the following questions and send to my work address dbordelon@ocean.edu.

Course: ENGL 251 ____/_______ Semester/Year
Name:
Address (include zip)
Email:
Phone: D) N)
Previous English courses taken
Previous courses taken (greatest hits if too many to list)
Courses this semester
Job/hobby – how many hours a week
Major in college/Career goal
Last books read:
Magazines/Newspapers regularly read:
(Finish the following sentences )
We need to study American literature because . . . .
We don't need to study American literature because . . . .

Remember to send these to my work address dbordelon@ocean.edu.

Question #1 (Assignment #1)
Each week you'll here find a list of questions that you'll copy into your word processor (Word, Works, etc.), and then copy and paste into the course emailer.

This short week, I have one question:

• Write a paragraph explaining how the readings "America's Self Portrait" and "Defining America" linked above could help you better understand and thus better interpret American literature. Include at least one example of your own (personal, historical, or current events) that illustrates an idea from each author. Send this via the course email with "Weekly Assignment #1" in the subject heading.

What the author/critics say

Here you'll find quotes from various sources that should deepen your understanding of the stories.

Voices and Images From the Past
An assortment of excerpts from letters, newspapers, books, that should give a "flavour" of the period.

 © 2007 David Bordelon