Course Recap for April 15

Film Version of Hugo

Today in class we finished up the film version of Hugo. We then spent the remainder of class discussing and comparing the film version to the text version. We also discussed Clement and Long's essay. You can access the comparison chart HERE.

Final Exam
Remember: We will not have class on Thursday, April 17. This will be your research and writing day. At this point you have all met with me individually to discuss your final paper. Please email me if you have any further questions.
Our final exam period will be Monday, April 21 at 2:45 pm in our classroom. DO NOT MISS CLASS. PLEASE READ THE EXAM INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY! If you need more specific instruction on what MLA format looks like, please see The Purdue OWL (linked on the right hand side of the blog).

Again, if you have any questions at all about the final exam (or really anything), please feel free to email me. I would also be happy to set up another individual meeting with you if you need it.

Thanks for a Great Semester!
Thank you all for a wonderful semester! I was amazed my your level of engagement and dedication to the texts we studied this semester. I will have your final exams graded and will post your final course grade on the GoWMU site under the final grades tab. Keep checking on the GoWMU site for your final grade postings (they should be posted one week after finals week). If you would like to receive your final exam back from me, you can make an appointment with me through email at the beginning of the fall semester. I will keep your final exams until the end of the fall semester, and then I will recycle them. I wish all of you the best in your future endeavors! Have a great summer break. :)

Course Recap for April 10

Film Version of Hugo
Today we began watching the film version of Hugo. I asked you to take note of anything you found interesting, improved upon, strange, poorly done, etc. in the film version. We will finish up the second half of the film on Tuesday.

Grade Updates & Final Paper Rubric
As of today, most of you have had an individual conference with me to discuss your final papers. During this conference I provided you with a grade update. This update includes everything except your final paper and your attendance points for this week and next week. This grade update should give you a good idea about where you stand going into the final. Please see the final paper grading rubric HERE. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about your grade or the final paper.

Course Evaluations
Please take a few minutes this weekend to complete them if you haven't already!

Homework

• Read Jennifer Clement and Christian B. Long's "Hugo, Remediation, and the Cinema of Attractions, or, The Adaptation of Hugo Cabret"

Course Recap for April 8

Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Today at the beginning of class you took a short quiz over Hugo. After discussing some of your initial impressions and experiences with the text, I asked you to work in pairs on a two part writing exercise related to the text. You can access that handout HERE. We then discussed each group's questions and responses.
On Thursday, we will begin watching the film version of the text. Bring a pen and notebook to class so that you can take notes on what you find interesting. We will finish up the film next Tuesday and begin our discussion of the film and Clement and Long's article.

Course Evaluations
Each of you should have received an email about course evaluations from the university yesterday. As I mentioned in class, course evaluations are extremely important to helping me improve my teaching and the course. I take your responses seriously and use your feedback to improve the course. Additionally, the evaluations are viewed by the department and assist me in evaluating my own teaching performance. Please fill out your course evaluation online (email me if you cannot figure out how to get to it) by following the ICES link on GoWMU (on the left hand side of the page). Please be as specific as possible in your responses and know that these evaluations have no bearing on your grade. Your responses are anonymous, and I do not receive your comments until after grades are posted. I greatly appreciate your participation... and if you all complete them before next Tuesday's class, I will bring treats for the final!

Homework

• Read ahead => Jennifer Clement and Christian B. Long's "Hugo, Remediation, and the Cinema of Attractions, or, The Adaptation of Hugo Cabret"

Blog Post Drop Box: Brian Selznick's _The Invention of Hugo Cabret_

Click on the "comment" button below to leave your blog post. I suggest you type your response first in a word document, and then copy and paste it into the comment box. Your blog post should be at least 500 words of original prose (do not duplicate anything other bloggers have already said here) in which you engage with the text for the week critically AND pose an original discussion question. Be sure to write your full name and word count at the bottom of your post. The cut-off time for this blog post is Monday, April 7 at midnight.

Discussion Leaders: Alyssa, Amanda L., Amanda W., Shaina, Andrea

Course Recap for April 3

Miskec's "Meet Ivy and Bean, Queerly the Anti-American Girls"
Today at the beginning of class, instead of doing a reading quiz (in other words, if you were present during class, you will receive 100% on the quiz), I asked you to break up into small groups to tackle Miskec's essay page by page. I asked each group to dissect one idea that related to one of the questions from the quiz. Group 1 examined Miskec's analysis of how the lessons in Meet Addy translate to the American Girl readership and examined Miskec's comparison of Meet Addy and Ivy and Bean through the lens of didacticism. Group 2 took on the topic of queerness, and they examined why Ivy and Bean is a queer text according to Miskec. Group 3 defined narrative theorist Mikhail Bakhtin's idea of the "carnivalesque" and noted how Ivy and Bean features carnivalesque imagery according to Miskec. Group 4 looked closely at how Miskec analyzes Ivy and Bean's fluid identities as characters. Group 5 examined the comparison between authority in the two series (American Girl and Ivy and Bean). I then asked each group to present their findings on Miskec's article, and we discussed each question as a class.

Homework

• Read Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Course Recap for April 1

Barrows' Ivy and Bean
Today at the beginning of class you took a short reading quiz. Next, I asked you to draw a colored discussion card and do a bit of writing. We then broke into a large group discussion about Barrows' Ivy and Bean series. After working with the discussion leaders' questions, I asked you to work in pairs on a comparison chart for Meet Addy and Ivy and Bean. You can access that document HERE.

Homework

• Read Miskec's "Meet Ivy and Bean, Queerly the Anti-American Girls"

Course Recap for March 27

Chuppa-Cornell's "When Fact Is Stranger than Fiction: Hair in American Girl Stories and Dolls"
Today at the beginning of class instead of taking a quiz, I asked you to break into small groups to work on a list of discussion questions related to your reading for the day. You can access that document HERE. We then worked through the questions as a class and talked about our responses to Chuppa-Cornell's article. Next, I handed our another article by Jan Susina comparing American Girl Dolls to Barbie Dolls. You can access that document HERE. I asked you to work in pairs to read and summarize a few paragraphs of the article; groups then presented their section to the class. Finally, we used the remaining time in class to return to your responses to Meet Addy that you worked on during class on Tuesday.

Final Paper
At the end of class I talked a bit about your final paper and individual conferences. You can access the final paper instructional guide HERE and the individual conference schedule HERE.

Homework

• Read Barrows' Ivy and Bean (book 1)