Post New Thread
INSTRUCTIONS: To post, click on the topic title to access the topic and then click the “Post New Thread” button. (Quick ‘about me’ for parts 1 & 2 found below)
Part I: Emily Dickinson touches upon concepts of self and intellect in these two poems. How does she identify herself? For that matter, how do you identify yourself? Please make your introduction to the class and tell us something memorable about yourself that makes you special, unique.
Part II: In the vein of Whitman’s theme of isolation and self, can you identify with anything Whitman is communicating? How is isolation and/or the need to connect to others important in your life? Tell us about the connections that mean the most to you in your life.
Part III: Authors use a variety of techniques to tell a story and convey a message. Twain clearly demonstrates good storytelling by injecting wit and humor. Examine how Twain amuses us (and himself) with his uncanny hilarity and absurdity. This is where the twain shall meet. It’s your turn to share a humorous anecdote that has happened to you in your personal or professional life.
Please respond to all three parts. Initial responses should approximate or exceed 300 words. Feel free to break up your responses to the three parts over separate posts or days if you prefer to respond to them one at a time. It’s important that you make your initial post no later than Thursday of each week to give you and your classmates time to read and respond to each other’s posts. Posting earlier in the week is preferable. You should also respond in a meaningful way to at least two of your classmates by the end of the week with posts of 100-150 words each. Strive to post over at least two separate days in each week’s forum. Our goal is to read the literature and then respond to it as a class in each evolving, week-long forum. Write with careful attention to proper grammar, spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.
Examples of meaningful posts to classmates include:
-providing additional information about a topic
-elaborating on previous responses from classmates
-presenting explanations of concepts or works of literature to help fellow classmates
-arguing for or against a topic
-sharing your own personal experiences that relate to the topic(s), and/or
-providing a quotation (and URL) and explanation for an area you researched on the Internet
Your score each week reflects how well you meet the criteria above.
ABOUT ME FOR PARTS ONE AND TWO (ADD TO THIS OF COURSE, VERY BRIEF QUICK TINY RANT, NOT AT ALL WORTHY OF POINTS WITH JUST THIS – MAKE UP STUFF BOUT ME AFTER THIS MUCH)
for question 1 and 2; the need to connect with others is extremely important. Living in Naples, Italy, and being thousands of miles away from my family back in the states (they all live in Maryland), communication is extremely important and valuable because of the distance. Ultimately the family connection is the most important, as you only get one family in your life, so its important to have a good relationship.
