I think that thus far in the semester we have had some good class discussions with interesting insights into the reading. However, I think that sometimes discussions can turn into arguments and while this isn’t a bad thing in itself, it can sometimes distract from the original topic of discussion.

I like how the class is structured to facilitate discussion and share ideas without feeling the restriction of grading. I also like the shared aspect of the papers, and how we were able to see all of the papers. It was nice how we were linked to web papers that had a similar topic as our own. I also liked how we had the freedom to choose our own topic on which to write our papers.

I believe that we should try to take elements of the different proposals and integrate them with our group proposal, the 'debate' format. This is an English class, and form is definitely something that I have not examined as much as I could have, so I think that instead of excerpting long non-fictional works that we should substitute shorter, less conventional works of nonfiction. We should incorporate film and media and perhaps works of journalism, art, and science into the debate format. For example, instead of reading two separate histories of LA and NYC, we could compare photos, city plans, newspapers, or articles about each city in a separate time and place.

I stumbled across this and thought it was a funny explanation of how human perspective and memory can alter "reality".

Map of Online Communities 

There's a larger version here and an even larger version when you click on the image there, or go here.

GROUP MEMBERS: Sandra, Rachel, and Jacky

For our proposal we wanted to go with what seemed most popular in all the individual proposals, because we felt that what mattered was that everyone would enjoy at least some books and or movies on the list.

Below is our proposal:

Most Popular

 After our class discussion on Tuesday and after reading the group suggestions, I think that our syllabus should include a variety of different genres and mediums. People in the class where interested in different mediums, like film, and different themes and ideas, like religion, science and race. I don't think we should limit ourselves to two topic themes. I think we should read whole texts as opposed to reading excerpts from chosen books because you will be better equipped to talk about the book. I really liked the idea of comparison between the texts, but it does not have to be, in my opinion, reading two books, comparing them and then choosing another two books and so on. I think that what we have been doing so far with comparing books has worked for us.

Since all of the proposals from Tuesday are held together by one central theme, the best way to choose a syllabus would be to decide as a class what theme everyone is most interested in studying- history, science, personal identity, a compare/contrast approach to the reading, etc. I think that it will be easier to choose books to read if all of them fall under the same broad idea.

Personally, I like the idea of the construction of reality that one group suggested. The idea of what is reality seems to be a major theme of the course already, and it would be interesting to keep exploring this question. Also, “What is reality?” is a broad enough question that it could definitely take us until the end of the semester to discuss.

Week One: Clash of Civilizations

9/11 Commission Report  - A Graphic Adaptation (we could also read the original text but this plays with form)

Path to Paradise: The Inner World of Suicide Bombers and Their Dispatchers  -

Week Two: Environmentalism and Capitalism