Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Plan
1. Freewrite: Reflect on the following question: What is a criminal? Use what we've read in Yummy and the Time's article, seen in the films: Juvies and The Interrupters, to define this term.
B. Topical Invention (handout)
2. WLTC--Chapter 3: Exercises 3B, 3C, 3D
3. Homework--From WLTC: Read and annotate, bring in questions on Chapter 4.
Complete exercise: 3F (72)
We reviewed Exercise 3D (65-66). If you need more practice with this complete exercise 3E for extra credit.
4. Old homework: Post the 10 arguments: 5 for Juvies and 5 for The Interrupters. Post where assigned.
5. Bring Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow, to class Tuesday. We will start reading it next week.
The exercises in WLTC are to help students become conversant with the material. The weighted assignments are of course the arguments you write and present. Look at the syllabus to see how the assignments are weighted for the final grade. No one from English 5 has come to my office hours. If there are questions, I suggest students come and see me.
1. Freewrite: Reflect on the following question: What is a criminal? Use what we've read in Yummy and the Time's article, seen in the films: Juvies and The Interrupters, to define this term.
B. Topical Invention (handout)
2. WLTC--Chapter 3: Exercises 3B, 3C, 3D
3. Homework--From WLTC: Read and annotate, bring in questions on Chapter 4.
Complete exercise: 3F (72)
We reviewed Exercise 3D (65-66). If you need more practice with this complete exercise 3E for extra credit.
4. Old homework: Post the 10 arguments: 5 for Juvies and 5 for The Interrupters. Post where assigned.
5. Bring Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow, to class Tuesday. We will start reading it next week.
The exercises in WLTC are to help students become conversant with the material. The weighted assignments are of course the arguments you write and present. Look at the syllabus to see how the assignments are weighted for the final grade. No one from English 5 has come to my office hours. If there are questions, I suggest students come and see me.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Homework
List 10 arguments in Standard Form from Juvies and The Interrupters. You can list more if you like (WLTC 56-57).
Premise 1
Premise 2
etc.
Conclusion
List premises and the conclusion drawn from the premises. Are any of these premises assumptions or inferences?
Reprinted:
Today we are watching the film: Juvies. It is 66 minutes long. Watch "The Interrupters" tonight on Frontline World at 10 p.m. (channel 9). It will be available for viewing on the website later on (I believe).
On Thursday we will look at developing an argument taking its topic from Yummy and looking at the criminalization of youth. We will also continue in WLTC, I will return papers this Thursday (smile).
I am still waiting on my grade book. I know, no excuses.
A suggestion is to start reading The New Jim Crow next. What do you think? Bring it in Thursday.
Premise 1
Premise 2
etc.
Conclusion
List premises and the conclusion drawn from the premises. Are any of these premises assumptions or inferences?
Reprinted:
Today we are watching the film: Juvies. It is 66 minutes long. Watch "The Interrupters" tonight on Frontline World at 10 p.m. (channel 9). It will be available for viewing on the website later on (I believe).
On Thursday we will look at developing an argument taking its topic from Yummy and looking at the criminalization of youth. We will also continue in WLTC, I will return papers this Thursday (smile).
I am still waiting on my grade book. I know, no excuses.
A suggestion is to start reading The New Jim Crow next. What do you think? Bring it in Thursday.
Juvies
LESLIE NEALE
Director’s Statement
http://www.juvies.net/videoclips/index.html
"When I started volunteer teaching at Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, I was naïve to juvenile justice, thinking children were handled fairly and with care, not only for their safety, but also for the safety of the public at large. What I found is that scores of children are getting thrown away in adult prisons instead of staying in the rehabilitative environment of the juvenile system, a structure originally designed to protect them from ending up in the adult system. The making of “Juvies” has made my life make an irrevocable turn towards correcting the juvenile justice system, making it one that is run with intelligence, responsibility and mercy."
n September of 1999, Chance Films was invited to observe a writing program at Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall. What the filmmakers saw in that writing program inspired them to do a similar program using video cameras. They saw the need to give the kids in the Hall a voice that could reach beyond the walls that separated them from free society. What they didn’t know was that teaching basic video production skills and interviewing techniques was going to link them irrevocably to these 12 kids and a cause that most people would turn their backs on: correcting the juvenile justice system and making it one that is run with intelligence, responsibility and mercy.
The filmmakers were naïve to juvenile justice, thinking children were handled fairly and with care, not only for their safety, but also for the safety of the public at large. What they found was that scores of children were getting thrown away in adult prisons instead of staying in the rehabilitative environment of the juvenile system, a structure originally designed to protect them from ending up in the adult system.With the help of cameramen, producers, friends and a passionate nun, the video production class began in earnest in September 1999. At first, the administrators of the Hall were receptive, but cautious. After showing up two times a week for a few months, they realized this crew was really there to help the kids reach into themselves and out to others who were on the cusp of being pulled into the system. That didn’t make working within the system any easier, however. As the histories of these individual kids came to light in the class, the filmmakers realized there was more than a class happening here, there was a story to be told, a story that had the potential to impact thousands of people. They began working to garner all the approvals necessary to put these kids on camera and be able to use their stories to educate others about the system and how to avoid falling into it. The kids involved in the class were all chosen at random, based on very specific criteria:1. They had to be getting tried as adults;
2. They had to be facing long-term sentences;
3. They had to be under 18 so that they would continue to be housed at Juvi for as long as possible to get the most out of the class; and
4. The filmmakers had to get signed consents from the kids, their parents and their attorneys.The first group of kids was taught in the library of the boys’ school, with natural lighting and two cameras. This was the only program to allow a mix of boys and girls in the same class. Many times, the filmmakers would arrive prepared to teach and the kids were not available. Other times, they would work with only one or two of the kids. The participation of the kids was iffy at best, given individual court appearance requirements, availability of staff to be on premises with the kids and lack of communication amongst the Juvenile Hall staff.As time progressed, the kids were being tried, convicted and sent on to County Jail or State Prison. As the kids were sentenced to long terms and even life behind bars, the filmmakers were getting their own education. The naivete began to fall away and the truth of the failing juvenile justice system was making itself known. In May of 1999, high school student Duc was arrested for driving a car from which a gun was shot. Although no one was injured, Duc was not a member of a gang, had no priors and was 16 years old, he received a sentence of 35 years to life.Fourteen-year-old Anait, an Armenian immigrant, had been given a car by her parents. She drove two boys to a high school and dropped them off. The boys got into a fight with another boy and subsequently killed a third boy who attempted to break up the fight. Because she was the driver of the “getaway” car, Anait was charged as an accessory to first-degree murder and originally faced 200 years. She has since taken a deal and is serving 7 years.Then there’s Mayra, a girl raised in the gangs, who at 16 was asked by her gang to kill a girl who had broken one of their rules. She was sleeping with a boy from a rival gang. Mayra shot this girl, did not kill her, but paralyzed her for life. This girl was her best friend. Mayra received Life plus 25 years for her crime and had a baby while in juvenile hall. She has gotten to see her son two times since his birth. He is now 3 years old.At first the filmmakers thought these cases were the exception, but as time went by and all the kids were convicted and sentenced to adult prison facilities with long sentences, they began to realize this was the rule.
Being tough on crime is one thing. But trying children as adults, and dispensing brutal sentences that are shockingly out of proportion to the offense, is quite another. Most Americans would say this can’t happen here, yet for thousands of young people, this is the reality of the present day juvenile justice system, which has turned its back on its initial mission to protect young people and now sends over 200,000 kids through the adult system each year.
Director’s Statement
http://www.juvies.net/videoclips/index.html
"When I started volunteer teaching at Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles, I was naïve to juvenile justice, thinking children were handled fairly and with care, not only for their safety, but also for the safety of the public at large. What I found is that scores of children are getting thrown away in adult prisons instead of staying in the rehabilitative environment of the juvenile system, a structure originally designed to protect them from ending up in the adult system. The making of “Juvies” has made my life make an irrevocable turn towards correcting the juvenile justice system, making it one that is run with intelligence, responsibility and mercy."
n September of 1999, Chance Films was invited to observe a writing program at Los Angeles Central Juvenile Hall. What the filmmakers saw in that writing program inspired them to do a similar program using video cameras. They saw the need to give the kids in the Hall a voice that could reach beyond the walls that separated them from free society. What they didn’t know was that teaching basic video production skills and interviewing techniques was going to link them irrevocably to these 12 kids and a cause that most people would turn their backs on: correcting the juvenile justice system and making it one that is run with intelligence, responsibility and mercy.
The filmmakers were naïve to juvenile justice, thinking children were handled fairly and with care, not only for their safety, but also for the safety of the public at large. What they found was that scores of children were getting thrown away in adult prisons instead of staying in the rehabilitative environment of the juvenile system, a structure originally designed to protect them from ending up in the adult system.With the help of cameramen, producers, friends and a passionate nun, the video production class began in earnest in September 1999. At first, the administrators of the Hall were receptive, but cautious. After showing up two times a week for a few months, they realized this crew was really there to help the kids reach into themselves and out to others who were on the cusp of being pulled into the system. That didn’t make working within the system any easier, however. As the histories of these individual kids came to light in the class, the filmmakers realized there was more than a class happening here, there was a story to be told, a story that had the potential to impact thousands of people. They began working to garner all the approvals necessary to put these kids on camera and be able to use their stories to educate others about the system and how to avoid falling into it. The kids involved in the class were all chosen at random, based on very specific criteria:1. They had to be getting tried as adults;
2. They had to be facing long-term sentences;
3. They had to be under 18 so that they would continue to be housed at Juvi for as long as possible to get the most out of the class; and
4. The filmmakers had to get signed consents from the kids, their parents and their attorneys.The first group of kids was taught in the library of the boys’ school, with natural lighting and two cameras. This was the only program to allow a mix of boys and girls in the same class. Many times, the filmmakers would arrive prepared to teach and the kids were not available. Other times, they would work with only one or two of the kids. The participation of the kids was iffy at best, given individual court appearance requirements, availability of staff to be on premises with the kids and lack of communication amongst the Juvenile Hall staff.As time progressed, the kids were being tried, convicted and sent on to County Jail or State Prison. As the kids were sentenced to long terms and even life behind bars, the filmmakers were getting their own education. The naivete began to fall away and the truth of the failing juvenile justice system was making itself known. In May of 1999, high school student Duc was arrested for driving a car from which a gun was shot. Although no one was injured, Duc was not a member of a gang, had no priors and was 16 years old, he received a sentence of 35 years to life.Fourteen-year-old Anait, an Armenian immigrant, had been given a car by her parents. She drove two boys to a high school and dropped them off. The boys got into a fight with another boy and subsequently killed a third boy who attempted to break up the fight. Because she was the driver of the “getaway” car, Anait was charged as an accessory to first-degree murder and originally faced 200 years. She has since taken a deal and is serving 7 years.Then there’s Mayra, a girl raised in the gangs, who at 16 was asked by her gang to kill a girl who had broken one of their rules. She was sleeping with a boy from a rival gang. Mayra shot this girl, did not kill her, but paralyzed her for life. This girl was her best friend. Mayra received Life plus 25 years for her crime and had a baby while in juvenile hall. She has gotten to see her son two times since his birth. He is now 3 years old.At first the filmmakers thought these cases were the exception, but as time went by and all the kids were convicted and sentenced to adult prison facilities with long sentences, they began to realize this was the rule.
Being tough on crime is one thing. But trying children as adults, and dispensing brutal sentences that are shockingly out of proportion to the offense, is quite another. Most Americans would say this can’t happen here, yet for thousands of young people, this is the reality of the present day juvenile justice system, which has turned its back on its initial mission to protect young people and now sends over 200,000 kids through the adult system each year.
Today we are watching the film: Juvies. It is 66 minutes long. Watch The Interrupters tonight on Frontline World at 10 p.m. (channel 9).
On Thursday we will look at developing an argument taking its topic from Yummy and looking at the criminalization of youth. We will also continue in WLTC, I will return papers this Thursday (smile).
I am still waiting on my grade book. I know, no excuses.
A suggestion is to start reading The New Jim Crow next. What do you think? Bring it in Thursday.
On Thursday we will look at developing an argument taking its topic from Yummy and looking at the criminalization of youth. We will also continue in WLTC, I will return papers this Thursday (smile).
I am still waiting on my grade book. I know, no excuses.
A suggestion is to start reading The New Jim Crow next. What do you think? Bring it in Thursday.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Recap and Freewrite
Today we are going on a field trip to see the film: The Interrupters. Meet me at the Oakland Museum no later than 4:30 p.m. We'll be at the door. Call me if you can't find me (smile). I have extra tickets, let me know if you want to bring someone.
Freewrite
We finished reading the Time magazine article about Robert "Yummy" Sandifer. List 5-10 inferences and judgments one can make. For the judgments put the judgment in someone's mouth.
Be as detailed and complete as possible in the list of arguments, that is, inferences and judgements. The article is on Greg Neri's website.
2. Complete the book
3. WLTC Lecture-Structure of Arguments: standard form, review of terms: opinion, rational, premises, conclusion, complete vs. open thesis or argument.
4. Writing Arguments about literature, the Aristotelian model (didn't get to this).
Homework
5. Read Chapter 3 and jot down any questions. Homework: WLTC (write in the book. Do not post the answers-- 3B (58-59).
Announcements
The Oakland Museum is having a panel discussion or community forum on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, 1-3 p.m. in the James Moore Theatre on the Black Male Image. This is in conjunction with an exhibition featuring a film and photographs of black men. More later.
Freewrite
We finished reading the Time magazine article about Robert "Yummy" Sandifer. List 5-10 inferences and judgments one can make. For the judgments put the judgment in someone's mouth.
Be as detailed and complete as possible in the list of arguments, that is, inferences and judgements. The article is on Greg Neri's website.
2. Complete the book
3. WLTC Lecture-Structure of Arguments: standard form, review of terms: opinion, rational, premises, conclusion, complete vs. open thesis or argument.
4. Writing Arguments about literature, the Aristotelian model (didn't get to this).
Homework
5. Read Chapter 3 and jot down any questions. Homework: WLTC (write in the book. Do not post the answers-- 3B (58-59).
Announcements
The Oakland Museum is having a panel discussion or community forum on Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012, 1-3 p.m. in the James Moore Theatre on the Black Male Image. This is in conjunction with an exhibition featuring a film and photographs of black men. More later.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Assignment Recap: WLTC February Cyber-Assignment Posts
Today in class we reviewed Chapter 2 and defined the terms: judgement, infer, imply, fact and belief.
We then reviewed the assigned exercises.
Homework recap: 1. WLTC 2J (respond in 1 typed page. Bring it to class.) Post WLTC 2J here as well.
2. WLTC 2K read the story and be prepared to answer the questions.
3. Also post your response to WLTC 2I here by Feb. 9. Bring to class electronically as well and I will post the images for you.
2. WLTC 2K read the story and be prepared to answer the questions.
3. Also post your response to WLTC 2I here by Feb. 9. Bring to class electronically as well and I will post the images for you.
4. WLTC 2L complete sometime this month and turn in as a paper copy. Post your essays here as well.
We read up to page 64 in Yummy.
Here is the link to the Times Magazine article on the author's website: http://gregneri.com/yummy.html
Next week we will look at types of arguments: claims of fact, claims of policy and claims of value, and the form these arguments can take.
Field Trip
I have more tickets left for the OM film screening Thursday, doors open at 4 p.m. Let me know if you want to attend. Call me (smile).
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