Third Blog Prompt

Hello all:
Here is the 3rd blog prompt. Remember to write at least 5 sentences, and to read your response aloud before posting in order to make sure the response makes sense! And most importantly, have fun posting!
Hope everyone is enjoying this gorgeous day!

This is also a 2 part-prompt so be sure to answer both parts!

Part I:
In Chapter 4 we learn quite a bit about Greg Mortenson and his family background. What does this information do for the story and for our understanding of Mortenson as a character?

Part II:
At the same time, consider how we get this information about Mortenson's background four chapters into the book. Why do you think the author chose to give us this information later, rather than earlier in the book? How effective was the author's strategy? Was it confusing? Did you like the way the author started chapter 4 by going back in time, only to end chapter 4 where we had left off earlier?

Happy Blogging!
PS--See my blog post on some of my favorite books... I'd love to give suggestions or even hear what your favorite books are.

Laura

Kick Ass Books to Read: Check them out!

Here are some awesome books that I love:

"Go tell it on the Mountain," by James Baldwin, an amazing African-American writer
"Down these Mean streets," by Piri Thomas
"Things Fall Apart," by Chinua Achebe, African writer
"The Kiss" by Kathryn Harrison, memoirist/fiction writer
"Middlesex," by Jeffrey Eugenides
"Columbine," by Dave Cullen
"Song of Solomon," by Toni Morrison, a favorite of President Obama's
"The namesake," by Jhumpa Lahiri
"Breath, Eyes, Memory," by Edwidge Danticat
"Pere Goriot," by Balzac


I will add more as the semester goes on, but here are just a few of my favorite books....

Second Blog Prompt

Hey EOF class! I hope you are all well. Here is your second blog prompt. Keep in mind a few things:
#1- you must write a minimum of 5-6 sentences.
#2--you must post your response to the prompt on your own blog page!
#3--think for a few minutes before you respond. After writing your response, re-read it before you post it just to be sure it makes sense.


Here is the Prompt. It is a two-part question; answer both parts of the prompt:


Part I:
On page 7, the first chapter starts out with a quote.
"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars"-- Persian Proverb.
What do you think this proverb means?
Consider how it might relate to the content in the chapter.


Part II:
Consider the title of the chapter, "Failure."
On the final page of the chapter, page 16, it says: "It was his body that had failed, he decided, not his spirit, and every body had its limits. He for the first time in his life, had found the absolute limit of his."

What does failure mean to you in your life? How does failure come into play in this chapter?

Attention Students

Thank you for the 2 comments I have received for the first blog assignment, however, I need students to form their own blog and respond to my question on their own blog page.
I will be sure to respond Nour and Vivian once a few other students have posted their comments.

First Blog Prompt for EOF Reading class

Hello Class:
Here is your first blog prompt. Please remember to write at least one paragraph using respectful language. Don't worry so much about grammar; instead, simply share your thoughts. Thanks, and happy blogging!

From page 5 in "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin:

"In a part of the world where Americans are, at best, misunderstood, and more often feared and loathed, this soft spoken, six-foot-four former mountaineer from Montana has put together a string of improbable successes."

What do you think about this statement? Are Americans truly "misunderstood" and "loathed"? Why or why not? How do you think people from what we call "Third World" countires, view the United States?

Reading once, reading twice....

One of the things my professors told me during undergrad was to always re-read, to go back to texts and to really let material digest.
In my head I was thinking,
"Re-read? I barely had time to finish this 400 page book! I still have three or four other classes to read for...man."
But they were all right. And most of the times, I went back and re-read. Each time I employed that strategy it helped me. Sometimes a text is so dense or so rich with new vocabulary that it's really nice to go back, to see if the conclusions or thoughts that I had made were accurate. Ultimately after the second read through I wanted to ask myself these questions:
#1--Were my original thoughts on track? Can I use the text to prove my argument or opinions?
#2--What did I miss? What were some points, themes, or threads that I had missed the first time?
#3--Am I still a little confused with the material? If so, see a Professor...
#4--How can I take this new information along with the old, and incorporate it into what I already know?

So while reading a text the second time around is time consuming, remember that it's time well-spent. The second time around is when you will probably see the lightbulb go off in your brain, and that's certainly not wasted time...

Holy Mackarel! Navigating the Big Words of College Texts

So when I started college I thought I had a good vocabulary. And I did, but apparently not good enough!
It seems intimdating at first--I know I listened to all the other students in class, speaking like mini-baby geniuses right out of some designer kid factory, and I started to doubt myself.
Maybe I wasn't smart enough to do this?
Nonsense!
Do you remember the first time you heard these words ( WARNING:I'm older, so maybe I'm dating myself here).
"Metrosexual?"
"Fresh"
"Dope"
(In my mind I'm hearing Special Ed, Public Enemy and Old School Tribe called Quest)
"Muffintop"
You see what I mean...even slang has origins, and when we first hear a silly slang phrase, we don't know what it means unless we ask, right?
Well that's the take-home message folks. Ask. When you don't know a word, ask.
Who cares if the guy next to you thinks you're an idiot for asking! He's not giving you your grade, he's not the one who has to do your work.
Be outspoken when you don't understand something.
This is your education, how you want it.
I also highly recommend using a dictionary when you are reading a text...I still do it! I tutor the SAT's and sometimes I don't know the word so guess what? I get out the good old dictionary, or I go to:
the Oxford-English Dictionary or Freedictionary.com

--Laura

PS-- If you have any questions at any point time, don't be afraid to email me at lauracolumbia09@gmail.com