Blog #1 " The Four Idols"
Purpose : In the beginning of this semester we visited one of Francis Bacon's essays known as the " The Four Idols." We we assigned to read his essay and analyze Bacon's main points that were discussed throughout the essay and describe our understanding of each of the Four Idols .This assignment allowed me to examine and make meaning of the text despite the sometimes difficult to understand writing style of the author. In addition to gaining understanding about each of the idols, the assignment required to describe how Bacon writes his essay, how he introduces his main points, to whom he is writing for and how he supports his thesis.
Blog #2 "Thinking in Education"
Purpose : During week two we visited several essays from three of the writers in our text: "World of Ideas". The texts included Gerald Graff's "Hidden Intellectualism" and John Dewey's "Thinking in Education." The purpose of this blog was to reflect critically on the text and synthesize it with the texts we read. We reflected on the texts by answering three main questions which were:
- Why is "learning more about ourselves and the world" crucial to thought and education?
- Dewey states that for some people thinking is cut off from experience. How could this be true? What are its consequences?
- What is the relationship between a student being given something to do and being given something to learn?
Blog #3 "If I were a boy"
Purpose: This assignment was created as a part of a series of written assignments designed to test our comprehension of the readings and to help the student practice and master skills in preparation for future writing assignments. Our assignment for this blog was to
create a blog post in which we were to efficiently analyze and evaluate Mary Wollstonecraft's appeals to ethos, pathos, logos in her essay, "Of the Pernicious Effects Which Arise from Unnatural Distinctions.
Blog #4 "The influences leading to the birth of the creature"
During week 5 of this semester we began reading the story of Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. Our task was to work in groups and research and study several Gothic novels and explain how the novels were related and alluded to Frankenstein. As groups we became experts on one of the novels and brought our ideas together to create a visual that portrayed these elements. This assignment made it possible to work responsibly in a group and gain knowledge from one another. This was my favorite assignment of the whole semester because not only was it a good experience to contribute in the group but it enhanced my understanding of the texts that were assigned. Once our project was completed we were assigned to write a blog describing our experience and what we learned through this assignment by answering the provided five questions .
Blog# 5 " The Creature"
Purpose: The following assignment demonstrated our ability to demonstrate our own understanding of the assigned text by translating it for another audience.For this assignment we were required to choose our favorite quote from the reading we had completed of the book " Frankenstein" by Mary Shelly. After choosing our quote we were to analyze the quote and explain what the quote meant to us and explain what the author intended to reveal relating to her views on society, character’s identity, and what the passage reveals about the main plot. This assignment improved my critical thinking skills to appropriately analyze my chosen quote and dissect its contents and meanings to answer the questions that were assigned.
Blog #6 " Protagonist or Antagonist?"
As we progressed in our understanding of the novel " Frankenstein" we were instructed to compose a blog analyzing the main character, Victor Frankenstein. The purpose of this assignment was to evaluate the character and create our own interpretations regarding his heroic or anti-heroic qualities. This analysis required in-depth analyzes of Victor in order to create our own evaluations.
Blog #7 "Characteristics of the film Frankenstein"
Once we were finished reading the novel we were given a special treat which was watching the 1931 film " Frankenstein" with James Whale. As we watched the film we were to take into account the cinematic choices of plot, casting, characterization, special effects, and theme development. After the film, we were prompted to briefly discuss the differences between the film and the novel and the effectiveness of those differences. For homework, we created Blog #7, which was a film critique in which we reflected on these elements portrayed in the film