For those of you looking for another option for Friday book responses, read the two articles linked in this post and respond. For the first link, the Dave Barry article, read and enjoy it, and leave a comment about it in the comment box below. The New York Times article, also linked below, should be treated just like a book response. You will include all the same components: short summary, your analysis with a significant passage to support your opinion, a photograph or illustration with explanation, and careful attention to conventions (spelling, grammar, and so forth).
The first link addresses the spread of contagious diseases (like senioritis), which threatens the health of our classroom! So it's time to lighten up, laugh at ourselves, and get the most out of the time left in the semester. That said, this article is dedicated to all of you, juniors and seniors. Read, enjoy, and comment with your own reactions - humorous, serious, or otherwise. As you think about your future plans, what connections can you make with Dave Barry, your own angst, your own challenges?
The second link takes us to an article about how much cheating goes on in school. Does everyone have the same definition of what constitutes cheating? Is it OK to look over at someone else's paper during a test, or copy someone's homework, or turn in something you've written for one class to a different class? A problem teachers and students face today is the availability of papers and information on the internet and the ease with which someone can "borrow" material.
The New York Times offers an interesting article about plagiarism. Please create a post in response to the article. You can post about both links for full credit anytime this week up through Friday, October 24th. Read and comment as others begin to post. Issues of honesty touch us all and affect the morale, atmosphere, and collegiality of the class. I know they say that cheaters are only cheating themselves, but I've seen it discourage hard working students as well when cheating goes unchecked. What do you think?
The Dave Barry article was really humorous, although you kind of feel like he's telling you that college is a waste of your life. That I don't really agree with, but it did have some points that we learn a lot of things that don't really help us in our future or career choice all through our education.
ReplyDeleteThe Dave Barry article was interesting to say the least. He did have some good talking points but that is about it. Most of his article was saying school is waste and we need to learn things that will help us one day. Whatever that may mean, I know his article is 100% pure option. It was still a interesting read and it does have somethings to consider.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the Dave Barry article was in fact the same view i have on college and school in general. Not to sound rude but i never got why we had to learn all this crap that in most of our futures will never use, not saying some of us wont. But in all it is an opinion and it just so happens that i agree with, but is not facts. I did like the read and he does have a lot of good and interesting points.
ReplyDeleteThe Dave berry article was interesting. In its own way it was funny and true. I agree in a since that certain classes are a waste of time. We should only have to take classes like that if we were going to major in one of those subjects. I agree with Noah about how it is purely opinion. But that doesn't mean his opinions are wrong. It was a very interesting article and I liked it.
ReplyDeleteI definitely giggled a few times throughout reading this article. But reading this article, and acknowledging that it was primarily written for comedic value, makes me wonder to what extent Barry actually believes this, and how much of the article is actually serious. I'm mainly concerned because I really like physics. How bad can known facts really be?
ReplyDeleteI loved this article by Dave Berry. Although it is quite humorous it has a major underlying message. Most of the stuff we learn is forgotten once we write it down and take an exam over it. I am glad I'm not majoring in any the subjects he mentioned!
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be extemely hilarious. I even read it out loud to my entire family which caused 10 continuous minutes of laughing. I agree that there are some things we will never use again. However, I still think it is good to expand our knowlege on things we might not use all the time because it disiplines our brains. Imagine if we could use the full potential of our brain capacity. Some scientist think that we would be able to move objects with our mind if we learned to use 100% of our brain. Currently humans only use an average of about 4% over their lifetime. Education is just a way to function on a higher level in society. If we all decided to educate ourselves as much a possible throughout our lives, our world would improve greatly.
ReplyDeleteOh and I'm majoring in Biology, so I guess I'll just torture myself for no reason.
DeleteI found this article by Dave Berry to be very interesting and humorous. He describes college the exact same way my brother does, they both say its all memorization of classes that you don't want/need to take. However I think studying all subjects is a good way to explore all the possible careers and majors you can have. You may take a class on psychology for the first time and love it and end up having a job in that field some day.
ReplyDeleteHilarious, every word and still it means to help people kind of understand college. I guess I love rats and dreams because I'm going to major in psychology. I think he means well with his words, saying that you'll need to be smart about what you do in college and shows you that you are going to have to have drive to make it.
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