Borger                                                                                                                         English 102
Essay 1: Define Education                                                                                              Fall 2012

Take a minute to read through your paper – read slowly instead of skimming. If you note any errors or want to make any changes, do so by marking on your final copy at this time (in ink, which is easier to read).  Then, answer the following questions below as completely and honestly as you can (use a separate sheet of paper). I’m not judging your process.  What works for you, works for you.  Telling me what you think I want to hear doesn’t help either of us in this endeavor. The more detailed, the more information you’ll have for your final exam.

1. What was first came to mind when you were asked to define education?

2. How did you narrow your focus for your final copy?

Use the list below to answer questions 3-4.  You can look at the articles or your summaries to help you answer:

"Collegiate Life: An Obituary" by Arthur Levine and Jeanette S. Cureton (710-718)

"The Decline of the Knowledge Factory: Why Our Colleges Must Change" by John Tagg (746-754)

"On the Uses of Liberal Education: As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students" by Mark Edmundson (721-730)

"On the Uses of Liberal Education: As a Weapon in the Hands of the Restless and Poor" by Earl Shorris (733-743)

Gee's "What is Literacy?" from Blackboard (& handed out in class)

"Unequal Opportunity: Race and Education" by Linda Darling-Hammond (779-785)

3. Which of the 6 articles that we read apply most to your definition / philosophy of education (explain how it connects)?

4. Which of the articles least applied to your definition / philosophy of education (explain)?

5. What activities helped you most when composing your definition? Try to explain why they helped.  Which activities helped you the least? Try to explain why.

Writing about your best/worst educational experiences

Completing the readings listed above

Writing about your own writing process

The 1 ½ discussions we had as a class about the articles and education in general

Actually composing the draft

Speed-idea-sharing

5a. What is your favorite part of Essay 1 - what part of the essay are you most proud of? Why?

5b. What is your least favorite part of Essay 1  - what part are you least happy with?  Why?

6. Write a short letter to the ‘you’ at the end of the semester. You can focus on where you’re at right now as (presumably) a relatively new student in college.  What things are currently causing you anxiety, what is making you happy, where do you feel successful, where do you feel you struggle, etc.?  Where do you hope you’ll be at the end of the semester?  What do you hope to have accomplished by May. Put yourself into dialogue with yourself – who you are now is not who you will be in May. Be honest – you’re writing to yourself so you’ll know if you were being fake at the end of the semester when the other ‘you’ reads it.