Updates!

There have been some "tweaks" to our schedule - Check out the most Updated Version here.

Here are the final blog assignments:

Today's in-class blog assignment: Research Reflection- (due Thurs 5/26) - 250 words on what you've learned about research and writing research papers this semester.

Blog Assignment (due Tues 5/31) - How does imagination lend meaning to our lives and experiences?  300 words on  Twilight Zone episodes ("The Lonely" and "Walking Distance") and/or short stories ("Handsomest Drowned Man" and "The Tell-Tale Heart")

Last Blog Assignment (due 6/10) - Matrix Paper - post your final research paper - please include photos and/or links to relevant materials (if you want to embed video, etc.)

Matrix Thesis List

Post the thesis to your Matrix paper as a comment.

It should be
*one sentence
*a statement (not a question)
*an opinion that is based in fact

Matrix Paper Ideas

Add your Matrix paper ideas to the following document

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yEW51u8BCG9alBxlx77-THcp7HrDkzSmBCMvwgHtV1c/edit?hl=en&authkey=CP3w6NAJ

Digital Discussions & Matrix Research

Digital Discussion of the Matrix
Using Evidence to Support Claims

Here is the google group address to participate in the online discussion:

Answer one question posed by either Dr. X. Dr. J Dr. V or I.

You must answer with a claim, give the reason(s) you believe this claim and support it with evidence. 

Use the following format:
Claim:
Reason:
Evidence:
http://groups.google.com/group/lagcc-matrix-group

Articles on the Matrix:

All articles can be found through the LaGuardia Library's "Academic Search Premiere" database.


A. 'Mother Isn't Quite Herself Today:' Myth and Spectacle in The Matrix.Full Text Available By: Frentz, Thomas S.; Rushing, Janice Hocker. Critical Studies in Media Communication, Mar2002, Vol. 19 Issue 1, p64, 23p
Subjects: HUMANITY; EROTICA; MATRIX, The (Film)

B. Philosophy Screened: Experiencing The Matrix.Full Text Available By: Wartenberg, Thomas E.. Midwest Studies In Philosophy, 2003, Vol. 27 Issue 1, p139-152, 14p; Subjects: PHILOSOPHY; TRUTHFULNESS & falsehood; MATRIX, The (Film)

C. Technology and Mythic Narrative: The Matrix as Technological Hero-Quest.
Full Text Available By: Stroud, Scott R.. Western Journal of Communication, Fall2001, Vol. 65 Issue 4, p416, 26p
Subjects: MYTHOLOGY; MATRIX, The (Film)

D. Neo-Christ: Jesus, The Matrix, and Secondary Allegory as a Rhetorical Form.
Full Text Available By: Milford, Mike. Southern Communication Journal, Jan2010, Vol. 75 Issue 1, p17-34, 18p; Subjects: FILM criticism; POPULAR culture; SCHOLARS; ALLEGORY; SERMONS; EVANGELICALISM; MATRIX, The (Film)

E. Beyond Mere Illustration: How Films Can Be Philosophy.
Full Text Available By: Wartenberg, Thomas E.. Journal of Aesthetics & Art Criticism, Winter2006, Vol. 64 Issue 1, p19-32, 14p, 3 Black and White Photographs, 3 Illustrations; DOI: 10.1111/j.0021-8529.2006.00226.x
Subjects: MOTION pictures; FILM theory; Motion Picture and Video Production; MATRIX, The (Film); MATRIX Reloaded, The (Film); MATRIX Revolutions, The (Film); SEVENTH Seal, The (Film); WAVELENGTH (Film); BERGMAN, Ingmar, 1918-2007; SNOW, Michael

F. Coded Discourse: Romancing the (Electronic) Shadow in "The Matrix."
Full Text Available By: Haslam, Jason. College Literature, Summer2005, Vol. 32 Issue 3, p92-115, 24p
Subjects: SCIENCE fiction; ARTIFICIAL intelligence; AFRICAN Americans; LITERATURE; STORIES, plots, etc.; MATRIX, The (Film); GIBSON, William

G. Mastering the Real: Trinity as the "Real" Hero of The Matrix.
Full Text Available By: Williams, G. Christopher. Film Criticism, Spring2003, Vol. 27 Issue 3, p2-17, 16p
Subjects: REALITY; ONTOLOGY; GOD; MOTION pictures & philosophy; MATRIX, The (Film); BAUDRILLARD, Jean

H. Not Begetting the Future: Technological Autochthony, Sexual Reproduction, and the Mythic Structure of The Matrix.
Full Text Available By: Kimball, A. Samuel. Journal of Popular Culture, Winter2001, Vol. 35 Issue 3, p175, 29p
Subjects: MOTION pictures; COMPUTER hackers; MASS media; DATA protection; Motion Picture and Video Production; MATRIX, The (Film); FISHBURNE, Laurence; REEVES, Keanu

I. Queering Hollywood's Tough Chick.Full Text Available By: Geller, Theresa L.. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies, 2004, Vol. 25 Issue 3, p8-34, 27p
Subjects: WOMEN in motion pictures; CHARACTERS & characteristics in motion pictures; SEX role in motion pictures; MOTION pictures -- Social aspects; MATRIX, The (Film); LONG Kiss Goodnight, The (Film)

J. The Mirror in The Matrix of Media Ecology.
Full Text Available By: Rufo, Kenneth. Critical Studies in Media Communication, Jun2003, Vol. 20 Issue 2, p117-140, 24p
Subjects: MASS media & technology; HALLUCINATIONS & illusions in motion pictures; MATRIX, The (Film); LACAN, Jacques, 1901-1981

K. PARANOIAC VISIONS AND NEO-REALITIES IN THE RECENT CINEMA: Reflections on Tausk's "Influencing Machine in Schizophrenia".Full Text Available By: Downing, David L.. Psychoanalytic Review, Dec2007, Vol. 94 Issue 6, p991-1006, 16p
Subjects: PSYCHOANALYSIS & motion pictures; PARANOIA in motion pictures; REALISM in motion pictures; TRUMAN Show, The (Film); DARK City (Film); MATRIX, The (Film); EXISTENZ (Film); TETSUO: The Iron Man (Film)

L. The Erotic Life of Machines.Full Text Available By: Shaviro, Steven. Parallax, Oct2002, Vol. 8 Issue 4, p21, 11p
Subjects: VIRTUAL reality; SEX; SCIENCE fiction; MUSIC videos; MATRIX, The (Film)

Schedule of classes and assignments, May-June 2011

Hello - You can access the new schedule here.  Be sure to read it carefully and update your calendars - there are several changes and new locations!!!!

Peer Review

Here is the peer review form to use.

Papers Due 5/5 and other Dorian Grey Info

As you know, your papers are due on May 5th.  The assignment is a simple one: write a 3-page response paper on the theme of imagination in the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Here is a searchable edition of Dorian Grey (the version you've read)

Here is information about the book Dorian read and re-read!

Homework for April 11 - April 25

Due Tues April 12 - Buy your copy of  Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.  Read pages 1-12 and answer reading questions (handed out in class and available here.)

Thurs, April 14th.  Class will watch the film A Beautiful Mind.  I will be away, but Dr. Heidi Johnsen will take attendance and show you the film.  Over vacation, please write a 300 response about the film's representations of genius, insanity and madness.

Due April 25th (when we return from vacation) - Read pages 12-58 of Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.  Answer reading questions, available here.

Here are trailers for both the 1945 film version and the 2009 version.

Divergent Thinking Exercize

Here is the place to go to create a "group" version!

Videos (and a fun Quiz)

Are you a Right-Brain or Left-Brain Thinker?  Take the quiz to find out!

Video 1: Daniel Pink on What Motivates us

Video 2: Ken Robinson on Education ("Reforming Educational Paradigms")

Video 3: Ken Robinson ("Do schools Kill Creativity?")

If you want to use the subtitles for the last video, or get a written transcript of it, click here instead!

Movie Previews

Please vote in the poll to your right for one of these finalist films to be shown in class.    =>
Thanks for making such excellent reccomendations!


Beautiful Mind
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/aS_d0Ayjw4o" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Pan's Labrynth
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EqYiSlkvRuw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Fight Club
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2QgFWXLN-ug" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Library Database Scavenger Hunt

A)  "All Sorts of Pitfalls and Surprizes: Competing Views of Idealized Girlhood in Lewis Carroll's Alice Books"  by Jennifer Geer

B) "Alice, Huck, Pinocchio and the Blue Fairy: Bodies Real and Imagined" by M.L. Rosenthal

C) "Dodgeson's Dark Conceit: Evoking the Allegorical Lineage of Alice" - by Andrew Wheat

D) "How Warrior Alice Became Warrior Alice, and Why" by Kristina Aikens

E) "Dodgeson in Wonderland" by Joanna Richardson

F) "Educating Alice: The Lessons of Wonderland" by Jan Susina

G) The Philosopher's 'Alice in Wonderland' - by Roger W. Holmes

H) The Cheshire Cat: Sign of Signs - by M.S. Ashbourne

Movie Suggestions

Please recommend a movie you think would be great to see in class and explain what links to our theme it manifests.   The more complex and nuanced the themes, the better. 

FOR THURSDAY 3/31

* Papers are DUE!!! 800-1000 words.  Be sure to quote from both the Alice text and your psych sources!  Use parenthetical citation!

* Bring in the info you will need to handwrite your works cited during our Works Cited Workshop.  You can simply bring in the texts themselves or bring in information like author, title, publisher, publication date, publication city, url, magazine.anthology name (if the text is found in a collection), etc.

*MEET IN THE LIBRARY CLASSROOM AT 11:45!!!!

Reminder for Thursday

Bring in printed copies of your source info.  Also, bring in your Alice in Wonderland text.  If you don't want to bring in the psych textbook,. copy the pages you will need.  See you there!!!

Paper 2 Assignment

The Psychology of Alice in Wonderland -
800 - 1000 words
using 2 or more sources (including Carrol's text and your Psych textbook)

You will develop your own thesis!
This will show how Alice's Adventures in Wonderland illustrates one psychological theme.

You will use details from the texts, and your own explanations, to prove your points. 

Due dates:

Tues 2/22 -
HW due - Proposal written (and posted on blog)
During class - work on textual research & understanding citation

Thrus 2/24
HW Due -  Develop ideas
During class - Write outlines

Mon 2/28 - Draft due
 (min 600 words)
In class - peer review

Tues 2/29 -
Editing and Writing the Works Cited Page

Thurs 3/31 - Papers due
Reseach seminar in the library

Alice text

http://books.google.com/books?id=ID5P7xbmcO8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=alice+in+wonderland+lewis+carroll&hl=en&ei=MTqCTfHWF9GQ0QGdmbXTCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

Henry Darger - What's Your take?

Write 200 or more words responding to the video we saw by commenting below!

Recap and Homework

Hello!

Great jobs setting up  your blogs!!!  

I'm looking forward to reading your papers and your first posts this week.

For tomorrow, be sure to read "The Seed of the Sun" (carefully) and to catch up on past readings. 

Student Pre-Survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HJPJ958

Welcome Through the Looking Glass!!!

I am looking forward to getting to know you all!