Organizing Lit Circles

Today we will begin the CRM Lit Circles. This is a group driven unit, so we will provide an outline of possible task, but groups will control how they execute them. Please consider the following today:

1. Review Lit Circled Descriptor
2. Decide on a reading schedule
3. Who will facilitate the discussions?
4. How will your track group member's performance?
5. What days will you work on your final assessment?
6. When will you give feedback on final assessment?

Homework: This depends on your group.

Concert Prep

1. How to footnote:

• Footnoting overview 
• Find footnoting and bibliography guidelines here: Purdue OWL

2. Overview of the Student/Anti-War Movement

• Listen to the music of Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix
• Read an overview of the anti-war movement in the United States
• Generate questions for tomorrow's Q&A panel 
• members:
• Eileen Egan, USM - National overview of anti-war
• John Newton, Me AFL-CIO - Anti-war and SDS at UMO
• Al Leighton, One Longfellow Square - Bangor Student Collective/Maine Student Union

3. Book Descriptor (LCD) & Book Group List (BG)

Writing Workshop, Day 6: Peer Review & Wrap Up

1. Addressing the elephant:

We hear the response that a few of you are having that the material we are sharing with you to explore the current state of civil rights in our country may represent a particular "side." It is wise of you to recognize that news outlets represent the different political stances  - this is because they all need to capture a particular market for the advertisers whose ad buys are a large part of their financial viability. So the way events are described and the types of events that are covered can be skewed by the editors to attract the customers they are targeting (Democrat, Republican, Liberal, Conservative, East Coast West Coast -- you get the idea). 

However, this does not change the facts. It is wise to be wary of who is telling the story but in the case of our class and this assignment what we would like you to focus on are the events themselves. You may need to look at multiple sources to clarify what happened but we are not asking you to discuss the biases of different media outlets (although that could be a great class!).  

Your job is to focus on what happened and what you believe these events say about the state of civil rights in our country.

2. How to footnote:

• Footnoting overview 
• Find footnoting and bibliography guidelines here: Purdue OWL

2. Peer review:

• Step 1: Thesis check
• Use our Thesis Guide HERE and UNC's Writing Center Guide HERE.
• Step 2: Paragraph check
• Does every paragraph (and topic sentence) in the paper support the thesis or central idea?
• Does every paragraph have a clear topic sentence (use this topic sentence guide from Duke)
• Are the paragraphs structured using the "inverse pyramid" model:
• Step 3: Editing & Proofreading
• Use our Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Guide
• Use our list of Editing and Proofreading Abbreviations

3. Write!  

• If you need to access your sources, go HERE. 

Extension:

Article on racist incident in Old Port and on racism in Maine

Writing Workshop, Day 5: Peer Review

1. Review of sample essay. (Find sample on p. 70 of THIS PDF)
2. Peer review:

• Step 1: Thesis check
• Use our Thesis Guide HERE and UNC's Writing Center Guide HERE.
• Step 2: Paragraph check
• Does every paragraph (and topic sentence) in the paper support the thesis or central idea?
• Does every paragraph have a clear topic sentence (use this topic sentence guide from Duke)
• Are the paragraphs structured using the "inverse pyramid" model:
• Step 3: Editing & Proofreading
• Use our Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Guide
• Use our list of Editing and Proofreading Abbreviations

3. Write!  

• If you need to access your sources, go HERE. 

Extension:

Article on racist incident in Old Port and on racism in Maine

Writing Workshop, Day 4: Finish First Draft

PLEASE NOTE: 10B and 10C must add the following item under "Essay must include...":

"5. A bibliography and footnotes in Chicago format."

Rough Draft is due tomorrow! Final draft is due Thursday morning (before class)!
1. Select your "current issue" and review sources:

"Current Issue" Sources

• Sources for "General Racism in American Society"
• Sources for "Voting Rights & Disenfranchisement"
• Sources for "Law Enforcement & the Criminal Justice System"

Historical Sources

Primary Sources: 

• President Obama's Selma Speech (you can read the transcript HERE)
• Speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X 
• Description of Birmingham, Alabama from The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"  (Audio)

Eyes on the Prize Episodes:

• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 1: Awakenings, 1954-56 (Murder of Emmett Till, Montgomery Bus Boycotts)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 2: Fighting Back, 1957-1962 (Fighting School Segregation)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 3: Ain't Scared of Your Jails, 1960-1961 (Sit-Ins & Freedom Rides)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 5: Mississippi, 1962-64 (Freedom Summer, SNCC, Voter Registration)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 6: Bridge to Freedom, 1965 (Voter Registration in Selma, Voting Rights Act of 1965)

Chapters from "Voices of Freedom":

• Chapter 2: Montgomery Bus Boycotts
• Chapter 3: Little Rock Crisis
• Chapter 4: Student Sit-ins in Nashville
• Chapter 5: Freedom Rides

2. Finalize your thesis statement and pair up for a peer critique using the following resources: our Thesis Guide HERE and UNC's Writing Center Guide HERE.

3. Identify your three supporting points and make sure they connect directly to your thesis statement.

4. Find at least one piece of evidence to support each of your three points.

5. Write! 

6. If you have already completed a rough draft of your essay, please pair up for a peer critique using the following materials:

• Revising, Editing, and Proofreading Guide
• Thesis Statement Guide
• Editing and Proofreading Abbreviations
• Writing rubric
• The "paragraph pyramid":

Writing Workshop, Day 3: Thesis Statements

PLEASE NOTE: 10B and 10C must add the following item under "Essay must include...":

"5. A bibliography and footnotes in Chicago format."


1. Select a "current issue" and review sources.

"Current Issue" Sources

• Sources for "General Racism in American Society"
• Sources for "Voting Rights & Disenfranchisement"
• Sources for "Law Enforcement & the Criminal Justice System"

Historical Sources

Primary Sources: 

• President Obama's Selma Speech (you can read the transcript HERE)
• Speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X 
• Description of Birmingham, Alabama from The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"  (Audio)

Eyes on the Prize Episodes:

• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 1: Awakenings, 1954-56 (Murder of Emmett Till, Montgomery Bus Boycotts)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 2: Fighting Back, 1957-1962 (Fighting School Segregation)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 3: Ain't Scared of Your Jails, 1960-1961 (Sit-Ins & Freedom Rides)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 5: Mississippi, 1962-64 (Freedom Summer, SNCC, Voter Registration)
• Eyes on the Prize, Episode 6: Bridge to Freedom, 1965 (Voter Registration in Selma, Voting Rights Act of 1965)

Chapters from "Voices of Freedom":

• Chapter 2: Montgomery Bus Boycotts
• Chapter 3: Little Rock Crisis
• Chapter 4: Student Sit-ins in Nashville
• Chapter 5: Freedom Rides

2. Write a "first draft" thesis statement (see our Thesis Guide HERE and UNC's Writing Center Guide HERE).

3. If there is time, identify your three supporting points.

Writing Workshop, Day 2: Thesis Statements and Outlines

1. Share out writing goals
2. Review final version of Essay Prompt (in your gmail inbox)
3. Select a "current issue" and review class discussion sources.

• Sources for "General Racism in American Society"
• Sources for "Voting Rights & Disenfranchisement"
• Sources for "Law Enforcement & the Criminal Justice System"

Other useful resources: 

• President Obama's Selma speech (with transcript) & full episodes of "Eyes on the Prize" 
• Speeches by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X 
• Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"
• Episode 2 of "Eyes on the Prize" and Chapters from Voices of Freedom

4. Write a "first draft" thesis statement (see our Thesis Guide HERE and UNC's Writing Center Guide HERE).
5. If there is time, identify your three supporting points.