Inclass/Typed Questions
Monday 1/23 - For this WED class 1/25 when we read our novel DCA - pages 53-94, your first TEQ will be: Present a 1-page portrait of ANY CHARACTER, EITHER one of the two principals (= Fr. Joseph and Bishop Latour) OR one of the secondary figures, by composing a personality-sketch of your selected character as we encounter him or her in the assigned pages for this Wednesday. The secondary characters are of interest to us as they interact with Fr. Joseph or Bishop Latour. We learn quite a lot about them - their values, their attitudes, their life-experiences - through their conversations with and their behavior toward our 2 main characters. The secondary characters include the following: Manuel Lujon, Magdalena Valdez (with her "husband" Buck Scales), Christopher "Kit" Carson, Padre Gallegos, Padre Jesus de Baca, and Jacinto.
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Friday 2/3 - Greetings, Folks - The TEQ #2 due this Monday 2/6 - you bring it to class like the first time - will focus on the assigned pages from our Marcus Aurelius book STMA pp.34-top53. Here is the very open-ended topic, totally subjective/personal, hence no right or wrong answer: As you read these pages in which Mark Forstater presents the Greek philosophy called Stoicism that Marcus the Roman believed in and practiced, ask yourself if there is an idea/concept/theme/issue that grabs you, as a 21st-century person, in a meaningful or intriguing or even challenging way. In your 1-page typed Essay #2, state WHAT that might be and explain WHY you chose it (= why you were interested in that particular idea/theme/concept/issue). We will go around the classroom and thus hear from everyone, which should yield quite a variety of reflections/experiences. Thanks, in advance, for making Monday's class a fruitful conversational discussion. [ I trust attendance will be better than today's! :-( ] ... Go Steelers! The wheels of THE BUS (= Jerome Bettis) go round and round. :-)
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WEDNESDAY 2/8 - Greetings, Folks - Given my absence on MON 2/6 (illness) AND my future absence on MON 2/13 (out of town- Chicago), as I announced today to you, I request (should I say? require) that you attend class as usual on the 13th, coming to class prepared to DISCUSS, in seminar conversation-mode, your ideas which you wrote about for this past Monday's TEQ #2. And IF you happen to be a student who did not compose a TEQ for 2/6, then PLEASE do so for 2/13. What to write about? Choose ONE of Marcus's "meditations" from pages 93-top105 (as per our Syllabus - everyone should have those pages read also, needless to say) and EXPLAIN why you chose it: What interested/intrigued you about it and why? What idea/s grabbed you and why? Does it connect to your life-experiences & how so? ... My hope is that you all will share meaningful reflections based on either Mark Forstater's presentation of Stoic philosophy or Marcus Aurelius's own meditations on daily life from the Stoic perspective. ... A student, DeAnn, will collect them for me. Thank you for your participation. KCz
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FRIDAY 2/17 - As in our Syllabus, you are expected to bring to class on Monday 2/20 a TEQ similar to the last one: namely, pick a passage, or part of a longer passage, from the assigned pages of STMA for Monday (= pages mid105-117), PRESENT what Marcus Aurelius's idea/theme is, and then EXPLAIN WHY you chose it - that is, explain why it grabbed you/why it interested you/why it spoke meaningfully to you. And SPEAKING is what is also expected - that is, every student has the opportunity to share his/her thoughts in class, and so if you are not in class for a legitimate reason (and please be honest with yourself on this matter), I have decided that it is only fair to those students who do come to class that I NOT accept any TEQs from students with UNexcused absences. ... Today's Friday-attendance - regardless of the minus-degree temp- left much to be desired! :-( KCz
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