Daily+Writing

= = These writing assignments are done in-class on a pass/no pass basis. Topics cover reading material, homework or other relevant issues. Generally speaking, you have 10-15 minutes to complete these in-class writings. Please come to class with pen and paper, prepared to write. These assignments will not be announced ahead of time and will be administered either at the beginning or the close of class. If you don't turn the work in, you won't get credit for being in class that day.

= =

=Daily Writing Assignments for Spring Semester, 2018 = In-class writing, generally taken from homework assignments.

=Thursday, March 22, 2018 =  Your last writing on media and establishing truth.
 * 1) Explain what you've done (and intend to do in the future) to establish your sense of what's true and what isn't in the news that you consume.
 * 2) Has paying attention to the media and national news changed your attitude about a) the media; b) the world you live in; c) your hopes for the future. Please explain you answers.


 * 1) ===List five stories that you've noticed on the news over the past week, explain with a line or two. ===
 * 2) ===Pick two of those stories and explain in further detail, a couple of paragraphs, please. ===
 * 3) ===Explain why you chose those particular news stories. ===
 * 4) ===Where do you stand concerning them—that is, how true do you think the reporting is and how did you come to that conclusion? Be as specific as you can. ===

=Thursday, February 8, 2018 = 1) The video on perception talked about mirror neurons. I also mentioned the idea in class last week when I told you about the little girl who seemed to learn to walk by watching a little boy struggling with it physically. What do you remember from the video about mirror neurons? Why do you suppose our brains evolved to provide a similar sense of reality from watching as participating? Can you think of any application in your own life? Have you ever experienced this kind of "mirroring" ? Explain what happens.

 2) Write about anything else in the video that caught your attention, explain why it was interesting to you.

=Thursday, February 1, 2018 = ====<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">If attention is like currency, that is you only can pay attention to so much at any given time, how do you spend that currency? What do you pay attention to on a daily basis? What are the fundamental elements that take your attention? How good are you (really) at multi-tasking? Give some personal examples as you write this, memories or events that demonstrate your theories about how you are. ====

=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017 = <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut
 * 1) <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">List 5 bullet points for the moral issues the story brings to mind. For example, the nature of competition might be one. Make sure your point is clear.
 * 2) <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Write a summary of what the story is about.

=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Monday, Sept. 20, 2017 =

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">There's a lot happening in the world out there. How much attention to do you pay to the news? Where do you get most of your news? Do you visit any websites specifically for news?

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Write about one thing you noticed that happened or is happening, something you can explain with more than a headline. Write about five minutes. You can express your opinion about current events as well as explain what you know.

= = =<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Monday, August 28, 2017 =

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">1) According to the video we watched, attention is limited. Describe at least two different demonstrations the video used as evidence of limited attention. <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">2) According to the video, what is attention? <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">3) The video claims none of us are that good at multi-tasking. How good are you? Describe an event from your life that supports your position. <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">4) What is in-attentional blindness? <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">5) The video suggested two ways we might improve our attention, what were they? <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">6) What happened in the news this weekend?

=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Wednesday, August 23, 2017 =

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Tell me:
<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">1) What's important to you <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">2) Why you're in school at this time in your life <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">3) What you hope for in your future <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">4) What kind of obligations and challenges you face outside the classroom <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">5) How you like to spend free time <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">6) What you think of yourself as a student <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">7) Whether you like to write and how you would evaluate your writing ability <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">8) Anything else you want me to know

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Don't forget to put your name on your paper.

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, April 5, 2017 = <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**PART ONE:** <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">You have 5 minutes to write down 4 agreed upon principles that will guide your group process. This is the group's social contract. Design it and agree to it. You must each sign the document and turn it in at the end of the allotted time.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**PART TWO:** <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The group will then move on to solving a larger problem that demonstrates the purpose of a "social contract" in the society at large, and in a democracy in particular.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Should there be a social safety net? What should or shouldn't be part of it? Come to consensus by voting or some other method. Then construct a statement that answers the question about the existence of a social safety net and list 5 statements that support the group position. List any consenting views.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">PART THREE: **

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Write an individual evaluation of your group process. How well did your group stick to (live up to) the social contract you designed? How well designed (how functional) was your group contract?
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">PART FOUR: **

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, March 29, 2017 =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Create two columns on your paper, one for ethical considerations, one for legal. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Write the three top issues at play under each column.
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Teen suicide. **

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, March 8, 2017 = <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">In //The Book Thief://
 * 1) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Who is Max Vandenburg? What is his story?
 * 2) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is the history that led to his coming to Hans and Rosa Hubermann's house on Himmel Street?
 * 3) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What are some things that Max and Liesel have in common?

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, March 1, 2017 =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Who is the narrator in //The Book Thief//? Explain what you feel, think and understand about the narrator. Explain how it impacts your sense of the book and what it's going to be about. Do you like the narrator? Why or why not.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Are you a fox or a hedgehog?

 * 1) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> (7 points) Give yourself +7 points if you think you are a fox, and -7 if you think you are a hedgehog.
 * 2) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> (-3 points) Experts are more likely to exaggerate how complex the world is than to underestimate how complex it is.
 * 3) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(4 points) US politics are more cloudlike than clocklike (“cloudlike” meaning inherently unpredictable; “clocklike” meaning predictable if we have adequate knowledge).
 * 4) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(-5 points) The more common error in decision-making is to abandon good ideas too quickly, not to stick with bad ideas too long.
 * 5) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(-2 points) Having clear rules and order at work or school is essential for success.
 * 6) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(5 points) Even after I have made up my mind about something, I am always willing to consider a different opinion.
 * 7) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(-6 points) I dislike questions that can be answered in many different ways.
 * 8) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(-5 points) I usually make important decisions quickly and confidently.
 * 9) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(5 points) When considering most conflicts, I can usually see how both sides could be right.
 * 10) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(-3 points) It is annoying to listen to someone who cannot seem to make up their mind.
 * 11) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(4 points) I prefer interacting with people whose opinions are different from my own.
 * 12) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">(1 point) When trying to solve a problem, I often see so many options that it is confusing.


 * question || -7  ||  -6  ||  -5  ||  -4  ||  -3  ||  -2  ||  -1  ||  0  ||  +1  ||  +2  ||  +3  ||  +4  ||  +5  ||  +6  ||  +7  || total ||
 * 1 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 7 ||   ||
 * 2 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 3 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 3 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 4 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 4 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 5 ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 5 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || -2 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 6 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 2 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 7 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 6 ||   ||   ||
 * 8 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 0 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 9 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 2 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 10 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || -1 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 11 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 1 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * 12 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || 0 ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   ||
 * Totals ||   ||   ||   ||   ||   || -2 || -1 || 0 || 1 || 4 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7 || 17 ||

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">1-50 is fox/ -1 to -50 is hedgehog
= =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">PHILOSOPHY 220

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Challenges of Philosophical Writing —Harvard Writing Center
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">"The aim of the assignments in your philosophy classes <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">is to get you //doing philosophy//. But what is philosophy, <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">and how is it to be done? The answer is complicated. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Philosophers are often motivated by one or more of what <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">we might call the “Big Questions,” such as: How should <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">we live? Is there free will? How do we know anything? <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">or, What is truth? While philosophers do not agree among <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">themselves on either the range of proper philosophical <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">questions or the proper methods of answering them, they <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">do agree that merely expressing one’s personal opinions <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">on controversial topics like these is not doing philosophy. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Rather, philosophers insist on the method of first attaining <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">clarity about the exact question being asked, and then <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">providing answers supported by clear, logically structured <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">arguments."

= = = = = = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Due Monday, October 10, 2016 =


 * 1) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Summarize pages 94-99 from your text book (or if you prefer, outline it in the Standard Form using premises and conclusions).
 * 2) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Find one example in the media (it can be from your topic or a one off about something else). Analyze the language by marking words, phrases and/or whole sentences. Talk about definitions, implied meanings, hidden and ambiguous assumptions. Focus only on the language.
 * 3) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">3. List your topic for your media portfolio.

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, September 7, 2016 = <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**1)** Pick any one scene from the documentary on paying attention, describe it and explain why you found it worth writing about. What did it teach you?

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**2)** How good are you at paying attention to the world around you? What's your evidence for the answer you're providing (about yourself).

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**3)** What do you pay the most attention to in your life? Why?

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Daily Writing Assignments for Spring Semester, 2016 = <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">In-class writing, generally taken from homework assignments.

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, April 18, 2016 = <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">
 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">PART I: **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Given the fact that marijuana may become legal in California after the November election, imagine you've been invited to serve on a committee establishing campus policy concerning its use. Should there be restrictions on Mendocino's campus? Should teachers be allowed (for example) to come to class stoned? Should students? Should there be areas on campus where smoking is allowed? (Smoke zones). Should childcare workers be restricted? What about security personnel? What about athletes and coaches? What about medical marijuana? Should there be an age limit? There are undoubtedly a host of other questions to ask and answer. You may conclude that marijuana should not be allowed on campus at all. Design a "social contract" for students, faculty, administration and staff. Define the consequences of violating that contract. Make sure your policy is in line with the proposed state law.

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">PART II: How should the state law read?
=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday March 21 =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Write a paragraph defending your position on the topic you've chosen. Then write a paragraph refuting the position you just defended. Point out the reasons (premises) for first one side and then the other. Include a sentence or two with each premise, explaining it. In the end, note your position and explain why you hold to it even in the face of those elements that support the other side.

= = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday March 14, 2016 = ====<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Summarize the article from your textbook, pgs. 108-110 (//Telling the Brutal Truth//). As a group, answer the questions at the end of the article. You'll have to turn in the summary and the answers. All names should be on the papers you turn in. Assign one person to keep the group on track and ask those who aren't participating to do so. Assign one person to write up the answers and a different person to write up the summary. Assign one person to report to the class on your answers to the questions. ====

**<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">NOTE THE FOLLOWING: **

 * 1) **<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">MAKE SURE EVERYONE READS THE ARTICLE EITHER BY READING IT OUT LOUD OR SHARING BOOKS. **
 * 2) **<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">ALL THE ANSWERS AND THE SUMMARY ARE MEANT TO BE ARRIVED AT THROUGH GROUP DISCUSSION. IT IS NOT OKAY FOR THE PEOPLE WRITING THINGS DOWN TO DO THE WORK ON THEIR OWN. **

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday March 2, 2016 =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Your text book explains how to write a summary on page 65-66. This is open book, you can refer to your text as much as you want. Your task is to summarize the material we read for today, between page 57-70. You do not need to comment on any of the exercises, just the text that is providing information. If you don't have your textbook, find someone who will share theirs with you.

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">GROUP WORK: =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Each person in the group must contribute to the process. (No one gets to opt out.)
====<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Task one person with the job of making sure everyone speaks up and that you stay focused on the work. The work is to create a Standard Form and Summary for the article. Each must be a consensus answer that everyone has helped create and agreed to. Talk over the article until you agree on the answers. ====

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">**Choose a different person to record the following:**
 * 1) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Build a Standard Form presentation of the news article. It must have three premises and a conclusion. (See pages 51-54 of your text for help.)
 * 2) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Create a summary of the article. It must be 60-75 words in length. (See pages 65-66 of your text for help.)


 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The last person (or persons) will present the material to the class. If there are four people in your group, one person presents the Standard Form, the other person presents the Summary. **


 * <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 17.6px;">Make sure everyone's name is on the final paper that you turn in! **

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday February 1, 2016 = <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> = =
 * 1) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">How does your text book explain what a World View is? (Your homework for today covered this.)
 * 2) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Why do you think your text introduces the concept of World View? What is its significance?
 * 3) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Explain the cartoon below? What do you think the word "paradigm" means? How might it be connected to the idea of World View?

= = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, January 27, 2016 = ====<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Your textbook says "writing is thinking made visible." What do you think that means? Do you agree or disagree? Does writing have impact on your thinking? Explain. ====

= = == = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, October 26, 2015 = ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Thought experiment for Ethics: Imagine you're a worker and you see a runaway subway train barreling down the track. There are five workers ahead that will be hit unless you immediately divert the train to another track where there's only one worker. What do you do?** ===

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Version two: you're a worker on the track and if you push the big fat guy who's with you in front of the train, it will save the five guys down the track. What do you do?** ===

Three Questions:

 * 1) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**What's the difference between these two situations?** ===
 * 2) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Is inaction an option? Why or why not?** ===
 * 3) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Do things change if the person working alone is family?**

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, October 12, 2025 = = = = =
 * 1) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Read article with pen in hand. Underline main and important points. ==
 * 2) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Turn the information into the "Standard Form," (premises and conclusion). This is explained on page 53-57 in your text. ==
 * 3) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Write a summary of the article. (About a paragraph.) This is explained on page 65-66 in your text. ==
 * 4) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Do you agree or disagree? Why? ==

= =

= = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, October 5, 2025 = =<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Your reading (pg 94-99) discussed the significance of words and their changing definitions. Explain in your own words what the text was trying to communicate. Give at least one example from your reading. = = =

= = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, September 30, 2015 =

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Working with media: Seven Steps. =
 * 1) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Find the Facts ==
 * 2) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Find the Opinions ==
 * 3) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Find the Arguments ==
 * 4) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Find Any Hidden Assumptions ==
 * 5) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is the ultimate (main) message of the article ==
 * 6) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Where do you stand on the subject ==
 * 7) ==<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Did the article persuade you? Why or Why not? ==

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, September 16, 2015 = <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Describe how you go about writing a paper for any class. What is your process? Where do you start? Is it hard for you or easy? Why? What do you think makes it hard or easy (or somewhere in between). Do you think in terms of metaphors or analogies or storytelling or detail or description? How good of a writer do you think you are.?

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, September 2, 2015 =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">The video, Test Your Brain, (today's homework) starts with a card trick. What is it and how does it work? Did it fool you or did you succeed in seeing what was going on? Tell me one other thing about the video.

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, August 31, 2015 = = =
 * 1) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Inside the outer box, list the dominant values that you see expressed in your culture as a whole. Include as part of your cultural picture any religious training you may have received, and, if appropriate, the influence of your ethnic community.
 * 2) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 14px;">Think about the significant personal experiences of your life, and how they have shaped your values, attitudes and beliefs. Consider the influence of your parents, siblings, and close friends; consider also major life events, like traveling or living overseas, or suffering a significant illness or loss. Write these personal values and beliefs, and the experiences that helped shape them, inside in the smaller box surrounding your “head.”

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, August 26, 2015 =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Using the information you got from your homework, describe critical thinking and explain why it's important. Give an example of a situation when you either used critical thinking (or didn't, but should have) and describe why critical thinking served (or would have served) the situation.

= = = = = =

= = = = = = = =

=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, April 8, 2015 = <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Are there things you know to be true? <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What are they and how do you know them? <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">How do you learn new things? <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is freedom an illusion? Why or why not?

=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, March 11, 2015 = =<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Tell me any one thing that you learned from the video that was assigned for today's homework. =

=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">February 25, 2015 = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">How much do you pay attention to the world and what is happening? Do you watch or listen to or read the news? How often? Why or why not? That is why do you pay attention, or if you don't, why not? =

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, February 23, 2015 = =<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Identifying images through questions. = <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The picture you're trying to identify might be a photograph, a cartoon or a piece of art. It might be of nature, of machines and technology, of people or some object. It might have action in it or be posed (still). These are things you want to find out. It may be contemporary or historical. It may be real or fantasy. Think of the broad categories that will help you focus in on the image and give you the most information. Those are the questions to ask first.

<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The person looking at the image can ONLY answer (no clues, no extra chatter):

 * ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Yes. ===
 * ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">No. ===
 * ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I don’t know. ===
 * ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">That’s irrelevant. ===
 * ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">There’s more. (If they guessed part, but not all of the picture.) ===

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday Feb 4, 2015 = ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What was your homework assignment? Describe the PBS video presentation you were asked to watch. What information did you find the most interesting in the program? If you didn't watch it, tell me why (better have a good excuse). ===

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Extra Credit: What else was on the wiki page assigned as homework for today? Describe the content of any of the other videos or text on the page. ===

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, February 2, 2015 = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">WORLDVIEW: =


 * 1) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Are issues usually black and white for you or do you see them as having gray areas? For example, is lying to a friend always wrong? Are some lies less bad because they are intended to prevent your friend from feeling bad about something or being disillusioned? ===
 * 2) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Do you prefer things to be unchanging and stable? Do you like to do things the same traditional way every time? In contrast, do you prefer to do things in new ways, and do you enjoy having a changing and unpredictable life? ===
 * 3) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Do you like to take unnecessary personal physical risks or not? For example, do you enjoy rock climbing, surfing big waves, or other sports that inherently involve a high risk for your safety? At which end of this scale are you the happiest? Does security mean boredom for you or comfort? ===
 * 4) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Do you prefer competition or cooperation? For example, do you like games and sports in which there are clear winners and losers or do you prefer non-competitive activities, like art or making music, in which winning is not the goal? ===

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, January 26, 2015 =
 * 1) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Detail your understanding of critical thinking.
 * 2) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What are some of the elements that define critical thinking, analysis, for example.
 * 3) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What is analysis?
 * 4) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What is the purpose of thinking critically?
 * 5) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">Do you agree that most people don't think that much of the time, but rather react? Explain your answer.
 * 6) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">What role do you think emotion should play in thinking?
 * 7) <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 120%;">How good are you at thinking? Why? What is your evidence?

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, November 5, 2014 =

===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Many questions are easy to understand but difficult to answer. Thinking about them systematically and clearly may improve our critical thinking. Here are a few to ponder. ===


 * 1) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Why is there something rather than nothing? ===
 * 2) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Does every event have a cause? ===
 * 3) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is time? Is time travel possible? ===
 * 4) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is a person? Is it the mind, or the body? ===
 * 5) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is consciousness? ===
 * 6) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is an emotion? Are emotions irrational? ===
 * 7) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is love just a feeling? ===
 * 8) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Does freewill really exist? ===
 * 9) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Can we be certain of anything? ===
 * 10) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Can there be two different theories of the world, both true and complete? ===
 * 11) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is the meaning of life? ===
 * 12) ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Is happiness the most important purpose in life? ===

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">(Clips)
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">1. [|Immigration] <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">2. [|Climate Change Protest]

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Observation Questions:

 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">What kinds of questions generated the most interesting and useful discussion?
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">What other questions might have been asked?
 * <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">What kinds of interventions and approaches to discussion took the debate forward most constructively?

= =

=<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">MONDAY, AUGUST 25. IN CLASS WRITING = =<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">ANSWER EITHER 1 OR 2. =

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">1) The video, Digital Nation, talked about some of the ways technology is changing how the military operates. Talk about those changes and what questions they bring up. Where do you stand on these issues? ===

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">2) Digital Nation also discussed the way technology is changing students and young people. Again, what are the changes the video discussed and what is the impact on most students? Are you impacted by technology? How? ===

===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Extra Credit:** The video made a specific reference to how our use of technology has changed the way many students write essays. Explain what that is and whether you are one of the many students who write this way. ===

=Wednesday, April 2, 2014= Make a list of five possible principles/values/ethical constructs that could guide the human race. Is it possible for these constructs to be applied across the entire planet? Why or why not? Defend one of your ideas. Shoot down one of your ideas. Are human beings basically good (and corrupted by civilization) or basically "bad" as in the fallen Adam? How does your idea of basic human behavior change the way you think about over-arching ethical constructs?

=<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, March 31, 2014 = ===<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;"> Plato’s goal was to prove that justice is worthwhile independent of the advantages it confers, do you think he is correct in this belief? What advantages does justice confer? What disadvantages? ===

<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">In the Allegory of the Cave what is the symbolic meaning of the following:

 * 1) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The shackles, bonds and fetters
 * 2) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The shadows
 * 3) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The fire
 * 4) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The artifacts held up to make the shadows
 * 5) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The cave
 * 6) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The world outside the cave
 * 7) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The light above (the sun)
 * 8) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Persons who view the shadows (the prisoners)
 * 9) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Person who leaves the cave (the freed prisoner)
 * 10) <span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Person who returns to the cave

<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Wednesday, March 19
==<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">1) How do you decide what is right or wrong? What are the standards—are there standards—by which you determine what is the right thing to do in any given situation? ==

<span style="color: #000070; font-family: Georgia,serif;">2) Does this standard change based on the situation or is it absolute and consistent?
=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, February 3, 2014 =

<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Health/Physical Orientation towards the world
=<span style="color: #800000; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Monday, January 27, 2014 =

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Part I:
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">The Home page attempted to give a lot of defining information about critical thinking. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">__**Answer**__ of the following question in short paragraph answers (make sure you say enough to make your point).
 * 1) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Define Critical Thinking. ===

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">**Answer Three (3)** of the following questions in short paragraph answers (make sure you say enough to make your point).
 * 1) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is a premise and/or a claim? ===
 * 2) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What constitutes good evidence? ===
 * 3) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is a conclusion? ===
 * 4) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What is reason, and what is its value? ===
 * 5) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Why is Critical Thinking important? ===
 * 6) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Why doesn't "black and white" thinking work? ===

**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Part II: **
<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">On the Modern Education page both Steve Jobs and JK Rowling delivered commencement speeches to graduating students at Stanford and Harvard. They spoke about a range of things, one of which stood out because they both addressed it. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Answer all of the following:
 * 1) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Who is Steve Jobs? Name one thing that you learned about him. ===
 * 2) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Who is JK Rowling? Name one thing that you learned about her. ===
 * 3) ===<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">What was the common theme they both addressed? What did they each say about it? ===

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Link to English 200 Daily Writing