Day 17

Lesson Plan Day 17 English 102

 

1. Complete OR Essay 1
   
2. Essays back in +/- a week. Please don't ask until then.
   
3. The Governor, here, talking about what we're reading.
   
4. The front page of TODAY'S paper + others
   
5. Options for essay two.
   
6. Thomas Friedman and "The Other Side of Outsourcing"
   
7. Assign one of ten flatteners.
   

 

Reading Schedule for The World is Flat week one

 

Please have through the pages listed prior to class on that date.

 

January 31: first half of While I Was Sleeping

Feb 1^st: Second Half of While I Was Sleeping

    *Quiz

Feb 2^nd: One chapter from "Ten Forces that Flattened the Earth" assigned in groups.

Feb 4^th: The Great Sorting Out first half

Feb. 5^th: The Great Sorting Out second half

Feb. 6^th: America and Free Trade

Feb 8^th: The Untouchables

Feb 9^th: The Right Stuff

Feb 10^th: The Quiet Crisis

Feb 11^th: This is Not a Test

    *Quiz

Feb 12^th: How Companies Cope

Feb 13^th: The Unflat World

Feb 14^th: 11/9 versus 9/11

TWIF Options

Essay 2 Options

Essay 2:
English 102, Winter Quarter

Walls v. Webs—The Valley and the World

This essay is a research essay.
As such, it should begin with a question.

What effect will ________________have on the Yakima Valley in the new Flat World?

I would like you to look at one of the following issues from different angles.

Some issues will have two sides.
Some will have more.

1. Find what Friedman might say about them.
   

   Start with the Index, use Amazon search
   

2. Get a list of quotes and page numbers.
   
3. What are the other sides?
   
4. Where can we get information?
   
5. Who can we call in? When can we do it?
   

 

1. The essay should present the viewpoints of the various sides of the issue. If you're having trouble seeing the sides, try the Great Sorting Out. How are we affected as citizens of Yakima, USA, consumers, stockholders, workers, patriots.
   
2. The essay should attempt to represent these sides fairly and in a balanced way.
   
3. Balanced is a slippery word.
   
4. The essay should also, after the intro or less likely, as part of the conclusion, explain how Friedman/Flatism affects the issue.
   
5. YOUR thesis should be stated in the introduction, but should be written last.
   
6. Due Dates:
   
   1. List of quotes related to your topic from Friedman –2.15
      
   2. Outline—2.19
      
   3. Rough Draft—2.20
      
   4. Draft 2—2.26
      

Options:

Education

1. East Yakima Early Learning Yakima, ESD 105 and Gates
   
2. The DREAM Act
   
3. Washington Learns
   
4. YVTech building
   
5. The role of YVCC overall (new buildings/collaborations)
   
6. School Levy/bond requests
   
7. 
   

Walmart in West Valley

The future of Agriculture in Yakima.

1. H-2A Program
   
2. Food Safety
   
3. Aspargus and South American trade agreements
   
4. The Apple Juice Capital of the World? Selah?
   
5. Trademarks/patents and inventions—ROBOTS!
   
6. Zirkle Fruit class action law suit &/or H-2A
   
7. Thai workers and Global Horizons
   
8. Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)—must be narrowed
   

Immigration:

1. Minute Men Project/Grassroots Yakima
   
2. McCain-Kennedy Immigration bill
   

Propose a new business model based on what you have read.
What will be the new niche in Yakima? How can Yakima use the Flat World to our advantage? This can be positive, or can be negative.
(maybe we will need LOTS more jail beds, for example, or low income housing)

• Tourism as economic base in Yakima?
  
  • Wine?
    
  • Black Rock? (Just release report says $.16 for every $1)
    

Jail beds as an economic base in Yakima?

Zirkle Fruit

Sued by workers in H-2A program.

The Other Side of Outsourcing

Day 16

Lesson Plan Day 16 English 102

 

1. Hand in one copy of essay.
   
2. Y/N O/R
   
3. Y= +5
   
4. N= -5
   
5. Y= Intro to thesis and conclusion
   
6. Essays returned +/- 1 week.
   
7. Please don't ask before then.
   

 

Reading Schedule for The World is Flat week one

 

Please have through the pages listed prior to class on that date.

 

January 31: first half of While I Was Sleeping

Feb 1^st: Second Half of While I Was Sleeping

    *Quiz

Feb 2^nd: One chapter from "Ten Forces that Flattened the Earth" assigned in groups.

Feb 4^th: The Great Sorting Out first half

Feb. 5^th: The Great Sorting Out second half

Feb. 6^th: America and Free Trade

Feb 8^th: The Untouchables

Feb 9^th: The Right Stuff

Feb 10^th: The Quiet Crisis

Feb 11^th: This is Not a Test

    *Quiz

Feb 12^th: How Companies Cope

Feb 13^th: The Unflat World

Feb 14^th: 11/9 versus 9/11

Day 15

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 15

1. SOTU?
   

2. Why are we hard on the working poor, but not so much on the Joads?
   

3. Four Parts to every quote
   

   1. Signal phrase (As Ehrenreich notes, "alsdkfja;lsdj")
      

   2. The quote, set off in quotation marks.
      

      1. Punctuation goes outside/inside.
         

      2. Parenthetical citation. (Ehrenreich 53).
         

         1. No pg. pp. etc.
            

         2. Period goes at very end.
            

      3. Make use of the quote by explaining how it fits the topic of the paragraph, or the overall thesis. Period goes at the end of the cite.
         

1. A couple of tricky bits
   

   1. If you are taking words out of a single sentence, use …
      

   2. If you are taking words out between sentences, use ….
      

   3. If you need to include a word not in the original quote, use brackets [ ]
      

   4. If you are quoting someone else, who is quoted someplace else, use "qtd. in"
      

   5. Do not use … a the beginning of end of quotes (considered redundant).
      

   6. If the work has two or three authors, they must be named in either the () or the signal phrase. More than three use et. al.
      

   7. When the author is unknown, use the title of the article. You may abbreviate the title.
      

   8. When the page numbers are unknown, use only the author's name if there is one.
      

2. What to avoid:
   

   1. Quotes that just lay there.
      

   2. Dropped quotes.
      

   3. Not using quotation marks correctly.
      

   4. Not quoting accurately.
      

3. Works cited, see link.
   MLA Practice exercises
   One Thesis Statements (MLA 1-1)
   Two Avoiding Plagiarism (MLA 2-1)
   Three Integrating Sources (MLA 3-1)

January 30: Draft Two Due. Bring two copies

Peer Review Review

Name:____________________________

 

Names of your reviewers:_________________________

 

Peer Review Questions:

 

1. List three changes suggested by your peers
   

 

1. Which of these changes did you make?
   

 

1. What did they see as strengths and weaknesses that you didn't see on your own
   

 

1. What did they see that you already noticed
   

 

1. Write down one or two things you saw in someone else's essay that you liked and that you will try to copy in your essay.
   

 

1. What else do you need to do to make this the best paper possible?
   

Day 14

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 15

1. State of Union, economics

2. Faculty Lecture: January 29th 7pm G-A 119.

3. Print out comments on blog for BP.

4. What about social services?

5. What about homeless count?

6. What about 211?

7. Complete Peer Review Review.
   

8. A story about plagiarism.
   

9. MLA Paper Format

10. Integrating sources.
    

    1. Four Parts to every quote
       

       1. Signal phrase (As Ehrenreich notes, "alsdkfja;lsdj")
          

       2. The quote, set off in quotation marks.
          

          1. Punctuation goes outside/inside.
             

          2. Parenthetical citation. (Ehrenreich 53).
             

             1. No pg. pp. etc.
                

             2. Period goes at very end.
                

          3. Make use of the quote by explaining how it fits the topic of the paragraph, or the overall thesis. Period goes at the end of the cite.
             

11. A couple of tricky bits
    

    1. If you are taking words out of a single sentence, use …
       

    2. If you are taking words out between sentences, use ….
       

    3. If you need to include a word not in the original quote, use brackets [ ]
       

    4. If you are quoting someone else, who is quoted someplace else, use "qtd. in"
       

    5. Do not use … a the beginning of end of quotes (considered redundant).
       

    6. If the work has two or three authors, they must be named in either the () or the signal phrase. More than three use et. al.
       

    7. When the author is unknown, use the title of the article. You may abbreviate the title.
       

    8. When the page numbers are unknown, use only the author's name if there is one.
       

12. What to avoid:
    

    1. Quotes that just lay there.
       

    2. Dropped quotes.
       

    3. Not using quotation marks correctly.
       

    4. Not quoting accurately.
       

13. Works cited, see link.
    

14. MLA Practice exercises
    

    1. One Thesis Statements (MLA 1-1)
       

    2. Two Avoiding Plagiarism (MLA 2-1)
       

    3. Three Integrating Sources (MLA 3-1)
       

January 30: Draft Two Due. Bring two copies

We'll be reading the While I Was Sleeping in TWIF first.

Day 13

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 13

1. Hand in Take Home Peer Review (930)
   

2. Hand Back Peer Reviews
   

3. AEW notices
   

4. Living Wage Calculator
   

5. Five Things We Can Do
   

6. Why are we so hard on the grandchildren of the Joads?
   

   1. Why YVCC (or community colleges in general) are an interesting place to ask this question.
      

7. Complete Peer Review.
   

8. Homework: Get it together. The rough drafts looked ugly. You've had nearly three weeks. Stop screwing around and do it today, tomorrow and Sunday.
   

January 28^th: LAB: How to integrate sources. How to do a Works Cited. Online Exercises.

This is a gift—

January 30: Draft Two Due. Bring two copies.

 

Day 12

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 12

1. The three rules of Peer Editing
   
   1. Be Kind
      
   2. Be Honest
      
   3. Have thick skin
      

 

1. Hand out copies (apologize, if needed, give permission to shred)
   
   1. Someone other than the writer reads it aloud.
      
   2. Mark it as you go.
      
   3. Fill in form.
      
   4. Discuss form with writer
      
   5. Writer asks questions.
      
   6. Sample?
      

 

1. Homework: Complete peer editing forms for tomorrow. (13 points) Hand them in to box in front of my office.
   
   1. If you are in 830 class, please pick them up and have them ready to go by Friday when you get to class.
      

Final Drafts due in a week (bring two copies)

Day 11

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 11

1. Headlines today
   
2. Outlines
   
   1. Intro
      
      1. Hook
         
      2. Background
         
      3. Thesis and roadmap.
         
   2. Body paragraphs
      
      1. Best point last
         
      2. Second best first
         
      3. Counter Argument
         
3. Conclusion
   
   1. Reinforce
      
   2. Keep it short
      
4. On the board
   
   1. Thesis and primary support (the ideas only)
      
5. How's yours look?
   
6. Thesis and Hook powerpoint
   
7. Peer Editing Crash Course
   
   1. The Two Rules of Peer Editing
      
      1. Be Kind
         
      2. Be Honest
         
      3. Handout copies.
         
      4. Someone other than the writer reads it aloud.
         
      5. Mark it as you go.
         
      6. Fill in form.
         
      7. Discuss form with writer
         
      8. Writer asks questions.
         
      9. Sample?
         
8. Rough Drafts due Tomorrow (bring four copies)
   

Final Drafts due in a week (bring two copies)

Good Jobs

January 19, 2008

Op-Ed Columnist

Good Jobs Are Where the Money Is

By BOB HERBERT

I think of the people running this country as the mad-dashers, a largely confused and inconsistent group lurching ineffectively from one enormous problem to another.

They've made a hash of a war that never should have been launched. They can't find bin Laden. They've been shocked by the subprime debacle. They're lost in a maze on health care.

Now, like children who have eaten too much sugar, they are frantically trying to figure out how to put a few dollars into the hands of working people to stimulate an enfeebled economy.

They should stop, take a deep breath and acknowledge the obvious: the way to put money into the hands of working people is to make sure they have access to good jobs at good wages. That has long been known, but it hasn't been the policy in this country for many years.

Big business and the federal government have worked hand in hand to squeeze the daylights out of working people, stripping them (in an era of downsizing and globalization) of much of their bargaining power while ferociously pursuing fiscal policies that radically favored the privileged few.

My colleague at The Times, David Cay Johnston, took a look at income patterns in the U.S. over the past few decades in his new book, "Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You With the Bill)."

From 1980 to 2005 the national economy, adjusted for inflation, more than doubled. (Because of population growth, the actual increase per capita was about 66 percent.) But the average income for the vast majority of Americans actually declined during that period. The standard of living for the average family has improved not because incomes have grown, but because women have gone into the workplace in droves.

The peak income year for the bottom 90 percent of Americans was way back in 1973 — when the average income per taxpayer (adjusted for inflation) was $33,001. That is nearly $4,000 higher than the average in 2005.

It's incredible but true: 90 percent of the population missed out on the income gains during that long period.

Mr. Johnston does not mince words: "The pattern here is clear. The rich are getting fabulously richer, the vast majority are somewhat worse off, and the bottom half — for all practical purposes, the poor — are being savaged by our current economic policies."

His words are echoed in a proposed stimulus plan currently offered by the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. (The plan is available on its Web site, epi.org.) Stressing that any stimulus package should be "fair," the authors of the institute's proposal wrote:

"The distribution of wages, income and wealth in the United States has become vastly more unequal over the last 30 years. In fact, this country has a more unequal distribution of income than any other advanced country."

Economic alarm bells have been ringing in the U.S. for some time. There was no sense of urgency as long as those in the lower ranks were sinking in the mortgage muck and the middle class was raiding the piggy bank otherwise known as home equity.

But now that the privileged few are threatened (Merrill Lynch took a $9.8 billion fourth-quarter hit, and the stock market has spent the first part of the year behaving like an Olympic diving champion), it's suddenly time to take action.

There is no question that some kind of stimulus package geared to the needs of ordinary Americans is in order. But that won't begin to solve the fundamental problem.

Good jobs at good wages — lots of them, growing like spring flowers in an endlessly fertile field — is the absolutely essential basis for a thriving American economy and a broad-based rise in standards of living.

Forget all the CNBC chatter about Fed policy and bargain stocks. For ordinary Americans, jobs are the be-all and end-all. And an America awash in new jobs will require a political environment that respects and rewards work and aggressively pursues creative policies designed to radically expand employment.

I'd start with a broad program to rebuild the American infrastructure. This would have the dual benefit of putting large numbers of people to work and answering a crying need. The infrastructure is in sorry shape. New Orleans comes to mind, and the tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis.

The country that gave us the Marshall Plan to rebuild postwar Europe ought to be able, 60 years later, to reconstitute its own sagging infrastructure.

There are also untold numbers of jobs and myriad societal benefits to be reaped from a sustained, good-faith effort to achieve energy self-sufficiency. Think Manhattan Project.

The possibilities are limitless. We could create an entire generation of new jobs and build a bigger and fairer economy for the 21st century. If only we were serious.

Day 10

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 10

1. A few notes from yesterday. Where to look in Hacker.
2. This might help: Search N&D on Amazon
   
3. A sample essay.
   
4. Outlines due Tuesday
   
5. Rough Drafts Due Wednesday
   
6. Read "Fifteen Years on the Bottom Rung" Class Matters for Tuesday.
   
7. Evaluation Chapter
   
8. Youtube?
   

Outline the following, according to the EVALUATION CHAPTER, due Friday:

a. How did she do as a worker? (196)
b. How did she do at "life in general"? (196)
c. Why are the official poverty rates misleading? (200)
d. If productivity is increasing, why aren't wages? (202-3)

e. What keeps the workers from finding better jobs? Where is the friction? (205)
f. Explain the "vicious cycle" of labor costs described by the book. (212)
g. What makes the working poor invisible? (216)
h. List some of the complaints the middle and upper class have about the

working poor. (220)

i. Summarize the problems facing the working poor.

j. What are the solutions to these problems? (213-214; 221?)

k. What are the objections to these solutions? (214)
l. Why does Ehrenreich call the working poor the most philanthropic of all

social classes? (220)

Day 9

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 9

Homework: Finish the book. Evaluation chapter questions due.

1. Living Conditions and co-workers

2. The Vanilla

3. The Toppings

Balance

Logic

Emotion

Credibility

Eloquence

Pick the right words

Put them in the right order

Metaphor, analogy, suggestion
Paint a picture

Make it sing

The Rubric

The Basics

The Basics

Outlines

Intro paragraph—often written last
Hook
State background of the case
Lead naturally in to:
Thesis statement towards end (Arguable, Narrow, One-Three Sentences, changeable)

Body Paragraphs—

pick your best point and write that paragraph first then your next best until you get to your least persuasive point.

Topic sentence at the top.

Sandwich quotes
Signal phrases.
Evidence.
Connect/Cite the evidence.

One paragraph, at least should be devoted to making the case against your ideas and then “unmaking” them. Try, Some might argue that… but I argue that…

Conclusion
Keep it short.
Reinforce main point

Support and Opposition for Minimum Wages

Support Supporters of the minimum wage claim it has these effects: Increases the standard of living for the poorest and most vulnerable in society and raises average.[17] Creates incentive to work. (Contrast with welfare transfer payments.)[18] Does not have budget consequence on government. "Neither taxes nor public sector borrowing requirements rise." (Contrast with negative income taxes such as the EITC.)[18] Minimum wage is administratively simple; workers only need to report violations of wages less than minimum, minimizing a need for a large enforcement agency.[18] Stimulates consumption, by putting more money in the hands of low-income people who spend their entire paychecks.[17] Increases the work ethic of those who earn very little, as employers demand more return from the higher cost of hiring these employees.[17] Decreases the cost of government social welfare programs by increasing incomes for the lowest-paid.[17] Does not have a substantial effect on unemployment compared to most other economic factors [19], and so does not put any extra pressure on welfare systems. Makes it easier for students and others at the bottom of the pay scale to support themselves on a small number of hours, enabling them to train for higher wage positions.

Opposition Opponents of the minimum wage claim it has these effects: Hurts small business more than large business. [20][21] Lowers competitiveness[22] Reduces quantity demanded of workers. This may manifest itself through a reduction in the number of hours worked by individuals, or through a reduction in the number of jobs.[23][24] Reduces profit margins of business owners employing minimum wage workers, thus encouraging a move to businesses that do not employ low-skill workers.[citation needed] Businesses try to compensate for the decrease in profit by simply raising the prices of the goods being sold thus causing inflation and increasing the costs of goods and services produced. [25][26] Increases prices for customers of employers of minimum wage workers, which would pass through to the general price level,[27] which disproportionately affects the prices that poor people pay for goods and services.[28] Not an effective policy for transferring welfare to work.[29] Does not improve the situation of those in poverty. "Will have only negative effects on the distribution of economic justice. Minimum-wage legislation, by its very nature, benefits some at the expense of the least experienced, least productive, and poorest workers."[30] Is a limit on the freedom of both employers and employees. Minimum wage laws make it illegal for employers to pay workers less than the minimum wage. This also prevents workers from being made to provide labor or services for less than the minimum. For example, during the apartheid era in South Africa, white trade unions lobbied for the introduction of minimum wage laws so as to exclude black workers from the labor market. By preventing black workers from selling their labor for less than white workers, the black workers were prevented from competing for jobs held by whites.[31] Businesses spend less on training their employees.[28] Is less effective than the Earned Income Tax Credit at targeting the truly needy, and is more damaging to businesses.[28] Reduces economic growth by skewing factor-choice incentives away from the optimum choice.[32] Increase in offshoring[33] Fewer job options for low wage earners. [34] Encourages high school students to drop-out to become employed.[citation needed] Increase in underemployment.[35] Decreases human capital by encouraging people to enter the job market instead of pursuing further education.[28] Hurts the least employable by making them unemployable, in effect pricing them out of the market.[36] Decreases opportunities for low-skilled workers to gain the training and experience of lower paid positions to move up the wage ladder.[28] Increases the number of people on welfare, thus requiring greater government spending.[37][38] [39] Many minimum-wage earners in the United States are high school or college students, not families, so it does not matter what they are paid. Less than 3 percent of minimum wage earners in the United States were single parents, according to a 1996 report. [40]

Evaluation Chapter Outline

Outline the following, according to the EVALUATION CHAPTER, due Friday:

a. How did she do as a worker?

b. How did she do at "life in general"?

c. Why are the official poverty rates misleading?

d. If productivity is increasing, why aren't wages?

e. What keeps the workers from finding better jobs? Where is the friction?

f. Explain the "vicious cycle" of labor costs described by the book.

g. What makes the working poor invisible?

h. List some of the complaints the middle and upper class have about the

working poor.

i. Summarize the problems facing the working poor.

j. What are the solutions to these problems?

k. What are the objections to these solutions?

l. Why does Ehrenreich call the working poor the most philanthropic of all

social classes?

Day 8

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 8

Hand in Scrubbing and Selling

1. Quiz first 150 pages
   
2. Living conditions?
   
3. Coworkers?
   
4. Review study guide questions for "Selling in Minnesota"
   
1. Questions 1 and 2 in groups
   
2. Questions 3-5 as a class
   

Calandar:

January 17^th: Paper format. Research. Writing. My best shot at what's a good paper.

Jan. 18^th: Complete discussion of Nickel and Dimed. Outline of Evaluation Chapter Due.

January 22nd: Outline of your essay due

January 23rd: Rough Draft Due. Bring four copies for peer editing.

January 24^th: No class. 930 class pick up essays to peer edit from Kelley in English Dept.

January 25th: Complete Peer Editing..

January 25^th: Introduction to using sources. How to integrate.

January 29th: Draft Two Due. Bring two copies.

Homework: (For Monday)

1. Read Class Matters 111-124
   
2. Read Hacker C2-a (Intro/Thesis)
   
3. Read Hacker C6-c (Evaluating Arguments—inductive, deductive, emotional appeals, legitimate and otherwise, opposing views)
   

Essay 1 BP

Here's where you can post comments on the topics of the first essay.

In all cases, one of the best things to use this for is to ask others questions.

Selling BP

Here's where you can post comments on the Selling questions.

Scrubbing BP post

Here's where you can post comments on the Scrubbing questions.

Day 7

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 7

N&D 143-169 (Tuesday); 169-191 (Wednesday); 193-221 (Thursday)

Selling and Scrubbing Questions due Wednesday.

Quiz on first 150 pages of N&D, Wednesday

About the essays: It's ok to be confused at this point. It probably means you have an open mind and see multiple angles on the questions. That's a good thing. Begin, though, to see the product: a 3-5 page paper on the topic. What is probably means is you should NARROW your topic/thesis to a single main point.

This won't happen by wishing for it. Prewrite. Freewrite. Start writing down practice thesis statements. Do some more reading. Ask each other questions. Go to the writing center. See me.

Shoot for Friday for a tentative thesis statement. That will give you the weekend to do some research, plus Monday and Tuesday to get a rough draft together.

All along the way, in any class, you should be thinking about an angle on an essay. What interests you about the topic? Where are there disagreements with what is written? What IDEAS do you want to defend or refute or change or suggest?

Also, a few notes—I'd like to have full conversations about these in class as we go. We'll get to as many as we can.

1. Minimum wage debate: Define the argument clearly. Is this federal? State? City? Why not more? Why not less? Saying it's in the middle isn't a good enough reason. Find what the experts say.
   

2. YakTown: Decide who you are pretending to be. It works best if you use the same givens as Ehrenreich. You might change them if you want to make a counter argument section on kids or second income.
   

3. First, agree that there's too much in the way of the working poor to overcome on their own. (Read the evaluation chapter!) Then, explain what can be done, SPECIFICALLY, even locally, to help them overcome.
   

4. Men: Pick specific similarities in N&D'd. Ex: application process, number of jobs, types of jobs (working conditions), living conditions, physical challenges, mental challenges. The other trick is to state up front that you will be talking about GENERALITIES of gender.
   

5. Closely read where she addresses her critics. Find the holes in her logic. Help stitch it up or widen it.
   

6. Option 1: The poor are responsible for their situations. It's an individual's choice. If they don't want to be poor, they can do something about it. Option 2: The game is rigged against the poor and they don't know it. If we want to address poverty, the system needs to change.
   

   It's the Pursuit of Happyness v. Nickel and Dimed.
   

   Who has the right idea?
   

Scrubbing in Maine

1. Ehrenreich writes, "The main thing I learn from the job-hunting process is that, despite all the help-wanted ads and job fairs, Portland is just another $6-$7-an-hour town. This should be as startling to economists as a burst of exotic radiation is to astronomers" (59-60). What does she mean? And why is it so?
   

   
    

2. None of Ehrenreich's jobs in Nickel and Dimed lends her much dignity, but her position with The Maids turns out to be particularly demeaning in certain ways. She explains, "Maids, as an occupational group, are not visible, and when we are seen, we are often sorry for it"(99). In what ways are she and her co-workers at The Maids not visible? Why do you think she includes herself here, using "we" to designate those who work in this area?
   

   
    

3. In one episode with The Maids, Ehrenreich takes up for one of her coworkers, pointing out that she need not feel such allegiance to Ted, the manager.
   

    
    

   "What's all this worrying about Ted? He'll find someone else. He'll take anyone who can manage to show up sober at 7:30 in the morning. Sober and standing upright."
   

   "No," Holly finally interjects. "That's not true. Not everybody can get this job. You have to pass the test."
   

   The test? The Accutrac test? "The Test," I practically yell, "is BULLSHIT! Anyone can pass that test!" (113)
   

    
    

   Ehrenreich sees this as a moment of solidarity with her coworker, Holly. However, the moment proves to sever what has been a good relationship between them. Why might that be the case? In what ways might Ehrenreich have been misguided in her effort to empower and support Holly?
   

   
    

   The author gives us a pretty cynically humorous account of a visit to a tent revival in Portland, commenting that "Christ crucified rules, and it may be that the true business of modern Christianity is to crucify him again and again so that he can never get a word out of his mouth" (68-69). What is Ehrenreich saying about the roots of Christianity and the way it's practiced today? Give examples from N&D to illustrate her point.

Useful Links for the essays

Sojourners, a Christian magazine aimed at social justice, registration required

Living Wage on Wiki

Maximum wage? on Wiki

Renters, check here.

The Catholic Church in Yakima and Housing

Lower Valley Gets Help from UW in housing

ORFH--or office of rural and farmworker housing

Low income housing issues in YHR

Help Wanted Ads, YHR, for men?

The Psychology of the working poor (a disturbing report)

Salon article I keep referencing is here

Employer ethics

Best places to work (this is really interesting stuff)

NPR on best places to work

NPR on Minimum wage

NPR on Employers view of Min Wage (good page)

Poverty and Mental Health

"Poverty is a state of mind" HUD official raises uproar

Library IL Workshops

http://www.yakima.cc.wa.us/library/schedule_winter_2008.htm

Here's the schedule. See lesson plan for eligible workshops.

Day 6

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 6

1. Webpage comments sections.
   

   1. Here's where I'm at: 3 bonus points for those who contributed this past week.
      

   2. Going forward: 1 bonus point for each post longer than 20 words. You're responsible for printing them out, only your own, and bringing them in at the end of the month.
      

   3. I'm concerned about moderating this. Can you help me: dpeters@yvcc.edu, if something goes off the tracks?
      

2. Further BP opportunities here. Eligible workshops: Copyright, EBSCO-General; Plagiarism; Proquest; Research skills—both; Web Evaluation.
   

3. Homework
   

   1. N&D 121-143 (Monday) 143-169 (Tuesday); 169-191 (Wednesday); 193-221 (Thursday)
      

   2. Selling and Scrubbing Questions due Wednesday.
      

   3. Quiz on first 150 pages of N&D, Wednesday
      

   4. Quiz on Faces and Names Tomorrow for 1030 class
      

4. Quiz Names and Faces.
   

5. Writing Process
   

   1. Types of Prewriting
      

   2. Now you try.
      

6. Research?
   

7. Review Scrubbing questions.
   

8. We'll come back to the co-workers and living conditions question. I haven't forgotten. I'm saving them.
   

Nickel and Dimed, the musical?

Scrubbing and Selling

Scrubbing in Maine

1. Ehrenreich writes, "The main thing I learn from the job-hunting process is that, despite all the help-wanted ads and job fairs, Portland is just another $6-$7-an-hour town. This should be as startling to economists as a burst of exotic radiation is to astronomers" (59-60). What does she mean? And why is it so?
   

    
    

2. None of Ehrenreich's jobs in Nickel and Dimed lends her much dignity, but her position with The Maids turns out to be particularly demeaning in certain ways. She explains, "Maids, as an occupational group, are not visible, and when we are seen, we are often sorry for it"(99). In what ways are she and her co-workers at The Maids not visible? Why do you think she includes herself here, using "we" to designate those who work in this area?
   

   
    

3. In one episode with The Maids, Ehrenreich takes up for one of her coworkers, pointing out that she need not feel such allegiance to Ted, the manager.
   

    
    

   "What's all this worrying about Ted? He'll find someone else. He'll take anyone who can manage to show up sober at 7:30 in the morning. Sober and standing upright."
   

   "No," Holly finally interjects. "That's not true. Not everybody can get this job. You have to pass the test."
   

   The test? The Accutrac test? "The Test," I practically yell, "is BULLSHIT! Anyone can pass that test!" (113)
   

   Ehrenreich sees this as a moment of solidarity with her coworker, Holly. However, the moment proves to sever what has been a good relationship between them. Why might that be the case? In what ways might Ehrenreich have been misguided in her effort to empower and support Holly? 
   

4. The author gives us a pretty cynically humorous account of a visit to a tent revival in Portland, commenting that "Christ crucified rules, and it may be that the true business of modern Christianity is to crucify him again and again so that he can never get a word out of his mouth" (68-69). What is Ehrenreich saying about the roots of Christianity and the way it's practiced today? Give examples from N&D to illustrate her point.
   

   
    

   Selling in Minnesota  
   

5. Are you from a small town or even a neighborhood in a city into which Wal-Mart or a similar mega-chain has come?
   
   1. What has been the effect on your community?
      
   1. Do the plusses outweigh the minuses?
      

    
    

6. Ehrenreich heads to Minneapolis for her third job as a minimum wage worker, applying at Wal-Mart. She really dislikes the employment "survey" which, she asserts, requires applicants "to lie up to 50 times in the space of 15 minutes." The compulsory drug testing also "rankles" in that its results can trump her many other "engaging qualities"—qualities that would likely make her an excellent employee.
   

   
    

   1. Have you ever had to participate in such surveys or testing for a job?
      
   2. How did the process make you feel?
      

    
    

   1. Ehrenreich's footnote (p. 128) reports that drug testing does not, in fact, insure productivity, its justification according to management. Which kind of evidence do you find more persuasive: the author's personal anecdotes and feelings — or— footnoted statistics and facts? Why?
      

    
    

7. Thinking about language— what sorts of euphemisms do Wal-Mart and other such companies employ to describe who they are and what they do? For ex: customers = "guests" and workers = "associates (p. 154).
   

   
    

   1. What is the effect of such a practice on employees and on customers?
      
      1. What does it suggest about the company?

Day 5

Lesson Plan English 102 Day 5

1. New way of taking attendance
   
2. Return Prereading
   
   1. This is how I'll grade these: Full credit for full effort. Partial credit for partial effort or incomplete work.
      
   2. What's the right answer to question 5? What about local v. chain? What does, PRICE/BARGAINS etc. mean in the big picture?
      
   3. Sometimes this is called, the race to the bottom.
      
   4. Sometimes it's a luxury, a snobbery.
      
3. Serving in Florida questions
   
4. Continue with Serving in Florida annotations (29-49)
   
   1. Second job
      
   2. Living conditions for her and others—This may have to wait.
      
5. Right now, what are your top choices for essay options?
   
   1. The most popular in the past has been affordable housing question.
      
   2. The most easily researched is the minimum wage question.
      
      1. That does not mean they are easy. Good writing is seldom easy.
         
   3. After those, it goes up hill.
      
   4. Brief conversation at your tables
      

Homework: Read Scrubbing in Maine

Day 4

Lesson Plan Day 4

1. Homework: Finish Serving and complete the questions.
   
2. No late work accepted. No exceptions, but chances to dig out of the hole on the daily work. Not so much with essays.
   
3. Get names
   
4. How to read Nickel and Dimed
   
5. Useful links
   
6. Start Now- Find quotes that…
   
   1. Describe the boss(es)
      
   2. Describe the physical work/working conditions
      
   3. Describe the mental effort
      
   4. Describe the living conditions
      
   5. Describe the coworkers
      
   6. An interesting footnote
      
7. Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days (anybody got this video?)
   
   1. Black Like Me is the model.
      
   2. Teaches empathy.
      

The point of both: If it's this hard for me (with all these advantages/safety nets) you can imagine how much harder it is for those really dealing with it.

How to Read in College

Here's a great site from Penn State.

Sometimes it's called "annotating"

Here's my short take on it:

Why do it?
Save time.
Better evidence.
Better comprehension.
More interesting.

1. Don't read in bed.
and don't read with TV/Music
2. Don't use a highlighter in the book.
3. Look for things going in.
4. Make assumptions.
5. Ask questions.
6. In N&D, the footnotes are full of gold.

Here's what my book looks like.

6. At outline stage, go back through and make a list of pages and quotes.

Useful links

Book Web Site
LOADS here.

Wikipedia site

NPR Interview

Another NPR Interview

NYTimes

Day 3

1. Read 11-29
2. Essay Options
   
3. Interview in groups of 2.
   

• Worst jobs/Worst Bosses
  
  
  • What made it bad
    

1. Something we don't expect when we see you. Something we couldn't tell by looking at you.
   
   
1. Introduce to the class.
   

Introduction: Getting Ready

1) Why had Barbara Ehrenreich avoided "run of the mill low paid job[s]" in the past?

2) Why does Ehrenreich deny herself the skills her education has afforded her in seeking employment?

What rules does she set up?

1. Ehrenreich believes "there's no way [she] was going to "experience poverty'"(6). How can she say this, given that she fully plans to force herself to eat, sleep, and get by on the money she earns from minimum wage jobs?
   

What do you think of the "reassuring limits" she puts on any impending hardship she'll encounter?

4) What advantages does Ehrenreich have that she believe mean that she has "everything going for her" (7) in terms of her chances for meeting with success in living on the minimum wage?

Do these advantages matter as much as she thinks they do, in your opinion?

1. The general response of Ehrenreich's coworkers in the course of the three individual tests she makes of living on the minimum wage is to find what she is doing unremarkable and "anticlimactic": "My favorite response [was], "Does this mean you're not going to be back next week?'"(9). What does such a response show us about these co-workers? Why do they not find her adventure compelling, given that their very lives are what she is studying?
   

How relevant to their lives do you think Nickel and Dimed might be? (and this might be a question to reflect upon when you are in the middle or at the end of the book).

Serving in Florida Study Questions

Serving in Florida

1)In what ways is the process of interviewing that Ehrenreich encounters demeaning or unappreciative of workers' individuality?

Would you be willing to go through what she does to get a job?

2)How do managers and assistant managers, as Ehrenreich depicts them, function as adversaries to those beneath them?

3) What might explain the managers' behavior and mentality given that most of those in such positions came from the same jobs their employees fill and that they themselves for the most part make very little money?

4) Have you formed an opinion of those in managerial positions from your own experiences? Does it correspond to what Ehrenreich observes?

5)How do the brief vignettes (25-6) about her coworkers' living quarters add to Ehrenreich's tale of her own experiences?

6) One point that Ehrenreich makes throughout the book is that "starting conditions are everything" (27).

1. What does she mean by this, and why does she make this point more than once?
   

Think about your own situation of starting college, as you are right now. Is there a similar experience in relation to the effort you are undertaking?

Essay Options

Guidelines for every option:

Rough: January 23^rd

Final: January 29^th

• 3-5 pages. Typed drafts. Double spaced, 12 point font.
  
• Use N&D as a source.
  
• Use three sources from the web or elsewhere. Try proquest, for example.
  
• Explain your main point.
  
• Explain criticism of your main point.
  
  
  • Refine/Defend/Concede/Expand your main point.
    
• We are looking for good solid ideas—original and well supported.
  

We are looking for real questions and real answers because these are issues that affect our lives everyday. You are in school because of the issues raised in this book. Keys to your future, whatever kind of future it may be, are in this book.

That's what we're looking for.

Essay Options

1. Living/Minimum Wage Debate (A traditional argument)
   

Should we have a national "Living Wage"? Should there even be a minimum wage? What is fair? What is best for the country?

Pick a dog in the fight and back it up with well researched evidence.

There is recent legislation on this at the federal and state level. There will be information about this from the presidential candidates, too.

1. YakTown (For the investigative journalists in the class)
   
   

   Figure 30% of Minimum wage in Washington State. Get the math right first.
   

   What does that rent in Yakima? Investigate and report. COMPARE THIS TO N&D.
   

• What do your findings mean to the premise in N&D that housing held back many people? This will be your thesis.
  

Photos help. Actually going there and taking pictures.

Where are you going to get the information? The Big Picture? The best evidence?

How about "first, last, and deposit" issue in Yakima? What is the norm?

What do the motels rent for by the week? Where are they?

Safety concerns?

1. In the real world, there's friction (This is fairly straightforward.)
   
   

   What does Ehrenreich mean when she mentions "friction" of real life as opposed to the theoretical, "Economic Man"? How do we overcome that friction so that workers move towards their highest level of financial and professional abilities? Use N&D for examples.
   

   Define the friction. Give examples of it in N&D'd.
   

   Suggest ways to overcome it.

2. 1. Working Poor, For Men (Nobody's done this right yet.)
      

Nickel and Dimed focuses on minimum wage jobs for women.

How are men affected by the issues raised in N&D?

• What jobs are available in Yakima?
  
• What about housing? Physical toll? Mental toll? Dignity?
  
• Do a job search in Yakima for men. Make some phone calls. Pick up some applications. Take some screening tests.
  
• What other ways can we get information?
  
• How do we make this credible?
  
• What does your investigation turn up?
  

What is to be done? (This one gets more philosophical)

The book is great at pointing out the problem. But when it comes to solutions, it glosses over objections. If you agree with the book's ideas, help Ehrenreich by addressing these objections to her solutions, and maybe add to the suggestions. If you disagree with the ideas, expand on the objections and offer your own solutions.

Background:

This question will deal with the "Evaluation" chapter a great deal.

People that work 40 hours a week should be able to survive. Right now, they live on or over the edge. How do we fix this problem?

Here's a quote from Salon Magazine:

But [the book] also half-raises questions without truly answering them….[She] shoos them off again without letting us get a really good look at them and generally shies away from admitting that however intolerable the conditions …may be, any viable alternative to tolerating them is far from obvious.

They're right. Ehrenreich's evaluation has some flaws. What she observed is pretty convincing, but when she attempts solutions or when she confronts criticism, she is vague.

That may mean there's a problem with her premise. It might simply mean that she fumbles the final push but that the issues are still real.

Here's what I'll be looking for in a good paper:

• What are the problems she identifies?
  
• What are her solutions?
  
• What counter arguments does she deal with?
  
• How does she address these objections?
  

• Now, you take over the argument.
  
  
  • What should be done?
    

Maybe she should have said, You're right.

If you tend to be more conservative, this might be a good option for you to write about. What would the conservative write for an "Evaluation" of the events in N&D'd?

Or, maybe she should have explained why the criticisms were wrong. Defend her points where she has left them open.

Maybe the criticisms, being partly right, don't change the fact that there's a problem, they just point out adjustments needed to your argument, to the solution.

Once you think you've got it all figured out, ask: What are the objections to your ideas?

Whose problem is it? (Another philosophical approach)

Victimized? Victimhood? Which perspective solves the problem?

The working poor blame their situation "on personal failings or lack of initiative."

Are they right?

From Salon:
A recent survey of attitudes about poverty…suggests…resistance to classic left ideas about poverty is fairly common among the poor. For example, the low-income Americans surveyed were only slightly more likely than the affluent to blame the plight of the poor on circumstances beyond their control, rather than on personal failings or lack of initiative.

So the poor don't blame the rich. They blame themselves.

The easy answer seems to be "case closed"—but as the book points out, there might be other "circumstances" at work. Explain what those are.

How does the working poor's inability to "see the real problem" influence the solution to the problem?

Another way of asking this is:

From Salon:
Ehrenreich's image of the working poor as, in fact, simply victims of an unjust social order clashes with their need to believe that they have some say in their own fates -- and to hold the people in their lives morally accountable.

One of the issues that come up in the discussion of this book is Ehrenreich's position as a tourist in the land of the working poor. She sees them as victims and they see themselves as what?

How do the working poor want to see themselves?

Who's right?

Also:

Who is the audience for this book? Why do you think Ehrenreich wrote to that audience? What sections of this book do you think would offend the working poor? Why are they included? How do these clashes effect her credibility with her intended audience?

Introduction and Serving Questions

Introduction: Getting Ready

1)    Why had Barbara Ehrenreich avoided "run of the mill low paid job[s]" in the past?

2)    Why does Ehrenreich deny herself the skills her education has afforded her in seeking employment?

What rules does she set up?

1. Ehrenreich believes "there's no way [she] was going to "experience poverty'"(6). How can she say this, given that she fully plans to force herself to eat, sleep, and get by on the money she earns from minimum wage jobs?
   

What do you think of the "reassuring limits" she puts on any impending hardship she'll encounter?

4)     What advantages does Ehrenreich have that she believe mean that she has "everything going for her" (7) in terms of her chances for meeting with success in living on the minimum wage? Do these advantages matter as much as she thinks they do, in your opinion?

1. The general response of Ehrenreich's coworkers in the course of the three individual tests she makes of living on the minimum wage is to find what she is doing unremarkable and "anticlimactic": "My favorite response [was], "Does this mean you're not going to be back next week?'"(9). What does such a response show us about these co-workers? Why do they not find her adventure compelling, given that their very lives are what she is studying?
   
2. How relevant to their lives do you think Nickel and Dimed might be? (and this might be a question to reflect upon when you are in the middle or at the end of the book).
   

 

Serving in Florida

1)    In what ways is the process of interviewing that Ehrenreich encounters demeaning or unappreciative of workers' individuality?

Would you be willing to go through what she does to get a job?

2)    How do managers and assistant managers, as Ehrenreich depicts them, function as adversaries to those beneath them?

3) What might explain the managers' behavior and mentality given that most of those in such positions came from the same jobs their employees fill and that they themselves for the most part make very little money?

4) Have you formed an opinion of those in managerial positions from your own experiences? Does it correspond to what Ehrenreich observes?

5)    How do the brief vignettes (25-6) about her coworkers' living quarters add to Ehrenreich's tale of her own experiences?

6) One point that Ehrenreich makes throughout the book is that "starting conditions are everything" (27).

1. What does she mean by this, and why does she make this point more than once?
   

Think about your own situation of starting college, as you are right now. Is there a similar experience in relation to the effort you are undertaking?

Day 2

English 102 Lesson Plan Day 2

• Question about the Class/Teacher.
  
• What should the minimum wage be?
  
• In Groups of 4—Review Pre-reading Questions
  
  • Summarize your group's job experience.
    
  • Revote.
    
• Interview in groups of 3-4.
  
  • Worst jobs/Worst Bosses
    
    • What made it bad
      
  • Least paid per hour
    
  • Something we don't expect when we see you. Something we couldn't tell by looking at you.
    

Homework: Read N&D: Introduction: Getting Ready 1-10
Complete 6 questions on Introduction: Getting Ready