Pumpkin Pie, Baby

I’ve got something to say about the research drafts.

Ever make a pumpkin pie?

Aside from the pumpkin and that gooey condensed milk stuff, you have to add a bunch of spices, such as cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and allspice, right?

So imagine that you’re sitting there, making your pie, adding your spices, and you pick up the clove container, and you drop it. It all spills into the mixture.

Despite scooping out as much as you can, how is that pie going to taste?

Clove-y? You betcha.

When I see your research drafts riddled with quotations from your sources, I think of that clove-y pie. And I want to read your essay as much as I want to eat the pie. Not so much.

Sorry – the truth hurts.

So what are you supposed to do?

After all, I’m the one making you use 15 sources for this essay.

It’s all about integration.

Paraphrase. Integrate your research into your essay seamlessly. Cite the information so that the essay isn’t plagiarized, but the simple act of putting the info into your own words gets rid of that clove-y aftertaste.

Just saying.

I’ll be in Chicago over Thanksgiving. If you have an urgent question and need to talk with me, you can call my cell (I’ve updated my staff info on Blackboard), but I’ll be train-traveling from CO to IL on Monday/Tuesday and again Sunday/Monday, so I will not be reachable those days by cell or email.

And don’t call me on Thanksgiving, please.

I’ll be busy enjoying my pumpkin pie.

Happy T-Day, Gang.

Posting on the blog – a reminder

In order for your post to receive full credit, you must have selected 3 categories:

*term (Spring 2010)
*assignment type (reading response, short essay, research draft)
*subject matter (energy, conservation, pollution, etc)

Thanks!

New category

The Spring 2010 category is now available. In order to get full credit on your posts, please add this category each time.

Welcome to English 213- TXA/TXB

Congratulations! You’re reading this so you’ve found the class blog. There’s nothing to it, just click on New Post and get going.

Remember that for every post you must use at least 3 categories:
1) always use Spring 2010
2) choose the assignment type (response/essay/research/XC)
3) choose a category that represents what topic you’re writing about (energy/gardening, etc).

Thanks, and as always, email me with any questions or problems.

Something neat I found

Found this neat interview about this recycle artist dude.  Check out the pic of his house!  I wish I were that creative. 

Settling in

Thanks for your patience, gang.  I’m getting settled in Colorado and online and reading all of your work.  You’ll be hearing from me shortly.  I’ll be responding via email.

In Defense of Food

One of the books that I have on the reading list this semester is In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan, and it’s making a big uproar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  They’re giving it to students for free and encouraging professors to use it in the classroom.

Here’s the link to the article.

Makeover

You might have noticed that the blog looks different today.  I changed the theme from a 4-column blog to a 3-column blog.  I liked how the blog looked before, but it wasn’t working in terms of column width.  I think this will be easier to read, but I’m not liking how it looks.

Stay tuned – I’ll be experimenting with different looks until I get it right.  Form and function are both important! 

Farmers’ Market: Food for Thought

I just returned from the Fairbanks Farmers’ Market with some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes.  The farmer told me that the variety is called cherokee purple.  They are delish; I’ve been addicted all summer, and at $5/lb, that’s a mighty hefty addiction!

You might already know that the organic seal is something that small farmers rarely have on their food even though they are practicing organic farming.  It costs major money for farmers to be part of that program; more than small farmers can afford.  However, while there isn’t a govt sticker saying “organic” on the tomato, if the farmer didn’t use conventional pesticides and fertilizers, the tomato is organic enough for me.

Ok, so here’s the deal.    Turns out that some of the produce booths at the Farmers Market are selling fruits and veggies that they’ve used pesticides and herbicides and fungicides on.  Go figure.  I naively assumed that because I’m shopping locally, I’m buying organic.  But that’s not the case.  I felt sort of duped.  I talked to one organic farmer about it today for about 10 minutes.  But then she really wanted to talk about her cherokee purples and how flavorful they are, so the political discussion came to a halt.

What do you think about this?  Was I wrong to feel duped?  The farmers using pesticides aren’t claiming they are selling organic fruit, so they aren’t lying to me, I suppose.  I did ask one farmer who uses pesticides why I should buy her tomatoes for $6/lb if I can get organic tomatoes at Fred’s for $2.98/lb (not to mention conventional for $1.99/lb).

“Because you’re supporting your local economy when you buy here instead of Fred’s,” was the answer.

Good point.  But what do you think?  Question of the day: Is it better to buy non-organic local than to buy organic shipped in from Mexico or Washington?

This isn’t an assignment, but I wanted you to weigh in if you had a moment or if you had thoughts on the issue.  It’s on my mind.

Contributor Vs Author?

I’ve changed the settings for those of you that have created user names already.  You are now “authors” instead of just “contributors.”  What that means, basically, is that you can post to the blog.  I’m unclear if I will be required to moderate posts or not. I hope not.  Someone try and post something and we’ll find out!