News from Around America 04.30.14

• USA - FLOTUS to young girls: "I believe that girl power is about being the very best version of who you are." (Huffington Post)
• CALIFORNIA - LA Clippers owner banned for life, fined 2.5 million, for racist remarks (CNN)
• FLORIDA -  College Hunks mover becomes a human chair to help an elderly woman stuck in an elevator (Huffington Post)
• USA - Americans okay with small surcharges to ensure workers get insurance (FOX Business)
• NEW YORK - Meet the NYC coeds who strip at night to pay for college (New York Post)
• MICHIGAN - Davenport University graduate face plants after failed backflip (CBS Detroit)

Week 14: Mo 28/We 30

Seattle, Washington

Week 14: Mo 28/We 30
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING TWO
COPIES)

Upcoming:

Week 15: Mo 05/We 07
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

News from Around America 04.25.14

• CALIFORNIA - Up-inspired Victorian upsets neighbors (NBC Bay Area)
• HAWAII - University sued for blocking students from distributing copies of the Constitution (Huffington Post)
• ILLINOIS - Man wins lotto three times in three weeks (Huffington Post)
• NEVADA - Conservative hero Cliven Bundy wonders if the "Negro" was better off under slavery (Washington Post)
• NEW YORK: Is it Pitbull or Amy Poehler? (Entertainment Weekly)
• CALIFORNIA - Clippers owner makes his own shocking racist remarks (Sports Illustrated)

Week 13: Mo 21/We 23

Portland, Oregon

Week 13: Mo 21/We 23
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 4; BRING TWO
COPIES)

Upcoming:

Week 14: Mo 28/We 30
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING TWO
COPIES)

Week 15: Mo 05/We 07
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

News from Around America 04.16.14

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• USA - Americans and the Problem of Exotic Pets (Huffington Post)
• COLORADO - $98 million: The amount of taxes Colorado expects to bring in from Marijuana sales this year (Reuters)
• USA - Inside today's KKK (Business Insider)
• CALIFORNIA - Witness a college student's epic fail on Wheel of Fortune (Salon)
• NEBRASKA - When prom comes crashing down (CNN)
• TENNESSEE - Student wearing Confederate flag dress denied entrance into her prom (CNN)

Week 12: Mo 14/We 16

Park City, Utah

Week 12: Mo 14/We 16
Read: SHOUTIN’—“Getting Even with Life”
Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations
Due: REFLECTION 06-A/06-B

Upcoming:

Week 13: Mo 21/We 23
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 4; BRING TWO
COPIES)

Week 14: Mo 28/We 30
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING TWO
COPIES)

Week 15: Mo 05/We 07
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

Reflection 06-B: Isn't It Bromantic?—The Rise of Bromances

Note: For your final reflection, you will write about two different topics: America's Breast Obsession (06:A) and The Rise of Bromances (06:B). Each reflection should be only one page long.

One interesting phenomenon over the past decade has been the rise of so-called "bromances," intimate, but non-sexual, relationships between American men. Affectionate male bonding has a centuries-long tradition around the world, yet American society has generally drawn rigid lines between two males who are friends—or at least we are lead to believe. Bromances are said to break down many of traditional barriers, allowing a man to be more expressive of both his own feelings and his feelings toward his friend. Just why American male friendships are seemingly more open these days is up to debate. Some argue these bonds have been shaped by everything from feminist mothers raising more emotionally-open sons to the gay rights movement to younger generations of men simply breaking from old societal taboos. If you are a man, have you experienced a bromance? Does it feel any different than any other male friendship? And if you are a female, what do theses relationships look like from the outside looking in? Has a bromance ever made you feel excluded?

Include at least two of the following pieces in your discussion:

• "Are You in a Bromance? (Or Is It Just a Man Crush?)" (Details)
• "Why I Love Guys Who Hug Other Guys" (New York Magazine)
• "Bromances Aren't Uncommon as Guys Delay Marriage" (Seattle Times)
• "The Joys of Bromance" (Huffington Post)
• "I Love You, Man (as a Friend)" (New York Times)
• "Male-ennials…and the Rise of the Wolf Pack" (MTV News)

Requirements:

• Must be in MLA Style
• Must be one full page in length
• Must include a works cited page

Due: We 04.16

Reflection 06-A: Bosom Buddies—America's Breast Obsession

Note: For your final reflection, you will write about two different topics: America's Breast Obsession (06:A) and The Rise of Bromances (06:B). Each reflection should be only one page long.

It is difficult to argue that we do not live in a breast-obsessed society. From advertising to porn, Americans can't seem to get enough of and so we are inundated daily. Yet, the American relationship with breasts is complicated. On beaches, for instance, American women are encouraged to display as much cleavage as possible, but if a nursing mother takes a breast out in public to feed an infant many of us suddenly become prudish. Why? When did Americans reach the point that we so celebrate, even reward, augmentation? What message are we sending women about embracing their natural selves? And how does all this attention to breasts affect young girls? As for men, how does growing up in a breast-obsessed culture affect their views of women and their bodies? 

Include at least two of the following pieces in your discussion:

• "The Breast of Advertising" (Adweek ) 
• "Has it Really Come to This? Gal Gadot Defends Breast Size for Wonder Woman Role in Batman vs. Superman" (Indwire)
• "Victoria's Secret Store Bans Mom from Breastfeeding" (NBC News)
• "America's Boob Police" (Daily Beast)
• "Men’s Breast Obsession—and Women’s" (Psychology Today ) 
• "Women have Boobs—Get over It" (AlterNet)

Requirements:

• Must be in MLA Style
• Must be one full page in length
• Must include a works cited page

Due: We 04.16

News from Around America 04.08.14

• WYOMING: No, Yellowstone animals are NOT fleeing (Slate)
• USA: Survey: By a nearly 5-to-1 margin, Americans now say alcohol is worse for you than marijuana (Washington Post)
• CALIFORNIA: Smart cars being tipped over in San Francisco (Huffington Post) 
• USA: Why do Americans feed their dogs so well? (Quartz)
• TENNESSEE: Lawmakers propose covering a full ride at two-year colleges for all TN high school graduates (Daily News Journal)
• NEW YORK: Rats descend on a NYC Dunkin' Donuts (New York Daily News)

Week 11: Mo 07/We 09

Austin, Texas

Week 11: Mo 07/We 09
Read: SHOUTIN’—“2: Lies to My Mother”
Class: CLOSE READING; Reading discussion; Multimedia
presentations;
Due: REFLECTION 05

Upcoming:

Week 12: Mo 14/We 16
Read: SHOUTIN’—“Getting Even with Life”
Class: Reading discussion; Multimedia presentations
Due: EXPOSITORY; REFLECTION 06

Week 13: Mo 21/We 23
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 4; BRING TWO
COPIES)

Week 14: Mo 28/We 30
Class: Writers workshop; Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (UP TO PAGE 8; BRING TWO
COPIES)

Week 15: Mo 05/We 07
Class: Multimedia presentations
Due: RESEARCH PAPER (FINAL DRAFT)

Week 16: Mo 12
Class: End-of-class review
Due: PROCESS ANALYSIS

Close Read: American Pastimes

Below are the photos you may choose from for next week's in-class close read essay. You will be responsible for just one photo. The photos represent various unique pastimes across America. Again, you will be examining the ways in which Americans spend their free time. The goal is to closely analyze a photo in order to reveal new levels of understanding. We will discuss how this is done in class this week.

Wick Beavers, "Saturday Night Bullfights and Bronc Bustin'" (Silver City, New Mexico; Date unknown)

Photographer Unknown, "The Tough Mudder" (West Dover, Vermont; 2012)

Jeff Lautenberger, "The Night Rider" (Tulsa, Oklahoma; 2011)

Chris Favero, "Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman" (Chicago, Illinois; 2012)

Cooper Neill, "Unicycle Football League Playoffs" (San Marcos, Texas; 2012)

 Kathleen Conally, "Cavalry Reenactors I" (Bucks County, Pennsylvania; 2005)

Kyle Cassidy, "Scare Force One with the Skate of the Union Trophy" (Washington, D.C.; 2012)

News from Around America 04.03.14

• NEW YORK - Mysterious clown slinking around Staten Island terrifies residents
• (Huffington Post) ... UPDATE: Production company admits it was behind the stunt (Staten Island Advance)
• GEORGIA - Bank accidentally deposits $31,000 in teen's account; he spends $25,000 in ten days (Gawker)
• HAWAII: The Aloha State named least affordable for minimum wage earners (Huffington Post)
• COLORADO - Nine-year-old girl shaves her head in solidarity with her friend with cancer, gets suspended from school (NBC News)
• USA: Evangelical group calls gay-friendly Honey Maid Graham Crackers ad "Satanic" (The Raw Story)