"The Looking Glass” by Anton Chekhov

The last reading assignment for the semester is Anton Chekhov's "The Looking Glass.” Chekov's short piece tell the story of Nellie, a young girl, who looks into a mirror and sees her future, which involves a desperate, hopeless attempt to save her husband from typhus. The story shows the battle between a young girl who believes in the power of love even while coming up against the harsh realities of life — the surprise ending shows how quickly those realities can be forgotten. 

Comments are due by Thursday, November 27th.

"The Looking Glass" by Anton Chekov

“The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin

Here is your fourth reading assignment: “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin. Chopin is a well-known 19th century southern writer, who took on feminist themes in her novel The Awakening. In this smart, moving and much shorter piece, Chopin examines how marriage, no matter how loving, can still become a prison for women. 

The comments are due by Tuesday, november 18th.

"The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin  

“Adams” by George Saunders

The third reading is called “Adams” by George Saunders. The king of writing unreliable narrators, it takes Saunders less than two pages in this story to make his readers question their own sanity. Following the story of an overprotective father desperate to guard his kids from his neighbor, Saunders blurs lines so expertly that you don't know who is the greater risk — the outside threat or your own fear.

Comments are due by Thursday, November 13th.

"Adams" by George Saunders   

'Eleven' by Sandra Cisneros

The second piece is entitled 'Eleven' written by Sandra Cisneros. Cisneros captures what it means to be a kid and the overwhelming embarrassment that accompanies childhood. This story about an 11-year-old's birthday manages to perfectly encapsulate what it feels like to be that age and how that feeling never quite leaves you. As Cisneros writes, "The way you grow old is kind of like an onion or like the rings inside a tree trunk." You may add experiences, but you still keep the child within. 

Comments are due by November 11th.


"Eleven" by Sandra Cineros

Reading Assignments for Essay 4 - How to Deal with the Recent Surge of Migrant Children into the US?

Length: 1500 words minimum (please include a word count at the end of your paper)

Assignment

President Obama is asking Congress for emergency funding as the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has been rising at an alarming rate. Fleeing poverty and gang violence, motivated in part by rumors that they will gain legal status but now trapped in a legal limbo, many of the young migrants are making the dangerous journey from Central America. What can be done to stem the surge of children illegally crossing into the U.S.? And how does this crisis fit into the larger debate for comprehensive immigration reform?

For this assignment you will have to first outline the controversy in the public debate about the status and future of the migrant children. Please make sure that you explain ALL sides of the argument trying to understand what stand at the core of the opposition between various views. Then present your own stand in the debate using strong and compelling evidence. Finally, in your conclusion, try to suggest some kind of solution to the problem based on your argumentation.


Here is the link to your assigned reading for this essay:

“How To Stop the Surge of Migrant Children,” ROOM FOR DEBATE, The New York Times Online, July 8 2014

"Real Food" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Dear students,

Bellow you will find several short stories. Please read them and  and then write your views, impressions, opinion, reaction in form of an EXTENDED comment. You are particularly encouraged to comment on each other's views, respond to each others' posts, and engage in a meaningful dialogue about the stories.

The first piece was written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with the title "Real Food" (follow the link below to access it). Adichie, author of the celebrated novel Americanah, explores her heritage and her family through her hatred of garri, a traditional Nigerian food. She finds that not eating the food both frees her and separates her from her family, and this brief story expertly explores what it means to (not) belong to a culture. 

Comments are due by Tuesday, November 4th.

"Real Food” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Reading Assignments for Essay 2 - The Controversy About For-Profit Colleges

Length: 1200 words minimum (please include a word count at the end of your paper)


Assignment:
For-profit colleges have long been arguing for looser rules on federal aid for career training programs. But their intentions have created significant controversy amongst politicians, in academia and in the media as well. In light of the recent debacle that lead to the closing down of Corinthian Colleges, the Obama administration is looking into tightening rules about federal aid. Based on the assigned essays that you read for our class, write an argument driven essay discussing the values and dangers of for-profit education. Is it ethical to have colleges that use federal aid to make a profit? Do these colleges help a certain demographic? Should they be scrutinized more closely or evaluated differently from not-for-profit institutions?
Your thesis statement will clearly state your point of view about for-profit colleges. The rest of the essay will support your view. Please use at least 2 paraphrases and a maximum of 3 quotes from your outside sources in your essay. As part of your evidence, you can also include personal experience and anecdotes from friends about for-profit colleges.
Below you will find links to ALL your reading assignments related to this essay. Please print the articles, carefully read and annotate them, and bring them with you to class on the day they are due:

RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA, “College Group Run for Profit Looks to Close or Sell Schools," The New York Times Online, July 14, 2014

"Lessons from a For-Profit College Collapse,” The New York Times Online, Editorial, July 8 2014

Henri Bienen, “In Defense of For-Profit Colleges,” The Wall Street Journal Online, July 24 2010 (SEE Blog page on the right, above syllabi, for this article)

Tressie MacMillan Cottom, “Let’s Stop Condescending to For-Profit College Students”, slate.com

“Where More Default than Graduate: Career Education Program Parasites,” The Institute for College Access and Success, May 15 2014

Jennifer Gonzales, “Advocate of For-Profit Colleges Mounts a Strong Defense Before Senate Hearing,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 23 2010

Dear students,

Welcome to English 101! This class is the first in a series of courses you will take in order to get comfortable with academic writing (and not only). The class will prepare you to write the kind of full essays required in college coursework. You will learn how to gather ideas, draft, write, revise, and proofread. During class, you will discuss your ideas and drafts with your peers and with me. You will also learn how to consider audience, voice, and purpose; how to synthesize and evaluate material; and then how to shape it into organized essays that support your thesis or central idea in vivid, effective language.

This blog contains most of your reading assignments for the class. Please bookmark the page so you can access it easily. Please also remember to print and annotate the articles for each class. Reading them online is important, but not enough for our class discussions.

Semeen Issa and Laila Al-Marayati, "An Identity Reduced to a Burka"

LA Times Sunday Opinion, January 20, 2002

A few years ago, someone from the Feminist Majority Foundation called the Muslim Women's League to ask if she could "borrow a burka" for a photo shoot the organization was doing to draw attention to the plight of women in Afghanistan under the Taliban. When we told her that we didn't have one, and that none of our Afghan friends did either, she expressed surprise, as if she'd assumed that all Muslim women keep burkas in their closets in case a militant Islamist comes to dinner. She didn't seem to understand that her assumption was the equivalent of assuming that every Latino has a Mexican sombrero in their closet.


We don't mean to make light of the suffering of our sisters in Afghanistan, but the burka was--and is--not their major focus of concern. Their priorities are more basic, like feeding their children, becoming literate and living free from violence. Nevertheless, recent articles in the Western media suggest the burka means everything to Muslim women, because they routinely express bewilderment at the fact that all Afghan women didn't cast off their burkas when the Taliban was defeated. The Western press' obsession with the dress of Muslim women is not surprising, however, since the press tends to view Muslims, in general, simplistically. Headlines in the mainstream media have reduced Muslim female identity to an article of clothing--"the veil." One is hard-pressed to find an article, book or film about women in Islam that doesn't have "veil" in the title: "Behind the Veil," "Beyond the Veil," "At the Drop of a Veil" and more. The use of the term borders on the absurd: Perhaps next will come "What Color is Your Veil?" or "Rebel Without a Veil" or "Whose Veil is it, Anyway?"


The word "veil" does not even have a universal meaning. In some cultures, it refers to a face-covering known as niqab; in others, to a simple head scarf, known as hijab. Other manifestations of "the veil" include all-encompassing outer garments like the ankle-length abaya from the Persian Gulf states, the chador in Iran or the burka in Afghanistan.


Like the differences in our clothing from one region to another, Muslim women are diverse. Stereotypical assumptions about Muslim women are as inaccurate as the assumption that all American women are personified by the bikini-clad cast of "Baywatch." Anyone who has spent time interacting with Muslims knows that, despite numerous obstacles, Muslim women are active, assertive and engaged in society. In Qatar, women make up the majority of graduate-school students. The Iranian parliament has more women members than the U.S. Senate. Throughout the world, many Muslim women are educated and professionally trained; they participate in public debates, are often catalysts for reform and champions for their own rights. At the same time, there is no denying that in many Muslim countries, dress has been used as a tool to wield power over women.


What doesn't penetrate Western consciousness, however, is that forced uncovering is also a tool of oppression. During the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in Iran, wearing the veil was prohibited. As an expression of their opposition to his repressive regime, women who supported the 1979 Islamic Revolution marched in the street clothed in chadors. Many of them did not expect to have this "dress code" institutionalized by those who led the revolution and then took power in the new government.


In Turkey, the secular regime considers the head scarf a symbol of extremist elements that want to overthrow the government. Accordingly, women who wear any type of head-covering are banned from public office, government jobs and academia, including graduate school. Turkish women who believe the head-covering is a religious obligation are unfairly forced to give up public life or opportunities for higher education and career advancement.


Dress should not bar Muslim women from exercising their Islam-guaranteed rights, like the right to be educated, to earn a living and to move about safely in society. Unfortunately, some governments impose a strict dress code along with other restrictions, like limiting education for women, to appear "authentically Islamic." Such laws, in fact, are inconsistent with Islam. Nevertheless, these associations lead to the general perception that "behind the veil" lurk other, more insidious examples of the repression of women, and that wearing the veil somehow causes the social ills that plague Muslim women around the world.


Many Muslim men and women alike are subjugated by despotic, dictatorial regimes. Their lot in life is worsened by extreme poverty and illiteracy, two conditions that are not caused by Islam but are sometimes exploited in the name of religion. Helping Muslim women overcome their misery is a major task. The reconstruction of Muslim Afghanistan will be a test case for the Afghan people and for the international community dedicated to making Afghan society work for everyone. To some, Islam is the root cause of the problems faced by women in Afghanistan. But what is truly at fault is a misguided, narrow interpretation of Islam designed to serve a rigid patriarchal system.


Traditional Muslim populations will be more receptive to change that is based on Islamic principles of justice, as expressed in the Koran, than they will be to change that abandons religion altogether or confines it to private life. Muslim scholars and leaders who emphasize Islamic principles that support women's rights to education, health care, marriage and divorce, equal pay for equal work and participation in public life could fill the vacuum now occupied by those who impose a vision of Islam that infringes on the rights of women.


Given the opportunity, Muslim women, like women everywhere, will become educated, pursue careers, strive to do what is best for their families and contribute positively according to their abilities. How they dress is irrelevant. It should be obvious that the critical element Muslim women need is freedom, especially the freedom to make choices that enable them to be independent agents of positive change. Choosing to dress modestly, including wearing a head scarf, should be as respected as choosing not to cover. Accusations that modestly dressed Muslim women are caving in to male-dominated understandings of Islam neglect the reality that most Muslim women who cover by choice do so out of subservience to God, not to any human being.


The worth of a woman--any woman--should not be determined by the length of her skirt, but by the dedication, knowledge and skills she brings to the task at hand.

Semeen Issa, a schoolteacher in Arcadia, and Laila Al-Marayati, a Los Angeles physician, are the president and spokesperson, respectively, for the Muslim Women's League.