Migration News
Hey, everyone. Welcome to the course. (Our first order of business is to come up with a cool name for me to call you all. "Migrants" is a bit off, and "Migrationnarrativeanalyzers" is a bit dumb. Extra credit to someone who can come up with a better tag.) I'll be putting announcements on this page having to do with course requirements, changes in these web pages, and other matters. Between this page and the main page, you should get a good sense of what's new and upcoming in the course. So I recommend checking out both those pages every time you visit the course web site--at least once a week.
12/20/01
I just read in Time that W.G. Sebald died in a car accident in England recently. Please see the links page for further information. Sad news for a happy season. Let's all have safe trips home now! Take care, and see you next year!
12/19/01
Change of plans for Thursday's office hours: only 3:30-5....
12/18/01
Hey folks, it's been a great semester. I've really enjoyed teaching you this semester, even though I couldn't beat you during those games! Good luck during finals week and have a great holiday season and new year's celebration. I look forward to seeing you next semester. A few final end-of-the-semester announcements:
My office hours for exam week are listed below (12/12); of course, I'm also available by appointment and through e-mail.
For your final research projects, keep in mind that if you want detailed comments on them, please let me know either over email or by attaching a note to the project itself. If you want them returned to you before you return to campus, please attach a self-addressed envelope to the project when you turn it in (I don't mind paying postage). Graded projects will be available in the English department office (Fenton 277) in early January, and may be picked up from me (Fenton 240) during my office hours when the spring 2002 semester begins.
12/12/01
Please see the main page for the time and place of our final class meeting. Those who can't make the meeting for their section may attend the other section's meeting.
If you want an extension for your final research project, you must ask me no later than 3 pm Friday.
My office hours for next week are M 9-1:30, 3-6; T 9-11:30, 3-6; W 9-12, 1-3:30; Th 9-11:30, 3-5.
12/7/01
Hey folks, a few reminders and announcements: (1) Don't forget the annotated bibliographies for your final research project are due today by 5 pm. You can turn them in at the end of class, in the envelope outside my office door, or in my mailbox in the English department office (Fenton 277). (2) I've updated the links page to add a few more LeGuin sites. (3) Please see the main page for changes to the schedule for the next two weeks. You must finish LeGuin's novel over the weekend, so we can devote time Wednesday's class to relating LeGuin to other authors of migration narratives and looking back over the semester (in discussion and in your course evaluations). Then Friday's class will be devoted to peer review of your drafts for the final research project, and, depending on your section, either Monday or Tuesday evening of exam week will be devoted to eating pizza, wrapping up the course, and getting further feedback on your final research projects, which are due Wednesday by 5 pm. (4) I'll be going back to non-sign-up-sheet office hours next week; I'll be available to see people if they want to discuss any aspect of the course ("re-vision" of critical essay; absences; observations and discussion questions; final research project; etc.) M 2-4, T 2:30-4, W 2-5, Th 2:30-3:30, F 2:30-5, and by appointment.
11/26/01
I've pushed back the due date for the working annotated bibliography on your FRP until next Friday; see the main page and the FRP page for details on this assignment.
I've sent out an email detailing where people stand in terms of absences and ODQs; if anything seems wrong on that, contact me ASAP.
There's a sign-up sheet on my office door (Fenton 240) for those who want to discuss their plans for "re-vision" of their critical essays or any other aspect of the course.
11/21/01
I've updated the links page to include more background on individual works and more migration-related links. Check it out when you get a chance!
11/16/01
Hey, everyone, just wanted to remind you of a few things to keep in mind over break. First, click here for requirements and suggestions on the "re-vision" option for the critical essay. Second, you can get access to all the library's databases, catalogs, and other research tools over the web, by going to http://www.fredonia.edu/library/. So long as you have your SUNYcard, you can make inter-library loan requests through WorldCat. Also, our very own links page has loads of sites that can be helpful to your final projects. In other words, use the break wisely to make significant progress on your final research projects. If you get a chance to get ahead on LeGuin's science fiction novel The Dispossessed, the last three weeks of the semester will be a breeze. Let's use this novel as an opportunity to use what we've learned about the experiences, consequences, and legacies of migrations and the narrative strategies used to convey them--since we don't have a final exam in this course, use the final research projects and the last novel we're discussing to bring together what you've learned this semester. Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your breaks!
11/5/01
Hey, folks, just wanted to remind you that the individual conference on your final project is mandatory and that it's in your best interest to schedule it with me as soon as possible. A sign-up sheet with times I'm available to meet with you during this week is on my office door (Fenton 240); if you want to meet this week, but none of the times listed are good, put down times that would work best for you in the space provided on the sign-up sheet, and I'll get back in touch over email to let you know when we'll meet. There are 28 half-hour slots available this week; there are likely to be fewer next week. So sign up early--don't miss this chance to get my feedback on your proposal and research plans, as well as to ask me questions about the project and get tips on research tools and techniques.
10/31/01
Halloween present for those who want it: your proposal for the final research project can be turned in by 5 pm on Friday, November 2, 2001, instead of on Halloween day.
10/15/01
I've revised the assignment sheet for the final research project to include a link to a page I just created that lays out the requirements and expectations for the proposal due October 31, 2001. Check it out when you get a chance.
My office hours this week are as follows: M 12-1, 2-6:30; T 12-5; W 2-6, and by appointment. (Expanded hours to make up for missing so many last week.)
V.S. Naipaul received the 2001 Nobel Prize in Literature last week. For details, see the links page. Don't forget that the links page has information on all the authors and texts we'll be reading and discussing in class, as well as links to research sites that can be very helpful in providing historical context for what you're reading and leads for the final research project.
As of 6:15 pm tonight, I've received 21 papers from Section 7 and 19 papers from Section 8. Not bad! I'm heading out in a few minutes, so any papers not in before I go will be considered late and be penalized 1/3 of a grade per day late.
10/5/01
A few urgent announcements. Because of my travels plans for next week (I'm giving a lecture at the University of Rochester on Tuesday and attending a delegate assembly for the faculty union I'm part of on Friday and Saturday), I'm not going to be available for many office hours during that week (I'm leaving for the delegate assembly on Wednesday afternoon). In fact, my only office hours before the critical essay is due will be today 10-11, 12-1, and 2-3, next Monday 12-1 and 2-4, next Wednesday 10-10:30, and the following Monday 12-1 and 2-5. So it's especially crucial that you make use of email to contact me this weekend and next week before Wednesday at 2 pm. I won't be able to respond to you instantaneously, but I will make every effort to answer questions you have. In short, I'm prepared to help you at any stage of the writing process, from choosing an option and a work to focus on to figuring out what the requirements and expectations of that option are, from giving you feedback on whether you have a main argument or not to helping you make that argument more persuasive. But you have to take the initiative and make an appointment with me or contact me if you have questions that haven't already been answered by what's on this web site.
10/3/01
I've made a few small changes to the main page (putting in links to the links page and to pages that will give definitions/commentary on some of the key literary terms in the first half of the course) and to the "frequently asked questions" page on the final research project (clarifying some of the research tips). Feel free to e-mail me if anything is unclear about the pages on the critical essay and the final research project. I'll try to clarify it to you and on the web site.
Given that people are likely to have questions (on, say, the critical essay that's due two Mondays from now) that they want to come talk to me about rather than write me about, I'm extending my office hours this week. Today, I'll be in the office from 2-3 and 3:45-5:30; Thursday, 2-5 pm; Friday 2-3 pm.
10/2/01
Those doing the Photo Research/Creative Writing Project should know that I have information on photos from Salgado's book that fall on pp. 22-47, 62-73, 118-172, 263-275, and 294-309. Come by my office at your convenience to get this information if the photo you choose comes from these page spans.
Also, please be aware that my office hours on Wednesday have been changed to 2-3, 4-5:30 pm.
10/1/01
Hey folks, a technical glitch you should be aware of: my e-mail account has been having problems that I think are now cleared up, but the result is that I have not received any e-mail you sent to me personally or to the course listserv since last Thursday around 5 pm. So if you did try to send me something over e-mail between then and 10 am this morning, you'll likely get it bounced back to you with an error message appended to it. Can you forward that error message/original message to me personally at simon@fredonia.edu when you can? Thanks!
OK, I've revised the main page (see the schedule of assignments near the end) to reflect the new pages on the final research project that are now up and running. Click here for the assignment sheet, and here for answers to frequently-asked questions from the last time I gave this assignment. Please note that the due date for the e-mail giving your initial plans has been pushed back to Wednesday. See the assignment sheet for details.
9/26/01
Hey folks, just wanted to wish you a good break and encourage you to think carefully about relations between the main themes of the "Egypt" chapters of Ghosh's In an Antique Land (especially as suggested by pages 173-174, 200-201, 209-210, and 235-237) and the "India" chapters we'll be focusing on post-break. Also, don't forget to inspect your options on the newly-revised critical essay assignment sheet, and to be prepared to send me an email in which you get as specific as possible about your plans for the final research project. Check back here for an announcement of when the assignment sheet for that is up and running on the web site, and enjoy your break.
9/18/01
I've created a variety of new pages: one that gives the big idea of the course, one that lays out requirements for the critical essay, and one that gives advice on the critical essay. Check them out when you get a chance and email me questions about them.
Please note the updates I've made to yesterday's announcements, as well: links on the Thurs. teach-in and Fri./Sat. conference mentions. Hope you can come! Thanks, and see you Wednesday.
9/17/01
A few announcements of importance. On Thursday, there's going to be a teach-in on the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon and their repercussions at 7:30 pm in the Williams Center. I would like to invite all of you to come and join the discussion. More details to come on this, and on the global studies conference that will take place in S-104 Williams Center on Friday and Saturday. As a result of my participation in the conference, Friday's classes will be optional (I won't be there). Extra-credit will be given to those who come to class and sign a summary of their discussion of Ghosh's In an Antique Land. Extra-credit will also be given to those who attend any of the conference sessions and write me a 2-3-paragraph email in which they give their reaction to the session(s) and relate it/them to some aspect of the course. Extra-credit will be in the form of erasing one absence from your attendance record, improving your participation/preparation grade, or both, depending on the quality of the discussions and/or of your reactions. We will pick up the regular schedule for class on Monday; we'll be discussing the first 179 pages of Ghosh's work that day.
Also, the advice on observations and discussion questions page is now up and running. Feel free to consult it as you craft future listserv assignments.
9/12/01
Hey folks, I have to cut my office hours short today: 2-3:45 pm, instead of 2-5. Sorry--meeting! To make up for it, I'll be in the office from 3-4 Thursday.
8/30/01
I'll announce this in class tomorrow, but for those who find out that the course web site is up and running, please be aware that the instructions for subscribing to the class listserv on your syllabi left out one small but important detail (which I've corrected on this web site): when sending the command to the machine that handles subscriptions (listserv@listserv.fredonia.edu), it should read "subscribe engl2090x Your Name" [where x=7 or 8, depending on your section number]. Usually it figures out what your name is without your doing this (I didn't do it, and it knows my name), but in the odd instance, it replaces your name with one of those one-line ads that appear at the bottom of yahoo! users' email messages. To avoid this, give the machine your name! Thanks.
All the links are up and running except the ones that describe and explain the assignments in more detail. I didn't want to overwhelm you, and I have two other course websites to do this week, so I'll put those up ASAP. Check here for details.
OK, see you all tomorrow!
ENGL 209: Novels and Tales, Fall 2001
Created: 8/31/00 5:02 pm
Last modified: 12/20/01 4:54 pm