Jolly good! (And other such nonsense)

PC notes for Thursday 9 July

1) Today in class we went through reading one in unit two. We also had a quick quiz on the vocabulary from unit one.

2) For homework, you need to finish all of the questions for reading one. You also need to make sure that you have emailed me your paragraph about urban exploration. (Some of you haven't done this yet.)

3) The outside reading for quiz #1 and the mid term exam will be Death of an Englishman, as the other book hasn't arrived yet. (Typical.) Make sure you have read up to chapter four by Wednesday next week. You can find the revised schedule here: Download PC2 Reading Outline Inside Reading Q3 09

4) Don't forget we have a make-up class tomorrow from 10.00 to 12.00. It's not optional.

PC Reading notes for Thursday 2 July

1) Today in class we went over the answers from the academic vocabulary list, and the answers for the reading from the book (Coober Pedy). We then went through the rest of Unit 1.

2) Homework for today (and the long holiday) is the following:

A) Read up to chapter 5 in the outside reading, Death of an Englishman. Make sure you can explain it, summarize it. Test yourself on it.

B) Go through the list of academic vocabulary. You need to focus on the words that you do not know. Then look at the words you know, but you can't use. You need to know the various forms of the words, and you need to know the different meanings. Yes, I know it's too much to remember in three weeks--but I want you to get started.

C) You MUST learn the words from Unit 1 of the coursebook: assume, create, emerge, environment, ethnic, immigrate, liberal, locate, notwithstanding, predict, similar, structure, technique, unique. (There will be a test next lesson.)

3) The dates for the quizzes have changed. The new quiz schedule is as follows:

Practice quiz #1, Thursday 16th July

Quiz #1, Thursday 23rd July

Quiz #2, Thursday 6th August

Practice quiz #2, Thursday 13th August

Quiz #3, Thursday 20th August

Quiz #4, Thursday 3rd September

Remember, we start testing the vocabulary in Quiz #1, which now comes on Thursday 23rd July (Thursday of week 4).

Creative Writing notes for Thursday 2 July

1) Last class today. We'll be going through the remaining stories, then finishing.

2) Grading will be as follows:

Coursework: 10%

Story 1: 20%

Story 2: 25%

Story 3: 25%

Attendance: 10%

Participation: 10%

3) Portfolios are due on Thursday next week. In your portfolios, you need the following:

a) All stories with all the drafts and notes you wrote. Indicate clearly which one is the final draft. (Which is the one I'm going to mark). Otherwise, I'll just take my best guess.

b) All your critiques of other people's stories. Notes, annotations on their drafts, formal critiques if you wrote them out (as I know a couple of you did at least once).

c) Any other coursework you have done during the term. Any coursework you handed to me during the course of the term is still with me. I haven't given it back--but I have read it. So if you've given something to me and you haven't got it back, then don't worry. It isn't lost; it's in my office at home. This category includes anything else you've done through the course; if your pen has touched paper or your fingers have touched your keyboard and it's at all related to creative writing, then put it in this section.

4) There's a lot of grading for me to do--and I can't do it quickly if I want to be fair (I start to lose my ability to discriminate between grades after one or two stories), so it's going to take me a long time to finish grading your work. Grades will be finished by 17th July--but it may be longer.

5) I want to create an anthology for this course (and for the courses for the past couple of years), so please send me your final drafts of all stories via email. I will post a notification on my blog when the anthology is done. I hope to get all of them finished during the summer holidays.

6) I'll be in my office tomorrow from 10.00 a.m. to around 2.00 p.m., so if you have any questions, come and ask me.

7) Please don't forget to email me final drafts of your stories.

8) You can find information for formatting final drafts here.

1) Last class today. We'll be going through the remaining stories, then finishing.

2) Grading will be as follows:

Coursework: 10%

Story 1: 20%

Story 2: 25%

Story 3: 25%

Attendance: 10%

Participation: 10%

3) Portfolios are due on Thursday next week. In your portfolios, you need the following:

a) All stories with all the drafts and notes you wrote. Indicate clearly which one is the final draft. (Which is the one I'm going to mark). Otherwise, I'll just take my best guess.

b) All your critiques of other people's stories. Notes, annotations on their drafts, formal critiques if you wrote them out (as I know a couple of you did at least once).

c) Any other coursework you have done during the term. Any coursework you handed to me during the course of the term is still with me. I haven't given it back--but I have read it. So if you've given something to me and you haven't got it back, then don't worry. It isn't lost; it's in my office at home. This category includes anything else you've done through the course; if your pen has touched paper or your fingers have touched your keyboard and it's at all related to creative writing, then put it in this section.

4) There's a lot of grading for me to do--and I can't do it quickly if I want to be fair (I start to lose my ability to discriminate between grades after one or two stories), so it's going to take me a long time to finish grading your work. Grades will be finished by 17th July--but it may be longer.

5) I want to create an anthology for this course (and for the courses for the past couple of years), so please send me your final drafts of all stories via email. I will post a notification on my blog when the anthology is done. I hope to get all of them finished during the summer holidays.

6) I'll be in my office tomorrow from 10.00 a.m. to around 2.00 p.m., so if you have any questions, come and ask me.

7) Please don't forget to email me final drafts of your stories.

8) You can find information for formatting final drafts here.

ERS section 7 notes for Thursday 2 July

1) Last lesson today.

2) Your grade will be calculated as follows:

Quizzes: 13% each, 39% overall

Assignments: 7% each, 21% overall

Final exam (two essays): 40%

3) Pass/Fail

You can pass if you:

a) Get an overall score of 70% or up.

b) Get a score on the final exam of 70% or up.

c) Are approved by majority vote in the meeting on Wednesday 15th July. The vote will be based principally on your final exam score.

4) Grades will be available from 12.00 onwards on Wednesday 15th July via email. Include your student number, name, and section number in the email. If any of those are missing, I won't tell you your grade. Don't phone me and ask (because the grades are on my computer, not in my head). Don't ask me about your friends' grades, because I won't tell you. If they want to tell you, they can.

And last, don't ask for the details of your grades (coursework score,e tc.) because I'm not going to tell you. Trust me, I've been teaching this course for a long time; if I think you should repeat it, I will have already checked your grade with other people (and they nearly always agree with me). Arguing with me about your score will only succeed in irritating me, and you'll still fail.

5) Final exam will be held from 8.00 to 9.50 on Monday 13th July, in room 1418/19. Do not be late. The exam starts at 8.00, which means you need to be there and ready by 7.45. I'm not going to wait for you, and I'm locking the door at 8.10

PC Reading notes for Wednesday 1 July

1) Hi all, and welcome to PC2 Reading for Quarter 3 of 2009. I'll be using this space to post files that may be useful for you, answers to some of the outside homework I set, and notes for the classes. I'm also going to post a summary of each lesson so that you can keep up with the course if you miss any lessons.

2) We have some cancelled classes this term, as I am still teaching at MUIC this week, we have the holidays next week, and then I have MUIC exams the week after. So, class is cancelled on the following days:

Monday 29th June

Monday 6th July

Wednesday 8th July

Monday 13th July

Wednesday 12th August

We will be having make up classes on the following days:

Friday 10th July, 10.00-12.00

Friday 17th July, 10.00-12.00

Friday 24th July. 10.00-12.00

Friday 7th August, 10.00-12.00

Friday 14th August, 10.00-12.00

3) The dates for the quizzes will be as follows:

Quiz 1 (25%): Thursday 16th July Thursday 23rd July

Quiz 2 (25%): Thursday 30th July Thursday 6th August

Quiz 3 (25%): Thursday 20th August

Quiz 4 (25%): Thursday 3rd September

On Thursdays when we do not have a quiz, we will probably have a practice/mock quiz.

4) A large part of your grade for this course comes from learning the words in the academic headword list. You can find a list of the words in the syllabus I gave you. You can find a list of definitions here: Download THE_ACADEMIC_WORD_LIST_definitions_2.

For the words in the list, you need to be able to do two things: (1) recognize the word and be able to give its meaning (passive understanding), (2) be able to choose the appropriate word to fill a gap in a sentence, or be able to use the word in your own language (active understanding). When you are learning the words, make sure that you can use them in a sentence, not just recognize the meaning.

You should start learning the words immediately. Do not wait until the end of term to start trying to learn them. Learning these words will also help you in your other classes at PC, not just reading.

You need to have learned all the words, from all six lists by the end of week 3.

Yup. You have three weeks to learn the lot. Get moving.

You can find revision exercises for the words here.

5) You also need to keep up to date with the outside reading for this course. Check your syllabus for how much of the outside reading you need to have read for each of the quizzes. The questions on the quizzes may be factual questions asking for specific information. Be warned. Read the book carefully.

6) Homework for today is to:

A) Finish the academic vocabulary word quiz I gave you in class

B) Go through the word list and divide it into three parts: words which you can use, words which you can understand but not use, and words which you do not understand. Email me the list as soon as possible.

C) Go through the first reading in the book (Coober Pedy) and answer the reading comprehension and the first group of questions.

EC1 notes for Wednesday 1 July

1) Last lesson today. I'm so sad.

2) Final exam is Monday 13th July from 8.00 to 9.50, in room 1504. Do not be late. The exams starts at 8.00. You need to be there by 7.45. I'm locking the door at 8.10.

3) Your final grades will be calculated as follows:

Narrative: 12.5%

Illustration 12.5%

Mid term: 20%

Compare/contrast: 12.5%

Classification: 12.5%

Final exam: 30%

Normal grade bands apply.

4) Grades will be available via email from 12.00 on Wednesday 15th July onwards. Include your student number, name, and section number in the email. If any of those are missing, I won't tell you your grade. Don't phone me and ask (because the grades are on my computer, not in my head). Don't ask me about your friends' grades, because I won't tell you. If they want to tell you, they can.

1) Last lesson today. I'm so sad.

2) Final exam is Monday 13th July from 8.00 to 9.50, in room 1504. Do not be late. The exams starts at 8.00. You need to be there by 7.45. I'm locking the door at 8.10.

3) Your final grades will be calculated as follows:

Narrative: 12.5%

Illustration 12.5%

Mid term: 20%

Compare/contrast: 12.5%

Classification: 12.5%

Final exam: 30%

Normal grade bands apply.

4) Grades will be available via email from 12.00 on Wednesday 15th July onwards. Include your student number, name, and section number in the email. If any of those are missing, I won't tell you your grade. Don't phone me and ask (because the grades are on my computer, not in my head). Don't ask me about your friends' grades, because I won't tell you. If they want to tell you, they can.

ERS 1 notes for Wednesday 1 July

1) Last lesson today.

2) Your grade will be calculated as follows:

Quizzes: 13% each, 39% overall

Assignments: 7% each, 21% overall

Final exam (two essays): 40%

3) Pass/Fail

You can pass if you:

a) Get an overall score of 70% or up.

b) Get a score on the final exam of 70% or up.

c) Are approved by majority vote in the meeting on Wednesday 15th July. The vote will be based principally on your final exam score.

4) Grades will be available from 12.00 onwards on Wednesday 15th July via email. Include your student number, name, and section number in the email. If any of those are missing, I won't tell you your grade. Don't phone me and ask (because the grades are on my computer, not in my head). Don't ask me about your friends' grades, because I won't tell you. If they want to tell you, they can.

And last, don't ask for the details of your grades (coursework score,e tc.) because I'm not going to tell you. Trust me, I've been teaching this course for a long time; if I think you should repeat it, I will have already checked your grade with other people (and they nearly always agree with me). Arguing with me about your score will only succeed in irritating me, and you'll still fail.

5) Final exam will be held from 8.00 to 9.50 on Monday 13th July, in room 1418/19. Do not be late. The exam starts at 8.00, which means you need to be there and ready by 7.45. I'm not going to wait for you, and I'm locking the door at 8.10.

1) Last lesson today.

2) Your grade will be calculated as follows:

Quizzes: 13% each, 39% overall

Assignments: 7% each, 21% overall

Final exam (two essays): 40%

3) Pass/Fail

You can pass if you:

a) Get an overall score of 70% or up.

b) Get a score on the final exam of 70% or up.

c) Are approved by majority vote in the meeting on Wednesday 15th July. The vote will be based principally on your final exam score.

4) Grades will be available from 12.00 onwards on Wednesday 15th July via email. Include your student number, name, and section number in the email. If any of those are missing, I won't tell you your grade. Don't phone me and ask (because the grades are on my computer, not in my head). Don't ask me about your friends' grades, because I won't tell you. If they want to tell you, they can.

And last, don't ask for the details of your grades (coursework score,e tc.) because I'm not going to tell you. Trust me, I've been teaching this course for a long time; if I think you should repeat it, I will have already checked your grade with other people (and they nearly always agree with me). Arguing with me about your score will only succeed in irritating me, and you'll still fail.

5) Final exam will be held from 8.00 to 9.50 on Monday 13th July, in room 1418/19. Do not be late. The exam starts at 8.00, which means you need to be there and ready by 7.45. I'm not going to wait for you, and I'm locking the door at 8.10.

Creative Writing notes for Tuesday 30 June

1) We're going through three more of the third stories today.

2) I've fixed the following times for seeing people: Friday 10.00 to 2.00. I'll be in my office, so just drop in if you have any questions. Sorry it's got to be on Friday, but I have research and PC classes in the afternoons.

ERS section 7 notes for Tuesday 30 June

1) Classification quizzes today. Don't be late.

2) I'll give you back your classification quizzes and assignments on Thursday.

EC1 notes for Monday 29 June

1) We're going through the content of your classification essays today.

2) Final drafts of this essay are due on Thursday 9th July in my in-drawer.

ERS section 1 notes for Monday 29 June

1) Classification quiz today. Don't be late.

2) I'll give you back your graded papers on Wednesday.

ERS section 7 notes for Thursday 25 June

1) Today in class you edited your practice classification quiz for grammatical errors, then I gave you a  list of things to look for on the content for your classification essays.

2) Homework for today is to rewrite/edit your classification essay. The final draft is due on Tuesday next week. You need a cover sheet, references page, blah blah blah, you know the drill by now.

Creative Writing notes for Thursday 25 June

1) Today in class we went through three more of your stories from the list here.

2) Homework for Monday: read through the next three stories, please.

EC1 notes for Wednesday June 24

1) Today in class we reviewed the outlines for your classification essay, then you drafted some/most/a tiny piece of the essay in class.

2) Homework for today is to finish the draft of your essay. Bring the draft with you to the lesson on Monday next week.

ERS section 1 notes for Wednesday 24 June

1) Today in class we looked at the grammar in your classification essays.

2) Homework for today is to rewrite your classification essay.

3) Classification quiz is next lesson. Don't be late.

Creative Writing notes for Tuesday 23 June

1) Today in class we looked at stories from the first three people listed in the stories post from Saturday. (Chinnavut, Ilada, Kittikanda.)

2) Story for this week was the one I handed out in class. Make sure you read it.

3) Homework for this lesson is to read through the next three stories on the list.

ERS section 7 notes for Tuesday 23 June

1) Today in class we had the practice classification quiz.

2) Homework for today is to finish your classification essay draft and bring it with you to the lesson on Thursday.

EC1 notes for Monday 22 June

1) Today in class we went through classification. We looked at classifying using a principle, and also classifying using a cluster of characteristics instead of a single principle.

2) Your homework for today is to choose a topic for your classification, research it, write an outline, and bring your outline with you to class on Wednesday (as well as your research). You will be writing the essay in class next lesson.

3) The examples we did from class are here: Download Classification of Horror Movies with principle and Download Classification of Horror Movies without principle

ERS section 1 notes for Monday 22 June

1) Today in class we went through the content for your classification essay, then we looked at the corrections for your practice classification essays from Wednesday last week, and we finished by going through one more of the classification essays you wrote on overhead projector transparency.

2) Your homework is to edit and rewrite your essay and bring the next draft in on Wednesday.

Creative Writing Third Story Drafts

So. A grand total of 1 (one) person sent me their draft of their third story. Jolly good. Looks like Tuesday is going to be a pretty short class.

Download Chinnavut

Edited to add: Some more people have sent stories--but I can't upload them as my internet connection is so poor. I'll add them on Monday.

Download Ilada

Download Kittikanda

Download Phoonsi's The Ring

Download Pochaporn

Download Sireerat

Edited to add: Ah, they're all rolling in now . . .

Download Ban

Download Honey

Download Nattaya

Edited to add: Slowly, slowly, but with all the cheery inevitability of the Titanic approaching the iceberg, we are nearing the end.

Download Mieke

Download Ivonna

Download Chanapun

Creative Writing notes for Thursday 18 June

1) Today in class we looked at more of your stories.

2) Just a reminder: final drafts of everything are due on the first day of final exams (Thursday 9th July).

3) You need to get the first drafts of your third stories to me as soon as possible.

ERS section 7 notes for Thursday 18 June

1) Today in class we went through the outlines for your classification assignments, and then you wrote the classification essay in class.

2) Homework for today is to finish the draft of your classification essay, type it, and bring it in with you for the lesson on Thursday next week. Remember that it needs to be detailed, and you need a minimum of four references.

EC1 notes for Wednesday 17 June

1) Today in class we went through and corrected the errors in your compare/contrast assignment. This assignment makes up 12.5% of your grade (as do all the class assignments).

2) Homework for today is the following:

A) Read through the classification unit in the book.

B) Think about your topic for your classification essay. In classification, you will be writing about classes or types of objects (dividing a group of objects into classes or types). The general topic for this essay is the same as it was for the last one, i.e., something drawn from the humanities or social sciences (or linguistics). You will need to have a topic, outline, and research by Wednesday next week, so start thinking about it now, and perhaps start your research over the weekend.

ERS section 1 notes for Wednesday 17 June

1) Today in class we went through one of your body paragraphs from last lesson on OHP, editing the language. Then you wrote a practice essay in class.

2) Homework for today is the following:

A) Email me your detailed outline as soon as possible. Then write the first draft of your essay. Bring it with you on Monday.

B) Correct the remaining errors from your contrast quiz/assignment. If you gave them to me today, you can pick them up from my out-drawer tomorrow morning. Bring them with you on Monday.

Creative Writing notes for Tuesday 16 June

1) Today in class we looked at more of your stories.

2) You need to get the first drafts of your third stories finished as soon as possible. I'd like to see them by the end of this week if possible. 

3) We have three weeks (including this week) left in the class. I'll be posting office hours when I'll be available for consultation in the last week.

4) Story for this week is the manuscript I gave you in class. This is in press, so do not circulate it. (Please.)

ERS section 7, notes for Tuesday 16 June

1) Today in class we looked at classification, and you wrote part of a classification essay.

2) Your homework for today is the following:

A) Read through the classification unit in the book (if you haven't already)

B) Choose a topic for your classification essay (general topic is art) and . . .

C) . . . research your topic, and then . . .

D) . . . write an outline. Bring it with you (and your research) to the lesson on Thursday.

E) Email me your finished body paragraph. By the end of today, please.

3) The example from class is here: Download Example classification

EC1 notes for Monday 15 June

1) Today in class you wrote your contrast essay under exam conditions.

2) I will return the essays to you next lesson, along with (I hope) your previous homework.

ERS section 1, notes for Monday 15 June

1) Today in class we reviewed your outlines for classification, then revised classification, and then wrote a classification body paragraph in class.

2) Your homework for today is to:

A) Rewrite the outline for your assignment. Make sure that you have a single main difference between the groups (your principle), and that you know what this difference is. You need to be able to tell me next lesson.

B) Finish the body paragraph from class today, type it, put it onto OHP, and bring it in for next lesson.

3) The example from class is here: Download Classification of drugs

Creative Writing notes for Thursday 11 June

1) Today in class we looked at some of your stories: those from

2) We'll be doing the same thing for next lesson. Make sure you have copies of the stories we are looking at, and make sure that those copies are annotated. I can (and will) give zero for participation to people who consistently fail to, you know, participate.

ERS section 7, notes for Thursday 11 June

1) Today in class we corrected your contrast assignments and quizzes.

2) The contrast quiz is worth 13% of your grade; the contrast assignment is worth 7% of your grade.

3) We'll be starting classification next week. Please read through the classification unit in your textbook.