embedding trial

Baltimore's a Shithole: On the prep school / inner city divide in Baltimore

Please read the following Gawker article, "Baltimore Is a Shithole": Undisturbed Peace at the Maryland Hunt Cup," and respond to it in 6-10 sentences. Please use at least one direct quotation from the article in your response.

Delancey Street Fire Reporting 1842

Using any and all technology at your disposal, your assignment is to copy every word from The New York Herald's, The New York Tribune's, and The New York Aurora's articles on the Delancey Street Fire from their April 1, 1842 editions. (The Article's must appear in separate Google Docs, which you share with me.

Whitman, the Ad Man

Watch the following advertisements using Walt Whitman's words (one, at least, his actual voice) and relate the advertisements back to his poetry and other writings. Do you think Whitman would approve of the advertisements? Why or why not? Do you approve of the advertisers using Whitman's poetry in their ads? Why or why not? Whitman's writing is so old—So, why are these corporations, who are certainly marketing to your generation, using Whitman? What does this say about Whitman and his writing? Please use at least one direct quotation from your readings in your response. Your post should be 6-10 sentences long and should agree or disagree with an earlier post from one of your peers.

Early American Journalism Post

After reading through the journalism readings from "Covering America" write a 6-10 sentence response to how and why you think Franklin's approach to journalism developed from "cautionary" to one that embraces openness and critique. Other things to consider: Why is his emphasis on "fair play" so important to American Journalism? Do you relate to this idea of open, direct communication or do you relate more with the cautiousness of Franklin's earlier approach? Which approach do you see here at Proctor?

Walt Whitman's New York Aurora Post

After reading over one issue of the New York Aurora (Clink the LINK)(from either March 16, March 23, or April 1 1842), I'd like you to reflect in a meaningful and substantial way (20 sentences or so) on what you take away from engaging with a newspaper from the 1840s. (It may take a few minutes to load the link, but it's worth it… Check out one copy of this old newspaper!) What insight(s) does this experience give you into daily life in 1840s New York City? How does reading this newspaper change the way you view the time period? How is this newspaper different from the newspapers of today? How does Whitman's contribution fit into the overall experience of the newspaper? Please use at least two direct quotes (if not five!) in your response. Please, also, response to something said earlier in the comments stream. The purpose of this exercise is to provide you with a window into early American life, and into the early writings of Walt Whitman. The more you engage with the newspaper and with each others' thoughts, the more you will get out of the exercise.

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How to find Whitman's writing:

• March 16th edition:  Page 2, column 2: "Life in a New York Market"
• March 21rd edition: Page 2, column 2: "The Last of Lively Frank"
• April 1st edition: Page 2, column 2: "Scenes of Last Night"

**In addition to Whitman's column, please make sure that you look through the rest of the issue. You do not have to read every word in the edition; however, I'd like you to read through a good portion of the edition. Please get a good feel for the newspaper as a whole, and get a sense of how this newspaper of the 1840s differs from newspapers of today.

More Effective Speeches

Listen to the at least THREE of the four following speeches and, in the comments stream, argue which one you like the best. Discuss all three of the speeches in your comments. Refer also to the "How to Give a Great Speech" article and the Aristotelean Triad - Logos (the argument or ideas presented by the speaker), Pathos (the emotional appeal of the speech), Ethos (the moral fortitude or sense of the speaker's authority on a subject) in your post. To which of these modes of persuasion does your favorite speech to refer most? How does your favorite speech follow (or break) the rules laid out in the "How to Give a Great Speech" article.


"If I Should have a Daughter" by Sarah Kay

"Schools Kill Creativity" by Ken Robinson

"Looks Aren't Everything: Believe me, I'm a Model" by Cameron Russell

JK Rowling's Harvard Commencement in 2008