Crédito Extra 2

Our second extra credit project is to see the River of Gold exhibit at UAM and write a review or reflection on the show, as we did with Buena Vista Social Club earlier this semester. Note that there are also interesting exhibits of Haitian painting and Mexican pottery now which should be well worth seeing.

Admission to the University Art Museum is free to UL Lafayette students, and it is worth going just to see the building and the fountain!

Essays should be about 225 words long, and will count to replace a poor grade or to strengthen weak records in in-class performance … or to help move you from B+ to A- at the end of the semester … or to help you get stellar letters of recommendation … or just to get you to a really interesting set of exhibits on an enjoyable part of the UL campus, and to practice more with Spanish!

20 marzo (jueves)-1 abril (martes)

El jueves 20 tenemos el segundo QUIZ (serio, para nota) y entregamos la primera composición. Las instrucciones para ambas actividades, como saben ustedes, están en Moodle y aquí.

El martes, primero de abril, hablaremos del quiz y de la composición. Entre el martes y el jueves comentaremos la introducción a Mundo Latino (BBC) y la unidad BKN Historia de Juan.

THEREFORE: if you want to get ahead over the break, read both the BBC piece and the BKN song / start on the exercises. BREAKDOWN OF ACTUAL HOMEWORK IS:

For Tuesday: a) Read the BBC piece. b) Answer in English or Spanish this question: what is is to be Latin / who is Latin? Write down a couple of meaningful sentences on this, based on the reading and, if you wish, on other information you may have. Bring this to class for discussion. c) Write, in Spanish, five good questions on or about the content of this article. It does not matter if you understand the entire thing 100%. 50%, for instance, is good enough. We will resolve doubts in class! Writing the questions in Spanish is for writing practice, and so that everyone will be ready for class and have something in common to discuss. All writing today is to be turned in – it is our quiz!

For Thursday: a) Listen to the song. b) Do the preterit/infinitive exercise, realizing that all words and verb forms here are fair game for a pop vocabulary quiz! c) Prepare and write down concrete material to use in this writing exercise, based on the song. We will actually *do* the exercise in small groups in class, but each person needs to do the research the instructions suggest and come prepared with very concrete ideas on how to write the story, what information to use.

Homework is Downsized!

WHAT HAPPENED THURSDAY IN CLASS? AN UPDATE FOR THE ABSENT

Thursday several people were absent from class and we had a relaxed day. First, we talked about this website. Next semester, should this class have all of its material on line, as now, or should it have a printed book? The general concensus was that a mix would be good: a storybook with vocabulary lists, and supplementary / grammar exercises from this site. I would be interested to know what anyone who was not there thinks, if you would like to express an opinion, since fall book orders are due soon.

In class we broke into small groups to discuss the conversation questions on immigration which had been assigned. This was to prepare in Spanish for the general discussion with the whole class which followed. That, in turn, was intended to introduce and contextualize the issues raised in the reading.

Of the reading assigned, we only had time to go over the general, short introduction and the “vivencia” Raíces profundas. People still have questions about this text and I would like to look at it briefly again on Tuesday. The short vocabulary quiz planned for Tuesday will be drawn from words in THIS TEXT ONLY - and those words are these:

CHICANO – ANGLOSAJON – BARRIO – SENDERO – MORENO – VIVENCIA – ASIMILAR – CORBATA – TRAJE – COMPARTIR – MANTENER VIVO – RAIZ – HERENCIA – BASTANTE – CONCIENCIA – ASUSTAR – LAZO – OBRERO – CAMPESINO – PERTENECER – CONSERVAR – SOBREVIVIR – RECHAZAR.

[Note: I also realized that there are two introductions in that BBC site - I meant for us to read the short one, but some people may have read the long one. If you are one of these people, don't worry, your time has not been wasted - I'm assigning it over spring break.]

WHAT ELSE WILL WE DO IN CLASS TUESDAY?

Tuesday we will also discuss the second reading planned for Thursday, Recién llegados. This, I have decided is enough reading; the rest of class Tuesday will be spent discussing composition topics and review for Thursday’s quiz.

COMPOSITION TOPICS (FOR THURSDAY) ARE (CHOOSE 1):

1. La historia de un inmigrante. (Tell an immigration story – yours or someone else’s – and comment on it. Was it sad, happy, fortunate, etc.? What would your hopes be for this person and/or for other immigrants? Use preterit, imperfect, subjunctive, and other appropriate verb tenses well!)

2. Una perspectiva sobre la inmigración. (You are a Presidential candidate. Explain your proposed immigration policy and explain how it will improve upon the present situation. Use expressions like “creo que,” “pienso que,” “es horrible que,” etc., with the appropriate verb forms, and use the future tense correctly as needed.)

3. El peor problema del mundo. (What is the world’s worst problem and why is this problem the worst? What impact will it have in/on our future? Use expressions like “no es verdad que,” “es un desastre que,” etc., with the appropriate verb forms, and use the future tense correctly as needed.)

4. Un desastre ecológico. (Describe a natural or ecological disaster, real or imaginary, and comment on it. What do you think and feel about the situation, and what implications do you think it has for the future?)

5. El mundo en 2050. (What will the world be like then? Will it be a utopia? What kind? An anti-utopia? What kind? A post-apocalyptic disaster area? What type? How did this situation evolve? Is it better or worse than 2008? Why? Note: this topic requires you to use verb tenses well – note that the past tenses, the present indicative, the future, and the present subjunctive will probably all appear.)

MATERIAL THURSDAY’S QUIZ COVERS IS:

- The songs OJALA QUE LLUEVA CAFE and DONDE JUGARAN LOS NIÑOS, and the associated grammar and conversation topics
- Our reading from the BBC program MUNDO LATINO.

THE QUIZ FORMAT WILL BE:

I. General Questions – to be answered in a sentence or two – on the general topics of discussion raised in the songs and the reading. They will resemble the questions in the exercises, and our general conversation questions (from last Thursday). At least some of the questions will elicit the use of the subjunctive and the future tenses. What I am looking for is coherent sentences with good use of verbs.

II. Reading comprehension – a short, slightly altered passage from one of our readings from the BBC (if you’ve done the readings carefully, you’ll recognize it) – with brief questions on comprehension / content.

Reading and Plans, Now-Spring Break!

Tarea para el jueves, 13 marzo:

En el sitio BBC Mundo Latino, leer:
1) La introducción, y familiarizarse con el mapa interactivo,
2) En “Vivencias,” Raíces profundas y Recién llegados.

Come to class prepared to ask questions on parts you did not understand, and to discuss the content, in Spanish!

We will discuss these readings and also work on formulating COMPOSITION topics – our composition is due March 20!

Tarea para el martes, 18 marzo:

En el sitio BBC Mundo Latino, leer en Figuras sobre CESAR CHAVEZ and EMILIO ESTEFAN. Come to class prepared to discuss the lives and the importance of these figures – in Spanish! – and ready to ask specific questions on the part of the reading you did not understand!

In class we will discuss these readings, and also review for Thursday’s QUIZ, as well as discuss progress on COMPOSITIONS.

This quiz is on the last two BKN units and on the immigration readings. You will be expected to use the grammar in context, and write on the topics that came up in relation to BKN and immigration.

El jueves, 20 marzo, se entregan las composiciones y se hace el quiz.  La tarea para las vacaciones es la unidad BKN La historia de Juan.

Actividades para el martes, 11 marzo

En clase:

+ tendremos un QUIZ sobre las formas del subjuntivo
+ conversaremos sobre este ejercicio de BKN [be prepared: do the exercise and print it out, I am picking it up!]
+ conversaremos sobre estos temas:

1.  ¿Cuál es el ’sueño americano’?
2. ¿Cuándo y cómo llegaron tus antepasados a los EEUU? ¿Sabes algo de su historia?
3. ¿Sabes algo de la historia de la inmigración de grupos culturales como: LOS SUECOS, LOS IRLANDESES, LOS CHINOS, LOS ACADIANOS [ACADIANS], LOS VIETNAMITAS, [otros...]?
4. ¿Por qué hay inmigrantes a los EEUU hoy?
5. ¿Cómo llegan los inmigrantes?
6. ¿En qué condiciones viven?
7. ¿Es bueno o malo para los EEUU que vengan inmigrantes?
8. ¿Qué futuro ve usted para la inmigración?

We will talk about these questions in small groups and then present our conclusions to the class! Come with ideas and vocabulary!

Future Tense Lagniappe

One of the things we are studying in the current BKN unit (with the song by Maná) is the future tense (used in sentences with the subjunctive). The Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, who spent a year at Columbia University in the early 1930s feeling alienated in the big city, has a famous poem in the future tense in which he looks forward to his upcoming trip to Santiago de Cuba, one of Nicolás Guillén’s settings. He calls it a “son.”

Here is the complete poem. Look at the sentence structure:

Cuando llegue la luna llena
iré a Santiago de Cuba,
iré a Santiago,
en un coche de agua negra.
Iré a Santiago.
Cantarán los techos de palmera.
Iré a Santiago.
When the moon is full [subjunctive]
I will go to Santiago in Cuba, [future]
I will go to Santiago, [future]
in a dark water car.
The palm tree roofs will sing. [future]
I will go to Santiago. [future]

Policy Reiteration

Gente – remember that:

1. Everyone can miss three hours of class (two class days, including their homework) for ANY reason, but that after that, absences affect your grade. This is because (a) class time is practice time, and participation counts, and (b) this is a skills building course – the reason things are to be turned in on time is that the following activities are intended to build on the previous ones.

2. Those three hours of class are your sick days. The only exceptions are (a) if you are an athlete or another type of university representative, in which case your director will have informed me ahead of time and you will have made arrangements for your absence, and (b) if you have a major emergency, e.g. a hospitalization, in which case the Dean of Students will inform me as soon as it happens so that we can begin to work together on a plan to keep you up to date. That, once again, is because this is a class, not a self-paced study course.

3. The alternative assignments are your way around this, since you can use them to substitute missed work or to make up for missed deadlines. Yes, these alternative and extra credit assignments are more difficult than the regular assignments. I point out that this is still generous. “But I was not feeling well, it isn’t fair!” is not a valid excuse in college!!!