Check your email for a link to the paper with all my comments. Check Webct to see your grade on this and other assignments.

Here’s the film’s website, with links to learn more.

This is a brief screencast video I put together to illustrate some of the very basic PowerPoint techniques that give some people trouble. Please tell me if anything is unclear or if you have additional questions!

A number of people have asked me how to cite the page numbers from the Burnard book: “Do I want footnotes or are parentheses all right?” Normally in a history class I would ask for footnotes, but since this is not a research paper, all you need to do is put the page numbers in parentheses.

Now if you do use outside sources [besides class books and lectures] then you not only need footnotes but you should also have a bibliography page.

For more specific ideas on what I want, here’s the grading rubric I will use:

Confused about how to send me your paper using Mavspace? We’ll go over the directions in class, but I thought you might like to have a video explanation if you miss class or forget. Here’s the link to the video, which is 6 minutes long and includes written instructions, plus a live-screen demonstration.

On Tuesday 9/11 we’ll be talking about the first two chapters in Burnard’s book [see suggested reading schedule below.] Don’t forget to bring your book! Also, map quiz grades and last Thursday’s lecture are posted to WebCT.

This is a draft of the essay question on Burnard, Mastery, Tyranny, and Desire. This paper will be due to me electronically the afternoon of 9/25. What follows is NOT the final question, but conveys the general idea so that you can get the information you need as you read this book.

The final version of the question will give you more clues about what I’m looking for. It will also contain a “grading grid” so you can see the criteria I use when I evaluate your paper. I’ll post it on the blog, and we’ll talk about it in class.

Here’s the general gist of the coming question.

In reading about Caribbean slavery, we often ask ourselves “How could anyone do this to another person?” But we know that human beings have done (and, on the other end, survived) terrible things. The more historical question to ask is “Why?”. Why was the life of Jamaican plantation managers and enslaved people the way it was?

Write a 1,500 word essay answering this question, based on the evidence presented by Burnard in Mastery, Tyranny and Desire. You’ll also have a lot of information from my class lectures.

Here’s the upcoming discussion schedule for Burnard, Mastery, Tyranny, and Desire. Note that I’m assuming you can read two chapters over the weekend and one from Tuesday to Thursday. Give yourself about 2 hours to read each 35-page chapter. Write ideas and main points in your book so when you write the paper you won’t have to re-read it!

• Tuesday 9/11 Chapters 1 & 2
• Thursday 9/13 Chapter 3
• Tuesday 9/18 Chapters 4 & 5
• Thursday 9/20 Chapter 6
• Tuesday 9/25: Chapters 7 & 8

Paper will be due electronically that afternoon of 9/25

By the way — Jamaica Kincaid discussion grades are posted on WebCT.

Here is the sign-up results from the calendar grid I passed around in Tuesday’s class

HIST4369
9:30:00 AM; UH02
Show’n'tell signup Date
Barton,Jenn 4-Sep
Bates,Latoya ??
Cardenas,Mike 6-Sep
Connaughton,Jared 20-Sep
Czajkowski,Mary 13-Sep
Dixon,Erin Nicole 27-Sep-07
Ferguson,Andrew 25 Sep
Ferguson,Meggan 11-Sep
Gammon,Taylor 11 Oct
Hailey Jr,Charles 11-Oct-07
Huking,Lauren 13-Sep
Leigh,Cymary F 4 Oct
Magro-Malo,Mariela 16 Oct
Nance,Nick 23-Oct-07
Pelham,Kaylee N 16-Oct-07
Roberson,Jerroed 9-Oct-07
Serrano Jr,Richard 20-Sep
Walker,Genedra 18 Oct
Weiland,Tori 4-Oct-07
Mansfield, Chris 25-Sep-07
Miller, Trimeka 16-Oct-07
DeMaurao, Robert 18-Oct-07

ShowNTell schedule

Thanks to Jenn for being the first ‘Show’n'Tell’ presenter of the semester. She found an interesting photo, though I hope later ‘Show n’ Tell’ presenters will stay away from flcker and find sites with a variety of different motives for posting images from the Caribbean. That’s the real focus on the assignment — not what is the picture about, but why is it on the internet. Who posted and what were their motives. How do they view the Caribbean. this involves some interesting web-detective work — and I hope to see more of this in later presentations — and especially in your Powerpoint assignments!

Good discussion on Jamaica Kincaid! One point I wanted to be sure everyone understood was about her strategic use of ‘politeness’ in the book — she describes people as ‘rude’ rather than calling them racist. This is one example of the way she uses British colonial culture — a kind of ‘code of behavior’ borrowed from the British — to criticize them. Another ‘code’ that was imported to Antigua and used by Kincaid with devastating effect is the English language itself.

Thought you might enjoy this interesting but light article on conditions in Cuba, where electricity shortages are forcing the government to try to get people to get more modern refrigerators, replacing their old US Frigidaires from before the 1959 revoltuion.