Hist 1301 March 31_2020 Live Session

All right well welcome everyone.

I'm hoping that this will be a as close to as we can in class.

So, I'm going to try our best to get
through this.

It looks like I've got most people here.

So I see a lot of participants online.

So in this format I'm going to be able to
present some videos.

And we'll get to that stuff.

Slideshows, cause I'll be going over the
slideshows today.

I'm really going to spend the first part
just talking about kind of how the course

is going to go.

Moving forward in these new conditions
we find ourselves in.

And I'll be trying to address any
questions moving forward.

And then I'm going to go over the essay
today because that's coming up.

And the essay is going to be a little
easier, it's a little more self study

and working on your own anyways.

So hopefully that'll be something you'll
be able to get accomplished pretty easily

through this format.

But we'll talk a little bit about that
right now.

But, start with, let's talk a little bit
about how this course is going to look.

Hopefully everybody was able to find the
updated schedule, the calendar.

Which I'm kind of holding here in front,
but you can also get that through the

course calendar or through Blackboard,
I'm sorry.

And be able to pull that down.

I have changed the dates on there so the
analytical essay is now due on April 6th,

at 11:59 p.m. instead of the original
date, which was March 30th.

So with that just be aware of that new
change of date so that you're ready for

that, but I'll talk more about the essay
today.

Other things to take note on this
calendar, course calendar change

was the third unit exam is going to be
moved to April 20th.

Makeup for the weeks we've lost a whole
week of lessons.

And then the final or the fourth unit
exam will be on May 13th.

That's all on your updated course
calendar.

And then for the unit exams, let me just
talk about the unit exams so that you'll

understand. Because the way I made the
exams was supposed to be taken in class,

with a proctor.

So it's designed that way, and I'm not
really able to keep the same format.

But I did come up with a way that I think
will hopefully still meet the objectives

of the course without putting too much
strain on you as a student.

Cause I know not all of you joined in for
this type of format.

You signed up for a face to face lecture.

And of course, with these circumstances
we find ourselves in, we're going to have

to try to adjust to this new format.

As you might have just heard my dog bark
in the background, you may hear some

things in the background from time to
time going by so.

Let's see here, what else?

But for the unit exams, because I have to
change it, it's going to be more written

style. The multiple choice questions won't
really work because they're designed to

be taken in front of, in class, so I don't
want to be compromised and then I'll

have to rewrite all the questions.

And they only really work when you're not
in that kind of setting.

So instead I'm going to move to more of an
essay style questions.

I kind of wrote that up in my announcement,
but just to kind of explain it again.

You're going to be given four groups of 3
terms.

So basically, that sounded confusing just
when I said it [chuckles].

So basically, you're going to have 3 terms
and out of those 3 terms you've got to

select one.

You select one term and you write on that
term.

You define it, you give me two
significants to that term.

So like an impact it had, and so forth.

So define it and give me two significants.

So three main things you want to do with
that term.

But you get to select out of three.

So I'll give you a choice of 3 and you just
select one and write on that one.

And then you'll do that 4 separate times,
so you'll have another group of 3,

then another group of 3, and then another
group of 3.

So then and then you'll do that four
separate times.

Let me see here, and then for the essay.
What you're going to do for the essay.

You're going to get 2 essays and you're
going to choose from one of the two

essays and write out an essay.

And all these, the terms and the essays,
they're all going to be based off of

learning objectives.

And here's something else, it's going to
be an open book, open note.

So you're going to be able to use your
textbook and use your notes,

nobody else's notes.

So that's going to, it's going to help
with developing your answers,

but at the same time do not just depend
on your open book or your open notes,

cause you're only going to have an hour
and 20 minutes to complete the exam.

So you need to come in already knowing
material because it's going to make it

easier for writing it out. You're not
going to be able to sit there and

learn it and then write on it in an hour
and 20 minutes.

That's why I put that time limit on there
because I don't want you to sit there and

learn it in the moment and write on it.

I want you to come in with it already an
understanding and then be able to write

on it, but at least you'll have your notes
to be able to formulate your ideas.

All right I do have a question here.

So the exams will be taken all at the
same time, same day or on your own time?

No the exams, when you initially take it,
will be taken during this class time.

But we'll, everybody will be taking it at
the same time on the same day at the

same time.

So, for instance, the third unit exam is
on April 20th.

So, everybody will access the Blackboard,
the exam will then populate.

It won't be there until the time, and once
it populates everybody will be able to see

the exam. You'll be able to take it,
everybody will be able to take it

at the same time.

And then it'll come offline at the end of
the time period.

So it'll be designated time period right
there that you'll be taking it.

Okay.

And the reason why I do that is because
it keeps it all together.

So what about unit 2 retake, what are
we going to do about that.

That's a good question, good question.

Unit 2, it's going to be in the new format
because obviously I can't give you the old

exam.

So I am right now developing my unit 2,
and it's going to be somewhat of a

practice to make sure this works, but at
the same time give the students a chance

to restest unit 2.

So, I will be putting that exam out at the
end of this week.

And then I will send out an email letting
everybody know that the time will be on

there.

So that way it'll give you an opportunity
to go and try this new format,

but at the same time give you an
opportunity to get some points back

into the exam.

That also goes for any other student who
would like to go, once the instructions

out, if you want to go look at the unit 2
exam while it's out there, go ahead and

see what it looks like, practice doing it.

You won't be able to get anymore points
if you're already above a 70 for unit 2,

but at least it'll give you an opportunity
to see what the exam looks like so you can

prepare for the unit 3 exam.

So you can do that also.

[Interpreter inaudible] Thanks.

[Professor] You're welcome.

Okay, any other questions right now about
the course calendar, how we're moving

forward?

I know this isn't ideal.

[Student] I just, hi, how are you? I just
have a quick question.

The analytical essay, I still don't have a
book so I don't know. Sorry.

[Professor] No, you're fine, you said
about the analytical essay.

[Student] Yes, I have no book still.
[Professor] Okay, you do not have a book

to write the analytical essay?

[Student] Yeah, that's my question.

[Professor] Okay, um let me see here.
[Second student] Maybe I can,

I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt maybe
yeah maybe I can help with that.

So, before this whole thing happened with
the school I actually went to the library

to go get one of my books and they said
that if you just go to the ACC website

and select Library, you just type in the
name of the book, sometimes they have

an electronic copy on there. It's the full
book, just an electronic copy.

And that's technically how I'm doing my
analytical essay so that might be what

helps.

[Professor] Oh okay.
[Student] Okay.

[Professor] Okay good and if you still
have further questions you can always send

me an email and I'll try to send you to a
link cause they, what was I going to say.

I have some information from the library
on how to access some stuff.

So feel free to also, with that same
question, please do send me an email so

I can do that.

All right good any other questions,
thoughts?

Once you get done with your questions,
please don't forget to mute yourself again,

just cause background noise will make it
hard to hear.

Okay great thanks.

[Professor] Okay, all right, if there is
no other questions about.

Moving forward I'm going to talk about the
essay now.

Okay, if you want to follow along, I'm
going to be talking about the essay out of

the syllabus on page 4 of the syllabus so
you kind of have that out there in front

of you, it might be able to help guide
you in seeing this.

All right, so just to start off with, to
give you an idea of what this assignment

is about.

It is an analysis, it's not a research
paper.

So make sure that you understand you're
not doing research, you're just analyzing

the book that you have chosen.

So make sure that you understand that it's,
I'm not expecting a research paper.

Because really, what I see when it comes
to a 1301 first level course, I'm mainly

looking for you to be able to analyze
somebody else's work because before you

can actually write your own research, you
really need to be able to analyze somebody

else's research.

So, that's why I do this particular
assignment and analyzing a historical

monograph, a book that a historian has
written about an event or about their

particular argument.

So that's the basis of this assignment, is
to analyze the book.

So keep that into focus, you'r not doing
research you're analyzing.

All right, so then when you go through
that you're going to answer those seven

questions that I have in the syllabus.

What I am going to do now, I am going to
share my screen real quick so I can kind

of show you where to go for the, let
me try this because like I said this is

all new technology so let me see if I
can share this screen.

Hopefully it doesn't cut all this stuff
off but.

Let's see here.

Okay, here is the quick screen, this is
your course.

So you're going to find the information
over here on the course documents.

So if you click on course documents,
you're going to find all the information

for writing out this essay right here in
the analytical essay section, okay?

So there's one of the things you can see
there, was the book list to choose from.

But the second thing here is the sample
essay.

So if you select on that sample essay
and pull it up, you'll be able to see the

sample essay, which I will pull up for you
so I can show you that also.

Give me just one second here.

All right, I'm going to try to show this
sample essay real quick.

Here's the sample essay so make sure you
follow this format.

So it says last name up in the top right
corner, make sure you put that in there.

Put your name in there, this is MLA.

So this is a standard MLA format.

Let's see here as I look on here, oh yeah,
so follow that heading, and it says

put my name, put the course number right
there, and then for the date it's the date

the assignment is due.

So right here as I'm, with my cursor here
you can see where the date shown.

So make sure you put the date that is due.

Here is the key thing here, where my
cursor sits right now, you'll notice that

this, and I'll highlight it, this is the
MLA citation for the book.

This is the MLA citation for the book.

So you put that as the title, MLA citation
as the title, okay?

And just follow the standard MLA format,
Last name, first name, title of the book,

italics, publisher, date it's published.

And put that as the title, I don't need
any other title, not a sample title,

or anything along those lines, just put
that as the title.

Just follow this format, it's already in
the format, so just follow this,

just put your information in there and is
very easy to do that.

So just use this sample essay, and just
follow that format.

And then, I'm just scrolling through it
right now just to show you how long

the sample essay is.

Read it, read the essay. Get an idea of
how this particular student answers the

questions.

Let me go ahead and stop sharing that for
a moment so we can get back to the other

screens.

Okay, so follow that sample essay.

And it's going to be your format, just use
that as your sample.

Read it to make sure that you can see
how, this is a good essay.

I'm not going to put a bad essay out there
[chuckles], so make sure that you read

through it and it's a good way to answer
these seven questions.

All right, are there any questions so far?

Okay attempting to upload is tough, I copy
and pasted my essay.

Cut and paste it into, are you talking
about into Blackboard?

Okay, yeah, you can do that, it should be
pretty easy here.

I mean if you go to Blackboard, you should
be able to upload it pretty easily as a

Word doc, or as a Adobe PDF.

So you should be able to do that, since
we're talking about that.

How long does it actually have to be?
That was just asked.

In the syllabus it says 900 words.

So the analytical essay needs to be at
least 900 words.

So paragraphs wise, you're look at seven
questions so actually about 7 paragraphs

probably.

[Interpreter] So minimum 900 or max 900?

[Professor] Minimum 900 words.

All right so minimum 900 words, but
maximum, if you're looking at that I

wouldn't go more than 2,000 words.

If you're going beyond 2,000 you need to
be able to be more concise.

Like the sample essay I gave you, if you
looked at that, I think it's about 1,000

words, thereabouts.

Okay, you don't have Word, PC, can we
upload more than one and attempt to

fix the first upload?

Yes, you have unlimited uploads and I will
take whichever one is the one that works

in your upload.

And you should be able to, if you can get
Google Docs you should be able to use

that, and you can download PDF.

Okay good, somebody said yeah, change the
doc to a PDF and save it as one.

Okay, good.

So yeah you can upload a PDF or a Word
doc, either one.

And actually PDF works really well.

So don't be afraid to upload it as a PDF.

All right good any other thoughts before
we move forward?

Okay, now I'm just going to open up a
discussion about the questions themselves.

So let's just kind of run through the
questions and kind of give you an idea of

things I'm expecting for these questions.

All right so for number 1, who is the
author? What is their thesis?

So that's what we're looking at first.

So take that question and basically
answer it, with who is the author.

So kind of start off telling me a little
bit about the author.

Don't give me the full history of the
author, you know where they're born,

things like that.

I'm more focused on the author's
credentials, so find out who the author's

credentials are.

Usually it's in the book, they usually
have a section about the author.

So read that up, look at the credentials.

Because whenever you read anything, and
this goes for anything you read online,

you've got to find out who is the author,
right?

Where are they coming from, and that's
all I'm looking at is for you to find out

who the author is.

So look that information up, and find out
that information and give it.

You don't have to write a bunch on who
the author is, just a sentence or two

along the credentials of the author, just
so I know you know.

Then go in about what is the thesis.

So, the thesis, I'm talking about the
argument.

Tell me what the argument is, explain it
in your own words, don't just cut and

paste what it is, just explain it in your
own words.

Don't quote it.

Really, in this whole essay, I don't
really expect any quotes.

So don't be quoting everything, this is an
analysis, I want your own words.

So don't be quoting a bunch of stuff.

Instead just paraphrase it, put it in your
own words and explain the thesis.

And then also add in the main points.

So for example, if you're reading a book
on Teddy Roosevelt.

The book was going in and saying, arguing
that Teddy Roosevelt's childhood impacted

and made Theodore Roosevelt the person
that he was.

That's their argument, but what are some
of the main points?

They might be talking about how sick he
was, and his sicknesses made him stronger,

and that he learned from his parents and
maybe it was some of the experiences

as a child that brought them out.

Those are the main points, so make sure
you bring those up too.

Don't just say his childhood impacted him.

Give more of that idea and basically
explain that the main points.

So what about the childhood, what are
those main points.

Don't go through the whole thesis, but
give me a good overview with those

main points.

And that should be your first paragraph,
tell me who the author is, explain the

thesis, and give me some of those main
points about the thesis.

That should be the first paragraph.

And then next, for number 2 and 3, this
is where it could be a little confusing,

When you have, talking about the proof,
and the research sources.

Okay, so when we're talking about proof,
just like to give you a good idea what I'm

talking about with proof, I'm talking
about just like if you were watching a law

show, everybody likes Law and Order and
all the various lawyer shows that are out

there right now.

The lawyers have to prove their case,
right? So they have to bring in proof.

So if they're trying to prove that
somebody committed a crime,

they have to give the narrative of how
they committed that crime.

They can't just say they committed it.

Well, how did they do it?

So they prove it, and that's what a
historian does too, they're going to prove

that Teddy Roosevelt childhood impacted
him, they've got to give out some proof.

So they're going to talk about whether he
was sick, what his experience was as a

child, things like this could prove it,
right?

And that's what I want you to do, I want
you to pull out at least two specific

examples of that, and put that in your
essay, in your analysis.

Okay, about the proof.

And so for instance, with the childhood,
just some of the things I talked about,

maybe he was sick so tell me the story
about how the author showed he was sick.

Pneumonia, how sick was he, how extensive
it was, things like that you know?

Use some good, specific detail to show me
that you really understand that proof.

And do two of them, just two of them, I'm
not asking for a lot, but two of them so

that it gives me a good idea that you
understand what the proof is and how it

impacts the thesis.

And then that ties, kind of, directly into
3, now I'm going to ask you about the

research source material.

So question number 3, the research source
material, what I'm asking about for that

is that, for instance, the court case.

You're trying to prove somebody committed
a crime, and you're saying that they were

there at this particular time, what source
material do you have?

That might be a witness, right?

So a witness is witnessing that that
person was there at that time and saw them

doing this crime, that's the source, okay?

Tell me about the source.

So in this particular case, with Teddy
Roosevelt and his childhood, how would we

know that he was sick?

Probably medical records, right?

Or maybe the mom had wrote a long letter
to an aunt or a relative explaining how

sick Teddy Roosevelt was.

These are, that's the source.

So maybe it was a letter, maybe it was
medical records.

Whatever it may be pull out those sources
and show me how the author used that

source to then develop his proof.

And then how that helps the thesis.

All right, so question 1) Thesis, 2)
The Proof, 3) The Source Material,

that's going to be the bulk of your essay
that's going to be probably the most

you're going to write about is those
first three.

Cause it's going to take a lot to get
through that and put all that in.

So that's going to be the bulk of your
essay, those first three questions.

But in doing that, also make sure you are
not writing in first person, answering

those first three questions because you
want to make sure you keep it,

yourself out of it, cause you're just
analyzing the research material.

Once you start using the words "I" and
"we" and things like that it starts to put

a bias on it, you don't want to do that
you're just analyzing.

So keep that out of those first three
questions.

Now questions 4, 5, 6 and 7 you can start
using I, because I'm going to be asking

your particular opinion, okay?

So that you can start using I, but for
1, 2 and 3, just try to keep yourself out

of it, and look at it from a third person
point of view.

All right, are any questions on 1, 2 and
3, I know those can be a little confusing.

Before I go on I'll allow a chance for
anybody to type up a question.

Or you can speak right through your mic.

I'll just pause for a moment, just allow
people to type if they need to.

How many research or sources do you need?

All right, so with that question probably
talking about with the proof and the

specific resource material, I need two
examples of both those.

So two examples of proof, and then two
examples of the research material.

Now you yourself do not have to go out and
get any resource material because you're

not researching, all you're doing is
analyzing.

So, I don't have a, I don't know how easy
it is for you to see on the screen there.

Hang on let me get a book.

Maybe this can kind of help.

Here is one particular book, I don't know
how easy it is for you to see it on your

screen, but when you go into the book,
this is Embattled Rebel about

Jefferson Davis.

And the back of the book, I don't know how
easily you can see that, there are notes

pages.

So it tells you exactly where they get
their source material from.

It might mention a journal, it might
mention a newspaper article.

It might mention whatever, but it's going
to give you the exact location of where

this is being talked about in the actual
chapter.

If you go to the actual chapters, you can
see that at the end of the paragraphs they

have a little superscript, a little number
that corresponds with the notes that

are in the back of the book. And it'll
tell you exactly where they got their

quotes, where they got their information
from.

So you can tie that number to the back of
the notes page and it will tell you

exactly what they got their information
from.

So that's kind of how you're teaching it.

How much detail you're wanting from the
source material?

Are you expecting us to cite the source?

No, the only thing you're citing is at the
beginning of the essay.

You're going to be citing the book itself,
so whatever book we chose,

you're going to only cite that.

So you don't have to cite this stuff in
the book.

All I want, all you're doing is just
showing me that you connect the

source material to the thesis or to
their argument.

And how they're using that.

So if they're using a journal or they're
using Teddy Roosevelt's mother's diary

or something, that's significant.

That shows me they did their research,
and they did it well.

So I'm not expecting you to cite any
sources in there, all you're doing is

talking about them.

Hope that helps, does that help?

Additional questions?

Okay, well good so for questions 4, 5, 6
and 7,

for number 4, Was the book written so
that you could understand it?

So that one, like I said, is more specific
to you so you can start using I.

And starting to talk about how the book
related to you.

Like how well did you understand it?

Was it written in a format that was easy
to follow?

Was it in chronological order, did the
author jump around?

Just some things to think about, don't
always, sometimes when I say this that's

all the students talk about. Think about
other things that helps the book for

you to understand it.

Just think about it, how the book came
across to you, was it easy to follow?

Was it easy to understand?

And then just give examples, go into a
little more detail.

Don't say oh yeah, well it was great, it
was easy to understand and then move on.

So tell me, why was it easy to understand,
what made it easy?

And then explain that.

And then number 5, Is there a question or
a subtopic you wish the author had

addressed or addressed in more detail?

So in this one, just sit back and think
about the book a little bit.

I mean, you probably selected this book
for a reason, besides that it was on the

list of books, but you had a lot of
choices so you probably maybe wanted to

learn more about this particular topic.

So you probably went in with some
questions, did all those questions get

answered? Was there something you thought
the author should have addressed and

should have talked about?

So give me that information and, or was
there something maybe the author brought

up at one point and you never thought they
ever completed that thought.

So just think of one, I'm not asking you
to do all of it, just think of something

and talk about that particular topic or
subtopic that you think the author should

have gone either into more detail on, or
didn't bring up at all and should have.

And don't just say the author did
everything perfect,

because I want you to think deeper.

Come up with something, be critical, this
is part of that process,

the critical thinking and analysts,
analyzing.

So go deeper, get critical with it and
pick out something, okay?

Cause this is really the great question
that allows me to see your critical

thinking, that's why I have it in there.

All right and number 6, Does this book,
the book you selected and the textbook,

this book here, when they talk about the
same topics are they the same?

Do they agree with one another? Do they
disagree? Are they off from one another?

Just do a compare and contrast with those
particular topics and be able to give me

that for question number 6. And did they
come up with the same conclusion?

And then give me a little bit of your
insight on that, does that tell us a lot

about this book? Do we know a lot about
that topic then because both of these have

the same conclusion. Or are they
different?

What does that mean about our
understanding of this topic?

So just think about those things when
you answer that particular one.

And then the last one, Would you
recommend this book to another student

or teacher? Why or why not?

That ones pretty self explanatory, just
give me your ending thoughts on this

particular book.

To go back for number 6, if your topic
is not in The American Promise,

like for some reason you can't find it in
there, then tell me why you think that it?

Why do you think one historian decided to
write a whole book on it,

while The American Promise decided to
omit it?

What does that say about this particular
history, just give me your thoughts on that.

Don't just say it's not in there.

Give me your thoughts, what does that
mean?

But most of the topics are, so I did very
few, and I know what topics those are.

So you'll come across those, but most of
all, the other topics are addressed in

The American Promise.

Very few of them are not.

All right, so are there any thoughts so
far? Questions?

Okay.

All right, so with that you are going to
turn in the essay.

So I am going to go back briefly to the
Blackboard so I can click on where you're

going to be able to turn in the essay so
you can see the process of doing that.

So you know where to click and everything
like that so just give me a moment.

I want to share this so you can kind of
see where to click on, just a moment.

Okay, so you will then obviously click on
Turn in Analytical Essay.

Click on that, then you will click on
Analytical Essay.

And when it pops up, you go in to the
Browse my computer, and you can upload it.

But as we talked about earlier you could
actually, I think, somewhere in here you

can write your submission, if you click
on this you could cut and paste it in

there, which is as a last resort, you
could do that under the right submission.

But browse My Computer, you click on that,
you'll just upload either a Word doc

or PDF into that area, and then you just
click on submit down here in the right

corner, just like that.

Bring it back up.

All right, so that's how you turn it in,
very simple process by just clicking on

the Turn in Analytical Essay.

Pretty self-explanatory, but I just want
to make sure everybody can see where

that was.

Let's see anything else I can think of?

All right, instructions, turn in, okay.

And of course in the instructions talk
about a paper copy, don't worry about that.

Obviously you're not going to be able
to do the paper copy under these

circumstances, so as long as you upload
into an electronic format, that'll be good.

I'm not going to worry about the
paper copies.

If I need to print them, I will.

I'm hoping to not have to print them,
cause that's going to be a lot of paper

to print up, but I'm not used to grading
on Blackboard so we're going to see how

this goes.

All my grading is going to be a lot
slower, I know I'm a little faster in

getting stuff out there, but I will be
taking care of that,

just bear with me when it comes to the
grading, it's going to take a little

longer, but I will get through everything.

And I did just see a question about
retaking the map test.

I am working on all the retakings,
particularly the map test, I'm struggling

on exactly how to do that, so just bear
with me.

I'll be sending out instructions to
students who do need to retake the

map test, or had not taken it yet at all,
cause there are some that have not taken it.

I will send those instructions to those
students specifically on what we're going

to do, but I'm still working on that,
brainstorming.

So if you have a good idea or thoughts on
it, feel free to shoot me something.

I'm willing to take different ideas.

That is in my thoughts so don't worry
about that.

All right, any other thought?

Can we use the textbook as one of the
sources?

Are you talking about sources for what
in particular?

The analytical essay.

It will, yeah, and you do not have to
write it as a source.

I know for the analytical essay you're
going to be using the textbook to compare

and contrast, so you don't have to cite it
or anything,

I already know you're using it.

If that's what you're wondering about,
you don't have to use it.

And don't use it as one of the research
for courses.

But you will be comparing it.

There should not be a works cited unless
you go off of the textbook.

[Interpreter] I don't know what happened,
we're switching interpreters. Am I here?

[Professor] Yeah she says she can see it
yeah.

Okay, [chuckles] all right, are there any
other questions, thoughts?

Okay, the last thing I'm going to talk
about is kind of,

I always get the question of the writing
styles that I grade for or how much I pay

attention to grammar and things like that.

So I do want to address that so you can
have an idea of what I'm going to be

looking for.

One of the things you can do, there is the
out on Blackboard, under the course

documents, if you're still on Blackboard
at the same time as you're watching the

screen you can go look there is a Power
Point slide that says

Writing skills for ACC.

If you download that Power Point, you'll
see some information about passive voice.

So let me, I'm going to display this
slideshow real quick, and you can see it's

going to be just a list of passive voice
verbs.

So when we're talking about passive voice
just take a look at these verbs.

Let me share it very quickly so you can
see what I'm talking about with passive

verbs.

So right here, is just a list of the
passive voice verbs.

So just look at it so you understand what
those passive voice verbs are.

I'll stop sharing that for a minute.

So what I'm talking about with the passive
voice verbs, you can see the list there,

is just reduce your use of those.

So those are words like is, was, were,
you can see those common passive voice

verbs on the screen, all right?

So just avoid using those, because what it
should do, when you do your writing.

It should be basically subject, verb,
object.

Subject verb object.

Yeah I just had a question here, are you
going to be screen sharing so we can

see the PowerPoint slides in future
lectures?

Yes, I plan on using the PowerPoints as
much as possible, so yeah I will be going

back and forth from Power Points.

So I will have, when we talk about the
learning objectives, I am going to have

the PowerPoints on there to be seen.

Just so to answer that question.

All right so with the passive voice, what
I'm referring to, for instance,

let me give you an example of an easy
sentence,

The fly was eaten by the frog.

We say it like that, the fly was eaten by
the frog, the frog is the actual subject.

So you want to change that and move the
frog to the front of the sentence.

So instead, you say, The frog ate the fly.

It's a lot easier, it's a lot more simpler,
it's a quick, easy sentence.

Instead of saying the long version and
saying the fly was eaten by the frog.

You can say the frog ate the fly.
Boom [chuckles]

It's just much more simpler to write out
sentences that way.

And I'm just trying to help students write
a more active.

When you're writing more active, it does
make it easier on the readers.

So not reading all those wases and isis
and ares, and things like that.

So keep that in mind when you're writing.

Okay, I'm going to kind of give you,
there's two examples out on that

Power Point slide.

Let me jump back to the Power Point slide
just very briefly and you're going to see

two examples of passive voices, one
passive and then one corrected.

So I'm going to show you how you can
correct it.

Okay, well this is the first sentence, so just kind of read it.

And you see the passive portion is where it says were explicitly described.

So you want to change that, you do not want to say were explicitly
described.

So instead you take Hammurabi's code and you move it to the front.

And I'll show you that, here's an example.

Here's the corrected, this is the corrected.

So you can see now, it says Hammurabi's code explicitly described.

You get rid of the were and just move who's doing the describing into the front of the sentence.

This just reads so much better and if you practice, this will make your writing

more active and easier to read.

So as you move further into your academic career, this will help you, this will

benefit you, if you can write less passively.

I'll give you one more example.

So kind of read this one, put it in your own head how you would correct this.

All right so who did the establishing?

It's going to be the Romans, so now the corrected version.

The Romans established the tables, their oldest documentation in written form,

blah blah blah blah.

So that's, I'm just trying to help direct you so that you can do more active

sentences.

I'll take the sharing off real quick so I can explain this in a little more

detail.

All right so with the active voice you can see the difference, it just makes it

easier to read, so I'm giving you great skills so that you can be able to become

more efficient writers, right? And that's what I'm looking for, you want to

become very efficient writers.

All right, so that's all I'm trying to show you with this passive voice.

Here's the rule of thumb, when it comes to passive voice, less than 10% of your

papers should be passive. Less than 10%, you don't want more that 10% passive.

You want 90% active, 10% passive's okay, cause sometimes you can't avoid it

in what you're writing, but you want about 90% active, 10% passive.

So that's what I'm going to be looking for, if I'm underlining a bunch of

passive then I'm just going to try and show you so that you can improve it into

the future. But make sure you're paying attention to that, cause it is very

distracting reading with a lot of passive voice.

So I'd like you to be more direct in that.

Okay any questions on that?

All right, then if you go to the rest of the slides, just have a list of things

here if you look at the slides there's a list of things I want you to consider.

So here I'll just show you what things to consider.

Be specific with your answers to the questions, avoid generalization.

That's what I'm focused on, just be specific.

Generalization means you really don't understand the book.

So be specific. Avoid generalization, cause that's, if you're gonna know how

professors key in on grading, generalization is a way we can tell the students

didn't really understand the book.

This is pretty standard, don't overuse the same word, use a thesaurus, okay?

So don't be saying the same words over and over again, kind of vary your wording.

That's a better way to say it, vary your wording.

All right, and no contractions, this is formal writing, so avoid the can'ts,

the won'ts, avoid contractions. Also avoid sentences with there were.

There's a better way to write it, it's passive in nature just think of a better

way to write the sentence without saying there were. And this goes for all

passive verbs, so also there is, there was, and so forth, I just put there were

in there as a starting point.

And then paragraphs, too long or too short, think about that.

All right, so ensure your paragraphs are not too long and not too short.

And then also make sure you use, do not end sentences with prepositions.

Just heed proper use of prepositions.

Okay, we'll go back to the screen here, are there any questions?

I'm just kind of letting some time in case somebody's typing.

All right, oh here's a question, What about the map test? [Chuckles]

Yes the map test, again, I'm going to address that for the students that it

concerns. I'm going to go through and see who still needs to do the map text

and I will send them specific instructions, okay? Cause I'm still working on

trying to figure out how I'm going to do that one.

All right, I'm trying to think if, make sure I covered everything.

So this is really gonna, this is not too bad, this is my second time, I've had an

earlier class at 10:30 that I did this with, so it's my second time doing this.

So this might, this is going to be kind of the way, it's not perfect, but it's at

least I can continue to communicate with you in the best way that I can and be

able to get you through this course. And that's really my prerogative is get you

students through this course during this time, so know that emailing, feel free

to email me and I'll try to answer those questions, but also, if you would like

to talk through Blackboard, I can set up private sessions so if you would like

to do like an office hours, and you like to ask me specific questions, send me

an email and I can set those up. Cause I can't do office hours obviously, because

I can't go to my office, but I can set up a virtual office and we can meet out on

Blackboard and talk about anything specific that you'd like to talk about, or you

can also send it through email and I'll try to answer it that way, if that's also

easy to answer through email, just stay communicated with me and keep that

communication open, because that's going to be the key to get through the course

in this online setting. But I do want to keep this routine of meeting everyday

at the normal class period time, because I think right now, setting a routine

is very important. Because you weren't expecting to be an online course so if

you come here, come to class, and listen to lectures, it's going to help you keep

on that routine the best you can. And that's what I'm trying to do for you,

is give you something, a routine to do as a way to stay on task, okay?

So, but other than that, if anybody has any good suggestions, feel free to email

me and I'll see what I can do, if it can fit within the course, but I'm going to

be working on the Unit 2 exam, so I'm probably going to have that done today or

tomorrow. And then it'll be available for those who would like to retest the

Unit 2 to go out and take that at the end of the week, I will send out specific

instructions on that. So then, also for anybody who'd like to just go and see the

Unit 2 exam, even if you got above a 70, you can take a look at it, you can throw

some answers in there just for fun so you can get a feel for what the test is

going to look like, so when you do take the Unit 3 exam, you're going to be even

better prepared so you know what it's going to look like and how to prepare for it.

Just keep that in mind with the unit 2 exam for retesting and for that purpose.

All right are there any last questions?

I am going to record this, so it is recorded so I also, that will be posted out

there too.

[Interpreter] Oh yes, do you mind emailing all those 7 questions to us?

[Professor] Oh yes the 7 questions, they are in your syllabus, if you have access

to the syllabus you can see it there on page 4. [interpreter] Oh okay.

Oh then I'll look for it, okay thanks.

Okay, no problem, but if you can't find it just let me know and I can send them

to you.

All right any other questions, thoughts?

Okay, like I said, I recorded this so if you ever want to go back and see what I

said about the essay you can go back and look at it, it'll be in the recordings.

If you go to the Blackboard Ultra, this collaborate, you hit those little 3 bars

on the left side, it should show recordings. So if you have any questions on

how to get to it, you can always ask me and I'll direct you to it.

All right, other than that there's no questions or thoughts? Then I will see you

on Wednesday at 1:30. And we'll start Unit 3 then, we'll start talking about

Unit 3.

All right, well take care. [Interpreter] Bye, thank you.