Readings & Discussion Assignment

Guidelines for 2+ comments
1. Always start by quoting or paraphrasing the part of the article you are responding to, so your readers have the necessary context. When you quote something, make sure you are quoting correctly—giving background information, using precise signal verbs, making clear who said it—and accurately. After you quote, you still have to explain what you think the quote means, then you can respond. Actually, you can just paraphrase if it’s not necessary to know exactly word-for-word what the reading said.

2. Your comments should be additive—adding something new, questioning something that was said, or taking the discussion deeper.  Here are ways how:

Relate something the author said to your own experiences. How does your experience differ from or confirm the author’s view? Draw conclusions.
Relate something the author said to something going on in the news or in the past. How are they similar or different Give us links to the articles! Draw conclusions.
Post YouTube videos, songs, links to articles, memes–that relates to the reading. But make sure you are explaining how the videos and memes relates to the readings.
Relate something the author said to a previous reading in this class or another class. How are they similar or different? Draw conclusions.
Ask a question that came up for you when reading the article. Offer your own possible answer but invite others to offer answers as a way to deepen the discussion. In fact, asking a question at the end of your post is a great way to get classmates to reply and keep the conversation going.
Question or raise doubts about something that was said in the article. Why do you feel this way?
You can do a rhetorical analysis of the reading, pointing out a specific strategy (how they are saying something to persuade) that the author used that was effective. Or, you can question their use of a specific strategy.
3. Sometimes, I will ask specific questions to answer. Other times, I may give you a list of questions to choose from; otherwise, you are free to comment on whatever parts of the article interested you.

4. Each of the 2 comments should be a chunky paragraph, 7+ sentences long. Please post both comments in one post.

5. Take a moment to proofread your post for grammar, spelling, and clarity.

6. Due date: 11:59pm, Sunday

Here is the link for the article read at least 2 of themin order to write two comments. Your comments must answer the 5 question on the buttom.

1) READINGS: (Choose 2 out of 3): These readings relate to how textbooks/education influence how we understand and reckon with the past.

“When National Narratives Clash in Multinational University Classrooms: A Pedagogical Perspective (Links to an external site.)” by Emilia S. Heo
https://apjjf.org/2021/5/Heo.html
                                   AND/OR

“Two States. Eight Textbooks. Two American Stories” (Links to an external site.) by Goldstein, Beltran and Hassan.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/01/12/us/texas-vs-california-history-textbooks.html
                                  AND/OR

“There Are No Nostalgic Nazi Memorials” (Links to an external site.) by Susan Neiman
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/09/germany-has-no-nazi-memorials/597937/

2) Write 2+ COMMENTS in response to two of the articles you read.See guidelines for weekly discussion to how you can write a fully-formulated comment. You can see that all of the articles have to do with reckoning with the national past. How are the two articles you read connected? How are are they talking to each other? You can relate the readings to personal experience, your own education.

What does national reconciliation look like?
How does the article about textbooks relate to our current discussion about critical race theory and how Texas is trying to ban books and teachers who teach critical race theory? What is critical race theory?
How does the article about Nazi memories present Germany as a good example of a country that confronts its racist (against Jewish people) past? How should America reckon with its racist past?
How does the first article about multinational students talk about how national narratives about the past influence students’ understanding?

You can write more than 2 comments! Write whatever you are moved to write from this week’s reading!