REQUIREMENTS: 1) Regular attendance. Participation in all class
activities including workshops, group projects, films, trips and individual
presentations. 2) Completion of all assigned reading. 3) On-time completion of
all written work including papers, blog posts, editing sheets, quizzes, papers,
bibliographies, and proposals. After three late assignments, each succeeding
late project will be lowered half a grade. I will accept no assignments that are
over one week late. All assignments are due at the beginning of class on the day
indicated on the syllabus. Students who do not earn a "C" or higher will
receive the grade "NC" (No Credit) and are required to take Engl101 again.
FILM SCREENINGS: There will be three required Cinema and Supper showings with free pizza and
soda at 7pm and a film at 7:30pm. The films are scheduled as follows:
DISABILITIES: If you are a student with a disability and you need academic
accommodations, please see me and contact the Office of Disability Resources at
703.993.2474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through that office.
| DATE |
ENGL 101 |
| Tues Aug 31 |
Introduction to the course; fill out
the class
Information Sheet and bring it to class on Thurs. Set up mail
forwarding at
Mason Live if
you do not plan to check your GMU email several times a week. This week
I will also help you add my email addresses to your safe list so
messages about the class will not be blocked by GMU's
spam filter. You should
also create a course folder in your
Mason Live account so you can easily locate course related messages.
In addition, this week, 1) you will register on
Wordpress.com; 2) I will give you
write permissions on the class blog; 3) you will
introduce
yourself to your fellow students; and 4) you will comment on each
other's postings. The instructions for the assignment are at
page/prompt 03 on the upper right of the
class blog; instructions
for registering and posting are at page/prompts 02a and 02b as well as
below. The full registration procedure is time consuming so after
you have registered on Wordpress.com and while you are waiting for me to
give you register you on the class blog, you should do you initial draft
of your introduction using Word (saving as web page filtered) or an HTML
editor. Once I have given you write permissions on the
blog and created the appropriate categories for you to check, you can
transfer what you have to the blog, continue working, and even edit your
post.
When you register on
Wordpress.com,
use your GMU user name and email address and write down your password
(or use one you will remember). Leave
Gimme a blog unchecked.
How much information you include in your profile (the next page of
Wordpress registration) is up to you; I recommend including just your
first name and last initial. After you have filled out the profile page,
click submit and open your GMU email account and wait for an email from
Wordpress. Click the authentication link in the email and notify
me that you are registered on Wordpress. I will then give register
you on the class blog (you must be registered on both Wordpress and the
class blog before you can log on and see the New Post link).
Give your first post a title–“03-Introduction, first name last
initial,” and enter the text of your post in the box under
Post.
You should see a check box with your name under
People at
the top right of the Write
page as one of the categories.
Also check Introductions (for your first post) before you click on
Publish. You will follow this procedure in future posts
except that you will chose different titles and check different
categories to correspond to the assignment. If you do not check
these categories, you will not receive credit for the assignment.
The login link for the
course blog is at the lower right of the page under
Meta.
There is also a link to wordpress.com there.
|
| Thurs Sept 2 |
Class blog posting and commenting
continued.
Introduction to Edison, his inventions and
the War of the Currents. We will watch
selections from
Edison: Miracle of
Light during class.
|
| Mon Sept 6 |
LABOR DAY, UNIVERSITY CLOSED |
| Tues Sept 7 |
Before class, read Jill Jonnes,
Empires of Light, Introduction (xiii-xiv) and pp. 17-49 (Endeavor
to Make it Useful). This chapter covers the history of
electricity and we will come back to it several times over the next few
weeks.
We will go over the reading in some detail and then watch the sections
on Faraday from Einstein's Big
Idea (DVD chap 3 and part of 5). The chapter is also currently available
on You Tube in two clips,
Part I and
Part II.
|
| Thurs Sept 9 |
Before class, read
Empires of Light,
pp. 3-15 (Morgan's House Was Lighted Up Last Night); pp.
51-85 (Thomas Edison: The Wizard of Menlo Park); and pp. 347-353
(Edison's later career). I
will also discuss Edison using Paul Israel's
Edison: A Life of Invention (not assigned) pp. 119 & 167
and Empire of Light, p. 67.
How did Faraday's motor work? During class,
you will look at the
Magnet Lab demo and come up with an explanation of how the
device worked in groups of 3-4. Then decide whether you want to
focus on and detailed technical explanation or a fund raising pitch to
non-specialists and make a presentation to the class.
If there is time, we will watch selections from a DVD of the interview
with Jill Jonnes on CSPAN Booknotes. The low bandwidth version of the
interview is available online at http://www.booknotes.org/Program/?ProgramID=1751
If we don't get to the interview, watch it on your own after class; also read
Edison's Story from the Lemelson Center at
http://invention.smithsonian.org/centerpieces/edison/
|
| Tues Sept 14 |
Before class review Jonnes on
Edison (51-85) and re-read the section from the end of
Empires of Light
on Edison's later work (347-353). Then review the following resources for information and
ideas about Edison's inventions:
Then put together an account of what you consider to be Edison's most
important invention with a description and your view of why it was
important. Post your account to the
blog before class (see page/prompt 04). During class, you will comment on at
least two of your fellow students' posts and work on your paper
while I talk to you about your plans and ideas.
Intro to in-text citations in MLA format using Diana Hacker's
Research and
Documentation online site
SEPT 14-LAST DAY TO DROP WITH NO TUITION PENALTY, LAST DAY TO ADD
CLASSES |
| Thurs Sept 16 |
Paper #1:
two print copies of a 2 page draft (typed & double spaced) of a paper on
Edison's most important invention due at the beginning of class.
The final paper is dues on Thurs Sept 30th. You are required to
see tutor and revise the paper. TUTORING SIGN UP and workshop on
papers during class.
Go to the Writing Center home page at
http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/
In the box on the right hand side of the page,
Schedule an
Appointment, click on New Client and fill in the
registration form
and submit. Then go back to the Schedule an Appointment
box and click on Existing Client. Read and accept the Writing
Center Policy Agreement, checking the box near the bottom of the page.
Then log on using your GMU email address and password choosing
LLC Students Only, OWL Location Fall
2010. Open times are marked in
white. Click on Next Week at the bottom right to move
forward in time. Click on a time that fits your schedule and fill in the
form and click on Save Appointment after filling out the form
completely. The paper is a historical argument based on
course reading and some research. The audience is made up of
educated non-specialists, although you can use technical terms and
explanations in your account of how the invention works as long as you
explain those technical terms. The assignment is due Sept 30th and
you must see a tutor by Sept 28th. Give the tutor permission to
share session content with your professor. The paper you work on
with the tutor will be your second draft. I will send you
and updated assignment sheet tomorrow for you to submit when you
send in your paper.
For instructions on OWL procedures (including registering and signing
up for an appointment), click on
Locations
(third tab from the left at the top of the WC home page) and go to the
bottom on the page. Click on Online Writing Lab and
instructions will appear for scheduling an OWL appointment and
submitting your paper. Also on the WC home page, at the bottom of the
right hand box titled Schedule an Appointment, is a link to an
instructional video. See the LLC OWL specific instructions at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/101-90-f10/owl-instructions.htm
If there is time, we will watch more of
Edison Tech in class.
|
| Tues Sept 21 |
At the beginning of class, I will go over how to use
Lexis-Nexis
Academic and
ProQuest Research Library to find newspaper articles. After we
review the use of each database, you will look for an article on Edison
entitled The Father of Invention by Debra Galant from the New
York Times, June 1st, 1997. Once you have found the article, read
up to the section "Nationally Revered But Locally Ignored" and email the
piece to
yourself.
Review of LLC OWL instructions at
http://mason.gmu.edu/~kthomps4/101-90-f10/owl-instructions.htm Then
log on and check your appointment to make sure you registered under the
LLC Students Only, OWL Location Fall
2010 drop down and have an appointment with Mike,
Shamama or Nya. Also write down your appointment time.
Failure to miss an appointment in the future will require two tutoring
sessions and a paper on the difference between online and face-to-face
tutoring (an extra credit assignment for others). Missing
appointments in the future will also lower you class participation
grade.
Review of citation formats using
Diana
Hacker's companion website and your writing handbook. If
there is time, we will watch selections from
Edison Tech
from 25:12 to 50 min.
SEPT 21-LAST DAY TO DROP WITH 33% TUITION PENALTY |
| Thurs Sept 23 |
Conferences and workshop on paper drafts. Bring your second print copy to class as well as an electronic
copy of your draft so far.
For additional information on Edison's inventions, see
http://edison.rutgers.edu/inventions.htm
|
| Fri Sept 24th |
Edison The Man
(1940) at the
Eisenhower multimedia Theatre. Pizza at 7pm in the lounge
across from the front desk; film showing in the theatre at 7:30pm.
By Sun at 11:59pm, post a comparison of Edison as presented in
Empires of Light,
Edison: Miracle of
Light,
Edison Tech, and
Edison The Man
on the class blog at
http://10190f10.wordpress.com/
Be sure to include what you learned from the documentaries and
Jonnes, what
interested you most in Edison’s story, and how Edison is portrayed in
the Hollywood film. Conclude by writing about the personal and
professional qualities seen as essential to his success and
how the process of discovery is
represented in Edison
The Man.
|
| Tues Sept 28 |
Read Empires of Light, pp. 117-124 and 129-139 (George
Westinghouse). Review pp. 123 and 130-132 especially
carefully. In preparation for your next paper, look over the
following resources on Westinghouse:
In-class discussion of the reading, group discussion of how transformers
work and how Westinghouse improved the Gaulard Gibbs design, and
individual posting following
page/prompt 06, How Transformers Work.
Our study of Tesla will be moved till later in October to go with
Professor Bernard Carlson's lecture. I am therefore moving up the
assignments on Westinghouse and the War of the Currents; we will jump
over the sections in Jonnes on Tesla and read them later.
|
| Thurs Sept 30 |
Paper #1
due at the beginning of class.
Voting on best accounts of how transformers work
(see
page/prompt 6).
To see what a technically detailed explanation by a physicist
can look like, see Electricity & Magnetism, Walter Lewin, MIT
Lecture 24 (21min- Transformers; 32min- coils)
http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/physics/8-02-electricity-and-magnetism-spring-2002/video-lectures/embed24
If there is time, we will watch selections from a DVD of the
interview with Jill Jonnes on CSPAN Booknotes. The low bandwidth version of the
interview is available online at http://www.booknotes.org/Program/?ProgramID=1751
OCT 1-LAST DAY TO DROP, LAST DAY TO DROP WITH 67% TUITION PENALTY |
| Tues Oct 5 |
Read
Empires of Light, pp.
141-152 and 165-179 (Edison Declares War;
Constant Danger).
In-class discussion and blog posting(page/prompt 7) on Brown's role in
Edison's public relations campaign against AC. Finish post #7
before next class.
For extra-credit on paper #2 (or later, on paper
#3), schedule a face-to-face meeting with a tutor from the
Writing Center to go over a
draft of a print copy of your paper and substantially revise the paper.
Also write an account of what you went over in your tutoring session,
what you changed as a result, and what you see as the advantages and
disadvantages of online (OWL) vs. face-to-face tutoring. For paper
#2, the session must be held between Oct 7th and Oct 18th. To
receive credit, you must include all print drafts as well as a visit
verification form.
|
| Thurs Oct 7 |
Before class, read
Empires of Light, pp. 198-204 (the PR struggle over the
electrocution of a Western Union lineman in
The Horrible Experiment)
and begin the preliminary draft of paper #2 following
page/prompt 8 on the blog.
Imagine you are either Edison or Westinghouse (or one of their allies or
even a NYC regulator)
and enter a post to the class blog in the form of a letter to one of the
New York papers on the Western Union lineman case and the safety of AC
and DC. You will update your post before class on Oct 14th after
you have read the exchange between Edison and Westinghouse in the North
American Review.
During class we will review how to use
ProQuest Research
Library. Find the Oct 12th, 1889 New York Times article on
Feeks' electrocution--"Met Death in the Wires." Read the article
and email it to yourself for future use. You will then have time
in class to work on blog post #8 while I talk to you about how you plan
to approach the assignment. Complete your post by Sun Oct 10th at
11:59pm. By Tues Oct 12th at 11:59pm, comment on at least two of
your fellow students' posts on Brown and two on Feeks' electrocution (#7
and 8).
If there is time at the end of class, I will discuss Edison by going over some key
sections of Empire of Light
that point to simplifications in
the film Edison The Man that have their roots in Edison's own
manipulation of the press in the 19th century:
- pp. 55-6 on Edison's showmanship
- pp. 57-8 on Edison's "playing the unschooled hick"
- pp. 73-4 on Edison's lobbying NYC Aldermen
- pp. 77-78 on his association with the Gold Indicator Co.
|
| Tues Oct 12 |
NO CLASS--COLUMBUS DAY OCT 11TH, MON
CLASSES MEET TUES, TUES CLASSES DO NOT MEET
By Tues Oct 12th at 11:59pm,
comment on at least two of your fellow students' posts on Brown and two
on Feeks' electrocution (#7 and 8). |
| Thurs Oct 14 |
Before class, read the exchange between Edison and
Westinghouse from the North American Review (see the
paper #2
assignment for the links). Then update your post on
Western Union lineman John Feeks' death from electrocution, drawing
on the exchange between Westinghouse and Edison as well as the NY Times
article on his death and your reading in Jonnes. Follow the lineman's death prompt on the blog (page/prompt
8). During class you will comment on the arguments and use of evidence of
at least two of your fellow students' posts while I talk to you
individually about your papers.
For
paper #2, you will write a 2-3 pages (typed and double spaced)
revision of your letter to the New York papers on the Western Union
lineman case and the safety of AC and DC.
|
| Tues Oct 19 |
Paper #2 due at
the beginning of class. The paper should be 2-3 pages, typed and
double-spaced, and include in-text cites and a works cited page.
Make
sure you draw on (and cite) the exchange between Westinghouse and Edison
from the North American Review, the Oct 12th 1889 New York
Times article, "Met Death in the Wires," and your reading in Jonnes.
You may also want to take a learn about the
"barehanding" of high voltage transmission lines if you are going to
write from the future in support of Westinghouse. See the video at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9QJGXln1lE and use ProQuest
Research Library to find a Sept 7th, 2010 article by Kafia Hosh from the
Washington Post entitled Barehanding Technique Allows Power-line
Repair Crews to Work with Live Wires.
We will watch
Tesla: Master
of Lighting in class.
|
| Thurs Oct 21 |
Before class read
Empires of Light, pp.
87-115 (Nikola Tesla: Our Parisian).
We will discuss both the reading and the documentary we watched on Tues.
We will also go over the
assignment for
paper #3.
During or after class, review Jonnes 87-115 and read
pp. 353-367 (Tesla's later career); begin your post on what you consider
to be Tesla's most important invention with a description of how it
worked (or might have worked) and your view of why it was important.
The post (page/prompt 9) is due by Sun at 11:59pm. You should
comment on at least two of your fellow students' posts before class next
Tues. You may find the following sites informative and interesting
as you prepare your post:
OCT 22--MIDTERM PROGRESS REPORT DUE |
| Tues Oct 26 |
Before class, read
Empires of Light,
pp.153-163 and 179-183.
During class review carefully pp. 153-163 and post to the
blog
an account of Tesla's
lecture to the American Institute of Electrical Engineers in 1888
(page/prompt 10). Make sure you explain the importance of polyphase AC in Tesla's induction motor. Also indicate why
Westinghouse purchased Tesla's patents and difficulties Tesla had
working with Westinghouse Engineers and commercializing his design.
During or before class next Tues, you will use the blog's comment function to vote
on: 1) which account is the most technically correct and
comprehensive; 2) which account is the most accessible and
understandable to non-engineers; and 3) which account is the best mix of
the two.
Sign-up for lunch with Professor Carlson on Thursday.
|
| Thurs
Oct 28 |
Bernard Carlson
visit to our class. Before our meeting, post to the blog two questions you would like
to ask Professor Carlson on Tesla's inventions, his methods, and any
other point that interests you (page/prompt 11).
Professor Carlson
has also agreed to have
lunch with IT&E Engl101 and LLC students
in the
Nguyen Engineering Building, room 4201 from 12-145pm.
OCT 29-INCOMPLETE WORK FROM s10 AND sum10 DUE TO INSTRUCTOR |
| Tues Nov 2 |
Bring a 2-3 page typed and double
spaced draft of
Paper #3
(on Tesla) to class for required for in-class exchange and editing by a
fellow student. The
editing sheet you will use is tied to the grading rubric for the
assignment. A revision of the paper is due Nov 4th, but you can
have an extension till Nov 11th if you see a tutor. All tutoring
sessions must be completed by Nov 9th.
Make sure you read
Nikola
Tesla and the Business of Invention or watch
Tesla in New York
(You Tube 7:30 min-) before you write your draft. You
will need to study and cite these and other sources--in addition to
Jonnes--in your revised paper. See the listing for Oct
21st above, including the interview
Tesla and Innovation.
To cite Carlson's lectures (Madrid and GMU), follow the model at http://dianahacker
for
lectures but add "Web" for the online source; for the On Point
interview, follow the Hacker model for
radio interview but also add "Web" for online access. For
Tesla Master of Lightning, follow the model for
Radio or Television program but add VHS.
NOTE: Priority registration for my
Spring 2011 English 202 (Images of Science and Technology in
Literature, Film and Popular History) is Nov 12th for 1st year students
in this class and the IT&E LLC. The class meets the General
Education literature requirement and should be of special interest to
students in Engineering and IT. To register, call the Transition
Resource Center at 703-993-9082 or email Jackie Nash at
jhilldru@gmu.edu Make sure
to give your full name, indicate that you are currently a student in the
IT&E LLC, and include your G number. |
| Thurs Nov 4 |
Paper #3 due at the beginning of class.
If you are handing in your paper today, make sure
to bring the editing sheet your fellow student filled out Tues as well
as the draft they edited and a statement of what you changed as you
revised the paper. As with your last papers, put the revised paper
on top and secure the portfolio with a clip or put it in a folder.
If you see a tutor from the Writing Center, you
can turn in the revised paper on Thurs Nov 11th. Include all
drafts with comments and editing sheets. If you see a tutor,
include a visit verification form (for face-to-face meetings) or the
tutors email and comments and a detailed statement of what you went over
during your session and what you changed as a result of the feedback you
received. Your tutoring appointment must take place by Tues Nov
9th so make sure to schedule it ahead of time. See the
tutoring flyer for instructions on availability and making
an appointment.
For extra-credit on paper #3 (as on paper #2), schedule a face-to-face
session and write an account of what you see as the advantages and
disadvantages of online (OWL) vs. face-to-face tutoring.
I will return your last papers in class and meet with you individually
while you are working on your new papers so make sure to bring the
materials you need for paper #3 to class. If you are handing in
your paper today, bring earphones and watch Douglas
Engelbart 1968 demonstration. |
| Fri
Nov 5 |
The Prestige (2006)
at the
Blue
Ridge Theatre. Pizza at 7pm; film showing in the theatre at 7:30pm.
By Sun at
11:59pm, post a comparison of Tesla as presented in
The Prestige
with
what you know about Tesla from Empires of Light (pp. 87-115,
153-163, 179-183, and 353-367), the documentary
Tesla: Master
of Lighting,
Carlson's
Nikola
Tesla and the Business of Invention and/or
Tesla in New York, and your own research. See page/prompt
12 at
http://10190f10.wordpress.com/
|
| Tues
Nov 9 |
During class on Tues Nov 9th, we will watch The
Machine That Changed the World, Part I Great Brains. On Thurs
we will watch
Part 2. Take notes during both classes and post to the blog
your thoughts on why the development of computers was an important
technical and social achievement. Then write an account of four of the
most important figures, ideas or devices in this series of inventions
(two for Part I and two for Part III), giving the reasons why you think
your choices are noteworthy (page/prompt 13). You will need postings
for both Part I and Part II (which we will see on Thurs) of the
documentary, although you can combine them in one post with a heading
for each part. You posts must be completed by Sun at 11:59pm. |
| Thurs Nov 11 |
During class on
Tues Nov 9th, we will watch The
Machine That Changed the World, Part I Great Brains. On Thurs
we will watch
Part 2. Take notes during both classes and post to the blog
your thoughts on why the development of computers was an important
technical and social achievement. Then write an account of four of the
most important figures, ideas or devices in this series of inventions
(two for Part I and two for Part III), giving the reasons why you think
your choices are noteworthy (page/prompt 13). You will need postings
for both Part I and Part II (which we will see on Thurs) of the
documentary, although you can combine them in one post with a heading
for each part. You posts must be completed by Sun at 11:59pm.
To see an interesting anticipation of one recent trend in interface
design--Microsoft
Kinect--see the clip from Spielberg's 2002 film
Minority Report
at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwVBzx0LMNQ
Revised
Paper #3 due if you saw a tutor. Include a visit
verification form (for face-to-face meetings) or the tutors email and
comments and a detailed statement of what you went over during your
session and what you changed as a result of the feedback you received.
For extra-credit on paper #3 (as on paper #2), schedule a face-to-face
session and write an account of what you see as the advantages and
disadvantages of online (OWL) vs. face-to-face tutoring.
NOTE: Priority registration for my
Spring 2011 English 202 (Images of Science and Technology in
Literature, Film and Popular History) is Nov 12th for 1st year students
in this class and the IT&E LLC. The class meets the General
Education literature requirement and should be of special interest to
students in Engineering and IT. To register, call the Transition
Resource Center at 703-993-9082 or email Jackie Nash at
jhilldru@gmu.edu Make sure
to give your full name, indicate that you are currently a student in the
IT&E LLC, and include your G number.
Extra Credit: Read
ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of
the World's First Computer, pp. 28-139. Also look at von
Neumann's
First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC. Begin your paper with an
account of the struggle between Eckert/Mauchly and Brained (97-100) and
between Eckert/Mauchly and von Neumann (114-128). Conclude your
paper by explaining who you think was most responsible for the
architecture of modern programmable computers and why. Paper due
first class after Thanksgiving. |
| Fri Nov 12 |
Tron (1982) at
Blue
Ridge. Pizza at 7pm in the conference room; film showing in the theatre at 7:30pm.
By Sun at 11:59, post to the blog your reactions to the film
(page/prompt 14).
If you miss the film showing, in addition to the blog post,
write a 1-2 page paper (typed and double spaced with a work- cited page)
for next Tues on how the Tron's vision of computing compares
with some of the ideas and developments covered in The Machine That
Changed the World. NOTE: You can do this assignment for
extra-credit if you attended the film.
|
| Tues Nov 16 |
Read Michael Hiltzik,
Dealers of
Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age, pp.
xix-xxvii and 163-177 (the Alto). Also read pp. 10-20 and
40-51 (Bob Taylor).
Read Hacker, pp. 1-2 (wordy sentences). We will go over the
samples in class and do the online exercises next class. |
| Thurs Nov 18 |
Read Michael Hiltzik,
Dealers of
Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age, pp. 54-67
and watch
Engelbart's 1968 demo.
See the clips at
http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite/1968Demo.html
(watch 1-14).
Group work on Xerox Parc and posting (page/prompt 16) on the following
questions: 1) Why was the Alto important; 2) what technical
difficulties did the designers have to surmount; 3) why was it so
popular at Parc, even among skeptics, once people saw it; 4) What were
Bob Taylor's contributions to the development of interactive computing
and networking; 5) What did Alan Kay learn from Bill English after Jerry
Elkind shot down his original proposal for 30 mini-coms; 6) How was Alan
Kay different than Kevin Flynn in Tron? Were there villains at
Parc comparable to Dillinger and Master Control?
Online exercises on wordiness at
Diana Hacker's online site Do exercises 1-1 to 1-3 under
Grammar Exercises and Clarity.
|
| Thurs Nov 18 |
On Thursday November 18th there will be a
Living Learning Community event at the Rave Cinema in Fairfax
Corners (11900 Palace Way Fairfax, VA 22030). The
Office of Student involvement (101
Student Union Building
I ) is selling tickets to the premier of the
next Harry Potter movie,
Deathly Hollows
for $8 a ticket ($10 with
transportation). These tickets are Cash Only and are available
until they sell out. Seating begins at 10:30pm. Buses
will leave the Sandy Creek deck every 15 minutes beginning at 10pm.
The extra-credit
post for this assignment (page/prompt 15) is to post a comparison of
at least two elements in
Deathly Hollows
and
The Prestige,
which you wrote about two weeks ago. Your post should be 250
words and is due by Sun Nov 21st at 11:59pm.
|
| Tues Nov 23 |
Read Michael Hiltzik, Dealers of
Lightning, pp. 81-96
& 211-228 (Alan Kay).
Over break read: 314-328 (Alan Kay and LRG's Notetaker vs.
CSG's Dorado. Also over break read pp. 329-345 and 423-4 (Steve Jobs'
visit to Xerox Parc). By Sun at 11:59 post to the blog your
thoughts on Alan Kay's most important contribution(s) to the development
of the personal computer (page/prompt 17).
See Alan Kay's history of computer interfaces, Doing with Images
Creates Symbols, part 1 at
http://www.archive.org/details/AlanKeyD1987 (Dynabook and Parc
starts at 26:35 min)
Also see
Space
War: Fanatic Life and Symbolic Death Among the Computer Bums
and
The Graphical User Interface Gallery for Xerox at
http://toastytech.com/guis/indexxerox.html |
| Thurs Nov 25 |
THANKSGIVING RECECSS NOV 24-28 |
| Tues Nov 30 |
Read Michael Hiltzik, Dealers of
Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age,
pp. 329-345 and 423-4 (Steve Jobs' visit to Xerox Parc). Also
read pp. 314-328 (Alan Kay and LRG's
NoteTaker vs. CSG's Dorado.
We will discuss Steve Jobs' visit on Thurs along with Hiltzik's account
of the development of the laser printer.
During class,
review Hiltzik pp. 314-328 and read Alan Kay's
Design Summary of the NoteTaker-2 . Then write a memo to
George Pake, the Director of Parc, about why Xerox should fund the
development of a small personal computer like the NoteTaker. Make
sure to include an account of the purpose/uses of the device, its
design, and at least four potential markets. One approach you could
take is to do some in-class research on the
i-Pad and write a memo from the future to on why Xerox should
develop the NoteTaker. Post your memo to the blog (page/prompt 18)
before next class. In class on Thurs you will vote for: 1)
the best memo for an audience of scientists and engineers; and 2) the
best memo for an audience of business executives (two comments).
At the end of class, we will review Hacker on balancing parallel ideas
(pp. 5-6) and do grammar exercises 3-1 to 3-3 under Clarity at
Diana Hacker's online site
We will also study how Alan Kay uses both numbered lists and parallel
grammatical form in his
Design Summary. Both lists and parallelism are
particularly useful when writing for busy people who need to take in
information quickly.
|
| Thurs Dec 2 |
Before class, read Hiltzik, Dealers of
Lightning, pp.127-144
(laser printer). Also review pp. 329-345 and 423-4 (Steve Jobs' visit to Parc).
At the beginning of class you will vote on your fellow students' memo to George Pake
on the NoteTaker (two comments). Use the blog's comment function
to vote for: 1) the best memo for an audience of scientists and
engineers; and 2) the best memo for an audience of business executives
(see
page/prompt 18).
We will then discuss Gary Starkweather's difficulties convincing Xerox to market his invention in
the context of the frequent claim that Xerox "blew it" (see the reading
for next Tues) as well as Steve Jobs' astonishment that Xerox had
no plans to market the technology he saw during his visit to Parc.
If you want to listen to selections from Hiltzik, see the following: Starkweather and the laser printer (Audible 1:59:51- );
Steve Jobs visit to Parc (Audible 4:38:31 to 4:53:20); Did
Xerox Blow It (Audible 5:39:40
to 5:51:55).
At the end of class we will review Diana Hacker on wordy sentences (pp.
2-3) and do grammar exercises 1-1 to 1-3 under Clarity at
Diana Hacker's online site
|
| Tues Dec 7 |
Read Michael Hiltzik,
Dealers of
Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age, pp. 389-398
(Did Xerox Blow It).
Before class, post to the blog an account of Steve Jobs visit to Xerox
Parc and your position on whether Xerox "blew it" (page/prompt 19). Make
sure to cover not only Xerox’s failure to develop a marketable Alto and
NoteTaker and take advantage of the Smalltalk based interface the
Learning Research Group developed but also consider Xerox’s eventual
success with Ethernet and the laser printer.
To introduce you to one of the options for Thurs reading as well as to
highlight the importance of memos and other more formal kinds of writing
at Xerox Parc, we will watch Bob Metcalfe talk on the
History of Ethernet and look at two documents from the
Ethernet
Timeline: 1) Metcalfe's
May 22nd Memo (click refresh page if the doc doesn't appear at
first); and 2) Metcalfe and Boggs 1975 paper from the Association of
Computing Machinery entitled
Ethernet: Distributed Packet Switching for Local Computer Networks
I recommend that you listen to
Metcalfe's talk at the Computer History Museum (5:30-14:30 min).
To introduce yourself to other options for Thursday's reading,
watch the interview with the developers of the Gypsy Word processing
program,
Tim Mott and
Larry Tesler on the companion website to the book
Designing Interactions. On the same site is an interview with
David Liddle, who was the project leader on the development of the
Xerox Star, another one of the topics for Thurs reading. If you
decide to work on Liddle and the Star, you should watch his
Xerox Star 8010 Final Demo at Xerox Parc from 1998.
At the end of class, we will review Hacker on
pronoun reference
(pp. 34-5) and do grammar exercises 12-4 to 12-6 under Grammar at
Diana Hacker's online site
|
| Thurs Dec 9 |
Read Michael Hiltzik,
Dealers
of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age, on
one of the following: Ethernet (178-193), Bravo and Gypsy--word
processing (194-210), Superpaint--graphics (229-241), The Star--office
system (242-256, 361-370). Chose your reading based on your sense
of what you can draw on in writing your final paper as well as your
interests more generally. Those writing on question #2 (Did
Xerox Blow It), for example, should consider reading both the sections
on the Star and on the Ethernet.
(Note: for those of you who like
listening to Hiltzik, the Star sections are 3:30:05-3:43:40 &
5:08:29-5:19:57; the Ethernet sections are 2:37:14-2:50:40).
As with our discussion last class, we will go over some key points in
the reading that may be relevant to your final paper. Today we
will focus on the Xerox Star. We will supplement Hiltzik (pp.
242-256 & 361-370) by
watching the beginning of David Liddle's presentation at Parc in 1998,
Xerox Star 8010 Final Demo.
I also recommend learning a bit more about an idea we first considered
during Bernard Carlson's visit, Clayton Christensen's notion of
disruptive innovation. If you are interested in learning more
during break, see Christensen's book
The Innovator's Dilemma.
After we go over some key points in the reading during class, you will work on paper #4 in class
while I talk to you individually about your plans for the final paper.
DEC 11-LAST DAY OF CLASSES, DEC 13 READING DAY, EXAM PERIOD DEC 14-21 |
Tues Dec 14
(10:30-1:15) |
Paper #4 on Xerox Parc due at the
beginning of the exam time in our regular classroom. It should be
2-3+ pages, typed and double-spaced, and include at least three in-text
cites and a works-cited page. See Diana Hacker's
Research and Documentation Online to review citation formats etc.
See Hacker, for example, on how to reference
video clips on your works cited page, and how to cite a
book. Also study carefully the
sample paper on her site for how to include headers, titles, etc.
Chose one of the following questions: 1) Who is the most interesting and/or
important figure who worked at Parc and why; 2) after reading about
Steve Jobs visit to Parc, write a paper following up on the chapter
title for Hiltzik's epilogue: "Did Xerox Blow It?" Make sure
to cover at least two of the items covered in the reading for Dec 2nd
and Dec 9th.
BRING THE PAPER TO OUR CLASSROOM AT THE BEGINING OF THE SCHEDULED EXAM
TIME ON DEC 14th (10:30am) |