Library Garden: The New IT Librarian Application

The strike and what it means

The strike will begin in a few hours. I hope it will not be long, and that I will be meeting with you in class again in a short while.
No matter how short (or long) the strike, we will have to make significant changes in the schedule when classes resume. I am now planning to set up the first weeks back (whenever they happen) as a kind of workshop to help you produce the Comparison/Contrast essay. I know that this is a challenging essay form and that the topics are demanding, so I want to work together leading you through the production steps together as a class. Of course this will mean that the readings from the schedule will be put on hold or dropped, depending on the time we will have left in the term.
Take care.

"The Things They Carried" & Vietnam & John Kerry

It is interesting that the whole issue of Vietnam has resurfaced again in America, as they prepare for their next election. In the story from the Guardian Unlimited US elections 2004 | Sidney Blumenthal: Kerry will win the patriot game there are some words that can help us think about "The Things They Carried" and O'Brien's views of the war. John Kerry's said in 1971

"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die in Vietnam?" Kerry asked. "How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake? This administration has done us the ultimate dishonour. They have attempted to disown us and the sacrifices we made for this country."

Surely a perception like this is behind O'Neil's depiction of the aimless actions of young soldiers like Jimmy Cross.

Vaughan Memorial Library : Plagiarism at Acadia

Note that Acadia's Library now has a new "Interactive Tutorial" called "You Quote It, You Note It!" which you can find at Vaughan Memorial Library : Plagiarism at Acadia. There are some good points in the tutorial, and it is kind of fun.

The Theme by William James

Below the title "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" the subtitle states "(Variations on a Theme by William James)"
Here is what James writes in his essay "The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life":

Or if the hypothesis were offered us of a world in which Messrs. Fourier's and Bellamy's and Morris's utopias should all be outdone, and millions kept permanently happy on the one simple condition that a certain lost soul on the far‑off edge of things should lead a life of lonely torture, what except a specifical and independent sort of emotion can it be which would make us immediately feel, even though an impulse arose within us to clutch at the happiness so offered, how hideous a thing would be its enjoyment when deliberately accepted as the fruit of such a bargain?

William James. The Moral Philosopher and the Moral Life

Class on Essay writing Next Tuesday

I have changed the schedule again so that on Tuesday we will be able to spend the whole class talking about essay writing.
You can prepare for the class by looking at the essay topics and deciding which story you are interested in writing about.
On Tuesday we will talk about formulating your ideas, gathering evidence, developing a thesis statement, and organizing the structure of your essay. I also want to talk about how to evaluate and use evidence effectively.

Text Books Are Here

The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction has finally arrived. You will need to have these for the "Death by Landscape" by Margaret Atwood, which we will discuss on Thursday (22 Jan)