Week of September 10-16

Hello Folks!

Here is what is listed on the Participation Page from D2L for this week.  The schedule for the entire semester, and the discussion questions for the entire semester are listed on the Schedule and Participation Pages, respectively.  In case you do not want to wait for the "Monday Post", you are more than welcome to get started by looking at those two pages on D2L.

Due this week:
*Read Chapter 4 - The World of Words
*Participate in the discussion (see questions below)
*Continue working on your first course essay:  "Self, Society & Media" paper.  You can find it on D2L by logging in, then clicking on the class (Comm 10).  After you have accessed the class, click on "Content", and it should be listed under "Course Assignments".  This assignment is due by Sunday, Sept 23rd @ 11:59pm.


Discussion Questions:
Answer one question in its entirety in each of your three separate posts, at least 12 hours apart. Please make sure you are creating a NEW POST for each question on your blog. You MUST WAIT at least 12 hours from the first post in order to create a second post. The same is true for the second and third post. I will record dates and time of your posts, so make sure they are at least 12 hours apart. EACH POST MUST BE 150 WORDS OR MORE. Each post is worth a maximum of 5 points.

1). Think about different metaphors for American society.  For many years, the country was described as a melting pot, which suggests that differences between citizens are supposed to melt down and blend into one unified character.  Recently, some have criticized this melting pot metaphor because it emphasizes wiping out differences, not respecting them.  The Reverend Jesse Jackson refers to the United States as both a rainbow and a family quilt.  Both of Jackson's metaphors emphasize recognizing and appreciating differences.  What metaphor would you propose?

2). Visit the Free Speech Museum's Hate Speech Page.  What did you learn about how hate speech is defined, who engages in it, and efforts to regulate hate speech on the Web?  What should be done about hate speech on the Web and off it?  Should we censor it?  Would doing so violate our constitutional right to freedom of speech?  Are there other, perhaps less formal, ways to reduce hate speech?   http://www.spectacle.org/freespch/musm/hate.html

3). Pick one concept from the reading this week and discuss it in detail.

Comments - Remember to post ONE comment ON THREE DIFFERENT BLOGS between 12:01am on Monday and 11:59pm on Sunday. This means that you will log onto MY BLOG at: http://comm10perez.blogspot.com/ to see a list of your colleagues blogs. Click on those blogs, read what was posted for this week and respond. You need to make sure you are responding to only what was discussed THIS WEEK (starting Monday and ending Sunday of the current week). Comments posted to blogs that were NOT within this week will not be counted for points. Each comment must be a minimum of 100 words and is worth a maximum of 3 points.

Note about comments: When you leave a comment on another blog, make sure you are logged into your blogspot account. In other words, you will need to make sure your "Display Name/Alias Name" shows up on the blog you are commenting on. I record the locations, dates and times of your comments. Please keep record of your posts and comments in case questions arise about where comments are located.