EL Rocks! - The Sequel

For this week's only meeting we have on Thursday, I intend to have some of you present your newfound knowledge to each other so do come prepared with your work.

A little background to all these:

Using web tools like blogs, Facebook and the Wiki platform would allow all of you to learn at your own pace outside of the classroom. You can upload your materials and go through your classmates' work, you can comment on each other's work and partake in online discussions. However, limits to the relative success of such web-based learning would in no small part be reliant on students' access to the Internet. If Internet access is a problem for you, do let me know this Thursday and we will work something out.

A little help with your research work:

The key to doing well at this little project is FOCUS. If you have already done your research and am suitably satisfied that you have covered most of what you want to know, well and good. If you have not but have a specific topic in mind, don't be afraid to explore your topic further before deciding to narrow your search.

For some of you who are not sure what it is that you want to find out more about, I am sure you don't need a reminder that there's only 2 days left. In other words, that's very little time.

To preserve your sanity, pick any of the topics that I have listed. Then go to Wikipedia. In there, you will come across various links that will direct you to specific sub-topics. For instance, if you search Wikipedia with the keywords "crime and punishment", you will come across the literary classic by the Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky. With "crime", you will be led to information on martial law and crimes against religious regulations etc. If you are a male Singaporean, you would be faced with the prospect of being called up for National Service in 4 years time. There's certainly no harm in reading about martial law now. Or maybe you are intrigued by the variations in the interpretation of the Quran within the Middle Eastern countries e.g. male and female domains are far more strictly segregated in Saudi Arabia than in the United Arab Emirates. Religious criminalisation and punishment would probably be your cup of tea then.

Most of all, have fun learning!

P.S. Based on live feedback and your "gushing enthusiasm" about my choice of a Victorian-era wallpaper, I have CHANGED the blogskin. So stop side-tracking and get cracking if you have not already.

Read to Expo!

Today's class will be a little different and less structured (but no less interesting). In exposition writing, getting the organisational structure and language features right is often the easy part. Well, at least with practice.

But most times, it is coming up with convincing arguments that is the more difficult part. To be able to argue reasonably and with ample logic, you would have to analyse an issue from different perspectives and anticipate what areas of weakness would be exploited or questioned by your audience. All that requires knowledge. Which can only be garnered from sustained reading and from reliable resources. Hearing from your friends or the proverbial grapevine does not count as useful information.

We sometimes call that "gossip" instead.

So for today's class, read on topics that we came across in our last few lessons. For your benefit, I have narrowed the list of topics as such:
1) euthanasia
2) animal rights
3) crime and punishment
4) charity
5) any other topic you are very, very keen on. But you must discuss with me first.

It is difficult to know what exactly you want to know so here is a little checklist you may use to refine your area of search:
K: What I already KNOW about my chosen topic
W: What I WANT TO LEARN
L: What I have LEARNED
Q: What QUESTIONS I still have

So...choose a topic you are most interested in and prowl the internet for your information. Use your time wisely and you will derive immense benefits from this exercise.

Godspeed!