Homework

Finish reading chapter 1 and write a research question you have about each section. Bring to class next week.

Today’s class

1. Review quiz about the origins and meaning of academic writing
2. Textbook pages 4-5
3. Textbook chapter 1 pp 6-7. Example questions:
   1. How many states were there at the beginning of the 19th century?
   2. What was the population of the US in 1860?
   3. Why was the first attempt at a colony in Virginia?
   4. Why was it called Virginia? Who gave it that name?
   5. Why did it fail?
   6. Why did the Founding Fathers come to Massachusetts
4. How to write academically
   1. Start with a question (“What is a good life?”) or a doubt (“Is the earth REALLY the centre of the universe?”). YOUR question, not someone else’s.
   2. Check the meanings of key words: don’t rely on your “image” or some vague understanding. Use an English-English dictionary and try to find the root or original meaning in order to properly understand the word(s) objectively, not subjectively.
   3. What is important thing, the one, unique characterstic that makes this different from other things?
   4. Connect new knowledge to your existing knowledge, e.g. to what you know about Japanese culture and history. E.g. How big is Japan compared to the US? What was happening in Japan when the Pilgrims came to Massachusetts in 1620?