Assignment for Wednesday

Write a list of pros and cons for two possible choices for your firsthand portrait. Try to find some of the pitfalls we talked about. Sometimes you have to be cold and calculating. I know you love your best friend, but can you write a strong enough portrait on them to get an "A"?

Write 5 pros and 5 cons for each person.

Think about this from an outsider's point of view. If Bobby Jindal* was going to write a pro/con list for your person, what would he write?

Substitute any other person you don't know if you are political enough that imagining you are Bobby Jindal ruins the process.

Football Scores

The game is at 10am? Good lord. I hope that means tailgating goes all day then.

Appalachian State is the team that upset Michigan at the start of last season. They are a I-AA school (the same division as Southern, I believe). They have also won the I-AA national title something like 3 years in a row. They run a great spread offense and have a very talented quarterback in Armanti Edwards.

Predict a score for this contest!

Mine is LSU 41, App. St. 14.

P.S. I'm not going to pretend that many of you won't be drinking tomorrow. Make sure to stay hydrated. Drink a lot of water tonight, drink water tomorrow, eat food. Even if you're not going to drink, but are going to be out tailgating all day, drink a lot of water. The sun really zaps you. I don't want to get a notice saying you won't be in this class anymore because you fell out of the bleachers and broke your neck. I know all your names now.

NOTE FOR PEOPLE HAVING TROUBLE WITH CATALYST

I think you have to log-in your section code exactly how it looks, capital letters and all. If you're still having problems, shoot me an email and I'll try to help the best I can. Or ask Emily. She knows now.

Character Description

Here's the deal: I want you to make everyone want to read an essay you would write about this person.

I should back up first.

Pick a person from your lists that we generated in class on Wednesday and write a description of him/her. You know how a movie trailer (the good ones at least) hook you into a movie in a short amount of time? You should play to your person's most interesting traits, etc. You know how the trailer from WALLe showcases how visually dazzling the movie is while showing glimpses of humor and plotline? Or how the Dark Knight trailers tended to focus on Heath Ledger's mesmerizing performance? If your selected person is an astronaut, you probably don't need to let us know about the fact that their favorite breakfast cereal is Lucky Charms. If your person is a leprechaun and his favorite cereal is Lucky Charms, that's a different story*.

Charm your classmates with your description.


*You can't do "people" that don't exist Or people you don't know. Sadly, this means that I can't write about Turtle from Entourage.

**I think my fly was open most all of class today. I hope no one said anything because they didn't notice it and not because they were afraid to speak up. Or they thought it was funny. It is funny though.

Your Favorite Band Sucks.

Listen. You're embarrassing yourself. Pop your iPod ear buds out for a second. Dial the volume down.

Your favorite band is...terrible. Pure garbage.

They're worse than the smell that emanates from the Cane's dumpster on a hot day. Their sound can only be described as the melding of TV static on full blast and a constipated walrus's desperate bark.

They're lame.

Convince me that your favorite band (or singer or rapper, etc.) is awesome. Describe them (he/she/it)? Their look, their sound, when/where you listen to them. Then, if you haven't at that point, explain why I'm wrong and your favorite band is great.

P.S. Post your response in the comments section and make sure you write your name at the top of your response.