Jane Lucas

ENG 1103: Beginning Your Annotated Bibliography and Preface

Posted on October 28, 2026 by janemlucas

https://www.highpoint.edu/library/research-services/

As a starting point for your bibliography work, today’s class will focus on locating sources. We will meet on the lower level of Smith Library, where Lauren Ksa, Assistant Director and Head of Research and Instruction, will lead us through the steps of finding articles and books available through the HPU Libraries’ databases.

At the beginning of class, I will distribute copies of your annotated bibliography and preface assignment. An additional copy of the assignment follows.

Research Project: Annotated Bibliography and Preface

Overview

Your third and final major writing assignment is an annotated bibliography and a preface that introduces it. Your bibliography may focus on (1) one of the aspects of the course: blogging, limiting screen time, writing longhand, playing Scrabble, or (2) the writing of one of the science fiction authors we have studied.

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources on a subject that includes a summary of each source. Some bibliographies include additional information, such as commentary on the source and the authors’ credentials, which is the type of bibliography that you will compose.

A preface introduces a piece of writing and explains how it came to be. The preface for your annotated bibliography will offer a first-person account of your research process.

Directions for Researching

Time permitting, devote the remainder of today’s class to locating a potential source for your bibliography.
After class, continue your work on your own. One of the early steps in your process should be composing an annotated bibliographic entry for the course reading that serves as your starting point, the short story or article that led to your choice of study.
Use the HPU Libraries site, https://www.highpoint.edu/library/, and Google Scholar to locate a minimum of three additional reliable and relevant print sources. (One of the class readings and your peer interview are two of your five required sources.) At least one of the three must be a peer-reviewed article or a chapter in a book published by a university press.
In class next week: Conduct a personal interview with a classmate and compose an annotated bibliographic entry for the interview. Details TBA.

Note: Additional class periods over the course of the next two weeks will be devoted to writing and research, along with our study of The Lifecycle of Software Objects.

Directions for Drafting, Revising, and Submitting

Write a preface that (1) presents the subject of your bibliography, and (2) addresses your purpose for compiling it. In other words: What drives your research? What question do you seek to answer about your subject? Also, (3) what larger project might develop from your bibliography? Would it be a project for a course in psychology, science, education, or another discipline? What would serve as its theoretical framework? In other words, through what academic lens would you examine your subject? Address all five of your sources in your preface and quote at least two of them.
After you draft your preface, turn back to your bibliography. Review your commentaries and consider where you might mention one source as a point of comparison (or contrast) with another.
Revise your preface and your bibliography, using the checklist provided (to be distributed in class) as a guide.
Before class on the due date: Post a copy of your revision to Blackboard and to your WordPress blog. In your blog post, omit the first-page information included in your file submitted to Blackboard (your name, professor’s name, course and section, and date). Add to your blog post an image that documents some part of your writing process away from the screen, such as the draft of an annotation in your journal, your handwritten notes on a research worksheet, or a longhand draft of your preface. Also, add an embedded link to a relevant website.

Note: Even though your work for this assignment will take place primarily in front of the screen, your writing process still involves putting pen to paper, and photographic documentation of that on your blog is a requirement of the assignment.

Sample MLA-Style Bibliographic Entries

Every student’s bibliography will include one of the following articles or stories.MLA

Aldiss. Brian. “Supertoys in Other Seasons.” Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001, pp. 23-35.

—. “Supertoys Last All Summer Long.” Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001, pp. 1-11.

—. “Supertoys When Winter Comes.” Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time. St. Martin’s Griffin, 2001, pp. 12-22.

Asimov, Isaac. “Runaround.” I, Robot. 1950. Doubleday, 1963, pp. 40-58.

Aubrey, Allison. “A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood: Here’s How Long You Need.” NPR, 24 Feb. 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/02/24/nx-s1-5304417/smartphone-break-digital-detox-screen-addiction#:~:text= Researchers%20studied%20what%20happened%20when,felt%20better%20after%20the%20break.

Boser, Ulrich. “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? Here’s Your Memory Trick.” Wired, 1 April 2017, https://www.wired.com/2017/04/want-play-scrabble-like-pro-heres-memory-trick/.

Chiang, Ted. “The Lifecycle of Software Objects.” Exhalation and Other Stories. 2019. Vintage, 2020. pp. 62-172.

Hu, Charlotte. “Why Writing by Hand is Better for Memory and Learning.” Ed. Lauren J. Young. Scientific American, 21 Feb. 2024. https://www.scientificamerican.com/ article /why-writing-by-hand-is-better-for-memory-and-learning/.

Richtel, Matt. “Blogs vs. Term Papers.” New York Times, 20 Jan. 2012. ProQuest, https://libproxy.highpoint.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/blogs-vs-term-papers/docview/2216251885/se-2.

Note that the bibliographic entries in the Microsoft Word file or PDF that you submit to Blackboard will have hanging indents, unlike the block-style samples above. The first line of each entry will be flush left, and any subsequent lines will be indented five spaces or one-half inch.

Grade Criteria

An A research project includes all the following elements:

A preface of three or more paragraphs that (1) presents the subject of your bibliography, and (2) addresses your purpose for compiling it. In other words: What drives your research? What question do you seek to answer about one of the subjects that you’ve studied in the course or about one aspect of the course? Also, (3) what larger project might develop from your bibliography, and what would serve as its theoretical framework? In other words, through what academic lens would you examine your subject?Complete bibliographic entries for a minimum of five reliable and relevant sources, four of which are print, alphabetized by the writers’ last names.
A one-paragraph summary of each source followed by a paragraph of commentary and a third paragraph that presents the writer’s credentials.
A minimum of 1,800 words, total (preface and annotated bibliography combined).

An A research project complies with the requirements above and is also cohesive and relatively free of surface errors and contains no factual errors.

A B research project effectively meets all the requirements above but may be flawed by minor issues of organization and/or surface errors but contains no factual errors.

A C research project meets most but not all the requirements above and may also be flawed by issues of organization, surface errors, and/or factual errors.

A D research project meets only a few of the requirements above and may also be flawed by issues of organization, surface errors, and/or factual errors.

An F research project fails to meet the requirements above and may also be flawed by substantial issues of organization, surface errors, and/or factual errors.

Next Up

Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.

AI, English 1103, Reading, Teaching, Writing

ENG 1103: Chapters One and Two Follow-Up

Posted on October 27, 2026 by janemlucas

Yesterday in class, you and two or three of your classmates wrote about the conflicts and sources of potential conflicts in chapters one and two of Ted Chiang’s The Lifecycle of Software Objects. Those tensions you addressed and lines you quoted are included in the notes that follow.

As our study of Chiang’s novella progresses, return to these notes and consider how and where the moments detailed here seem to anticipate later complications in the narrative.

The differences between Ana Alvarado’s and Derek Brooks’s perceptions of the digients (69-70): You cited Ana’s observation that “it feels like we’re dressing them in circus costumes when we try to make them look like monkeys or pandas” (69) and how Derek, though initially hurt by Ana’s remark “appreciate[s] hearing a different perspective” (70). Though Ana and Derek’s contrasting visions of the digits may not be a source of tension between the two of them–since they seem to respectfully disagree–that lack of consensus could be an issue among other employees at Blue Gamma. It also raises a larger question about the digits: How will the digients’ relationships with their designers, trainers, and owners proceed when those humans are uncertain of the digients’ nature?

Lolly, the lion cub digient, learning an obscenity from Stefan, the Blue Gamma trainer in the Australian office (73-74): You referred to Stefan, “one of the trainers from Blue Gamma’s Australian office” (73), as the person from whom Lolly learned the curse word and mentioned one of Blue Gamma’s cofounders, Mahesh, saying they “can’t sell a digient that says” an obscenity (73). Stefan’s misstep and its consequences–namely Mahesh’s decision to roll back the digients’ memories demonstrate the considerable costs of raising the digients, both the learning loss they suffer and the productivity cost for Blue Gamma. It also highlights the vulnerability of the childlike digients.

Blue Gamma customer Andrew Nguyen’s interactions with his digient (76-77, 79): You noted Derek’s suspicion that “the user hadn’t read Blue Gamma’s recommendations on raising digients” (77) and Andrew’s response to Derek’s recommendations: “The Hell with that. I paid good money for this avatar, and I bought it specifically to wear when I’m on the social continents. I’m not going to stop wearing it for a digient” (79). Andrew’s resistance to Derek’s suggestions illustrates how some owners’ approaches to their digients disregard the company’s guidelines, which can lead to neglect. That negligence on the part of owners may in turn give rise to larger problems.

Jax, the digient with the neo-Victorian robot avatar, “inhabiting” the SaruMech robot body, and SaruMech’s plans to rent the robot bodies, rather than sell them (81-83): You addressed Ana’s comment on Jax’s progress, that “it’s cool to see him that way” (83) and her hope that “[f]or SaruMech’s sake, the experience translates well onto video” (83). You also noted that “[t]here were many reasons Blue Gamma targeted the virtual realm instead of the real one–lower cost, ease of social networking–but one was the risk of property damage” (83). Ana’s comments juxtaposed with SaruMech’s corporate decision to limit the robot bodies to rentals demonstrates the competing interests of Blue Gamma and Sarumech and prompts questions about the effects of Sarumech’s choice. How might Saumech’s rental-only hardware policy affect digient’s who may grow to prefer the experience of virtually inhabiting a body?

Blue Gamma’s design of an alien species, Xenotherians, commissioned by a group of artificial-life hobbyists (87): You cited the hobbyists’ haste, noting the narrator’s observation that “rather than wait for real intelligence to evolve on its own in the biomes, [they] commissioned Blue Gamma to design an intelligent alien life species for them” (87). You also mentioned that the hobbyists “intend to create a new culture from scratch” (87). The hobbyists’ desire to develop an alien digital world in isolation, using a custom dialect of an artificial language, Lojban, that only insiders can comprehend runs counter to what the professionals at Blue Gamma have identified as necessary practices for knowledge building, both for individual digients and their community. If creating a private continent for the Xenotherians is simply an intellectual exercise, will the hobbyists lose interest? If so, what might the Xenotherians do if left to their own devices?

Ted Chiang, author of *The Lifecycle of Software Objects*. Illustration by *Time*; photo credit: Jason LaVeris, FilmMagic/Getty Images.

Next Up

Tomorrow we will meet on the lower level of Smith Library in a glass-front room near the tables where we met on September 16, and I will distribute copies of your annotated bibliography and preface assignment. Lauren Ksa, Head of Research and Instructional Services, will lead us through the process of using library databases to locate sources for your bibliography.

AI, English 1103, Reading, Teaching, Writing

ENG 1103: Turning to Ted Chiang’s “The Lifecycle of Software Objects”

Posted on October 26, 2026October 26, 2026 by janemlucas

Today marks the beginning of our study of the novella The Lifecycle of Software Objects, whose author, Ted Chiang, was named to Time magazine’s list One Hundred Most Infuential People in AI (2023).

This morning, after your Scrabble debriefing, you and two or three of your classmates will compose a short piece of writing that addresses one of the conflicts or sources of potential conflict in the first two chapters of Chiang’s novella. The guidelines for your assignment follow.

Directions

Compose a statement of at least one complete sentence that begins with a signal phrase for a quotation that addresses one of the bulleted items below, follows the quote with a parenthetical citation, and concludes with words that convey the situation’s conflict or indicate its potential for conflict. Do not include the word conflict. Instead, describe the conflict or explain its possibility.

Example

Ana Alvarado, who studied primate communication and “dreamed of following Fossey and Goodall to Africa” (66), and the animator Derek Brooks, whose design work is limited to such tasks as fashioning “a body that manifests the digients’ gestures” (67), both find themselves pursuing careers that differ considerably from the ones they had envisioned for themselves. The discrepancies between their plans and their current circumstances prompt questions about their futures. Will their days at Blue Gamma be marked by satisfaction or resignation, and how will their attitudes affect their relationships with the digients?

The differences between Ana Alvarado’s and Derek Brooks’s perceptions of the digients (69-70).
Lolly, the lion cub digient, learning an obscenity from Stefan, the Blue Gamma trainer in the Australian office (73-74).
Blue Gamma customer Andrew Nguyen’s interactions with his digient (76-77, 79).
Jax, the digient with the neo-Victorian robot avatar, “inhabiting” the SaruMech robot body, and SaruMech’s plans to rent the robot bodies, rather than sell them (81-83).
Blue Gamma’s design of an alien species, Xenotherians, commissioned by a group of artificial-life hobbyists (87).

In the second half of class, we will discuss what you’ve written about the conflicts and potential sources of conflict in chapters one and two. Afterward, I will introduce the annotated bibliography and preface assignment, your third and final major paper assignment for the course.

Scrabble Debriefing, Part II: Viruses You’d Like to Catch

Although viruses are infections to avoid, playing viruses in Scrabble by using all seven of your tiles will earn you fifty bonus points. That was the case in last Friday’s game pictured above. Using a blank for the e, a team played viruses vertically by adding the s to leap for a total of seventy-five points.

Next Up

Wednesday we will meet on the lower level of Smith Library in a glass-front room near the tables where we met on September 16. Lauren Ksa, Head of Research and Instructional Services will lead us through the process of using library databases to locate sources for your bibliography.

English 1103, Scrabble, Teaching

ENG 1103: Toponyms, Part I . . .

Posted on October 23, 2026 by janemlucas

The second Scrabble post of the semester featured first names that are also common nouns, making them playable in Scrabble. Today’s post includes place names and words derived from places, or toponyms–more proper nouns that are playable in Scrabble because they’re also common nouns. Studying these words offers you additional opportunities to broaden your vocabulary and up your game.

afghan: a wool blanket
alamo: a cottonwood poplar tree
alaska: a heavy fabric
berlin: a type of carriage
bermudas: a variety of knee-length, wide-legged shorts
bohemia: a community of unconventional, usually artistic, people
bolivia: a soft fabric
bordeaux: a wine from the Bordeaux region
boston: a card game similar to whist
brazil: a type of tree found in Brazil used to make instrument bows (also brasil)
brit: a non-adult herring
cayman: a type of crocodile, also known as a spectacled crocodile (also caiman)
celt: a type of axe used during the New Stone Age
chile: a spicy pepper (also chili)
colorado: used to describe cigars of medium strength and color
congo: an eellike amphibian
cyprus: a thin fabric
dutch: referring to each person paying for him or herself
egyptian: a sans serif typeface
english: to cause a ball to spin
french: to slice food thinly
gambia: a flowering plant known as cat’s claw (also gambier, which is a small town in Ohio)
geneva: gin, or a liquor like gin
genoa: a type of jib (a triangular sail), also known as a jenny, first used by a Swedish sailor in Genoa
german: also known as the german cotillon, an elaborate nineteenth-century dance
greek: something not understood
guinea: a type of British coin minted from 1663 to 1813
holland: a linen fabric
japan: to gloss with black lacquer
java: coffee
jordan: a chamber pot
kashmir: cashmere
mecca: a destination for many people

“Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? . . .”

In Monday’s 7:50 class (section one), when we discussed the readings as a follow-up to the presentations, I omitted Ulrch Boser’s Wired article, “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? Here’s Your Memory Trick.” I intended to address the passage pictured above, which I also mentioned in Tuesday’s class notes. In that post, I referred to Bennett Schwartz’s retrieval process as a strategy for you to try as you rehearsed your presentation:

Try turning away from the written page–and away from the sound of your voice if you record it–and simply ask yourself what words and phrases you recall. The more often you ask yourself, the more you will remember. As Boser notes, “Indeed, it appears that at a very basic neurological level, grappling with material in a dedicated way promotes a type of shifting in our neural circuits–and a richer form of expertise” (par. 21). In the words of Schwartz, himself, “If we process things too easily, they do not form in our memories” (qtd. in Boser, par. 21). Memorizing lines is a tedious process, but embracing the process will help you develop into a stronger public speaker.

Next Up

After Monday’s Scrabble debriefing, we will examine chapter two of “The Lifecycle of Software Objects” (74-87), which you should read and annotate before class. Remember that each reading assignment listed on the calendar denotes what you should read before the class where it’s listed.

If you do not want to mark up your copy of Ted Chiang’s Exhalation, rather than annotating “The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” take notes on each chapter in your journal.

In the second half of class, I will introduce your third and final major paper asignment: the annotated bibliography and preface.

Coming Soon

Wednesday we will meet on the lower level of Smith Library. Near the tables where we met on September 16, there’s a glass-front room with desktop computers. That’s where we’ll meet with Lauren Ksa, Head of Research and Instructional Services, who will lead you through the process using library databases to locate sources for your bibliography.

English 1103, Teaching

ENG 1103: Group Presentations Follow-Up . . .

Posted on October 22, 2026 by janemlucas

Section 1 (L-R): Claire Jahnke, Grace Duffy, and Kai Jarvis deliver their presentation on Matt Richtel’s “Blogs vs. Term Papers.”

Today’s blog post features images from the group presentations you delivered yesterday. The order of the pictures mirrors the order of the presentations themselves, beginning with the first presentation in section one (above) and ending with the fifth presentation in section eight. Referring to the picture of your group and the picture of the group you address in the third paragraph of your response may help you recall details from the presentations.

Submit your response as a comment on yesterday blog’s post, “ENG 1103: Delivering Your Group Presentations” no later than 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28.

Section 1 (L-R): Oliver Henderson, Olivia Lavallee, and Bridgett Murphy deliver their presentation on Charlotte Hu’s “Why Writing By Hand is Better for Memory and Learning.”

Section 1 (L-R): Hayden Porter and Brenna Murphy deliver their presentation on Allison Aubrey’s “A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood . . .”

Section 1 (L-R): Nicole Halucka, Alexis Zavalishin, Ryder Pitek, and Gavin Godfrey-Ryan deliver their presentation on Ulrich Boser’s “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? Here’s Your Memory Trick.”

Section 1 (L-R): Will Roberts, Baylee Shattenberg, Madi Stone, and Ken Wadley deliver their presentation on the first chapter of Ted Chiang’s *The Lifecycle of Software Objects*, Chapter One (62-74).

Section 8 (L-R): Ariana, Foy, Avery Broadbent, and Mackenzie Mossa deliver their presentation on Matt Richtel’s “Blogs vs. Term Papers.”

Section 8 (L-R): Mariah Robinson, Skylar Bowry, Cole Wilhelmsen, and Dev Broomer deliver their presentation on Charlotte Hu’s “Why Writing By Hand is Better for Memory and Learning.”

Section 8 (L-R): Devyn Jones, Ryan Lofton, and Leslie Mendoza Arreola deliver their presentation on Allison Aubrey’s “A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood . . .”

Section 8 (L-R): Layla Rothberg, Sophia Stewart, and Lance Morgan deliver their presentation on Ulrich Boser’s “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? Here’s Your Memory Trick”

Section 8 (L-R): Zach Roseman, Kathleen Barr, Marisol Moreno, and Vivian Lalliberte deliver their presentation on the first chapter of Ted Chiang’s *The Lifecycle of Software Objects*, Chapter One (62-74).

Bonus Assignment

The assignment that follows is one that you may complete in addition to your blog comment. It does not replace the comment that you will submit to yesterday’s post, “ENG 1103: Delivering Your Group Presentations.”

Directions

Revise your three-paragraph blog comment to publish as a post, not a comment, on your own blog. Begin by deleting the third paragraph, then develop the first and second paragraphs with details about your portion of the presentation and your group members’ segments. Details will vary among posts but the title and author of the article or novella and the first and last names of your group members are essential.
Include in your post an embeded link to the class notes that feature the group presentation assignment, “ENG 1103: Group Oral Presentations,” or include an embedded link to one or more of your group members’ blogs.
Also, include the image of your group delivering its presentation. To save a copy of that photo to upload to your own blog post, follow these steps: (1) Scroll up the page to your group’s photo, and left-click on the image. (2) Right-click on the expanded image and select the Save image as . . . option.
After you have drafted your post, added the group photo, and embedded a link to one or more of the sites noted above, craft a title that includes the author’s name and/or the title of the work but that isn’t simply the title, the author, or both. For example, your title shouldn’t be “Matt Richtel’s ‘Blogs vs. Term Papers,'” but might be “Speaking of Matt Richtel’s ‘Blogs vs. Term Papers,'” or “Speaking of ‘Blogs vs. Term Papers.'” Those titles include the subject and also include the word speaking, which indicates the oral nature of the assignment.
Once you have added all required elements to your post, publish it. Email me to let me know that your post is published, so I can credit you with the assignment. To receive credit, you must publish your post no later than 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 29.

I look forward to reading your posts.

Next Up

Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.

English 1103, Teaching

ENG 1103: Delivering Your Group Presentations

Posted on October 21, 2026 by janemlucas

Schulz, Charles. *Peanuts*. 14 October 1999.

This morning in class, you and your classmates will deliver your oral presentations on “Blogs vs. Term Papers” by Matt Richtel, “Why Writing by Hand is Better for Memory and Learning” by Charlotte Hu, “A Break from Your Smartphone . . .” by Allison Aubrey, “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? . . .” by Ulrich Boser, and the first chapter of Ted Chiang‘s “The Life Cycle of Software Objects” in Exhalation (62-74).

Today’s class notes serve as the posting site for the response you will write, addressing both your group’s presentation and one of the other four. (See the directions below.)

Directions

Compose a short piece of writing (two paragraphs, minimum) that reflects on your individual preparation and delivery of your portion of the presentation and your group’s presentation overall. Although you are not required to draft your response longhand in your journal, I encourage you to write it by hand before you type it as a blog comment.

Elements to address include the following:

The roles of your reading and writing: How did the processes of rereading the text and writing and rewriting your remarks contribute to the effectiveness of your delivery?
The introduction of your group members and opening remarks
The examination of points in the article
The conclusion
The cohesiveness of the presentation
Poise, eye contact, and avoidance of filler words

Note that even though you are composing a blog comment, the assignment requires multiple, albeit short, block paragraphs. Use the enter or return key to create a space in the text box.

After you complete your two-paragraph reflection on your group’s presentation, compose an additional paragraph that addresses a presentation by one of the other groups. Choose the one that stands out the most to you. What element or elements of that presentation made it particularly effective and why?

Post your response as a comment on today’s blog post. To receive credit for the assignment, you must post your comment as a reply to today’s post, “ENG 1103: Delivering Your Group Presentations.” To submit your comment, click the title of the post, then scroll down to the bottom. There you will see the image of an airmail envelope with a box for your comment. Type your comment in the box and click Comment. Post your comment by 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, October 28. I will make your comments visible after the deadline.

Next Up

Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.

English 1103, Reading, Teaching, Writing

ENG 1103: Continuing to Prepare for Your Presentations

Posted on October 20, 2026October 22, 2026 by janemlucas

As you continue to prepare for your presentation, be mindful of the valuable roles that reading and writing play in the process. Although the final product is your group’s three-to-four-minute oral presentation, your work began with reading and writing: reading the article or chapter that serves as your subject, and writing the plan that you composed in class yesterday.

Have you reread the article or chapter that serves as your subject? If not, turn back to the text itself at least two more times before Wednesday. Chances are, on a second or third reading, you will notice details you didn’t notice before, ones that you may want to add to your presentation.

In addition to recording key words on your notecard, write out your portion of the presentation in your journal. Though you will not be permitted to have your journal in hand during your presentation, the act of writing down your remarks and rewriting them will help you commit them to memory.

Remember that your notes are limited to a three-by-five notecard, not a four-by-six one, or a standard sheet of paper. If you do not have three-by-five index cards of your own, ask for one at the Circulation-Reserves counter near the main entrance of Smith Library.

As you practice delivering your presentation, minimize the time you look down at your notecard. Your ability to limit those glances will be greater if you spend ample time rereading the text and writing and reviewing your remarks in your journal.

Also, consider recording your presentation remarks and listening to them today and tomorrow morning. The picture above features my iPhone with the Voice Recorder app that I use to memorize lines for roles in plays, something I’ve done four times already in 2026–twice in plays in Greensboro and twice in Winston-Salem. Whenever I’m in rehearsal, I spend as much time as I can listening to my voice speaking my lines. I listen to them on my daily walks in my neighborhood, when I’m driving, and when I’m pedaling on a stationary bike at the gym. Hearing myself speak the words over and over enables me to learn the lines more quickly than I could by simply reveiwing them on the page.

Another strategy to try is psychology professor Bennett Schwartz’s retrieval practice, the subject of Ulrich Boser’s article “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? . . . . .” Try turning away from the written page–and away from the sound of your voice if you record it–and simply ask yourself what words and phrases you recall. The more often you ask yourself, the more you will remember. As Boser notes, “Indeed, it appears that at a very basic neurological level, grappling with material in a dedicated way promotes a type of shifting in our neural circuits–and a richer form of expertise” (par. 21). In the words of Schwartz, himself, “If we process things too easily, they do not form in our memories” (qtd. in Boser, par. 21). Memorizing lines is a tedious process, but embracing the process will help you develop into a stronger public speaker.

Next Up

In class tomorrow, you will deliver your group presentation and you will serve as the audience for the other four groups’ presentations. It’s vital that you pay close attention to your classmate’s presentations and take notes on them because you will have a blog comment assignment that will require you to address your own presentation as well as one of the others.

After the presentations, in the second half of class, we will revisit the texts that served as your subjects: “Blogs vs. Term Papers” by Matt Richtel, “Why Writing by Hand is Better for Memory and Learning” by Charlotte Hu, “A Break from Your Smartphone . . .” by Allison Aubrey, “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? . . .” by Ulrich Boser, and the first chapter of Ted Chiang‘s “The Life Cycle of Software Objects” in Exhalation (62-74).

English 1103, Reading, Scrabble, Teaching

ENG 1103: Group Oral Presentations . . .

Posted on October 19, 2026October 19, 2026 by janemlucas

This morning in class, after your Scrabble debriefing, I will distribute your group presentation assignment, and you will have the remainder of the class period to devote to planning the short presentation that you will deliver in class on Wednesday. An additional copy of the assignment is included below.

As an exercise in collaboration and oral communication, you and two or three of your classmates will plan, rehearse, and deliver a concise presentation focusing on a reading that focuses on one of the articles distributed in class last week or on the first chapter of Ted Chiang‘s “The Life Cycle of Software Objects” in Exhalation (62-74).

Presentation Assignment Directions

Plan a presentation of three or four minutes, total, that addresses the most significant points covered in your group’s designated reading. (The lists of group assignments and designated readings are included below.)
Include in your presentation the following elements: (1) an introduction that mentions each group member’s first and last name (each group member may introduce himself or herself, or the group may assign one member the responsibility of introducing everyone), the title and author, or authors, of the reading, and a brief overview of the text, (2) A close examination of two or more points in the reading, and (3)) A conclusion that provides closure without restating the introduction and that invites questions. One strategy to consider for your conclusion is to address the relevance of the practice (the subject of your reading) to your work in English 1103, your work in other courses, and/or your life outside of the classroom.
Do not create a digital component, such as a PowerPoint or Google Slides show. You will not be permitted to use any digital devices during your presentation. Instead, you will rely only on a single three-by-five-inch index card with your notes.
Aim for cohesion. Turning briefly to the previous speaker and addressing him or her by first name, repeating a word or idea of his or hers, and connecting it to your own remarks are ways to unify your presentation. If your presentation seems to be a series of individual talks rather than a single group presentation, it lacks cohesion.
Every group member is not required to speak for the same length of time, but every member is required to deliver a portion of the presentation.

Directions for Rehearsing

In preparation for rehearsing, write your notes on a single three-by-five-inch index card (one card per group member). If your initial notes are written in complete sentences, rewrite them to include only words and short phrases for your key points. If your notes are too detailed, you will risk relying too heavily on them and making minimal eye contact with the audience. Plan to make as much eye contact as possible, and be sure to make eye contact with people throughout the room rather than fixing your eyes on one or two people.
Practice good posture. As you deliver your presentation, your ears should be directly above your shoulders. If you tend to shift your weight from one foot to the other, stand with your feet perpendicular to each other. If you do so, you will not be able to shift your weight from one foot to the other.
Avoid filler words, such as uh, um, like, and you know. If you tend to use filler words, practice pausing at the points where you are likely to use them.
Take turns delivering your portions of the presentation, and offer feedback to your group members. Offer both suggestions for improvement and words of encouragement.

Group Assignments

Section One

“Blogs vs. Term Papers”: Grace Duffy, Claire Jahnke, Kai Jarvis, Sebastian Olander
“Why Writing By Hand is Better for Memory and Learning”: Madison Haugk, Oliver Henderson, Olivia Lavallee, Bridgett Murphy
“A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood . . .”: Michael McNamara, Brenna Murphy, Hayden Porter
“Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? Here’s Your Memory Trick“: Gavin Godfrey-Ryan, Nicole Halucka, Ryder Pitek, Alexis Zavalishin
“The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” Chapter One (62-74): Will Roberts, Baylee Shattenberg, Madi Stone, Kel Wadley

Section Eight

“Blogs vs. Term Papers”: Avery Broadbent, Parker Davenport, Ariana Foy, Mackenzie Mossa
“Why Writing By Hand is Better for Memory and Learning”: Skylar Bowry, Dev Broomer, Mariah Robinson, Cole Wilhelmsen
“A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood . . .”: Devyn Jones, Ryan Lofton, Leslie Mendoza Arreola
“Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? Here’s Your Memory Trick“: Rocco Marcello, Lance Morgan, Layla Rothberg, Sophia Stewart
“The Lifecycle of Software Objects,” Chapter One (62-74): Kathleen Barr, Vivian Lalliberte, Marisol Moreno, Zach Roseman

Scrabble Debriefing, Part II

As a follow-up to your Scrabbble games last Friday, consider the plays addressed in commentaries below.

Surf’s Up First, Join Later

On the board pictured above, the first team began the game with the play of surf for fourteen points. Although surf is an acceptable choice, it isn’t a judicious one. Why would the first team have benefited in the long run from playing only three of the letters in surf for a score twelve? Also, consider the play of join. (The s was added later.)

Playing surf uses one of the four s‘s and one of the four u‘s. If the team’s only vowel was the u, and the team did not have the consonants required to play an all-consonant word, then the team would have no choice but to play the u. However, the team could have avoided using both a u and an s by playing fur for twelve points rather than surf fourteen. Although the opening play of fur would earn fewer points, s is a valuable letter, and seasoned Scrabble players advise not playing one unless you can score at least twenty points.

The play of join placed the j on a double-letter score square, earning the second team an admirable score of nineteen points, but the placement of the j gave the opponents the opportunity to score with a triple-word play, likely one that would earn them more than thirty points. If a team played two blanks and a one-point letter to the right of the j, the triple-word score would be twenty-seven. However, it’s more likley that a team would play three letters worth one or more points each, for a total of thirty-three or more. The first team did not take advantage of that opportunity–and may not have had the letters to do so–but the placement of join did enable them to play zoo for thirty-two points. Later, the second team was able to play jean for the triple-word score of thirty-three.

Q Query

Midway through the game pictured below, the second team played quit for a total of twenty-six points. Although that may have been the highest-scoring play the second team could have made at that point in the game, why would they have been well-advised to hold the q and the u for a later turn?

When the second team played quit in the game pictured above, none of the other three u’s and neither of the blanks had been played, making it very likely that the first team would be able to make a triple-word score play with the q.

Initially, the first team did not have the letters for a triple-word play using the second team’s q. However, a couple of turns later, the first team used a blank for an e to play pique for forty-eight points.

Next Up

In class on Wednesday, you will deliver your group presentations. Afterward, in the second half of class, we will discuss the five readings and consider each as a possible starting point for the research you will conduct in the second half of the semester.

English 1103, Scrabble, Teaching, Writing

ENG 1103: Irritable Vowel Syndrome, Part II . . .

Posted on October 16, 2026 by janemlucas

Last week, I published a blog post featuring playable four-letter words with three vowels. Knowing those words, and others with multiple vowels, proves useful when you’re faced with a rack of mostly, or all, vowels. Here’s a list of the remaining playable four-letter words with three vowels, beginning with the letters in the second half of the alphabet:

naoi: ancient temples (pl. of naos)
obia: form of sorcery practiced in the Caribbean (also obeah)
odea: concert halls (pl. of odeum)
ogee: an S-shaped molding
ohia: a Polynesian tree with bright flowers (also lehua)
olea: corrosive solutions (pl. of oleum)
olio: a miscellaneous collection
ouzo: a Turkish anise-flavored liquor
raia: a non-Muslim Turk (also rayah)
roue: a lecherous old man
toea: a currency in Papua, New Guinea
unai: a two-toed sloth (pl. unai; an ai is a three-toed sloth)
zoea: the larvae of some crustaceans

Upcoming Class Readings

At the beginning of today’s class, you will receive copies of the articles pictured above: “Want to Play Scrabble Like a Pro? Here’s Your Memory Trick” by Ulrich Boser and “A Break from Your Smartphone Can Reboot Your Mood” by Allison Aubrey, which you should read and annotate for next Monday, October 19. If you are absent from class or misplace your copies, download and print them from Blackboard.

Next Up

In class on Monday, you will receive your group oral presentation assignment, which will focus on one of the articles distributed in class this week or on the first chapter of Ted Chiang‘s “The Life Cycle of Software Objects” in Exhalation (62-74). After I offer an overview of the assignment and distribute copies of the directions, you will have class time to devote to planning and practice. Since you don’t know which reading will be the subject of your group’s presentation, be sure to complete all five. That will ensure your class time can focus on actual preparations (rather than your initial reading of the text).

English 1103, Teaching, Writing

ENG 1103: Analysis Peer Response

Posted on October 15, 2026 by janemlucas

Today’s class notes serve as the posting site for the peer response assignment due on Friday, October 23. Review the directions carefully, along with the other notes that follow.

Analysis Peer Response Assignment

Directions

After tomorrow’s hard deadline for the analysis, at 10:40 a.m., go to the class page, and click on the link for the blog of the classmate whose name precedes yours. If you are first on the list, go to the blog of the student whose name is last. Note the difference between this step and the first step of the blog response assignment for the literacy narrative. For that assignment, your designated classmate’s name followed yours; for this assignment, it precedes it.
If your designated classmate’s blog is not linked to the page, or his or her analysis is not published, choose another classmate’s blog.
Read the classmate’s analysis.
Compose a one- or two-paragraph response (75 words, minimum) that includes both the classmate’s name and the title of his or her analysis. In your comment, address one or more of these elements: the title, the introduction, the thesis, textual evidence, the conclusion, the image documenting part of the writing process away from the screen, the embedded link to a relevant website.
Recommended (not required): Draft your comment longhand in your journal.
Type your response as a comment. You should see a leave comment/reply option at the top or bottom of the post. If you do not see that option, click the title of the post and scroll down. You should then see leave comment/reply.
Before you click leave comment/reply, copy your comment (on a PC, copy with control + c; on a Mac, copy with command + c).
After you submit your comment on your classmate’s analysis, return to this blog post, and paste your comment as a reply (on a PC, paste with control + v; on a Mac, paste with command + v). This step is critical because your classmate may not approve your comment, which means it will not be visible on his or her blog. To receive credit for the assignment, you must post your duplicate comment as a reply to this post, “ENG 1103: Analysis Peer Response.” To submit your comment, click the title of the post, then scroll down to the bottom. There you will see the image of an airmail envelope with a box for your comment. Type your comment in the box and click Comment. Post your comment by 7:30 a.m. on Friday, October 23. I will make your comments visible after the deadline.

You are not required to read other classmates’ analyses, but I encourage you to browse their blogs and read the posts that pique your interest.

Upcoming Readings

At the beginning of tomorow’s class, you will receive copies of two additional articles that focus on aspects of the course. Can you guess which ones? Read and annotate both for next Monday, October 19, along with the two distributed yesterday. If you are absent from class or misplace your copies, download and print them from Blackboard.

Next Up

Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.