Summer 2008 Reading Students

Welcome Summer English 190 students. If you have attempted to register and found that the class is closed, please see me on the first day of class in AD242 and I will add students to my class up to the number of chairs I have available. If you are enrolled, be sure to show up the first day, or I will give someone else your seat.

This semester is very short (only 5 weeks, M-F) and class will go by very quickly, so you must GET YOUR BOOKS as soon as possible. If you have my old English 188 text, Introduction to Critical Reading, by McCraney, we will be using the same text, but with different passages. You'll need to buy or download a new English 190 Syllabus , which you must fill in as we work the class and turn in at the end. See more about how to get your books on the class web page english.glendale.edu . This semester, you will be required to read an outside recreational reading book and do a book report according to my particular standards. We will discuss this in the second week.

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is this weekend at UCLA April 26-27. This is a wonderful event and I encourage all my students to go at least one day if possible. (And I'll give extra credit to any student bearing proof of attendance.) The Festival is free. There are several stages which have readings by authors, and music and poetry. Check out the link here .

Mr.Doyle in the Glendale News Press

Mr.Doyle recently presented a speech for the city-sponsored "Week of Remembrance" held at the Glendale Public Library on April 21. He spoke about the Irish Potato Famine in context with other important examples of man's inhumanity to man.

link to the article

Tests Coming Up in a Few Weeks!

We are now in Week #6 and midterm tests are coming up in both English 188 and English 190. The best way to prepare is to make sure that you are caught up with all of your lab work. Work hard on these things:

For English 188
-review all lesson about phonics and dividing up words into syllables
-review all vocabulary from the poems and stories in weeks 1-5

For English 190
-review all vocabulary from the poems and stories in weeks 1-5
-review all the materials in the syllabus on Greek and Latin Roots.

We're in Week #3

Hi GCC Reading Students.

Well, we're in Week #3. At this point, everybody should have BOTH textbooks. If you don't, get them immediately. By this time, also, the English 190 students should be thinking about getting their outside book report reading book. Information on how to select this book is on page 10 in the syllabus. You must bring the book to class next Thursday for the TTh class and next Wednesday for the MWF class. Be sure to keep up with your online lab work at http://english.glendale.edu . Don't get too far behind.

For my students in my MWF classes, I will be off-campus at a conference on Friday, March 14, so there will be no class. However the usual online lab work is due by Saturday evening.

Welcome GCC Reading Students

Welcome back to the Spring semester at GCC. Your first job this initial half-week is to get your textbooks. The syllabus book is a free download off the class web page, or you may simply buy a bound copy for about $7 in the bookstore. This book must be turned-in filled out for a grade at the end of class in June. The other text is the Introduction to Critical Reading text by Leah McCraney. We will use either the 6th or 5th edition. Everyone needs a copy of each book.

I'll use this blog to remind you of things coming up, also to make announcements tha you may have missed in class. First announcement for the MWF classes: I need to go to a conference on Friday, February 29th, so class will be cancelled for that day. I will also be attending a conference in Tucson on March 14.

Midterm on Tuesday

Just a reminder to my English 190 classes: midterm tests are Tuesday. Review the vocabulary from the text for weeks 1-3. Also review everything we covered about Greek and Latin root words.

Winter English 190 Classes

Welcome Winter English 190 students. If you have attempted to register and found that the class is closed, please see me on the first day of class in AD242 and I will add students to my class up to the number of chairs I have available. If you are enrolled, be sure to show up the first day, or I will give someone else your seat.

This semester is very short (only 6 weeks, M-Th) and class will go by very quickly, so you must GET YOUR BOOKS as soon as possible. If you have my old English 188 text, Introduction to Critical Reading, by McCraney, we will be using the same text, but with different passages. You'll need to buy or download a new English 190 Syllabus, which you must fill in as we work the class and turn in at the end. See more about how to get your books on the class web page english.glendale.edu. This semester, you will be required to read an outside recreational reading book and do a book report according to my particular standards. We will discuss this in the second week.

What I'm Reading Lately

On October 24, former White House aide under President Richard Nixon, John Dean, spoke at the Glendale Public Library as part of their monthly speakers series. He gave a wonderful talk, full of his insights from his years in government. I purchased one of his recent books Conservatives without Conscience and had him sign it.

This book is highly critical of the current crop of conservatives in government, including President Bush and those around him. He believes that conservatism has lapsed into an amoral, power-hungry, intolerant authoritorianism, which bears little resemblance to the conservatism of Dean's mentor and friend, Barry Goldwater. He cites example after example of cases in which those who claim to be conservative, appear to have given up the pro-freedom, small-government, tolerant, nearly libertarian views that characterized older conservatives. It was a great read; he predicted the loss of the Congress and Senate by the Republicans in the last election.

The other book that I recently finished was John Grisham's The Summons. Grisham, you may recall ,write novels mostly about the legal profession in the South. They made movies of his other books, The Pelican Brief, The Client and The Firm, staring Tom Cruz. This book isn't quite as exciting as those other stories, but it involves an inheritance of millions of dollars, hot persuits by bad guys, and a twist at the end. It was an easy read and fun.

Another thing that I'm reading regulary is a blog in the Irish Language called Hilary NY. This blogger is a Gaelic speaker in New York City and writes weekly of things that happen to her in the city. She evidently is a teacher and is involved heavily in the Irish community in the City. Her level of writing is just about right for me, an intermediate learner of the Irish language. It is challenging, yet well written and not impossible for me to read. As I've mentioned in class, studying another language is a great way to actually build your intellgence. Learning a language is like growing another lobe in your brain; it gives you insight only another culture can give you.

Schedule for November 28-29

Just a reminder that I need to serve on a hiring committee for a new English professor on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. All my classes are cancelled on these days.

How the New Digital World is Changing Us

As you recover from the recent midterms, check out this video about the impact of the new digital world:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE

Mid-term schedule for Reading Classes

All English 190 classes meeting MWF- the midterm will be on Monday, October 22.
The English 190 class meeting T-Th will have the midterm on Tuesday, October 23.
The English 188 class meeting MWF will have the midterm today, October 17.
The English 188 class meeting T-Th will have the midterm on October 18.

What I'm Reading Lately

On my long trip to Pennsylvania last week, I was able to bring along some light reading on the plane. Recently I finish the third book in a series linked to the Showtime cable network drama called "Dexter" about a serial killer who works with the police and only kills bad people. It's a far-fetched concept but both the TV series and the books have been wonderful. Last year I read Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first of the series and closely related to the television show. The second book, Dearly Devoted Dexter , has a story line completely different from the TV series, but was still quite rewarding. Over the weekend I read, Dexter in the Dark, in which Dexter's dark inner-self which compells him to kill people abandons him while he himself becomes the target of another, more powerful dark force. The books and television incisively explore the inner and outer versions of self that we present to ourselves and other. Well worth the read.

What I'm Reading Lately

My goal over my summer break was to read the entire set of Harry Potter books. Well, I've finished book 7 and I also read a commentary on the books and have been listening to some podcasts by Harry Potter geeks. Taken as a whole the entire set is a wonderful story, one that ranks, at least in theme and ideas, with many other works of western literature. It is deep in many ways, touching on many myths, a very spiritual series with positive ethics. I highly recommend the Harry Potter series; best to start at the first book as there are characters in the book that aren't in the movies.

Currently, I'm nearly done with a book on genetics and British and Irish history called "Saxons, Vikings and Celts". The author, Bryan Sykes has done research using the DNA of the inhabitants of Britain, Wales, Scotland and Ireland in order to see if various legends and historic accounts of the movements of various peoples into and around the isles can be proven by looking at their DNA. It's a fascinating account. Some of his preliminary studies may change what we think about when Celts came to Ireland. It was believed that Celts from around Austria may have emmigrated into Ireland about 300 to 500 years BC. But Syke's research implies that the Celts may have arrived much earlier, around the time of the invention of agriculture about 5000 years BC and from around Spain. On the whole, a great read.

Is there bias in the mainstream media?

Some say that mainstream media has a bias favoring liberal, Democratic or progressive politics. They cite statistics from polling which shows that the majority of newspaper and electronic media reporters are themselves somewhat liberal. But reporters alone do not determine what is actually published or broadcast over the media. Those reporter's bosses, editors, and managers are actually more likely to be more conservative and support Republican politicians. And owners of the media and the higher management of these vast corporations that own the media outlets are much more likely to be conservative. Rupert Murdock, the owner of Fox News and hundreds of television outlets, newspapers, and radio stations, is relentlessly conservative, donates heavily to conservative politicians all over the world and promotes conservative ideas through many of his holdings. As we experience more media consolidation, media tends to grow more conservative, not wanting to risk annoying corporate advertisers or damage even slightly other corporate holdings.

If there is a media bias, it is more in the decisions as to what is deemed worth reporting. As we saw in todays' Los Angeles Times print edition and online version, among other things, something gets reported if it involves:
-conflict (U.S. tip led to German terror plot arrests)
-violence
-happens to celebrities (Paris Hilton, US Senator Craig)
-is about sex (Sex, violence cram TV's 'family hour,' study says)