Choice 1: Seminar 1 Preparation Paper

Directions for First Seminar—due Fri., 1/20

Read: The Tipping Point, ch. 7

Plan on reading this chapter twice. Time yourself on how long it will take you to read one page and then multiply by number of pages (approx. 36). This will give you an idea of how much time you should budget for your reading. If you read one page in two minutes, then you will need about an hour, at a minimum, to read through this chapter once.

As you read, you should underline, highlight, note in the margin, or index in a reading journal or on blank pages at the end of the book passages, specific terms, sentences, or paragraphs that strike you as important, interesting, confusing, or simply those you want to share with others in the seminar.

Make a list of new words, names, phrases that you looked up in a dictionary. A good reader will have a dictionary available, and look up several words in each section of reading. (inveigh, 221=to vent or protest)

You should identify major concepts the author uses and how he labels and defines them. What does he mean when he uses phrases such as: permission giving (224, 228), suicide as a subculture (223), contagiousness vs stickiness (234), environmental influence (241)

Your objective is more than just getting through these pages and more than just a passive read to generally familiarize yourself with the topic. Rather your purpose should be to explore this work to see what you can discover or what the author would want you to underline. To do this, you will need to first understand what the author is saying. Why did he write it? Where are the major questions or problems that the author is trying to address stated? Review the whole book, including title and subtitle, acknowledgements, table of contents, chapter titles, index, notes, bibliography, even the back cover! Who is the author? Do a Web search or check the links on Blackboard.

To make the seminar work, you will need to be able to point to specific passages and explain in your own words what they mean and why they are important.

Seminar Preparations Paper—to be typed and turned in:

Make a list of words you needed to look up in a dictionary and be ready to explain them to your seminar.

Prioritize five of the most important passages you underlined, marking them #1, 2, 3, etc.
Then choose two passages from the chapter and copy it out exactly including quote marks and page number. Format this in the Modern Language Association (MLA) in-text citation method using the author’s last name and page number in parenthesis after the quote marks but before the period. For example, “The Tipping Point, blah, blah” (Gladwell 47).

Finally, in a few sentences explain what each of these quotes mean in your own words and why you think they are important.


Helpful Seminar Online Follow-Up Suggestion

After the seminar, over the weekend, continue the conversation on Blackboard in your Group Pages discussion board:

What new insights into the reading did you get in the seminar?
What or who was helpful in the seminar process?
How might you prepare differently for future seminars?
What questions would you pose to the group about the reading now?