Extra Credit Opportunities

This satire piece, taken from The Daily Show last June, is rife with valuable discussion points. In fact, we'll see it again in February/March during the Constitution Unit. For now, though, I'd like to hear from students: How do Americans in 2007 treat Mexicans/Illegal Immigrants? Is such treatment fair or unfair? Is there an irony in Americans treating Illegals so badly, considering our class discussions of the last few weeks (Columbus, Conquistadors, the Pilgrims, English destruction of the Pequot)?

Give me your thoughts... any kind of writing that shows you've generated a comparison between the two (Immigration in 2007 vs. Colonization in 1600's) or have generated any original thought will earn you as many as 10 extra credit points. Any work should be turned in by Friday, 12/7. Your thoughts should be at least one paragraph to be considered for EC.

Oh, and you may recognize John Hodgman, the man Jon Stewart is talking to. He's "that guy" in the PC vs. Mac commercials, and has also written a book, which I have in my classroom. John Masello and Mason Maguire - this one's for you!

And finally, as a current event issue, this blog post is the very kind of thing that writers are on strike for in California. Bring me a simple synopsis of that strike and its issues (one paragraph), and what this post has to do with it, and you can earn 5 points extra credit. It's very important to understand what's behind current events, to ask "why," so you fully understand topics, not just people's opinions of them. This current event is very easy to notice, especially when your favorite TV shows stop running fresh episodes on TV (like the Daily Show, Office, 24, Lost, etc.).