Pagans, Partygoers Gather for Stonehenge Solstice

By Nardine Saad, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, June 20, 2009

(06-20) 14:45 PDT STONEHENGE, England (AP) --

Thousands of neo-Druids, New Age followers and the merely curious were flocking to Stonehenge on Saturday to await the sunrise over the prehistoric monument and celebrate the longest day of the year.

The ancient stone circle in southern England is the site of an annual night-long party — or religious ceremony, depending on perspective — marking the northern hemisphere's summer solstice.

"They come for a complete range of reasons," said archaeologist Dave Batchelor of English Heritage, the site's caretaker. "Some belong to the Druidic religion and think of it as a temple, others think of it as a place of their ancestors, or for tranquility and others come to see it as a way to celebrate the changing of the seasons."

Stonehenge, which sits on Salisbury Plain about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of London, is one of Britain's most popular tourist attractions, visited by more than 750,000 people a year. It was built in three phases between 3,000 B.C. and 1,600 B.C.

More than 20,000 people are expected to greet the sunrise just before 5 a.m. (0400 GMT) on Sunday.

Mystery surrounding the monument has long prompted speculation about its original function and gives it even more of an allure, Batchelor said.

Some theories hold that the stone circle was a grave site because 350 burial mounds surround the structure.

In May, archaeologists found evidence indicating that pilgrims perceived the stones to have healing powers. And some assert that the structure was part of an ancient astronomical calendar.

Still other experts believe the stones were aligned by a sophisticated sun-worshipping culture that possessed the ingenuity to move the several-ton stones, some of which came from 150 miles (240 kilometers) away in the Preseli Mountains in Wales.

But because it was built so long ago, there is no record of why the monument was erected, said Batchelor.

"All of that sort of stuff we don't have, so when it comes to ascribing a modern-day reason depends on the viewpoint ... that's the fascination," Batchelor said.

The solstice is one of the few times during the year that visitors can get close enough to touch the rocks. With record numbers set to attend the free festival because it falls on a weekend, police officers are set to be on patrol.

Police closed the site in 1984 after repeated clashes with revelers. English Heritage began allowing full access to the site again in 2000 and the celebrations have been largely peaceful.
Last year 17 arrests were made for minor public disorder offenses.

English Heritage said revelers would only be allowed to bring in four cans of beer or a bottle of wine each, and advised that "illegal drugs are still illegal at Stonehenge as they are anywhere else."

A teen book burns at the stake

A Christian group hopes to set fire to library copies of Francesca Lia Block's novel about a gay boy coming of age.

By Laura Miller, Salon.com

Jun. 16, 2009

Francesca Lia Block, an award-winning author of young-adult books (the "Weetzie Bat" series among them), has known for a while now that one of her novels, "Baby Be-Bop" is at the center of a controversy in West Bend, Wis. A few days ago, she found out that it might be burned at the stake. "Baby Be-Bop" is on a list of titles that a local group calling itself the West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries objects to seeing in the public library.

In February, the group asked the library's board to remove a page of recommended titles about gay and lesbian issues for young people (including "Baby Be-Bop") from the library's Web site. Then they demanded that the books be moved from the youth section of the library and placed with the adult collection, "to protect children from accessing them without their parents' knowledge and supervision."

"My publisher brushed it off at first," Block said, "but now it's starting to look really serious." When the board refused to immediately comply with the requests of West Bend Citizens for Safe Libraries, the town's common council voted not to renew the contracts of four recalcitrant board members. A second group, West Bend Parents for Free Speech, formed to oppose the plan to segregate the books.

At a June 3 public hearing, the library board received two petitions (700 signatures supporting the restriction, 1,000 opposed) on the issue and listened to dozens of statements. Then it voted unanimously to leave the books where they are.

But the controversy isn't over. Now an outfit called the Christian Civil Liberties Union has gotten in on the act, suing the library for, according to the West Bend Daily News, "damaging" the "mental and emotional well-being" of several individuals by displaying "Baby Be-Bop" in the library. Since attempts to label the novel as "pornographic" have failed, the (somewhat shadowy) CCLU hopes to brand it as hate speech, in part because it contains the word "nigger." The complainants, described as "elderly" by the newspaper, claim that Block's novel is "explicitly vulgar, racial [sic] and anti-Christian." They want the library's copy not only removed but publicly burned.

"Baby Be-Bop," a title from the Weetzie Bat series that describes the youth of Weetzie's best friend, Dirk, is, in Block's words, "a very sweet, simple, coming-of-age story about a young man's discovery that he's gay." Dirk is beaten by gay bashers but steadfastly clings to the possibility of finding love. Block finds the disingenuous charges of racism particularly distressing. "Obviously I use those words, including 'faggot,' which is also in the book, to expose racism and homophobia, not promote it," she said. "It's a tiny little book," she added, "but they want to burn it like a witch."

"I'd like to show my support for the librarians with any statement I can make," she said "They're the unsung heroes in our society. My brother works on a hotline for gay youth and every night he's talking people down from suicide because they're gay and they're not accepted by the communities they're in."

Assignment: PowerPoint Presentation

As you know, this term you will be responsible for a 10-minute faith and spirituality-themed PowerPoint presentation.

Requirements:

• Must be a minimum 10-minutes in length
  
• Should have no less than 8 slides minimum
  
• Must include a handout outlining your presentation (about 30 copies)

The best presentations will:

• First contextualize information, then present relevant facts
  
• Avoid a heavy use of animation and effects, choosing instead a simpler style (illustrations are highly recommended)
  
• Engage the class through a conversational style, utilizing questions and/or activities
• Utilize multimedia, such as YouTube (encouraged, but NOT required)
  

Remember, presentations must be PC-friendly and be on either an external hard drive or ready via email.

PowerPoint Presentation Schedule

Here is the schedule for this summer's presentations. Completed presentations are in yellow.

Week 2
T 6.23 OPEN

W 6.24: Alex W. (Christian Responses to Climate Change); Cameron C. (Opus Dei); Brianna T. (Possessions)

Th 6.25: Sean C. (Sikhism)

Week 3
M 6.29: Mariela T. (Catholic Molestation Scandals)

T 6.30: Joseph V. (Transubstantiation); Ann Y. (Conservatives and the Morning After Pill)

W 7.1: Alex T. (Scientology vs. Anonymous); Freddy P. (Corporal Mortification)

Week 4
T 7.7: Cang T. (History of Buddhism); Leann P. (Secular vs. Religious Rights); Ryan N. (Homosexuality and Christianity)

W 7.8: Giang D. (Modern Buddhism); Emily C. (The Religious Response to Torture)

Th 7.9: Jane N. (21st Century American Christianity); Hollie R. (Art vs. Religion); Stephanie R. (The Gnostic Gospels)

Week 5
M 7.13: Multezem M. (Muslims in America); Leticia E. (Religion in Gangs); Pamela S. (The Amish)

T 7.14: Matt D. (Religion on Film); Isaiah P. (Day of the Dead); Harmanjeet C. (Creationism vs. Evolution)

W 7.15: Jim S. (The Kama Sutra); Justine S. (Abstinence); Alisa L. (Prayer and Fasting)

Th 7.16: Siavash (Zoroastrianism); Leo Q. (Falun Gong), Amber G. (Parallels Between Jesus and Horus)

Week 6
M 7.20: Carlos B. (Proposition 8); Didio M. (Women's Roles in World Religions)

Oops...

Here's the other required text I forgot to add... Julia Sweeney's monologue, Letting Go of God.

Find it for download at Audible.com and iTunes, and in CD on Amazon.com.

Also, look for your midterm to now center on this monologue.

Week 1

When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion.
—Abraham Lincoln

M 6.15
Class: Syllabus review; Introductions

T 6.16
Read: RC, pg. 1-42
Lab: Book discussion; Sample presentation and sign-ups; Lecture—“Steps of the Writing Process, Pt. I”

W 6.17
Read: RC, pg. 43-71
Class: Book discussion; Lecture—“Steps of the Writing Process, Pt. II”

Th 6.18
Read: RC, pg. 72-122
Lab: Personal essay (diagnostic); Book discussion; Writing center visit
Journal 1 Prompt: For your first journal, consider the times when one person's personal beliefs might infringe on those of another. For example, if a person asks another not to swear around him or her, or that one refrains from speaking about certain topics, how much should that request be accommodated? When is it okay to accommodate, compromise, or refuse, and when is the a request an infringement on another's rights?
Due: Journal 1

Welcome to English 905

Glad you could make it.

Summer 2009 Syllabus

ENGLISH 905: THE SEEN AND UNSEEN—EXPLORING SPIRITUAL WRITING
WEST VALLEY COLLEGE, SUMMER 2009

INSTRUCTOR: DANIEL HENDEL DE LA O
SECTION: 82320; UNITS: 3
TIMES AND PLACES: MW 10:30–12:35 PM IN LA 40;
TTH 10:30–12:35 PM IN CAW LAB
COURSE LENGTH: 06.15-07.22.09
OFFICE HOURS: TH 12:40–1:40 PM, LA WORKROOM
EMAIL: DHDELAO@GMAIL.COM
BLOG: THREEPOINTEAU.BLOGSPOT.COM
TWITTER: TWITTER.COM/PROFDLO

COURSE THEME
This semester’s 905 course will examine the phenomena of spirituality and faith. We will examine various facets of spirituality and faith, including:

• How does spirituality and faith both divide and unite us?
• What is the difference between being spiritual and being religious?
• What happens when spiritual interests intersect secular society?
• Can religion and science coexist?
• How are those who believe (and those who don’t) portrayed in the mainstream media?
• What place, if any, should spirituality have in our politics?
• Does the existence of God need to be proven?

This semester, we will read a diverse assemblage of texts exploring these issues and others. An open mind, and a willingness to express your thoughts, will serve you well in this venture.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of English 905, you should be able to:

• Generate ideas and topics for your essays
• Organize, focus and develop your ideas around a well-defined thesis
• Write unified, coherent, adequately developed paragraphs and essays that are generally free of grammatical errors
• Evaluate points of view, development of arguments and ideas in texts
  

REQUIRED MATERIALS
English 905 required texts:

• Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality by Donald Miller (ISBN: 0785263705)
• The Rapture of Canaan by Sheri Reynolds (ISBN: 0785263705)
• Letting Go of God by Julia Sweeney (ASIN: B000MM107I)*

• 
  

English 991 required text:
Prentice Hall Reference Guide by Muriel G. Harris (ISBN-10: 0131856405)

*Audio book, not available in the WVC Bookstore.

ENGLISH 991 CO-REQUISITE
Co-Requisite Course Overview
When you enrolled in ENGL 905/1A/1B/1C for 3.0 units, you also enrolled in the corresponding lab for this course: ENGL 990/991/992/993 (Writing Skills Lab) for 0.5 unit (CR/NC). This lab provides supplementary instruction that will help you succeed in this course and any course with a writing requirement.

Assignments
When you work in the WVC Writing Center (WC), you may complete required exercises assigned in MyCompLab or use tutoring to help you develop essays for any of your courses. To earn the 0.5 unit for this co-requisite, you must:

• Buy the Prentice Hall Reference Guide by Muriel Harris which will include a personal access code to MyCompLab for three consecutive years and for use in each of the Writing Skills Labs that you will take as co-requisites in future composition courses at WVC (available at the campus bookstore).
• Record a minimum of one hour per week in the WC and one hour per week off site. By the end of the semester, you must complete 14 hours on-site in the WC and 14 hours off-site.
• During the first week of the semester, drop by the WC to examine the self-guided Orientation materials and complete a self-assessment activity. Please plan to spend about 30 minutes in the WC during your first visit. It is located in the Library annex between the Media Center and Television Studios. Please enter via the Television wing of the Library and follow the signs.
  

Computer Assisted Writing (CAW) Lab
The CAW Lab is located in the lower level of the library. 905/980 students may use the lab free of charge. You may use the computers to complete assignments, work on tutorials (e.g. typing, grammar) or check your email. Each time you use the lab, you should check-in.

CLASS POLICIES
All writing assignments are due on the dates indicated on the Website, which contains the most up-to-date schedule and information.

• 
  

• A missed writing assignment can be turned in no later than the following class meeting after the due date; however, it will be lowered one letter grade. Writing assignments will not be accepted beyond the following class meeting after the initial due date.
• Without prior notification, missed in-class essays and presentations cannot be made up; if you must miss your presentation date, make prior arrangements with a classmate to switch days.
  

PARTICIPATION
As there is a participation component to you grade, active involvement in class is very important. Additionally, you are responsible for all materials assigned, presented, and discussed in class. You are expected to study the material beforehand and come prepared to discuss the readings in class. The use of laptops during class is restricted to note taking only. If you come to class after the first 15 minutes, please wait for an appropriate moment to enter so as not to disturb the class.

THREEPOINTEAU & TWITTER
I maintain a this blog, ThreePointEau, as a centralized location for assignments, reminders, documents, important dates, links, and general class information. It also contains an easy-to-reference archive of the course work. In addition, this website will be the location of the course’s e-Reader (eR). These Web articles will be required to complete some assignments. On the homepage, click on “West Valley College: English 905” to be routed to our page. Also, feel free to use the “Comments” function in each posting; it is often a helpful way to communicate with classmates.

Twitter is a useful social networking tool that allows me to communicate with you instantaneously. I may use it if class has to be canceled unexpectedly, or if there is an important change to our agenda. If you already have a Twitter account, search for “ProfDLo” under “Find People.” If not, go to Twitter to register for free. Twitter membership is not required for this course, but it is recommended.

ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
Plagiarism is knowingly presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own. Cite your sources when you use any quoted or paraphrased material from sources, such as books, the Internet, etc. Having another person write, or extensively edit your paper is also plagiarism. This kind of dishonesty will cause you to receive a NoCredit in the class and can result in further disciplinary action. Your goal is to become a better writer and editor of your own work. In this pursuit, I will assist you as much as is necessary.

STANDARDS FOR PRESENTATION OF WORK
All typed work must be in MLA format. On ThreePointEau, look for an MLA page format sample under “Writing Resources.” Please note, unstapled work will not be accepted. Please follow this heading for all typed work:

Name

ENG 905

Assignment

Date

GRADING
English 905 is a Credit/No Credit course. Students earning Credit may enroll in English 1A; while students with No Credit grade may repeat English 905. Also, please understand that completion of every assignment is the minimum requirement to receive a Credit, not a guarantee for it.

COURSE WORKS
Class sessions will employ a combination of lectures, class discussions, presentations, group activities, and writing workshops:

• Personal Essay (Diagnostic): This in-class essay will be my first opportunity to evaluate your writing. (15 pts./800 words)
• Literary Analysis Essay: You will write a literary analysis essay based upon Reynold’s The Rapture of Canaan. (20 pts. /1000 words)
• Persuasive Essay: You will write an in-class persuasive essay based upon Miller’s Blue Like Jazz. (20 pts. /1000 words)
• Comparative Analysis Essay (Midterm): In this in-class essay, you will compare, contrast, and analyze stories of coming to and leaving God based upon Sweeney’s Letting Go of God and an excerpt from Martels’ Life of Pi (30 pts./1000 words)
• Poetry Explication: You will explicate one of the spirituality-related poems we’ll read in class. (20 pts. /1000 words)
• Final Exam: This in-class essay will be on one of the five modes of writing we will have studied: Personal, Literary Analysis, Persuasive, Comparative Analysis, and Poetry Explication. (30 pts. /1000 words)
• PowerPoint Presentation: You will create a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation and class hand-out based upon either some aspect related to our reading or a travel-related subject (e.g. fundamentalism, atheism, the separation of church and state). Presentations must be PC-compatible and be either emailed to yourself or on an external hard drive, such as a memory stick. (15 pts.)
• Reflective Journals: You will write five 2-page responses to either one of the week’s assigned readings, an in-class discussion topic, or a spirituality-related topic of your choice. (5 @ 10 pts each/2000 words)
  

COURSE SCHEDULE
Consult this web page for the most up-to-date information and schedule.

Key: RC—The Rapture of Canaan; BLJ—Blue Like Jazz; LGG—Letting Go of God; eR—eReader

Week 1

M 6.15
Class: Syllabus review; Introductions

T 6.16
Read: RC, pg. 1-42
Lab: Book discussion; Sample presentation and sign-ups; Lecture—“Steps of the Writing Process, Pt. I”

W 6.17
Read: RC, pg. 43-71
Class: Book discussion; Lecture—“Steps of the Writing Process, Pt. II”

Th 6.18 Read: RC, pg. 72-122
Lab: Personal essay (diagnostic); Book discussion; Writing center visit
Due: Journal 1

Week 2

M 6.22
Read: RC, pg. 123-160
Class: Book discussion; Lecture—“Spirituality on Film: The Secret Life of Bees, The Blair Witch Project, Shadows and Fog, Star Wars: Episode I—The Phantom Menace, and others”

T 6.23
Read: RC, pg. 161-188
Lab: Book discussion, Presentations

W 6.24 Read: RC, pg. 189-212
Class: Book discussion; Watch—Dead Man Walking (1995)

Th 6.25
Read: RC, pg. 213-250
Lab: Book discussion; Presentations, Guest speaker (TBA)
Due: Journal 2

Week 3

M 6.29
Read: RC, pg. 251-273
Class: Comparative analysis essay (midterm, topic TBA); Book discussion; Presentations

T 6.30
Read: RC, pg. 274-317
Lab: Book discussion; Presentations; Preview—Literature analysis essay

W 7.1
Class: Book discussion; Watch—“Muslims and America” from 30 Days
LA40

Th 7.2
Lab: Writer’s Workshop; Guest speaker (TBA)
Due: Literature analysis essay (draft 1; bring 3 copies); Journal 3

Week 4

M 7.6
Class: Book discussion
Due: Literature analysis essay (final draft)

T 7.7
Read: BLJ, pg. 1-36
Lab: Book discussion; Presentations

W 7.8
Read: BLJ, pg. 37-78
Class: Book discussion; Watch—“God's Close-Up” from This American Life

Th 7.9
Read: BLJ, pg. 79-102
Lab: Book discussion; Presentations; Guest speaker (TBA)
Due: Journal 4

Week 5

M 7.13
Read: BLJ, pg. 103-174
Class: Story discussion; Lecture—“The Art of Persuasion: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos”

T 7.14
Read: BLJ, pg. 175-240
Lab: Persuasive essay; Book discussion; Presentations

W 7.15
Read: eR—Selected poetry
Class: Poetry discussion; Lecture—“How to Do a Close Read”

Th 7.16
Read: eR—Selected poetry
Lab: Poetry discussion; Guest speaker TBA
Due: Journal 5

Week 6

M 7.20
Class: Final exam prep
Due: Poetry explication

T 7.21
Lab: Final Exam

W 7.22
Class: Course review, Evaluations