Reflection 1: Mind the Gap—Gap Years Explained

While American high school seniors are fretting over admission into their colleges of choice, many international students are preparing to take a 12-month break from school called a "gap year." This practice, originating in Britain, involves young people deferring college for a year to travel or live abroad. So, while most American are experiencing their freshman year of college, students from these countries might be volunteering with an NGO (non-governmental organization) in Africa, working at a resort in Southeast Asia, or touring the United States by train. Proponents of gap years say these students return to college and work more mature, having gained a year's worth of real-world experience. Assuming you did not have a gap year (if you didn't, you're not alone—only 8% of Americans typically delay college by one year, and only third of those use that time to travel), how might a year of travel/living abroad before college have affected you? Are Americans missing out on opportunities by going straight into college from high school? Should Americans adopt, even mandate, gap years ? Finally, what opportunities for a gap year did Covid-19 present?

Cite two of the following in your reflection:

• "Should You Take a Gap Year?" (Forbes)
• "Why Aren’t Gap Years Normalized American in Society?" (Medium)
• "Ten Reasons Why Taking a Gap Year Before College Might be the Best Choice You Ever Make" (Bustle)
• "Is a Gap Year Good for Your Child’s Mental Health and GPA?" (Psychology Today)
• "Covid Gap Year: How Five Students Spent Their Time During the Pandemic" (Teen Vogue)

Required:

• MLA Style, plus works cited page
• 2 pages
  

Submission Window: Thu 2.10 - Tue 2.15 (via Canvas)

Week 2: Tue 2.1/Thu 2.3 – France

The Eiffel Tower, Paris

Week 2: Tue 2.1/Thu 2.3 – France
Read: eR—"The Decline of the American World” (The Atlantic), "How America Became the Most Powerful Country on Earth, in 11 Maps" (Vox)
Class: Introductions; Lecture—“Crafting the Essay: Writing as a Process”
Due: DIAGNOSTIC 

Upcoming:

Week 3: Tue 2.8/Thu 2.10 – Italy
Review: CAN—“MLA Style 101”
Read: eR—“Americans' Climate Change Views Largely Unchanged Over Last Few Years: Poll (The Hill), “Are Americans Concerned About Global Warming?” (Gallup), “Americans are Less Concerned—but More Divided—on Climate Change than People Elsewhere” (Pew Research Center)
Class: Presentation partner and topic assignments; Lecture—“Better Multimedia Presentations: An How-To” and “Inside the Toulmin Model”
Due: REFLECTION 1

Diagnostic

For your diagnostic:

1. Read both "The Decline of the American World” (The Atlantic), "How America Became the Most Powerful Country on Earth, in 11 Maps" (Vox). Both are located in the eR.
2. Write a 1.5 page response to one of those articles—you decide which one to respond to.
   

Submission Window: Thu 2.3-Tue 2.8 (via Canvas)*

*Students who have taken my ENGL 1A previously are exempt from this assignment.

Week 1: The United Kingdom

The London Eye, London

Week 1: Thu 1.27 – The United Kingdom
Class: Syllabus review

Upcoming:

Week 2: Tue 2.1/Thu 2.3 – France
Class: Introductions; Lecture—“Crafting the Essay: Writing as a Process”
Due: DIAGNOSTIC 

Welcome to ENGL 2