1. Tonight you should register for the class website, Blackboarddreams.com. To do this, you must scroll to the bottom of the homepage and click “Register.” Your username should be your Full Name (First and Last). Leave a space between your first and last name! No funky, cute nicknames. Only first name (capitalize first letter) and last name (capitalize first letter). Be sure to register by midnight tonight. I will shut down registration at that point.
2. Read and annotate William Barrett’s The Encounter with Nothingness (Second reading in the packet). Be sure to read all three parts (the third part being Science and Finitude). Barrett’s reading will give us just a nugget of context before we move ahead. Remember, you must annotate all readings for this class! Failure to do so will result in a zero! You will learn how to provide some focus to your annotations. Ultimately, focused annotating prepares you for your reading responses, formal essays, and class discussions. To annotate is to supply with critical or explanatory notes:
- identifying lines that resonate with you, confuse you, or make you want to know more
- asking questions of general thematic/philosophical value
- tracking the development of a theme that may connect to one or more of the philosophical readings or other fiction.
3. Values! Be prepared to talk values!
