IB and AP Supplies

Materials

The following materials are required for this course:

• Sourcebook (spiral notebook or composition for use as a journal) [1]
  
• Three-ring binder [2]
  
• Loose-leaf paper
• Pens (black or blue ink) [3]
• Sticky notes [4]
  
• Email account (for communication purposes)
  

Note that the above materials are required for daily in-class use. The following items are optional but highly recommended:

• USB drive [5]
  
• Collegiate level dictionary (can be found for free at http://www.merriam-webster.com/)
• The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers [6]
  

My Footnotes:

1. You are going to write a lot, whether it be notes or essays or journals or responses, so you may want to go get more than one.
2. I am not picky here, and I am fully aware that binders now are even more expensive than Trapper Keepers were when I was a kid--even the lame lime-green one that my mom bought for me to use instead of the exceptionally boss navy blue one. If you plan to economize (and who doesn't need to do that?), my recommendation is that you buy one of the bigger ones and split the English binder with another subject that won't be taking up your notes for a grade. If every other class demands that you turn in a binder for review, then buy one of the cheapest binders you can find for English, like one of those technicality binders that looks like it's made out of the 3 ring mechanism from a nice binder and some plastic wrap. (For the record, I'm investigating the legality of offering extra credit for anyone who shows up with an actual Trapper Keeper from the 1980s. Bonus points for one with a picture of prancing ponies.)
3. There are only two colors of ink: black and blue. Everything else is a magic marker, and magic markers are for arts and crafts. We will be writing essays, not weaving oven-mitts.
4. This is for the books we issue. I would prefer that you did not write in the books unless you have purchased your own copy. The little square ones will probably be better than those small skinny ones as you can actually write something substantive on the square ones.
5. This is just in case your printer "goes out" on the night before your paper is due (which apparently happens more often than you would think). This will afford you the opportunity to find a computer lab or a library computer where you can print out your paper. Alternatively, if you haven't had time to find a printer before class, you can dump a copy on my computer to prove to the powers that be that you have, indeed, completed your assignment on time.
6. If you invest in this, invest in the most current edition. The information in the MLA handbooks don't change very often, and it is entirely possible that this one will be perfectly serviceable for you on into college, even if a brand new one comes out next fall. Further, there are some websites that will format your paper for you, but these things inevitably have a catch--your info may end up on a mailing list, or a spam list, or your essay may end up being sold to semi-literate slackers who are too lazy to do their own work. I don't know that for certain, but all of those mediocre papers being sold out there on the Internet have to come from somewhere. But seriously, the pre-9/11 edition that I possess now looks an awful lot like the one that I used in college, and the one published prior to the most current has some updated Internet citation material but little else.

I look forward to seeing you all very soon.