Wikipedia? Has Mr. N Lost his Mind?

Ok everyone, most of you appear to be getting the hang of posting and commenting. I saw one comment about a student's reluctance to use Wiki as a research source after listening to me rant last year about the evils of using Wiki as a research source. If you recall, we were all working on a formal research paper, and I wanted you to use primary sources. Wiki is not a primary source for use in an academic paper. However, it IS a useful tool for gathering general information and a wonderful source for finding other primary or secondary sources. You are allowed to use it for this class unless I state otherwise.

For the assignment posted August 19th, I wanted you to get some experience navigating the blog by using some general information found easily on the web and posting some guesses into why I might have named the blog Alice's Restaurant. Some of you have done a little (emphasis on little) research and drawn some inferences to make some educated guesses as to how the blog was named. That was what I was hoping you would do. However, others have posted nothing more than comments based purely on guesswork without any research involved. I will take part of the blame for that because my instructions might have been too vague.

So, this is what I want you to do now. I want you to create a post that addresses the following prompts:

Alice's Restaurant

1. Where was it?



2. Who opened it?



3. How long was the original Alice's Restaurant open?



4. Describe its physical appearance.
   

The Song

1. Why did Arlo Guthrie write the song?



2. Describe the tone of the song? (Happy, sad, sarcastic, hyperbolic, etc)



3. Why?



4. What do you he means by "You can get anything you want"? Clue: It isn't drugs.
   

Alice

1. Who was she?



2. Why did Guthrie name the song after her restaurant?



3. What is Alice doing these days?

Arlo Guthrie

1. Describe Guthrie's background.



2. What is he doing today?

Each of you are to post the link(s) where you obtained you information at the end of your post. I expect the posts to significantly longer. You will have to have your post up by the end of class Thursday. In addition, you are required to comment at least three times to other posts.

And by the way, a comment like the following is NOT acceptable:

pooper_scooper61 said...
well umm here is my comment. good guess.

A comment like this is more in line with what I am looking for:

Led_Floyd said...
I like the idea of having a link but not to Wikipedia. We learned last year that it is just too general and could possibly give false information. I never use Wikipedia for anything anyway. For the information I went to a lyric site to read the song and I went to a fan site to read about Arlo himself. Here they are if you wish to look at what I read:

http://www.arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml

http://www.arlo.net/
August 29, 2007 2:02 PM

The last item I would like to address is the punctuation and spelling in your posts. I expect all posts to be spell checked and properly punctuated. Comments are fair game for using you own vernaculars.

Any questions? Come see me.

Happy Blogging,

Mr. N

Vacation

I believe you picked Alice's Restaurant because you visited Massachusetts this summer for your family vacation. "We went to Salem, Massachusetts and toured the Salem Witch Museum." (Mr. N.) I know that Alice's Restaurant started in a church at Barrington, Massachusetts. So that is why i believe you use it for the title of the blogging spot.

The reason you named it alice restraunt is because of the song made in the late 70's why you picked that song i dont know why. the most likey reason is because you a super freak. another one is because your and can remeber songs made back berfore the make of time.

No Clue!!!

I really have no clue why you named it Alices Restaurant. I think it may have something to do with a song. If I remember in class you said something about a song. So that is my guess. Alice was the owner of the restaurant in the song.

I Dont Know!!

I think you named it after a song! Some guy wrote a song about Alice and the vietnam war! Alice was a restraunt owner in the song. Maybe the guy had went to vietnam and left her behind so he wrote a song about her, and yeah thats what I think!

The Reason Why!

The reason you named the blog Alice's Restaurant is because you used to enjoy the music of Arlo Guthrie, who sang Alice's Restaurant. You enjoyed the story of Alice M. Brock using $2000 dollars given to her by her mother to buy a deconsecrated church in Great Barrington, Massachusetts for her and her husband to live in. It was where all the Thanksgiving dinners were held at. That is why you chose this name.

Answer to alices Restaurant

Ok i was going to just go with what everyone else is saying u named it after a song, but after doing some research i do beilive you did name it after a song. The song lasts 18 minutes and 20 seconds, occupying the entire A-side of Guthrie's 1967 debut ,titled alices restaurant. Alice was a restaurant owner that lived in a former church. But the reason i think the reason you named it that was cause at the end of the song it mants you to sing along and coe together and thats what i think you want us to do.

I don't really know why you made your sight called Alice's Restaurant. I think you probaly liked the song and the movie of this that is probaly why you picked this. Other than that i say you might of picked it because you were born back then. So this was probaly the music that you guys listen to back then.

reason for name

The reason for the name of the blog is because you like the song, you like the movie, and because we are getting ready to read the book, Alices Adventures in Wonderland.

alices resturant

No need for research, Mr Nueburgers personality is an easy enough explanation for the title. Alices resturant for one is a song made in (i think) the 70's and its also a movie (which was based on the song.) both of which are from the same "pop culture" Mr Nueburger (and many more of us) knows so well. Furthur more alices resturant could also be a metaphore for an artistic harbor that music like alices resturant provides for many writers, allowing us to enter a creative bubble.

NEW ASSIGNMENT!

Ok. I really like what we have accomplished so far. Everyone is in the restaurant except Ben. Today, I want you to take a few minutes to edit your profiles. If you get a chance, check out the profile for MWS. He has a link to his own web page and a pic. Heather's profile is a good example of what I am looking for.
I want all of us here to have a pic on our profiles. It can be a personal photo or a favorite photo. That pic will be your avatar. I want you to have your avatar up on the blog by the end of the week. You can change your avatar as many times as you wish.
I also want you to take a look at each others' profiles. Get to know each other. Our restaurant is a place where everyone knows each other. After you have completed the items mentioned above, I want you to go to my first post and start researching and responding to the prompt.

Happy blogging!