Howdy folks; great discussion this past week. I have very much enjoyed reading through your comments, esp on the Declaration of Independence site our poster introduced us to. I am a bit concerned that everyone is not participating in our blogged discussions, so may I just point out a few things:
1) Please do read all of the instructions! Don't forget that by tomorrow, you will need to have printed out the relevant sections of the Notes on Virginia (as assigned last week), read them, and be prepared to give us a 5-minute presentation on your particular section. We'll be giving three presentations tomorrow and three the next week (or thereabouts); I intentionally did not tell you who would be presenting each week, lest any of you avoid early preparation!

2) Presentations: the big thing to remember is to always evidence your views, by drawing attention to things in the document (or text) itself, rather than just making unsubstantiated assertions or speculations that you can't back up. Also, do remember to pay attention to the issues you have been assigned to consider--in this case, what do you think explains TJ's views at the time and how do they relate to America today?

3) Our blogging is improving slowly, but I'd still like to see longer/more engaged comments from everyone. I have been impressed in general so far at the quality of the postings (although your spelling leaves something to be desired!), but I still haven't heard from everyone.

If anyone has any questions/concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me via email and I will always try to help. If you need me to consider a draft of your upcoming written assignment, I will be happy to do so.

See you all tomorrow.