MAA 4211 Section 1216 (26002), Fall 2021
Assignment 0
Last updated Thu Aug 26 02:42 EDT 2021
Note the "last updated" above. This will
always be here to let you easily tell whether there have been changes
since the last time you looked at this page.
Due-date: Friday 8/27/21 (but there is nothing to hand in!)
- Read the Class home page,
Syllabus and course information,
and
Homework rules handouts.
- Go to the miscellaneous handouts
page and read the handouts "What is a proof?", "Mathematical
grammar and correct use of terminology", and
"One-to-one and onto:
What you are really doing
when you solve equations".
(Although this course's prerequisites
are supposed to cover most of this material,
most students enter MAA 4211 without having had
sufficient feedback on their work to eliminate common mistakes or bad
habits.) In later, hand-in homework, you will be expected not to
make the mistakes discussed in these handouts, or other mistakes at
a similar level (and will be penalized for
not doing so). I recommend also reading "Taking notes in a college math
class", even though it is aimed at freshmen and sophomores.
- Read Section 5.3 (pp. 133–135), "Mathematical Writing",
in Richard Hammack's
Book of Proof (the textbook now being used for MHF 3202, Sets and
Logic). In later, hand-in homework, you will be expected to follow
these and other good-writing guidelines (and will be penalized for
not doing so). I would expand on Hammack's guideline 9: watch out
for ambiguity. Ambiguity is most commonly, but not always, caused
by an ambiguous pronoun, of which the most common is "it". (Neither
the word "it" nor any other pronoun is automatically ambiguous;
the structure of the sentence and, possibly, the preceding sentence(s)
are what can cause a pronoun to be ambiguous.)
- Take
the Proof-writing
quiz,
but DO NOT HAND IT IN. This quiz is a diagnostic tool for you
to help assess your own readiness for this class. The passing
score on this quiz is 100%.
Getting anything wrong on this quiz is a sign that you may not
be ready for this class. Getting more than one thing wrong is a
sign that you're almost definitely not ready. I'll post
the
answers to the quiz some time on or before the due-date, so that
you'll have time to drop the class or to try to switch sections if
your performance on the quiz worries you.
Update:
Answers to the proof-writing quiz
are posted now,
here.
General homework page
Class home page