Two Feet In | Writing and the Institution

Part I – Claims. Please identify as specifically as possible the type of claim used in the argument. 1. Because of recent actions, Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, is well on his way to becoming the defacto emperor of Central and South America. 2. Cheating on a college final exam is just like getting help from your mom when you didn't understand your 1st grade math homework. After all, grades are all that matter. 3. The Global Warming Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark will create policies that will save the world. 4. Global Warming is a cruel hoax designed to remake the world with a decidedly socialist agenda. 5. Iran and North Korea should be allowed to do whatever they please in regards to producing and testing nuclear weapons. 6. Pledging allegiance to Barak Obama is not like blind obedience or communism. 7. The recent revelations from the media that 1) drug manufacturers are preemptively raising the prices on prescription drugs before any health care plan is p...

Most papers from UH ENGL 1303 have been turned in, though two were absent and sent their papers in via e-mail. One male, however, who did not participate in peer review, failed to show yesterday as well. He's one of the brightest students in the class, and has hopes of transferring to Chicago, but he has a poor attitude and feel supercilious towards me and other students. He has strong religious beliefs and has little patience for non-believers. Yet, occasionally, I can see some insecurity, as for example when he approaches me one-on-one to ask a specific question about his writing -- never about class or ideas, but specifics about appropriate format, etc. He rarely turns in daily work, and is often late for class. Because "professionalism" makes up 10% of this grade, he will not get an A. If he fails to turn in this paper, he'll fail the course as well. As of 1411 Tuesday, I'm still writing my research paper on Edmund Hickeringill for Dr. Rothman. It's a st...

For 30 April 2010: Masculinity, long a topic of interest for psychoanalytic and new historicist critics, has become central to recent work by feminists, cultural materialists, queer theorists, and social historians, with contemporary studies often complicating long-held notions of monolithic patriarchal culture. This conference aims to engage and interrogate variant notions of the early modern man as he manifests in literature, art, theater, culture, music, science and philosophy. Through what representational strategies (sartorial, gestural, vocal, rhetorical, erotic) is manhood staged in early modern theater and culture? How is masculine identity inflected by distinctions of social status, age, wealth, profession, sexuality, nationhood, or race? How did early modern men negotiate the variant, and sometimes contradictory, prescriptive masculinities? What was women's role in shaping notions of masculinity? Topics for papers or panels might include, but are not limited to: * m...

1. History of Comp 2. Restoration & 18th Century Lit (Rothman) 3. History of Narrative (Wood) History of Narrative is out there -- supposedly written for Writers, but the description was more open, so Kofford allowed me to get it. It's more a scheduling thing more than anything else. I'll work with Lone Star in the future and work for morning classes I guess. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed/concerned that there are in fact so few lit courses offered, compared to writing. Good grief -- there should be 3-4 Shakespeare seminars and others on Marlow, even Dryden (?), 20th century American novel, 20th century American drama, etc. Kessler -- never enjoy spending time with her. We met, she doesn't have anything for me yet so will contact me later. I always feel she's talking down to me.

I would hope that grading a paper, the mark and comments, would be some learning experience for the student, but I think that the majority of students pay no heed to these comments and don't even look at comments other than the grade. Believing that, I often feel that making comments is a waste of my time, and in fact only a way to cover my ass in case a student challenges the actual mark. On the other hand, there are some students who learn and want to improve their writing, or at least want to improve their grade. I think sometimes I grade, especially hard on the first papers to show students how ill-prepared for college their high schools have been for them. This isn't fair, nor is it productive. I do know tht I can be offended at student writing, and my comments can reflect that (though I hide this offense in academic jargon) -- sometimes offended at their ideas, but more likely offended at their lack of ideas. Is this intellectual snobbery (and if so, does it matter?). ...

"Though the scenarios Pink presents deal primarily with the business world, I wonder how adult (or late adolescent, in our case) learners could also respond to the same principles if we, as educators, trust them enough to give them autonomy in their learning, opportunities to master their work, and help them find purpose in freshman-level composition courses." Linked

A brief lesson plan for the third paper of the 1303 semester

Dan Pink on Motivation (TED)

I'm already behind on my readings for my courses. I was able to skim through Folklore, completely missed Bibliography's assignments, and rushed through four essays for College Teaching, but managed to hide my lack of preparation there because of the format of the assignment (group summary for class discussion). This weekend I've tried to catch up on readings for Bibliography and on schedule for CT, but Dr Rothman of Bibliography has assigned each student about 6-8 hours of proofreading for a text he's editing, and of course I haven't begun yet. The problem of falling behind isn't one of scheduling, but one of priorities ... I chose not to read my assignments instead of being overwhelmed by them. My teaching sections are on course, essentially, though I'm constantly wondering if they're really learning anything, or are they simply go through some motion of writing, believing that they already know all they need to know and don't consider their learn...

Dear Representative Riddle, I was disappointed to receive your message of Friday 4 September (re: Obama Speech). I feel that your position is ill-founded on several reasons, and I especially feel it is beyond your responsibilities as an elected representative to encourage citizens to ignore any communication from an elected leader. I did not vote for Barack Obama in 2008, but I recognize that he is the legitimately elected president of the nation. As such, he feels he can use his bully pulpit to encourage students for whatever values he sees fit. Previous presidents have done this as well, and yet only now do we have this very irrational outcry, using words such as "brainwashing" and "indoctrination," when some talking heads on television even liken such a speech to Stalin's control of youth during the Soviet era. All is nonsense. I am an educator myself and have been for over six years. One of the concerns that many educators have is the inability of our...

Assigned by Tamara Fish for our first class on Friday: Who are you as a teacher? Or are you a teacher at all? I'm still a novice teacher, one who has the experience of management, but concerned about the efficacy of instruction and student-centered learning. Do you think of yourself as a teacher, or is this a new concept for you? I'm a teacher; have been for a while. Do you want to be a teacher? If so, what kind of teacher do you want to be? Why? If not, why not? I want not only to be a teacher, but to be an effective, great teacher, if only to strengthen the learner's experience. Where do your images of teachers come from? Plummer, Nibley, Packer, Connery in "Finding Forrester." What do you think of when you think "teacher?" Especially with adults, a sharer of knowledge, skills and strategies, a fellow traveler with previous experience. What teachers have influenced you, negatively or positively? Positively -- college Shakespeare instructor(s) -- ...

After getting home late last night because of a late Dynamo game, and after the power went off last night because of ... unknown, and after remembering this morning that I don't have enough athletic shoes because someone stole my left shoe , and after trudging through parent traffic surrounding two elementary schools -- parents who are either too protective to put their children on the bus on the first day or who insist on meeting the teacher on the first day and will never do so again, so they tie up traffic while taxpayers who wonder why school buses are not being used slowly wait for this orgy of emotionalism and unrealistic expectations of mediocre public schools to let them pass on their way to work -- today hasn't been so bad. I've been wrestling with LSC network passwords for days now; seems like every server needs a different password, and that I'm changing passwords every hour. As of this moment I cannot access my LSC mail and this morning I could not access ...

Been working on UH syllabus most of the afternoon, then remembered that I promised to write every day. Hmm. Didn't do that yesterday; did I write Friday? Perhaps. I used to be much more social -- the mission did that, no doubt. And I could remain social for years after. But I know my person/self has been injured, damaged, offended, [something] so I don't have the social confidence I once had. I have little confidence in fact, official or unofficial. I said as little as possible last week in the orientation meetings, and even at LSC meetings I did my best to avoid others. So what is the value of socialization? Why bother? Relationships -- all of them -- are fleeting and ephemeral [first time? I've used that word]. Still, like teeth-brushing, necessary, and so I go through the motions. Why do we plan so far in advance in classes? Can't we flow? Or is this an exercise in initiation? I recognize the value in planning, and in supervision/oversight. But so much work on th...

A week of orientations -- first a short one for new MA students at UH; then three days of meetings for new TA's at UH; then another orientation for adjuncts at LSC yesterday morning and evening. I probably put 300 miles on the truck, easily, and was exhausted by last night. Excited about being back at school at UH, though I'm intimidated by the other students -- I'm not the scholar nor writer that they are. Definitely intimidated by the UH teaching expectations -- very high-brow, theoretical, instead of of the pattern-focus of LSC. But will be a good learning experience for myself. Just lots of work. Not intimidated by the LSC workload, but already am hating the amount of grading I'll be doing. I've decided to reduce the papers to four instead of five, with more in-class writing activities. This may make the class less interesting because students tend to like discussion; so will have to offer more personal reading and on-line discussions, even required. Dr....

I received your last letter regarding the detention of terrorist suspects. After the normal party-line fodder, you make the error of claiming that labeling all detainees as members of al Queda. This is not the case, and is easily demonstrated. The very purpose of providing these detainees with some semblance of legal due process is to allow them to prove or disprove their complicity with al Quaeda or associated groups. Denying these basic rights only gives the American people the illusion of safety by claiming that al Quaeda operatives have been caught and detained. Truth is not so easy. Finally, you claim the US is "a compassionate nation, and a civilized one." To claim so either demonstrates a deep ignorance of the history and recent policies of our people and our government, or reflects a complicity in the deception itself. No nation is without crimes and sins, and certainly not the US. A history of racial oppression and genocide, international political assassination,...

Dear Mr. Martin: Thank you for contacting me regarding the Obama Administration’s policy on the detention of terrorist suspects. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this important matter. In March 2009, the Obama Administration announced its policy regarding the government's authority to detain terrorist suspects, officially stating in a “Detention Authority Memorandum” that the President has the authority to “detain persons that the President determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, and persons who harbored those responsible for those attacks. According to the memorandum, the President also has the authority to "detain persons who were part of, or substantially supported, Taliban or al Qaida forces or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act, or has directly supported ho...

(after suggesting I watch an anti-Obama video: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=eAaQNACwaLw ) I stopped after about 35 minutes. It's nothing new, typical of the modern psuedo-journalism of American thinking today. We see the same thing every administration from the disaffected voter -- sound clips out of context to show the best or worse but not any whole story, snazzy video effects (thank you, CNN) without substance, dramatic music (thank you, Disney) to manipulate the emotions instead of engaging the rational, and diatribes from everyone except those who can think. We get quotes from politicians (never to be trusted, since today's politicians have only their own political party in mind, not the welfare of the old/dead republic), celebrities (should always be ignored), out of work former politicians (eager to get their plug in for a new book or a way into a lobbying firm), and other talking heads. Note that few or any historians or true academicians were used. Any level-heade...

1. Be aware that two kinds of contracts exist in the classroom. 2. You are a human being. Admit to and share your humanity. 3. Use outside resources, including colleagues. Remember, you are not alone. 4. Honesty is the best policy. 5. Listen with empathy and make sure you have all necessary information before making a decision. 6.Think strategically about the problem. 7. Think about ways a difficult situation might be turned into a learning opportunity. 8. Remember that each student is a member of a larger group that comprises the class as a whole. Keep issues of fairness in mind.

According to Marshall there are three components of backbone: competence, the ability to take purposeful risks, and confidence. Each component interacts with the other. 1. Competence. Be open to growing your ability in every aspect of your academic career, and not just knowledge of your field. Seek out help in improving your writing abilities, time management skills, and ability to deal with others, for example. Cultivate experiences that will help your competence grow. List all your talents and abilities and be aware of how much you've accomplished in the past few years. 2. The ability to take purposeful risks. As Marshall says, this is "the ability to engage in intelligent, purposeful ventures on behalf of your career." By taking on appropriate challenges, you will not only succeed some of the time, but you will get practice in learning how to cope with setbacks, criticism and disappointment. 3. Confidence. This is a natural outgrowth of the first two components, ...

More group activities; more group assignments for responsibilities. Paragraph structure. More examples of papers.

Tech didn't work any place Poor planning for Wed activities

Willow Chase facilities for adjuncts are fine, and their administration are prepared -- all my keys, codes, etc., were ready. Only technical problem was the very poor PC monitor resolution, which made all my graphics look lousy. Have sent a msg to someone there who I hope can change that. Class went well enough, but it's only a 50 minute class. Got what we needed to accomplished. Some of the students seem to be slackers, but they'll be weeded out soon, or my perceptions are incorrect. Tomball was different -- IDs not ready, no copy codes, no keys ready. Adjunct office apparently has no printer (though a copy room seems to be nearby and possibly I can print there). Classroom equipment better, but chalkboards instead of whiteboards, and I don't do as well with chalk. These are two longer classes, 80 minutes. Some more mature (read:older) students, and usually the older students are more confident and committed. Used the same ice-breaker "most embarrassing moment" st...

1. Write more: 2008 was the best year for writing for me since the move to Duke. They say that it takes a couple of years to get stuck into a new job, a new home, a new culture, a new country, and the distractions of applying for the Green card, and other related things, were over. Even so, I think I should have written more. 2. Publish more: although I wrote quite a lot, I did not publish a lot in 2008, and I need to be more strategic about the ratio of writing to publication. It's high time my next book was out, and it is full steam ahead to get it finished. 3. Focus on the book: I am easily distracted with a range of research interests, and I tend to nibble at a topic here and a topic there, making gradual progress on each of them instead of radical progress on just one of them. I need to stop trying to juggle so many research projects and writing commitments and focus on the book. 4. Be less nice : I need to be much less nice. I notice that other academics focus on their own ca...