The Classics

Question: How can English teachers help today’s students relate to the classics in literature?

Answer: Begin with an open-ended question about the classic that relates to the student. In the case of The Scarlet Letter, the “essential” question was, “What is worth risking everything for?”

Comment: While that might not be the question I would choose for this particular work of fiction, it is a relevant question from the point of view of the students. It invites the students into Hawthorne’s romance with a question that applies both to the work of fiction and to the students. An idea worth thinking about. RayS.

Title: “Making the Classics Matter to Students Through Digital Literacies and Essential Questions.” J Ostenson and E Gleason-Sutton. English Journal (November 2011), 37-45.

Note: Taking a week or so off. Will rejoin you on Monday, January 2, 2012, to bring you reviews of what I consider significant ideas in the teaching of English. RayS.

College Writing Placement

Question: What would happen if college writing placement was assessed with untimed writing that allowed for invention and revision?

Answer/Quote: “No one, however, has yet published research directly comparing essays students have written for the SAT or ACT and the kind of writing students do in our classes—that is, in response to untimed writing tasks that allow for invention and revision.” P. 721.

Quote: “In response to our writing task, the students have to read carefully, interpret information, use note-taking and organizing skills, synthesize and compare information from different sources, decide what to use and what to discard,  and be able to explain the issue clearly to readers who have not studied it as the writers have.” P. 723.

Quote: “I would like to see other research investigating the differences in student performances on the ACT Essay or the SAT Essay and locally developed, untimed writing situations. I believe this research has implications for the use of timed writing samples as a measure of writing ability, but the question of which model more accurately predicts writing performance in academic writing situations still rests, like so much of what we do as writing teachers, on faith.” P. 741.

Comment: I wonder if research has been done on teachers’ assessment of accurate placement based on the timed tests? I’m thinking back to my days in the two-year college. The writing for freshman composition was definitely strong, most students were ready to learn and learned quickly, but I would not want to try to accurately describe its strengths and weaknesses. Too many variations in writing needs. In other words, the timed assessment seemed to work. RayS.

Title: “Online Challenge Versus Offline ACT?” I Peckham. College Composition and Communication (June 2010), 718-745.

Prior Learning Assessment

Note: Prior Learning Assessment summarizes the students’ prior work experience and learning in order to award college credits before entering the academy.

 So what? This prior work experience is assessed through the essay and the authors of this article suggest that the essay format has weaknesses which limit the students’ ability to translate the experience into learning.

Comment: This idea of the weaknesses of the essay in assessing prior learning assessment, coupled with the weaknesses of the essay in interdisciplinary writing, suggests the need to develop new approaches to writing at the college level. Intriguing. RayS.

Title: “Composing Knowledge: Writing, Rhetoric and Reflection in Prior Learning Assessments.” C Leaker and H Ostman. College Composition and Communication (June 2010), 691-717.

Writing, Craft and Atomic Energy

Question: Why do we need to write responsibly?

Answer: When we write, we are “crafting”; we are like the people who developed atomic energy. “Crafting” is putting ideas to work. As Albert Einstein famously stated in 1946: “The release of atomic power has changed everything except our way of thinking…. The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.”

Comment: Crafting is doing. Crafting in writing is putting ideas to work. And we need to be aware of what we are doing when we write because whatever we write has consequences. I guess that’s what this article means. It’s a good thought that doesn’t mean much in the writing exercises of the classroom. Still…. RayS.

Title: “Craft Knowledge of Disciplinarity in Writing Studies.” RR Johnson. College Composition and Communication (June 2010), 673-690.

Much Ado About....

Note: This article takes up a full 32pages of dense, almost unintelligible jargon. After all of this, my readers should be interested in the conclusion to which the article leads. RayS.

“In essence, we have begun a reflective process, endowed by a basic principle: we accept the notion that there is value to be recognized and appreciated in the lives and words of women!” p. 666.

Comment: Duh! How’s that for a shaggy dog story? RayS.

Title: “Feminist Rhetorical Practices in Search of Excellence.” GE Kirsch and JJ Royster. College Composition and Communication (June 2011), 640-672,

Change in Language

Note: The National Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1911. The organization is celebrating its centennial. As part of this celebration, College English is publishing excerpts from its predecessor, the college edition of The English Journal. The excerpts are timely, a bit wordy and take their time to get to the point. However, I believe my readers will find them of interest. RayS.

Alexander Brede, “The Idea of an English Language Academy.” Vo. 26 (September 1937): 560-68.

Quote: “The ;position of linguists today is a whole-hearted acceptance of the fact that change in language is inevitable and not to be deplored and resisted. While it is recognized that a certain uniformity is desirable, it is also recognized that absolute uniformity is not attainable. Correctness of a disputed usage is not to be decided by an authoritative fiat but rather by the Horatian principle of use and custom. But this acceptance of inevitable change was not always the fact. On the contrary, the usual  attitude has been to deplore change.” (560).

Comment: In my course on the history of the English language, the instructor said that if people find a usage too complicated, they will change it. However, to my knowledge, the distinction between “disinterested/uninterested” is still a battle zone. So is the distinction between “lie/lay.”  Also, I’ve noticed in sports commentary, the distinction between the past tense of verbs and the participle is confused: “he had ran/he had run.” The change won’t be in my life time. RayS.

Title: “College English’s Precursor: Excerpts from the College Edition of The English Journal.” College English (November 2011), 157-191.

The Significance of NCTE Journals

Question: What are the effects of reading the articles in NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) journals?

Quote: “But what is less available through this perspective is the cumulative effect that NCTE journals have had on their readers over time—how the studies reviewed here made their way (or did not) into the thinking and practices of NCTE members, in their roles as researchers, teachers…and as writers. How did articles sink in? How did the scenes of our teaching and research adjust as a result of our encounters with journals? These are question in need of their own empirical investigation.” P. 213.

Comment: During my three years (1967-1970) as a doctoral student at Syracuse University, I proposed a dissertation topic that was rejected by my adviser. (In fairness to her, I failed to do  my homework. The questions in the preceding quote should have been part of my preparation before bringing the topic to her attention.) What would happen, was my question, if I showed teachers how to read journal articles efficiently, showed them how to find the interesting ideas quickly. I guess I was ahead of my time. Now that the NCTE is 100 years old, questions are being raised about the effects of reading their journals. It may be time to raise my question about the effects of efficient reading of journals again. RayS.

 Title: “Struggles for Perspective: A Commentary on ‘One Story of Many To Be Told’: Following Empirical Studies of College and Adult Writing Through 100 Years of NCTE Journals.” Deborah Brandt. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), 210-214.

100 Years of Research in English

Research

Question: What have we learned about teaching secondary English in the 100 years that the NCTE has been in existence?

Answer/Quote: “First, we have learned that the teaching of traditional school grammar á la Warriner and that ilk does next to nothing to advance a better writing and even correctness in writing.

“Second, we have learned that writing is a process, though we may disagree about some important parts of the process.

“Third, we know that real discussion…is essential to learning how to interpret literature….

“Fourth, we know from a very wide variety of studies in English and our of it, that students who are authentically engaged with the tasks of their learning are likely to learn much more than those who are not….” P. 189.

Comment: Traditional school grammar is useless in improving writing or correctness. Writing is a process. Discussion is significant in interpreting literature. Authentic engagement produces better learning. Each of these findings calls for significant discussion. Try them out  on your colleagues. RayS.

Title: “Commenting on ‘Research in Secondary English, 1912-2011: Historical Continuities and Discontinuities in the NCTE Imprint.’ ” George Hillocks Jr. Research in the Teaching of English (November 2011), 187-192.

Artificiality of Freshman Composition

Note: The National Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1911. The organization is celebrating its centennial. As part of this celebration, College English is publishing excerpts from its predecessor, the college edition of The English Journal. The excerpts are timely, a bit wordy and take their time to get to the point. However, I believe my readers will find them of interest. RayS.

Earl L. Vance, “Integrating Freshman Composition,” Vol. 26 (April 1937), 318-323.

Quote: “A common criticism of the Freshman composition course is that, however admirable on the side of technique, it somehow does not tie up with the student’s total educational progress. Granted that it serves very well its special purposes in teaching the student to write acceptable ‘themes,’ with reasonably correct sentences and coherent paragraphs, still it often does not function effectively in improving his writing other than themes. He is taught what George Pierce Baker called ‘traveler’s English’—English to be used for his immediate needs in the course and then forgotten.” (318-319).

Comment: Not to mention the need to write in other disciplines. RayS.

Title: “College English’s Precursor: Excerpts from the College Edition of The English Journal.” College English (November 2011), 157-191.

A Warning about Media in 1936.

Note: The National Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1911. The organization is celebrating its centennial. As part of this celebration, College English is publishing excerpts from its predecessor, the college edition of The English Journal. The excerpts are timely, a bit wordy and take their time to get to the point. However, I believe my readers will find them of interest. RayS.

Editorial: “The Writing on the Screen,” Vol. 25 (May 1936), 412-13.

 Quote: “It is more than possible that the screen and the loudspeaker already get more attention and wield more influence than printed fiction, drama and poetry combined; and we have to consider the probability that in the not distant future improved photoplays  and broadcast television are going to make deep inroads upon the present meager reading time of both adults and children. The sooner we set ourselves seriously to deal with photoplays and the radio the better we shall be prepared for this entirely possible metamorphosis of ‘literature.’ If we persist in neglecting our present duty we may find ourselves completely unready to meet the demands of the fourth decade of our century.” (413).

Comment: And that’s not half the inroads on the “meager reading time of both adults and children.” Computers, the Internet, cell phones, texting, cable and satellite TV, computer games, etc. RayS.

Title: “College English’s Precursor: Excerpts from the College Edition of The English Journal.” College English (November 2011), 157-191.

Should Teachers Express Their Own Opinions?

Note: The National Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1911. The organization is celebrating its centennial. As part of this celebration, College English is publishing excerpts from its predecessor, the college edition of The English Journal. The excerpts are timely, a bit wordy and take their time to get to the point. However, I believe my readers will find them of interest. RayS.

Bergen Evans, “English and Ethics,” Vol. 24 (September 1935), 541-45.

Quote: “Those who maintain that the teacher has no right or need to express his personal convictions are not without some justification. A persistent or excessive intrusion of personal approval or disapproval is bad. Everyone has suffered from teachers who made the work being read merely a text from which they expounded their own ideas….” (543-44).

Comment: It’s even worse when a student contradicts the teacher’s convictions on feminism, etc., and the teacher penalizes the student’s writing because of it. I have read several articles in College Composition and Communication by teachers defending this practice. I disagree! RayS.

Title: “College English’s Precursor: Excerpts from the College Edition of The English Journal.” College English (November 2011), 157-191.

Advice for Commenting [On Student Compositions]

Note: The National Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1911. The organization is celebrating its centennial. As part of this celebration, College English is publishing excerpts from its predecessor, the college edition of The English Journal. The excerpts are timely, a bit wordy and take their time to get to the point. However, I believe my readers will find them of interest. RayS.

 Robert G. Berkelman, “A Letter to My theme Reader,” Vol. 22 (January 1933), 62-66.

Quote: In order to help rather than condemn, I have found that it is better to word comments positively, even when the criticism must be adverse. That is, instead of stating the faults bluntly, show the writer what virtue he should strive for. To the student a guide-post pointing to improved thought and expression is far more inviting than the flourish of a pruning knife. Which of these comments, for example, would you prefer on an effort of yours: ‘This is clear but rather dull’ or ‘Commendably clear, now aim at liveliness?’ ”  (63-64).

Comment: The idea behind this advice is worth thinking about. RayS.

 Title: “College English’s Precursor: Excerpts from the College Edition of The English Journal.” College English (November 2011), 157-191.

What Freshman Writers Need

Note: The National Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1911. The organization is celebrating its centennial. As part of this celebration, College English is publishing excerpts from its predecessor, the college edition of The English Journal. The excerpts are timely, a bit wordy and take their time to get to the point. However, I believe my readers will find them of interest. RayS.

H.W. Davis, “Mastering Principles of Composition.” Vol. 19 (December 1930), 795-803.

Quote: “People who write well must have something to say to somebody and they must want to say it Purpose, audience, and zeal are requisites to effective composition—all the freshman rhetoric courses in America to the contrary notwithstanding. I will back them any day in a race with unity, coherence, and emphasis.”  (801).

Title: “College English’s Precursor: Excerpts from the College Edition of The English Journal.” College English (November 2011), 157-191.

Publishing Students' Papers

Note: The National Council of Teachers of English was founded in 1911. The organization is celebrating its centennial. As part of this celebration, College English is publishing excerpts from its predecessor, the college edition of The English Journal. The excerpts are timely, a bit wordy and take their time to get to the point. However, I believe my readers will find them of interest. RayS.

Topic: Publishing Students’ Papers

Albert Morton Turner, “Publishing Freshman Themes.” Vol. 18 (March 1929), 242-43.

Quote: “Two ever present bugbears of Freshman English are the lack of any desire, on the part of students, to write and, when they are compelled to do so, their frequent tendency to regard themes as a mere field to show their proficiency—or the want thereof—in the use of commas and semicolons. In the effort to counteract these difficulties, the Freshman English staff at the University of Maine is publishing a series of leaflets composed of themes written during the current year, leaflets which are distributed to all the first-year students and which are discussed in class. At the beginning of the year, before their pockets have been depleted by purchasing textbooks and ice-cream cones, we collect the sum of twenty-five cents from each of our 425 Freshmen. With this sum we pay for the printing, from time to time, of the necessary number of copies of eight different leaflets, four in each semester…. Both bad and good themes are printed…. Bad themes, it should be observed are always printed anonymously; good ones, on the other hand, may appear with their authors’ names….” (742-43).

Title: “College English’s Precursor: Excerpts from the College Edition of The English Journal.” College English (November 2011), 157-191.

Ten Books on Writing

Lit from Within: Contemporary Masters on the Art and C raft of Writing. Edited by Kevin Haworth and Dinty W. Moore. Ohio University Press, 200 pages. Paper, $19.95.

Help! For Writers: Solutions to the Problems Every Writer Faces by Roy Peter Clark. Little, Brown, 304 pages. Hardcover, $22.00, digital, $9.99.

Write Your Book Now!: A Proven System to Start and Finish the Book You’ve Always Wanted to Write! By Gene Perret. Quill Driver Books, 160 pages. Paper, $14.95.

Promote Your Book: Over 250 Proven, Low-Cost Tips and Techniques for the Enterprising Author by Patricia Fry. Allworth Press, 224 pages. Paper or digital, $19.95.

Many Genres, One Craft:  Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction by Michael A. Arnzen and Heidi Ruby Miller. Headline Books, 384 pages. Hardcover, $2995.

Language Wars: A History of Proper English by Henry Hitchings. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 416 pages. Hardcover, $28; digital, $14.99.

The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers by Laura Oliver. Alpha Books, 224 pages, paper or digital, $13.95.

Write More Good: An Absolutely Phony Guide by The Bureau Chiefs. Three Rivers Press, 272 pages. Paper, $13; digital, $9.99. Guaranteed to get you fired for any job requiring writing.

Write Fantastic Nonfiction (Teach Yourself) by Claire Gillman. Hodder & Stoughton. 196 pages. Paper, $16.95.

The Late American Novel: Writers on the Future of Books, edited by Jeff Martin and C. Max Magee. Soft Skull Press, 192 pages. Paper, $14.95. Will books survive?

Title: “10 of This Year’s Terrific Writing Books.” Chuck Leddy. The Writer (December 2011), 19-21.

Merit Pay

Question: What’s wrong with merit pay?

Answer/Quote: “…the problems with individual merit pay are numerous and well documented. It has been shown to undermine teamwork, encourages employees to focus on the short term, and leads people to link compensation to political skills and ingratiating personalities rather than to performance.” 26. Jeffry Pferrer. Harvard Business Review: Six Dangerous Myths about Pay (1998).

The author points out that improving education for all students is the goal. Merit pay undermines that goal.

Comment: I have had several experiences as a supervisor in which teamwork was undermined by teachers’ unwillingness to share their successful methods with other teachers, most notably in a primary grade writing workshop. RayS.

Title: “Teacher Evaluation, Teacher Effectiveness, and School Reform.” Richard Long. Reading Today (October/November 2011), 26-27.

Science and Poetry

Question: How introduce first-grade students to writing poems about science?

Answer: Research an animal. Students create an acrostic poem using the letters of the animal arranged vertically as the first letter for each line that says something about the animal.

Found poems: Arrange words from a text in the form of a poem.

Title: “Creating Poems from Science research: A ReadWriteThink Project for Bilingual Students at Hodge elementary in Denton, TX.” V Rojas and E Manning. Reading Today (October/November 2011), 12-13.