tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post249448137253365550..comments2023-10-15T04:23:50.187-04:00Comments on College Misery: CM Flashback. Two Years Ago Today.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-68811910473099284862013-04-21T18:56:24.847-04:002013-04-21T18:56:24.847-04:00I think we'll be down to discussing only sonne...I think we'll be down to discussing only sonnets, haiku, and flash fiction soon -- or maybe tweets. Getting them to read, whatever tactics one uses, seems to be becoming more and more difficult. <br /><br />And they'll still think the answer is ghosts, vampires, zombies, and/or closeted homosexuality. I suspect we're partly to blame, since literary criticism over the past few Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-91924352248364551122013-04-21T17:08:49.012-04:002013-04-21T17:08:49.012-04:00I tackled the problem of students not reading the ...I tackled the problem of students not reading the material several years ago by often giving them a pop quiz at the beginning of class. I read the questions (easy multiple-choice) & they write down the answer. No quizzes can be made up, but I drop the lowest three grades. Meandererhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09882082543772113333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-84991885255685994712013-04-21T14:08:17.182-04:002013-04-21T14:08:17.182-04:00Gone Grad, you obviously went to a far better inst...Gone Grad, you obviously went to a far better institution than the one at which I teach. <br /><br />The incentive that my students have to read is that 25% of the grade is for participation, based on attendance and answering plot/character questions in class. <br /><br />Despite this, less than half of them do the reading. Sometimes, FAR less (as in 10 or 20%).<br /><br /> StellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-55425461838402707252013-04-20T20:30:48.874-04:002013-04-20T20:30:48.874-04:00I don't think beginning with interpretation is...I don't think beginning with interpretation is too much to ask. Certainly none of my professors began a discussion asking us to name the main characters or the town in which the story took place. To be honest, I think most of my classmates would have been insulted if a professor opened the class with really basic questions like, "Who is the main character in 'Good Country People'Gone Gradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17545285786616979495noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-87110198302293670132013-04-20T11:44:33.809-04:002013-04-20T11:44:33.809-04:00It is jesus-h-fucking-christ-on-a-cracker amazing ...It is jesus-h-fucking-christ-on-a-cracker amazing how many students believe in ghosts and vampires today. Southern Bubba, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/12050992903794385204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-14470520057089409462013-04-20T10:01:58.677-04:002013-04-20T10:01:58.677-04:00Beginning with a question that involves a certain ...Beginning with a question that involves a certain amount of interpretation is never going to work, unless your students have actually spent a good amount of time thinking about the story. Which they haven't.<br /><br />You start with the who/what/when/where and then you move to the "why?". You never just start with the "why?" right out of the gate.<br /><br />Who are theStellafromSparksburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17584701718285662953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-18078373205925803322013-04-20T08:37:13.193-04:002013-04-20T08:37:13.193-04:00I'm not really into gimmicky "lesson plan...I'm not really into gimmicky "lesson plans", but thanks to the suggestion of a colleague years ago, I manage to avoid this problem pretty successfully by means of "fishbowl" discussions(or "Socratic seminars" if you want to be pretentious and jargony about it). <br /><br />I lead the first few textual explications and explain how a good collaborative discussion Surly Templehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928952492387247356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2883226237165701608.post-51048551904496698452013-04-20T07:25:55.352-04:002013-04-20T07:25:55.352-04:00Maybe he's a gay vampire who is afraid of ghos...Maybe he's a gay vampire who is afraid of ghosts.The Mad Dreamerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10104841422695591759noreply@blogger.com