Feeling more hopeful

I’ve just finished with my squirrely group of Engl 90 students, the ones who made me so depressed last week.

Last Wednesday's class almost made me cry with the “progressive story” assignment (the one designed to teach the skills of “unity” and “organization” by passing a paper around and having everyone add a sentence to a story). This class of 15 (3 women) made the characters commit crimes – assault, drugs, stealing, rape – visit prostitutes, get AIDS, flunk class, get drunk (many stories had this plot device), lie to teachers, “turn” gay, eat cockroaches, call the cops (many had this one, too), give lap dances, puke, walk into the wrong class and see an “attractive lady” (two stories took this turn), etc., etc., etc.

I was appalled. Here’s a sample:

“So after class one day, Student One would stalk and beat up Student Two for no reason better than the fact of her enjoying the class. Yet, the next day they were all run over by Student Three and his big truck. Student Three went to prison for vehicular manslaughter on three accounts. No one has ever seen him again, until he was found out in the prison yard wrapped around a big man named, Bubba. Student Three was wrapped around him like a fur coat. But, sadly that would be the last anyone had heard from Student Three. One thing is good, at least he provided Bubba with warmth.”

Some stories I couldn’t read to the class. Here’s an excerpt that stopped me in my tracks:

“Soon, the entertainment got out of hand. Their entertainment with poems soon turned into entertainment from strippers. Sooner or later their entertainment got boring, and they decided to do volunteering work. They gave their free time to the local whore house. They would clean out the girls, lube them up, and clean the ‘creative juices.’”

Students knew that these stories would be read in class, but each sentence was more-or-less anonymous after the story got back to the original writer. A little sleuthing reveals the writer of the sentences above – let’s just say that “Student Three” is the author of the terrible parallel structure that ends the preceding excerpt.

Today, however, in writing workshop four students read their new assignment, and three were very, very good. Feedback was encouraging and responsible, too. With accountability (we go around the circle after the “Featured Writer” has read, and everyone must offer some comment), the students –for the most part – pay attention to writerly things, imagining ways to make their classmates’ writing better. Students are kind to each other.

I need to keep organizing my writing classes into these writing workshop: smaller groups of 8-12 students show me more of what they're capable of and what they've learned. I like them SO much better.