Worth Reading

This article called "A Message to Girls About Religious Men Who Fear You" is by Soraya Chemaly, a writer for Huffington Post.

THis paragraph is a good one:

Your very existence makes them anxious. And their anxiety is particularly high because you have something no generation of girls has had before -- globally connected communities of men and women who support your equality and freedom. Like guns, germs and steel, this transformative technology, which enables me to write to you here, alters geography, changes societies and dismantles systems of control -- it makes the world a smaller place and it creates, even if slowly in some places, positive change for girls like you. You see, until now, these men could count on, indeed they could ensure, that you and the women around you were house-bound and isolated. Many of you still are. But now, there are millions and millions and millions people who are thinking about you and challenging these men every single day. You have the speed of light on your side and unless someone permanently turns the lights out, those days are gone. So, although you might feel like you are alone, you are not.

Worth Reading

Up at Jane's, I finished Wicked and left if for Jane and Kelsie (who promptly photographed the book and posted it to facebook!). The story's definitely imaginative and delightful, although the ending is weak and anticlimactic.

On Jane's deck, I also began (again) Leopold's A Sand County Almanac. I'll keep working through that as I continue my book-a-week (at least) project.

Because it doesn't seem as though I can read one book at a time, I'm also taking bites out of another antique book I found, probably with Lisa last year: Catholicism and the American Mind was published in 1928. Interestingly, what I've read so far (that we Americans should accept those mysterious Catholics in our midst) could be applied to Muslims today.

Short and Sweet

I know that I said I wanted plot, but instead I read through a slender 1940s volume called And the Greeks. Its subtitle is A Book of Hellenic Recipes and Culinary Lore Collected, Edited and Arranged by Allan Ross MacDougall, author of The Gourmet's Almanac.


MacDougall was a friend of Edna St. Vincent Millay (her biographer and letters editor), Isadora Duncan (her manager, correspondent, and biographer), Kay Boyle (correspondent), Djuna Barnes (correspondent), William Carlos Williams: lots of the folks I studied for my MA thesis. It seems as though he was an activist for women's suffrage in England: he must be the student mentioned here in a 1912 news article.


Here's a blurb about MacDougall from the New York Public Library's dance collection:


Allan Ross Macdougall, an American writer born in 1893 [and died in 1956--took me a while to find that date!], lived and worked in Paris in the 1920's His subjects were wide in range, from the performing arts to the decorative arts for the periodical Arts and Decoration, and sometimes perfume and make-up for the magazines Charm and Beauty. A member of Isadora Duncan's circle, he wrote an essay entitled “Isadora: an essay in the biography of an American dancer” which was eventually published in 1960 as Isadora; a revolutionary in art and love. With Irma Duncan, he co-wrote a partial biography of Isadora Duncan entitled Isadora Duncan's life in Soviet Russia and her last years, published in 1929.

Reading

On Monday, I finished T.C. Boyle's When the Killing's Done: don't think I'll read another by him. The story was fairly interesting for the first half, but it ended like a bad murder-mystery with an escaped rattlesnake (one of ten that had been in burlap bags on a boat that got crashed by a giant ship) peeking at humans celebrating their eradication of wild pigs from a California island. Yeah, irony.

Boyle's prose is excessively detailed, calling attention to his ability to notice details, like exactly how many ounces of vodka in drunken mother's glass. And most of his characters were women, imperfectly realized, who vacillated between the female stereotype (worried about make-up and hair) and the male stereotype (competitive to a fault).

Next, I began a series of short stories that Ricardo left for me (at least I think that's where I got the book): Say You're One of Them is set in awful Africa, and I couldn't stand the first story about a 12-year-old prostitute supporting her family, told from her little eight-year-old brother's point-of-view. I also tried the last story, again a child protagonist, who witnesses her Tutsi mother's murder by her Hutu father. The brutality is supposed to be humanized by the child protagonists, but for me the stories just reinforce the *lack* of humanity that people attribute to Africans. I think it supports racism, and I don't know why Oprah picked it for one of her book club offerings.

So after that, I began again the Mark Doty memoir Firebird. I've tried it before--I love his poetry--but again, the narrative point-of-view bothers me: the excessive detail that doesn't add up to anything but an awareness of the narrator's powers of cataloging observation. But I dipped around in it, reading beginnings and middles of chapters, finishing the ending because I wasn't sure I'd be able to read the chapters chronologically.

I've gotta find a novel, I guess, that'll pull me along. Faulkner awaits, as does Sinclair's The Jungle. I know Toni Morrison has a new novel, Home, and I don't think I've read her last one, A Mercy, on sabbatical when I was reading all of Morrison. So I guess I'll get started on one of them or go to the library.

It's summertime!

Book A Week

Since my "summer vacation" started this week, I figure I should have some kind of project. I decided to read at least a book a week: easy! This week, I've read Lives of the Monster Dogs, a Half-Price Books purchase I made last December because I thought Lisa might like it. I finished it at her house on Thursday.

Today, I picked up a book that a Metro State student left me last year! I'd forgotten that a student, a woman I think, proposed that we read T.C. Boyle in American lit. S/he left me the book When the Killing's Done: not a title I'd usually pick up. One of the reasons I'm not interested in the whole Hunger Games phenomenon: to me, children killing children is not entertainment.

So the books are going to be those that are around me that I should have read all the way through (The Jungle, A Sand County Almanac) and those I've bought or been given and haven't yet read (they're all over my house).

Stay tuned: I'll post finished titles to the right.

Grades posted

Officially, I'm off contract. I should really clean out my office, and hope to do so sometime next week, but I have no more grading to do, no more student writing to read: yay.

Another student email

Community college students have such complicated lives. Here's one story. 


"Sarah" was in my Engl 90 class, a developmental level writing class designed to get students ready for Comp 1. "Sarah" was doing pretty well; she often stayed to herself in class, tucked up at a corner computer near my desk, checking her phone for text messages all the time, writing pretty thoughtful prose.


I wrote an email to her (see the bottom), and she responded today:

Hello Ms. Daniels,

I apologize that it took me so long to respond back to this email. I have been extremely busy lately trying to get myself together. I meant to get in contact with you to tell you my situation but I guess now will be the perfect time. I had to withdraw from all of my classes due to the high level of stress I was dealing with. Not only that but I am far out in [suburb] at a battered womens shelter. After being done with being a victim of domestic violence I had to escape as soon as possible. Although ever since I withdrew from all of my courses I have regretted it so much because I really did want to finish the semester off the right way. But don't think I won't go back to college it's just going to be put on the back burner right now. I still have my dreams of earning my degree in medical field. Well I appreciate the concern and thought I tell you where I'm at in my life right now. I enjoyed taking your course ans you're a wonderful instructor to be around. Also one last thing I was wondering if you would be a reference for The Salvation Army [Housing] Program? I am hoping and praying I get accepted into this program so I can get my life back on track. 

Sincerely, 

"Sarah Student" 

________________________________________
From: julie.daniels@century.edu [julie.daniels@century.edu]
Sent: Thursday, April 12, 2012 3:56 PM
To: "Sarah Student"
Subject: Engl 90

Dear "Sarah",

I just noticed that you dropped our course! Why? I hope everything is okay because you were on track to pass the class.

Please let me know how you are.

Sincerely,
Julie

Memorized?

In tonight's Shakespeare class, I've asked my students to do recitations (thanks, Ray!). They must memorize and recite at least 14 lines of Shakespeare: a sonnet, a soliloquy, a speech. Many of the students are terrified! But I've bought gifts for the top two recitations (the class won't "vote," but they'll give input). The prizes are a book and a Shakespeare figure (given to me in Seattle last summer by Josh--it'll have a good life with a student).

So many students have complained about this assignment--it's too hard! So I decided to do the same, since I'm terrible at memorization. I've picked sonnet, number 29, and I've been working on it for a week. Let me see how much I can remember:


When, in disgrace with Fortune and men's eyes
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possessed,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least.
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising
Hap'ly I think of you and then my state
Like to a lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth sings hymns at heaven's gate.
For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings
That I would scorn to change my place with kings.

Okay--I'm going to copy the *correct* version below: I was pretty close!

"When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state 
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate, 
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, 
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope, 
With what I most enjoy contented least; 
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state, 
Like to the lark at break of day arising 
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
That then I scorn to change my state with kings."

End-of-Semester Letter

Here's an email I just received: he sent it last night after our last class meeting. He's sent many over the semester, mainly pleading for a different grade. We'll see what he wrote for his final essay . . . !

Hi professor Daniels.  I just want to thank you for the interesting experiences in the course.  I did learn a lot from all the authors.  While I rewrite the totally new essay 2, I remember that you told the class "in all  your years of teaching, only one student got a lower grade when rewriting the essay."  I could possibly be the 2nd person in your career.  I will accept any score that you give.  I truly wish you will have a wonderful Summer.  Take care

Terry

He's right that I have only had one experience where the student earned a lower grade after revising: he could be the second since he didn't take my advice about revising; instead, he wrote a whole new essay. Usually when students do that, they end up with about the same grade because they make the same errors on the new essay.

*Sigh*.

BOT Awards 2012

I didn't realize I'd been photographed: this year, I helped with the awards luncheon by greeting people, providing some navigation help (where's the bathroom? where do I sit?) and other reminders.

The photographer got me looking at the portfolios along with a couple of other guests while we were waiting for the festivities to begin.

My students

Do university faculty get email messages like this one?


been sick most of the week with migraines and getting sick so i will not be able to make it. i will email my work when our internet is fixed as well , im sending this on my phone , i was going to email you on tuesday but any sort of light made things worse. i will be going into the doctor if this continues . sorry again :(

Community College Students

Would professors at a university get an email like this? Does it mean I'm approachable? Or that I don't have appropriate boundaries?
Julie,

I thought i would tell you in advance that Thursday i had passed out at work and got a concussion from my head hitting concrete floor. I dont remember anything about it unfortunately. I will be coming to class tomorrow and i can bring the papers from the hospital, but im having a hard time re-writing my paper. Ive been having moments of confusion and forgetfulness. Ive been resting up until today and im trying to work on my paper and im trying to write it and im having trouble with it. I wont have my paper done and polished in time. I plan on trying to come to school earlier tomorrow and working on it but i don't think it will be finished and im sorry. I wanted to let you know in advance ive been a little emotional as well. If i cant figure something out i have been crying and getting angry. Its lightened up and i do promise i will do my best to control myself. I just thought its better for you to know what happened and why im not exactly myself before class rather than find out during. I hope it is alright to still come to class tomorrow. I don't want to ruin my attendance. Thank you for your time~

What could this mean?

I'm cleaning out my email inbox (I got a message on Saturday morning, after all day Friday of no email service, that my inbox was over the storage limit, so I couldn't send any emails). 


In the cleanup, I've found this message from October 2008 (no wonder the storage limit was exceeded: 20081). I've copied it just as it was: one huge paragraph with no signature (I still don't know who it's from):


Didn't know if i should post this to D2L or just email you, so i emailed you. I am just writing to say i have had some troubles the past 2 weeks in keeping up in other courses as well as this one. This time of year becomes very difficult for me. My allergies and stress levels are through the roof and cause me migraine headaches on a very regular basis. Increased by stress, eating habits and of course allergies. To what causes, i am not exactly sure. I have been working with my doctor to figure out solutions to this but it takes time. I am doing my best to get this project completed by Monday night, and i believe i can do so. I am fortunate enough to have interviewees at my place of employment who know exactly what i have been going through. I don't know if you have ever had a migraine, but i become pretty much immobile and very ill and cannot even think or open my eyes.! I have been experiencing them on a daily basis sometimes two or three times a day for the past two weeks now. I had to take a short break from classes to lower stress on the eyes and the brain. I can barely open my eyes without vomiting let alone think a rational thought other than death. I know you don't need to hear this. And no i am not going to kill myself. But when these headaches are at their peak, is the only time i have seriously thought of suicide. Finally today was the first day i have not had a serious migraine in over two weeks. RELIEF AT LAST! is in my future. I am going to work as hard as i can to get caught up over the next few days. I just wanted to express to you why my online attendance and discussion has fell in the past few weeks. With regular medication i have begun to see some relief and should be able to maintain this course with as much involvement as i had in the first few weeks. Thank you for reading my ridiculously long ramble. I appreciate it.


Here's another email from the same purging: at least this one's signed!


Hi Julie!

I didn't turn in my movie review essay and I really have no excuse except for I'm trying to get over a pretty good procrastination problem and just didn't have enough of it done to want to turn in. Is there anything I can still do to possibly turn that in or what will this do to my grade in the class? I don't really know where I am as far as progress goes in the class and I still need to have my ICO project approved but I am working on it. What can I or should I do?

Thanks!

-Gregg 

Delay

I guess if I'm not on vacation, I don't get around to blogging. Is it that I'm just busy? Sort of. Also, it seems as though I don't have much to blog about.

The week after spring break, I had one-on-one conferences with my writing students. I gave them back their midterm portfolios (five or six pieces of writing in each, which I had to grade before, during, and after break). Most students seemed to take the news of their midterm grade well. Notice I say "most." My Ethiopian grandfather is not happy, and about a half-dozen students did not show up for their conference.

This week, class is online because I was appointed (!) the moderator and respondent for our college's GLBTQ Film Fest all week. Yesterday, we watched The Celluloid Closet; today was Boys Don't Cry. I hadn't seen today's film, and it's a tragedy in so many ways. Absolutely stunning acting, too.

Shakespeare's original pronunciation

I just heard this cool radio program on NPR: how great! It turns out that scholars have been able to figure out how actors of Shakespeare's plays would pronounce his words.

better late than never?

In class while my Shakespeare students finish up their midterms tonight.

Why would someone not bring their textbook to an open-book exam? Three students did this tonight. Luckily, my exams have a variety of question types, so they could choose an option that asked them to check their reading journals or class notes instead of the text.

What to say?

Yesterday was our weekly Writers Workshop in Comp 1. The week's assignment was to write a rebuttal argument to an article the students had already chosen, read, and analyzed. One student read an article called "The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage" by Theodore Olson.

Here's what that student submitted as a "rebuttal essay" for workshop:

In the article of “The Conservative Case for Gay Marriage” written by Theodore Olson when he wrote “The simple fact is that there is no good reason why we should deny marriage to same-sex partners” is not true. There is lots of reason why we should deny gay marriage. What if we past the new law of gay marriage and other people with different types of relationship wants to past laws for other cases like group marriage, marriage under 18 years of age, or between a man and boy marriage. I just think that it is not a normal thing to do. I am a “traditional” person and I like to keep most of the things we do the same especially when it comes to marriage. Marriage should always be just between a man and women. What if we past the gay marriage law and in the future most of our population is either gay or lesbian, who is going to continue giving birth to new generations? I know you might be thinking of adopting a child if you have a same-sex partner, but what if the child grows up to just knowing about mainly gay relationships? A child needs to get love from parents, a mother and father, not two mothers or two fathers.

That's it: one paragraph. Most of the other students in workshop said they wanted to see an essay with an intro/body/conclusion. (Yay! They got it!).

One student praised the content by saying and writing, "Content is excellent. I agree 100%. Except the main reason I agree is because I am a CHRISTIAN." I had to give a little lecture about what's acceptable for academic arguments: we use logic and reason in academic arguments; issues of taste and faith are not arguable. Most students seemed to get that.

The student listened to all the feedback and went home to revise the essay. Here's the title of her/his new essay: "Reasons to Deny Gay Marriage." The "essay" has five paragraphs but no logic or evidence.

These sentences appear in the intro: "What if we passed the new law of gay marriage and people with different types of relationship wants to pass laws for other cases like group marriage, marriage under 18 years of age, or between and adult and child marriage? These will change the whole ideal of marriage."

Here's the entire conclusion: "What if we passed the gay marriage law and in the future most of our population is either gay or lesbian, who is going to give birth to new generations? This is a "traditional value", two individual giving birth to new generation. you might think of adopting a child if you have a same-sex partner, but what if the child grows up just knowing mainly about gay relationships? This would probably lead the child to a different path from society. There is always a good reason to deny gay marriage."

(Is it ironic that this student has already disclosed that s/he is divorced?)

Had

For the last few years, I've been noticing that my non-native English speakers, especially the Hmong students, are using the auxiliary verb "had" much more than necessary. It's weird. I wish someone would do a study on it.


Here's the sample paragraph I just read that's making me think about this phenomena:

Since last Wednesday we had gotten another chance to rewrite our paper after the feedback we gave the featured writers that day on their essays. I had read over my paper a few times and added a few details that we had heard during workshop. I had even taken some of my feedback into consideration and included those points into my paper. Since then, I added my opinion where it was needed. I had also added some more details of the writer's techniques she used to write her article. I had explained more on how the author portrayed logos and pathos and went more in depth on those topics.

The problem, of course, is that in this narrative of her/his writing process, the timeframe is hard to figure out. What happened when? The "had"s are supposed to indicate action that happened before the past-tense action. Right away, beginning with "Since last Wednesday," the student indicates a time period. The "had gotten" messes up the idea we had going because of the word "since."


I guess English is hard, but listening to Josh talk about Polish verbs, I'm not sure it's any harder than other languages. I wish I knew what was going on here.


Update: The student is a native English speaker! In fact, she's a very privileged suburban teen. 

What to do?

I have all of my writing students blog about our college's common book. This year, our book is Zeitoun. Most students like the book, which is written with straight-forward, simple, detail-rich prose.


One FYComp student wrote the following post. Sure, the blog is the place for casual, less-formally expressed discussion. And it's clear that this student's first language is not English, which is okay. But there are issues here make me wonder how s/he got into first-year composition:

Loving it The dark night finally arrived. working for five hours staight, Zumtoum uses bukets to catching the water that leaking from the roof, stuffing the broken windows with pillow, and move anything he could to the upstair, God, he must exhusted. I do like the author back and forth to discribs the Zumtoum and Kathy's conversations, so I know what is exactly they are thinking and felling. The story just grabs me into it; I can ever piture evey part of seduation like watching the movie, which is a great movie. The author's words can grab the readers mind, and I believe that is why the book is so succeful. I can't wait to read rest of it.

Do I dare?

I like this piece, but would it be safe to give my students? I don't know if they'd get the humor (is it satire? parody?), but maybe'd be okay if they thought it was real? (Don't know the source -- my cousin sent it in an email.)

Dear American,

For the last few weeks I’ve been under constant attack.  My opponents would have you believe that if I’m elected, you’ll be stripped of your Social Security benefits and will be scrounging for food in dumpsters with all the desperation of a feral cat.

Of course, that’s true.  But what they don’t tell you is what I’d replace Social Security with: an amazing new program I like to call PerryCare™.

Under PerryCare™, you’ll receive all the food, clothing and shelter you need, and it won’t cost a dime in taxes.  How if that possible?  Simple: you’ll be praying for all those things.

As a PerryCare™ recipient, each week you’ll receive in your email box a PerryCare™ PrayerMail™, giving you an easy-to-recite prayer for the bread, milk, cat food or whatever else you need to survive.  It’s like a Groupon from God.

PerryCare™ is more than a replacement for that infernal Ponzi scheme that has bamboozled Americans with regular monthly checks for 75 years.  It is part of my larger plan to return prayer to its rightful place in American life.  I get down on my knees every night and I promise you, if I am elected your President, I will bring this entire country to its knees.

I expect that some of my opponents will laugh at my plan, especially that lawn gnome Ron Paul and Michele “Crazy Eyes” Bachmann.  Fine, let them laugh!  Laughter is the best medicine.  And if I am elected, there will be no other medicine.

That brings me to my PerryCare™ medical plan, which will replace Medicare once I consign that Ponzi scheme to the electric chair of history.  I don’t have enough time to go into the whole plan right now, but here it is in two words: single prayer.

Your next President,

Gov. Rick Perry