tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post9028067845084690975..comments2023-06-11T02:19:27.429-07:00Comments on Academic Cog: More comp postings: Analysis or Argument? Or Clothes?Sisyphushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-2825988007135059712011-08-17T13:59:37.568-07:002011-08-17T13:59:37.568-07:00LOL! I asked the chair at the college where I'...LOL! I asked the chair at the college where I'm teaching adjunct if I could do something very similar, the required text being a $90+ piece of $h!t. He said nooo chance.<br /><br />That notwithstanding, I've decided to give my 101 sections what I call an "overarching subject": fashion for men and women. This is broken down into three subtopics to which groups of students are assigned; each student in a given group has to create and focus her or his own topics for the four required papers, and these must be relevant to the group subtopic.<br /><br />Tried this out on this summer's 5-week Eng 101 section, with middling success. Take not that SOME PEOPLE REALLY DO NOT LIKE FASHION or at best do not care in the slightest about it. To generate more interest, I decided to expand the category to include fashion of all sorts--for example, fashions in motorcycles, fashions in electronic gear, fashion in pets, etc. Anything, in short, that has to do with popular tastes is fair game.<br /><br />We'll soon see if this works a little better, since I'm about to inflict the expanded version on the fall 101s.<br /><br />More successful was the 102 variant, in which I asked classmates to research and write about social mores and the economy as they're manifest in our state, from about 1920 to present. It's more challenging, and it doesn't offend anyone's moral sense. It should, but it doesn't...Funny about Moneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13188173788063351801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-87491606511476248162011-08-14T04:07:21.997-07:002011-08-14T04:07:21.997-07:00* whose
(sigh)* whose<br />(sigh)karinaLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06854108684326106508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-83234200771742870612011-08-14T03:45:56.609-07:002011-08-14T03:45:56.609-07:00We have some similar programs here but they are by...We have some similar programs here but they are by no means compulsory, or even widely used, although they should be - we definitely have an issue with people not having even basic writing / comprehension / analytical skills. (Not to mention the poor international students who English language skills wouldn't get them through ordering at a restaurant, let alone writing a 3000 word essay on urbanization)karinaLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06854108684326106508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-84161925379762217322011-08-13T18:10:11.227-07:002011-08-13T18:10:11.227-07:00I'm unusual in being wary of the "just ge...I'm unusual in being wary of the "just get them to write *some* kind of argument" argument, which is indeed the standard wisdom. My perspective is probably skewed by the fact that, while I've taught freshman comp, and undoubtedly will teach it again, my main gig these days is teaching writing in the disciplines. There's sometimes some unlearning to do for students who've become too convinced that an argument means a persuasive, should/shouldn't, right/wrong sort of one. Insisting that most problems can be seen from more than two perspectives is certainly a step in the right direction, though, as is being able to analyze the components of the argument itself (and I think that Toulmin is a step in that direction, but I admit that I don't speak fluent Toulminese myself). <br /><br />I love the idea of a "dress and society" reader/comp text (without or without analytical articles, but it's a topic that would definitely lend itself to analysis, since students could easily go out and observe new examples of the things the authors had written about. If they wrote both persuasive and analytical pieces about the same or related topics, they might even begin to understand the differences better). The custom readers you mention are very common these days; I think pretty much every major publisher offers some such set up, and there are some companies that do only custom editions. Since the printing part is easy to arrange, the main service they're offering is handling rights issues, either by offering a menu of selections for which they've already secured rights agreements, or by doing much what your school's copyright office would do in-house, and negotiating the agreements for readings you choose. It might even be worth pitching your idea to a publisher or two; I had an officemate who was co-author of a comp/rhet textbook, and she thought it had helped her get a job. But if what you really want is a job in which you spend less time teaching comp, and more teaching your specialty, then concentrate on Floyd, ungainly as he may be at this stage.Contingent Cassandrahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08161652083031423415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-27738355858445676102011-08-09T07:37:39.857-07:002011-08-09T07:37:39.857-07:00This should totally happen. I nominate Fie to get...This should totally happen. I nominate Fie to get the tenure-file glory for this. And just think, when she publishes it, it can be sold with a shiny "Endorsed by Sisyphus!" sticker on it!Dr. Kosharyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07777054788430587906noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-53278707173927107522011-08-09T06:14:42.241-07:002011-08-09T06:14:42.241-07:00karinaelle, it's a first-year general writing ...karinaelle, it's a first-year general writing course --- do you not have classes specifically for teaching writing? Or for weeding out all those students who really should not have been admitted to the school, in our case?Sisyphushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09880634753539329199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-32417852958816490352011-08-09T05:22:33.128-07:002011-08-09T05:22:33.128-07:00What a freakin' excellent idea! We don't h...What a freakin' excellent idea! We don't have 'comp' here in Australia ( is it short for composition? Comprehension?) but I can see a book like this working in lots of areas teaching to undergrads. Hmmm...karinaLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06854108684326106508noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-43919266532342069682011-08-08T23:59:42.652-07:002011-08-08T23:59:42.652-07:00I really like your textbook idea, this would be re...I really like your textbook idea, this would be really easy in the age of self-printed books and on demand printing. Wouldn't it be great to be able to choose the chapters we want at a set price? This would give the students an affordable book which they could then resell to the following years students. The following students could then buy the additional chapters as they need. E-books could be even easier! I would like to see textbooks priced at $40 rather than the $100+ that I regularly see.antheahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10269725364477824869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-66931259732581921052011-08-08T15:26:37.027-07:002011-08-08T15:26:37.027-07:00And you could include stuff on early modern sumptu...And you could include stuff on early modern sumptuary laws and all those commentaries complaining about English folks wearing French or Dutch styles!Bardiachttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11846065504793800266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7366909960546184927.post-51143342921147141862011-08-08T12:40:53.589-07:002011-08-08T12:40:53.589-07:00Nay! Putting together a comp reader would count in...Nay! Putting together a comp reader would count in your tenure file if you were at a SLAC. My SLAC would eat that right up. Maybe I should do it. :-/Fie upon this quiet life!https://www.blogger.com/profile/12047096700049201873noreply@blogger.com