Change in Office Hours

Change is inevitable.

And so, I've had to re-schedule my office hours to Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. So if you're hoping to see me about something related to the final exam or whatever, that's where I'll be and when I'll be there.

I'll have more to say about final exam preparations as the day draws closer. So keep checking this space.

GC

Poetry In-class essay

So I no longer have to talk out of both sides of my mouth here on this blog. I'm talking strictly to my students here, particularly in English 1080. Anyone else can go to my other blog at http://gerardcollinsblog.blogspot.com/.

The poetry in-class essays are due on Friday, and I'm not getting the sense that too many people are fretting over it, which I hope is a good sign. I've talked a lot in class about how to go about writing them, but I'll go over the basic idea once more and maybe toss in the occasional hint about how to proceed.

First, this is not a research essay. Do not research your poem of choice on the internet or anywere else, or else you will be considered a plagiarist. I do have ways of knowing. The signs are extremely obvious to me, so please, for your own sake, don't attempt to get one by. It's just not worth it. These are short essays and can easily be done in a day or two, even if you're being extra meticulous about your ideas and phrasing, which I hope you are. That's not a moral question for necessarily, but a matter of me wanting you to do really well on this essay. Please do well.

You can use a dictionary, hardbound, on-line, or otherwise to look up literary terms and that sort of thing. Or if there's a word you don't understand, or a word you just want some ideas or clarification about. That's fine. Just don't research the poem itself or the poet. The idea is to show that you know how to offer a critical analysis of a poem you've not necessarily seen before.

Make sure you start with a thesis statement, but be willing to revise that statement after you go. Don't write a statement about poetry in general (for example, "Poetry sometimes has imagery about relationships"). Write something about the poem you're actually discussing: "Theodore Roethke's poem, "My Papa's Waltz" is about a father and son who..." and go from there. I won't finish it because I always find that student either repeat exactly what I said or they find that I used up their idea and now they feel they can't use it. So I'll use another poem as an example:

In 'Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening," Robert Frost depicts a man who pauses on his journey to reflect on his situation in life.

Then, follow with an explanation of who the man is, what the journey is exactly, and what precisely he is reflecting upon. You might want one more sentence, then, to say which poetic techniques in particular you think he uses to convey that theme.

Your essay, since it's only 500 words could look something like this (remember, this is only an example. There are many other ways):

Paragraph 1: Introduction (including brief statement about what the poem is about, literally).

Paragraph 2: Dominant imagery

Paragraph 3: Figurative language (symbols, metaphors, personification, and that sort of thing)

Paragraph 4: Sound (including rhyme scheme, meter, and/or the actual use of sound, such as consonance, assonance, alliteration, and so on. These subjects can all go together in one paragraph or you can discuss them in separate paragraphs. Your choice. There are a lot of ways to write an essay. I'm just providing examples.)

Paragraph 5: Conclusion. Sum up what your main point has been and say one final thing about the poem that you want the reader to know, but is in keeping with your thesis. No new information or quotes here.


Remember, each paragraph should follow a pattern something like this:

1. Make a statement (topic sentence).

2. Give evidence (BRIEF quotes or details).

3. Discuss evidence (talk about the quotes directly. By that, I mean discuss individual word choices of the poet.)

Make sure you put the title of the poem in quotation marks whenever you mention it. After you use the full name of the poet once, you need only use his surname (last name) from then on.

For "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," you really should address the major imagery, symbolism, and diction of the poet. There's no other way to do justice to that poem. Do you see any patterns? Do you see any anomalies, or differences, or breaks, in the pattern? The title is a strong clue of what the poem is about, what kind of relationship is being set up there and how the speaker feels about his situation.

How the speaker feels about his/her situation is always the key to understand a poem.

In "My Papa's Waltz," how do you think the speaker feels about his/her situation as alluded to in the title of the poem? You'll have to discuss rhyme and meter to do a decent job of this poem, mostly because of the subject matter. Also, is this mostly a negative poem or a positive poem, or can you really decide? If there is ambiguity, don't ignore it. Try to suggest a reason for it.

In Leonard Cohen's poem, "A Kite Is A Victim," try to peel the layers from that poem to see what he is actually saying. What's his true subject in this poem? What's he trying to say about it? And why does he use so many metaphors and certain kinds of images to get his point across? The line length and rhythm of that poem play a definite role in how you read the poem.

That's what rhyme and meter do, by the way: they dictate how you read the poem, which creates a certain feeling or mood, which almost always reflects some kind of theme: a bigger, overall idea of what the poem is about.

Your biggest clue as to what that "bigger idea" is (which many of you missed on the in-class essay): the title. That's where the poet always makes it known what his true subject is. The last line is also a large clue.

I think I've said enough. These blogs are exhausting to write when you're already pretty depleted.

Good luck with this assignment. Because it's so short, you can concentrate more on just getting the words just right. That's what I'm trying to teach you: be clear in your writing. It will improve the quality of your thoughts and of your life in the long haul. I promise.

For now though, just show me that you get what the poem is about and how the poet achieves his goal.

Godspeed.

GC

New Blog

For anyone who's interested, I've started a new blog that's mostly just about me and my writing and whatever else I choose to talk about.

It's not related to academia, English lit, university, or anything of that sort. I've had a lot happening with my writing career lately and was beginning to feel strange about even mentioning it on "Literary Pursuits," which is a shame because I always thought I could do both. But this has become a blog that's mostly devoted to teaching English, and I have plenty of other stuff I wanted to talk about.

I'm aware that lots of people besides students and former students check out this blog, and some get a little bored with all the talk of grammar and that kind of thing. So this is a new page, a brand new blog for me to talk about...myself. If that very thought offends you, don't worry: you don't have to go there. But if you're halfways curious, check it out, whoever you are.

Here's the link: http://gerardcollinsblog.blogspot.com/

Meanwhile, I'll continue to blog here at "Literary Pursuits" for my students. Next up, I'll discuss some poetry assignments that are due on Friday. The cool thing now is that I don't have to keep saying, "For those of you doing my courses this semester." If you're looking for me and my more personal, creative stuff, go to my other blog. That's where it's at.

GC

Poets Make Cheap Dates (Revisited, English 1080)

If you’re in my English 1080 classes, you’ll be writing an in-class essay on poetry Wednesday, Nov. 18, and I’m guessing that some of you are a little worried. That would be particularly true if you didn’t do so well on the last assignment or if you’re just not comfortable writing about poetry.

Up until now, you’ve been writing about short stories, and writing about poetry is really not so different. I mean, yes, it is slightly different, but not completely.

You’ll be ask to write a critical analysis of a poem. We’ve covered Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening” and “I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud” by William Wordsworth, both of them much more intricately composed than at first glance. In fact, that would be a good starting point to write about: the poem is about a seemingly simple event which is more profound and complex than would appear on the surface. Furthermore, the manner in which the poem is written reflects this very idea of something being deceptively effortless. The persona in Frost’s poem is striving to enjoy a moment of solitude, while the speaker in Wordsworth’s poem seems to have found a way to achieve such a moment. Both poems, in effect, capture, memorialize, and convey the complexity and profundity of such a moment. Sometimes peace of mind can elude us, particularly when we must strive for it. But does that necessarily mean we should not try to achieve it?

Anyway, it's not my intention to tell you what to think or to write about, but I get so many students who, for some reason, are scared sh**less about discussing poetry, that I needed to show how it's done. There are many ways to approach the assignment and these two poems, and I certainly don't wish to see my ideas replicated on Wednesday. Learn from HOW I do this, and don't focus so much on the content of what I say about the poem. Get your own ideas. Sure, build on what other people say, but get to know the poem on your own terms. Otherwise, you just become a drone. The poet is speaking to you. Are you listening?

Although I’ve talked about these poems in class over the past three classes, there is still much more that has to be said. I always leave some gaps for students to fill in for themselves as you seek some truth in the poem on your own terms.

Regardless of which poem you’re asked to write about, there are ways to be prepared for the assignment.

First of all, try to forget all the notes you’ve taken and everything you’ve heard or read about the poem, and try to read it as if for the first time. Just try to feel the poem, to envision what the poet has rendered on the page.

Ask yourself: What do I know for sure about this poem? Do some freewriting on that. You might be surprised at how much you know.

Then, ask yourself another question: What about this poem don’t I understand? Articulating a response to that question, on paper might help you move forward in your search to comprehend the most difficult part of the poem.

If there’s a certain symbol or image that’s bothering you, then do some freewriting on that. Take the “house in the village,” for example. Write the word “house”. Underneath that word, write some words, thoughts, and feelings that you associate with “house”. Don’t edit yourself and don’t stop. Just keep going. I’ll try it myself in fact, right now.

House:
home
four walls and a roof
security
a haven
ownership of property
something solid
something somebody bought
something most people wish they had if they don’t have
but mostly a place to call home

Keep in mind that these are my random thoughts, guided by nothing except a genuine reaction to the word “house”. I gave it no thought beforehand.

So when I look back over my notes, I see what a house represents. I see several things I could use in writing about the “house in the village” and what it probably means for the speaker of the poem. Mostly, I see words about solidity and safety, home, a sense of belonging, security, and even ownership of something solid. These are possibly things that one person (the one “whose house is in the village though”) has, but which the speaker shows no signs of having within the poem. We see him as being in between, rather homeless (if only figuratively—we don’t think he’s a vagrant or street person, only metaphorically homeless) or feeling displaced or detached from society as it is represented by the man who owns the woods by which the persona is stopping.

Perform the same sort of freewriting for the word “village” and you’ll probably come up with words like (this is me freewriting again, without thought): civilization, many houses, lights, streets, a place where many people live, a place that is NOT the woods—which would represent the wild, rather than civilization—a place not as dark as the woods, and so on. I won’t keep going. I want to leave something for you to discover on your own.

Really, that is the only way to proceed: make the poem your own. Become intimate with it. It’s like when you’re getting to know a boyfriend or girlfriend. Becoming intimate means getting to know them. That means getting to know their habits, the way they like to do things, the good parts and the bad parts, the way they talk, the sound of their voice, what their bodies look like, how they react to certain ideas of yours, and what kind of ideas they have to share with you.

And they do, you know, have ideas to share. You just have to listen. Becoming intimate with a poem means spending some time with it. Make it your boyfriend or girlfriend. Go on a date for an hour and see if you like this poem. But you can’t know if you like it unless you spend the time, ask it some questions, and get to know it bit by bit.That means taking key words and freewriting about them, just as I did, and as I have done in class. It’s truly the only way to make a poem your own, to understand it on your own terms. Studying notes from class just won’t cut it. They can help, but they won’t engage your thoughts, imagination, and understanding in quite the same way.

Remember that you’re looking for repetition. If your girlfriend keeps using words like “baby” and “marriage” over and over, then you’ll notice a pattern emerging: she yearns for a man with a sense of commitment. If she keeps mentioning words like “tarot” and “magic,” she might be a closet Wiccan. If it’s “cool,” “rad” and “gnarly” over and over, she’s probably a closet surfer or a wannabe hippie. You get the picture. Words mean something. Patterns of words mean something more, something bigger: an idea begins to emerge.

If a poem uses words like “cold,” “dark,” “frozen” and “winter” there’s a good possibility that the persona is fixated on winter. But the words have other connotations. They are somewhat negative words, connoting metaphorical death or dying, and what exactly is dead or dying depends on the content of the poem. Maybe it’s a dying soul—of the individual or of society. Maybe the person feels isolated and alone, or just detached, frozen inside, as it were. Is there a suggestion that this is a passing, or fleeting, moment, or is it an eternal winter that he’s talking about? (Notice that I’m not talking about the Frost poem in particular, just showing you can glean connotations from a pattern of words.) If the words invoke bright, fun, positive images, and there were several such words in the poem (or just in one stanza), then the implications for the tone of the poem are obvious.

I could go on and on about content, but many of you probably are wondering about the actual writing process.

Once you’ve got your ideas and organized them, come up with a good thesis that will allow you to argue something about the poem, then you’ll start to write. Have a plan of attack (e.g. “I want to write about figurative language in one paragraph, a certain repeated image in the next paragraph, and rhyme and meter in another paragraph. I will show how each of these is connected to the theme I’m discussing that is portrayed in this poem”). That would be a solid plan and a good way to get yourself ready to tackle the critical analysis of the poem. Then you have to just do that.

You’ll have the poem in front of you on Wednesday, so it’s a good idea to quote occasionally from the poem. Don’t use really long quotes. Just use brief phrases here and there, such as “wandered lonely” in the middle of sentences, and then go on to explain that the word “wandered” implies a melancholy, perhaps aimless traveling on the part of the person. In fact, the word “lonely” confirms not only the lacking of company, but also a sense of yearning for company at the same time.

If you’re going to quote an entire line, do it like this: “That floats on high o’er vales and hills,” placing a comma inside the quotation marks as I just did. Also, notice how I introduced the line using a colon. The colon means “that is” or “like so”.

If you’re quoting two lines or more, use a slash between lines: “The only other sound’s the sweep/Of easy wind and downy flake.” Use the same line length and punctuation that the poet uses so that you maintain the integrity and meaning of the original words.

Other than that, make sure you do the same things in writing your essay that I’ve been preaching all semester. It all starts with a solid thesis statement that tells me what the poem is about.

For example:

In his poem “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost depicts a moment that is more complex and troubling than it might appear on the surface.

Then, round out your introductory paragraph by telling me, what you mean and how you know. Explain what “complex” and “troubling” mean in contrast to the “surface” appearances. And tell me how the poet conveys that theme—for example: “The poet presents a man at a literal and figurative crossroads, pondering his place in the world and his relationship to all that surrounds him. The troubled nature of the man’s mind can be seen in the sight and sound imagery, figurative language, and rhythm of the poem. While the speaker seems to be at ease as he watches the snow fall, a close look at his words suggest otherwise.” (Notice how my last sentence makes my intentions clear by explaining my thesis statement, but without repeating it. In a way, that last sentence acts as a second thesis statement.)

So my opening paragraph might look like this:

In his poem “Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening,” Robert Frost depicts a moment that is more complex and troubling than it might appear on the surface. The poet presents a man at a literal and figurative crossroads, pondering his place in the world and his relationship to all that surrounds him. The troubled nature of the man’s mind can be seen in the sight and sound imagery, figurative language, and rhythm of the poem. While the speaker seems to be at ease as he watches the snow fall, a close look at his words suggest otherwise.

From there, it’s obvious what you need to talk about: in separate pargraphs, show how the poet employs imagery, figurative language, and meter (for example) to illuminate the theme of deceptive simplicity. In each paragraph, you’ll use sample words and phrases, sometimes an entire line, to illustrate your point. Then, you’ll proceed to discuss those words and phrases (like the freewriting I mentioned earlier, only in miniature form, with more of a sense of purpose).

I’ve already given you a handout on “Writing About Poetry,” which will give you more concrete things to discuss. But this is how I would go about writing a critical analysis of one of these two poems on Wednesday.

Remember what I said though: make the poem your own. Get to know it intimately, one word and line at a time. There is no other way to be honest and real, and to really get something out of the reading. You might just learn something about yourself in the process.

There’s always that hope.

November 18

I've said this in class a couple of times, but wanted to say it here in writing for those of you who haven't been around lately: the English 1080 in-class essay on poetry has been moved to November 18th (Wednesday) because of my illness last week.

The next two classes (Friday and Monday) will focus on preparing you for the in-class and, to some extent, the final exam.

GC

Quote Notes: Poetry

Because my English 1080 students have two poetry assignments coming up, one in-class and one shorter out-of-class assignment, my discussion of quotation methods will begin with poetry.

Quotation is something that used to be taught in high school and, to some degree, in elementary school, but that seems not to be the case anymore since I rarely encounter a first-year essay that presents quotes the right way.

It’s been hard finding time to write about this topic, as there are so many issues involved with quotation. That said, here are two excellent sources to answer your questions about poetry method:

http://www.shepherd.edu/scwcweb/hndpoetry.htm

and

http://www.answerbag.com/articles/How-to-Quote-and-Cite-a-Poem-in-an-Essay-Using-MLA-Format/4d7227b7-df27-6c1b-fb0b-a658367c075a .

Please note, however, that I am not concerned that you include the line number (it's really not necessary). I am more concerned that you do the following:

1. Put quotation marks around the TITLE of the poem.

2. Put quotation marks around the direct words quoted from the poem.


3. Use a slash between lines of quoted poetry:

a) Frost’s speaker finds himself wondering, “Whose woods these are I think I know/His house is in the village though,” thereby placing emphasis on the ownership of property.

b) The speaker in Wordsworth’s poem suddenly finds comfort in nature, speaking of the flowers as if they are human: “When all at once I saw a crowd/A host of golden daffodils.”


4. If you use a long quote, indent ten spaces, but quotation marks are not necessary.

As the speaker moves on, he encounters a variety of movement in nature:
Beside the lake, beneath the trees
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze
The waves beside them danced but they
Outdid the sparkling waves with glee.
Notice that I introduce the quote using a colon, and the next line of prose following a long quotes should not be indented. Use a line or two of explanation (like this example, except Blogspot wouldn't allow me to indent the quote, so I put it in blue) and then start a new paragraph.

5. Don’t use “hanging quotes” (also called “floating quotes”). That is, don’t place the quote in the midst of your discussion, without leading into it or setting it up properly.

Here’s a hanging quote:

The speaker admires the beauty of the woods. “The woods are lovely.” Also, he sees that they are mysterious. “dark and deep”.

Here's how that quote should look:

The speaker admires the beauty of nature, saying, "The woods are lovely." He also notes their mysterious quality, adding that they are "dark and deep".

Here’s another way, a little extra analysis thrown in:

The speaker admires the beauty of the woods, thinking they are “lovely,” but he also appreciates their hidden quality, as they are “dark and deep,” perhaps impenetrable and unknowable. In this way, he remains somewhat detached from the woods as suggested by the preposition “by” in the woods. That is, rather than stopping in the woods or venturing into them where he might be able to see them up close and engage with nature, he is merely “stopping by,” perhaps because his work will only allow him a certain physical and emotional distance from the object of his affection.

Notice the placement of the quotation marks, as well the commas, which go inside the quotation marks. Notice also that I made my point without using unnecessarily long quotes, but focused instead on discussing specific word choices of the poet. I don’t just give the quote; I explain its significance.

I’ll post this much for now. It should give you an idea of what I am talking about. Most of this information is applicable also to writing about prose (fiction and novels). Use shorter quotes instead of longer ones when possible. Either way, your quote should be incorporated properly into your discussion, using quotation marks.

GC

The Softer Side of Poetry

I posted this a while back, but thought it would be fun to post it again. It's is a blast from my childhood, as I recall this exact moment on the Muppets show. Until now, it only existed for me in my memory. But I went looking one night last fall and, lo and behold, there it was, in faded color and quivering lines.

And I still love it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGoZNjNgcP0

Enjoy! Poetry can be fun.

(Although sometimes it's about death.)

GC

P.S. Next time, I'll blog about quotation methods, which a lot of you are getting wrong right now. But it's fixable, and I'll show you how. Just gotta work myself up to it.

The Days After

It's the hardest part of the job.

Okay, well, maybe the second hardest part. Yesterday, I gave back the English 1080 comparative analysis essays. I know some of those grades hurt, especially those of you who failed this assignment. It bothers me whenever I have to assign a failing grade, but I know that does nothing to help you.

What I hope does help are the comments I made on all of those essays. That's what they're for. Read them line-by-line and figure out what you're doing wrong, as well as what you're doing right. Make adjustments. It really is as simple as that...sort of.

I know English is not a favorite subject for a lot of you. That might be an understatement. In fact, I'm sure it is. That might even be part of the problem.

However, I am assuming that English is the first language for almost all of you, and it's not a bad idea to know how to use it well. Equally important, it's a grand idea not to be ill-used by the language because I guarantee that if you're not proficient with it, there will be many times in your life where that lack of expertise is going to cost you in some way--whether it's manipulation by a politican or lawyer, a media outlet, or a union negotiation, contract, or letter of some kind. Somewhere along the way, you're going to wish you understood a little better how to understand the nuances of what's being said to you. Or that you knew how to use the language a little better to get your own way in some way.

Critical analysis and rhetoric are part and parcel of the same package: if you repeatedly exercise the part of your brain that allows you to analyze language and its various effects and uses, you also become more proficient at the art of rhetoric, as well as defending yourself against it.

Consider me your "Teacher of the Dark Arts," except not in a Harry Potterish sort of way. The things I'm trying to teach you might not save your life in a battle against a Dark Lord. I would never be so bold as to assume that it would. But then, I wouldn't bet against it either. Knowing how to communicate properly to a doctor, firefighter, police dispatch, or 911 operator has saved many a life, I am certain. The ability to converse, orally or in writing, with a lawyer, accountant, landlord, government bureacrat, or contractor might save you tons of money, perhaps--in the extreme--even jail time and embarassment even of the smallest sort.

There's no downside here; that's what I'm saying.

As I've been saying all week (when I was able to speak): learn to communicate clearly and life will be immensely easier for you.

I've seen people try to communicate with government ministers' offices for the right to have medicine for their deathly ill spouses, and the request was turned down because of a misunderstanding of the how dire the need is. Or for some other reason. You see, you are constantly being judged by how you speak and how well you listen. It's just the way the world works.

Enough about that. It's important for you to know that I want every student to pass. I wouldn't be much of a teacher if I didn't. I want the students who work hard to get A's. I want everybody's grades to go up and up.

But sometimes it doesn't work that way. Sometimes, you take a step or two backwards before you can move forward again. I think that's what's happening with a lot of you. Don't worry: just do something about it. Read my comments until you understand what I'm saying to you. I would never intentionally rob you of grades you deserve. If I gave you a low grade, it's because I thought your PAPER (not you, personally) deserved it. But it's only one paper. There will be others.

It's like losing a battle. The lessons learned from that battle should teach you how to prepare for the next battle. The scars you've earned can help you win the overall war.

Don't approach these next essays with fear or trepidation. Sure, a little fear can be your friend sometimes. But it's best to strive for somethng positive--for the grade you want or, better yet, to communicate something vital about the human condition. Yes, I said the human condition, for that's what all great literature is about. Don't turn up your nose or roll your eyes, because right now you're immersed in the human condition. It is you and it is about you, and we all have our little dramas going on that both separate us and join us together at the same time. They unite us in our humanity: when we analyze literature, that's what we're doing: looking for the humanity.

I don't think we're looking for someone to tell us what we "should" do. That would be arrogant and presumptuous of any fiction writer or poet. But they are trying to highlight some aspect of being human, trying to inflict understanding upon the reader. He or she is not trying to teach us, necessarily, but to show us. If in seeing, we learn something, then that's a private matter.

And it is our private matters that define us. Our public matters too often are more hype, gloss, and mask than personal or human. It is when literature touches us personally, pokes us where we live, that its stories and poems and songs have performed well. And it is when we find the words to express that moment of being touched that we are, perhaps, most human. Having said that, I also understand that some of the most profound moments in one's life can leave you speechless. But those who recover their sense in time to express their thoughts and feelings are the ones who inspire us in a way that we truly need: Lincoln, Kennedy, Mandela, and recently Obama, among others. They all have suffered. They all have found words in tragedy. They all have been humiliated. They each have triumphed. And they have done so through words.

That is how they inspire.

These are your words too. With the exception of George W. Bush, who should not be "misunderestimated" in his importance in history, very few such people resort to making up new words. They don't have to. Like any good carpenter, they can take the tools that are given and build something awe-inspiring.

These are the same tools at your disposal. They're only words. Learn how to use them. Pick them up. Learn how to wield them. Don't be afraid. You have something inside of you that will allow you to inspire, if only you can choose just the right words. But you have to be clear: if you are not being understood, your words will fall on deaf ears. They will "fork no lightning".

Okay, so I get a little melodramatic as a I go. But I believe it all. It's just that most people don't take time to say such things and most of us wince at the sound of such truths. Not my problem. I say what I mean. I just want you to do the same.

And for that, we have words. Use them wisely, and they will serve you well.

I hope to get time to post again tomorrow, probably with some thing a little more specific.

This is more of a pep talk, really, and just keeping the lines of communication open.

I care how you do in this course. I want every student to succeed. To me, success means improvement. There is no other way for a conscientious teacher, or a caring student, to measure it. It means you're moving forward at least.

If you didn't move forward this time, then you begin again and take the hill next time. With only a month left in the semester, it's time to double the effort, to not give in because of one or two bad grades.

"Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light."

I'll be back in the classroom tomorrow morning (Friday) if all goes well. While I'm definitely not 100% well and my voice is pretty awful, I need to give back the essays for English 1080 so you can at least know where you stand in the course with a month to go.

The strange thing about being sick is that you feel disconnected from everything. I keep sending messages out, but it's rare to hear back from someone once in a while. It's like being on a space station.

I haven't rested all that much, not at all, in fact. It's been nine straight days of grading essays frin 7 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. or so. It's slower than usual because of the whole flu thing and all that that makes you feel (sorry, no details--it's not my desire to gross anybody out).

But I'm finally finished as of this afternoon. Tonight, besides blogging and answering e-mail, I'll be resting. Maybe watch some t.v.--Fringe and a little bit of hockey. More likely, I'll fall asleep watching one or the other. (Don't you hate it when someone wakes you and tells you to go to bed? Just sayin'.)

The semester feels a little fragmented at the moment, but it'll work itself out fine. This is the first class I've had to cancel for sickness in about ten years, but I've seen worse things happen during a semester. Sure, the H1N1 virus has made everyone a bit shaky, especially people who've been struck with it, and it's good to be cautious. But life goes on and the quicker we can get it back to normal, the better. I'm not sure what "normal" means, but for the rest of the semester, we might require a new "normal".

I'll be figuring that one out over the weekend. For now, I must go rest. Oh, and there was one other paper I just remembered in one of my folders. I swear they're multiplying.

Hope you'll forgive my shaky voice tomorrow. It's all I've got for now, but it's better than none at all.

Ciao for now.

Gerard

Absence

So I'm down sick. Not sure exactly for how long, but I am hoping to be in class again on Friday. Those of you who were supposed to do the AF-10 poetry reading today (Wed.) will now be doing it on Friday.

I'll have more to say soon, but just am not feeling up to much at the moment. I mostly just wanted to get in touch and also to apologize to those of you who showed up for class this morning at 9 a.m. I've been told there was no notice on the door, even though I did contact the university at 7 a.m., around the same time I sent out an e-mail to everyone. I hope not all of you showed up or stuck around too long. I did my best, but sometimes, that's not enough, unfortunately.

I'll have to see how this whole sickness thing plays out and if it goes a while longer, I'll blog again as soon as possible. I'm also slogging my way through all those essays right now, so finding time to blog has been difficult.

Take care of you. Go listen to some good music. :-)

Gerard

Last-minute thoughts about comparative analysis

I've got a little bit of a break from e-mails and other work, so I just wanted to share a few, brief thoughts about the comparative analysis essay that's due tomorrow for my English 1080 students.

First, in case there's any confusion, I'll repeat that the format of your essay should go something like this:

Paragraph #1: Introduction
Paragraph #2: Discuss Story A
Paragraph #3: Discuss Story B
Paragraph #4: Discuss Story A
Paragraph #5: Discuss Story B
Paragraph #6: Conclusion

Yes, you can have more than six paragraphs, if you choose.

Also, as I keep saying, it's NOT wrong to discuss both stories in the same paragraph. My point in suggesting a separation (one story per pargraph) is you need to give yourself time and space in which to fully explain your ideas. Sure, paragraphs #2 and #3 can go together, as can #4 and #5, but it's really not necessary. The problem most students have with comparative analysis is that they have so much to say that they wind up selling some of the discussion short. Remember: each paragraph should have topic sentence, evidence, and a full discussion of the evidence (which might even include reference to the other story, remarking how A and B are similar to each other). The main thing is not to let your paragraph get away from you. Yes, you can mention the other story, but don't let it take over your paragraph if you're supposed to be discussing Story A.

What should go in the Introductory Paragraph?

I would begin with a thesis statement that combines Story A and Story B, showing how they have one major, umbrella theme in common. The second sentence should be about Story A. The third sentence should be about Story B. The fourth sentence should combine A and B again, forming sort of secondary thesis statement, one that sums up what you're going to be proving in your essay.

Your essay should then follow through, paragraph by paragraph, on the main points you promised to discuss, according to your introductory paragraph.

Also, as I've already said in class:

1. No first drafts

2. Title pages are okay, but not necessary

3. Use a title of some kind.

4. Avoid using really long quotes. Use the parts you need, and make sure your quotation is done properly. Lead in to it, "just as I've said in class." (That was an example of a direct quote.)

5. Staple your pages.

6. Use 12-point Times New Roman font.


This might help some. Hope it does. For now, though, it's all I have time to write.

Gotta fetch my car from the garage. Life goes on.

Good luck on your papers, which are due at the beginning of class tomorrow.

GC

How (and Why) to Write a Thesis Statement

For those of you working on an English 1080 essay this coming weekend, I thought it might be useful to blog about thesis statements. Some of this I've written about before, but once again I've tweaked it to accomodate this particular course. I hope it helps.

The thesis statement is probably the most important part of any essay and appropriately so, but it’s also the part that most students find difficult.

I’ll try the Q & A format because it seems to clarify things a bit.

Q. Why is the thesis statement so important?

A. Because it’s your opening statement. You’re making your first impression. You’re laying the foundation for the rest of your essay. Everything that your essay entails should be clearly indicated in your thesis statement.

Q. Does a thesis statement have to be the first sentence?

A. It’s not an official rule or anything, and there are certainly other ways to go about it. But placing the thesis statement first in your essay gives a sense of immediacy and purpose to your essay. I have seen plenty of essays that were undermined by not placing the thesis statement first, but I have never see one that suffered by starting out with your strongest, clearest statement of intent. It just gives a sense of strength and cohesiveness to your argument. It’s all about effective writing anyway—not just “writing to get by” or “writing to be barely understood by.” It’s about being the best communicator your can be. And being a clear writer also makes you a clear thinker (though the opposite is not necessarily true.) So put your thesis statement first not because you have to, because you want to. It’s sort of why Entertainment Tonight always starts their show with those pictures of John and Kate or some female celebrity in a bikini or Britney baring her belly button (again): not because they have to but because it’s more effective. In a way, a photo of John and Kate is their thesis statement.

Q. I’ve always had the most trouble writing thesis statements; is it even possible to learn this so that it becomes easier?

A. Anything becomes easier with practice and thesis statements are no different. You have to train yourself and, after a while, it will become easier. It will always take some amount of work, but it is worth it in order to become a clear communicator.

Q. What goes into a good thesis statement?

A. Your thesis statement ought to be as comprehensive as possible. This takes work, and you’ll probably have to write it first, then revise it as you go. The best thesis statements are usually ones that have been revised even after the essay’s been written. The idea is that it has to encompass everything that your essay is about and sometimes you can’t really know everything that’s in your mind until you’ve written it. So it makes sense that you would go back to the beginning when you’ve written the end and check to ensure that you’ve written about everything exactly as you said you would. Thesis statements are made to be revised.

Q. Can you give me an example of a good thesis statement?

A. If you’re subject is “music” in the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” by Joyce Carol Oates, then start by telling me what your focus is going to be.

e.g. In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” Joyce Carol Oates uses rock and roll to represent the protagonist’s, and American society’s, coming of age.

That would be short, simple, and directly to the point. My intention in such an essay would be to discuss in detail, with examples, how Oates uses music as a medium for Connie’s transition into the adult world. My next sentences ought to explain precisely how Oates does that. I would need to mention specifically who the protagonist is (Connie) and how music is a part of who she is, as well as how it defines her situation, as well as America in the Sixties, and suggest what I mean by “coming of age”.

Something like this would do: “Throughout the story, Connie listens to music as a way of tuning out the real world and tuning in to a world of her own imagination, as denoted by the dangerous Arnold Friend, who symbolizes the dire changes that are sweeping the country during that decade. American youth, as represented by Connie, is reaching for freedom that sometimes comes with a terrible price, and nothing represents that yearning for something more better than rock and roll.”

Or you could have phrased your thesis statement like this:

e.g. Music is a portal to both the freedom of the mind and its inherent dangers, as Joyce Carol Oates suggests in her short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”.

Notice that I manage to include the author and title of the story, just to make sure the reader knows at a glance which work and author I’m dealing with. She can decide to keep reading or search elsewhere for a more appropriate article based on what she reads in that one sentence.

Also, notice that the subject in your thesis statement is not music generally. You’re not writing an essay about music, American society, teenage girls, or serial killers. You’re discussing music as it is portrayed in this one short story, and so any statement that’s not about that story is a wasted statement.

Let’s try it again. Let’s say your subject is isolation in “Paul’s Case”. Well, what are you trying to say about isolation in that short story? I see a lot of essays that start with something like, “‘Paul’s Case’ presents a young boy, Paul, who is isolated.” To say that Cather’s story depicts isolation is not enough: your point is, What does Cather imply ABOUT isolation? The most important opinion here, really, is Cather’s. It’s crucial that you figure out what she is trying to say before you can pretend to have an opinion on her opinion. Make sense?

Try a thesis statement something like this:

As Willa Cather appears to suggest in her short story, "Paul's Case," isolation from one's friends, family, school, and church can have serious consequences on a person's attitudes and decisions. With a thesis statement like that, you leave yourself wide open to go and discuss just about anything you want. You'll focus on showing Paul as isolated, using evidence from the story to suggest distance and detachment, physically and emotionally, from friends, then family, then school, then church, and ultimately even from the world around him, as well as himself. You'll go further and show how it muddies his thinking and allows him to justify robbing his employer, spending the money on luxuries, and, ultimately, deciding to kill himself. You might even feel the need to suggest it was something other than isolation that spurred him on. But that's you're decision. You decide what to prove because you're the writer.

Q. Why isn't my opinion about the story important?

A. Certainly, you are being asked for your opinion on the story. This whole essay that you’re writing has you written all over it. Every word is yours—well-chosen, clear, purposeful, and coming from your head, through your fingers and onto the keyboard, screen, and paper. But first you have to get yourself out of the way. Look into the piece of literature and figure out the author’s agenda, whether it is subconscious or not. What is he or she implying by their well-chosen words? How are your opinions being shaped and manipulated by his or her choice of words?

In “Young Goodman Brown,” for example, Hawthorne’s opinions about religion or faith will not be the same as yours. Young Goodman Brown, for instance, dies a sad, gloomy death even though he still believes in God. You, on the other hand, might be faithfully religious and not agree with Hawthorne that faith can be such a terrible thing. But don’t get into morally judging the characters for this. Your goal is to understand the characters and explain why they act and speak as they do: for what purpose? What is Hawthorne trying to say by having them speak and act that way? That’s where your thesis statement will come from: in understanding the connection of the character you’re studying to all the other characters in that story. Or, if you’re comparing two short stories to each other, you also have to consider how one author’s agenda differs from the other author’s agenda. More on comparative analysis another time, hopefully by the end of the weekend.

It might seem like a lot to consider before you can write a solid thesis statement. But the fact is that critical thinking and writing requires you to show great understanding of the subject you’re studying. This is no different from science or history in that the idea is to thoroughly engage with your subject before you can possibly contribute anything to the study of it. It is only by pushing yourself in this way that you will become a better, clearer thinker and writer. Writing a good thesis statement is hard, but if you’re serious about being a good writer, it’s well worth it.

I do wonder, though, why anyone NOT want to be a better writer? The only answer I can think of is that it’s not something you’re used to doing and therefore you’re not so good at it. To me, that’s all the more reason for wanting to be good at it—so that you don’t get held back in life at any point. I don’t just mean academically, but in various other ways too. A clear thinker and writer ALWAYS gets more respect and has more self-respect, too. There’s no way around that. A poor communicator can cause a lot of damage in a society (I’m trying to ignore the urge here to point to George W. Bush as exhibit A) or even to a political party or other group (Stephen Harper's Conservatives being Exhibit B). On a large scale, wars take place and people get killed, or global warming becomes a political football because the scientists weren’t getting their message across to the politicians. Either the scientists weren’t communicating properly, or the politicians just couldn’t understand what they were saying. I suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle. The results, however, can be devestating. Thank goodness the scientists finally came out a couple of years ago year with an official, unified statement—a thesis statement, you might call it, with which people can either agree or disagree. That's the point of a thesis statement really: say clearly what you mean to say so we can say clearly whether we agree with you or not.

On a smaller scale, though, poor communication can lead to people showing up at a store for a sale that doesn’t take place till next week or for a service that isn’t even offered. Or deadlines get missed, meetings are ineffective, and grants don’t get won. Whether an arts grant or a health care grant, or a wharf-building application, there are consequences for representing yourself poorly. Even (or maybe especially) personal relationships can suffer endlessly and sometimes permanently from an inability of at least one person to say what they really mean, instead of thinking that what they are saying is clear and unambiguous. A good communicator will have fewer bad marriages and fewer lost friendships. That’s real life.I could go on and on, and often have.

So: start with a clear, complete statement of what you are about to say in your essay. That way, no one can doubt your intentions.

GC

Getting Substance into Your Essay

By now, most of you in English 1080 are probably working on your new essays, the comparative analysis of two short stories. The two main concerns for many of you will be organizing your essay and getting some substance into your work. These issues are inextricably linked to each other because substance requires clarity of thought--the kind of clarity that comes from, and is shown in, clear organization. Most of the essays I grade early in a semester are lacking in detail and explication, and if you're looking to raise your grade, such substance is necessary. "A" papers have it, while all others have it to lesser degrees. "F" papers tend not to have much substance at all, or what is there is disguised, or buried, in poor expression or poor organization so that it's hard to find.

So how do you get this substance into your papers? A quality essay must not only be pretty squeaky clean grammatically, but it also has to express an original, engaging, thought on the subject. There are various ways of doing this, and I would never suggest that my way is the only way. But in the past couple of years, I've developed a way of showing students how to format such a paper.

It's the same one I wrote on the board a few days ago, which I just call the 1-2-3 method of analysis: Each paragraph of your essay ought to look something like this.

1. Make a statement.
2. Give evidence.
3. Discuss evidence.

1. Make a statement. This is your topic sentence or what I call "the label on the box." Think of the paragraph as a box in which you are going to pack certain things in order to organize. Organization, after all, is the key to clear expression. So if you clearly mark the box/paragraph, then there should be no doubt as to what it contains. I should be able to read your "label" (topic sentence) and know exactly what that box contains. When you look back over your essay, if you see a subject being discussed that does not belong with that label, then you need to put that statement or phrase in another box, or paragraph. If your paragraph turns out to be about something other than what you planned, you could even consider changing your topic sentence. The other alternative could be to re-write your entire paragraph. Either way, the label has to match the contents of the box, and vice-versa.

2. Give evidence. The evidence you use is simply the short quotes, details, choice words, SPECIFIC references to scenes and characters that you use to support your topic sentence. These will show your reader (me) that you are not just making broad or abstract claims; you actually have reasons for making the assertions you make, and here is the proof.

3. Discuss evidence. It's never enough just to show evidence and assume that I know why it's there. If I want to make my own connections, I will write my own paper. Your job is to show me why you think what you think about the book, story, poem (or whatever) you've read. So go back to your list of details or your quotes, look at the word choice used by the author and tell me why you think these words that you've chosen are appropriate evidence for what you're trying to prove or illustrate. If you've used a quote with at least several words in it, go back through the quote, pick out a few (or at least a couple) of key words and tell me why they help prove your point.

I'm not telling you this simply because it's right and other methods are wrong. I'm telling you this because, for most of you, it will give you a method for working. There is confidence in having a formula that works and if you get used to doing it this way, you will always have full, meaningful paragraphs that are full of analysis and substance. I'll be trying to blog about more of this kind of thing over the next few days and coming weeks. This is only a beginning (also see my earlier blog about sentence structure fixes).

If you have a more specific question, PLEASE leave a comment or see me in person and ask me to blog about a certain idea. That way, I can address your particular needs.

More to come soon.

GC

Tense shift, fragments, and comma splice--that's what some essays are made of.

Now that you've had a chance to get over the trauma of your first grade in English, after writing your first essays, I figured I should post some extra commentary that I hope you put to use for your next assignment.

I write a lot of commentary on these essays, and I truly hope you'll read them carefully and take the comments to heart. They are intended, not to punish you for what your current essay lacks, but to suggest how you can improve your writing technique for future essays (for both English and other courses, and life in general). The next one is due on October 28, and the time will go fast.

A lot of you in English 1080 are having problem with sentence structure, including comma splice, sentence fragment, and tense shift. Below, I've posted some suggestions about how to recognize these problems and how to fix them. I hope it helps.

First of all, I don't make these things up. Sentence fragment, tense shift, and comma splice are real words and have real consequences for your writing. You should have learned about them in high school English, but either no one showed you or the lesson just didn't take. Or maybe in the time since you last wrote an essay, you forgot how to do it. That's all understandable, but what can we do about it?

First, you might notice that I used some abbreviations on your essays:

1. "T.S." means tense shift.
2. "C.S." means comma splice.
3. "S.F." means sentence fragment.

Here's what those terms mean:

1. Tense shift just means that you're switching from speaking in the present voice to speaking in the past voice. You're using "was" when you should be using "is". You're ending words in an "-ed" suffix instead of ending them in "-es" or just "s". Just be consistent. Somtimes, it's fine to use past tense, but most of the time you should consistently use the present tense when talking about fiction, as if the action were happening right now as you read it.

So if you said something like "Elisa worked in her garden most of the time," it should read: "Elisa works in her garden most of the time."

2. Comma splice means that you're joining (i.e. "splicing") together two sentences using a humble comma. The comma wasn't intended for such heavy labor. It's like using a screwdriver as a chisel. You can do it, but eventually there will be breakage. Your sentences get too long and, usually, tough to follow.

Here's how to recognize a comma splice: read what you've written on both sides of the comma; if both sides read like a complete sentence, then you've used a comma splice, which is a major grammatical error, not to mention confusing. See, a comma tells you to pause. But periods, for the sake of clarity, require you to stop. (See what I mean there in that last sentence?)
So how do you fix a comma splice, supposing you should see one?

1. Use a period and make two separate sentences.

2. Or use a semi-colon, which is designed to join/separate two complete sentences that are related to each other in thought/theme.

3. Or use a co-ordinating conjunction (e.g. “but,” “however,” “and,” “because,” and so on) and (sometimes) use a comma with it. That's probably the easiest and most common fix. You'll have to get used to recognizing comma splices in your sentences.

That's the only way to eradicate the problem from your writing: practice. After a while, it will become natural. I've seen it happen for thousands of students in a matter of weeks and it can happen for you. Depends on how bad you want it.

Here's an example of a comma splice:

Comma Splice: Henry leans over the fence, he startles his wife.

Fix: Henry leans over the fence. He startles his wife.
Fix: Henry leans over the fence; he startles his wife.
Fix: Henry leans over the fence, but he startles his wife.
Fix: Henry leans over the fence and startles his wife.
Fix: When Henry leans over the fence, he startles his wife.


3. Sentence Fragment just means that what you've said (and obviously think is a full sentence because it starts with a capital letter and ends in a period after a string of seemingly meaningful words) is not a complete sentence. It's a fragment of a sentence, a mere piece of one: a pretend sentence in disguise, and it's up to you to start recognizing its covert behaviour. It shouldn't be hanging out with the other sentences because, well, it just isn't one and it should just solve the problem by BECOMING one. Their main offense is that they just don't make sense on their own, sort of like Nick Lachey. That's how you fix a sentence fragment: either make it a full sentence by itself OR join it to the preceding clause. That's right: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

Here's an example of a sentence fragment.

Sentence fragment: Arnold Friend, standing outside her door, asking if he can come in, which Connie refuses.

Looks, smells, sounds, and feels like a sentence, doesn't it? And yet, on closer look, it isn't quite complete. It needs something else, doesn't it? The sentence lacks context.

So the fix is in:

Arnold Friend is standing outside her door, asking if he can come in, which Connie refuses.

Or:

Arnold Friend stands outside her door, asking if he can come in, but Connie refuses.

See the difference a simple verb can make? I just added the word "is" or change “standing” to “stands” and now it all makes sense because we can (sort of) see them doing what we've implied they are doing. Fixing sentence fragments is usually just a matter of revising your verb (the word that implies action).

The other way to fix this problem would be to simply connect the fragment to a preceding sentence.

For example, let's say you (okay, somebody else. Denial has its uses.) wrote this:

Connie looks into mirrors a lot and looks at other people’s faces. Which tells her how she is doing.

You no doubt recognize that the second "sentence" is an imposter: a mere sentence fragment.

Here's a quick fix: Connie looks into mirrors a lot and looks at other people’s faces, which tells her how she is doing.

Notice that all it takes is a simple comma (also notice that what follows the comma is NOT a complete sentence, so we haven't created a dastardly comma splice, and so everyone sleeps well).


Anyway, I hope this helps. If you're still confused, just come see me or get in touch, okay? There's no need to feel like you're out there on your own with nowhere to turn. Help is available. :-) And my e-mail address is toll-free. Act now and you'll get free advice about plot summary (which means you tell me what happens instead of why such details are important for your thesis). Offer available for a limited time only (till December 12, 2009).

Next time: paragraphing and organizing your essay, perhaps a little on thesis statements and topic sentences too.

Till later,
GC

Hope you're enjoying Thanksgiving weekend. It's been a rainy, cold one here in St. John's, but it's sure nice to have a couple of days off from classes and grading essays.

I returned the marked essays in my English 1080 classes on Wednesday, so I imagine the shock has had a chance to settle in for most. As always, some people did way better than they expected, partly because expectations for first-time essays is generally low. Others certainly performed worse than they are used to, but most of the students who've contacted me are pretty realistic about it and know they just have some work to do. The most important thing, for me, is for you to know that grades almost always go up as the semester goes on. Of course, that depends on you--grades don't go up if you don't put in the work and pay attention to what I'm trying to teach you. That's just a natural law.

These weren't the best essays I've ever graded, but they were far from the worst. In fact, I was very encouraged, hoping to see an above-average number of A's and high B's this time around. The average number of A's, for what it's worth is anywhere from 1 to 3. But in any given semester there might be 4, 5, or 6. It really depends on the class itself. If I had 30 students in a class who deserved an A, I would have no trouble allotting them. That's just so you know. I have no expectations except that you will listen, work hard, and reap the benefits. And there's less than two months before the semester is over on December 4th. Now that's something to think about.

I told you I'd post the list of abbreviations I used (though I did explain them on the essays as well):

sp. means "spelling mistake"
t.s. means "tense shift"
c.s. means "comma splice"
s.f. means "sentence fragment"

Later, I'll post an explanation of what these terms actually mean and show you how you can fix them.

Other than that, I want to reinforce that I'm truly trying to teach you how to be better writers and thinkers. It's not about grades for me. You're at MUN to receive an education, and I want you to be able to look back on your three months in my class and say you learned something. If you can have some fun doing it or enjoy classes, that's bonus. To me, that's all a part of a good learning environment. But if you can learn something that will make you a better writer and perhaps help you see the world around you a little more clearly, then I've done something useful, and so have you. So let's work on it together. "The hour," as Dylan says, "is getting late." It always is.

That's all for now. It's Saturday night, and I'm going to get some fiction writing done before I settle in to watch some Leafs-Penguins action.

Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you've got a lot to be thankful for right now in your life and that you're the kind of person who is capable of being grateful for what you've got.

Talk to you again soon.

GC

Mistakes to Avoid

This is my second post regarding the upcoming English 1080 essay (there's another one below).

I just have a few last thoughts that might help you get better grades:

1. Very important: Avoid plot summary. Don't just tell me what happens in the story. Discuss the implications of those details and events in the story. This can make all the difference in your grade.

2. Write your essay in present tense. Avoid tense shift (i.e. back and forth between past and present).

3. Avoid cliches and colloquial language (slang).

4. Use quotation properly. All quotes should be introduced or set up properly. Use phrases such as: "As the narrator says,...".

I truly hope this helps. I'd like to see these be the best first-time essays I've ever graded. That would be great for you and fantastic for me.

May the fates be with you.

GC

If you’re in one of my English 1080 classes this semester, you’ll be writing an in-class essay on Monday. While my expectations are realistic, I genuinely want you to succeed on this, and every essay this semester. With that in mind, you should come to class on Monday prepared to simply write your heart out, but in an organized kind of way. The thing is to write things that are true, not just what you think your prof wants to hear. I only want to hear if it sounds like it's coming from you, from a place of honesty and integrity. Believe me, it shows.

The hardest part of writing an in-class essay is that there are so many unknown factors—matters that are beyond your control. For most of you, it will be the first English assignment you’ve written in a long time and the first in university, period. My goal is to ease your anxiety (if you have any) by suggesting what to do about those unknowns, either by eliminating them or accepting them and just working with them.

It’s no secret that a lot of first-year students don’t do very well on their first English assignment. I approach the first assignment as a bit of a diagnostic: our common goal (you and I) should be to find out what your level of writing is at this point. Some of you will come in with great expectations, having gotten wonderful marks in high school and assuming that will be the case throughout university. That actually can happen and, for your sake, I hope it does. But it is rare. The key is to take what you learn from working on this assignment and having it graded and use it to improve next time, and each time after. Eventually, with hard work, your grade should ascend to the point at which you’d hoped to arrive.

Preparing For The Essay
The key to success in almost any area of life is preparation. That means different things for different people, so prepare in a way that has brought you success in the past. But if you find that you haven’t had much success recently, then you have to be willing to try different tactics, such as studying at different times and in different ways, or even mixing up your routine to find what works for you and gets you mentally prepared.

You can start by studying, of course. In the case of English, the best thing you can do for yourself is to KNOW THE STORY (or poem). That means you have to have read it multiple times and to have gotten to know it intimately. Having read it, you should go through it line by line, looking for hints of the author’s tone or symbolism, or something that you can interpret as having some meaning beyond itself. That is, the author’s choice of words is usually very precise and serves the purpose of a) telling the story, b) denoting action or dialogue, and c) adding to, or reflecting, the story’s theme(s). In other words, the words on the page denote exactly what they appear to denote, but they might also connote something more complex. Or not. Your job is to see if that connection is there, and the only way to do that is through close reading.

Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Well, welcome to first-year university. This might not be how you are used to working. You might prefer to read for pure enjoyment’s sake, in which case I suggest you join a book club rather than doing a degree in higher education. But it’s really not that hard, and the work you put in on close reading now will pay huge dividends when it comes to writing the essay, contributing to class discussions, and writing future essays. There is also the added benefit—one that is probably far more important—in that you are teaching yourself to evaluate the words of others, to look closely at details, and process them, understand them, be able to argue with them or agree with them. If you’re not at least trying to tune into the overtones and undertones of language, then you’re just along for the ride. That’s okay up to a point, but like any bum ride, it’ll only take you so far. After that, you’re a pedestrian.

Okay, so besides studying and understanding what you’re reading, what else can you do? You can get your thoughts organized. After you’ve written all your notes, asked yourself about the characters’ motives, goals, desires, and fears, try to organize your thoughts. You might want to begin by making a list of character traits for each character, along with a note of HOW YOU KNOW. That is, what was it in the story that made you think this particular quality was inherent in the character you’re studying? For every opinion you posit, or put forward, you need some evidence to back it up. Otherwise, your case will be thrown out of court. You can’t, for example, say that a character is impatient towards her husband, as in “The Chrysanthemums,” without following up with some evidence from the story. Something in there must have told you the character was impatient, so what was it, exactly? Or if you say the ending of a story (as in “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”) is ambiguous, be prepared to briefly say why you think it ambiguous, or open to interpretation. Present both possibilities and say what it was in the story that made you think it could go either way.

I could go on and on about the specifics of the essay and organizing your essay, but really you have to do what works for you. Brainstorming on paper for each character, then brainstorming about setting, point of view, imagery, and symbolism will take you a long ways towards truly understanding the complexities of the story. If you’ve got a solid handle on those ideas for each story, then you’ll at least be able to talk about the story in detail. And detail truly is the key to a good essay.

What an essay should look like:
Most students seem to know about the so-called “five paragraph rule” of essay-writing. Granted, some students have never written an essay at all in high school, so that’s a whole other discussion. But the “five-paragraph rule” isn’t really a rule at all. An essay, obviously, can have more than five paragraphs or even less than that. The idea is to show you how to STRUCTURE your essay. It should look like this.

Introductory paragraph
Body paragraph #1 (sub-topic #1 discussed).
Body paragraph #3 (Sub-topic #2 discussed).
Body paragraph #3 (sub-topic #3 discussed).
Concluding paragraph.

You can have as many paragraphs in between as you like, but the Introduction and Conclusion are beyond negotiation. You must have them both in order to give your essay structure and a feeling a completion.

The introductory paragraph should include a THESIS STATEMENT, which is crucial to the success of your essay. Your essay lives and dies with your thesis statement. Does it have to be your first sentence? Not necessarily, but it’s almost always the right way to go. You can never go wrong by starting with your best, clearest statement of what your essay is about. The point is to be understood, not to have the reader guessing as to what your intentions are. So why not start with the thesis statement, since the main idea is to be a good writer rather than a mediocre one or a poor one? Clarity is everything.

So, your thesis statement should tell me exactly what your essay is about. If you’re saying “The Brain-Eaters” is a story about how space aliens are all evil, then don’t give me a thesis statement that says: “As everyone knows, people from Mars intend great harm to the people of Earth.” The essay isn’t about space aliens in general; it’s about space aliens in “The Brain-Eaters.”So a much better, more comprehensive thesis statement would be: “William Spigot's short story, “The Brain-Eaters,” depicts space aliens as evil, while also suggesting that some visitors from certain planets mean Earthlings no harm.” Now you are free to go on proving that Spigot’s depiction of aliens is predominately negative, but also to show that some depictions of them are not so bad. The point is that your thesis statement ought to reveal what your ENTIRE essay is about, not just the first half of it. If you intend to talk about other things related to your main focus, then you need to hint at that, even with a word or two.

And that’s just your first sentence. It requires a lot of thought, for sure, and most thesis statements need revision as you go on, so there’s no pressure to write a good one the first time out. It rarely happens. Most first lines need to be changed once the writer knows exactly what they are talking about, and it’s hard to know that until you’ve actually finished writing the essay.

Next, still in your opening paragraph, follow up your thesis statement with an explanation, or elaboration, of your first sentence. Just give a hint as to where you’re going with this main idea of yours. How do you intend to proceed and what exactly will you be covering? That is, what are the parameters of your essay?

After that, it’s easy. Your paragraphing will reflect the pattern you’ve laid out in your opening. If, for example, Spigot depicts three different kinds of space aliens (or, say, three different kinds of images you want to discuss) then perhaps you can give each one a separate paragraph. The main thing to remember is that you should show what each of these paragraphs has to do with the main idea you outline in your thesis statement. Show a connection of the ideas in each paragraph to the main idea (or mother ship, as it were).Then, when you’ve written each paragraph, finish with a concluding paragraph that reiterates your main points, using different words than before. Don’t introduce any new ideas or evidence at this point.That, generally, is the best way to approach, and design, your essay.

How To Approach The Questions
I don't want to tell you what to write, so I won't. But, to be fair, I thought I should give you some idea of how to go about getting some thoughts on paper. Really, it's mostly about asking the right questions about the questions.What follows are the notes I alluded to in class today regarding each question. There might be some repetition, but I was brainstorming (as you should do) and therefore not censoring myself:

1. In “The Chrysanthemums,” Elisa Allen experiences a shift in her thinking. Discuss the significance of that shift.(Approach: What is the shift? How do you denote/see change? How was she before? How do you know? What was life like for her? What are the signs of what she was thinking before? What is the moment of the shift? How did it occur, and what is its significance? What happens to her thinking after that? How do you know? What are the implications of that shift, re: what the story is about?)

or

2. “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” might be described as either a coming of age story or a tale of warning.

Discuss.(Approach: What do you mean by coming of age? A simple tale of a girl growing up, from innocence to experience, becoming a young woman. Does this happen in the story? How do you know? What are the signs? Who was she before Arnold Friend came along? What does she do? What do her actions, thoughts, and dialogue signify that she is? When does she change, exactly? How do you know? What do those actions signify/symbolize/mean in the context of the story? What was she like before versus what was she like after? What brings about that change? How can you see a change? Or can you? What would be the signs of someone becoming more “experienced” versus “innocent”? Furthermore, if this is a tale of warning, what is the warning? What does it pertain to? Who is the warning for? How do you know? Who or what are we being warned about? Ultimately: you can choose one or the other, or combine the two. Say something like, it is a coming of age story that comes with a warning against… There is no right and wrong here, only how well you present your argument.)

or

3. Discuss the significance of a major character in either Joyce Carol Oates’ “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” or John Steinbeck’s “The Chrysanthemums”.

(Approach: Choose one of the characters—e.g. Elisa, Henry, the tinker, or Arnold Friend or Connie—and discuss their role in the story. What do they represent/signify/symbolize? What is their function in the story. E.g. Arnold’s role is to jolt Connie from a state of innocence to one of experience. Or: Henry’s role is to protect Elisa from the outside world. Or: Henry’s role is to be kind to his wife, even though he doesn’t understand her or what she wants. Go on then to discuss what she wants, desires, fears, and how he reacts to that. You are told these things in the story. It’s up to you to interpret/analyze what the characters say and do to each other and to themselves.

Brainstorm on this one, asking yourself what do you think of when you think of these stories? What actions, decisions, words, and/or images and descriptions do you associate with them?

General notes for preparation:
This will be an in-class, fifty-minute writing exercise, but there are many ways to ensure that you write an effective essay and reduce your stress level.

1. Make sure you understand the question and what is expected of you. If you have any doubt at all, ask your instructor to clarify.

2. Brainstorm. Gather ideas. Analyze the facts. Re-read the story and make notes on what you see, especially that which relates to your chosen topic. Always dig deeper for an understanding of how the smaller details are related to the whole. Remember to go beyond the facts and opinions discussed in class, if you can. The very best papers do this.

3. Simplify your ideas into an argument or statement of opinion, which you will defend, or prove, in your essay.

4. Organize. Make sure you write an introductory paragraph, a concluding paragraph, and a separate paragraph for each part of the main subject you discuss. All that you will discuss should be hinted at in the opening paragraph. All that you have discussed—and no new information—should be summarized in the conclusion.

5. Know the story really well.

6. Get a good night’s sleep. Sleep rocks.

In the exam room:

1. Arrive early if you can, but definitely on time. If you are late for some reason, enter the room as quietly and unobtrusively as possible. Others will already be writing and in the zone.

2. This is not an open book exam. Leave your textbooks closed and hidden away.

3. I will provide you with paper for writing on, as well as an exam script, when you have cleared your desk of all books and paper.

4. No dictionaries allowed.

5. You may use pen or pencil—your choice, but make sure your handwriting is easily read.

6. Start writing when your instructor gives the signal to do so.

7. You have 50 minutes. Take five minutes at the beginning to get your thoughts organized, remember your outline and thesis statement, and so on. Leave five minutes at the end to go back over what you have written, looking for mistakes or things to add or revise.

8. Double-space your answer.

9. Don’t forget to breathe during all of this, starting now. It helps.

I wish you all good luck. Try not to stress over this. Just know the story well. Know the basics of writing a good essay and just let it flow. Show me what you know. Show that you can go beyond what was said in class and show that you can write really well.

In the end, you can at least say you tried.

And, hey, you're writing you're first university English paper. How cool is that? Till next time.

GC

I wanted to give my students in 1080 a chance to see Bob Dylan. We talked about "Mr. Tambourine Man" a fair bit in class over the past few days, so I figured it would be only right post it here, mostly for fun, but also to give you an idea what the song is about and what Dylan was all about. It's a remarkably clear piece of footage and a great portrait of a young legend-in-the-making.

Ladies and gentleman, Bob Dylan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXwynAlYNS0

I should also I saw Dylan in concert a short while ago, and he didn't sing this song or hardly anything anyone knew. In fact, he hardly even looked at audience at all.Still, this is more like the Bob Dylan of my imagination.GC

English 1080: "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"

Since I don't usually have time in class to show feature-length movies, I thought I'd share this with those of you in my English 1080 class.

First, there's a movie trailer for a 1986 film of Oates's story, starring Laura Dern.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXvmkCVbrBk&feature=related

There's also a series of clips from the film strung together. There are, of course, lots of differences from the story, "Where Are You Going, Where Have you Been?" but it's similar in essence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co9bfNOlSRQ

Also, I wanted to remind you that we start "The Chrysanthemums" on Monday, and there will, as always, be a quiz.

GC

It's a new dawn, a new day, a new life...

Okay, so what happened to summer? I woke up this morning to find that everything was cold, just a couple of degrees away from frost on the ground and ice in the toilet. Seems I went to sleep in summer and woke up in autumn. It’s been cold for over a week now, and my brain has already clicked into autumn mode.

And so yesterday was the first day of classes at Memorial University. The strangest part about being back on campus was that it felt as if I’d never left. The summer was brutally short—I just have vague memories of a lot of writing and some family events, interspersed with cold weather and occasional warmth.

Walking from my office on the fourth floor of the Science Bldg. to my first class on the fourth floor of the Education Bldg., I was thinking about what I would say to my students. I mean, you walk into a class and see all these new faces, some eager to be starting something new and challenging, a new chapter in life, and others wishing to God they’d stayed in bed and maybe applied for the military or a Academy Canada. Sometimes, you get both, of course—the person who knows this is a great experience but already wishes it was Christmas so they could just go home and be with their families.

But it’s the same every fall. Mostly, the students have trepidations and yet are in this for the long haul, ready to get something out of it, knowing that—unlike high school—these really are the best years of most people’s lives. They really are. I don’t mean that every person’s experience is completely positive. Some people even go through some pretty serious stuff. But everything you do in first-year university is heightened and seen somewhat through a glass, darkly at times. It’s a bit like Christmas in that it doesn’t feel quite real to be here doing all this cool stuff and scary stuff and all the amazing thing you ever dreamed of, planning the rest of your life and hanging out with people of your choosing, rather than just the ones you happened to find yourself sharing a locker with or living next door to.

I know I’m an optimist, but I’m old enough now that I know it’s a permanent condition. Sure, I’m a realist and a skeptic. For example, I take a wait-and-see attitude towards ghosts, aliens, and the Maple Leafs ever winning the Stanley Cup again. And yet I’m optimistic enough to think that both ghosts and aliens could be out there somewhere. I just need to see for myself because I don’t rely much on other people’s experiences to inform my own reality.

But I do believe the best in people, and just from looking at the groups I have in my classes this year, I can already tell it’s going to be fun. It won’t all be great and there will be plenty of times of worry and concern, both for me and for my students, but I’m looking forward to an extremely enjoyable semester. Plenty of students smiled as I called their names and a lot of them stopped and said a few words or, again, just smiled on their way out the door. That lets me know that they’re at least not scared of me or of the situation—or if they are, they are at least willing to give it the old college try.

I’ve been told a lot in my teaching career that you should “never let them see you smile on the first day”. Well, you know what? That’s the most foolish piece of advice I’ve ever heard. To me, the best advice is to try to be natural and yourself, and that way you don’t have anything to make up for, or apologize for, later. Being yourself is probably about the hardest thing there is to be, especially in a public situation—and I’m not just talking about me. I’m mostly thinking about people in general and students in particular.

The hardest thing about it, really, is just figuring out who you are in the first place. And sometimes that is exactly what you’re supposed to be doing at this point, in first-year university: figuring out who you are. Sure, you have a good idea by now, or at least I hope so. But you’ll encounter a lot of course options, people options (should I sit near the same crowd as last time or find a crowd that at least has something in common with who I think I am?), credit card options (to apply, reject, spend, over-spend, pay the minimum, or pay it off completely each month), and what to do with your time (studying, working, playing, relaxing, movies, and any number of adult-type activities). It’s all up to you. And every choice you make, and how you ultimately react to the consequences of that choice, decide not only who you are, but who you are on your way to becoming.

I always pose a question to my students on the information sheet I asked you to fill out and pass in: “Why are you here?” Most just say they want to get an education and get a job. Many say they want to learn to be better writers. Others say they haven’t a clue while others say the course was recommended by a friend or family member. The occasional student says something about wanting to find out what to do with their lives and to experience as much as possible in life, including talking about great literature and great ideas. It’s all good. What I mostly look for is how you interpreted the question and whether you acknowledge or recognize that there are multiple possibilities available to you: choices. How you interpreted it says more about you than what you said.

The answers might change in time; they usually do. But the questions are often eternal.

Have a truly great semester.

If you’re one of my students this semester, keep checking back here now and again. There’ll be lots of stuff on here that might interest you or help you out a little in your endeavours to become a better writer and thinker.

If you’ve been following all along and are no longer a student of mine (or never were), hang in there. I’ll still be riffing on everything from why anyone should care about Jon and Kate marathons to why is Bob Dylan doing a Christmas album. Or maybe the questions themselves serve my purpose. Maybe it’s best not to dwell on certain subjects. Could lead to a headache.

Talk to you soon.

GC