Writing about Literature

This is the area that I have the most experience, from AP English through college. Jago's section on grading rubrics was helpful for me as a teacher to be sure that I am fair and equal in my grading, but also that I should appreciate creativity.

The most helpful section of this chapter however was getting students to deconstruct quotations from literature. Using quotations can be difficult to master, and I know that I am still working on this. The worksheet that outlines the quote, What I think, What this says about the book, and What this says about the world, is a great prompt that would get the student to think about the bigger picture.

The five step deconstruction of the quote also helps the student write about the quote. Every student has gone through a phase where simply putting a quote in your essay counted as evidence because that's what the teacher asked them to do. The five step process is a sure fire way to get students to show how the quote provides evidence for a thesis. Doing this would also help the students realize if the quote really does support their argument. I appreciate how this process really focuses on word choice and how words provoke connotations, symbolism, irony, etc. Reading this may help me in my own writing, and I hope that I can pass this on to students.

Teaching Narative Writing

I don't recall ever being assigned to write a narrative story. It seems as though I must have, but I always struggled if I had tried to write one myself for my own enjoyment. I had ideas but could never get them on paper. Jago's short exercises really made sense for me to think of character and setting details and to write them down.

If they helped me, I think they would really be able to help students. I have always worried that I am loosing my imagination and that you are most creative when you are a child. I know I haven't really lost my imagination but it does need some prompting and inspiration. Students may need these prompts too.

I thought that the short exercises would work as great warm-ups in a classroom. Simply developing on a character and setting. The prompts for different characters and the smells for setting are just enough of an inspiration to get the students thinking outside their own experiences. It is difficult to come up with a story out of no where, but when given character scenarios one can imagine and write a unique story.

I also liked how Jago wants the students to think of themselves as characters for writing a college essay, and to focus on detail and depth. Working on these exercises previously would help them in their writing style.

Writing the Word and the World

Again Christensen provides wonderful examples of topics for students to write about to get them to really think. First the forgivness poem is a clever way to get students to really write about deep things that are bothering them in their lives. It also gets them to think on a more compassionate level. They write about things they will forgive or won't, but whoever they are writing about it should help them view that person from a deeper level.

The read around for students feelings about testing seems very beneficial to the students and the teachers. First students see how others struggle the same way as they do. Teachers can appreciate the stress testing can cause students and the areas that they may need extra help or a boost in confidence about.

Christensen also provides great strategies for essay writing. The first thing I really appreciated was not making students write out an introduction immediately. I find that the intro is the worst thing to write, and at times I have even written my introduction after I had written the body of my essay, so I knew exactly where I had taken my writing and knew for sure what my thesis really was; instead of writing a thesis and vearing off topic through the body of the essay.

I have always had a hard time really revising my essays. I don't like rereading my work, and I can usually whip out an "A" paper in a few hours. I really don't want my students to carry on my habits, although they have worked for me. Christensen makes a great point that if the topic is something the kids care about and it provokes deeper thinking, the students may care more about what they produce. Giving the students the opportunity to write for a public audience again gives them more incentive to want to write well and revise if they can. It won't work for all your students but if you can change the habbits of a few students, you have accomplished a lot.

Un learning the myths

I have studied the stereotypes of cartoons in other classes, And I do believe that they are existant, but I don't think you can prove they influence children to the extent Christensen would have you believe. I think children are more influenced by friends and family than television. I do however see that Black children would not be able to relate to cartoons because they are often not depicted. Although I disagree with the actual influence, the blatant stereotypes can teach students how to observe their surroundings.

At first I really wasn't sure If this chapter was about cartoons or teaching writing. I think behind the face of unearthing myths in cartoons there are helpful tools to dig deeper into the meaning of literature and writing. By making the students writing for an audience outside the classroom they are motivated on a different level, and realize that learning does not occur just in school. Christensen states, "The possiblility of publishing their pieces changed the level of students' intensity for the project." I thought this is really at the core of the chapter and the subject really could be irrelevant. Any type of writing assignment to convince an outside audience of problems with our society could be examined, and would produce thought inspired students to work for more than just the classroom.

informational and persuasive writing

Most of my English classes have had a focus on literature. I would have been more likely to write and informational or persuasive letter in my history classes. I personally have never enjoyed writing in this style because of the research involved, so I know that students of mine will also shudder at these assignments. Jago's suggestions seem like they may be very helpful tools to get students to write better papers. Her example of self-exploration when writing an informational essay is a great place to start.
I found that looking for inspiration in a newspaper to be a good way to limit the number of possible ideas, while also allowing the student freedom to choose from multiple genre's. I have had to write papers and either been too directed, and not interested in the subject, or told to look up one controversial topic and expore it when there was so much information out there it was hard to sift though everything. Jago explains how even sports or entertainment can produce valid topics of persuasion. This is a great way to encourage students to write about what they enjoy, and even see how writing can be useful and perhaps used as a profession in such areas of content.
*Other classroom tips that I will try to use are to use writing as a way to promote class discussion, and using short writing conferences to inhance student writing.

cohesive writing, the method

This chapter made me reflect on some of my past writing assignments in high school and college. I always thought that just getting started writing was the worst part. Writing does have inertia, and Jago provided some great examples of how to get students to start writing.
The questioning method is a great way to brainstorm. Your first thoughts don't have to be correct, but they generally will lead you to more in depth thought. Student's often can fuel eachother, so disscussing different interpretations are helpful, especially when it is made clear that any interpretation is valid when given enough evidence to support. In my own writing method, I usually brainstorm in the form of outlines. I will often write out quotes that I want to stress or develop, so it is easier for me to know where I am going. When freewriting the mind can take you to so many different places, and putting your freewriting into a draft should focus your thoughts into a smaller thesis.
The advice on constructing thought reponsing prompts also made me reflect on previous experiences of my own. I have always had a hard time finding a subject to write on with no guidance at all. And having no choice at all also made it difficult to enjoy what I was writing about. Choosing a topic from list of questions or prompts gave me enough freedom and guidance to write an essay, especially if it were a literature based essay.
I had not realized the importance of creating a shorter question that requires multiple thought processes and responses. I have had essays in which the prompt was rather lengthy and it was hard to really find out what the teacher wanted us to write about. A complicated question makes starting the writing complicated, and it would slow down that writing inertia.

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