Peer responding can be constructive Writers can become highly motivated to revise when peer readers with some training and practice respond to larger issues in a draft such as content, organization, tone, emphasis, use of evidence or details, etc. But to get productive peer response sessions, that is, responses balanced with both earned praise and […]
A New Republic of Letters in the Digital Age In Herman Melville’s Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street (1853), Melville self-reflexively critiques the life and death of reading. Melville’s titular character Bartleby’s dead letter-reading and life-writing (or not-writing, because, after all, Bartleby “prefers not to”) criticize national ethics of expression and representation. The novella can also […]
I’ve taught several classes on WWI literature and culture, and one challenge has often arisen. Most of the literature we now study that takes up the war, whether it be canonical (Wilfred Owen, Ernest Hemingway) or not (Helen Zenna Smith) was written or published in the decades after the war ended. How can students get […]
By Dan Irving Much has been made of recent efforts to shift STEM to STEAM, or the inclusion of the arts in an effort to integrate “wonder, critique, inquiry, and innovation” into the typical STEM curriculum. Steven Pearlstein’s article on “the parents who won’t let their children study literature,” published in the Washington Post last […]
Calling All Brown Baggers For this month’s Brown Bag event, Professor Dunn and several graduate students presented some methods and techniques on how to effectively respond to student writing. Professor Dunn began by identifying some advice for instructors which is also summarized here. Graduate students then offered a variety of suggestions based on current educational research. […]
Prioritize Most students will spend only a few minutes reading your comments. So prioritize. What are a couple of things they should work on for the next draft or the next assignment? What are you responding to? Early draft? Mid-stage draft? Finished project that you’re grading? The context should drive your responding decisions.
These two screencasts describe the article review assignment that I use in my 300-level classes. It’s keyed to the Reading and Summarizing Secondary Sources handout. This demo is an article review of Mark Rifkin’s essay “Romancing Kinship: A Queer Reading of Indian Education and Zitkala-Sa’s American Indian Stories.” We just read the introductory section in […]
This winter break, I taught my first online course- EGL 260: World Mythology. In fact, I just finished grading final papers a few hours ago and thought now I don’t need to think about my… Source: Teaching Online & Authentic Final Essay Assignment | Scott’s Schoolhouse Reflections
Welcome to the English Department Community Blog – for sharing ideas, resources, and experiences.