EGADS / ENGL 3400 Feb 25

My goal for EGADS (in the Fall):
1. Beginning of semester party.
2. Orientation to the program for new students before beginning of semester party.
3. Practical job information at this orientation.

I've been really slack about working on research for that syllabus. I met with Dr. Newton and I'll type my notes up on our meeting.

Dr. Insenga really gave the class freedom to craft their own essay prompts for the second essay. The assignment is basically a teaching plan, or a pedagogical study linking the novel To Kill a Mockingbird with the theory that they've looked at. Here it is:

ENGL 3400
Insenga
Essay Two Assignment Sheet: Class Crafted
Assigned: February 24
Complete draft due for Peer Review: March 15
Final Essay Two packet due: March 29
Conferencing Opportunities: office hours or appointments from March 1 through March 17

Choose one option below. Using the writing process discussed in class, compose an argumentative essay that not only references but also analyzes textual evidence from primary and secondary texts. Your titled essay should be at least 3-4 pages long and must use correct MLA format and documentation. It should include a Works Cited page. Please keep all of your work, from brainstorming to final drafting, as you must evidence and turn in the entire writing process, from brainstorming to final draft.

1. Lee's novel, though renowned as a classic piece of American literature, has also been contested or even banned in several schools. For this option, mount a specific defense for teaching the novel in a specific secondary environment.

2. Choose one character from To Kill a Mockingbird and discuss how and why that character's evolution mirrors one of the adolescent developmental models outlined in either Blasingame and Bushman or on the class resource page.

3. Educators often face teaching a single text to several types of students, many of whom function at various learning levels. For this option, choose a specific type of secondary classroom setting and argue how you would differentiate instruction of Lee's novel for that group of students.

4. To Kill A Mockingbird provides teachers with an opportunity to help students understand how to locate and analyze dichotomies. For this option, locate a central dichotomy and argue a specific way to teach the concept to a specific group of secondary students.

5. Locate a specific sign or image from the novel and argue how one can teach students to trace that image throughout the text. Focus on why such close reading is imperative in English Studies is also important, here.

My response to the assignment taken from an email to Dr. Insenga:

Each prompt seems to be a good opportunity for them to think through practical classroom planning from a theoretical perspective. I could imagine a student who hasn't read the secondary material attempting prompt 1 or 5, not incorporating the resources. Do you ever require a certain number of secondary resources? Getting used to the upper level class is interesting for me because I'm used to 1101 expectations. What sort of ideas were you hoping for?

It does seem like some students just aren't doing that secondary reading. I think for the ones who haven't read the secondary material, it's harder for them to shift from textual analysis to situating their textual analysis in the classroom. That was really what I noticed about the homework.

After the class in which we discussed students' ideas for essay prompts, I collected and checked over their homework.
I'm excited about this paper, and I'm considering working on a similar one for myself when I teach the Sherman Alexie text. I think it would be a good learning experience. I'll type up my most recent notes from the class as well soon.