1818 ACC SUMMER PRE-SERVICE MEETING Dr. Anne Stiles Department of English Saint Louis University July 26 & 31, 2012

Meeting Agenda Resources for 1818 instructors 7 goals of college English courses Explication handout Q&A

Resources for 1818 instructors SLU tuition credit: 1818 instructors can enroll in up to 6 credit hours at SLU each calendar year, tuition free. These credits can be used towards an M.A. degree in English for those instructors with provisional approval. If you see a graduate course you’d like to take, please write to the instructor for permission, and let them know that you’re an 1818 adjunct instructor.

Library resources For students: Books 1818 students may check out 3 books at a time from SLU libraries for 3 weeks apiece (with the option to renew). Electronic Database Access Students have access to journal databases (JSTOR, Project Muse, etc.) while at SLU libraries, but no off-campus access.

Library Resources For instructors: Electronic Database Access. As a 1818 instructor, you have on- and off-campus access to these electronic journal databases, and can print out relevant articles for students if need be. Class Field Trips to SLU Libraries. You may also schedule a class field trip for your students to SLU library. This can be especially helpful when they are writing a research paper! Librarian Martha Allen can brief students on resources available to them at SLU. Remember, students must have a SLU ID card in order to visit the library, check out books, etc. This applies for class field trips, too. Sometimes you can schedule group visits to Parking and Card services right before a class field trip to the library. Contact Mary Hammett for details

Web resources for 1818 instructors SLU 1818 ACC website: Go here for course descriptions of English 190, 230, and other 1818 offerings: program-home/course-descriptionshttp:// program-home/course-descriptions Go here for more high school instructor resources: home/high-school-instructors home/high-school-instructors

Web resources for 1818 instructors 1818 English website: Go here for: sample syllabi for various 1818 courses presentations and worksheets from past 1818 Colloquiums Only 1818 English instructors have access to this site Logon: use your address Password: 1818english

1818 English website Calendar of 1818 events: List of useful links (to SLU libraries, departmental websites, and useful web resources for teachers): To view past colloquium talks & sample syllabi: Today’s PowerPoint presentation will be available here, as will those from the 2011 fall Colloquium.

7 Goals of College English Courses* 1. Teach students how to make a sustained written argument supported by evidence 2. Encourage independent thinking 3. Emphasize personal responsibility 4. Incorporate editing, revision, and multiple drafts of essays 5. Ask open-ended questions (with no “right” answers) & get students to pose such questions 6. Enable students to voice their opinions. 7. Teach students to close read passages of text and/or analyze cultural artifacts (films, advertisements, etc.) * Based on my experience teaching composition and introductory literature classes at 3 different universities, and talking to other instructors who teach such classes.

Goal #1: Sustained Written Argument A college-level English paper should have the following characteristics: Sustained argument Signposting (referring back to argument in topic sentences of paragraphs) Analysis of text and/or cultural artifacts (films, advertisements, etc.) used to support or further the argument Introduction and conclusion that are focused and not overly general (“since the beginning of time” etc.) Variable # of paragraphs (not always 5, but as many as needed to develop the argument). Thorough documentation of sources using MLA or Chicago style see Purdue’s OWL website for a free online guide to these styles:

Goal #1: Sustained Written Argument Things to avoid or wean students off of: 5 pgh essay : it’s a great stepping stone to college writing, but no page paper should have only 5 paragraphs! AP essay format : a variation on the 5 paragraph essay in which the thesis statement lists 3 literary techniques or terms. For example “This essay will show that Virginia Woolf uses imagery, diction, and hyperbole in Mrs. Dalloway.” An essay with this thesis statement, no matter how well written, would be lucky to get a C!

Goal #2: Encourage Independent Thinking Students should be able to read secondary criticism and intervene in critical debates. Students learn how to form an educated opinion on a topic and voice that opinion appropriately in class discussion and in their writing.

Goal #3: Emphasize Personal Responsibility Teach students to respect deadlines – no excuses! College instructors generally don’t give extensions or make exceptions to rules for individual students, especially in larger classes. Scaffolding of assignments: nesting smaller assignments within a larger one so that students make gradual progress towards a major goal. Examples: Have students write daily journal entries on a future paper topic. Have students turn in thesis statements or introductory paragraphs as they work on their paper draft. Assign multiple drafts of essays to promote rewriting and a better final product.

Goal #4: Incorporate Editing, Revision, and Multiple Drafts of Essays. Students should become used to revising their own work and peer-reviewing the work of others. Students should generally write at least 2 drafts of each longer paper they turn in. The second draft should contain more than cosmetic revisions. Design of peer-review sessions is a topic I’d like to see addressed at the fall colloquium.

Goal #5: Ask Open-Ended Questions In math and science classes, there is generally a “right” or “wrong” answer. In English classes, aside from grammar and vocabulary exercises, there often is no “right” answer – and students should get comfortable with this idea! Open-ended questions invite students to share their opinions without fear of being “right” or “wrong” – though some opinions may be better supported or more cogently argued than others. Examples of open-ended questions: “What do you think Macbeth should have done in this situation instead of what he actually did?” “Do you think the principles outlined in [insert literary text] still apply in modern society? If so, how?” “How would you solve the problem of world hunger?”

Goal #6: Enable Students to Voice Their Opinions Ask open-ended questions that do not have a single “right” or “wrong” answer. “Fishing” for a correct answer can make students clam up. Create a non-judgmental classroom environment where students feel comfortable saying what they think. Motivate students to voice their opinions through incentives (grade boosts for good participation, etc.) Design classroom activities in which students state their opinion on a topic and/or intervene in an ongoing critical debate.

Goal #7: Teach Students to Close-Read Passages of Text and Cultural Artifacts (films, advertisements, etc.). Students should get in the habit of close reading or explicating literary passages. This means looking for at the following aspects of a passage: Form of the passage (for instance, sentence and paragraph structure in prose writing; stanza form in poetry) Narration (1 st vs. 3 rd person); if it’s a poem, who is the speaker? Content of passage: themes, conflicts, authorial intent, etc. Useful handout on explication (to be distributed) Students should learn to treat films, advertisements, and other cultural artifacts with similar analytical rigor (especially in the context of a rhetoric and composition course where students don’t read as many literary texts). Close-reading is a good skill to reinforce in exams and quizzes (I often give quizzes that ask students to explicate a single passage from a work we just read).

Q&A How do you emphasize the above goals in your 1818 English courses? What are the challenges involved in doing so? Are there any other goals you think should be added to this list?

7 Goals of College English Courses* 1. Teach students how to make a sustained written argument supported by evidence 2. Encourage independent thinking 3. Emphasize personal responsibility 4. Incorporate editing, revision, and multiple drafts of essays 5. Ask open-ended questions (with no “right” answers) & get students to pose such questions 6. Enable students to voice their opinions. 7. Teach students to close read passages of text and/or analyze cultural artifacts (films, advertisements, etc.) * Based on my experience teaching composition and introductory literature classes at 3 different universities, and talking to other instructors who teach such classes.

Literary Explication Handout I use this handout (or some variation thereof) in every literature class I teach. It will be particularly useful for teachers of 200-level English courses, though I think it could be adapted for an English 190 course, too. The handout gets students to break down the explication process into smaller steps so it doesn’t seem overwhelming or confusing.

Sample passage of poetry The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathèd horn.

Sample passage of poetry Context: Genre: Content:

Sample passage of poetry Narration and audience: Form:

Sample passage of poetry: What sticks out in terms of form and content? What does not fit in? From observation to analysis: can you craft a tentative argument about the passage based on what you know about it?