March 21, 2007
On the Precis Papers
First, I want to thank all of you for your honest feedback on the precis paper assignment last night. It was very good for me to hear your perceptions and thoughts on this particular assignment and how it could be made better.
Since the semester is halfway through, I am reluctant to change the assignment in any fundamental way that would penalize folks who have written most of thier precis papers already. I don't want people to feel as if they have wasted their time writing these papers. By and large, I feel they have served their purpose, I am just looking for ways to revise things to make the assignment better.
Based on last night's feedback, I am thinking about the following revisions to the precis papers:
1. Allowing students to turn in precis papers on a given reading assignment after we've discussed that assignment in class. For example, you could turn in your precis paper on Conflict Theory next week.
2. Allowing people the option of writing "double" precis papers -- 4 page analytical pieces on a particualr reading. This would allow people to get into more depth with something they feel deserves longer treatment. These double papers would count as two papers and would be graded on a ten point scale.
Each student would still be required to turn in ten papers, with the knowledge that double papers count as two and are graded as two.
This doesn't penalize anyone who has already written their ten papers and is happy with the grades they have received.
Thoughts? We need to make a decision soon.
Also, remember to check this blog post for tips on the analysis aspect of the papers.
Posted by Nakia at 09:42 AM | Comments (0)
February 20, 2007
A Vision for SC school reform
You can find a copy of the reform report here.
You want to download the complete 22 page report; we'll discuss it next week.
Posted by Nakia at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)
February 02, 2007
Anlaysis is the heart of the precis
I’ve caught up with all the précis papers and wanted to make a few observations that may help you as you continue to write them. I know that philosophical writing and analysis is a new skill for some of you. It may be frustrating and take some time to acquire. I’m willing to help you with that process. Don’t give up. I know it’s tempting to say “I just don’t get it. I am just not good at this stuff.” For many people, writing seems like an innate talent – you are good or you are not. That’s not the case. It gets better with work and practice, just like the skills you develop in other courses. Besides, you won’t take that defeatist, innate talent attitude from your future students, will you?
What’s missing from many of the papers is analysis. Most people get the gist of the readings pretty well and are doing a good job of stating the main points in a limited space. (Although really consider the economy of your language, especially given the short length of these papers). Then, most papers move into some sort of reflective mode, using statements like “I think” “I believe” and “I had never really thought about this point before, but it seems right to me.” I am glad these articles are thought provoking (I would be embarrassed about my reading choices if not), but there is a missing piece here.
That missing piece is analysis, where you deeply consider the author’s ideas, using a close reading of the text to bring penetrating questions to bare on those ideas. These questions can be ones of clarification (“Dewey seems ambiguous with the term “community”) *, of contradiction (“Dewey claims that schools ought to purify social life on one had, yet expose students to a variety of social stimuli on the other.”), or of extension (“Dewey suggests that schools bring different social groups in contact with one another. It doesn’t seem as if neighborhood schools can do this.”) There are other questions that you can bring as well.
(*Just make sure your clairfication questions aren't do to a quick or sloppy reading).
Notice two features of the examples: 1) They are not really questions; they are statements of criticism that arise from questions. In these précis papers, it would be fine to use the questions as a basis for analysis. You could say “Does Dewey mean we need to do away with the neighborhood school?” It more formal, argumentative papers, however, you should couch your criticism as statements, not as questions.
2) They throw you back into the text. If Dewey seems ambiguous with a vital term, then maybe he explains it better elsewhere (if it’s vital, he should at least try). If he’s contradictory, can any of that contradiction be resolved? Is there anything in the text that helps your extension play out? We use the text to try and answer any questions we have before turning to other texts (and, in the broad sense of the term, our experiences are texts as well). Those experiences are important; they shape how we read texts and the questions we ask of those texts, but we need to give the text a chance to answer those questions before we end the conversation.
There’s an exchange in Pulp Fiction between Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mrs. Wallace (Uma Thurman). Mrs. Wallace says something to the effect of “Most people don’t really listen in a conversation, they just wait for their turn to talk.” Reading a text means you should be in conversation with it. Careful analysis shows that you are listening.
Or, if you prefer, here’s an equation:
Careful reading + analysis + reaction = Criticism
Posted by Nakia at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2007
Precis Guidelines
In class yesterday, I mentioned that I would give some additional guidelines for writing the precis papers here, as well as posting a sample. I realized I wrote an entry last spring giving some guidelines. That entry can be found here.
Here is a sample precis, focused on the Palmer essay:
This was a good exercise for me. I think I will write a precis paper every week and post them for you guys to download.
Leave some comments if you have any questions or think I am way off base on Palmer.
Posted by Nakia at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)
January 08, 2007
Welcome to the semester!
Greetings EDUC 600 students! Welcome to a new semester here at Winthrop and at Professorpope.com! Professorpope.com is my blog, where I post comments, writings, and links to items that are relevant to the courses I teach (along with personal thoughts, photos, etc in other categories). I'll also post things such and schedule updates, study tips, and important material for class, so remember to check back often. Please feel free to leave comments as well. The blog is just an extention of our class community. I'll also be posting material on the blog for EDUC 110. Links, commentary, etc will likely be relevant to both classes, but there will be category tags ("EDUC 110 or EDUC 600") attached to the posts if they contain course specific info (like this post, for example).
Here's the syllabus:
EDUC 600 Syllabus Spring 07
Posted by Nakia at 12:56 PM | Comments (0)