As a college level English course, I do not expect that this class will be easy in any way, shape, or form. This is actually my second time taking this course. Knowing that, I know what to expect this time around. I do expect to be challenged and encouraged to step out of my comfort zone. More specifically, "speaking freely without being fearful of what others think(p 9)." I may not seem like a shy person but I really am especially when it comes to sharing my work with others. I do become conscious about what others think of me let alone my writing. I don't want others to think down or less about me because I don't seem like I know what I am doing. Being in English 101, I know and understand that I will be challenged to participate in group discussions to give further insight of our opinions about what we are reading or writing about, to explore ideas, or other things that we possibly would not have thought of had we had done the work on our own. I understand more that as a writer and also a college student it is highly important to our growth in this course and future courses that we are challenge ourselves to be more open to sharing our work, receiving constructive criticism, and internalizing it so that we can use that to become a stronger writer.
Another expectation that I have of English 101 is to challenge us to deconstruct the text, determine what is going on, who the text is written for, and most importantly the purpose for which it is written.Essentially we are "exploring other writers and our own composing decisions as we read and write about different compositions throughout this course (6)." This is something that I may have trouble with because I do get bored with reading passages which makes me not want to read it any more. I understand that this mindset is never the best one to go into class with either because it will hinder me from being successful in this course and allow me to think that doing the minimum is okay. For me, I have never settled for just going the minimum. I was always an overachiever growing up and I did learn to come into class with a positive mindset and a willingness to learn and come out with something new will help get on that path of being successful in this course. This is something that I have and will always remember to do throughout this course and college career.
I understand that this course will be difficult and challenge us to "critically analyze and examine the passages of the multiple texts that we will be reading (p6)." This is something that I have definitely struggled with and hope to improve upon throughout this course. Sometimes when I am reading a difficult text I find it difficult to really analyze and break down the text in simple terms that one can understand. With having such a small class and being able to share our thoughts and ideas with other students, I believe that I will improve on my analytical and interpretive skills to understand the meaning and purpose of a text. I also understand that every time going into any class, we all are afraid to ask questions or give responses to the professor. I believe that with having small group discussions this will help me to ask more questions to the professor and others to help clarify things that I may not understand.
This course will teach us to "engage in the thoughtful work of reading and writing (p2)." I do not often think of the different texts or the reasons for which any form of writing is used. I am not really conscious of the reasons behind it. I know that I often engage in reading many forms of writing or media but often do not think of the true meaning for which it is written or performed. I believe that by the end of this course I will be able to dissect almost any form of media, social networking, and texts for which things are being written and enable myself to become a better analyzer and interpreter of text to become a stronger writer.
Questions
Will our responses and readings be aloud during group discussions?
Are the students essentially facilitating the group discussions as we discuss each form of text or reading being read?
Would peer editing the work of other colleagues outside of class be encouraged or recommended? Does this have to be done by only our English 101 class or can others do this?
Jesse—
ReplyDeleteI think you’ve done a really great job participating in class so far. I hope you continue with that confidence! The cool thing about these essays is that everyone is usually confused about the same things. I think you’ll be able to help your classmates a lot more than you are giving yourself credit for.
We will work on different reading strategies throughout the semester. Any type of reading for school is usually boring, right? (At least, I usually think so.) We will work on different ways of getting through texts in order to understand them rhetorically.
To answer your questions:
1. Sometimes. Usually just the question portion. But later on in the semester, we will workshop student writing…which means your writing might be constructively critiqued by your classmates.
2. Often we will do class discussion and group work for each text. I will create prompts for the class, but it is up to the students to “run” the conversation. (There are no right or wrong answers, so having a teacher to “correct” people doesn’t seem necessary.)
3. We will do lots of peer review during class, but you can have others look at your essays if you’d like.
Ash