Comments for Chris O. Cook's Poetry Blog

Comment on Thence to a Lightness: the Madness of English 201 by Pamela Martin

Pamela Martin — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 00:32:29 +0000

Good post, Chris, I certainly sympathize with your conundrum. And I’m sure your students, too, would like to do something different.

My problem is that while I was, years back, a history major, I took so many courses in my college’s English department that I came close to double-majoring. I also took several classes in Comparative Lit. But I don’t recall having to write these dreaded papers, or at least recall having to write papers with a gazillion citations, references, quotations, and such.

So I’m trying to remember the things we did produce on which grades could be based…

I do recall courses where class participation was taken seriously and made up a chunk of one’s grade. And exams during which we wrote ’short essay answers’.

But one of my favorite profs in Comp Lit required that students do something completely different during exams, something that once I got the hang of I really enjoyed (and no wonder b/c here I am, years later, a writer). In order to prep for exams, he asked us to carefully observe the prose of the authors we were reading–all the things that fiction writers observe in their own, and others, work consciously or not: sentence length, diction, vocab, voice and tone, POV, and so. And to, during the exam and using a simple plot line he supplied, craft a piece of writing in the style of our chosen author (or two).

At first, I had no idea what the heck I was doing, but after plunging in discovered that I loved doing this, and knowing that I would be expected to be able to ‘mimic’ a writer I became a much closer reader. (My biggest praise from this prof came when I used Twain as my ‘template’–what a compliment!)

Don’t know if this might help, but thought I’d pass it along. It is a novel way to encourage students to read closely, and to develop more awareness of the craft/art of writing…And all without nary a citation or footnote or quotation in sight!

Pam Martin

Comment on The Conversation by Room Telephone

Room Telephone — Sun, 06 Jan 2013 07:44:37 +0000

Room Telephone…

[...]Chris O. Cook's Poetry Blog» Blog Archive » The Conversation[...]…

Comment on Are Male Poets Misogynists? by work at home

work at home — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 22:35:18 +0000

work at home…

[...]Chris O. Cook's Poetry Blog» Blog Archive » Are Male Poets Misogynists?[...]…

Comment on You Shouldn’t Let Other People Get Your Kicks for You by ORLANDO

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Comment on Closing the Door, You Leave the World Behind: Genevieve Kaplan’s “In The Ice House” by JEFFREY

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