The course requires that you make regular entries in your blog at Blog City. The following frequently-asked-questions list should address most of your concerns about this assignment.

How long do blog entries have to be?

• Blog entry length will, naturally, vary from topic to topic and person to person. Usually, a couple of paragraphs will suffice.

What makes a blog entry "good"?

• I'm looking for engagement with the topic under discussion. If we have read something relevant to the topic, you should probably refer at least a little to that reading in your blog entry. Essentially, I want to see from your blog entries that you have read the material (or followed the discussion), have thought about it carefully, and have contributed to the class's thinking about the issues at hand.

Do I have to respond to others' blogs?

• Yes. You should make comments on one or two classmates' blogs each week, to get a sense of what others are saying about the issues. Your comments can be brief, but you should remember to include your name on all comments (if you're logged in to blog-city, your name will automatically be attached to the comments).

What if I can't connect to blog-city?

• Sometimes, the blog-city site won't respond. If that happens, type your entry in a word-processing program and save it, then copy and paste it into blog-city the next time you're able to log in to your blog.

What if I don't like the blog topic?

• The blog topics are suggestions, based upon the readings for the week and what I anticipate will arise as part of our discussions. If you want to go in a different direction with a blog entry, feel free to do so; however, remember that I'll be looking for the ways that your entries are engaging with ideas under scrutiny in class.

What are the topics for the blogs? (Dates given are due dates!)

• 2/2: How do you approach reading tasks? What do you do before you read? How do you get "ready" to read? As you're reading, what do you do? Do you take notes? Do you write in margins? Do you read differently depending on the situation (e.g. reading for pleasure, reading for information, reading for class, etc.)? When you finish reading, what do you do? Where do you read?
• 2/9: How do you approach writing tasks? What things do you do to get ready to write? Do you take notes, make idea maps, outline, etc.? Do you write rough drafts and final drafts, or revise as you go? Do you work at a computer, or write long-hand? When do you know you're done? Do your processes change depending upon the writing task facing you (e.g. writing for school, writing letters, personal writing, emails, etc.)?
• 2/16: After reading what Pirie says about the five-paragraph theme in his book, what do you have to say about the issue? Did you learn how to write using such a model? Do you use that structure yourself as you write?
• 2/23: English classes have traditionally been dominated by the study of literature, but most standards for English include lots of non-literary text as part of the expected curriculum. What do you think of this development? What place does non-literary, non-fictional text have in English classes?
• 3/1: The readings provide instances of the place of popular culture in English classrooms. What do you think of the incorporation of pop culture in class? Does it enrich or diminish the curriculum? Do you have any anecdotes of teachers using pop culture in classes you've been in?
• 3/8: What's your take on the role of grammar in English? Should we teach students to diagram sentences? Should we teach it as little as possible, as much as possible, or somewhere in the middle? How confident do you feel about your own expertise in this area of English?
• 3/22: Write an entry about the book you read in your literature circle. Did you like it? Did it seem to be something that would interest adolescents? Would it be an appropriate selection for use in a classroom? To whom might you recommend this book?
• 3/29: What do you remember about your early experiences with Shakespeare? Relate any classroom (or other) experiences with learning about Shakespeare and his poems & plays.
• 4/5: What do you make of John Gaughan's basic approach to the teaching of English? Is he too radical in his departures from traditional curricular aims, or does his way of thinking about English make sense to you? Compare his way of teaching with the ways you were taught about literature in school.
• 4/19: What are your thoughts on issues of gender and violence in literature? Think about what Gaughan says about these issues, and compare this to the ways that they are dealt with in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Do these two thinkers contradict or complement one another?
• 5/4: Gaughan closes his book by describing ways he's wrestled with issues of sexuality (particularly homosexuality) and religion within his classroom. How would you have handled the situations he describes? Would you have followed his lead, or done things differently?

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This page last updated 25 January 2004