Month: October 2022 (Page 1 of 2)

Quote: “I’d spirit/ his knives and cut out his black heart, / seal it with science fluid inside/ a bell jar, place it on a low/ shelf in a white man’s museum/ so the whole world could see/ it was so shriveled and hard, / geometric, deformed, unnatural.” 

Comment: These lines, in particular, made me think about the expectations and assumptions being addressed here with the knowledge that we are in the early 1800s with the industrial revolution, and this I am also assuming black woman is navigating the realities of the racist and oppressive nature of all these scientific advancements and technology. Compared to these jarring last lines, the beginning of this poem stood out to me as well; I almost imagined all the fanciful and high culture scientific exhibitions in front of a curtain where behind it lies the human suffering and exploitation of certain people to make it possible. 

Question: I wondered how this poem might fit into Marxism theory in more of a social way concerning the idea of how we can become conscious about certain powerful or dominant ideologies and pick up on the forms of resistance. This poem seems like an intersection of resistance from the structural racism that we know influenced innovation and industrializing, a feminist critique on what women’s place was during this time, and a Marxist take on this poem’s social and material history. 

What I found in chapter 12 on Interdisciplinary and Online tutoring that stood out to me was the recognition of how essential writing is in any field, not just limited to humanities, and that having a solid base in which you can communicate effectively in any area of interest or future field should be a common skillset. Another aspect that I think I could implement in my tutoring sessions is how they framed how being a generalist or a subject expert in tutors does not always guarantee success. I felt this allowed me to start to think about ways I might combat having a student come to me for help where I don’t fully understand the content of the paper and how I can embrace that awkwardness or uncomfortable position and allow the student to express their knowledge so then I can start on the writing process. Under the section on online tutoring, even though I don’t think I will have to do this, I still found the methods they provided to be something I can implement in my current tutoring sessions. For instance, starting with a positive comment to make sure the student doesn’t feel like we are just writing in red ink all the time, and also the theme we have discussed in the practicum of trying to narrow down to three major focal points of the writing so the tutee can have a solid base to move off of after the session.

Quote: “The beards of the young men glisten’d with wet, it ran from their long hair/ Little streams pass’d over their bodies” ( lines 12-13). 

Comment: This line from the poem “Song of Myself, XI” by Walt Whitman prompted me to think about many of the concepts we have discussed in class, especially within Ch. 7 of Parker on Queer Theory. For me, this brings up a question of the “naturalization of heterosexuality” or “compulsatory heterosexuality,” which refers to the assumptions when looking at a form of media or literature that heterosexuality is the norm or the expected view if there is no formal delineation that it may be another form. From this quote, I am sensing that many people may assume that this line, and the poem itself, is taken from the perspective of the woman looking out of her window at the men. Yet, that is an assumption of heterosexuality that hasn’t been explicitly defined, and if we analyze this poem with the concepts of queer theory in mind, it could be a display of a queer gaze or same-sex desire. 

Question: While not completely related to Parker or Queer Theory, while reading this poem, I noticed that even though the woman in this narrative is not our object of speculation, she is still trapped in what feminist theory would say is a 2D space, through her window and even described as hiding. In contrast, the young men who are the object of our speculation are somehow still able to have agency and movement and are unaware of how they are perceived. I wonder how this might play into the assumptions about masculinity and femininity in literature and even in gazing. Additionally, does it matter that we know how the author feels about a heterosexual or same-sex gaze? 

Link to podcast with Mya for Monday 10/24 class about what it means to be a writing fellow now that we are one, what have we learned, how have we grown and what did we expect.

In the experiences and meetings I have had so far this semester with my WF faculty mentor Professor Frank I think what comes to mind is a level of informal but mutual organization and responsibility. As I have become more well acquainted with Professor Frank through our meetings early on as a freshman and having had a few courses with her, I would say meeting with her as a faculty mentor is not quite as formal as I would have thought if I was a fellow in a course that I had less familiarity with its subject and professor. The advice I would provide, regardless of a fellow’s level of friendliness, is to be on top of your end of the bargain so that when you find time to meet with your usually incredibly busy mentor, there is an emphasis on professionalism between you and the professor. Being honest and upfront with them about where you might be confused or where you would like their input is a constructive way to ensure the meetings are not wasted by a fellow’s disorganization or having to play catch-up. If there is a situation like mine where your WF mentor also happens to be your professor AND your faculty mentor for your major, adding another layer to your relationship where this mutual respect and acknowledgment of a shared role in the student’s academics can be a special situation; I know I have gained even more admiration and understanding of her work as a professor.

I have not yet had any tutees come to be about their writing; so far, just about ePortfolio organization. I imagine this will become very helpful as I start to help with the Major Exploration project, where the evidence for that project is drawn from their reading materials.
To the question of student’s relationship between reading and drafting, not from experience but our tutoring guidebook, I take it to be the difference between a solid foundation and knowledge gained from reading provides a much stronger drafting process as the writer doesn’t have to go back and try to understand what they have already read. Instead, they can focus on how best to use that information or organize it to best meet their needs for an assignment, essay, etc. Also mentioned in chapter 8 was the idea of metacognition as necessary for one’s learning process and how that knowledge of self or abilities, the task itself, and then the specific strategies or approaches can significantly help the student’s ability to form those connections between reading and drafting.
In my own experience, I have always started any reading assignment with a pen or pencil and a notebook on hand. In cases where I have specific questions to answer about the reading, I usually read those questions and write them down, then go through the whole piece once, make notes, underline, highlight, etc. and then jump back to the questions. When I don’t have guided questions or prompts, I read by sections and make sure to write summaries in my notebook on the main points, so I don’t continue reading further if I misunderstood something important earlier.
Since I haven’t had any sessions with students about writing, I have not experienced any of the examples from the book. Still, one that I feel could be a factor is since I am in their class and engaging with all the material that my tutees are and have done a lot of their assignments in the past, I will need to be aware of not just telling them what the main point is or how to connect them and try and show them maybe how I interacted with the material but make sure they are the ones to find their own meaning.

I have been thinking about my expectations at the beginning of the semester and how they are playing out now that we are a few weeks into the semester. The biggest thing I have felt shift is how much time I actually spend interacting with the students in the class. I feel like for most of my time, I am looking over their assignments and readings in case they need help and updating my office hours, etc., but I still haven’t met anyone one-on-one. I have changed my expectations slightly to just being a resource when needed and not putting too much pressure on myself to tutor to be doing a good job. I am taking this time where I might not be hands-on with tutoring sessions to try and get a grasp of tools and techniques so that when they do need help, I hopefully will be more comfortable.

I felt that chapter 6 gave me some incredible insights into the logistics of a session but also didn’t shy away from acknowledging that note-taking, listening, and the questions might call for various approaches depending on the different people and situations. The emphasis on being a patient listener and making sure the student feels they can read their whole work before getting into the writing process is something we talked about in class that I can see being great practice for me. I am definitely going to implement a version of the note-taking mentioned in this chapter; keeping the overall points and summary of the work separate from my comments/thoughts will help me slow down and listen before becoming distracted with my ideas on how I can fix this and get caught up in the details before I’ve heard to the whole. Writing down the assignment where I can see it on my notes can also help guide my comments. Acknowledging where the work may stray from the overall expectations of the assignment could be a great way to start a conversation after reading aloud to ensure they understand the assignment’s basic structure. The technique of marking where you, as a listener, feel a paragraph break could help the students understand how to start organizing and fixing their work if I can let them know that reading aloud can draw certain things to your attention that might not jump out when you read silently. Those natural pauses and breaks into new information can substantially aid an assignment’s clarity. I am excited to take part in the mock tutoring session mostly because I haven’t had a writing session yet, so having some practical experience and tools to work with from memory will be great.

After reading this student’s essay, I felt there were some great strengths within the writing; good factual sourcing to back up claims, few but meaningful personal anecdotes, and a thesis statement that connected with the arguments laid out in the rest of the paper. The overall position this student takes, which I think is the statement of “I believe going all in on a strictly Soylent diet is not the way to live our best lives, but rather moderately implicating uses for uses such as saving money…”(2), was mentioned at the very end of the first paragraph, perhaps better utilized nearer to the beginning so the reader can get on board with what direction the piece will be heading. An area where this essay could use more thinking and revision would be some transitional phrases going into the following paragraphs. For instance, one statement at the beginning of the fourth paragraph might fit and flow better at the end of the third. A few sentences/ideas could be condensed in some areas to make the sentence structure seem less choppy in a few places, such as, “This is the idea that hooks many.”(2) could become incorporated into a bigger thought and become more meaningful in context. A couple too many “however” to start a sentence, but that is a quick fix near the end of revision. I would also try to avoid saying “in conclusion” as the opener to a concluding paragraph. I could offer ways to think about how you want to get your final points across and open with those. Many great points were made throughout the piece, and they felt cohesive to their main point. I liked the examples from personal experience and academic sources to give a good mix, but I would like to see a rubric or assignment sheet to find out if it should have more sources and maybe not be personal, etc.

After reading the two chapters from the Peer Tutoring Guide, I thought a lot about my methods and what sort of checklist I go through in my head and through many of the strategies they mention. My addition to the strategy of planning and drafting is that I always start with two separate documents; one is a hard copy piece of paper where I scribble down thoughts and ideas in a paragraph format to figure out what it is I want to say for a specific part of my general assignment. The other is an online document where I have the broader categories of my particular project. For me, it is tough to take the specific assignment wording, say from an essay rubric or any writing rubric, and immediately know what is meaningful to me. Instead, I take my broader themes and write what I have gained through preliminary research or prior knowledge from the course ( such as notes, annotations, etc.) and sort through those first. Doing that gives me a more concise grasp on my end of the work, so I can take from my hard copy what jumps out.

Another strategy I didn’t see mentioned in this book but is something I implement for almost every writing assignment I do, is a hand-written copy first. The act of pen to paper lets my thoughts flow incredibly better than typing – and I know this isn’t true for everyone, so I will be mindful in tutoring sessions to mention it. I take that copy and write it up on a document. This allows me to notice where my ideas or research are lacking, how the transitions feel and gives me a new perspective on what I just wrote. For research, I do a combo of hand-written and typed or even taking direct quotes (sourcing right then as well) and writing immediately how I could use it, even if it’s just speculative.

I found these strategies helpful when writing longer, more in-depth academic assignments. If there isn’t a significant research component to my assignments and I am relying primarily on course materials already acquired, it is easier for me to jump right into my planning/drafting process by just re-reading my notes and other materials. My Human Traditions course with Prof. DefWolf, Women in the Ancient world, was where I really utilized all my strategies. It was a long Term paper where I had chosen the topic, done zillions of pages of notes, and organization was key. Having my research notes organized by topics and themes I had already decided on was amazingly beneficial. Then, when it came to drafting and planning, I had a clear foundation.

Feeling overwhelmed by all the information I want to get across in a specific manner is a challenge and feeling I get with most assignments. Not only is it a worry of time – although I am much better at time management when it comes to writing than even last year, it is also a worry of not missing out on a critical point/idea/theme. A big chunk of my writing process is taken up by preliminary organization to lessen that sense of “AH! I am swamped with information!”
What I hope to take with me into my tutoring sessions is the concept of not editing for the sake of the assignment or fixing for the sake of the assignment but to make sure that every question or discussion is aimed to try and help the writer understand how to go about reading, analyzing, and critiquing their own writing. It’s a new way of thinking for me as someone who is usually the worrier – but I want to ensure that I don’t imply that the only goal of our session is to get an A on this specific assignment. I hope it will be a way to work toward their methods and strategies for writing and to be confident that they all have the ability.