Teacher Thoughts

 Teaching creative writing was going to be so easy I say to myself wistfully Because I was just going to make them write things and have them revise things and have them comment on other people's things, and that was going to be It.  Unfortunately, I was foiled by the irresistible desire to do more and try to teach more, even if it isn't....necessary? or wanted? by anyone? So we are doing literary terms instead, and then I had them write a little poetry, just a little, and they seemed to enjoy doing that and sharing that, so maybe I was on the right track in the first place after all. I could do some kind of schedule thing where we do terms and use them one day, then talk about a type of writing and try that another day, and then do a longer piece and talk about that the next day. Or something. Getting organized has never been my strong suit, of this I am aware, trust me. If I want to do better and teach more stuff, though, I need to tackle this problem more directly, don't...

How do we reconcile the two very disparate halves of our discipline? I know the key is to not think of them as separate, but I keep tripping over myself trying to choose between the two, so I want to write down somewhere exactly what I am thinking about. The study of literature is exposure and understanding. We read the things that should be read and see things from someone else's point of view. We improve reading comprehension. Why should students be able to tell me about the story after they read it? I want to know that they actually understood what they read. Why should they remember details about the story once they have demonstrated this? So they can talk about more complicated things with the details as support. If they forget the entire novel, how can they make an argument about it? And there it is. The key... Because writing an argument, analyzing a text, is the other half. They should be able to think about a complex issue and form a complex opinion about it, to go deeper ...