Zen Mama's teaching blog

On hiatus

2005-02-14T21:04:00.000-05:00

Zen Mama's teaching blog is currently inactive. Check out her ongoing weblog at http://www.hoardedordinaries.com or her Fall 2005 teaching blog at http://doc-d.blogspot.com/.

The final best o' the best...

2004-12-07T11:10:00.000-05:00

There are four winners in today's final Best of Blogs voting: one runaway first-place winner and a three-way tie for second place:

Sergeant Hanh from Dropshots
Losing Me from This is my life
Seeing the world as it is from The world through my eyes
Remember that kid from Tons of thoughts

Thanks for all your hard writing work this semester: I hope you had fun experimenting with blogging, and I hope at least some of you continue to put yourself, your thoughts, and your experiences "out there" in the blogosphere....

Blogging & magic

2004-12-07T09:19:00.000-05:00

In today's final excerpt from his book Writing with Power, Peter Elbow talks about writing "magic," the notion that when you work on a piece of writing, sometimes something "else" takes over, imbuing your words with an almost supernatural power. Maybe you find a new idea popping up out of nowhere, or maybe you find yourself writing with an eloquence you never knew you possessed. Or maybe the wall of writer's block suddenly crumbles as you find your writing taking on a life of its own, words effortlessly bubbling from your fingertips.

I hope you've experienced at least an occasional moment of magic over the course of the semester, even if that "magic" simply consisted of you pulling an idea for a free-blog out of your posterior under the duress of a writing deadline!

In commemoration of today's final required blog entry, I want you to look back at what you've blogged these past three months, starting with your first hesitant posting and then covering the range of research-, free-, and in-class-blogs you've published since September. In looking back at these posts, what sort of "magic" do you see? What (if anything) have you learned from your experience writing & publishing frequent online posts? Looking over what you've written, is there anything about the writing or your experience of writing that surprises you? These are the questions I'd like you to address in your final required in-class blog entry. From here, it's up to you to decide whether you want to continue this crazy writing experiment: I hope, though, that some of you will have found yourself bitten by the "blog-bug" and will continue writing in this online forum...

(If you need additional proof that blogging is the way of the writing/publishing future, consider the fact that "blog" has been named the Merriam-Webster Word of the Year for 2004. That's a pretty impressive accomplishment for a funny-sounding four letter word!)

Post-Thanksgiving best o' blogs

2004-11-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

Today we have a three-way tie for first place in our weekly best o' blog voting:

Fans from Dropshots
A free blog from Y?
Stopping traffic?!? from The World through My Eyes

Enjoy!

Finding voice in someone else's writing

2004-11-30T10:14:00.000-05:00

"Voice" is the intangible personality or presence that gives power to a piece of writing. Voice is what makes your writing sound like "you" and no one else, and it is the quality or tone that either grabs a reader's attention or leaves a reader cold. Writing without voice sounds dry and detached; writing with voice sounds alive and engaging as if the words themselves have reached out and touched you.

One way to find your own voice is by writing frequently: this is one of the potential benefits of blogging. By writing (and sharing your writing) frequently, you can, over time, discover the "true voice" that lurks behind your words.

Detecting your own voice, however, can be difficult. We're sometimes too close to our writing to judge it objectively, and we sometimes can't tell whether a particular piece will speak powerfully to readers. This is why getting feedback on our writing is so helpful. Often our readers can find our voice more accurately than we ourselves can.

Today I'd like you to work with a partner to help one another find your blogging voice. In pairs or groups of three, I want you to read someone else's ENTIRE blog from the most recent posts to the very first one. (To do this, you'll have to use the archive links in the blog's sidebar.) As you're reading, I want you to right-click and open in a new window the permalink to a handful of entries (between 1 and 3) that you think demonstrate the strongest voice. In other words, as you are reading, make note of

the blog's best entry
the blog's most powerful entry
the blog's most genuine or "real" entry

When you've determined (and right-clicked) the handful of entries you think are the best, most powerful, or most "real," post a comment on the blog's MOST RECENT entry. In this comment, copy and past the permalinks to the handful of entries you selected, and tell the writer why you think these entries are particularly note worthy. Then, I want you to tell the writer how you would describe their voice: what sort of authorial tone or "personality" do they present to their readers? (For example, do they have a humorous voice, a trustworthy voice, a sarcastic voice, a witty voice, a confessional voice, a conversational voice, etc.)

Peer Review of Popular Version of Research Paper

2004-11-23T06:41:00.000-05:00

< style="font-family: arial;">In groups of three or four, take turns reading your papers out loud. After the writer has finished, listeners should answer the following questions aloud while the writer takes notes.

<>What audience is the writer addressing? Describe this audience as specifically as you can: what is the age, gender, economic level, personality, etc. of the “typical” audience member?

In what ways does the writer cater to the taste, knowledge, vocabulary, etc. of the intended audience? In what ways is or isn’t the tone of the article appropriate for the audience?
To what extent does the article’s introduction grab the audience’s attention? Would members of the intended audience be motivated to read further? Why or why not?
How does the writer establish credibility? In what ways does or doesn’t the writer sound well-informed and believable?
In what way does the writer refer to outside research or expert testimony? How smoothly does the writer incorporate such evidence into his or her discussion?
What did you learn from this article? What are you curious to learn more about?
If this were your article, how would you revise it?

Schedule changes

2004-11-18T10:28:00.000-05:00

I've made some changes to the course calendar for the next couple of weeks, so please make note of them:

Week 13: Nov 23 & 25

Tue, Nov 23: DRAFT of POPULAR VERSION OF RESEARCH PAPER DUE: bring 4 printouts of your popular revision of your research paper to class for peer review
Thu, Nov 25: no class/Happy Thanksgiving!

Week 14: Nov 30, Dec 2

Tue, Nov 30: Read "Power in Writing/Introduction," "Writing and Voice," and "How to Get Power through Voice" (WWP pp. 279-313). Write FreeBlog # 11
Thu, Dec 2: Read "Breathing Experience into Words," "Breathing Experience into Expository Writing" (WWP pp. 314-356). Write FreeBlog # 12

These changes will give you more time to work on revising your Popular Version of your research project after getting my feedback. Apologies for any confusion!

Blogging for bucks?

2004-11-18T06:38:00.000-05:00

Apparently even corporate interests are jumping on the blogging bandwagon as a way of attracting traffic to their websites:

http://boston.craigslist.org/wrg/49371014.html

Who knew that blogging could be profitable?

This week's best of the best...

2004-11-16T11:03:00.000-05:00

This week we have four top-rated blogs: one first place winner and a three-way tie for second place:

Enjoy!

Research peer review 2

2004-11-16T09:39:00.000-05:00

Hello, and welcome back from our unofficial ENG 202 hiatus! Today in class we'll be doing a second peer revew of your Research Essays. For this review, please find a NEW partner to work with: a classmate who hasn't already given feedback on your research draft.

Switch drafts with your partner, then answer the following questions in writing. (You can write these on the back of the draft itself or on a separate piece of paper: please sign your name.)

What was your personal response to this essay as you read it? Give a "play by play" account of your experience as a reader: at what points were you interested in the essay, at what points did your mind wander, at what points did you ask questions about the research findings, at what points were you lost or confused, etc. Be as specific as possible: "I got lost around paragraph 3, but by paragraph 4 I realized you were trying to say X."
Summarize the essay. In your understanding, what one main point is the essay trying to say?
Describe your impression of the writer's relationship with her or his audience: what is the writer's tone, how formal or informal is her or his voice, and how is or isn't this tone & style appropriate for the essay's intended audience.

When you've finished answering these questions to the best of your ability, go back & number the draft's paragraphs. (If there are long paragraphs that cover more than one topic or main idea, feel free to divide those paragraphs.) Once you've numbered the paragraphs, on a separate sheet of paper make a list that states IN SENTENCE FORM the topic or main idea of each paragraph. (The paragraphs might already have topic sentences that you can copy, or you might have to come up with your own.)

Once you have a list of the topics covered in each paragraph of the essay, answer the following questions in writing:

Where are there "gaps" or "holes" in the ordering of these topics? What could or should be added to fix these gaps?
Where are there unnecessary or tangential topics that interfere with the "flow" of the essays? What could or should be done to eliminate these unnecessary diversions?
In what ways could or should the paragraphs be re-arranged to make the essay flow more smoothly, logicially, or efficiently?
Lastly, which of the points or topics raised in these individual paragraphs are the most pertinent, valuable, or important? If you had to pick the three most important points, what would they be?

When you are done, return the draft and your comments to your partner.

Intro/conclusion peer review

2004-11-04T09:39:00.000-05:00

For class today, you should have posted to your blog a revised version of your research intro & conclusion; these paragraphs should be written in either a formal "journal" style or a more popular "magazine" style.

In groups of 3 or 4, read your groupmates' revised into & conclusion paragraphs and post a signed blog-comment responding to the following questions:

How well does the intro paragraph "contextualize the background" by establishing common ground between writer and reader? In what ways could the intro do a better job of drawing in a reader by giving necessary background information?
How well does the intro paragraph state the problem or question that the writer's research addresses? In what ways could the intro be revised to introduce the research problem or question more clearly?
How well does the intro paragraph sum up the writer's response or "answer" to the research problem/question? What research claim does the intro state, and how could the intro be revised to state this claim more clearly?
How well does the conclusion re-state the essay's research claim (the response or "answer" to the stated problem or question)? How could the conclusion be revised to sum up this claim more clearly?
How well does the conclusion raise a new significance or application of this research claim: in other words, how well does the conclusion move "above and above" the introduction? How could the conclusion be revised to offer something better, more significant, or more practical than the general claim made at the beginning of the essay?
How well does the conclusion of the essay echo or even complement the introduction? How could the conclusion be revised to "tie up" the essay in a more artful way?

The votes are in...

2004-11-02T11:10:00.000-05:00

Today on Election Day, it seems particularly appropriate to post this week's Best o' Blogs, picked by you, the voting populace!

Isn't democracy beautiful? :-)

Field trip!

2004-11-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, walking over to Mason Library from Morrison Hall isn't a huge field trip...but we are leaving our classroom today. When you've finished voting for this week's "Best o' Blogs," I want you to go over to Mason Library & into the periodical reading room. (That's the area straight ahead when you walk in the door.)

I want you to browse through several magazines AND journals that are on display, and I want you to compare the introductory & conclusion paragraphs of these two kinds of articles (magazine & journal). For each kind of article, I want you to draw some conclusions about the following:

How do these articles grab a reader's attention?
What sort of background information do these articles provide, and what kind of background information do they assume?
How do these articles establish their authorial credibility? In other words, how do the authors get you to believe they know what they're talking about?
What sorts of claims do these articles make, and how do they support those claims?
In the end, how do these articles tie up their points, and what (if any) final questions do they pose for their readers?

Once you've had a chance to look at a handful of magazine AND journal articles, I want you to come back to Morrison 82 to write-up your findings in a blog post. According to your research, what techniques do the writers of journal & magazine articles use to introduce & conclude their essays?

Research Essay peer review

2004-10-21T06:49:00.000-04:00

< style="font-family: arial;">Today in class, we will do a Peer Review of your Research Essay drafts. In groups of three or four, hand out copies of your draft. One at a time, each person should read his or her draft aloud. Since everyone in the group will have a copy of the essay in hand, listeners can take notes and mark passages while the writer is reading.

When the writer is finished reading, reviewers should take a moment to write on the back of their copy of the draft the ONE thing they liked best about it and ONE thing they think could be changed or improved. Reviewers should sign their name below their comments.

Once reviewers have written these comments on the back of their copy of the draft, they should answer the following questions aloud while the writer takes notes of what is said.

What did you learn from this draft? What are you curious to learn more about?
In your own words, what is the main point of this draft?
In your own words, what are the sub-points which illustrate this main point?
How well does the writer integrate testimony from outside sources? Does cited research fit into the “flow” of the paper, or does research material seem tacked on?
How many different research sources does the writer refer to? Is there an over-reliance on any one source?
Point to any places in the draft that lack research evidence or where the research support seems “thin.”
In what ways does the beginning of this draft grab your attention?
In what ways do the middle parts of this draft guide your thoughts?
In what ways does the conclusion of this draft tie up the discussion?
Where (if anywhere) was the language or reasoning unclear or awkward?
If this were your draft, how would you revise it?

After reviewers have finished commenting on these questions, they should return all copies of the draft to the writer, and the group should move on to the next paper.

This week's best o' blogs

2004-10-19T11:18:00.000-04:00

Oooh, the best of blog competition is getting mighty fierce. This week we have one runaway winner and a close runner-up:

Runaway winner: Free Blog # 7 from Dropshots
Close runner-up: Hike from Hell from This is my life

You'll notice that both of this week's chosen blog-posts are story-style posts: readers, like small children, are enchanted by stories, so feel free to share your horror stories, success stories, and every sort of story in between.

Collage essay feedback

2004-10-14T09:48:00.000-04:00

Last class, you compiled a collage essay using tasty bits culled from previous blog entries & your in-class practice writings. During the first part of today's class, I want to spend some time giving & receiving feedback on these collage essays.

Get together in groups of 3 or 4 read each of your groupmates' collage essays. (If your groupmates did their Research Blogs for today, their collage essay will be their next-to-last blog post; it will probably be time-stamped for Tuesday.) For each of the collage essays you read, post a SIGNED comment that addresses the following questions:

What is the single idea or "thread" that ties these bits together?
What is the best part or piece of the essay, and why?
What part or piece doesn't seem to belong in this essay, and why?
How would you revise this essay to make it read more smoothly?
How would you rearrange this essay to improve its impact? (For example, would you rearrange the essay to start with the best or most powerful point, or would you end with the best or most powerful point? Would you rearrange the "guts" of the essay? Would you change or tweak the intro or conclusion?)

Peter Elbow’s steps to writing a cut & paste (collage) essay

2004-10-12T11:34:00.000-04:00

Find the good passages in what you’ve written & cut them away from the bad passages. Cut out anything in these passages that’s bad, unclear, or unnecessary: cut, cut cut!
Review all the good passages you’ve found and find a single idea or “thread” that ties all or most of them together.
Arrange your good passages in what you think is the best order
Write whatever transition sentences, passages, or paragraphs are necessary to smooth out the seams between good bits.
Go back & tighten/clarify the entire essay

The introduction and conclusion paragraphs of a collage essay are particularly important since they point to the single idea or “thread” that ties everything together. In mining your blog posts & in-class practice writing for collage bits, you might find that the themes of “writing,” “creativity,” and/or your research topic emerge as a possible unifying idea or “thread” to tie your essay together.

This week's best of the best

2004-10-12T10:47:00.000-04:00

Here are your votes for this week's best free blogs...

Enjoy!

Tuesday's grammar fun

2004-10-12T10:13:00.000-04:00

To get this week off to a super-fun start, today we're going to do two in-class grammar exercises. (audible groans)

First, if you brought your Literature Review draft, I want you to find the three sentences that I underlined during my conference with you. (If you forgot to bring your draft or if you haven't yet met with me to discuss your draft, you can use a classmate's three sentences.)

On a blank piece of paper, I want you to write a CORRECTED version of each of your three underlined sentences. You don't need to copy the "wrong" sentence; I just want to see three grammatically correct sentences. (You can correct your sentences in any way you see fit: you might add or remove punctuation, you might add or remove words or phrases, you might separate or join several sentences, etc.) I encourage you to work in groups and to ASK ME FOR HELP as you work on fixing your three sentences: I also encourage you to use the Punctuation Cheat Sheet which is posted in the Course Documents area of our Blackboard course-site.

When you've fixed your three sentences, give those to me and then log into Blackboard to take Grammar Quiz 2, which covers the Glossary of Usage in Diana Hacker's A Writer's Reference. Note that you can take this quiz multiple times, you can use your book to take the quiz, and the questions will appear in random order each time you access the quiz. The quiz will be online for you to take & re-take at your convenience until midnight next Monday, October 18th.

Good luck!

This week's best of the best

2004-10-07T10:48:00.000-04:00

This week, we had a 2-way tie for the "best of blog" award. The winners are (drumroll, please)...

"bare it with dignity" from tons of thoughts
"music to my ears," from the world through my eyes

Enjoy!

Reasons & evidence

2004-10-07T10:27:00.000-04:00

Most research arguments consist of CLAIMS, REASON, and EVIDENCE. Some also have unspoken WARRANTS.

CLAIM because of REASON based on EVIDENCE.

This toothpaste is the best (claim) because it prevents cavities (reason) as proven by this study that shows that only 3 of people going to the dentist for fillings had used this toothpaste (evidence).

A WARRANT is the unspoke connection (assumption?) that connects the CLAIM and it’s reason:

WARRANT = the “best” toothpastes are those that prevent cavities

If you don’t agree with the WARRANT (e.g. if you believe the “best” toothpastes are the ones that whiten your teeth and/or keep your breath fresh), you won’t necessarily be convinced by the argument’s reasons & evidence

ACTIVITY: Use your favorite Internet search engine (e.g. Google, A9.com, etc.) to find 3 informational websites/articles on a given topic. (This might be your research topic, or it might be some sort of controversial topic or debate: for example, you might research what people are saying about who “won” the recent presidential & vice-presidential debates.) In a fresh blog post, give the link to the three web sources you find, and for each list in the form of a sentence that source’s Claim, Reasons, and Evidence. Do or don’t you agree with the warrant behind each source? Are you convinced by each’s evidence?

Ooops!

2004-10-01T11:30:00.000-04:00

Grammar Quiz 1 is now back online after disappearing temporarily. It will be posted in the "Course Documents" area of our Blackboard course-site through midnight on Monday, October 4th. Apologies for the confusion, and thanks to Scribble for pointing out my goof!

Random Reminders

2004-09-30T10:51:00.001-04:00

We will NOT meet as a class on Tuesday, October 5th; instead, I will meet with each of you for a 15 minute individual conference to discuss your Lit Review draft. To sign up for a time (or to check/change your time), see the schedule on the door of my office (Parker 204).

(Please note that you are still required to post a Free Blog for Tuesday, October 5th even though we won't be meeting as a class on that day. And we WILL meet as a class on Thursday, October 7th.)

I've posted the first of our online grammar quizzes: it is available under "Course Documents" on our Blackboard course-site. Please note that you can take the quiz multiple times, and you can use the grammar handouts posted on the Blackboard site. You have until MIDNIGHT tomorrow (Friday, September 31st) to take the quiz.

Good luck, and have a great weekend!

This week's "best of blogs"

2004-09-28T11:35:00.000-04:00

The winners of today's "best of blogs" voting are as follows:

The World Through My Eyes, Go Away
Not Worth Reading at All, Idle Minds
Tons of Thoughts, Home

Enjoy!

In-class research results

2004-09-23T11:25:00.000-04:00

After you've found 3 journal articles on the same (or similar) topic as your 3 magazine articles, use the "Speedy Reading" pointers on pp. 106 - 107 of The Craft of Research to evaluate these articles. How are these journal articles similar to / different from the magazine sources you found? What similarities / differences do you see in content, presentation, formatting? What similarities / differences do you see in terms of the EVIDENCE used to prove each article's claims? Answer these questions in a new Research Blog, and I'll see you next week! :-)

Screening sources

2004-09-23T09:59:00.000-04:00

On pages 76-78 of The Craft of Research, the authors list several criteria by which readers can judge the reliability of a printed source:

the press that published the source is "reputable"
the source is peer reviewed
the author is a "reputable scholar"
the information is current

These criteria are somewhat vague: what exactly is a "reputable" source or scholar? How "current" is current enough?

To begin today's class, I'd like you to get into small groups to share the magazine articles you've found. After you've shared face-to-face, I'd like you to read & comment on one another's Research Blog posts for today. In your opinion, which of the 3 articles is the most reliable & why? Which is the least reliable? What criteria did you use to make this decision?

Tuesday's task

2004-09-21T11:14:00.000-04:00

Today in class we talked about Peter Elbow's "open ended" writing approach & used it to help focus your research topics. I look forward to reading the blog posts you wrote after completing this exercise: I hope your topics continue to evolve as you figure out what direction(s) you want to go with your eventual research.

In preparation for Thursday's Research Blog # 3, I want you to complete the Paraphrasing Exercise posted in our Blackboard Discussion Board. (You'll find instructions on how to do this exercise in the Discussion Board itself, along with links to some resources on proper Paraphrasing & Summarizing.)

Once you've honed your paraphrasing skills, you should have no problem completing Thursday's research blog, which requires to you find 3 magazine articles on a single topic. (This single topic can be ANYTHING: although it might be related to your research topic, it doesn't have to be.) For Thursday, make photocopies of the 3 articles you find & bring them to class; in your blog, you should post a summary of each of the three articles.

Make sense? If not, leave your question(s) as a comment to this post & I'll reply via email. In the meantime, happy research!

Explanations & clarifications

2004-09-14T11:07:00.000-04:00

First, today's best-of-blog winner is...Scribble's cat post on "Tons of Thoughts." Runners up were Doctor Bop's hurricane post on "Dropshots," Cruella8908's panic poem on "This is my life," and Crazyowl's autumn post on "Daily ramblings from Crazyowl."

Next, a bit of explanation/clarification about Thursday's research-blog topic. The syllabus says you should interview a professor in your major to discover current research topics and problems in that particular field of research. Although I'd still love for you to talk to a professor in your major, I realize that some of you don't have majors, and others might not have the time (or the courage) to interview a professor in-the-flesh. So, for Thursday's research blog, you have the option of doing some online research into an academic field you are interested in and then posting the results in a blog-post.

Start by going to the KSC Academics homepage:

http://www.keene.edu/academics/

There you'll find a list of the departments/majors that KSC offers. Pick a major (or several majors if you're undecided) that sounds interesting to you and then brainstorm some research topics that you think might be interesting. (For instance, if you think Psychology sounds like an interesting field of research, brainstorm a list of topics that are interesting in the field of psychology: child psychology, the psychology of serial killers, group psychology, the psychology of subliminal messages, etc. For this stage of your brainstorming, consider and write down ANYTHING related to your chosen field (or fields) of research: you're trying to generate ideas, not write anything in stone.

Next, visit Mason Library's eSource homepage:

http://www.keene.edu/library/esources.cfm

Halfway down the page, you'll find Subject eSources for many (not all) of the majors offered at KSC. If your chosen field (or fields) of research is listed, click on that eSource and investigate what resources are online. You'll find, for instance, that most of these Subject eSources have a list of online journals and webpages related to that particular field. Make a list of the kinds of research topics people in the field are discussing. (For example, when I clicked on the Philosophy Subject eSource, I found a link to a website on Ecofeminism, which might lead to some interesting research topics.)

After you've interviewed one or more professors and/or done some brainstorming & websurfing on an academic field/fields that interest you, write up your results. What current academic debates, research topics, or controversies do you find interesting? Why?

Good luck, and I look forward to reading your in-class blog response to Peter Elbow and your Research Blog # 2.

What works / what doesn't

2004-09-14T05:51:00.000-04:00

Hey there, and welcome to another week of Expository Writing. You might be interested to note that my bud Kathleen wrote about this little experiment of ours: she says that y'all hate blogging and that I'm evil for forcing you to try it. Hmmm. We'll leave that in the "no comment" category.

Congratulations to Scribble whose cat post earned her some link-love on Kathryn's Mindful Life. This goes to show that you never know when or how you'll earn fans in the blogosphere.

Another approach to earning fans (or enemies) is evident in ged's comments on Chris's dog post (yes, we seem to have an animal theme in the blogosphere this morning). Although I'm certainly used to students telling me to fuck off, this is the first time someone has said the same to one of my blog-buds. Let's hope Tom is as "gleefully open to dissent" as one commenter on ged's metablogging post suggests I am.

One question this all raises in my mind is how a writer should or shouldn't treat her or his readers: what is the best approach? Chris's dog post used a sort of wry humor that some might be uncomfortable with: humor can be a very powerful way of attracting readers, but sometimes it can backfire. By the same token, engaging in an intellectual sparring contest with one's readers can be very invigorating and can attract readers who are interested in intellectual debate and/or a good verbal fight...but it too can backfire if readers take offense and stop reading. As always, writing is a matter of choice: what choices do each of us as a writer make, and how do those choices impact our readers?

Speaking of approaches that work and those that don't, for class today we read another passage out of Peter Elbow's Writing with Power. As I explained the first day of class, Elbow's approach to writing is that you should write a sloppy first draft and then fix it up in revision: he says the impulse to write it first the first time is "dangerous" because it so often leads to writer's block. In light of what Elbow says about what writing approaches work and what writing approaches don't, I'm curious to hear how YOU go about writing. Given today's free-blog assignment, how did you go about writing it? When faced with a more formal writing assignment such as a research paper, how do you go about writing that? Honestly, what is your writing approach: what does/doesn't work? In your experience, what is the most "dangerous" method of writing: what's the surefire recipe for a nasty case of writer's block, and how in the past have you gone about getting over the block?

I look forward to hearing the TRUTH about your writing habits. We all know what the books say we should do. I'm interested in hearing what you actually do. In a word, do or don't you think that Peter Elbow should "fuck off," and why?

Blogs I like

2004-09-07T11:03:00.000-04:00

I spend lots of time online, and here are a couple of sites I really like. I like Shane Nickerson's Nickerblog because he's a Keene State graduate and is really cool. I like Kathleen's Unsettled because she's my friend and buys me drinks (ahem). And you can find other cool sites on my other blog, Hoarded Ordinaries.

Tuesday tidbits

2004-09-07T05:24:00.000-04:00

Hey there, everyone. I read through everyone's blogs once: some of you had already posted your first Free Blog, and some of you hadn't yet gotten around to it. Either way, I commented on what I saw & will be back again throughout the week to see what's cooking on your blog-fire.

Speaking of blog-fires, check out my bud Gary's blog-post on the topic of fire, inspired by my telling him about our first-day writing prompt:

http://www.inkmuse.com/imblogarchives/etc/fire.php

As you'll find out, blog-ideas are contagious: one person writes about an idea, then another picks it up, then another. This is one of the things that makes blogging semi-addictive. Instead of writing in isolation, you've entered a huge community of writers (one of Peter Elbow's favorite phrases) who feeds off & encourages one another. In this sense, blogging is more akin to professional writing than is "private" journaling: already several of you have blogged about how strange it is to write before a "live" audience, something that professional writers have to think about as a matter of course!

I look forward to seeing how your blog (and blog personas!) evolve over the term. In the meantime, good early morning! ;-)

Blog links now online

2004-09-04T09:31:00.000-04:00

Hey there, Mousekeeters! Although I haven't yet gotten a chance to read & comment my way through all of your baby-blogs, I've added a "blogroll" that links to your sites. (A "blogroll" is a list of blogs that one regularly reads: on my blog Hoarded Ordinaries, my blogroll is very long and is divided into sections.) On this blog, my blogroll is titled "A cast of thousands..." and is located on the right side of the screen, in a column of information called a sidebar. (I've also added sidebar links to Blackboard as well as to my webpage & blog.) Note that I've setup the links in my teaching blogroll so they are arranged randomly each time you access this site: this way no one is always first, last, or in the middle of the list. (Hey, life might not be fair, but I try to be.)

I hope this helps you surf your classmates' new blogs: I think you'll find that posting to your own blog & commenting on others' blogs is oddly addictive. It's kind of like starring in your own reality TV show: this is your chance to show the online world what the "Real World" around your neck of the woods is really like.

But, enough blog-talk. It's a beautiful Saturday morning, so I should be doing something other than sitting in front of my laptop. Anyone planning to go to Art in the Park along the Ashuelot River today? If so, maybe you'll see me & my digital camera there!

Welcome to Zen Mama's teaching blog

2004-09-02T04:46:00.000-04:00

As if keeping one blog (Hoarded Ordinaries) weren't enough, here I am starting a brand new teaching blog! I've always believed that the only way to learn to write is by writing, and I believe blogging is a great way of creating an online "community of writers." Writers with readers tend to write more and more carefully, and writers who get feedback tend to improve. So, good luck to all my ENG 202 students as you embark on the weird, wild world of the blogosphere: your classmates and I will be reading and commenting on your steps along the way.