All higher knowledge in her presence falls/Degraded.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
It could go either way, really
Is the fact that I have received an entire essay on Shakespeare's use of the end-stop in a single sonnet evidence that I am doing something horribly wrong. . . or horribly right?
If it's a good paper (as opposed to shallow BS about punctuation or meter), horribly right. With the broad view that Dr. Cleve alludes to, that's the kind of student who might produce new insights about old texs.
Of course, that's because I have so many students who do my close reading essay exercise without ever coming within shouting distance of, much less quoting, their chosen poem. Sigh.
Yeah. . . I'm kinda with Moria in this case. I've had students write very good, very close readings before--essays that make really compelling arguments based largely on detailed poetic analysis. I'm proud of those papers and the skills they display (especially since I teach scansion & poetic analysis, at least briefly, in every damn class).
But while in theory this paper could be one of those, it's from a lower-division course, with a lot of non-majors, and my first instinct, upon seeing its title (I haven't read it yet, nor do I even remember which student wrote it) was to be afraid.
9 comments:
Probably horribly right. But boy, are there methodological issues there!
Horribly right. It's good that the student can do that. Now it's time to start filling her or his well-wrought urn with some additional skills.
If it's a good paper (as opposed to shallow BS about punctuation or meter), horribly right. With the broad view that Dr. Cleve alludes to, that's the kind of student who might produce new insights about old texs.
I think that sounds completely and totally awesome, provided the student can pull it off. But I am a New Critic at heart.
OMG close reading!!!!
It warms the cockles of my little heart.
Of course, that's because I have so many students who do my close reading essay exercise without ever coming within shouting distance of, much less quoting, their chosen poem. Sigh.
just don't mock the poor kid in the NYT like Dr. Taylor did the Duns Scotus citation use dissertator ;)
Nnnllllghhhh.
That said, you must be teaching fabulously just to make this person want to write that paper.
Still, nnllghh.
Yeah. . . I'm kinda with Moria in this case. I've had students write very good, very close readings before--essays that make really compelling arguments based largely on detailed poetic analysis. I'm proud of those papers and the skills they display (especially since I teach scansion & poetic analysis, at least briefly, in every damn class).
But while in theory this paper could be one of those, it's from a lower-division course, with a lot of non-majors, and my first instinct, upon seeing its title (I haven't read it yet, nor do I even remember which student wrote it) was to be afraid.
Oooh. Way better than the paper I just read about metaphor, Campion's "there is a garden," and Aristotle's Poetics. Which was pretty darn good!
I LOVE the close reading in miniature, the zeroing in...
Go scansion, it's your birthday.
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