Banned Topics

As an English instructor, I assign a lot of papers.  Although the types of papers vary somewhat from class to class, one rhetorical mode that all of my composition students must use is argument.  I personally think that being able to make a logical argument is one of the primary goals of a composition course.  When I first began assigning the argumentative essay, I let my students choose any topic they were interested in to write about.  After a few years, I realized that this was not the best course of action, so I chose to ban certain topics for a varying number of reasons.

I will start with the most superficial reason.  I get tired of reading about certain things.  If I have to read about how the legalization of marijuana will boost the economy one more time, I may have to kick myself in the face.

However superficial my first reason may be, it leads quite nicely into the next reason I ban certain topics.  When a topic is something that is considered a "popular" topic to argue, the arguments become very rote.  Basically, the same three or four points are made by every single person preventing students from coming up with any original ideas.  Now, one might argue that perhaps a student can come up with new reasonings for the same old topic.  To that I would say, "Go for it!"  If this were the case, I would be happy to let students write about those topics.  However, even if a student is able to come up with original ideas to support a topic that has been beaten to death, an argument can seem lacking if the cornerstones of that argument are missing.

Which leads me to my third point.  Most of my banned topics are issues about which people tend to get emotional.  Myself included.  When you are talking about controversial topics such as abortion and gay marriage, most people (once again, myself included) have a very specific and set stance on that topic.  Nothing you can say will make me change my mind.  Therefore, the issue becomes that students want to try and figure out where I stand on an issue so they can write on my side of the issue.  Bad idea.  This is a note to all of you students out there, it might actually be a better idea to write on the side your teacher doesn't support.  Teachers are human.  We have feelings and emotions.  I know this may shock some, but it's true.  Therefore, when I read a paper that makes a claim I do not believe in, my emotions come into play.  However, this is something I know about myself, and out of the fear of showing bias, I find that I end up grading those papers a little easier sometimes!  Not on purpose of course, but I am being so cautious about looking at the logical points of the argument rather than thinking about what I believe, that it is possible to miss whether or not the argument is effective in terms of pathos.  It is also true that if you are arguing on the side I believe in, I know what the good arguments are.  So, if you leave out something that I feel would greatly benefit your argument or if you make our side look foolish, that's possibly worse than disagreeing with me!

Finally, there is the issue of morals.  Many of these arguments are arguments that are quickly taken to a moral stance.  Many students want to turn to the Bible as the primary source for their argument.  The problem with this is that when students use the Bible as a source, those students tend to view the Bible as infallible.  As mentioned previously, I try to leave my personal beliefs out of the grading process, so whether or not I believe the Bible to be infallible is irrelevant when it comes to reading and grading papers.  The problem is that by assuming the Bible to be infallible and using it as an irrefutable source, you, as a writer, also assume that reader believe the Bible to be infallible.  This is not always a safe assumption.  Does this mean you shouldn't use the Bible as a source?  Of course not!  Depending on the audience (which is always something important to consider), the Bible could be the perfect source.  Even if the audience is not one likely to agree with everything the Bible has to say, it's perfectly acceptable to use it as one source.  However, if all arguments focus on Biblical morals and principles, you could be in trouble.

Based on these reasonings, I have a list of banned topics for argumentative papers where students are allowed to pick their own topics.  It never fails that I will get at least one paper on one of those banned topics, and I will definitely get more than one complaint.  However, I feel that by not allowing students to write on these topics, I force them to become more critical thinkers.

So, what do you think about banned writing topics?  Should I just let them write about whatever they want?

Godspeed!

It's a Digital World Out There

Is it Wednesday already?  I've been having trouble remembering what day it is because today we had a snow day!  Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately?) they canceled classes yesterday evening, because when I woke up this morning the roads seemed fine.  It is very difficult to get motivated to do anything on a snow day, but at least I made a nice breakfast for the hubs!

For this week, my students have to write about the idea of moving to a digital world.  Which is better?  Print or digital?

I personally don't have any sort of e-reader yet, but I really want one!  Just the other night I finished a book and really wanted to read the next one in the series.  I remember sitting in my bedroom thinking that if I had a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or whatever, I could just click a few buttons and I would have the book without ever getting out of bed.  The same thing happened when I read about another book I'm dying to read.  Not only that, but if I go to the store and get these books (which I hadn't done yet), they are going to cost a fortune!  Well, maybe not a fortune, but more than I care to spend.  So, instead I got online, looked it up, and found the book at my local library.  Now I just have to swing by and pick it up for free!  Look at me mixing digital and print!  Then, if I want to own the book, I will go to amazon.com and find it nice and cheap.

Even though I want to own an e-reader, I love real books.  I love holding them in my hands and writing on their pages.  (Yes, I'm one of those people who write in my books.)  Even so, they are quite expensive if you want a book immediately.

I was trying to remember the last time I actually purchased a full price book and I realized that I don't buy full price books for myself.  I only buy them as gifts.  If I'm buying a book for myself, this is where I get it:

 

From what I can tell, the next date (since the only picture I could find was for 2012) is March 8-10.  At this sale, paperbacks are $0.50 and hardbacks are $1.00!  You can't get much better than that!  Oh, and one of my favorite things are the grab boxes.  They have boxes of 20 books for $1.  The only catch is that you can't look in the box.

I'm thinking I should take my classes on a field trip to the book sale.  Spread the book love!  What do you think?

Well, that's all for now!

Godspeed.

Freshman English II

I have decided to try having my Freshman English II Online students use a blog instead of a journal, so I will occasionally be posting things related to that class and their assignments.  The first of those assignments is to post a picture or collage and write about yourself, so that is what I have done here.

Welcome to Freshman English II Online! My name is Mrs. Hall and here are some pictures that I think represent me.

In a few of these pictures, you will see me with my husband Daniel. We have been married for six years and we don't have any kids, but we do have a dog named Penelope who is one of the strangest dogs I've ever known.  I always say that she acts more like a cat than a dog.

The other people pictured above are my mom, dad, sisters, and niece. My family is very important to me.

Another thing you may notice from my pictures is that I'm kind of silly. The picture in the pink wig is from the premiere of The Hunger Games. I went dressed up as a citizen from the capitol. There are also a few pictures related to Harry Potter. In one I am wearing my Harry Potter robes (Ravenclaw), in one I am standing in front of Hogwarts, and in yet another I am at the midnight premiere of the final movie with my sisters. I also like Wonder Woman and collect Wonder Woman memorabilia. I actually have the invisible jet parked in my back yard, you just can't see it.

If you are interested in making a collage like this one, I went to www.kizoa.com, created an account, uploaded pictures, and then used their collage maker. Just be careful that you don't use one of the premium collage makers, because then the image isn't free! If you are good with Paint, you could use that as well.  You can also post a single picture if collages aren't your thing.

I look forward to reading about all of you this week!

Godspeed.

Happy New Year!

I know! It's been a minute.  And it's not a Wednesday.  For both I am sorry, but I feel as though it is time.

Around May of last year, my family went through some hard times and I wasn't sure I wanted to share that with the Internet.  However, it was such a big part of my life that I knew I couldn't write without talking about it, so I put the blog on pause.  But that is so last year.

So, now for a discussion of New Year's resolutions.

I know there are a lot of people who eschew New Year's resolutions, and I understand their reasoning.  Recently on Phineas and Ferb, Dr. Doofenshmirtz was planning some sort of hijinks that involved making the citizens of the Tri-State Area put, "Serve Heinz Doofenshmirtz," on their New Year's resolution list.  Normally, Perry would swoop in and stop this nonsense, but he sat by and let it happen, because everyone knows that New Year's resolutions are meaningless and almost guarantee that thing won't happen in the new year.

That being said, I like New Year's resolutions.

I like the idea of a fresh start.
And I like lists.  A lot.

So, if I'm going to make a list of New Year's resolutions, there are a few options:

1. Very generic goals that I will obtain regardless of their appearance on an arbitrary list.
2. Superbly ambitious goals that aren't necessarily meant to be in obtained in one year.
3. Super specific goals that I want to happen in between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2013.

Decisions, decisions.

I think a specific list is my cup of tea.  However, I hate that feeling of failure when I look back and realize I have done nothing.  To do lists depress me because I am overly ambitious and I very rarely complete everything on the list unless I have to for some reason.

Enough waffling about.  Here is a list of things I think it would be cool to do/complete/obtain in 2013 or beyond, but it's totally cool if some of these things don't happen.

1. Read more books for pleasure and then write about them here.  I don't necessarily want this blog to become a book review blog, but I do love reading and writing about books.  Hence the whole English teacher thing.
2. Blog more.  Last year I blogged 7 times, so I think more than 7 is an obtainable goal.
3. Get papers back to students in a more timely fashion.  I'm sure my students would appreciate it if I could stick to this one.
4. Research a couple of PhD programs and decide if it's something I really want to do.  I've talked about getting my PhD for years, but I know nothing about when, where, how, etc. I want to do this.
5. Read more nonfiction.  I am not a fan of nonfiction, but I recognize its importance.  Broadening horizons and whatnot.
6. Do laundry and dishes on a regular basis instead of all at once.  And get a new dishwasher because hand washing dishes just isn't my thing.
7. Watch all of the movies nominated for Best Picture, Leading Actor, and Leading Actress awards for the Academy Awards, write up Oscar predictions, and throw an Oscar party.
8. Finish the Song of Ice and Fire series, or at least what Martin has written to this point.  I love these books, but they are time consuming and difficult to get through.
9. Write something for publication.
10. Go to the PTK national convention in San Juan, California.
11. Begin working on my table made of LEGOs to display all of my Harry Potter LEGO sets.
12. Maintain my weight.  Although weight loss goals seem to be a standard, my goal is simply not to gain any weight.  One of my BFFs is getting married this summer and I already have the dress, so I would like to still fit in the dress this summer.
13. Throw Jen an awesome shower and bachelorette party.
14. Start a savings account.  Living paycheck to paycheck sucks.  I've got to cut my cost of living if I ever want to retire!
15. Go to an HP con (or buy tickets for 2014 if the 2013 cons are sold out), the Wizarding World, or The Making of.  These are probably unobtainable due to #14, but hey, a girl can dream.

Well, that's all I can think of right now folks!  I hope you all have a great 2013!


Godspeed.

Spring Has Sprung!

I have been feeling springy! In the good ways and the bad.

Good things about Spring:

• I (very briefly) felt motivated to do some spring cleaning after reading Finely Ground's blog about doing a little bit of cleaning every day for three weeks.
• The hubs put up the pool! Even though there are likely a few cold days left, we found this solar cover on Amazon.com last year. We'll let you know how it works!
• Spring Break came and I took a trip to St. Louis for Kawa Kon and went to see The Hunger Games in full capital costume.
• There are only 28 work days left until summer vacation!!!!!!!!! (I'm not usually a fan of multiple exclamation marks, but this is my first day back at work from Spring Break, and I felt the occassion warranted multiple exclamations.)

Bad things about Spring:

• I (very briefly) felt motivated to do some spring cleaning after reading Finely Ground's blog about doing a little bit of cleaning every day for three weeks, and got depressed when I thought about all of the actual cleaning I would have to do before I could even begin the "deep" cleaning.
• Two words: liquid snot.
• Spring Break came and went before I could even give it a high five (and, to no one's surpise, I didn't get ANY grading done.)
• There are only 28 work days left until summer vacation, which means no pay checks for four months.

I drew the following picture on Draw Something to express how I feel:

A little madness in the Spring
Is wholesome even for the King.

--Emily Dickinson

Godspeed.

Lent

Let me start by saying, no, I'm not Catholic. However, I have been thinking about giving up/taking on something for Lent. (For more information on Lent, this is a really helpful website. I especially like the section titled "Confusion about Lent.") I know, I know. Today is Ash Wednesday, so it's a little late to be thinking about it, but here are some ideas I have run across.

1. Giving up Coke, or sodas in general. This one is very common because caffeine is so addictive that people have a hard time giving it up. I think this one would be especially difficult because I do so much driving. I'm afraid I need that caffeine to stay awake on my daily commute. Plus, I already had a Coke this morning. Oops.



2. I also thought about giving up going out to eat. I don't think I realized how often I go out to eat, but I could save quite a bit of money by doing this. The problem with this is that I am a part of a small group of individuals at my workplace who go out to eat almost every week, and usually if one of us doesn't go, none of us go. I know this sounds silly, but I would hate to break up the group.



3. I have a friend who is giving up half of his meals. From what I understand, if he used to eat a breakfast burrito in the mornings, he would now only eat half of a breakfast burrito and have the other half the next morning. When he goes out to eat, he puts half of the food in a to-go box and eats the rest later.



4. I read one suggestion that you make a list of 40 people who have made an impact on your life in some way, and write a letter to one of them every day of Lent. I think this sounds beautiful. When I took a psychology class in college, we talked about positive psychology and how these types of things can really make you a happier person. This one is a good possibility.



5. There's always the idea of giving up facebook. I've done this before, and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact, I hardly missed it after the first two days. This fact alone makes me think that this idea isn't the best one.



6. Some people give up television. I feel like television is my escape from reality, so I'm not sure I want to give this up. Plus, if I'm being honest with myself, I think I would just spend more time on facebook as a result, and I would probably end up watching everything I missed after Lent was over. Therefore, I thought about "refining" this one:



7. Giving up reality tv. If I am going to use the excuse that television is my escape from reality, why am I watching reality tv? Interesting. I would miss Top Chef, The Biggest Loser, and Project Runway terribly. But do competition shows count as reality tv? If not, I don't think I watch any reality tv.



8. Giving up the elevator. My left knee genuinely aches for hours and sometimes swells up after I take the stairs, but I talked to a friend (who is a nurse) and she said that I should see if it gets better over time or continues hurting before I decide whether or not to let this stop me from taking the stairs. (Actually, she said I should go to the doctor, but without health insurance, that is not yet an option. I'm working on it.) So if I did this one, it would have to be on a conditional basis because I would hate to be making something worse.



9. This one is kind of radical, but I think it may be one of my favorites. Give up your snooze button. I probably hit snooze at least 5 times every morning. I wonder how much time I waste doing that. If I did this, the question would be do I just set my alarm for a later time, or do I actually get up early and do something with that time?



10. Give up good parking. The idea behind this one is that you only park in the back of parking lots and reflect on why you give up things for Lent while you walk to wherever it is you're going.

So, now I just have to decide.

Godspeed.

Thinking Too Much

So I know I've gotten off to a poor start with this blog. I think I've only posted on time twice, but that's who I am in a nut shell I suppose.

The real problem is that I feel like a fake. I read a lot of different blogs and the blogs I read seem to have one of two things happening:

1.) The person writing the blog has a seemingly perfect life.
2.) The person does not have a perfect life, but is incredibly clever.

Now, I am fully aware that the people who fall into category #1 do not have a perfect life, but that doesn't change the fact that every blog post makes it seem as though that person has a perfect life. Ultimately, I do not want to misrepresent myself on this blog. My life is far from perfect, so I don't want people to confuse me with that first group. (I should also clarify here that I don't think there is anything wrong with those people in group #1. In fact, one of the things I worry about is using my blog to complain about things, and I imagine most of those group #1 people are trying to avoid doing that.) I also don't feel as though I am consistently clever enough. Don't get me wrong. I have my moments. I can be downright witty sometimes. I just don't feel this occurs often enough for me to blog on a weekly basis. So, I'm still going through the stages of figuring out what I want this blog to be.

For now, I'm going to link to something that I saw on Pinterest, because it's something I've been thinking about a lot lately.

http://c4d3nz4.tumblr.com/post/17362649147/whelming-c4d3nz4-i-dont-post-things#notes

Godspeed.