Creative Writing

Creative Writing is a method that I have not done that often as a student, so I do not have a whole lot of experience with it.  I had taken a creative writing class in middle school, but do not really remember what topics I wrote on in the class.  One thing that I do remember is that I liked my teacher a lot, so I guess I enjoyed the class. For some reason I got the assumption that creative writing seems to be fun and easy to do.  After reading an essay done by Jon Cook and the activity we did in class, I realized that there is a lot more involved with composing a creative writing essay.

            The topic I chose is when my family had to put our pet bunny to sleep.  The reason I chose this topic is because I can remember a lot about what happened that day.  Perhaps the reason I can recall this event so well is because it was very emotional for me.  I began this creative writing process by doing a clustering/webbing activity about the day Misty died.  This activity was very easy for me to do and it was also helpful.  I could write down so many thoughts, memories, emotions, and feelings by doing this clustering activity.    

            I could definitely talk to at least one of my classmates about this topic. I’m sure most of them had a pet at some point in their life, so they could definitely relate to this.  Even if you don’t have a pet, you would feel the same way if you lost a loved one.  After the clustering and peer discussion, I did a freewriting activity, but had some difficulty with doing this.  Despite the fact that I could recall so many details about this event in my life, I didn’t write a whole lot down.  If you are dealing with a topic that is hard to write about, it is possible you may not have an easy time with putting your thoughts and ideas into sentences. 

From here, I would do something similar to what Pope did in her essay.  This essay by Pope gave me the idea how I could take something negative and make it a positive.  For instance, I could write about the feeling I have when I see someone with their pet.  I would relate this to a fond memory I have of my pet, such as the first time I took her outside in the snow.        

Possible Senior Seminar Research Projects

Research Topic #1. There are some preschool children who live in homes where English is not the primary language spoken at home. This could be due to the fact that the parents do not speak English themselves. Another possible explanation is that these parents would prefer their child to learn English, but also speak the language that is spoken in their native country. The focus of this research would be to find out what impact this exposure to multiple languages has on preschool students, both educationally and socially. In order to find out more about this research, I would have to observe a classroom that has at least a few students who come from homes where English is not the main language communicated. One of the methods that could be used to accomplish this research would be to interview the parents and/or teachers so I could get a better understanding of what language is spoken at home versus what is spoken in school. Another method that I could use might be ethnographic research since that deals with “cultural and social practices.” (Griffin,10) A final method could possibly be discourse analysis. One misgiving that I may have is that there could be a language barrier between me and the parent, which could make the interviewing process difficult. I would also be concerned about whether I could observe enough students who fall into this category so that I would be able to obtain accurate results.

Research Topic #2. Bullying has recently become a major issue in many schools.  There are efforts being made to try and prevent this from becoming much worse. The focus of this research project is whether or not teaching bullying prevention at a young age will have any lasting effects on students when they are much older. This research would have to be done through preschool, elementary school, and middle school observations over a certain time period. Interviewing would obviously be an important method to use for this type of research. Another method that might be useful for this could be some form of quantitative research so that I could gather the numbers of students who are actually being bullied in school. One of the misgivings I might have about this research would be some parents might feel uncomfortable about their child learning about a serious issue at such a young age in a school setting. They may feel much more comfortable talking to their child about this issue at home, rather than in school.

Research Topic #3. One of the major problems faced in schools over the past 10-15 years has been the fact that the fine arts programs (i.e. music, art, dance, drama, theater, etc.) have been cut from schools. It is possible that since these programs have been cut from the school budget that students are becoming less creative. Obviously, this may not be the only reason for less creative students, but it is certainly possible and worth noting that the cutting of these programs has led to not as many artistic/creative students. I could certainly interview the main teacher, fine arts teacher, principal, and parents to get their perspective on whether or not they feel that the cut of these programs could have possibly led to less creativity in students. I would also consider using quantitative research in order to gather all of the numbers for those who think that this is in fact the result of less creative students. As of now, I do not see any possible misgivings for this research project.

"Chugga, Chugga, Choo-Choo"

Purpose: To inform parents and teachers how students are able to read at such a young age by "early experiences and interactions with significant others and engaging texts."

Process:  The author probably used oral history and interview as his methods.  He gave a specific example of a boy, Leo, who is obsessed with trains and in fact, the first time he had a chance to read something, it was about trains.  Maybe the author observed this child and as a result, was able to get a close-up of his behavior and actions.  The author may have also interviewed Leo, his parents, or his teacher.  It is also possible that the author interviewed all of them.

Methods/Sources:  The author probably used some information about literacy and children from scholarly educational journals/books.  (e.g. Transitions into Literacy; A Working Paper & Literacy Learning in the Early Years)  He may have also done some classroom observational studies to get an actual example of the subject matter being studied.

Interviewing As a Research Method

“Literary and Visual Literacy for All: A Fourth-Grade Study of Alice in Wonderland” by Nicole Strangman” is an interview with Monica Edinger.  Edinger teaches 4^th grade at Dalton School in New York, New York.  When Monica was younger, her father used to read Alice in Wonderland to her and she has loved it ever since.  In fact, she loved it so much that now as a teacher, she has developed a curriculum that includes art, theater, writing, technology, and more.  I think it’s so cool that this bonding time Edinger used to have with her dad has led her to having much success in the classroom.

It appears that this interview would certainly apply to both current and future teachers (the latter would be me).  They could use this as a model to do a similar activity when they are in the classroom.  I feel that it could also be used for parents so that they can have a better understanding of what their child is doing in school.  It includes information regarding the way that Ms. Edinger uses creative activities after she reads Alice in Wonderland to her class (I hope to be this creative when I am in a classroom someday).  It is organized like a typical interview, meaning there is a brief paragraph introducing the person being interviewed, followed by numerous questions and answers between Nicole Strangman and Monica Edinger.  The interview ends with Ms. Edinger discussing the positive results of this activity, such as poor readers improving their test scores and promoting better social skills in students.    

Moreno/Fetterley

I spelled Fetterley wrong the first time, so here is a new copy of my blog entry:

            “The Politics of Location: Text as Opposition” was written by Renee Moreno in the December issue of College Composition and Communication.  Having been going to college for a few years, it had never occurred to me that there are magazines devoted specific to college courses, students, and issues that might be going on- how cool!  J  Moreno, who studied English and Education at the University of Michigan (great school, but they gave my favorite college football team Notre Dame a heartbreaking loss last night),  L wrote this essay while working at California State University, Northridge as an assistant professor.  Moreno thinks that students whose native language is not English are not being given a fair opportunity to have much success while in school.  She also thinks that these students can use writing in their college composition courses to express their dissatisfaction about this serious problem.

            Moreno uses research methods such as interviewing (Ice-T), discourse analysis, ethnographic research, and oral research (story involving author’s mother) in “The Politics of Location: Text as Opposition”.  These methods are most useful for doing research that deals with peoples’ thoughts and opinions on issues such as their culture and who they are. Although I took some Spanish classes in college and speak it well, I could not imagine how difficult it would be to have to do an assignment, such as a research paper in Spanish or any other language besides English.

Questions About Fetterley/A Rose For Emily

1.)    I found it a little difficult to follow along with this essay since I never read A Rose For Emily.  How about anyone else?

2.)     I did read The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne and found it interesting the way Fetterley compared women being manipulated by men in their lives and the different ways they responded to it.     

Moreno/Federly

 “The Politics of Location: Text as Opposition” was written by Renee Moreno in the December issue of College Composition and Communication.  Having been going to college for a few years, it had never occurred to me that there are magazines devoted specific to college courses, students, and issues that might be going on- how cool!  J  Moreno, who studied English and Education at the University of Michigan (great school, but they gave my favorite college football team Notre Dame a heartbreaking loss last night),  L wrote this essay while working at California State University, Northridge as an assistant professor.  Moreno thinks that students whose native language is not English are not being given a fair opportunity to have much success while in school.  She also thinks that these students can use writing in their college composition courses to express their dissatisfaction about this serious problem.

            Moreno uses research methods such as interviewing (Ice-T), discourse analysis, ethnographic research, and oral research (story involving author’s mother) in “The Politics of Location: Text as Opposition”.  These methods are most useful for doing research that deals with peoples’ thoughts and opinions on issues such as their culture and who they are. Although I took some Spanish classes in college and speak it well, I could not imagine how difficult it would be to have to do an assignment, such as a research paper in Spanish or any other language besides English.

Questions About Federly/A Rose For Emily

1.)    I found it a little difficult to follow along with this essay since I never read A Rose For Emily.  How about anyone else?

2.)     I did read The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne and found it interesting the way Federly compared women being manipulated by men in their lives and the different ways they responded to it.