A Rain Lesson
Thankfully, it rained a little yesterday, and I think it may have happened again tonight. Unfortunately, I was in the office when it happened, but I can't tell you how much it was appreciated, even with just the windows open. The heat around here has been a bit unbearable, so I am going to continue to hope for a rain reprieve. Living in a place where it rains a lot, one begins to miss the downpours like an old friend, especially if it doesn't rain at all for more than three or four weeks straight. You enjoy the cool and clouds as much as possible. Anything else feels different.
Summer Backyard
I have made some significant progress on my work, even to the point where I am beginning to feel hope again that I will salvage what has been a rough start to the summer. I think that I have a good argument for my current project, it just needs to be solidified a bit more to engage more of the actual text I'm examining and less of the required theory. Of course, the whole point of the silly paper is to talk about the theory, so, to some extent, there is no avoiding it. I think that the project will at least be something that my professor can appreciate.
And, of course, all of this progress has made me feel like I can start thinking about the design for a writing course that I hope to teach in the fall. The main emphasis for this course, if I can somehow make it through these "dog days," will not be on the writing process, as it was in my own undergraduate studies. Rather, the curriculum here emphasizes the necessity for a logical argument that arises naturally from the course materials and the "questions-at-issue" that evolve from class discussions. Therefore, I will really start having to look for well-written essays that I feel will help me guide students to thought provoking issues, and at the same time, be something that will hold my admittedly fleeting (and technologically leaning) interests. Although I have already indicated on my course materials list that I wanted a specific text, a reader, I haven't had much time to browse through the essays and develop the proper notes for them. Oh well, I am sure that this will all come in due time. Right now, it is back to the essay at hand.
Summer Backyard
I have made some significant progress on my work, even to the point where I am beginning to feel hope again that I will salvage what has been a rough start to the summer. I think that I have a good argument for my current project, it just needs to be solidified a bit more to engage more of the actual text I'm examining and less of the required theory. Of course, the whole point of the silly paper is to talk about the theory, so, to some extent, there is no avoiding it. I think that the project will at least be something that my professor can appreciate.
And, of course, all of this progress has made me feel like I can start thinking about the design for a writing course that I hope to teach in the fall. The main emphasis for this course, if I can somehow make it through these "dog days," will not be on the writing process, as it was in my own undergraduate studies. Rather, the curriculum here emphasizes the necessity for a logical argument that arises naturally from the course materials and the "questions-at-issue" that evolve from class discussions. Therefore, I will really start having to look for well-written essays that I feel will help me guide students to thought provoking issues, and at the same time, be something that will hold my admittedly fleeting (and technologically leaning) interests. Although I have already indicated on my course materials list that I wanted a specific text, a reader, I haven't had much time to browse through the essays and develop the proper notes for them. Oh well, I am sure that this will all come in due time. Right now, it is back to the essay at hand.
18 July 2004
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