Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Trying it out
Okay so this is a blog for my english class. Let me repeat that I am only taking this class because I have to. I personally think I do enough writing on my own time and if I have to take English, then English majors should have to take a basic computer course. I'll moan about it later, we were just told in class that bitching is not what the blog is for. I'm making this post just to try it out becasue I'm not sure I really get the piont of this blog, or free-writing for that matter. I suppose there is a piont ot it, if anyone wants to get in one of thier mandatory comments by telling me what it is, I'm all ears. I think our English class is better than most though. Espically the English course I took in ninth grade that consisted of more mythology than I ever wanted to know and a very long lecture on how Shakepseare was wasted on us. hmmm............... I'm really beginning to wonder if this post is long enough because I can't think of anything else to say. Some of this is probably really rude or mean but at least I'm honest, if extremely insensistive and (as I'm frequently told) very cynical. Signing off.
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Scary. You sound just like my son. He just hates English.He fights it tooth and nail.Some people would say "suck it up and quit yer belly aching." But I know where you are coming from.I have to admit,I feel the same way about math. I am naturally opposed to semantics and convoluted factorization,especially because my major never uses algebra. However, no matter how much I hate math and no matter how much you and my son hate English, it must get done. I study an hour a night then take a practice test.I have to master it or it will be my master.I would advise you to find strength and tackle this class.I'm sure the professor and I, as well as other class mates would be able to help you if you seriously want it.
ReplyDeleteI see value in free-writing, but I agree with Anna about English classes in general (and with Ed about math). Some people definitely need the class more than others, so I see its value, but honestly, for classes that are "mandatory" for a degree (and I think English composition is on almost all of them) should have some sort of placement testing. I've been reading at a high level since I first learned how, and I read and write a lot, for leisure. I truly find it enjoyable. Because I do it willingly, I think it gives me an edge that surpasses mandatory classes, and I'm sure a lot of people in our class and other can say the same. This class is definitely better than most of the ones I've taken through grade school, but still not entirely necessary. Just to be clear, I;m not bashing anyone who CAN use the class, because we all have our strengths and weaknesses, and I'm sure there are those here who take a class they really don't need that I do, but I guess it all comes down to what's relevant to you and your degree and what's not.
ReplyDeleteTwo things everyone here should keep in mind, however: a) required subjects aren't always required just for their ostensible subject matter; rather, it's often the skill(s) you acquire (problem solving in algebra, say) that accounts for the subject's being required; and b) in regard to writing itself, nearly every student I've taught needs to learn how to write argumentatively, which requires not only learning how to generate material and revise it, etc., but also learning how to think critically, a skill few students possess when coming to school. The aim of a liberal education, as the term suggests, is to liberate those who receive it; and that liberation comes (so the thinking goes) via learning how to think critically about oneself and one's environment, at all levels (social, political, spiritual, etc.). So even though one may read and write, one doesn't necessarily think critically (much less write critically) about what is taken in. Critical thinking teaches you to question EVERYTHING (even what you love), to take nothing for granted, to be merciless in your analysis of any topic, to demand evidence, and so on, an essential skill in a democracy, where individuals have at least some political power (though not as much as we usually think)--at least that was the thinking behind democracy, liberal education, and so on. Alright, now I'm getting down from my soapbox. . .
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