I wonder if that's how students view the essay or the ENG course...
a giant door with scribble in a foreign language, intricate patterns which make you cross-eye, and hidden meanings. And the student becomes Indiana Jones, looking for that secret switch (to what treasures?).I wonder if my teaching is like her house, full of elaborate and ornate and lavishly exuberant extravagance that overwhelms your senses and comes close to overloading your brain to the point you have a forced shut down.
I wonder if students think of professors as these people who live in culturally gaudy houses or apartments. Well, they probably think the English professor lives in a castle made of books (and some of us do ^_^).
I wonder if the student views the college campus as a giant estate with elaborate rooms full of the exotic and mysterious.
I wonder if I'm nothing more than a tour guide, leading students through decorated rooms and parlors and alien discussions.
How can I tell if they enjoyed the tour? How can I tell if they "got it"? How can they tell if they "got it"?
*Have you clicked on the doors?
I wonder, can I bring in art into my writing classes? I was inspired by Duke's sense of style; she gathered items up at whim because she liked them, not because of their value. This is a very non-western collection and practice. This makes me think about street art and the collections across the world's cities. These hold no value, yet trigger an immediate, visceral reaction on whether we like it or not.
ReplyDeleteArt as an argument...art as a means of evaluation...I'll have to keep thinking about this.