next »

[secretweapon]

That's priceless, Oseph. Gross, huh?  You betcha...

[oseph]

Think I will put some hand sanitizer out on my desk...

[amlithist]

Oseph, I loved the "I was taking notes but don't know what you said" concept--sounds like my students!

A late addition to the "trashy lit" conversation:  my colleague teaches a class in fantasy/horror lit, and he finds himself having to actually point out the erotic portions of Dracula and Frankenstein.  My own students nearly died of embarrassment a couple of years ago when I pointed out the same in Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour."  Of course, these are probably just examples of how much slower our students are than y'all's.  :p

[infopri]

"I was so busy typing your words into my Blackberry that I wasn't listening."

This is the precise reason My Better Half has banned laptops from his classroom this semester.  He was motivated not by the web surfing, email, and other distractions, but by the observation that students no longer know how to take notes, and are too busy typing to listen, because they try to capture every word, in a near-transcript of the class.  He'd much rather that they learn to listen and extract the important points in real time, a necessary skill in his professional field (law).

[sibilance7]

However, I don't think that reading sexually explicit material necessarily causes one to become unpure in heart or mind.  

But, other people do believe this. That belief needs to be acknowledged.

"Acknowledged" is not the same as "accommodated."

VP

There, VP finally put what I was thinking into words. Simple ones at that.

VP is right and I chose that word purposefully. Few, on this thread anyway, acknowledge the student's belief with anything other than derision.

I didn't mean to come off as derisive; mostly just baffled at the incongruence between this student's squeamishness about sexuality and her major.  I certainly do acknowledge that there are many people who believe that they need to avoid offensive things so as to remain pure.  I just don't understand those people majoring in something that has such a large amount of potentially offensive material.  But maybe her conviction about purity and such is a recent development for her and she's just trying to make it through the last few semesters without compromising her beliefs.  All of that is fine, but I still don't know how to respond to this kind of email.  I filed it away last night, and I don't intend to respond at all unless she brings it up again.

[oseph]

"I was so busy typing your words into my Blackberry that I wasn't listening."

This is the precise reason My Better Half has banned laptops from his classroom this semester.  He was motivated not by the web surfing, email, and other distractions, but by the observation that students no longer know how to take notes, and are too busy typing to listen, because they try to capture every word, in a near-transcript of the class.  He'd much rather that they learn to listen and extract the important points in real time, a necessary skill in his professional field (law).

But who would have thought that a snowflake could produce a transcript of an entire lecture ON A BLACKBERRY.  I mean, I know they're champion texters and all, but this student should be in the Texting HOF.

[sockpuppet47]

Hey, I just got my first, "Please raise my grade for athletic reasons" email! I feel like I'm part of the club now!

I actually feel kind of bad for the student. He transferred at the end of last year, and now at the end of the season is told, "Not all of your credits went through, so the team has to forfeit all its games, and won't go to the national tournament."

It's his fault he flunked my class, but this mess is not of his making. He said, "Here's my transcript." They said, "Here's your jersey." Not much I can do though...

socky

[sockpuppet47]

However, I don't think that reading sexually explicit material necessarily causes one to become unpure in heart or mind.  

But, other people do believe this. That belief needs to be acknowledged.

"Acknowledged" is not the same as "accommodated."

VP

There, VP finally put what I was thinking into words. Simple ones at that.

VP is right and I chose that word purposefully. Few, on this thread anyway, acknowledge the student's belief with anything other than derision.

I didn't mean to come off as derisive; mostly just baffled at the incongruence between this student's squeamishness about sexuality and her major.  I certainly do acknowledge that there are many people who believe that they need to avoid offensive things so as to remain pure.  I just don't understand those people majoring in something that has such a large amount of potentially offensive material.  But maybe her conviction about purity and such is a recent development for her and she's just trying to make it through the last few semesters without compromising her beliefs.  All of that is fine, but I still don't know how to respond to this kind of email.  I filed it away last night, and I don't intend to respond at all unless she brings it up again.

In all likeliness, the student had no idea that this side of literature even existed. High schools won't go near it, and it sounds like few of your colleagues would either. Literature can be asexual if you ignore most of it, and we usually do. (If you want to, you could make the point, "Hey, at least I didn't go with Rochester. That cat was over the top.")

Also, I think we're giving the student a hard time because she is refusing to read for a reason. I've got students who refuse to read just 'cause.

Did the OP talk to the student about this?

socky

[comp_queen]

Oseph, I loved the "I was taking notes but don't know what you said" concept--sounds like my students!

A late addition to the "trashy lit" conversation:  my colleague teaches a class in fantasy/horror lit, and he finds himself having to actually point out the erotic portions of Dracula and Frankenstein.  My own students nearly died of embarrassment a couple of years ago when I pointed out the same in Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour."  Of course, these are probably just examples of how much slower our students are than y'all's.  :p

I am smart enough to admit when I don't know something.  I have been teaching that story for at least 12 semesters.  What's sexual?  Are we talking some oblique imagery with the open window?  Are "free, free" and the "shock of joy" that isn't joy supposed to be some kind of play on orgasm?  Or is there some really obvious reference that I miss because I don't know enough about the late 19th century?  Thanks.

[prytania3]

Oseph, I loved the "I was taking notes but don't know what you said" concept--sounds like my students!

A late addition to the "trashy lit" conversation:  my colleague teaches a class in fantasy/horror lit, and he finds himself having to actually point out the erotic portions of Dracula and Frankenstein.  My own students nearly died of embarrassment a couple of years ago when I pointed out the same in Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour."  Of course, these are probably just examples of how much slower our students are than y'all's.  :p

I am smart enough to admit when I don't know something.  I have been teaching that story for at least 12 semesters.  What's sexual?  Are we talking some oblique imagery with the open window?  Are "free, free" and the "shock of joy" that isn't joy supposed to be some kind of play on orgasm?  Or is there some really obvious reference that I miss because I don't know enough about the late 19th century?  Thanks.

Read this:


There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under hte breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

It reads like a 19th century masturbation scene, but it is an odd thing to do after just hearing your husband died. But then Chopin's heroines are often oddballs.

[mystictechgal]

The sexuality in Dracula is apparent to me, and some performances I've seen do a great job of pointing it out.  I must admit, I'm having a hard time really conjuring any memories of sexuality in Frankenstein, but it's been a long time since I last read or watched a film or stage treatment it.

On a side note, have any of you seen Dracula-The Musical?  I know it sounds unlikely, but it was a production done in Stratford, ON a number of years ago (2004, I believe).  I attended multiple performances, including the opening where Bram Stoker's relatives came in support of it.  It was the first screenplay they were willing to acknowledge and said that it came closer to the original story than any that had been done to date.  It's truly a wonderful interpretation and is (or was--I have it) available on VCR (if not DVD).  If you can find it, it's well worth watching, and, while not graphic, the sexuality is definitely present.

[tattletale_heart]

After spending the beginning of two classes teaching and answering questions about citing research sources and providing students with extensive reading suggestions and handouts to help them, I received this message tonight about a major paper due on Tuesday:

[E-mail is prefaced with a note saying student knows the importance of citing information properly. Then...]  "I was wondering what format are you looking for? Can I write it like this?

Name of the organization
Name of the person to contact
location
telephone number

Is that enough? or we need more information?"

[llanfair]

After spending the beginning of two classes teaching and answering questions about citing research sources and providing students with extensive reading suggestions and handouts to help them, I received this message tonight about a major paper due on Tuesday:

[E-mail is prefaced with a note saying student knows the importance of citing information properly. Then...]  "I was wondering what format are you looking for? Can I write it like this?

Name of the organization
Name of the person to contact
location
telephone number

Is that enough? or we need more information?"

My. God.

[conjugate]

After spending the beginning of two classes teaching and answering questions about citing research sources and providing students with extensive reading suggestions and handouts to help them, I received this message tonight about a major paper due on Tuesday:

[E-mail is prefaced with a note saying student knows the importance of citing information properly. Then...]  "I was wondering what format are you looking for? Can I write it like this?

Name of the organization
Name of the person to contact
location
telephone number

Is that enough? or we need more information?"

Ask him how he expects to find the organization, contact person, location, and telephone number of Sigmund Freud, William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, or any of a thousand others one might be asked to cite in a paper.  Suggest that for extra credit he might provide you with Alfred Lord Tennyson's pager number.  Tell him you'd go into more detail, but you have to get an important fax sent to Buddha.

What is this paper about, anyway?  One hopes desperately it's at least about events current enough that the sources ought to be still alive.

[mystictechgal]

Could be an interesting paper.  Overachiever skips over all available literature and moves directly to personal correspondence with <insert primary researcher in applicable field>, or noted local psychic.

*giggle fits*