About Reading Discussions
When: Every week, from 9am Monday through midnight Friday. Initial posts due by
9pm Wednesday.
Where: In the “Reading Discussion” discussion forum for that week.
Points: 8
Grading Criteria:
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Your initial post is due by midnight Wednesday.
You are required to make at least one original post and at least two replies.
These posts and replies should be substantial, showing thought and observation. A
reply such as “me too” or “great idea” does not count; it does not reflect anything
but your having logged in and typed something.
Your discussion posts show you reading with an open and inquiring mind, and
reveal you evolving as a writer who understands that good writers are good
readers.
Your posts respond to all the assigned material and to the prompts.
Your posts address the specific prompts given for that week. I hope you'll also be
considering anything else that comes to mind about the material.
Your posts should be proofread and conventionally punctuated and capitalized.
Discussion Groups: The class will be divided into approximately four discussion groups.
CANVAS will show you what group you’re in. We will probably change the groups
either twice or three times during the quarter.
Subject Headings: Title your entry accurately, so people can see specifically what you're
writing about. Change headings if you want to begin a new idea. Keep the same heading
if you are responding to a thread. Clear and accurate subject heading are essential to
having a clear and follow-able discussion!
Purpose:
• To help you use what you read to develop your own writing;
• To deepen your skill at observing and analyzing poetry and fiction;
• To learn to read as a writer, observing craft and technique;
• To be inspired by others’ writing.
What to say: Usually, I provide specific questions to discuss. Beyond that, here are some
ideas for what to say:
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Why is the weirdest or most confusing part of the reading? Often a way to get
started with thinking about a piece is to look at the strangest, weirdest, most
confusing part. Whatever interpretation you come up with for the piece as a whole
has to find a way to incorporate this part, so often it’s a good idea to go straight to
that tangle and see if you can find a reason for it.
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What techniques or details stand out in the writing? Why do you think so, and
how do you think they contribute to the whole piece?
How is the piece using the techniques we’ve noticed so far? For example, if we
have studied ways to use dialogue, how does the story do this? If we’ve studied
metaphor, how does the poem use metaphor?
What does the piece mean and how does it mean it? That is, do you have an
interpretation of an overall theme or meaning? If so, what parts of the writing lead
you toward that?
Research: What did you have to look up and how did this information contribute
to your understanding?
What does this piece give you permission to do in your own writing? In other
words, what has this piece shown you is possible, that you could do yourself, if
you wanted to? You can remark on technique or style or subject matter--anything
that catches your attention.
Types of posts: It can help you think of something to say if you remember the roles that
individual contributions can play in the discussion as a whole. A comment can:
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Spark new ideas;
Pursue an interesting question;
Present an observation or interpretation;
Pursue an observation or interpretation;
Relate one post to another, showing how the ideas there might be connected;
Take someone else’s idea a little further, or apply that idea in a different way;
Contribute research on a question your or someone else has raised
Pull different aspects of the discussion together, perhaps relating them to an
overall theme or idea;
Help keep the discussion on track, summarizing what’s been said and suggesting
where to go from there, or noticing the ramifications what what’s been said.
What not to say: You are not allowed to say that you disliked the piece. Yes, you are
allowed to dislike the piece, but keep it to yourself. When we say “I didn’t like it,” we
close our mind to it and diminish our chances of learning something new. But the purpose
of the discussion is to move us beyond immediate judgments toward understanding of
writerly craft. Even if you didn’t like the assigned piece, or you think it’s badly written,
you must treat it as if the writer intended it that way, and ask yourself how that way of
writing affects meaning. When we say “I didn’t like it,” we tend to dismiss whatever it is,
without finding out why it might be there or how it might contribute. If you don't like the
piece, think about what's disturbing in it, or what you think is bad writing in it, or why
you resist reading it, and discuss that.
“I like it” has the similar problem of stopping the observation and questioning process;
however, if when you like something you follow up by exploring why you like it and
what it contributes to the piece as a whole, then you can use admiration as an opening to
your full remark.