I think that I may have broken my bed
So, today has been alright. Got up at 5 a.m, cool. Spent half the day at a journalism workshop, all right. Ate lunch at Ruby Tuesday's, eat drink and be merry. Lounged around the journalism room reading "Common Sense" while waiting for school to adjourn, groovy.
But that's not why I'm writing this entry. No, my friends. I am writing this because after the aforementioned series of events occurred, I learned of circumstances that now surround my preferred class. To the uninitiated, I will describe this preferred class first, then give the circumstances that surround it.
The class, dubbed "Creative Writing", is--rather, was--centered around independent writing, the idea being that students will become better writers--not to mention enjoy writing much more--when allowed to choose their own topics. There were lessons, but they were brief and centered around finding ideas for writing, as well as experimenting with different writing methods. However, the independent as well as prompted works were to be submitted to the teacher for grading (which was basically just checking that the student did the work and didn't just sleep through the class, providing a safeguard against that sort of behaviour). In addition, every student was expected to read one of their works to the rest of the class (as well as drink coffee), an event known as "coffee house". Aside from the usual polishing of rough drafts that happened occaisionally, this was the class. Oddly enough, it worked. It fostered a positive environment where the focus was not exactly on grades, but the works produced as a result of the creative process.
Fortunately, the teacher of the class was offered a position as Vice-Principal/Athletic Director of another high school (a position that she was, as my understanding, attempting to reach for quite some time, and I'm glad that she was able to acquire it), which left the question of what became of her classes. Again fortunately, another teacher (who had previously acted in place of the Journalism staff sponsor during the latter half of the previous year) was available and was tapped to pick up the departing teacher's Creative Writing classes.
I think that there's something to be said about how this incoming teacher took up the job at such short notice, and how she's attempting to put her own spin on the class (this I can understand). Also, I believe that this teacher is implementing these new policies (for lack of a better term) out of a genuine wish to improve the class and help the students, however misguided I think that they may be. I want it to be known that I harbor no vendetta, grudge, or otherwise nasty feelings for this teacher; I just wish to discuss, even in a medium with such small circulation such as a livejournal entry, these new policies implemented in the class I enjoy so much.
According to the welcome message of the new syllabus for the class, "the essay as a genre will not really be the typical sort of writing we will be doing in this class." Also, "the type of creative writing we will engage in might better be labeled imaginative or even artistic writing. This is writing that doesn't really get any job done: it doesn't prove a thesis, at least not directly; it doesn't try to persuade the audience to take action, at least not directly; it doesn't try to persuade the audience to take action, at least not explicitly; it doesn't try to acquaint the reader with useful information, at least not primarily".
As someone whose writing subjects usually fall into the realm of topical things such as politics or technology, and in essay format to boot, I take issue with this. Suggesting that persuasive works aren't imaginative or artistic is fallacy. Take "Common Sense", mentioned earlier in this entry. Its sole purpose was to incite revolution, yet it is extremely well-written, with Thomas Paine's words painting elaborate arguments against British oppression. Another example might be George Orwell's Animal Farm. The entire story is a thinly-veiled criticism of Soviet Russia, but with farm animals; you can interpret it to just be a story with talking pigs, but then you lose the entire point of the work.
To go further on the subject of essays, the opening message claims, "nothing is more agonizingly dull to read than an uncreative--boring--essay. On the other hand, an essay that speaks with the clear and distinct voice of its author can be one of the most enjoyable experiences in reading..." As a whole, essays seem to be excluded almost entirely from the curriculum, being regulated to a book report every 9 weeks. Essays, as boring as some might find them, are an extremely important style of writing. Implying that they're not artistic or imaginative as poems or short stories because they are often used for "boring" functions is not unlike relegating photographs to a similar class because some people take pictures of drying paint.
Wow, this ran pretty long. That's not the least of what I have to say about it, but I'll get around to writing the rest later. Maybe.
Also, I've managed to calm down by watching Guitar Hero 2 gameplay videos. Thanks, Harmonix :^:
But that's not why I'm writing this entry. No, my friends. I am writing this because after the aforementioned series of events occurred, I learned of circumstances that now surround my preferred class. To the uninitiated, I will describe this preferred class first, then give the circumstances that surround it.
The class, dubbed "Creative Writing", is--rather, was--centered around independent writing, the idea being that students will become better writers--not to mention enjoy writing much more--when allowed to choose their own topics. There were lessons, but they were brief and centered around finding ideas for writing, as well as experimenting with different writing methods. However, the independent as well as prompted works were to be submitted to the teacher for grading (which was basically just checking that the student did the work and didn't just sleep through the class, providing a safeguard against that sort of behaviour). In addition, every student was expected to read one of their works to the rest of the class (as well as drink coffee), an event known as "coffee house". Aside from the usual polishing of rough drafts that happened occaisionally, this was the class. Oddly enough, it worked. It fostered a positive environment where the focus was not exactly on grades, but the works produced as a result of the creative process.
Fortunately, the teacher of the class was offered a position as Vice-Principal/Athletic Director of another high school (a position that she was, as my understanding, attempting to reach for quite some time, and I'm glad that she was able to acquire it), which left the question of what became of her classes. Again fortunately, another teacher (who had previously acted in place of the Journalism staff sponsor during the latter half of the previous year) was available and was tapped to pick up the departing teacher's Creative Writing classes.
I think that there's something to be said about how this incoming teacher took up the job at such short notice, and how she's attempting to put her own spin on the class (this I can understand). Also, I believe that this teacher is implementing these new policies (for lack of a better term) out of a genuine wish to improve the class and help the students, however misguided I think that they may be. I want it to be known that I harbor no vendetta, grudge, or otherwise nasty feelings for this teacher; I just wish to discuss, even in a medium with such small circulation such as a livejournal entry, these new policies implemented in the class I enjoy so much.
According to the welcome message of the new syllabus for the class, "the essay as a genre will not really be the typical sort of writing we will be doing in this class." Also, "the type of creative writing we will engage in might better be labeled imaginative or even artistic writing. This is writing that doesn't really get any job done: it doesn't prove a thesis, at least not directly; it doesn't try to persuade the audience to take action, at least not directly; it doesn't try to persuade the audience to take action, at least not explicitly; it doesn't try to acquaint the reader with useful information, at least not primarily".
As someone whose writing subjects usually fall into the realm of topical things such as politics or technology, and in essay format to boot, I take issue with this. Suggesting that persuasive works aren't imaginative or artistic is fallacy. Take "Common Sense", mentioned earlier in this entry. Its sole purpose was to incite revolution, yet it is extremely well-written, with Thomas Paine's words painting elaborate arguments against British oppression. Another example might be George Orwell's Animal Farm. The entire story is a thinly-veiled criticism of Soviet Russia, but with farm animals; you can interpret it to just be a story with talking pigs, but then you lose the entire point of the work.
To go further on the subject of essays, the opening message claims, "nothing is more agonizingly dull to read than an uncreative--boring--essay. On the other hand, an essay that speaks with the clear and distinct voice of its author can be one of the most enjoyable experiences in reading..." As a whole, essays seem to be excluded almost entirely from the curriculum, being regulated to a book report every 9 weeks. Essays, as boring as some might find them, are an extremely important style of writing. Implying that they're not artistic or imaginative as poems or short stories because they are often used for "boring" functions is not unlike relegating photographs to a similar class because some people take pictures of drying paint.
Wow, this ran pretty long. That's not the least of what I have to say about it, but I'll get around to writing the rest later. Maybe.
Also, I've managed to calm down by watching Guitar Hero 2 gameplay videos. Thanks, Harmonix :^: