Comments on: My next paper… http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/ Reading... Thinking... Writing... Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:12:17 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: Linda Dick http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-349 Linda Dick Sun, 02 Aug 2009 19:12:17 +0000 http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-349 Joe, I came upon your paper quite by accident. I'm getting ready to rough out an outline for the book Allen is trying to get together on our MOO project. And I wanted to look up textual intervention, because I don't have my book on this anymore. And up popped your name! I'm actually using this book project as a way to teach composition skills for my Axia College comp class - I'm doing the assignments along with the students, using the book chapter as my expository essay subject, in order to give the students a concrete view of what's expected of them in thier own work. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get the rough draft down on paper in a sort of painless way. Would love to hear from you, can you send me an email when you get a chance? Thanks, Linda Joe, I came upon your paper quite by accident. I’m getting ready to rough out an outline for the book Allen is trying to get together on our MOO project. And I wanted to look up textual intervention, because I don’t have my book on this anymore. And up popped your name! I’m actually using this book project as a way to teach composition skills for my Axia College comp class – I’m doing the assignments along with the students, using the book chapter as my expository essay subject, in order to give the students a concrete view of what’s expected of them in thier own work. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to get the rough draft down on paper in a sort of painless way.

Would love to hear from you, can you send me an email when you get a chance?
Thanks, Linda

]]> By: Tony Ellis http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-194 Tony Ellis Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:46:00 +0000 http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-194 Just a short reply. I agree that a variety of pedagogical approaches is desirable, since any one of them has its limits--and creativity is one of your strengths as a teacher, as I've seen first-hand. Maybe this approach could lead to more inspired writing at the secondary level, or at least more enthusiasm for it. Just a short reply. I agree that a variety of pedagogical approaches is desirable, since any one of them has its limits–and creativity is one of your strengths as a teacher, as I’ve seen first-hand. Maybe this approach could lead to more inspired writing at the secondary level, or at least more enthusiasm for it.

]]> By: Joseph Haughey http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-193 Joseph Haughey Sun, 28 Oct 2007 19:41:13 +0000 http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-193 This idea you present Tony - that "there is a substantial body of knowledge about Shakespeare's plays and their original milieu that needs to get transmitted *before* students can intervene in a meaningful way - is itself an ideological assumption. Why do we assume that students need this information to engage in a meaningful way with these plays, or so much of it? Why do we make the assumption that we must read Shakespeare to students before they can read it themselves? I certainly agree with you to a certain point, that students do need a certain set of tools to approach Shakespeare with. They need to have access to his challenging language. They should likely know some of the basics of the stage and how genre has and continues to shape the meaning of the plays. There are other skills that teachers should provide their students with; teachers should play the role of guide, but the bulk of the experience needs to be between the students and the play, and involve the teacher and outside information less than it traditionally has. My point here is that I believe teachers traditionally have significantly over-emphasized the experiences that other "readers" have had with Shakespeare (including their own experiences) and ignored important elements of their own students' responses to the plays. Textual intervention seeks to create a balance when incorporated into the classroom. I am not suggesting that we throw away our other sound pedagogical approaches to teaching Shakespeare, only that we consider incorporating textual intervention into instruction as yet another means to bring Shakespeare's plays to life for our students. This idea you present Tony – that “there is a substantial body of knowledge about Shakespeare’s plays and their original milieu that needs to get transmitted *before* students can intervene in a meaningful way – is itself an ideological assumption. Why do we assume that students need this information to engage in a meaningful way with these plays, or so much of it? Why do we make the assumption that we must read Shakespeare to students before they can read it themselves?

I certainly agree with you to a certain point, that students do need a certain set of tools to approach Shakespeare with. They need to have access to his challenging language. They should likely know some of the basics of the stage and how genre has and continues to shape the meaning of the plays. There are other skills that teachers should provide their students with; teachers should play the role of guide, but the bulk of the experience needs to be between the students and the play, and involve the teacher and outside information less than it traditionally has.

My point here is that I believe teachers traditionally have significantly over-emphasized the experiences that other “readers” have had with Shakespeare (including their own experiences) and ignored important elements of their own students’ responses to the plays. Textual intervention seeks to create a balance when incorporated into the classroom. I am not suggesting that we throw away our other sound pedagogical approaches to teaching Shakespeare, only that we consider incorporating textual intervention into instruction as yet another means to bring Shakespeare’s plays to life for our students.

]]> By: Serendipities http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-190 Serendipities Sun, 28 Oct 2007 10:09:59 +0000 http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-190 [...] Haughey ponders the subject of textual intervention and early modern publishing, and suggests that, since so many hands were involved in producing Shakespeare’s plays, we [...] [...] Haughey ponders the subject of textual intervention and early modern publishing, and suggests that, since so many hands were involved in producing Shakespeare’s plays, we [...]

]]> By: Tony Ellis http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-189 Tony Ellis Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:28:21 +0000 http://josephhaughey.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/my-next-paper/#comment-189 Joe, It was fun to catch up on your last four blogs this afternoon. As usual, your musings on textual intervention gave me much to think about. The possible pitfall with such a pedagogical method--though not an insurmountable one--is that the teacher winds up teaching something *other* than Shakespeare, something involving the student's own creativity or emotional experience, with Shakespeare placed second. When you write this paper, you will obviously have to state your objectives concretely. Put another way, Shakespeare practiced textual intervention in order to produce creative works. When students practice TI, what's the desired outcome for them? Also creative expression? Critics may point out that there is a substantial body of knowledge about Shakespeare's plays and their original milieu that needs to get transmitted *before* students can intervene in a meaningful way. What do you think? Joe,

It was fun to catch up on your last four blogs this afternoon. As usual, your musings on textual intervention gave me much to think about. The possible pitfall with such a pedagogical method–though not an insurmountable one–is that the teacher winds up teaching something *other* than Shakespeare, something involving the student’s own creativity or emotional experience, with Shakespeare placed second. When you write this paper, you will obviously have to state your objectives concretely. Put another way, Shakespeare practiced textual intervention in order to produce creative works. When students practice TI, what’s the desired outcome for them? Also creative expression? Critics may point out that there is a substantial body of knowledge about Shakespeare’s plays and their original milieu that needs to get transmitted *before* students can intervene in a meaningful way. What do you think?

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