[I think we could all use some reminders these days of the best of our communities and conversations. So for this year’s Fall Semester reflections series, I wanted to share one moment from each of my classes that embodied those collective goals. I’d love to hear about your Falls in comments!]
I have to imagine
I’ve written about them since May
2011, but that’s the post I found in a quick search, so: for a good while
now I’ve been using creative questions for the longer/mini-essay portions of my
Final Exams. I always give students the option to write a more conventional
exam essay, but of course really enjoy when they take the creative option and
do things like imagine the voices of our class authors, of characters in our
readings, and so on. I offered that chance to the students in my online section
of American Literature II this semester, and those that chose the creative option
rose to the occasion as wonderfully as ever. If I had to pick one particular stand-out,
I’d go with the student who put Calixta (the main character of Kate
Chopin’s “The Storm”) in conversation with Sylvia Plath’s speaker from “Lady Lazarus”
to think about women’s experiences, struggles, and why death and violence are
not the only possible paths. One of my favorite pieces of student writing ever,
and a great reminder of the benefits of offering such creative options for
student work of all kinds.
Last
reflection tomorrow,
Ben
PS.
Whattaya got?
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