johoca

While you are reading this story, keep in mind the following questions for our class discussion. You may also find other issues in the story to discuss during class- women’s role, the working class…what you liked or didn’t like about the story. You can also use these questions to write in your blog, or write something else in your blog (interpretation of the story, critique etc.). You can also comment on someone else’s blog rather than writing in your own if you like.

Analyse the characters.

• Considering the conventional symbolism of Chrysanthemums in the world, what do you think they symbolise in their many appearances in the story- look at each reference carefully.

• Look at the use of light and dark in the story.

• When reading the kitchen scene look at the significance of the meaning of the fire.

• Look at each part of the story and the emotions that accompany that part.

• What is the relationship between the Walter’s mother and Elizabeth?

• What is the epiphany (realisation) that Elizabeth has at the end of the story?

• What type of narrator is telling the story? Whose perspective is privileged and why is that important?

• What sort of weapons are used in the marriage by both the husband and wife against each other and why?

So you are about to write you first blog- but you haven’t even understood what a blog is let alone what it is that you are supposed to write in it. Here is a really good, clear and short video that might help you with the first problem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN2I1pWXjXI think of blogging as a conversation between you and others, including your classmates but maybe even others outside who may happen upon your blog! As for the second problem you can go to SUcourse-resources-blogs and look at the whole document on blogging including the marking scheme.

Basically read the story. Think about the story- what did you like about it or not like about it. What did you find interesting or unbelievable about it- do you want to critique it? Are there points that you didn’t understand, write them down, maybe someone else from the class can answer you question, or at least read the question and then in the next class you can all discuss this. You may write about the characters, the themes, the symbols. If you want you can even rewrite the ending of the story. The purpose of the blog is to get you to interact with each other about the stories and for you to practise your writing (it doesn’t have to be academic writing all the time) in order to help you improve the way you express your ideas.

Here are a couple of examples from last semester’s students although the blogs aren’t necessarily about stories http://yucelsblog.blogspot.com/ http://obilgin.blogspot.com/ http://dmryurek.blogspot.com/ http://erdincsahin.blogspot.com/ you can see some of the entries are long, some not so long. As always it is quality rather than quantity that matters (within reasonable limits of course).

Remember that you can use this blog as an alternative to participating in class if you feel too shy. If you want to do this then open up another category ‘class discussion’ and then I can use this to mark you for the 10% participation mark.

Welcome to 101+102. During the semester I will be writing in this blog, hopefully on a weekly basis if not more. In addition to reading my blog, feel free to comment on what I have written. Think of blogging as a conversation, a continuous dialogue not just something to read. Also take time to look at your fellow student’s blogs by reading them, commenting on them and if appropriate critiquing the content or if you know something more than or different to your fellow students feel free to give them a link to what you have read. They may also want to benefit from this information. My intention in blogging is to set up a learning community outside of the class and to give you a space to develop your ideas by interacting with others, classmates, or others outside the university. It will also give you a chance to develop your writing skills outside of the strict rules of academic writing. Although, make sure you acknowledge your sources if you use another source- this space is not free from the rules of academic honesty!

I hope you enjoy the semester.

I have just watched a presentation by Konrad Glogowsky http://www.slideshare.net/teachandlearn/assessment-and-evaluation-in-the-age-of-networked-learning as a part of the blogging4educators blogging course. I found it very inspiring. The presentation is about the use of blogs in teaching, and the predominant theme of the presentation was, at least for me, blogging as a conversation and a way to empower the students in terms of allowing them to read and write about what they want and in doing so allowing them to have ownership of the course and their writing. I am in the final stages of planning my freshman course for the coming semester and like the last two semesters I will use blogs in the class. However, it may have two strands. What I had planned was that the blog would be a way for the students to interact with the short stories, create a learning community outside the classroom by encouraging the students to comment on each others blogs and as a possible alternative to participating in the classroom. After having watched this presentation though what I think I might do is have two strands for the blog- one for the literature and one for the research paper. So then the blog would be like a writing down of the research process for the paper. The students can write summaries of the articles, sites, videos etc. they find related to the topic they choose for their research paper and critically engage with that material in their blog. I think that in this way I can give the students more guidance in the process of the research and other students can also get ideas for their own research or just use it to see what others are doing, they can ask questions, maybe encouraging their peers to be more critical or helping them to look at different sides of the issue. I am also hoping that this might encourage the students not to leave their research to the last minute. Another thing that it will enable the student to do is to create a body of work that they have complete ownership of and as Glogowsky outlines in his presentation this can enable the students to be reflective learners/researchers and they can also partake in the assessment process by evaluating the blog ‘as a body of work’ at the end of the semester.