As you can see in the syllabus, you are responsible for making regular posts to this blog.  I do this in lieu of the kind of “response papers” many of my colleagues assign (and until recently I did to).  Why?

1. Blogging is sharable: rather than have a private circuit between you and me, we have a much more dynamic conversation across the entire class.

2. Blogging in public, sort of: I like the idea that we are responsible for our ideas in front of broader audiences.  In practical terms, I doubt anyone is listening in most of the time, but I think it’s important that we roll up our sleeves and defend our arguments in an open and public forum as often as possible.  And of course, you can show your family/friends/pets what we’ve been up to in class.

3. Blogging is sturdy: rather than forget the piece of paper once it’s been handed back, we can link back to prior statements or observations, or to each others.

4. Blogging is responsive: rather than only getting comments from me, you’ll comment on and get comments on each other’s work.

So what are you responsible for doing for Tuesday?  I want something short and pithy, about 400-800 words.  I want it to engage some part of the text (any or all of the readings by Eliot, Culler, and Eagleton).  I want it to have quotations and what we English types call “close reading”: careful attention not just to what is said, but how it is constructed.

Also, don’t be afraid to express confusion, doubt, frustration, and the like, so long as you do so via close encounters with the text that’s confounding you.  Rather than just throw up your hands and say “I don’t get it,” say “here’s what I don’t quite get” and/or “I’m not sure, but I think the text is saying X and Y” or “I’m not clear on how Z is working, but I find the following aspects of it interesting in some way.”

Below you’ll find an example of a good response with my comments in the margins.  It’s one that I mocked up myself, so don’t feel like this is the bar that I’m setting for you, especially the first time.  I just want you to see what a pretty good one looks like, so you know where the bar is.  DUE TUESDAY, 9/3 AT CLASS TIME.

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