tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post7733361439321092547..comments2024-03-28T20:53:54.312-05:00Comments on Orange Crate Art: Feature creep and the contemporary syllabusMichael Leddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-16700423524724529802008-03-18T12:34:00.000-05:002008-03-18T12:34:00.000-05:00Thanks for reading and commenting, Geiar.About rhe...Thanks for reading and commenting, Geiar.<BR/><BR/>About rhetoric: I find that I'm always thinking about syllabi in terms of tone, and I find myself moving away from wit to plainness. About attendance, my syllabi used to say "You should attend class as often as I do," a line that I borrowed (with acknowledgment) from a syllabus of the poet Ted Berrigan. Now I say "Be here, on time, every time. Students who miss class will find it very difficult to do the work of the course." I think plainness (without terse severity) works better. Wit, I'm afraid, is often lost.Michael Leddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-16909636831601052022008-03-16T01:10:00.000-05:002008-03-16T01:10:00.000-05:00I haven't taught for very long, I'm still a grad s...I haven't taught for very long, I'm still a grad student and TA, but I find this happening to my syllabi, too. It's disappointing and frustrating in some ways because it seems to put me in an "us vs. them" situation before the term even gets underway. I wonder if anyone has ever looked at syllabus writing as a kind of pedagogical (or rhetorical?) genre. Not so much for specific content as perhaps success of the document. It seems like syllabi have to walk a fine line between being inviting for the student (at least enough to keep them from dropping the class out of intimidation) and still maintaining its regulatory nature.Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14511021128636845361noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-37578523836676128272008-03-10T19:33:00.000-05:002008-03-10T19:33:00.000-05:00I'm laughing, George, because I'm always telling m...I'm laughing, George, because I'm always telling my students, "It's not because <I>I</I> want it that way; anyone who knows something about writing an essay would tell you the same thing." E.g., to have a thesis statement.Michael Leddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343608.post-88138074678328853992008-03-10T13:06:00.000-05:002008-03-10T13:06:00.000-05:00My syllabi are like geologic core samples, where e...My syllabi are like geologic core samples, where each clause relates to some bone-headed stunt someone pulled. It says in there that essays must be written in standard paragraphs. Once, about 20 years ago when I marked a student off for failing to divide his work into paragraphs, he grumbled, "Yea, and I guess in the next class we're going to have to do it that teacher's way." I was actually flattered that he thought that paragraphing was a personal quirk I had come up with.Geo-Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09228768953715204493noreply@blogger.com