Memoir genre thoughts

from Relling Westfall

Events in our everyday lives trigger our memories. William Capers’ brother is getting an MA, which reminds him of his brother’s nearly disastrous, almost failed graduation from high school. Bobby Thomson dies, which reminds Bob Herbert of the World Series in 1951. Simple as this sequence is, Writing Everyday fails to mention that some of the best, most immediate memoir writing comes as a response to daily events. For some of our students, who become deer-in-the-headlights in response to a memoir assignment, this connection may be a helpful spur.

Bob Herbert’s column this past Tuesday, “A Hero Named Bobby,” (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/24/opinion/24herbert.html?emc=eta1) also demonstrates the impact memoirs can have, how they can undercut our prevailing ideas of what things were like. Most Americans today tend to think of the 1960’s as that great revolutionary moment, when progress in equality began in this country. The 1950’s, in contrast, become that shadowy and distant past when people behaved nastily. As Bob Herbert describes his kindergarten self, his hero worship, and his family, a very different picture of the 1950’s emerges. I think it is no accident that Herbert wrote this column a month after career civil servant Shirley Sherrod was forced to resign, as a result of the editing of a right-wing blogger. Such equality, such progress… Good memoirs complicate our understanding of life and history.

Articles of Interest

Here are links to three great articles, useful for ENG 111 and 112. These are great examples of intertextuality and "writing as conversation", on a topic that's bound to be of interest to many of our students....

“I Became an Adult at 22: Why Can’t You?” Nelle Engoron (which examines the seemingly growing trend of 20 somethings delaying financial independence and traditional maturation), http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/08/21/delayed_adulthood_growing_up_open2010

written in response to…

“What is it about 20 Somethings?” by Robin Marantz Henig (which explores the perceived delay in maturation among 20 somethings, and examines a proposal that this delay may in fact be a new stage of development, among other reasons) http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/magazine/22Adulthood-t.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=homepage

Ø And a follow up discussion on this article from Slate.com http://www.slate.com/id/2264542

which features a group of 20-somethings discussing the points raised in the article and reacting to the proposals considered in Henig's article.

Author of _Writing Today_ to hold workshops, 8/25

Richard Johnson-Sheehan, one of the authors of Writing Today, our newly adopted textbook for ENG 111 will hold two identical workshops on Wednesday, 25 August, in the Gallery.  There will be two identical sessions, one starting at 2:00 PM and one starting at 5:00 PM.  The workshops promise to address how best to use the text, how best to use genre in teaching rhet and comp, using the text with portfolios, etc.

Rick is a professor of Rhetoric and Composition at Purdue University.  At Purdue, he directed the Intro. to Comp program.  He is a 2008 Fellow of the Assoc. of Teachers of Technical Writing and a past officer of the Council of Writing Program Administrators. ("Preface," Writing Today, xiii)

Food will be provided.  If you want food, please RSVP using:

Back to School Haiku

Haiku U.: Short Takes on the New Semester

By Gina Barreca

I asked a number of friends to help me with this 17-syllable exercise, and since more people responded than I imagined might, I'm happy to throw everybody into one batch. I hope you'll consider adding your own.

Wake with teeth grinding

Broken printers in my dreams

Is it fall term yet?

...

Wonderfully does

The cheating kid sit beside

The foreign student.

...

Capture my fresh thought

Embrace the joy of learning

Oops! There is no place to park.

...

Why teach before dawn?

The schedule I have now

Might kill me outright.

...

Happy instructor!

Brilliant students come to learn!

Brooklyn Bridge for Sale!

...

Cynical teachers

Make empty nests of classrooms

No one fills the blanks.

...

See the patient desk

Where no writer sits today.

Teaching interferes.

...

My boyfriend is back

But my new colleague is cute.

Fulbright time again?

...

Yesterday’s lessons

Drawn from your grad school notebooks

Will not work today.

...

How can we have lunch?

I teach five classes a day.

Remember? Adjunct!

...

Anybody here?

A fly buzzes in reply.

Wrong room once again.

...

Professor X smells

Of Axe spray and baby poop.

Contradictory.

...

Canadian schools

Give faculty more support.

Count your blessings, eh?

...

No, you can’t get in.

The class is already full.

Yeah, well, tell it to the Dean.

...

Library closes

When you most need to go in.

You buy a Kindle.

...

Fine colleague retires.

Her absence makes you wonder:

Have you allies left?

...

See the pretty girl!

She is way too young for you.

Better believe it.

...

Twenty years teaching

And still no health insurance.

Too late for law school?

...

Submit the novel

Wait for the agent’s reply.

Is this a way out?

...

Turn your laptop off

And watch the sun cross the sky

Time has no cursor.

..............

NEW! Submitting Syllabi and Office Hours

New and improved, easy and fun! Well, maybe that depends on your definition of "fun" but definitely much more efficient for everyone than our old system! Steve Brandon and Joseph Vallejo have worked hard to create this technological masterpiece which makes submitting your syllabi and office hours a snap....
........simply go to http://hssfaculty.weebly.com/ (password: hssfaculty) and click on the links to submit syllabi and office hours. Just follow the easy directions for submission--it's as easy as entering your name, uploading your files, and clicking "submit"! You will get an email confirmation that your submission have been received! Best of all, it saves our office staff from drowning in even more emails at this busy time!

This site also has information on yearly MOAT training and Attendance Submission Dates. It's a one-stop shop! Thanks to Steve and Joseph!

FYI

FYI postings will handle specific questions about procedure, policy, and departmental information. Have an FYI? Submit a question to abourne@reynolds.edu, wziegler@reynolds.edu, or sbrandon@reynolds.edu with the subject line: FOCUS FYI and we'll post the answer!

To get us rolling, this week's FYI is: Fall Attendance Submission Deadlines. Remember these dates should appear in your syllabus!! Here's the chart:

FALL 2010

16 Week Courses: DROP date Sept 10

WITHDRAWAL date Nov. 2
1st 8 Week courses: DROP date Sept. 1

WITHDRAWAL date Sept. 28

2nd 8 week courses: DROP date Oct. 29

WITHDRAWAL date Nov. 24

Weekly Discussion August 18

Looking ahead to the first week of school, FOCUS wants to know: What are examples of your most successful, interesting topics for a first week writing diagnostic? What topics have gotten your students writing with enthusiasm? On the flip side, which topics have gone down in flames? Post your thoughts here, share your ideas and cautionary tales....

This year's VCCS English/ESL peer conference is in Richmond

October 28-29. See details at https://www.vccs.edu/FacultyStaff/ProfessionalDevelopment/PeerGroups/EnglishESLCallforProposals2010/tabid/956/Default.aspx.
Deadline for proposals is the end of August.

Adjunct Orientation

It's that time again... the fall semester will be up and running before we know it! Kick off the new school year by attending the Adjunct Orientation event on August 18th! Join us in the Gallery (Georgiadis Hall) where the School of Humanities and Social Sciences orientation will begin at 5pm, with a breakout session for English department orientation to follow in Massey 117. All the info you need to get your semester started!

Full Time Faculty position open

Attention Adjuncts!

JSRCC currently has a job posting for a full time English position. See the job description here:

http://www.jsr.vccs.edu/jsr_hr/positions/Faculty/FO365.pdf

Closing date is August 12, so please send in your application if you are interested!