The second class for the Short Story Workshop involved a good deal of class discussion, which worked to engage students more with both a) the elements and possibilities of the short story and b) each other. I'd like to make some comments on how I saw this working throughout the class period.
The idea of the elements and possibilities of the short story came up right away, as David distributed the list that the class had created together last week concerning the components of a good short story and then immediately followed it with encouragement to the students to "try to break one of these rules during the semester -- we're talking about art here." -- I admit, I was a bit surprised to hear David encourage this so early on the semester, but I think it also communicates a welcome trust and confidence in students' writing. It also gives them a lens from which to consider what they appreciate about the example stories read in class.
After handing out the stories for next week's class and explaining that they were stories that "tweak" reality a bit, David went over the writing exercise for next week and collected this week's writing assignment. Then class discussion began with student groups sharing the art pieces they had chosen as a reflection of one of the stories read for class. David seemed to encourage students' responses to move beyond literal connections the art made to the story to the more associative or conceptual by asking "What about the style?" This seemed to open up new ways of talking about the stories (ie. considering B&W vs. color to different perspectives). This also happened when the groups presented the excerpts they had chosen -- David asked students to connect the authors' language to tone or possible subtext. He also followed up on his encouragement from the beginning of class by asking "Do the authors here break any of the rules we've laid out?" and having students discuss this.
The second half of class, discussion centered on the Baxter essay from The Art of Subtext. David selected one idea from the essay -- that of "obsessive characters" to discuss together and also to have students consider the characters in the Baldwin and Cheever stories. (This seems like it was a good way to help get students in the mindset for the writing assignment they will have for next week.) David wrapped up by asking students if there were stylistic things from either Baldwin or Cheever that they'd like to try in their own work, and had them do an in-class writing connected to the "projecting" perspective of Cheever's narrator in "Goodbye, My Brother." (Was this something that David had planned beforehand or did it arise from class discussion?)
Another aspect of the class discussion I noticed was how David engaged students and managed it in such a way as to allow students to begin responding to each other rather than just him -- something that seems important to build up in a workshop class where students will soon enough be responding directly to each others' work. In discussion, he would solicit responses from several members of the class. At times, when two students seemed to either differ in their views or have similar views, he would then have the first student respond or follow up. This translated to the excerpts the different groups brought in as well -- the two groups who chose "Sonny's Blues" were able to bring their choices "into conversation" with each other. David was also good at holding a student's question/comment "to the side" and then addressing it later on in the discussion (ie. Nora's "Do you mean in these two paragraphs or the whole story?") I am always looking for different ways to facilitate discussion and bring students into conversation with each other, so this was helpful to observe.
I'm sure I'm leaving things out, so I'd love to hear other's comments and observations. But hopefully this gives us some to start with. Cheers!
Hah, I know Sarah Stanley loathes the idea that one needs to learn the rules so that they know how to break them properly. Still, I suppose this is something that I abide by on some level. I tend to not try my hand at things I don't have a grasp on entirely, which might be my own way of playing it safe with writing. Still, I appreciated the encouragement to the 371 students, and I like that there was a stepping back so that they could see the stories they read for the week didn't necessarily adhere to the list of rules, or elements that are at play in "good" writing.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the discussion about black and white versus color, and how that specific visual medium worked within Cheever and Baldwin's stories this week. It provided a method to analyze specific passages, but still it was abstract. It was also something that was easy enough that everyone who had read the story could access, as we're all familiar with both color and black and white art. It surprised me how well the visual element was incorporated into the story reading, though the interpretations were pretty literal for this first round. I did enjoy the colorful art, and the student's interpretation of how the lines and colors played into the story itself. And I appreciated her idea that both Sonny and his brother were actual figures in the work.
Sarah Jane, I also found the facilitation of discussion helpful. I like that David remembers specifically which point a student makes and can hold onto that train of thought and fifteen minutes later say, "Oh this takes us back to what ___ was saying, can you explain that idea a bit more for us?" I think it places the student in a confident place, as their voice is not only heard but they've said something of value that works on many levels in the course of the discussion. Still, this is something I struggle with in my own classroom. Even in a circle setting, the students still look to me to nod and validate their responses.
I am a bit curious about how my group's dynamic is going to work. As one of the students in my group approached to discuss with all of us why her group member was not cooperative in working out what she would prepare for class this week. I know she means well, and I think things are resolved, I am just a relatively low drama person and it almost came off as tattling on the other student? Also she had emailed me to review her writing assignment, so I suspect she's attempting to feel out my role exactly. I am excited to facilitate the group work, but it's an interesting dynamic to juggle as both student and instructor in 371.
First, sorry this comment is quite late. Better than never, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI thought that this class was a really interesting one - particularly in that I have not had a workshop in which the reading and workshopping schedules were so divorced from one another. We've got an oil and water dynamic going on here, and I think that there are some interesting things. It provides a few nice boons to the students: First, there isn't that strange expectation on the first day of class that someone must submit tomorrow. Everybody has a clear indication of when they are submitting and all have a sufficient amount of time to generate that piece of writing. Second, I think that this gives students some time to do a little bit of study from a craft perspective before they jump into the workshop. While this is 371, and they have all hypothetically completed the intro course, I think that the time at the beginning of the semester to transition from literary analysis to a craft perspective can be important. I know that when I was doing workshops at the undergraduate level I sometimes ran into some confusion in sorting out my aesthetic principles - what I found appealing in a more academic sense, and what I found more appealing in a creative sense, and the areas in which they overlapped. So I think that it's cool that they get some time to read some (perhaps) new material to them, and (possibly) broaden their horizons in what they are reading.
This, coupled with the writing exercise that David assigned provides the students with a nice sort of incubation period in which they can spend a lot of time prior to their first submission practicing some basic scene writing skills, but also study some interesting works that might challenge their conception of "what makes a story good".
I can certainly agree that the discussion seemed to go well. The students responded well, and David did a great job of not making himself the target of all comments. I struggle with that in my 111 class constantly, so I was really intrigued by how well he was able to get them to talk with each other on the first night of major discussion.