Musings on rhetoric stage and writing

[elizabeth]

For those who are doing a "Great Books" type of approach to history and literature it would seem at first blush that the context page for history is a nebulous idea for this lady . I seem to recall that someone posted an example of their student's context page. Am I dreaming or did this post exist in reality??? I have searched and am unable to find it. It is likely something I hoped existed and alas does not. Furthermore it seems to me that between book reports and daily summaries of history background that a separate writing program would be excessive . I am planning on essay examinations for electives in Anthropology and American Government with an emphasis on Supreme Court History and caselaw. My instinct is that I would prefer not as much writing but that it be of high quality , focus and effort. It seems to me that another writing program on top of book reports, research papers , essay exams and history summaries is simply gilding the lily. Please share your thoughts on Great Books Study and whether you are inclined to utilize a separate writing component or not. It seems that the reason why should one drop the practice of outlining for history and develop summaries instead is to develop the skill of outlining in one's head and then committing those thoughts coherently to paper in a narrative form is great essay exam preparation. Any other thoughts regarding why outlining should be abandoned in favor of a summary?? I have been debating these questions aloud for days now and have decided it is unhealthy and unproductive. I welcome any and all insights, observations, suggestions (including the one to stick my head in the freezer or have a shot of bourbon), reflections etc.

[Jane in NC]

My son did write context pages for his history/Great Books study in 9th and 10th. In 11th, he chose to enroll in Western Civ I & II at the CC. He continues to read Great Books at home but the context page concept fell by the wayside.

 

We used the context page as a way to gather often disparate ideas and introduce others that might not otherwise enter the discussion, i.e. Eastern history or history of science.

 

Perhaps the need for a writing program is dependent on the student. My son is not a natural writer. When he is interested in something, he can be a good writer. If he is not interested, his work seemed forced. I found it wise, in his case, to focus on specific aspects of writing at different stages of his development. For example, we returned to sentence structure in 10th. It seemed that my son's maturity led him to want to express himself in clauses, but the clauses were awkward. One of the Stewart grammar books gave him the chance to work on specific skills.

 

I think that my son would agree with you that outlining can be replaced by the basic summary. But to reach this point, he had to figure out his methodology for approaching a research paper. Was it better to use 101 sticky notes or did he prefer index cards? Running notes by hand? Running notes at a word processor? He tried several approaches to collecting information before determining what works for him. I don't think that everyone succeeds by the same formula here.

 

Forget the head in the fridge and let's think about making eggnog from scratch. A little nutmeg, a little rum (or bourbon). Here's to your avatar!

Jane

[elizabeth]

Please thank your son as well. I plan to have dd undertake her first research paper in January and it will be helpful to pay close attention to effective information gathering methods for her. I always was and remain ,an index card kind of gal. I have colored, bound, unbound, lined, plain you name it. For me it was effective and permitted me to put disparate ideas together in a systematic fashion. I suspect that using this first experience with a research paper as a guidepost to discover what will be effective for her next year is a fine way to go. For now she steadfastly refuses to spend one more moment with Jensen's Writing . We are nearly done so it is of no import whether we use that or MLA handbook for the research paper. Thanks for letting me pick your brain . I love homemade eggnog but it leaves a telltale sign of inebriation with the foamy moustache it leaves behind. On the upside it would hide the perimenopausal gift of unwanted facial hair . I still think I might just stick my head in the freezer after all!

[Kareni]

I seem to recall that someone posted an example of their student's context page. Am I dreaming or did this post exist in reality???

 

You aren't hallucinating! It was in this thread in which you participated: Rhetoric Level "Great Books" Context Pages

 

I've never been a big fan of eggnog. I vote for something in the chocolate food group.

 

Regards,

Kareni

Edited November 13, 2009 by Kareni

[elizabeth]

I participated in the thread that I could not find...Hmmm. Thank you very much for finding the thread for me. Obviously all the chocolate , eggnog and bourbon in the world will not lift the fog from my brain. Yikes.

[Nan in Mass]

They are just a list of things that were happening around the time of the literary work. There wouldn't be much sense in putting them into an outline because they aren't connected. There is no need to show the relationships between the facts.

 

Mine aren't good at writing, so we've done various writing programs. Sigh. I'd love for my sons to be through with writing programs by the time they hit high school, but they still need that guidance. My youngest probably won't do a writing program this year because he is struggling to learn to write in French. If he gets to a really rudimentary level, I will be happy. Meanwhile, he is writing very short papers for great books in English. We'll work on writing as he does that. Next year, when the French is coming a bit more easily, I'm hoping to do another writing program of some kind. At some point, I will probably have him do the last few WS7 excersizes for great books. There is one about characters that would work. He has to write for science, also, but I mostly just look at the science part of that. He writes in French by hand (so he can use cursive) and does the rest of his writing on the computer. We've been working on mixing pictures into text this fall. Does that count as writing GRIN?

 

-Nan