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I fear that poor dd hasn't suffered enough to get an A in English comp


katilac
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English comp is a two-semester cycle at this university, with the first semester heavy on cringe-worthy 'personal viewpoint' assignments - the more confessional, the better. 

 

And the prof seems really disappointed that he doesn't have a class full of traumatized survivors or anti-social rebels , lol. His examples of 'good' themes could be ripped from the pages of True Confessions magazine, and he seems convinced that all of the students must have dirty little secrets, but are refusing to recognize Comp 101 as a 'safe place' to spill them. 

 

Granted, dd is DE, so she is only 16 and somewhat lacking in life experience, but this is a freshman class and everyone else is pretty much 18 or so, and depressingly straightforward and middle-class in his view. If anyone has grown up in a war zone, battled a drug addiction, or suffered multiple STDs, they aren't sharing with the class, and he's vocally not happy about it. 

 

I'm not squeamish at all about her being exposed to adult themes, but it's a bit much to expect that all 18-yr-olds will have experienced adult themes, or acute trauma.  I don't see how this is preparing her for the 2nd semester of research and academic writing. 

 

I have apologized to her for her boringly stable upbringing, but fear she might have to resort to a lively fantasy life in order to pull a B. 

 

 

 

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The class is about writing.  I'd suggest to her that she let her imagination go wild and create her own "reality".  Good practice for fiction writing.  IMO if the professor isn't finding their writing interesting, then he's not providing enough interesting and varied writing prompts.   It's still so early in the semester. 

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Are you sure he's not joking?

 

Sadly, yes. I had high hopes that he was the first class or two, but they're a month into assignments and feedback at this point. 

 

 

And, the two semesters of writing don't seem to have anything in common ime. The first one does not prepare for the second. 

 

I absolutely agree. She could have skipped this one as far as the second one is concerned. 

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English comp is a two-semester cycle at this university, with the first semester heavy on cringe-worthy 'personal viewpoint' assignments - the more confessional, the better. 

 

And the prof seems really disappointed that he doesn't have a class full of traumatized survivors or anti-social rebels , lol. His examples of 'good' themes could be ripped from the pages of True Confessions magazine, and he seems convinced that all of the students must have dirty little secrets, but are refusing to recognize Comp 101 as a 'safe place' to spill them. 

 

Granted, dd is DE, so she is only 16 and somewhat lacking in life experience, but this is a freshman class and everyone else is pretty much 18 or so, and depressingly straightforward and middle-class in his view. If anyone has grown up in a war zone, battled a drug addiction, or suffered multiple STDs, they aren't sharing with the class, and he's vocally not happy about it. 

 

I'm not squeamish at all about her being exposed to adult themes, but it's a bit much to expect that all 18-yr-olds will have experienced adult themes, or acute trauma.  I don't see how this is preparing her for the 2nd semester of research and academic writing. 

 

I have apologized to her for her boringly stable upbringing, but fear she might have to resort to a lively fantasy life in order to pull a B. 

Oh my goodness.  That's hilarious.

Maybe she can invent something, and then coyly tell the Professor that it is "about a friend".   ;)

 

If nothing else, seriously, go GET a True Confessions magazine or something similar.  Let her look at the styles and then write something in that vein.  It doesn't have to be true.  The best writers haven't experienced everything they write about.  She can still have opinions. 

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This is a horrible trend that I noticed a few years ago at the elementary level. I was looking at a book about upping scores on writing tests and they described levels of increasingly edgy topics with a clear indication that the more sensational, a higher grade would result. It's bad enough at the college level but it was a huge turn-off to realize that this was being encouraged for younger kids.

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This is a horrible trend that I noticed a few years ago at the elementary level. I was looking at a book about upping scores on writing tests and they described levels of increasingly edgy topics with a clear indication that the more sensational, a higher grade would result. It's bad enough at the college level but it was a huge turn-off to realize that this was being encouraged for younger kids.

 

The one semester my youngest ventured off to our local high school for English 9, he came home furious because he had just read Night, which is about the Holocaust and he had to write about his own experience with loss. He created quite the melodrama about losing his phone.

 

The sense I get from this experience and what my older kids have said is that many teachers do not expect students to have enough academic background to write about anything other than personal experience.

 

We have talked about these types of assignments as part of playing the academic game and I whole-heartedly encourage creative writing.  A student that has experienced severe depression, sexual assault, or the suicide of a loved one is not likely to share that experience with a classroom full of strangers, and my apologies, an idiot instructor.

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My ds learned the valuable lesson of tailoring his writing to his audience in freshman composition. He wasn't asked to write about personal experience. His assignments revolved around politics. Students who wrote essays that did not perfectly match the professor's opinion failed. It did not matter how well they actually wrote. Quoting Fox News got extra points. It was a dreadful class, but I was pleased ds figured out how to get through and do well.

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My 15yo dd was joking today that her current Comp 101 assignment is to read an article about a failing public high school and comment on it, "Utilizing your personal experiences with public school education" as a basis for comparison. She was giggling that she should write a piece indicating that based on her personal take, after the bell rings, students throw all their papers into the air, leap onto their desks and start belting out a musical number - since her only exposure has been the occasional Disney movie. :lol:

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This is a horrible trend that I noticed a few years ago at the elementary level.

.

I read an article once about how the stories of those seeking refugee status now have to be filled with extreme trauma. Regular levels are no longer enough to qualify.

 

(I think it was this one

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/12/nyregion/immigrants-may-be-fed-false-stories-to-bolster-asylum-pleas.html )

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The sense I get from this experience and what my older kids have said is that many teachers do not expect students to have enough academic background to write about anything other than personal experience.

 

 

I think this is correct - and, of course, very sad.  I think another component is that many students are not accustomed to writing anything of length or substance, so having them mine personal experiences is a desperate attempt to get something longer than 250 words that actually says something, whether it's worth reading or not.  (I'm afraid the other option here is that the prof is just looking for salacious fodder, which is creepy and pitiful.)

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Well, this doesn't really apply to college, but the "true confessions" theme applies.  My DS, when he went to public school 3rd grade last year, was asked at the beginning of the year to write a story about his deepest secret.  On his paper, he wrote:  "If I wrote about by deepest secret, it would not be a secret anymore."  And that's what he turned in, LOL~! 

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My ds learned the valuable lesson of tailoring his writing to his audience in freshman composition. He wasn't asked to write about personal experience. His assignments revolved around politics. Students who wrote essays that did not perfectly match the professor's opinion failed. It did not matter how well they actually wrote. Quoting Fox News got extra points. It was a dreadful class, but I was pleased ds figured out how to get through and do well.

 

Good for your student!  My apologies to the professors on the board, but that is one prof I'd be skewering on Rate My Professor - on my way out the door. :tongue_smilie:

 

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DS18 said his first writing assignment in freshman comp this year was to do a Personal Evaluation. He took it to the writing lab to have it reviewed before turning in. The aide warned him he would probably fail because he hadn't listed enough flaws in his personality.

 

He said he made up something pathetic and got an A.

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Well, this doesn't really apply to college, but the "true confessions" theme applies. My DS, when he went to public school 3rd grade last year, was asked at the beginning of the year to write a story about his deepest secret. On his paper, he wrote: "If I wrote about by deepest secret, it would not be a secret anymore." And that's what he turned in, LOL~!

Indeed.

 

I can almost always guess the big secret in tv shows and books anyway. It's whatever is taboo or shocking and in the public eye at the moment.

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Your DD could write about the trauma of being homeschooled, never leaving the house, being forced to sit alone with her books day after day...

 

;)

....writing narrations, performing literary criticisms on classical works of fiction, studying Latin, and CLEPing out of advanced Chemistry and Calculus. I can sense the existential angst. Oh, the shame!
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Oh!  Have her go onto Post Secret and pick a really good one to turn into her life trauma.  The thought just brings me to the giggles, it would be so fun!

 

She could secretly be gay.....or have a porn addiction which has wracked up thousands of dollars of credit card debt under a strangers name because she stole the card to keep her addiction.....or transgendered and never told anyone.....or a fatal disease that she is keeping from her family to shield them from the pain....I mean why not go all out Soap Opera!  You could turn it into why she had to be homeschooled, the pain of society was just too much :nopity:

 

Wouldn't it be fantastic to live a complete alter ego for only one semester with a professor who was such a crack pot that he might actually believe it?!?  What a fantastic prank that is completely non-malicious.  Or perhaps I am just board with writing assignments all about literary analysis after three weeks of school starting....

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Your DD could write about the trauma of being homeschooled, never leaving the house, being forced to sit alone with her books day after day...

 

;)

She could, but that would fall under creative writing! Her reality had much more to do with schooling in her pajamas while curled up next to a wood stove, two or three field trips a month, a busy schedule of 4H and church youth activities.

 

Sorry, Dr. X, no trauma to report here....

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She could, but that would fall under creative writing! Her reality had much more to do with schooling in her pajamas while curled up next to a wood stove, two or three field trips a month, a busy schedule of 4H and church youth activities.

 

Sorry, Dr. X, no trauma to report here....

Nope, don't believe you. We all know homeschoolers keep their kids locked away in closets all day.

 

:D

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Next up is a personal essay. Not just ANY personal essay, but an exploratory one that starts with an unanswered question, teaches you something you didn't know about yourself, and leads to discovery of a deeper truth. 

 

That seems to be a tall order for one week and one thousand words. 

 

Edited to add that you should all feel free to enter my 'give her a great prompt' contest. Shiny internet medals for the winners! 

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Nope, don't believe you. We all know homeschoolers keep their kids locked away in closets all day.

 

:D

 

We live in a junky old farmhouse (maybe some angst there?) that doesn't have closets big enough to lock a kid away in. Seriously, they barely hold a few coats. Although perhaps she could write something about the size of the typical 1850 wardrobe (and the tiny amount of space needed to store it) compared to the luxurious walk-in closets full of clothes we  (talking the theoretical "we", certainly not me!) have today.

 

Today at cc, her psych professor gave them the old "life boat" scenario, although this one was updated to be a convenience store full of 10 patrons, a short bio on each, a bomb about to explode and kill half of them. The students were instructed to "play God" and in groups of 3, determine which should live and which should die. 

 

My first reaction was to reassure dd that although it was against our religious beliefs to even contemplate "playing God", that I agreed with her that it was okay to do the assignment. Then she told me how much she had learned about her 2 partners by who and how they picked to live/die. I told her that even way back when I was in college, there were always those few professors who felt they just had to push the envelope. I think they perceive that it makes them somehow edgy and current, when unfortunately their edginess has become much of a sameness.

 

I'm sad to say, but all this stuff reminds me why we chose to homeschool in the first place. And making me remember that by the time I was finally out of grad school, I had decided that all college consisted of was a minimal test of academics and a whole lot of testing just how many hoops the student would consent to jump through before wising up and chucking the whole business.

 

Just out of curiosity, are parents allowed to post reviews on Rate My Professor?

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We live in a junky old farmhouse (maybe some angst there?) that doesn't have closets big enough to lock a kid away in. Seriously, they barely hold a few coats. Although perhaps she could write something about the size of the typical 1850 wardrobe (and the tiny amount of space needed to store it) compared to the luxurious walk-in closets full of clothes we  (talking the theoretical "we", certainly not me!) have today.

 

Today at cc, her psych professor gave them the old "life boat" scenario, although this one was updated to be a convenience store full of 10 patrons, a short bio on each, a bomb about to explode and kill half of them. The students were instructed to "play God" and in groups of 3, determine which should live and which should die. 

 

My first reaction was to reassure dd that although it was against our religious beliefs to even contemplate "playing God", that I agreed with her that it was okay to do the assignment. Then she told me how much she had learned about her 2 partners by who and how they picked to live/die. I told her that even way back when I was in college, there were always those few professors who felt they just had to push the envelope. I think they perceive that it makes them somehow edgy and current, when unfortunately their edginess has become much of a sameness.

 

I'm sad to say, but all this stuff reminds me why we chose to homeschool in the first place. And making me remember that by the time I was finally out of grad school, I had decided that all college consisted of was a minimal test of academics and a whole lot of testing just how many hoops the student would consent to jump through before wising up and chucking the whole business.

 

Just out of curiosity, are parents allowed to post reviews on Rate My Professor?

 

Obviously the professor hasn't seen Star Trek.   The only way I would complete the assignment is if someone played Spock or someone refused to accept the scenario like Capt. Kirk.  

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Next up is a personal essay. Not just ANY personal essay, but an exploratory one that starts with an unanswered question, teaches you something you didn't know about yourself, and leads to discovery of a deeper truth. 

 

That seems to be a tall order for one week and one thousand words. 

 

Edited to add that you should all feel free to enter my 'give her a great prompt' contest. Shiny internet medals for the winners! 

 

What. The. Heck.

 

Give it a rest, Deepak.

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Next up is a personal essay. Not just ANY personal essay, but an exploratory one that starts with an unanswered question, teaches you something you didn't know about yourself, and leads to discovery of a deeper truth. 

 

That seems to be a tall order for one week and one thousand words. 

 

Edited to add that you should all feel free to enter my 'give her a great prompt' contest. Shiny internet medals for the winners! 

 

This one sounds familiar, but not from a Comp course.  I think it was one of the prompts for a college application essay.  Does it look familiar to anyone else?  I have no way to check as dd wrote the essays, but it does sound familiar.

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Next up is a personal essay. Not just ANY personal essay, but an exploratory one that starts with an unanswered question, teaches you something you didn't know about yourself, and leads to discovery of a deeper truth. 

 

That seems to be a tall order for one week and one thousand words. 

 

Edited to add that you should all feel free to enter my 'give her a great prompt' contest. Shiny internet medals for the winners! 

Question: What is your reaction to the Ferguson shooting?

Then, her answer can lead her to discovering that she is deeply prejudiced which she had no idea was true...

 

Or something about Chic fil A as a question. The result can be that she is actuallly a lesbian...which she never realized.

 

Hey, they are ideas! And spectacularly personal and shocking. Do I get a medal?

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Obviously the professor hasn't seen Star Trek. The only way I would complete the assignment is if someone played Spock or someone refused to accept the scenario like Capt. Kirk.

I was thinking that a posthumous Medal of Honor was awarded this week to a man who refused to accept such a scenario during Vietnam.

 

I always found the lifeboat drill dire and uncreative. The teacher insists that their parameters must be met. But why? In some actual lifeboat situations the wounded were loaded into the boat and the whole took turns kicking it towards sea lanes.

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We live in a junky old farmhouse (maybe some angst there?) that doesn't have closets big enough to lock a kid away in. Seriously, they barely hold a few coats. Although perhaps she could write something about the size of the typical 1850 wardrobe (and the tiny amount of space needed to store it) compared to the luxurious walk-in closets full of clothes we  (talking the theoretical "we", certainly not me!) have today.

 

Today at cc, her psych professor gave them the old "life boat" scenario, although this one was updated to be a convenience store full of 10 patrons, a short bio on each, a bomb about to explode and kill half of them. The students were instructed to "play God" and in groups of 3, determine which should live and which should die. 

 

My first reaction was to reassure dd that although it was against our religious beliefs to even contemplate "playing God", that I agreed with her that it was okay to do the assignment. Then she told me how much she had learned about her 2 partners by who and how they picked to live/die. I told her that even way back when I was in college, there were always those few professors who felt they just had to push the envelope. I think they perceive that it makes them somehow edgy and current, when unfortunately their edginess has become much of a sameness.

 

I'm sad to say, but all this stuff reminds me why we chose to homeschool in the first place. And making me remember that by the time I was finally out of grad school, I had decided that all college consisted of was a minimal test of academics and a whole lot of testing just how many hoops the student would consent to jump through before wising up and chucking the whole business.

 

Just out of curiosity, are parents allowed to post reviews on Rate My Professor?

 

You know, I *never* saw stuff like this in college (and it was within the last decade). My psychology professor talked about things like the Milgram experiments and such that I found deeply shocking, but they were psychology and not basically experimenting on US. 

 

Anyone can post reviews on Rate My Professor (it is anonymous), but I would actively encourage your dd to post rather than you, with thoughtful critiques of the professors and what they teach. If I saw a psychology class where it was mentioned that they did this experiment, and the review itself was well-written and avoided personal attacks, I would actively avoid it. I really don't like it. 

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The problem with all of the prompt lists we can find is that they don't meet the 'then/now' criteria: what do I know/realize now, that I didn't then? You are supposed to come the realization while writing the essay. So, to use one of the examples from this link, 'why I fast' wouldn't work, because you already know why you fast before you began the essay, it is already part of your life. 

 

There is a huge emphasis on then/now and discovery. You are supposed to discover a greater truth as you write, not write about something you have realized or discovered in the past. 

 

Ironically, they are really setting students up to lie about a greater truth.  :001_rolleyes:

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Gently ... your daughter is the one who should be thinking about what she's going to write.  

 

Just because someone is doing something, like fasting, doesn't mean that they've recently thought deeply about why they do it.  With thinking about it anew, it's very possible to learn something new about yourself or discover a deeper truth.   The first step in creative writing is thinking.  I really don't see anything objectionable to this writing assignment.  Maybe it's just me.

 

Another quick example.  If you've been assigned the chore of feeding the dog every day, you've done it because you've been told to do it and it's your job.  Thinking more about it, maybe you realize that you love the excitement of your dog when anticipating being fed and you realize that you're loved a little bit more than others in the family because you're the one who feeds him.  Maybe this leads to you realizing that you like being appreciated and who's better at showing appreciation than a dog!

 

Anyway, I'm sure your daughter will come up with something.  : )

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Gently ... your daughter is the one who should be thinking about what she's going to write.  

 

Just because someone is doing something, like fasting, doesn't mean that they've recently thought deeply about why they do it.  With thinking about it anew, it's very possible to learn something new about yourself or discover a deeper truth.   The first step in creative writing is thinking.  I really don't see anything objectionable to this writing assignment.  Maybe it's just me.

 

Another quick example.  If you've been assigned the chore of feeding the dog every day, you've done it because you've been told to do it and it's your job.  Thinking more about it, maybe you realize that you love the excitement of your dog when anticipating being fed and you realize that you're loved a little bit more than others in the family because you're the one who feeds him.  Maybe this leads to you realizing that you like being appreciated and who's better at showing appreciation than a dog!

 

Anyway, I'm sure your daughter will come up with something.  : )

 

My daughter is thinking about what she's going to write. I'm b*tching about the assignment on a message board. B*tching on message boards is all that lies between me and a life of crime some days, so I'm gonna keep it up. 

 

(although I will also say that I have a lot of writing experience, and brainstorming ideas is generally encouraged in both the academic and professional worlds, there's nothing amiss with it at all)

 

Your example wouldn't work for him, b/c he wants you to come to the realization as you write. You're not supposed to realize that there's more to feeding the dog than duty, and then write about it, kwim? It feeds intellectual dishonesty, because no one is truly going to put in hours of work and risk their grade if they haven't already considered the subject and decided that their is a realization to be had. I just hate the pretense. Plus, some profs do make it clear that they prefer true confessions. 

 

The biggest sticking point for me? It's not meant to be a creative writing class, it's meant to be an academic writing class. I've taken both and taught both, and each can be valuable, but I personally disagree that a creative writing course builds the necessary scaffolding for more advanced academic writing. Nothing is completely separate in any subject, but if I can only take one course before Algebra 2, I'd rather it be Algebra 1 rather than geometry.  

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Maybe, she can explore this thread and come up with an idea. Pick up a beloved children's classic that she can learn to detest. Explore why it is loved by so many and then take on the deeper possible psychological meaning. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein gets my vote. Explore the author's life. Pull in his many other occupations such as song writer of the song "A Boy Named Sue." There's a feeling of neglect and abandonment somewhere out there.

 

She could also closely analyze a favorite song by Adele, Sting, or Pink Floyd song and realize that the music isn't quite that clever. The songs "Something Like You", "Every Breath You Take", and just about any song from The Wall album by PF would do.

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My daughter is thinking about what she's going to write. I'm b*tching about the assignment on a message board. B*tching on message boards is all that lies between me and a life of crime some days, so I'm gonna keep it up. 

 

(although I will also say that I have a lot of writing experience, and brainstorming ideas is generally encouraged in both the academic and professional worlds, there's nothing amiss with it at all)

 

Your example wouldn't work for him, b/c he wants you to come to the realization as you write. You're not supposed to realize that there's more to feeding the dog than duty, and then write about it, kwim? It feeds intellectual dishonesty, because no one is truly going to put in hours of work and risk their grade if they haven't already considered the subject and decided that their is a realization to be had. I just hate the pretense. Plus, some profs do make it clear that they prefer true confessions. 

 

The biggest sticking point for me? It's not meant to be a creative writing class, it's meant to be an academic writing class. I've taken both and taught both, and each can be valuable, but I personally disagree that a creative writing course builds the necessary scaffolding for more advanced academic writing. Nothing is completely separate in any subject, but if I can only take one course before Algebra 2, I'd rather it be Algebra 1 rather than geometry.  

 

Ugh.  I had a whole reply written and then I hit some wrong key and in getting back here it all disappeared.

 

So, short version.  Vent away.  And no problem with brainstorming at all.  When dd needed help brainstorming, my role was more one of asking her questions to help draw out ideas from her.  Just a different approach.

 

I see it differently since I don't see the essay "instructions" as saying that the writer can't think about what they learned, discoveries and deeper truths before they commence writing.  IMO it's only gibberish which can be written without first giving thought.  My interpretation of the assignment is different.   I also see the assignments you've mentioned here as perfectly appropriate for a college composition class.  I would not see these introspective assignments as necessarily appropriate for a high school assignments as the kids are on a different level there.  

 

I would hope that if you do post a review on RMP that you'd mention that you're the parent of the student so at least other students will have some reference.  I would hope that if the student wrote the review this early in the semester that they would mention that the class is still underway and maybe go back to update their review if their opinion of the professor changed.

 

All of the above is just my opinion and I'll leave you to vent as it's definitely better than a life of crime.  :001_smile:  

 

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Your DD could write about the trauma of being homeschooled, never leaving the house, being forced to sit alone with her books day after day...

 

;)

 

I gave this improv prompt to my homeschool drama class...My mom is SOOO mean.

 

They came up with

 

She made me get up at like 10 am!

 

She made me CHANGE OUT OF MY PAJAMAS!

 

She made me do sword fighting for PE instead of archery.

 

etc.

 

They were great!

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  The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein gets my vote

 

My husband hates that book so much, lol. I had forgotten that SS wrote A Boy Named Sue as well; yes, issues! 

 

 

Ugh.  I had a whole reply written and then I hit some wrong key and in getting back here it all disappeared.

 

So, short version.  Vent away.  And no problem with brainstorming at all.  When dd needed help brainstorming, my role was more one of asking her questions to help draw out ideas from her.  Just a different approach.

 

I see it differently since I don't see the essay "instructions" as saying that the writer can't think about what they learned, discoveries and deeper truths before they commence writing.  IMO it's only gibberish which can be written without first giving thought.  My interpretation of the assignment is different.   I also see the assignments you've mentioned here as perfectly appropriate for a college composition class.  I would not see these introspective assignments as necessarily appropriate for a high school assignments as the kids are on a different level there.  

 

I would hope that if you do post a review on RMP that you'd mention that you're the parent of the student so at least other students will have some reference.  I would hope that if the student wrote the review this early in the semester that they would mention that the class is still underway and maybe go back to update their review if their opinion of the professor changed.

 

All of the above is just my opinion and I'll leave you to vent as it's definitely better than a life of crime.  :001_smile:  

 

 

BBM: the prof is explicitly stating, in class and on his web page, that the thinking/pondering/discovering  should not occur before they commence writing.  

 

And I don't mean to pick on your post, but why do you think my brainstorming approach isn't similar to yours? I haven't talked about it. I'm not writing up lists of prompts for her, and I'm not seriously running a prompt contest with shiny medals. I'm also not one of the posters who talked about RMP. 

 

Does anybody know the Mr. O'Neal character, the hippy-dippy English teacher from Daria? I think he mentored this prof! 

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Then my understanding of the prompt was wrong.  And I was wrong to make assumptions.  And I was wrong as it was two other posters who referenced RMP.  My apologies for all of this.   Do I need to clarify that at no time did I think you were serious about the shiny medals?   lol    I hope your daughter benefits from the class in some way.

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Next up is a personal essay. Not just ANY personal essay, but an exploratory one that starts with an unanswered question, teaches you something you didn't know about yourself, and leads to discovery of a deeper truth. 

 

That seems to be a tall order for one week and one thousand words. 

 

Edited to add that you should all feel free to enter my 'give her a great prompt' contest. Shiny internet medals for the winners! 

 

Wow, you're kidding, right?! Yowza. I find this appalling. 

 

As a PP said, *real* survivors of trauma aren't likely to want to tell strangers ... 

 

I thought those stupid, invasive, all-about-me essays my son had to do for college apps were the last he'd see of this kind of baloney. 

 

In fact, he's taking (second-semester) freshman comp right now. Guess what he had to write an essay on yesterday? Hesiod's Theogony. I don't think it will be too traumatic for him :D. (He picked a classics course to satisfy this requirement :) .)

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My husband hates that book so much, lol. I had forgotten that SS wrote A Boy Named Sue as well; yes, issues! 

 

 

 

BBM: the prof is explicitly stating, in class and on his web page, that the thinking/pondering/discovering  should not occur before they commence writing.  

 

And I don't mean to pick on your post, but why do you think my brainstorming approach isn't similar to yours? I haven't talked about it. I'm not writing up lists of prompts for her, and I'm not seriously running a prompt contest with shiny medals. I'm also not one of the posters who talked about RMP. 

 

Does anybody know the Mr. O'Neal character, the hippy-dippy English teacher from Daria? I think he mentored this prof! 

 

BBM stands for?

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