Care to compare English comp classes?

[Jenn in CA]

My 15yo son is taking freshman English comp at the local community college. So far it's been a good experience. I missed this class when I was in college (AP'd out), and my second freshman English class was actually Humanities which involved more lit analysis... so, anyway, I was surprised to find this class is all about the student's own personal experience, reflections, etc. The prof encourages the use of first-person "I", and wants the topics chosen to be personal; he wants you to draw conclusions that affect you personally, sort of. Definitely "essays" versus "reports."

 

I'm not complaining, I'm just surprised. None of my college assignments was like this; they were more objective and "critical analysis," esp. in my major (Art History), which was all writing. The one biology paper I wrote was definitely a comparative report.

 

The topics so far have been: Essay of definition (define a goal), short research essay based on interviews you conduct, argumentative essay (and you must have personal experience with your topic), and currently working on big 8-10 page research paper.

 

The other new thing has been that the emphasis is on contemporary issues that affect you personally, whereas all our reading & writing in our homeschool has been history-based. (For ex. one student's research paper will be on kayaking in the Sea of Cortez, because she's planning a trip there.)

 

Any other experience w/college-level freshman English?

[HollyinNNV]

Our babysitter also took a similar English course. I think it was 101. It was offered at a comm. college. I found the assignments (like you described) the worst kind of drivel. I can't stand courses which are based on self-indulgent forays into one's (limited) life experiences and opinions. I think that a few assignments like that are fine, but an entire course? (That was the sum total of her course.) How does that prepare you for the rest of your college career? Ick!

 

Well-this is just my personal opinion. Please don't get offended-anyone.

 

Holly

[Lisa in TN]

Both of my dc took English comp 1 with the same teacher at the same community college, but three years apart, and during that time the course changed quite a bit.

 

When my dd took the class, her early assignments were on personal topics: describe an experience you have had, describe a person you know, etc. Later on, the class moved into more formal, academic writing.

 

When ds took the class three years later, he didn't get assignments on personal topics. He had four major papers to write: a descriptive essay on a famous person, a compare/contrast essay on two museums, an argumentative essay, and an analysis of a novel. He also had quite a few shorter writing assignments.

 

I don't know why the nature of the assignments shifted, especially since it was the same teacher at the same school. I think the teacher would have permitted a more personal approach, using "I," in the first two papers, although ds chose to use the academic approach from the beginning. But it was certainly different from my dd's earlier experience, in which the assignments were explicitly personal.

[kokotg]

I've taught freshman comp classes before, and one thing I'll say is that the level of writing for most of the students (and this was at a very selective college) was so low that they were just not ready for any kind of serious critical analysis. They had to learn how to form a coherent sentence first. I wonder if the rationale is that students should learn how to structure an argument well first with an "easy" topic before they try to form an argument about something intellectually challenging....that they have to know what a thesis looks like (and virtually none of them do) before they can come up with a good, original one.

 

I'll also say though that I gave a grand total of one assignment where I asked students to write about something personal. I was shocked at how confessional some of them were--and then I had to GRADE their heartbreaking stories about when their best friends died in 4th grade or whatever. "Yes, that's very sad, but it's also full of sentence fragments--C-!" Shudder. I think training wheels are necessary, but after that I went with easy but impersonal stuff.

[Kelli in TN]

My daughter is taking Eng. Comp 1 at CC this semester. I posted on here a few weeks ago because I was concerned that all of the writing was subjective and I was not certain she would be ready for sophomore level English if the university she ends up at insists on counting this for college credit.

 

However, at this point in the course she has had to do some research. The prof. picks the topic so she does not get the luxury of picking something near and dear to her heart!! She had to do one on the causes of rising fuel prices, I thought she come unraveled over that one!!! I am feeling much better about the course now.

[Lisa in TN]

My dc's teacher let them choose their own topics for their position papers, but first she handed out a long list of topics that were not allowed. The "forbidden" list included most of the controversial social issues of the day, such as abortion, stem cell research, gay marriage, etc., all of which the teacher felt had been overdone.

 

So my dc ended up picking economic issues. I believe one of them wrote about public vs. private funding of sports stadiums, and the other wrote about the use of eminent domain for private development.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My daughter's Comp I course seems to be too much "navel gazing" as a friend of mine would say. My daughter isn't thrilled with the class and neither am I but it's just the first one. She's decided to intentionally get another professor next semester though.

 

To make it extra bad, imo, is that this professor has yet to give any grades so the students can't see what she wants vs what she doesn't, how they did so they can try not to make the same mistakes, etc. That is another reason my daughter is unhappy with the course. Next week is fall break and still not a single grade <sigh>

[Beth in SW WA]

I AP'ed-out also and never took English 101 (20 years ago at WWU :))

English 201 was lots of writing w/ no literature component.

 

My pastor's son was working on his CC English 101 paper at church the other night on his dad's computer in the church office. He was writing about how his favorite music "moves" him (reggae). I was appalled! They are actually paying money for this nonsense.

 

Venting to self....

Edited October 9, 2008 by Beth in SW WA
typo

[Laura K (NC)]

Most of my papers in college have been research papers. Every now and then I get a teacher who requires a reflection paper. Those are so wide-open, I much prefer a research paper. There's something liberating about not having to write your own opinions. :) I was so struck by the idea of writing in the 1st person that I began the paper by saying it had been 20 years, or since my freshman composition class, since I had last written a paper in the 1st person. I deliberately chose an autobiographical theme, so the comment was relevant. The spectres of old grammar teachers hovered, though, tsk-tsking me each time I typed "I" or "me." It was difficult!

 

My freshman composition class 20 years ago required a lot of opinion papers. I don't recall any research papers. I think that's because the teacher assumed we would write plenty of research papers in other classes (and that was indeed the case for me). Writing a reflection paper lends itself more to artistic creation. I don't think of it so much as navel-gazing. I had a really, really tough freshman comp. professor, and mere navel-gazing would not have resulted in an A paper. My reflection papers are revised more than my research papers. There's more a responsibility on the student to impress with one's own thoughts and style, rather than relying on others' words.

 

I am working on a reflection paper right now, but not for an English class. I have been "researching" for this paper for a few weeks now. I want to see what other folks have written on this subject to make sure I'm not far off. If I were well-read, I would have already read these things, so I don't think so much as "research" as becoming literate very quickly. :) There is so much potential to shine in these kinds of reflection papers. My incentive in my freshman composition class was to impress my hard-to-impress teacher. I wrote a parody poem as a commentary on a poem we had to describe. I wrote a paper in southern dialect. I wrote a dialogue between two people to describe yet another poem. There is a lot of freedom in writing out of the blue like that, and a lot of opportunity to do really good work.

[Miss Marple]

Talked with ds's girlfriend last night. She is taking comp at our local university (small town branch). Her professor prefaced her class with an assertion that they (the university) were not trying to persuade anyone to lose their faith or be less than respectful of the student's beliefs. Here are two of the assignments so far:

 

1. Watch the movie American Beauty *in class* and write a paper over its symbolism (why watch a movie that many would not see on their own because of their moral beliefs?)

 

2. Write a paper on "Why I am Not a Christian". This was prefaced with the discussion that the students need to "put their emotions aside" and write from an objective viewpoint. Hmmm...this sorta assumed beliefs are all emotionally based!

 

So, are they learning to write? I don't know, but they are certainly forcing these kids to stand up for their beliefs. My ds's girlfriend ended up leaving class during the movie. I was proud that she was willing to stand up for her beliefs and take the grade hit.

[Jenn in CA]

This is sad!

 

All the responses have been interesting and enlightening... guess there's more than one way to teach English comp.

 

I've always said there are two parts to school: Your education and your piece of paper (degree), and the two can be very different. Students are responsible to get their own education, regardless of what they're taught, while jumping through the hoops for the piece of paper.