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(Please disregard this if you have received consistent 14s on your
journal entries.)
- This is an college English class -- composition and literature combined; thus, certain
expectations and challenges exist for those who want to gain skills that will enable them
to write successfully in both their classes and their professions.
- One rationale underpinning the use of the journal in IDS 150 is that it gives students
an opportunity to add easily earned points** to their scores in order to balance the low
scores they may receive on the first few seminar papers, as standards are quite high in
literature classes. All of who remain in this course are quite capable of meeting those
standards if they put energy and effort into their work.
| ***Easily Earned defined: To receive
a + (12 points) or a ++ (14) points on the journal, a student must show that she has put
some thought and energy into the journal entry. |
Non-energetic journal entry: Student 1:
"Writer's block is a common problem some authors believe. For example, one student
was afraid of writing because of an incident that happened when she was younger." |
| Thought and energy in Level One terms:
Student 2: "Susan, when she sits down to write about writer's block actually
names the authors: 'Many occasions of writer's block occur because of experiences in grade
school' (Burgess 22). Susan, then, actually tells us about her fear of writing which stems
from the time in first grade at Belmont Elementary where Mrs. Humpfry yelled at her for
not dotting her 'i's correctly, thus scaring her away from writing since that
time. We, as readers, then get to use our own imaginations; in other words, we get a
mental picture of the tiny, 6 year old in her new blue jeans and red checkered shirt from
K-Mart, her blonde pigtails askew because Manual, the kid behind her, liked to pull on
them during class. We hear and see Mrs. Humfry, a big hump of a woman, a giantess
perhaps, in a shapeless red and green flowered dress with big black buttons; this dress
doesn't quite cover her rolled-up, knee high nylons that she wore with her solid,
square-toed, brown brogans, which sounded like an Army captain stomping in front of his
troops when she stormed between the aisles of desks. Her voiced boomed across the room,
'Susan, you MUST dot those 'i's correctly, exactly one/eighth of an inch above
the line,' and with each word, she slapped a twelve inch, wooden ruler across the palm of
her hand, the slap of it, causing Susan to actually wet her brand, spanking-new blue
jeans, which she would never wear again because of her embarrassment. Nor could anyone
understand what dreadful malaise occurred since she did not return to school for the rest
of the term, two weeks of absences to be exact." |
| Okay, you might get another mental image, but at least with
the second of these entries, the reader has something to work with if names and
experiences are made by the author...that's energy which
generates clarity. We have no guessing going on here, no wondering what the author
means. (Formula: concrete language + experience = energy) |
Some other points to ponder:
| In a ten minute non-stop writing, the
average first year college student or in layperson terms, the English 101 student at SCC,
can write three hundred (300) words. |
| To rewrite that ten minute writing into something that an
audience would be interested in would take approximately one hour and
probably be in the four to five (400-500) range. |
| A second year college student, in other words, an English
201 student should be able to produce work that is more sophisticated than a 101 student
in a less amount of time, sophistication defined as more skilled due to a quarter's worth
of writing under their knuckles. |
| Journal entries that have under three hundred words
with little or no Level One writing are expected from the typical
English 101 student |
| Journal entries in the the four to five
(400-500) range are expected from the English 201
student -- specificity and examples are a must -- remember the formula. |
A non-Hallmark moment:
An English131 student was surprised when his journal entry
of 200 hundred words with no Level One or even Level Two ideas received a  - (check minus). His
exact words were, "Why did you give me a bad score." |
| Jan, as a teacher of English 82 through English 576, with
seventeen years of experience, and twenty years of schooling, was a bit taken aback to
discover that a young fellow in this day and age didn't understand that all actions have
consequences. Carrie sighed. |
| Moreover, he failed to recall the statement on the syllabus
that states: "our philosophy about grades is that you earn them....we do not
give them to you. |
A final thought:
| Students in Eng 201 may continue to write journal entries
that are empty of ideas and energy, and we will continue to give them seven (7) points and
below. |
| However, Carrie and I applaud and thank you when a "Ms
Straub" is given a voice (Constantine TJE4) or when we are introduced to new
ideas, such as "Simple Plan, or John Meyer" (Marsh TJE4). |
| And, yes, we do understand you have other classes, and work,
and lives. |
| We hope you understand that you really do have a writer
inside who really wants to write...you have to let it happen though, by providing time,
energy, and space. |
You are welcome to respond if you like:
Students were asked to: Please go to http://www.iraqjournal.org/photo/index.html
Go through the entire photo series. After that go to one of the news magazines and read
about the possible war that we will have with these people. Then discuss whether you
believe an essay can be more powerful than a series of photos about the same event. Use
exact examples and be specific, please. As you are reading, please note all level 1
occurences.
JEs by Former Students:
From: Joanna Constantine
Date: 2/22/2003
Words or Pictures?
I think each can be persuasive, each can be disturbing, and
each can make us feel uneasy or comfortable. Which is more powerful? That's a tough
question. At Time.com I read an article called, "Is Saddam a Menace or a
Nuisance?" In this article, the author, Tony Karon, says that the US feels Saddam is
a menace; whereas, the old European view is that he is nothing more than a nuisance. Each
view was represented well in the article. Mr. Karon used examples to back up both the
menace and the nuisance stance; however, it left me unconvinced of either.
I don't know whether war is right. I'm just a person who lives
a long ways from where the war would take place. It seems surreal to me. I feel like if
Saddam doesn't comply with the UN he should be punished, however, I don't know that
blowing up innocent cities filled with families and children is the right punishment. I
look through the photos and I see everyday people just like me. I see kids, parents,
women. They're not holding guns, they're not threatening me in any way. They're smiling,
waving, and being quite peaceful. Do the pictures make me think we shouldn't go to war.
No, not necessarily. War dates back to biblical times. It's often a needed means to and
end. I want to protect my family too, and if this means war with Iraq, then so be it. I
guess my stance on pictures versus words would have to be this: words and pictures
together seem to be the most moving to me personally.
Had Mr. Karon's Feb. 19, 2003 article about Saddam shown
pictures of Iraqi soldiers guarding weapons of mass destruction with Saddam's face painted
on the wall behind them, I think I can say for sure that I'd pick war! And had the photos
shown children crying, families torn apart, death and pain, I would've said war is so
unfair -- it's wrong. But if it said "these children were ravished by United States
soldiers who were following orders from President Bush. Many children lost their parents
and are now orphans," I would have been heartbroken and hated that my country did
this. But if the caption said, "Saddam Hussein said that any family who does not
follow him will be punished and this is the children whose parents didn't follow."
Well then I'd be pissed at Saddam and ready for the US to go kick some butt.
I guess what I'm saying is that words make pictures come
alive. Ok, there you have it, I picked which I like better. You can often give a very
clear picture with words, but a photo without words is left up to us to fill in the
caption, and it can often be incorrect. Photographs are a powerful tool, but without words
they're just still frames with no life. Words give photos energy, real life, and words can
tell us so much. I remember watching Pearl Harbor for the first time and being sickened by
the death and horror it showed. I have seen lots of Pearl Harbor pictures, read about it
in history classes, but with the movie, words written and spoken by people that we had
grown to love throughout the movie, it was heartbreaking to see the death and mass
destruction the Japanese had done. It made it so real for me. That movie was an essay,
written to be performed, and it was performed so well that it made me angry, disgusted,
and sad all at the same time. Words can be so powerful.
 
Brenda Garza
English 201
Who to Blame for the Broken Heart?
After viewing these photos the ones of the children especially broke my heart. The one
with the little girl laying there starving was so sad and it is only going to get worse if
we go to war with these people. In an article in the Spokesman Review it talked about
where they were already having food rationed. It showed a man pushing a cart from the
ration station which would feed his family one meal a day for one month. This car had
three paper sacks, like our brown paper bags, three small, maybe one gallon sized buckets,
one of flour, one of sugar, and one of rice, and a jug of oil. Can you imagine only three
sacks of food a month to feed your family? Seems impossible, but it happens this way.
Upon further viewing of these photos the children all have a look of fear to them. Even
though they seem to be playing they all appear to be watching out as if in fear of the
unknown. The women in the streets protesting all have a look of fear to them. Most of the
kid’s clothes are tattered and look unkempt, like the boy in Jumurriyah, where they
have raw sewage running through the streets. The only time the children show any lack of
fear was at the book market picking out books that cost their fathers $2:00, 1/3 of their
monthly income. Another very saddening sight was the conditions of their jails.
Yes, these people did commit a crime and need to pay for it, but they treated them
worse than animals. They had no beds or anything, just a plain old concrete floor to sleep
on. Yet then why did Saddam Hussein grant amnesty to all of them? Probably so they could
be soldiers is the United States goes to war with them. The exuberance shown in the faces
of their families was a nice sight to see. That is probably not a normal sight for them
living in constant poverty and fear. The people were actually praising Saddam for this act
not knowing what could really be the underlying reason. Then another sad sight was the
Doctor treating all the new cases of cancer that they expect are caused by the depleting
uranium in bombs that the United States used against them in the gulf war. If we go to was
with Iraq now the damages will be far greater and longer lasting.
So to answer the question would an essay be more powerful than pictures about the same
event? My own personal opinion is that a picture describes a thousand words and a million
ideas can be composed from them. I do believe that these pictures tell a pretty good
story, but they do not give a lot of facts. In that essence, an essay could much more
explain and give more graphical details than the pictures do. Yet I wonder as people in
such a prosperous nation if we could ever really understand the state that these people
live in and going to war with them will only enhance it. It may give them more freedom in
the end, but what will it cost them to get it -- Hundreds of lives of innocent children,
women, and men, all so a point can be proven the President of the United States?
A Teacher's Journal Response
From: Jan -- jstrever@scc.spokane.edu
Date: 2/21/2003
Purpose and Method=Madness or Audience Awareness?
or, Virginia, Are They the Same Thing?
Okay, I was just talking with Melony and Dulcy about this photo series of folks going
about their business. In one, we have a fellow talking to his buddy; in another, we have a
child with a shy smile; another picture offers two young girls going about the business of
being children .... Just think, if we go ahead and follow with the plan of attack that
Bush and others would have us do, each of these people could be lying lifeless, their
smiles forever obliterated. How can that be?
We have them here captured, and if you believe the latest in brain studies, their faces
will always be imprinted somewhere on our brains, waiting for recall. They could come to
us late at night when we are too tired to sleep, or perhaps, as we drive down Mission,
there on the stoop of the old brick building, the two young girls wave at us, not knowing
that they have died, that their murderers are casually cruising Mission. The photos do not
give us this reality; in fact, a contrary vision is presented to us: Look at these nice
folks, not a gun among them.
It's towards the end of the series that we begin to see that all is not well with their
world when barb wire covers fences and paint peels from walls. We notice, too, that not
everyone has a "cellie" attached her ear and that much of the clothing we are
shown is frayed and torn.
These are the enemies we are told -- kill or be killed we are told; if you aim the gun,
you must pull the trigger we are told again and again and again.
What is more powerful? The pictures presented here or words weaving their way across
the page. Dulcy tells me it depends -- the photos here are innocuous displaying little
power, and the caption beneath each photo is impotent, yet if we go to war, if we pull out
our massive weapons of destruction and use them, these folks here, who are much like you
and me, will come to us, will haunt our sleep, lost souls seeking refuge, and
perhaps they will even haunt our waking hours.
Words or pictures ... pictures or words ... are useless after the button is pushed, the
weapon is fired, or the bomb exploded. Before then, words and pictures can change the
course of human events if we take the time and energy to create them.
Until the next time,
Jan
Feb. 21, 2003
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