Mark, are you familiar with the work of Chip Scanlon or the late Don Murray ? Some of what you describe reminds me of Murray's concepts of pre-writing or rehearsing.
Thanks for the kind shout-out. I love how you're thinking about Highsmith's "slender ideas" in a pedagogical context. It's so much nicer than the term we use on my campus: "low stakes writing." I also share your frustration with the 5 paragraph essay. I often think about how our genres of writing squeeze out all the fun. I think of it like running on a treadmill. In my opinion running outside is so fun (you go places, see interesting things, get fresh air), but the treadmill is a tool of masochistic futility. Weird metaphor, I know, but I think of the 5 paragraph essay as a tool that feels virtuous but doesn't get us anywhere. I get that it's useful and my students cling to it for dear life because it's so familiar. Still there are so many more interesting forms of writing and communication -- like your presentation assignment.
Your Substack is definitely shout-out-able! I like the metaphor.
We had a whirlwind of ten prezies this past week, and I always enjoy them because they really show the variation and breadth of interests that the students have. They're the first fruits or the stretching and learning that we go through in the "boot-camp" of the initial sessions. Other students come up in the future. (I have 17 students this semester. A nice sized class.)
I have a bit of a lead to other resources on cars and social critique, spiced with a bit of horror, I think: Petros, George, and Deanna Lehman. Carnivora: The Dark Art of Automobiles. 1st ed. New York: Barany Books, 2007. Apparently the book accompanied an exhibition that premiered in Detroit in January 2008 concurrent with the Detroit International Auto Show. I haven't laid my hands on it yet, but Hugo Schuhmacher's work is included, I've learned.
Mark, you mentioned briefly the power of conversation, so I have to mention ours: you and I bounced back and forth via email ... surveillance, Zuboff, Crawford, Derrida ... and something in that, when processed on a long walk around town, unlocked a problem in the story I’m writing. You just never know where inspiration comes from! I’m going to bounce your e-type quest off some friends of mine. Stay tuned on that one.
Mark, are you familiar with the work of Chip Scanlon or the late Don Murray ? Some of what you describe reminds me of Murray's concepts of pre-writing or rehearsing.
I'll look at Don Murray's stuff. Took a look at the Wikipedia entry on him. Thanks for the pointer!
The Essential Don Murray (book) seems to cover everything. I get the feeling he was a bit of a rebel in the day.
Thanks for the kind shout-out. I love how you're thinking about Highsmith's "slender ideas" in a pedagogical context. It's so much nicer than the term we use on my campus: "low stakes writing." I also share your frustration with the 5 paragraph essay. I often think about how our genres of writing squeeze out all the fun. I think of it like running on a treadmill. In my opinion running outside is so fun (you go places, see interesting things, get fresh air), but the treadmill is a tool of masochistic futility. Weird metaphor, I know, but I think of the 5 paragraph essay as a tool that feels virtuous but doesn't get us anywhere. I get that it's useful and my students cling to it for dear life because it's so familiar. Still there are so many more interesting forms of writing and communication -- like your presentation assignment.
Your Substack is definitely shout-out-able! I like the metaphor.
We had a whirlwind of ten prezies this past week, and I always enjoy them because they really show the variation and breadth of interests that the students have. They're the first fruits or the stretching and learning that we go through in the "boot-camp" of the initial sessions. Other students come up in the future. (I have 17 students this semester. A nice sized class.)
I have a bit of a lead to other resources on cars and social critique, spiced with a bit of horror, I think: Petros, George, and Deanna Lehman. Carnivora: The Dark Art of Automobiles. 1st ed. New York: Barany Books, 2007. Apparently the book accompanied an exhibition that premiered in Detroit in January 2008 concurrent with the Detroit International Auto Show. I haven't laid my hands on it yet, but Hugo Schuhmacher's work is included, I've learned.
Mark, you mentioned briefly the power of conversation, so I have to mention ours: you and I bounced back and forth via email ... surveillance, Zuboff, Crawford, Derrida ... and something in that, when processed on a long walk around town, unlocked a problem in the story I’m writing. You just never know where inspiration comes from! I’m going to bounce your e-type quest off some friends of mine. Stay tuned on that one.
Walking does the trick, doesn't it! The jostling, perhaps, shakes ideas into new grooves.
Some of our greatest thinkers were great walkers (Coleridge and Dickens come to mind).