So this semester in UW was way better than I expected since I had heard horror stories from friends about their UWs (don't worry, they weren't in your class). I genuinely had a good time. I learned a lot about structure as well as read a lot of really interesting texts. I liked that UW was not a conventional writing class, in that we got to do fun things like make blogs and powerpoints and talk to Stephanie Klein on aim. It was a little scary to find a topic to write about when there weren't really any rules, but I'm really happy with what I ended up writing about and the way we wrote our papers was really helpful. I never had to spend an enormous chunk of time working on my paper, which alleviated a lot of the stress. How the paper is broken down was really helpful for me.
One of my favorite things about our class is the dynamic in the class. Everyone was fun and nice and I think we all got along really well, so that added a lot to the class. You made it really fun too since you're young and fun and class was only super serious when it had to be. Most of the texts we read were really interesting, and my apprehension about taking a 'women's autobiography' class turned out to be unfounded. My only suggestion would be to do a little more grammar, because I'm a nerd and like it. Other than talking about fanboys, we really didn't do too much. I don't think the class needs a lot more, but a little bit more would be beneficial. UW was probably my favorite class this semester. So I hope this is helpful!
See you tomorrow!
Lindsay
I just realized that this entire entry was addressed to you, but I figure that's ok since I can't imagine anyone else actually reads this.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Symposium Response
Hi,
Sorry this is late!
I enjoyed our portion of the symposium. I thought it was really interesting to get a deeper look into everyone else's topics, especially since these powerpoints were more in-depth than the e-posters we previously did. I think everyone did a good job, and it was fun to answer questions about my project because it meant that people were actually interested in the topic. The hour and fifteen minutes went by really quickly. Though having more people would have been cool, I think we had a pretty good amount of people wander through. I know Laura said that someone brought up a point about her project that she was going to use in her paper, so clearly it was beneficial to have such an interactive presentation.
The session I sat in on was not quite so interesting. I know this is echoing what we talked about in class, but while the topics of the papers were interesting, listening to them being read was not. The moderator also kept prodding the audience to ask more questions and prolonged what was already a kind of painful experience. The group of three presenters did try to engage the audience, which was good, and I think that if more of that happened it would not have been so boring. The symposium could be more successful if it was more of a showcase of what each class did over the semester. I don't know anything about any of the other UW classes so it would be interesting if each class had a presentation about their topic and what they did and the topics that people wrote about (kind of like what we did...).
I hope this is sufficient. I had a genuinely good time at our session.
Back to my children's lit paper about death in Harry Potter...
Sorry this is late!
I enjoyed our portion of the symposium. I thought it was really interesting to get a deeper look into everyone else's topics, especially since these powerpoints were more in-depth than the e-posters we previously did. I think everyone did a good job, and it was fun to answer questions about my project because it meant that people were actually interested in the topic. The hour and fifteen minutes went by really quickly. Though having more people would have been cool, I think we had a pretty good amount of people wander through. I know Laura said that someone brought up a point about her project that she was going to use in her paper, so clearly it was beneficial to have such an interactive presentation.
The session I sat in on was not quite so interesting. I know this is echoing what we talked about in class, but while the topics of the papers were interesting, listening to them being read was not. The moderator also kept prodding the audience to ask more questions and prolonged what was already a kind of painful experience. The group of three presenters did try to engage the audience, which was good, and I think that if more of that happened it would not have been so boring. The symposium could be more successful if it was more of a showcase of what each class did over the semester. I don't know anything about any of the other UW classes so it would be interesting if each class had a presentation about their topic and what they did and the topics that people wrote about (kind of like what we did...).
I hope this is sufficient. I had a genuinely good time at our session.
Back to my children's lit paper about death in Harry Potter...
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Definitely Straight Up and Dirty
So Sunday night in between writing pages of my lovely paper on Pat Summitt, I read the first chapter of Stephanie Klein's Straight Up and Dirty and so far the title is pretty accurate. I was surprised with her candor about, well, everything. She has a pretty good outlook after coming off of a divorce. Klein is lucky that she had her own career and, as is said several times, that there were no children involved, but I can't imagine how hard it was for her to have an abortion at the same time as her marriage was falling apart.
But then in that same chapter, Klein describes how her lover used Pam as lube. Interesting juxtaposition. The beginning of the chapter is poignant and a good introduction to Klein's life, so it seems unnecessary to shock the reader with such scandalous material. Finding out that the 'massage oil' was really olive oil was a little superfluous. She goes into great detail about her bikini wax, more detail than the reader really needed. It's definitely an interesting read, like nothing I've read recently (which has consisted of Pat Summitt's books as well as young adult books like Harry Potter and His Dark Materials for a paper for another class).
On a different note, the actual book is super cool. I really like that the outside is all photos. While we're not supposed to judge books by their covers, this one definitely impresses me with its cover. I guess that goes along with Klein being a flashy gal. Someone who writes about Pam cooking spray in the first chapter of her book the way she does would not be satisfied with a plain cover. I can totally see how this used to be blog. It has the same hip, sassy feel that a lot of the blogs I read have (yes, I read like six blogs regularly now because of this class.).
Okay, as I currently watching Gilmore Girls and eating Lucky Charms and I need to change out of my gym clothes, I am going to conclude this entry. I'm leaving in half and hour for the Nationals/ Phillies game. Go Phillies!!
-Lindsay
But then in that same chapter, Klein describes how her lover used Pam as lube. Interesting juxtaposition. The beginning of the chapter is poignant and a good introduction to Klein's life, so it seems unnecessary to shock the reader with such scandalous material. Finding out that the 'massage oil' was really olive oil was a little superfluous. She goes into great detail about her bikini wax, more detail than the reader really needed. It's definitely an interesting read, like nothing I've read recently (which has consisted of Pat Summitt's books as well as young adult books like Harry Potter and His Dark Materials for a paper for another class).
On a different note, the actual book is super cool. I really like that the outside is all photos. While we're not supposed to judge books by their covers, this one definitely impresses me with its cover. I guess that goes along with Klein being a flashy gal. Someone who writes about Pam cooking spray in the first chapter of her book the way she does would not be satisfied with a plain cover. I can totally see how this used to be blog. It has the same hip, sassy feel that a lot of the blogs I read have (yes, I read like six blogs regularly now because of this class.).
Okay, as I currently watching Gilmore Girls and eating Lucky Charms and I need to change out of my gym clothes, I am going to conclude this entry. I'm leaving in half and hour for the Nationals/ Phillies game. Go Phillies!!
-Lindsay
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
