Seriously Funny              

To get full credit for this 750, you’ll need to answer prompts about both stories.

“Fatso”

Does the main guy change during the course of the story?  How so?  What factors cause the change?

What’s the arc, or movement of this story?  From what to what?

“I love you” appears in the second paragraph.  The story ends with another claim of love.  Do you believe him the first time?  The second time?  Support your answers with evidence from the text.

Fiction is “the lie that tells the truth.”  That is, it can speak truth or illuminate human behavior even if it’s not “realistic.”  Where’s the truth in this story?  How does it illuminate real human behavior and relationships?

“Kids’ Guide to Divorce”

At time, the characters seems to step outside of their respective roles of kid & mom.  Why do they do this, and what does it mean?

Lots of little connections and disconnections between the two characters in this story, small kindnesses and small meannesses and small negotiations.  What’s it all about?  How does it connect with the meaning of the story? What does it suggest about what it’s like to go through a divorce?

What does the girl really want?

This story has loads of pretending and imitation.  What’s that about, and how does it connect with the meaning of the story?

The story starts with salt and ends with a request for a drink.  Why?  Is this some kind of story arc?  How does it relate to the larger meaning of the story?

Okay, so I just finished reading through the surveys you filled out a couple of weeks ago. A few patterns emerged that I’d like to address. Representative comments from the surveys are italicized; my responses are in regular old flat-front font.

I hate annotating.

This one came up a lot. For some reason, a lot of people associate it with high school, which surprises me because I associate it with grad school. It’s one way—maybe the best way—to read deeply, and to process what you’re reading. But you know what? I’ll stop requiring it for now. If you get the value of annotating, cool. Keep doing it. If you don’t get it, you can stop.

I’m toying around with the idea of dropping the requirement of annotating, along with the contribution and learning summaries for next semester. My worry is that discussion will suffer. If you can show me that these things aren’t necessary for a full and vigorous discussion, I’ll probably drop them. But if discussion suffers, they will rise from the grave.

When we write papers, I think it would help if we had some more individual guidance.
Be more available.
You could help us learn better by maybe going over our papers with us one on one either before we turn it in or after.
A lot of times when I am still confused on your expectations.

A lot of people have questions. A lot of people want more feedback, especially on their essays. So here’s my question for you: what should you do about that?

One of the big things I’m trying to do this year is to move you from passive receiver to active learner. You have questions? Ask me. You want feedback? Schedule a conference. Between my official office hours and the time that I’m around my office, I’m available to talk with students about twelve hours a week.

Be your own best advocate. Take initiative.

I don’t like how contribution is tied to my grade. If I don’t want to talk, I shouldn’t have to talk.

Here are the objectives for every FYS: writing, reading, research, and oral communication (especially by way of discussion). I understand that talking in a whole group discussion might be outside of your comfort zone, but it’s an essential part of this class. If you told me that reading made you uncomfortable, I couldn’t very well excuse you from doing it, could I? The same goes for discussion.

Finally, though most of the comments were positive, it was clear that a few people harbor a deep, burning hatred for this class. If you feel this way, don’t make yourself miserable. Take a different FYS in the spring. You’ve got options.

Keep doin it big homie.

You, too, homeslice.

Here are the three Onion articles. Enjoy—

Article 1

Article 2

Article 3

And in case this is your first exposure to The Onion, below is  a little context so you don’t walk into class, proclaiming, like one of my students last year, “That was the weirdest newspaper I’ve ever read.”

The satirical newspaper The Onion was founded in 1988 at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Originally a weekly humor print publication targeting a local student population, The Onion is today a booming news organization known as America’s Finest News Source.

The launch of TheOnion.com in 1996 expanded its signature brand of satire to a national and international audience. Online expansion opened doors to growth in a multitude of areas. The company has become an omnipotent news empire, reaching millions of fans through print, broadcast, radio, mobile apps, books, and, in January 2011, two new television shows on the Independent Film Channel and Comedy Central. The website continues to be the nucleus of all The Onion does, described by TIME magazine as “the funniest site on the Internet.”