English 102 at Ashland

Background Beginning about 1980, we got enthralled by computers, the academic world more than anyone else. We got the idea that nobody would ever write anything by hand again and computers would be our only way of communicating. Ohio public schools stopped teaching children handwriting because they were convinced that everything would be done by machine and picking up a pen would become an ancient, useless skill like churning butter. I see the results of this attitude every semester: If I give a quiz in class, half of the students do not have pen or pencil, and I suspect that they do not even own them. If we do an in-class writing exercise, several students will be shaking their hands in pain after five minutes. You would think they had stuck their hands into a fire. If a student must miss a class session, I get an email with the incredibly insulting question: “Did we do anything in class?” It would never d...

Any good musician, athlete, or artist will tell you the same thing: good equipment and setup are extremely important. They all believe in good quality specific tools, so I’m going to send you to the store. Walmart or Target (or the campus bookstore when we are back in session) should have everything you need. (By the way, I want to keep this project very inexpensive.) Pencils, pens, etc. A couple of common yellow #2 pencils would be a good choice (though you would have to figure out a way to sharpen them). Rollerball pens are also very good for what we are doing. There are several good brands, but I like the Pilot Precise V5 Rollerball Pen (you can get a package of seven in a variety of colors for about sixteen bucks). You might like to buy a single pen and try it out; if you don’t like it, you can try something different. Avoid ballpoints, especially the cheap give-aways from the bank. (The lady at my bank says she always brings in her o...

Years ago, I knew a guy who tried to learn tap-dancing by reading a book. It didn’t go too well. He had the history and the theory (sort of) but not the moves and rhythm. We have the same problem with this blog item: I can share some tips and tricks and tell you of some problems I have faced, but handwriting is a very physical skill and a lot of what you need will come from just watching someone do it (and watching yourself for places you can improve). But we have to begin somewhere, so here we go. Personal disclosure: I wasn’t taught very well either, so I began with two really big mistakes. I held the pen in a death grip so tight that my hand was sore after just a small amount of writing (and I destroyed several cheap fountain pens before I learned to lighten up). Not only that, but I somehow got the idea that the goal was to write very fast. So here is the first rule: Relax! Chill a bit! What we are trying to make Seventy-five or a hundred ye...

A little background Years ago, the in-class handwritten exam was standard in almost every college course. Across Ashland University, we are returning to that sort of assignment, and many other colleges are doing the same, to assess what students can do without ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, or any other machine doing the writing. What do you know? That’s the question we are working on. Here is my advice for doing well on these tests. Before the test It’s always OK to ask beforehand what sort of test it will be. If you are asked to discuss course content (lectures, reading, and so forth), spend some time reviewing your notes. Bring your own pen and paper. Bring extras—pencil points break and pens run out of ink. If your instructor has special requirements (blue book, for example), be sure to bring the right stuff. A good night’s sleep will help a lot. You probably do not want to tank up on coffee. ...

We are halfway through the summer (about six weeks until classes begin at Ashland), and if you are like me, you have not done much thinking about college yet. We need to begin getting our brains back into gear though. Quality reading this summer will help you a lot, and it does not have to be school stuff. In fact, it shouldn’t be. I am about halfway through Fahrenheit 451, and I admit that it is sometimes heavy going. It does stretch one’s mind, a good thing to do. You might prefer a collection of short stories. Write an actual paper letter to someone. We will be doing a lot of in-class handwriting this Fall, so you might as well get into practice. The Post Office can sell you an envelope if you do not have one. You know that you will need some preparation for Fall: new clothing, getting the computer fixed, etc. Might as well do it now and do it gradually. (If your computer needs service, you don...

Any time I tell someone I teach college English, I get the same question. Not “How do you get through reading all those papers?” Not “Are students less prepared than they used to be?” Not even “Freshmen are a fun bunch, aren’t they?” No, the question is always “What are you doing about Artificial Intelligence?” It’s a fair question, and it’s being asked on every college campus in the country. Before I get around to answering it, I want to deal with a couple of other questions. Why is A.I. so appealing? I don’t think most of my students sat down in April and said to themselves, “I think I’ll cheat my way through college.” The problem, though, is that many high schools have not done much with teaching students how to actually write things (your teachers may not have known either), and then you get to college and you’re in ...

One of my little projects this summer is finding some music to fill the ten minutes or so before the class begins. I have used YouTube “Ambient Music” in the past, but it is often computer-generated and forgettable. This time around I am looking for some genuine quality. It would be nice to do themes, about a week long. Perhaps one week of Beethoven and another of very young musicians and another of opera in public places. Maybe one of bluegrass and one of stride piano. I have a couple of reasons for doing this. One is that I believe an “educated person” knows more than simply how to punctuate a sentence correctly, and this is a great moment to broaden your horizons. (A while back, I used a movement from Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” for “gap music.” One of my students commented that it is now his favorite piece.) The other is that I think a good teacher transmits more than facts: I want to invite y...

I first ran into this Ray Bradbury novel when I was in high school—a very long time ago. Recently, when I was buying a graduation gift for a granddaughter, I was browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble and saw a 60th anniversary edition on the shelf. Just had to get it. (I think I have an older paperback copy somewhere, but this book seemed to deserve my time.) The title of the book refers to the temperature at which book paper bursts into flame. The book is set in some distant future when all the houses are fireproof and the government wants to control everything people think, so one of the best strategies is to burn books. Firemen (the book’s central character is a fireman.) no longer have water in the tanks of their fire trucks. They have kerosene. And their job, if anyone is suspected of owning books, is to go to the home of the offender and burn everything in sight. I remember reading this as a teenager and never really recovering ...

I’m sure you have noticed that we are setting records for high temperatures. You might not be able to avoid the heat (I remember one very hot summer in St. Louis when I worked in a shipyard and the temperature would drop to 85 at night!), but here are a couple of suggestions. First, of course, get plenty of water. Second, if you are able, do your outdoor stuff in early morning or very late evening. (No distance bike rides for me for a while.) And now one of the best suggestions: find a book or collection of short stories to read and hide out in some cool place, perhaps the basement. County libraries are usually air conditioned (and so is the Ashland U library). I will keep feeding you reading suggestions. (My latest book is Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Absolutely excellent.)

More shade-tree reading from Project Gutenberg. These are all free downloads—free because they are old enough to have gone out of copyright and become public domain. Later I'll probably suggest some that you must pay for, but I really like the idea of something for nothing. Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (This is the first of the Lord Peter Wimsey murder mysteries. I don't think the others are available in public domain, but if you like this one, you can certainly buy the rest online from Barnes & Noble or Amazon.) Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott (This is a very political science fiction about a world that only exists in two dimensions. There's no thickness to anything, only length and breadth. Yes, that really was the author's name.) Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) by Jerome K....