I’m teaching English this fall.

by Nathan Melcher     Aug 25, 2008

Today’s my first day teaching English at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN. I have three courses this semester, two composition and one English for academic purposes. That means I get to build on skills I’ve been using and honing the last two years plus diving into some new experiences and seeing what happens, too. On top of gaining overall teaching experience, the classes certainly are a resume builder, too - more teaching experience at a community college setting, teaching ESL students, and teaching online. So there’s definitely a challenge aspect here and more often than not, that’s an effective fuel for my creative fire.

Last week saw me busy putting finishing touches on syllabi, creating new lesson plans, and working on a manageable schedule to balance my new teaching duties with my current job at Excelsior UMC, not to mention speaking with Kelly so we have balance in our new marriage! I also did the whole meet-and-greet in the English department and paperwork pile in HR. People have been really welcoming and willing to help; I’m really getting a great teamwork vibe. It’s also nice to see familiar faces from my days at MSU - the super-cool Kris Bigalk and the super-awesome Kassie Duthie - and I’ve finally met MSU alumn, proven writer, and all-around nice guy, Thomas Maltman. There’s something to be said about working with colleagues who have a shared educational experience.

I’ll let you know how the first week goes, dear reader. Next week: the return of Your Monday Prompt and a few new surprises…

-nm

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Elmore Leonard on “said.”

by Nathan Melcher     Jan 17, 2008

The latest blog post over at ElmoreLeonard.com made by his assistant, Gregg Sutter, points readers to an audio interview with Leonard by Kendra Nordin about his Ten Rules of Writing, now in book form, plus a brief accompanying article by Elizabeth A. Brown. The article’s funny, and the interview is one of those rare instances one gets to actually hear Leonard speak. For a chance to both see and hear Elmore Leonard, check out the extras on the Out of Sight, Get Shorty (2-disc), and Jackie Brown (two-disc) DVDs.

This takes me back to my July, 2007 post, “Your words are dead to me,” I [something besides 'said'], a post I mentioned as one of my top ten favorites of 2007, in which I become a non-fan of the North Carolina educational system. They’re declaring common vocabulary to be “dead words” and that “said” is deader than dead can be. If a writer wants to use the word “awesome” instead of “wonderful,” the way to stop them isn’t to tell them not to do it. Talk to them about why word choice is one of the most important parts of writing as craft. They may be writing about a character who would only have words like “awesome” in their vocabulary. If that’s the case, then why stifle it? If it’s a matter of whether “awesome” is appropriate for an academic essay analyzing Young Goodman Brown, then it’s a matter of working with these young writers on establishing tone and voice, not editing self and vocabulary.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If a young writer desires to expand their vocabulary, they need to read more. As for “said,” I demand to know what magical word is supposed to be so much better.

-nm

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Entering my final semester.

by Nathan Melcher     Jan 15, 2008

I travel to Mankato in five hours to begin the final semester of my MFA in Creative Writing program. This semester sees me put my thesis to bed, take my final fiction workshop, and take a gigantic test in which I analyze six works of prose and poetry with the rigorous vigor they’ve always hoped one would show when examining them. While that’s what I’m doing, let’s talk about what my students will be doing this semester, dear reader…

I’m teaching an online-hybrid section of Introduction to Composition. It’s been interesting determining what lesson plans I’ve used in the classroom can easily be translated into online teaching, and coming up with new lessons has helped keep the process fresh. Students in my class will write four essays: an explanatory synthesis in which they explain a researched topic organize their essay by idea, a persuasive essay that will see them explaining a researched topic, showing both sides of the issue, then choosing a side to argue, a literary analysis of nonfiction novel Into the Wild to better understand creative writing craft, and a film analysis of The Incredibles to introduce them to analyzing visual media.

I decided this semester, I want my students to research topics that mean something to them. For the explanatory synthesis, students will research a social issue and explain it, while for their persuasive essay, students will choose a topic relevant to today’s college students to research and take a stance on. As for analyzing Into the Wild and The Incredibles, I want to use my discipline strengths - analyzing literature (Creative Writing MFA) and analyzing film (Film Studies BA) - to help me teach. I’ve used both literature and film in my Composition courses before, but not to this degree, and I’m excited.

When teaching academic writing, I feel one has to know how to do two things well - explain simply and gladly re-explain it again. Put your students on the same page as soon as possible, then be ready to get them there again should they stray. The four essays I’m teaching leads itself to this approach, and that’s going to help both my students and me.

-nm

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Choosing a novel to teach II.

by Nathan Melcher     Dec 12, 2007

I’ve solved my dilemma from last week, mostly due to a deadline. Book orders were due last Friday, and I’ve decided to go with Into the Wild. The parallels between the researched, journalistic approach Krakauer takes is simply too similar to the explanatory synthesis the students will be writing earlier in the semester to pass up. I think it would be good to show them a good example of the kind of writing they do in class; so much for the “When are we ever going to need to know how to do this?” argument. Plus, I believe time watching the film in class will be time well-spent, and the book is, simply, a good read. Krakauer uses solid prose to inform the reader, letting the McCandless story’s themes shine through at all times.

I stopped by the book store the other day, fully intending to pick up a new copy of the book featuring the film poster on the cover. However, I arrived to find that version side-by-side with the version I have. Paging through a copy of each, the pages are identical so I don’t need a new book, myself. That saves me $10 and it’s a helpful time saver, considering how much annotating I’ve done in my copy! It’s also helpful for students - they can pick up a copy of either cover, and the chances of finding it on-the-cheap used have officially gone up.

The class will likely read and analyze the book in mid-March, if you care to read it on your own and discuss it here, dear reader.

-nm

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How I survived my students workshopping my writing.

by Nathan Melcher     Dec 6, 2007

I’m completing my internship of an upper-division creative writing class this semester. The last two weeks, the class broke into small groups to workshop revised writing; my small group took work home to read and make notes, then assembled with one student (not the author) reading the work out loud as we followed along and made additional notes. The author gets to hear someone else read their work, plus has six readers giving their work a critical eye twice. After the reading, we gave notes, beginning with “pillows” (what’s working and why) before “bricks” (what’s missing, not working). The six students I worked with showed a definite interest in helping each other improve their writing, which is why I wasn’t nervous when they agreed to workshop something I’d written.

This was my first time being workshopped not by peers or instructors or Scrawlers writers, but by my students* - the undergrads who relied on me for notes on their work. We looked at twelve pages of the unfinished YA story I wrote a month ago and I was left pleased. Plenty of “pillows,” but the “bricks” were helpful, answering questions I had about the material, and giving me new ideas. Basically, the best aspects of a solid workshop.

Letting students workshop the instructor’s writing let’s them demonstrate what they’ve learned about workshop.

Having my students workshop instructor’s writing can go in two ways - really well or really… well, not well! I think it went well this time because of how I’d set up the workshop environment. It was about honesty, everyone speaking up face-to-face, and pushing ourselves to help someone improve their writing. If I’d set up a cutthroat environment of figuring out who has the best story or who we don’t like and thus shouldn’t give them de notes, it would have been a different story. They modeled the environment I created and showed not only do they get it, but that it works.

Letting students workshop the instructor’s writing is fun.

There’s something neat about an instructor who puts their own credibility on the line, to say yes, I’m on equal ground with you in terms of trying to improve so please tell me how I can do it. I think most students embrace this as a worthy challenge, not a chance to trash their instructor.

As for the story, these students were its first readers (aside from the fiancée) and the consensus is my story is one worth pursuing. If I continue with it, it’s likely novella length, which is a challenge for me to embrace.

-nm

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(* Yes, as an intern who is not giving them their final grade, they were not technically my students. Yet I was put in charge of them, set expectations of the workshop and facilitated it, so I’ll use “my” and run with it.)

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Choosing a novel to teach.

by Nathan Melcher     Dec 6, 2007

I plan to teach a novel in my Introduction to Composition section next semester as the basis for a literary analysis essay. My plan is to read and discuss a novel as a class to the point that students should have so much information at their fingertips, writing a literary analysis essay should be a snap. Basically, if students do the reading, participate in discussion, take notes, and make the connections, they should have a solid essay. My book order is due soon (like, now) so I need to finalize my novel choice within the week. I’ve narrowed my choices down to this list:

Animal Farm by George Orwell, 128 pages.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, 272 pages.

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, 224 pages.

These three remain from a narrowed down list of eight; I’ve been thinking about this for a while. Animal Farm uses clear metaphors and symbols, yet many students have already read this in high school. I haven’t read it in a while, but I believe I have plenty to say about it. Likewise, The Things They Carried is often read in high school, but the collection of short stories / chapters aids the story’s accessibility and it’s a great read. Into the Wild intrigues me because it’s journalistic nonfiction style reminds me of the first essay my students will write, an explanatory synthesis. This essay asks the student to work with multiple sources and organize by idea, much like this novel does. Plus, the film is phenomenal and, I feel, worth taking class time to watch and discuss.

I polled my Introduction to Creative Writing students on the list of eight today, and the two which got the most votes were Into the Wild and The Catcher in the Rye, which I haven’t read and I’ve decided I’m just too busy right now to properly prepare for the course. Consider this my official polling of you, dear reader. Which do you see working in a college composition classroom?

-nm

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