I'm an English professor, ask me anything.

[DrZeeLit]

I don't have a television. I miss baseball. I'm gnawing my fingernails while I read really rotten essays written by freshmen. I need to get a life. Ask away.

[LiberteToujours]

1. Do you hate it when people say

Anyways instead of anyway? Your instead of you're?

[DrZeeLit]

5. YES! n/t

[indigobusiness]

6. How about then for than?

that kills me

[DrZeeLit]

25. Can't get my red pen out fast enough!!!! Hate it!

[Iris]

215. Will you explain the proper use of the word "myself"?

[Ladyhawk]

2. Must are queschuns have prawper grammer and spellang? nt

[DrZeeLit]

7. Always appropriate, unless...

... you're drunk because the Red Sox are winning (or the Yankees are losing).

[serryjw]

15. Tell us all about Karl Rove's use of

linquistics....and how do we defend against this Bushit!

[DrZeeLit]

29. Wouldn't know about ...

Rove. I pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Linquistics? Does Bush know what that means? Does Rove?

[serryjw]

132. You disappoint me.........

Probably one of the most dangerous men in America. That is why they call him "Bush's Brain". Everything that is said or done by the administration comes from the language of KR. Many articles of his use of linquistics/framing have been written...here are a few


http://www.alternet.org/story/17574

http://www.alternet.org/story/16947

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=16285

http://www.awitness.org/journal/framing_ftaa.html

[indigobusiness]

3. Is my participle dangling?

And why do effect and affect bend my mind?

[DrZeeLit]

9. Tricks...

Affect = the verb
Effect = the noun (as usual, however, there are exceptions)

[LiberteToujours]

16. Your explanation is effecting an effect on me.

[indigobusiness]

48. It is the exceptions

that do the bending.

[indigobusiness]

57. It are the exceptions?

That is a collective, a single group and therefore 'It is' would be correct... yes?

[indigobusiness]

191. Sorry...my convoluted effort to be funny came out

all wrong.

[fishnfla]

4. what courses do you teach? nt

[DrZeeLit]

23. Currently ...

three courses in Writing and Composition.
I love teaching writing. I have taught literature courses and teacher training in the Language Arts.

[Redneck Socialist]

8. Baseball is on the radio and I like it that way

Can you explain Deconstructionism to me? On second thought please don't. Any good essays in that pile?

[DrZeeLit]

12. Radio and Deconstruction...

...now there's a sign that we'd need a good thesis statement.

Sorrrrry on the deconstructionism. Never something I understood.

I agree about baseball on the radio. My junior high school crush was Vin Scully. What a voice!

I don't have a radio here in my office. I was going to search for a good streaming site, but thought it best not to make myself nuts.

[Tweed]

152. Scully donated money to Bush

Very sad, I learned that tonight.

[DrZeeLit]

155. Yeah, I saw that list. Bummer!

[olddem43]

10. What is "ain't" a contraction of?

[Zensea]

22. Am not

Am not becomes am't becomes ain't.
Ain't is actually more correct than aren't.
Do you say I are not?
Then why say aren't I?

Why I'm not & not also I am't?
Am't turns into ain't because of the way the mouth forms sounds.

It used to be considered correct to say ain't until some king decided it was incorrect and decided by fiat to enforce.

Back when kings made grammar rules.

[LiberteToujours]

26. But you can say

I'm not
or
We aren't

[Zensea]

36. that doesn't contradict what I wrote though.

Hey, I'm just describing the way it was explained to me in my senior year of college when I took a grammar class for my English major.

To refine it. think of it this way.
Why can you say he's not & he isn't, but there is not a corresponding contraction anymore of also being able to say I'm not and I am't?

[LiberteToujours]

41. Good explanation!

[DrZeeLit]

English teachers do not officially recognize "aint."

It's a lot like not recognizing Poland as a big time member of the coalition.

[Ladyhawk]

11. Kindly explain the difference between "blond" and "blonde" and

the difference between American and English rules of quotation mark usage.

[DrZeeLit]

18. Ah ha!

Blond = the recognized spelling for a "person having light colored hair." Blonde = the feminine spelling -- used when referring to a woman

[Ladyhawk]

21. Gee, you is a English professor.

Could you please answer my other question? :)

[Ladyhawk]

31. So, should I alter the spelling of my nickname to "Ladyhawke," then?

After all, I am a blond blonde and that's the spelling of the movie title.

[DrZeeLit]

34. Wouldn't your posts revert to zero?

The final "e" is a bit more romantic, isn't it?

[Ladyhawk]

40. Yes and yes. Also, I'm not sure how to make an "E" with slashes.

[Zensea]

30. Quotation marks is a question for a proofreader

which I am.
You can find plenty of this by googling the internet.
Short answer is it's got to do with typesetting and the English do it correctly/consistently based on actual writing while us Americuns do it inconsistently based on how type is set.

[Ladyhawk]

44. I like the way the English use quotation marks.

Hell, maybe we're the ones driving on the wrong side of the road? :wow:

[aquart]

186. Blond is male. Blonde is female. French, not English.

[DrZeeLit]

196. Hmmm, Je disagree, mon ami...

... my Random House Dictionary of the english Language, College Edition was the source of the answer given above. Yes, in English you may refer to a woman in a sentence by omitting the "woman" and calling her a "blonde" and supposedly we should all know what you mean. That doesn't, however, mean that we will. It may have been derived from the French, but as with many words, we napped it.

[benito]

13. If I spell

Tony Bliar like this, do I get extra credit?

[DrZeeLit]

38. Not unless it's on a bumper sticker and

the rest of the catchy slogan is butt funny.

[NYC Liberal]

14. Is our children learning?

[DrZeeLit]

19. Not by the looks of this pile of freshmen "papers"... n/t

[benito]

17. If we have

English majors in the U.S., do they have German majors in Germany or French majors in France?

[DrZeeLit]

42. Good question!

Perhaps it's more like our degrees. Ours are really in English Literature, aren't they? I'd have to go find the actual wording (up in the attic somewhere, covered in dust).

[Kellanved]

178. yup

Actually you do have German Majors and French Majors too.

Anyway, in Germany it would go like this:
Germanist (German Major)
Anglizist (English Major)
Amerikanist (American Literature Major)
Romanist (Major in Roman languages; French, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish)
...

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

20. When and what was the famous vowel shift?

I've heard of a shift in the vowel sounds taking place in English hundreds of years ago (can't remember which century,though). Were the vowel sounds pre-shift closer to the vowel sounds as voiced in German or Dutch?

[DrZeeLit]

50. We need a linquistic referral ...anyone? anyone?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

149. Linguist to the rescue!

The Great Vowel shift occurred independently in English and German (and Dutch?), but not in the Scandinavian languages.

English: house
German: Haus
Norwegian: hus

English: mine
German: mein
Norwegian: min

but the ultimate effects were slightly different in English and German. (I'm recalling a class I took about thirty years ago, so bear with me.) But anyway, the Scandinavian languages preserve the older vowel patterns in most cases.

[DrZeeLit]

156. What's beyond the gold star? You get it tonight!! Bravo!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

170. Thank you! Thank you!

(takes bow)

Now for my question. Has anyone asked you where you teach? (I haven't read the whole thread.)

[DrZeeLit]

183. Do I give away that much personal data?

Actually, I think I divulged my location once on this forum. Is that a bad idea? I don't really know. Let's just say, I'm in a small, state college in Vermont. This is true. I promise. I love Vermont!

[Memekiller]

24. Is science fiction considered literature?

[DrZeeLit]

47. Yes. Most colleges and universities have many courses now.

The professor in the office next door to mine is a recognized expert in Sci Fi and children's lit. The lit field is really widening.

[mitchum]

217. Unfortunately that is true

But we have to make that stodgy old canon SEXY, don't we?
Tis a pity...

[politicat]

27. Is there a rule for using a final -t instead of a final -ed in past tense

verbs? Such as burned or burnt, learned or learnt, loaned or lent?

Pcat

[DrZeeLit]

52. I have never taught the "t" ending.

I'd be very happy to look that up for you. Just looking at the three words you listed, "burnt" is the only legitimate possibility. The other two wouldn't pass muster. You might find them in colloquialisms, dialogue, or poetry, but they are not standard.

[politicat]

58. This is what I get for going to non-US schools...

Thanks, but I'll just look it up in the Gregg.

Pcat

[aquart]

190. "Whereas others are instructed in their native language,

English people aren't." (Professor Higgins, My Fair Lady)

That's why you hear so-called educated Englishmen saying "orientate" when they mean "orient" and "off-ten" when they mean "off'n."

If English has an unwritten rule, it is that the quicker the better is operative. We contract, we simplify. We get it done.

Only people who are terrified and uncertain will opt for a more complicated or difficult spelling, pronunciation, or grammatical structure in English.

[LibLabUK]

180. Interesting

"Such as burned or burnt, learned or learnt, loaned or lent?"


"Just looking at the three words you listed, "burnt" is the only legitimate possibility."

Learnt and lent aren't acceptable in American English?

What about spelled and spelt?

The differences in the language between the US and UK are quite interesting, although one thing that is a little confusing to me is your "light on fire" as opposed to our "set on fire".

Your title is another, you say "English Professor" and we would say "Professor of English", your way meaning that you were English and a professor.

[July]

181. "Lent" is standard English. nt

[DrZeeLit]

197. Yep, correctomundo

My only excuse for pawning off the answer was that I really had not thought about that "t" ending in ages. I just take it for granted I will know when I see it misused. Tsk, tsk. I should have looked it up!

Yes... to lend... pp and pt = lent
Also...to mean pp and pg = meant

They are irregular verbs. No rules control the use of "t" at the end to form the past participle. A person must learn these, word-by-word. And learnt is NOT kosher; it's learned.

And so it goes.
Peace.

[aquart]

187. Excuse me? What the hell standard are you using?

The homogenization of irregular verbs into regular ones may be inexorable, like having a GAP in every mall, but it's disgusting to embrace it.

The ignorant and unsure are being allowed to rewrite the language and its history.

[kixot]

78. I just recently went over that myself.

It's the difference between the simple present and the past participle tenses of irregular verbs. Kind of like the difference between went and gone.

[LDS Jock]

176. hung and hanged.. explain to me

why people say the crimal was hanged yesterday and she hung the picture yesterday and they both sound normal. What should it be?

meant to respond to original post, sorry

[aldian159]

203. Living things are hanged

Non-living things are hung.

[indigobusiness]

212. Living things are also hung...

but that is thread-locking territory.

[olddem43]

28. Is it OK to end a sentence with a preposition?

Or is that a situation up with which we should not put?

[DrZeeLit]

32. I hate it. I can't do it. But... it's becoming..

.. dare I say... almost... acceptable.
I just bit my red pen.

[pagerbear]

71. It's that norma loquendi thing we talked about before

[LiberteToujours]

33. LOL! Very nice. :)

[bloodyjack]

39. LOL!!!! smooth!

:thumbsup:

[Tom Kitten]

35. Dear DrZeeLit

Dear DrZeeLit,

I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa clause.
Papa says, "If you see it in the Lounge, it is so."
Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa clause?

[DrZeeLit]

45. Only in the movies.

We have the dependent clause and the independent clause. Which one do you think Santa would most resemble?

[mermaid]

37. OK, Here's A Question For You...

WHY do the words "weird" and "seize" not follow the "'I' before 'E' except after 'C,' and in words like 'neighbor' and 'weigh'" rule??

[DrZeeLit]

46. The basic answer is...

...that English is truly the most fucked up language in the universe, as far as spelling is concerned.

[mermaid]

59. LOL

Actually, my favorite is this...true story...

In Freshman English, in college, there was a guy in my class who perpetually used double negatives, like, "there ain't no such thing..." etc.
So the professor lectured that a double negative, in english, is actually a positive...in most languages, said he...a double negative is a positive, except in Russian, Yiddish, and Italian, where a double negative is an IMPERATIVE NEGATIVE...
But, continued the professor...in no language on Earth is a double positive ever a negative.
So I shot back, "Yeah, right!"
:P
I know, i'm a smart-ass!!

[olddem43]

66. I think double negatives are still a no no.

[no_hypocrisy]

43. Do you think all that Jay Gatsby did to win back Daisy Buchanon was

noble, romantic, and beautiful, or do you believe his dream and his actions were futile and immature? And do you think that Daisy Buchanon was worth all that Gatsby imagined her to be?

And is it me or do you recognize some character traits of both Tom and Daisy Buchanon in George W. and Laura Bush (besides the obvious death driver parallel)?

[DrZeeLit]

49. Good use of literary stereotypes to analogize political realities.

I always wanted to like Jay Gatsby. My master's thesis covered a great deal about American literature and the idea of the frontier. Jay is in the same mold as the "nature named" characters: Hawkeye, Huck, Deerslayer, Starbuck -- the celibate adventurers, the American Adam figures. So, the pursuit of Eve, of any woman, is the pursuit of death. Daisy was Jay's invitation to destruction.

Oh, that was too heavy. I am going for a glass of wine right now.

[no_hypocrisy]

54. One more thing please. I'm obsessed with the themes of the illusion of

love and the illusion of life in The Great Gatsby. Every character fails to attain either or both illusions. Does this vacuum of existence mirror "real" (that is, ordinary nonliterary) life? If it does, then is this one reason why this novel is so haunting (in your personal and professional opinion)?

[DrZeeLit]

61. Two things...

First of all, the book absolutely reflects Fitzgerald's world view and the time frame -- the boom after the war. We are still feeling the effects of loss, so it is haunting. You're always going to find some literary critic who will disagree, but the images are universal and therefore, haunting. A body floating in a pool. So much potential, so much loss. World War I devastated the world in a way we will never understand -- death machines, wholesale slaughter of civilians, mutilation -- nothing like this had ever been seen or experienced. The youth of the world marched off in a haze of innocence and died horrible deaths only to lay bloated and festering in "no man's land." Some believe Fitzgerald's book mirrors that scenario.

The reason it haunts many readers is that the scene is continually playing out in every boom and bust, war and "peace." I feel the same way about this way. It's ravaging the very soul of youth. They were supposed to march in victorious with flowers thrown at them. But they are coming back, if not in coffins, maimed and ruined.

Maybe .. only those of us with souls and consciences are haunted?

[indigobusiness]

51. Serious baseball question...RBI/RBIs

Why do some people say RBI for RBIs?

I figure it is because they try to drag the grammar of the phrase into the categorical abreviation.

RBI is short for RUN BATTED IN...never RUNS BATTED IN. To pluralize it, add an s, like anything else - RBIs, regardless of the represented phrase.

[DrZeeLit]

55. Agree

They are trying to avoid the grammar situation. It's a lot like the infield fly rule. Who really wants to deal with it?

[indigobusiness]

62. But it is so annoying to have this new wave of announcers

smugly trashing a traditional use of a fundamental baseball term, which would be bad enough if they were right, but they are WRONG.

What's worse, it has persevered, proliferated even...and is making me crazy.

Idiotic.

[RetroLounge]

53. Raymond Carver vs. Charles Baxter

Who do you enjoy reading more?

RL

[DrZeeLit]

64. I'm a Carver fan.

Carver has great advice for writers, too. He's the "no adverbs" guy.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

56. Why do you have a comma splice in the thread title?

I guess an answer to that will suffice. Thank you.

theProdigal

[DrZeeLit]

63. Oh, like a lemming, I was following the DU "ask me anything" mantra. Duh.

Yep, it's a comma splice. And so is that last sentence. I am full of it, aren't I?

signed,
not your run-of-the-mill pompous ass

[Township75]

60. When should I use "which" as opposed to "that"?

Also, where did you get your degrees from?

[DrZeeLit]

68. I'm starting a movement.

I'd like everyone to use "that" a lot less. In fact, work on it -- no "that" unless the use has been thoroughly considered.

The official grammar rule is....

Use "that" to introduce essential (restrictive) clauses.
Use "which to introduce nonessential (nonrrestrictive) clauses.

essential = don't use a comma
nonessential = ordinarily surrounded by commas

Only the report that I wrote recommended that concept.
The agency, which was created in 1978, helps businesses.

Yes, sometimes the ugly EXCEPTION comes into play.

The car which hit me rolled into thae shallow ditch.

Personally, I'd read it aloud a few times before I made the choice.

And my pet peeve -- using "that" in a dependent clause referring to a human...

The man that bought my house. OOOOOh. The man WHO bought my house.

End of lecture.

[miss_kitty]

65. Okay Here's my question what is with the brackets ?

I see this when I am reading and can't find the rule
"[A] State cannot be expected to move with the celerity
of a private business man; it is enough if it proceeds...with
all deliberate speed."

Sometimes, the pop up at the beginning of a word of course i
can't find a quote right now-'[O]thers' or '[A]ll' or '[h]e'
etc-I think you get it...

[DrZeeLit]

73. Brackets..

like parentheses are enclosures. But brackets have fewer and more specialized uses. Brackets and parentheses are not interchangeable.

1. Use brackets to insert comments or explanations into quotations.

Explanation: technically you are altering a quotation, so you need to set apart what you are adding so a reader can distinguish it from the original wording.

2. Use brackets to avoid one set of parentheses falling within another.

3. Use brackets to acknowledge or highlight errors that originate in quoted material.

This is when you see the italics SIC ("thus") enclosed in brackets immediately after the error.

Note: you get to see this a lot when * is quoted, since he makes a lot of errors.

[miss_kitty]

81. Okay I got that-and I've used them correctly in the past

but why around the first letter of a word? that's my big puzzle-you see it a lot in legal writing. I can't believe legal decisions are rife with grammatical errors that call for an inordinate amount of bracket usage...:)

thanks!

[bain_sidhe]

83. OOH! OOH! I know! ::waving hand wildly::

I type too slow.

Brackets are used when the quoter has altered something to make the quote fit the structure of the sentence, but not anything in the quote itself. In your examples, the letter in the brackets was probably the opposite case (i.e., the "A" was probably a lower case "a") in the actual quote, or it was another word that wouldn't make sense without the preceding sentence, which isn't in the quote.

Right, Professor? Do I get a gold star on my forehead or something?

[DrZeeLit]

89. Gold star! Gold star!

Yes! The rule says to use when altering, and that includes trying to fit or ease the quotation into the sentence by changing the first word.
Bravo!

[bain_sidhe]

96. ::preening:: I'm teacher's pet!

But don't tell my hubby. He's a teacher too, and I told him he couldn't have pets. Well, actually, I said, "no petting" but I'm pretty sure "no pets" is what I meant to say.

[miss_kitty]

138. thanks...and check my signature line

I think my “A society of sheep must in time beget a government of wolves.”–Henry de Jouvenel (1876-1935, French statesman) trumps your "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." Edward Murrow (1908-1965 American Journalist)...:)

[bain_sidhe]

142. ::humph:: Fine! Be that way.

But I AM going to look it up, because I've never found an online source for that Murrow quote - and I wonder if he was quoting Jouvenel when he said it. It was supposedly in one of his speeches about McCarthy, but the only one I found transcribed on line didn't have it.

[miss_kitty]

165. I can't remember where I found mine

it was a signature line somewhere-I saw your line and thought WOW! someone else knows that! cool! It's soooooo true. look what we have now!

[Ediacara]

67. Why are "funner" and "funnest" not considered "real" words

When they follow a standard formula for English adjectives that express more:_____ and most:______?

[DrZeeLit]

86. Has to do with the number of syllables.

But "fun" seems like the exception. Usually, you add the "er" and "est" to one syllable words.

In this case, funner just doesn't sound correct. But I am not sure why this is so. It is funner to say funner and funnest, isn't it?

But never more funner or most funnest. That would break the rule.

[Ediacara]

94. This has always annoyed the crap out of me

I'll admit it, I say funner and funnest, and I'm not ashamed.

What really gets my goat is whan people scream at me, "FUNNER ISN'T A WORD!"

Well it obviously is, you KNEW what I was saying, it makes sense, it doesn't break any rules.

I just think this "funner isn't a word" crap is just drilled into peoples' heads by bitter English teachers (present company of course, excluded) to confuise second graders, and make perfectly smart and sane people look stupid.

[OldEurope]

162. Hm. And I always thought, fun is a noun.

You can´t say "happiness - happinesser - happinessest". So why should you say "fun - funner - funnest"?
The adjective is funny, and the degrees are "funnier - funniest".

But then I´m just an old German.

:evilgrin:

[Ediacara]

172. Fun is an adjective too

Saying something is fun is not the same as saying something is funny.

[OldEurope]

177. This expression does not mean, that fun is an adjective.

"This is fun" could be paraphrased as "this is causing fun to the audience", which of course nobody would say

:toast:

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

69. Describe Susserian linguistics role in structuralist analysis of

narratives.

That always bothered me. Signifiers, signifieds and the langue...

Elitist BS or not?

[DrZeeLit]

82. I don't even play a Susserian linquist on cable, let alone t.v.

Yeah, I'm voting for elitist b.s., or what you said.

(and I did have to study that signifiers, signified thing at one time... all I can say is the remnants of it still cause me to shudder)

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

108. Definite headache material... And IMHO it is elitist BS

that disses 98% of all fiction by trying to break it down into what I would consider a fictitious "code" that transcends languages.

Yeachhhh!

[DrZeeLit]

133. I had a GREAT professor...

...Dr. Lee Gerlach. And he said that there are no secret codes. Meaning is all about experience. Writing about a sunset isn't a secret code that you want your mother to die, or that you wish you were at the end of your life. It's about the experience of a sunset.

So, when in doubt, I channel Dr. Gerlach.

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

148. We are in agreement...

I channel a Dr. Bob Hill.

He was the chair of the department and I had the honor of several quarters of directed studies with him.

I am of the opinion that art cannot be turned into a science. It can be studied, observed and absorbed but it cannot be deconstructed with the expectation of repeatable logic observed by different control groups.

It's been years, but I am still resentful of many of the forms of criticism I had to study.

Cheers to you and Dr. Gerlach! :toast:

[2Design]

70. make a square in your imagination on the floor

make each corner a grade

then throw the papers up in the air and where ever they land is the grade you give them

then let them write a paper justifying why they should have a different grade

[DrZeeLit]

79. I like to let them slide down the staircase. Heaviest = A

[Ediacara]

72. Also

Would you support regular changes in spelling of English words to correspond with changes in pronunciation?

[DrZeeLit]

75. No. I am a purist.

This is where I seem to find my conservative self. I don't think spelling needs to change because the population gets lazy with their speech.

[Ediacara]

76. But.....

A lot of what I'm refering to are lazy people from the 14th and 15th century, not modern Americans.

I meant, would you support, for instance, changing the spelling of laugh to "laf," or said to "sed?"

[DrZeeLit]

80. Still no. it just looks pukey. Did I spell pukey correctly?

[Ediacara]

87. Yes you did

I disagree with your position though. I think that we should follow the ruling of the University of Madrid and issue eddicts on high when enough is enough, and the spelling no longer conforms in any way to the pronunciation.

[bain_sidhe]

91. Don't you mean "enuf is enuf"?

:evilgrin:

[Ediacara]

97. Well....

I'd actually lean towards adopting many of the characters of the International Phonetic Alphabet, so it would be a little different :-)

[bain_sidhe]

145. well, then...??

so what would it be?

[BamaGirl]

74. Ok Professor Z

I'm an English major. Well, really I'm a professional student. I mean, when you hit about 120 semesters hours it's time to cop to the professional student thing, right? So the question is, I took a lit class a couple of semesters ago and did not have to write a paper!! Is this some insane new trend in lit classes!? Have I just been "going to college" for too long!? What is going on?

Seriously confused in Alabama (which might be the problem),
BamaGirl

[DrZeeLit]

77. That is too weird for words.

The trend is all about living wages. Reading papers takes time. If we figure the math, no teacher of English who assigns papers and then has to read them all alone, will be making enough money. Figure 30 students (two lit classes). If I spend 10 minutes per paper, that's 6 hours. But it is rare that I spend less than 20 minutes on a paper; actually, it's less time for a GOOD paper (and then I do the dance of joy).

I would venture a guess if there is no writing, that's the reason.

But some of us still believe that an education comes first. So, I suck it up and teach them to think and communicate. I hope.

Students in my two advanced comp courses are writing 5 major papers and 10 short essays. It's the least I can do for their minds.

P.S. Is anybody an English major these days?

[BamaGirl]

85. I'm sure there are still English majors.

Personally, I have been majoring in English (and Humanities and History and Criminal Justice) for about 14 years now. I'm sure that is a time honored tradition lol.

No school will ever be able to pay me enough to read thru 60 papers from Bama students. That might explain a thing or two. Slave labor. Must be the answer.

BamaGirl

[GOPNotForMe]

84. Have you read the book "Woe Is I"?

And if so, do you love it as much as I do?

[DrZeeLit]

93. No. Obviously....

... I'm supposed to be reading freshmen essays, and I'm procrastinating like crazy right now. I don't think I'll get to sit still and read a book until this election is over and Kerry wins and we all heave a sigh of relief.

Is that really a book or are you funnin' me?

[GOPNotForMe]

101. No, no it's a book.

A very snarky take on grammar. I recommend it to all - grammarphobes and grammarphiles alike!

[kcr]

88. So why is Joyce considered a good writer?

His two novels that I have read seemed to be nothing but expirimentation for expirimentation's sake. Too often, the word games he played simply did not work, and served to strangle the artistry as opposed to enhancing it. So what don't I get?

On Edit: Aside from the fact that he, unlike me, could spell.

[DrZeeLit]

102. I cop to having avoided Joyce for my entire life.

I have friends who adore him. NO.... I have only ONE friend who adores him. I have never had to study him, and from all that I heard, I decided never to jump in those waters alone.

I have also avoided a few other writers whose names escape me at the moment.

p.s. It's late and I can't spell for shit either.

[kcr]

106. Ahhh, but I can never spell

It has actually gotten to be a running joke on my blog. Several regular readers now mock me over it :)

And to think, I started the blog to help me with my writing :)

[DrZeeLit]

157. Yeah, we all said that about our blogs. More like...

.... what I'm doing INSTEAD of writing. ha ha

[indigobusiness]

182. How about Pynchon?

What's the deal with 'Gravity's Rainbow"?

[DrZeeLit]

200. Tried it. Admit failure.

I read the great reviews. I jotted the title, Gravity's Rainbow, down in a notebook I always carry (for those big ideas). I found it at my local library, checked it out, and for the life of me, could not get into it. Later, I found that I was not the only one. Maybe I need the Cliff's Notes?

[indigobusiness]

204. I'm glad to here that. How about Joyce?

I've heard 'Ullyses' is worth the trouble.

I haven't managed to screw up the courage, yet.

[DrZeeLit]

206. Mentioned above... I passed on Joyce. Squeeked by....

... missed him by "that much" (but you are probably too young to remember "Get Smart," huh?)....

Maybe some day I will try Joyce. I'm not completely closed to the idea.

[indigobusiness]

207. Not at all

I remember 'I Spy' too.

I liked Cosby, then.

[Zensea]

208. I have an elitist question

Why are people who have not read Joyce or Pynchon English professors?
Or more to the point I'm making, why are people who can not get into them (and I don't mean in the sense of liking them, no one says you have to like them) English professors?

I took a class from Richard Ellman once. He had us read The Ambassadors, Ulysses, To the Lighthouse, and The Sound and the Fury.
I think an argument can be made that those four books are essential reading for understanding the development of point of view.

There are certain levels of Ulysses that are quite difficult, but there are other levels that are not and it is beautifully written.

Regarding Gravity's Rainbow, you have to get past the first 100 pages.
It's a mystery intentionally. You're not supposed to know what is going on at the beginning. That's the point.

This is my borderline rant. I get really irritated at the level of education in this country sometimes & it's not just about freshman who can't read; it's also about college professors who make comments like you have about Joyce and Pynchon. One could say it's all a matter of taste, but I think there's more to it than that.

[mitchum]

209. That's not an elitist question...

because I was wondering the same thing :)
A bit like an engineer not being able to "get into" Archimedes, isn't it?

[DrZeeLit]

213. I'll stack my education up against yours any day.

What a load of shit. Not elitist shit -- plain shit.
I have critically analyzed and studied many writers. You have no idea what I have accomplished or who I am, so who the hell are you to pop off about my education.

Have you written a thesis? a dissertation? Taken comps for six hours? Sat through an oral defense of your work? Taught classes? For how many years? Written critical articles? Books? Been published? Lectured at many different schools and venues? Worked with a variety of faculty members in critical discourse regarding not only your field of endeavor, but the cross curricular work of an entire campus?

With regard to Joyce, it so happens that I never encountered a class, course, or seminar where I was required or even expected to read Joyce. Forget Pynchon -- the jury is out. Many many distinguished scholars do not agree that Joyce is a major author. It is not surprising that many universities do not require a reading of Joyce.

I really resent your implication that I have a deficient education. I've worked hard all my life, against odds that you have no idea even exist in your petty little mind. Don't paint me with the brush that exhibits not only your bad manners but your foolish notions of what is or is not elitist, and what is or is not education.

You are arguing for your limitations. You are pathetic.

And that's my not-even-near-borderline rant.
It's a rant.
Period.

Now, I'm going to eat dinner. And I am not going to answer anything else from you.

[Zensea]

216. what we have here is a failure to communicate

If you can't get that I was not trying to hold myself up as a paragon of virtue I don't think you're reading carefully enough. You, on the other hand are trying to set yourself up as a paragon of virtue. "I'm an English professor," and you put Dr in your screen name (that should have tipped me off) and when someone questions your pontifications you respond with this anger.

Sorry if it sounded like I was making a comment about your level of education, I didn't mean to be doing that.

I'm not going to get into specific tit for tat about stacking up level of education vs. yours except to say that I've attended two of the best schools for my field (which is also literature) in the country. Does that make me better educated than you? I have no way of knowing one way or the other.

Maybe you weren't meaning to do this but I get very tired of "English professors" or anyone else dumbing things down by wearing as a badge of honor that they haven't read Joyce or Pynchon. It comes across to me as more of the anti-intellectualism that is so prevalent in this country. That's what I was trying to comment about. I can see I misread you on that point and that you are not anti-intellectual.

You've been to the finest schools, so why don't you engage in discourse instead of walking off in a huff?

Your tone is much ruder than my tone in my opinion. My petty little mind? Where are you getting that from? My bad manners? Where are you getting that from? The only pettiness and bad manners I see is in your response.

I was trying to address the issue of reading Joyce and reading Pynchon and I was talking in fairly general terms about the subject. I certainly wasn't attacking you personally. But then you insult me personally.

Oh well.
Judging from your response, I'm not going to lose any sleep over not being answered by you.
That's my response.
(on edit -- I've got a pretty good idea Now though as I think about it (judging from your response) just what kind of professor you are & I have a feeling, just a feeling - no way to know for sure, that I would have avoided taking a class from you back when I was in college)

[indigobusiness]

222. I love you both. Why can't we all just

get along?

[Zensea]

227. kudos

sorry all if I was being a bit snippy yesterday:toast:

[DrZeeLit]

230. Thanks, I was just grumpy and tired. Not my best response.

[indigobusiness]

233. Fiery, though...

and I enjoyed it immensely.

[indigobusiness]

218. I said "I'm glad to here that"...and nothing...no comment on it

You are a gentlewoman and a scholar.

I know how to spell, I'm just hooked on phonics.

[DrZeeLit]

236. I saw that and decided to pass ...

... it's hard living up to the stereotype of my profession. My son hates to go to the movies with me. I tend to whisper corrections and words like "oooh, foreshadowing" or "wow! how ironic!"

[indigobusiness]

242. I'm sure. That's what was impressive.

Analytical thinking has its own garden snake. Art school did similar things to me.

This thread was fun. I'm considering starting an "I'm not an English Professor - ask me anything" thread. What do you think?

[DrZeeLit]

246. Two responses come to mind.

1) Great -- it will take the heat off me!
and
B) Be prepared! I thought it would just be fun...

[indigobusiness]

255. If we've brutalized you, let me be the first to fall on his sword.

Your stalwart efforts have not gone unappreciated, I'm sure.

You've done terrific work here. Feel good about it, please.

If I do start my thread, which I now probably won't, it has no chance to be this kind of service.

Take good care. Adios.

[indigobusiness]

205. oops, didn't see this

before I asked about Joyce...nevermind.

[Chomskyite]

90. I'm still working on my dissertation after entering a program in 1997

Have I got any kind of chance of getting a job teaching college in your opinion? I've been told it's hopeless for me.

[DrZeeLit]

98. Depends on where you want to teach.

Two schools of thought on the job market.
One is that it will open WIDE when everyone quits and there are no English majors to fill all the spots.
The other is that all you will find is adjunct spots because colleges have found that they can work an adjunct, pay pittance, and not have to deal with benefits. Oi, the system.

You could look into small colleges in undesirable locations.
I'm in Vermont. We hired a professor this year. And had the opening for two years. Go figure. We have hired adjuncts who were working on their degrees forever, too. Depends on so many factors.

I say...do what you love. But I admit to finding myself in the most divine situation because I took a leap of faith.

[GingerSnaps]

92. Is it legal to date a student?

I like one of the Professors at my College and I wanted to ask him out. Is that legal or would he be fired?

[DrZeeLit]

95. Tres frowned upon. There, I broke many rules.

These days, with sexual harassment et al., we get lots of memos and heavily worded documents that say... NO DON"T DO IT NEVER NEVER NEVER.

[brentspeak]

114. Well, as long as you're just dating, and it's not a sexual relationship

In that case, I can see the problem.

[DrZeeLit]

159. "They" would still call it wrong.

The inappropriate pressure ...something like that would be the phrase coming at you from a legal mind. Even if NOTHING happened. The power is always seen in the professor's corner, to be applied or not.

[2Design]

143. wait until you are either done with all the courses of the professor

that you have to take -

not a good idea for either of you

get your degree and then go back
or get through with the class and then not take any more of that class - wait at least six months of no contact - then approach

[Xithras]

245. Legal, but he/she would likely be fired if they are your prof.

I've been hit on by a few students over the years so this is an issue near and dear to my heart (some genuinely liked me, I think, but most were simply desperate to get their grades up...I'm a nightmare prof).

Almost universally, any teacher can be fired for having any kind of romantic relationship (sexual or not) with any student over which he/she holds grading power. This is to prevent the old "I'll raise your grade if you sleep with me, or drop it if you don't" scenario.

Relationships between a faculty member and students NOT in their class are heavily frowned upon and can get a professor ostracized at many colleges, but is legal and is rarely specifically banned. It is frowned upon because A) You're subjecting the school to the possibility of later legal action if someone claims harassment. B) You're limiting that students educational opportunities by effectively banning them from your classroom.

Even if I wasn't married, I'd never date a student. I've had co-workers who've gone that route and it's invariably a headache for all parties...I have yet to see one end well.

[MissMillie]

99. Why do so many people

use adjectives as adverbs?

[DrZeeLit]

103. Short answer: because we don't love our language.

I love language and cry when I read "The Gettysburg Address." Most of my students look at me like lobsters are running out of my ears (borrowed from Woody Allen). They don't care about the beauty of language. What we don't respect, we don't use well.

It's very hard to teach grammar any more. No one wants to listen or work at it.

[bain_sidhe]

100. Who's your favorite author?

And what's your favorite length? Novel or short story?

[DrZeeLit]

107. Didn't we have a thread on that one during the game last night?

I love so many writers. I wrote a thesis on Updike and since then haven't read a word of his. Lol.

John Gardner
John Donne
Dickens
Shakespeare
William Carlos Williams

so much for dead white guys off the top of my head....

Kingsolver
Irving
McMurtry
Conroy

its getting late and I am drawing a blank. Sorry!

Oh, I'm much more into novels than short stories.
I don't know why. The short story is not something I pick up and read for fun. Maybe I should rethink.

[bain_sidhe]

109. I wasn't in the lounge last night

Sorry, I was... well, I admit it, I was reading! I'm having a hard time getting into short stories too, but I'm trying to study them because I want to try writing them. Writing the Great American Novel didn't pan out. Got stuck after 120 pages. :(

I'm a science fiction fan myself, although I've read some fantasy I liked, and just recently read a couple of romances written by friends. Truth to tell, I'll read anything, but I'm not a fan of the "classics." Practically threw Hawthorne across the room in disgust... Yes, I'm sure the setting is lovely, but DO SOMETHING ALREADY!!!

[DrZeeLit]

119. Life didn't move so fast then.

Try Henry James.... ten pages later he moved from the kitchen to the parlor. I experienced a Seminar on James. Longest semester of my life!

Actually, the themes and plots in those novels, James and Hawthorne, are amazing. And heck...they did write; I haven't, so far, finished writing novel either.

It's hard word. Boy, that phrase will never have the same meaning again, will it?

[bain_sidhe]

127. I actually liked The Turn Of The Screw

Then I tried to struggle through "Portrait of a Lady" and that was the end of my James reading.

[kcr]

111. Any genre writers? n/t

[2Design]

141. I like watching shakespeare not reading it

especially the comedies

in high school we would go to the shakespeare theatre in stratford, ct

but it is gone - over grown - I was dispointed when I moved back there in the 90's

so I look for them -

I don't know any of your other authors

[IChing]

104. English towns?

Why do they end in by?
I know, do you?

[IChing]

105. Too slow

Hint? no google, if you know your roots

[Maddy McCall]

125. May I guess?

Is it because they are beside creeks, rivers, or bodies of water? Like jchildby would mean that the town is next to the river jchild?

Just a stupid guess. :shrug: But I want to know.

[IChing]

130. No

look at my hint,

[IChing]

136. your answer was incorrect

I didn't me no you couldn't answer.

[IChing]

140. quess again

sorry but the red soxs won

[brentspeak]

110. Here's a poetry quiz:

1) Which poet coined the phrase "child is the father of man"? (a line from one of his poems)

2) Which poet began one of his most famous poems with this line:

"My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains..."

3) Which poet coined the phrase, "Death, be not proud"? (a line from one of his poems)

4) "My luve is like a red, red rose" comes from which poet?

[DrZeeLit]

115. Maybe some.... (and I'm not looking 'em up)

1. Wordsworth
2.
3. Donne
4. Jonson?

Ah, the joys of verse.
Where's your answer key?

[brentspeak]

118. Not bad

1) Wordsworth - correct

2) That was John Keats, from "Ode to a Nightengale"

3) Donne - correct

4) The real answer is Robert Burns, from "A Red, Red Rose" (he deliberately spelled 'love' as 'luve' because he usually wanted to write in a Scottish brogue)

[Maddy McCall]

112. Are you finding that this year's incoming freshmen lack critical thinking

abilities?

I just finished grading world civ midterms. Awful.

[DrZeeLit]

122. It is so sad. But... look at anyone voting for Bush. Most of ...

...the population has no critical thinking skills, or else we all wouldn't be so worried about this election.

CUZ

IT'S A NO BRAINER.

But, I agree. And we can blame a lot of it on the No Child Left Behind Act. The reliance on multiple choice testing is ruining any chance of teaching in-depth critical thinking skills.

[Maddy McCall]

128. Yes, they have been taught to bubble in--to know names and dates...

but not the "whys."

I can't even hold class discussions this year without becoming angry...only a couple of students look critically at the media...the others repeat the stuff they hear from the bush admin or from Fox.

Sickening...it's never been this bad--EVER.

[DrZeeLit]

131. Hope is on the way. Maybe we can turn it around? Good luck!!!

[bling bling]

113. What about the word gotten?

Have you gotten any questions about this one yet? Is it a real word? Someone told me once that it is not.

[DrZeeLit]

116. Red pen alert!!!!!

I hate it. I've never considered if it's a real word. It should be outlawed. It sounds disgusting. I just hate it. It makes me grumpy.
Oooh, I can see someone is up too late without good snacks, huh?

[Maddy McCall]

117. What about using the word "impact" as a verb?

That is the one I can't stand. As in, "Bush foreign policies impacted the global economy."

It has become common usage on news, and it grates me everytime I hear it.

[DrZeeLit]

120. It's a trend. Nouns become verbs. I googled it. n/t

[LiberteToujours]

150. Haven't you ever read Calvin and Hobbes?

There's a great strip where Calvin talks about verbing words. :)

[DrZeeLit]

164. I'll look it up. I have all the books -- the cartoon C&H.

[bling bling]

123. What would be the alternative?

In a casual conversation? Would it be "received?"

Example, "I haven't gotten any sleep lately"

[DrZeeLit]

126. Active over Passive

The push is to the active.

I didn't sleep. Be more direct is the trend.

Conversation = drop all the rules, right?

Still, gotten is disgusting.

[bling bling]

129. Thanks!

[IChing]

144. where is my answer professor?

english towns?

[LiberteToujours]

153. I learned that "to get" is colloquial

And should be avoided whenever possible. There is usually another verb that can be used in its place. A few examples:

I got my paycheque, I received my paycheque.
I got fired, I was fired.
I've got five dollars, I have three dollars.
You've got to stop that, You need to / must stop that.
I'm getting tired, I'm becoming tired.
He got away, he escaped.
I don't get it, I don't understand it.

And so on. Once I tried to find as many different meanings for the word as I could and I came up with something like 15 different verbs.

[DrZeeLit]

201. Great! I totally agree!

I rarely use "get," when I write. I'm sure I use it when I talk. It's insidious. I hate reading it. You are so right! The answer is always a better verb.

Also... big Tip for Success here: cut THERE out of your writing. At first it will cause you to got nuts. But the rewrites are ALWAYS better sentences.

[indigobusiness]

210. I haven't slept, lately.

There's another troublesome pt word.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

121. 10-3 Sox

top of the 9th.
BTW - can you make a phone out of two coconuts and some string ?
Oh, wait - you're not that kind of professor. :o

[DrZeeLit]

124. WOW... I am so excited! 10-3!! Should I let the class out early?

I'm about ready to close shop!
Whatdaya say?

[Hand]

134. What's your opinion of using "comprised of"?

I would treat it as a capital crime.

:grr:

[DrZeeLit]

169. Agree. It's on the "do not" list.

[Hello_Kitty]

135. Is it okay to end sentences with prepositions now?

I do it all the time. Sometimes they just make more sense that way.

[Hello_Kitty]

137. Holy crap! I'm not religious but that last post was my 666th!

:scared:

[Robeson]

160. If your not religious, then don't worry about it.

[DrZeeLit]

198. You're, You're, You're... Sheesh! Enough already! Oi, oi, oi.

If you are not religious...
If you're not religious...

your = possession... Such as.... Your writing sucks.

j/k

[aePrime]

139. Do you agree...

Do you agree with Oxford allowing people to end their sentences with prepositions?

[DrZeeLit]

167. That preposition thingy was covered earlier.

[aePrime]

171. Oh

Guess I should read above! :P

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

146. Do you puke everytime George Bush mangles the English language?

[Robeson]

158. Good Question....

...that would be a good question to put before a symposium of English Professors.

[DrZeeLit]

166. All the English professors on my wing HATE Bush. But..

... most of the academic community hates Bush. So, that's redundant, huh?

[IChing]

147. I need an answer

on my post
english towns?
red socks won, kerry will win.
peace.

[slackmaster]

151. Is it permissible to boldly split an infinitive?

I think it's fine.

[DrZeeLit]

163. Only on Star Trek promos. But... we all do boldly do it these days.

[Ladyhawk]

154. Why are English professors so popular?

[DrZeeLit]

161. Cuz, dude, we fully rock the world with sick language.

Or we usually have the ability to coordinate not only our conjunctions (remember CONJUNCTION JUNCTION, WHAT'S MY FUNCTION??? wow!) but our entire wardrobes. I rest my case. We are bitchen!

[DrZeeLit]

168. Nite, nite. I'm on the East Coast and have an early class. THANKS.

It's been real. It's been fun.
It's been real fun.

More funner then I aint been able to say for a long time before.

That about covers all the material tonight in one sentence.
Chow!

[T Town Jake]

173. Why is it wrong to end a sentence...

...with a prepositional phrase? :shrug: I love ending sentences with prepositional phrases...it's an obsession of mine. :silly:

[T Town Jake]

174. Why is it wrong to end a sentence...

...with a prepositional phrase? :shrug: I love ending sentences with prepositional phrases...it's an obsession of mine. :silly:

[Behind the Aegis]

175. Two questions

I have two questions for you.

First, do you accept some people have different writing styles? What I mean is, do you "discount" someone who may use the passive voice or inverted sentences? I know some "purists" who dislike the use of the passive voice in writing and speech.

Second, how does one get involved in professional writing (such as books)?

Brightest Blessings!

[WoodrowFan]

179. settle a bet please

please settle a bet between my wife and I.

is it "my wife and I" or

"my wife and me"


thanks

[DrZeeLit]

185. Context is key for this bet.

What's the sentence?

If you are writing ....

My wife and I want you to settle this bet.

Please settle a bet between my wife and me.

In the first instance you are using the subject pronoun "I," because "my wife and I" serves as the subject of the sentence.

In the second sentence you are using the object pronoun "me," because you have used the pronoun "between," and as we all know, a pronoun must be followed by an object, which is the reason a pronoun shouldn't be left at the end of a sentence. But that is a different bet, huh?

Who won the bet?

[WoodrowFan]

192. thanks

Argh, she did. I thought it was ALWAYS "my wife and I". oh well. I'll have fun paying off the bet. :evilgrin:

[aquart]

184. Are you afraid of television?

Or don't they pay you enough to own one?

[DrZeeLit]

194. Good question

1) I made a conscious decision to quit television. Life is getting shorter. I turned fifty and figured I didn't want watching t.v. to take up precious time. It's such a waste. Nothing shown is really worth watching. I don't miss it. I take that back. I miss the very rare special events -- like the game last night. But overall, I do NOT miss television.

B) I do not make a living wage. I do not have benefits. If I wasn't married and pooling income, I'd be working at least one other job. This job takes up so much time outside class, I don't know how I would accommodate another job except to erase my weekends. I don't know how others do it. Not paying for cable really helps my budget.

[UrbScotty]

188. Why do you hate freshmen?

If you hate freshmen, you hate 'Murka.

[DrZeeLit]

193. Freshmen are GREAT. Their essays just aren't so great. n/t

[DelawareValleyDem]

189. Does Bush speak

qualify as English?

[DrZeeLit]

195. Personally....

... Bush speak as a concept is... oxymoronic.

[yvr girl]

199. Have you ever started a thread

that reached 200 before?

[DrZeeLit]

202. No. Isn't this cool? I'm giggling.

I haven't been logged in for very long. This is perhaps the third thread I've ever tried. It's been really fun. All this took my mind off the game last night and now I'm just finishing up answering questions, since I felt I had a responsibility.

It all about how much I do love words.

[indigobusiness]

211. This thread is fixing to crash my computer.

May I suggest a part deux?

'Fixing' is a sacred colloquialism, don't chastise me for it.

[Merrick]

214. If I were a student from Britain...

and turned in a paper with words like "lift" in place of elevator, "wanker" in place of "asshole" and "shag" instead of "fuck", would I get marked off?

[indigobusiness]

219. Literally speaking, wanker and asshole

are not synonymous, but generally speaking they are indistinguishable.

[Lady Effingbroke]

220. Do you have a student named Noodleboy?

He hasn't read his book for your test yet!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x1863533

[Phillycat]

221. Have so many people used the phrase "people that" instead of

"people who" that it's become an accepted part of the vernacular? Should I give up on saying "people who"?

[DrZeeLit]

229. No, don't give up!

I wrote, above, that I hate it when "that" is used where "who" is correct. I think we need a movement! Go for it!

[Phillycat]

244. One more question, then.

This is another thing that I hear all the time, like "people that". And I don't just mean on the street, I mean on the NEWS, on the RADIO, IN PRINT. It's amazing.

Is "less" when referring to a specific number of things, rather than "fewer", so common that it's become part of the vernacular? That drives me batty! On NPR this morning, "Less people registered to vote Republican in Philadelphia county this year..." AARGH!

[ScreamingMeemie]

223. Why didn't you put spaces in your username?

:shrug: :hi:

[DrZeeLit]

231. I dunno. Never crossed my mind. Hmmm. n/t

[mac56]

224. "Will this be on the test?"

"Do we have to know this?"

[eauclaireliberal]

225. RE: Do these drive you nuts?

"...needless to say, she was angry."

"He was in close proximity."

"I circled around the area."

[DrZeeLit]

232. Let's start a War On Redundancy...

... that's what I thought when I first heard * say "war on terror." I thought, a "war on war"? And yes, all those phrases and more... in fact, you should start a thread... Best Redundancies... which would be second only to the thread ... Best Oxymorons... OH, wait a minute... I think I'll start that one...YOU take Redundancies, and we'll see how many responses each gets, okay????!!!!

actual fact = on a paper I just read
In the year 2003 = hello....

and the beat goes on!

[eauclaireliberal]

254. RE: "Let's start a War On Redundancy..."

At the moment, I can't think of anything other than "Emergency situation."

Oh well.

[Book Lover]

226. What did you get your degree in?

What's your particular field of study?

Sounds like you're teaching frosh comp - what textbook are you using?

[DrZeeLit]

238. Literature and Writing

My b.a. English; Masters in Writing; phd in Literature and Writing

I specialized in American Lit, Romance, and Poetry.

Yes, this fall, three comps. I've used Concise Guide to Writing, but I really find it hard to get anyone to use the text or buy it. Books are so expensive! That book was over $50. I feel for the students. This year I'm trying a really inexpensive book that doubles as a handbook. It's simple, lots of white space, color, and bullets. It does a good job, not great, and the students only have to shell out $21. Oh, it's Write for College by the folks at Write Source.

[Book Lover]

241. Three!

No wonder you're tearing your hair out... Sounds like you've found at least a decent book for your students to use.

My degree is in Arthurian Lit (specifically, the Anglo-Norman romances), which only sounds impressive at MLA, and confuses everyone else...

[indigobusiness]

256. One last question from me: How is it the great young writers

seem so naturally inclined?

John Kennedy Toole, Breece D'J Pancake are two that have recently had me wondering this, but Literature seems strewn with examples.

Madison Smartt Bell is another, do you know him?

[DrZeeLit]

258. Okay, I am surely brain dead.

I don't know any of those. Am I out of the loop or what? I'm taking names and going to the library.

Nothing that seems natural is really natural. At least that's what I've found. Writing is HARD WORK. I like to think of it like watching Spencer Tracey (sp?) -- he made it look effortless. But that effortlessness took a great deal of work, and obviously it took a toll on ST.

I'm also surprised anyone wants to write. Tough business. And that anyone young is working to write -- really amazes me. Doesn't it seem that the world is tilted toward the visual? Everyone's writing a screenplay... ha ha ha.

I wrote those names in my little notebook (the one I carry everywhere). Wow, they seem fake. Great names. Wish I could make up names that good when I write.

And yes, I write. I gave up on the great American novel. I'm goofing around with romantic comedy at the moment. Oh silly me.

[indigobusiness]

260. As a painter I'm drawn to writers with "painterly" styles, such as Cormac

McCarthy. I'm floored by the paralells of flow and texture, etc.

My question stems from my love of writing and its overwhelming and inscrutable dificulty. But, some seem to come to it so easily, and even in awkward early works seem to possess a "knowingness" about the craft of writing. An ease of style, etc.

Breece D'J Pancake has been compared to Faulkner, Joyce, Beckett etc.
and Joyce Carol Oats said it was tempting to compare his debut to Hemmingway.

He died young, as did John Kennedy Toole, who wrote A Confederacy of Dunces - possibly the funniest novel ever.

Madison Smartt Bell still lives and teaches in the Baltimore Area, I believe. Amazing writer, at times.

Another writer that deserves more attention is David Rhodes. Three books and out...to who knows where. I keep hoping he'll resurface.
I found a library copy of his "Rock Island Line" and read the first
part to check back in. It is fine, really fine writing. How does this stuff remain so obscure? And how does a young guy write like a wise old man?

[trigz]

228. What's the linguistic explanation

for the way that American-English simplifies a lot of pronounciation (ie Tuesday is pronounced "Toos-day" in many parts of the US)? I mean, there must be an emytology (sp?) behind it?

Oh, and why do Americans roll their r's while UK English-speakers don't?

Tell me tell me!!!

[DrZeeLit]

234. Where's our resident Linguist? Help!

Whoever rescued us the other night... maybe will you answer the question? Ooooh, thanks.

[trigz]

266. Still waiting... (nt)

[rockydem]

235. Is 'The Red Wheelbarrow' really one the greatest America poems?

so much depends upon
a red wheelbarrow

glazzed with rainwater
beside the white chickens

(or something like that)

[DrZeeLit]

237. Yes. A turning point in poetry, and

William Carlos Williams has a body of work that begs reading.
Oh, on the poem, you're really close, if not correct. You just need the spacing. The spacing is a major aspect of the poem. Williams had a line and syllable/accent theory. Marianne Moore had a similar way of working with accents and syllables and beats as they run through the lines.

The point of the "Red Wheelbarrow" is also how the poem "fits' in the history of American poetry.

[rockydem]

243. Is it true that Williams and T.S. Elliot didn't like each other?

I read that somewhere. Apparently they had different 'visions' of human nature and what was possible. Elliot was more morose. Williams was more idealistic.

Williams was a doctor, a healer. Elliot was banker for awhile. Perhaps that explains their different views....

Is it true they were kind of opposed to each other? Who is considered the more influential poet?

[DrZeeLit]

247. Didn't know about "dislike"

During my time of study in college, the emphasis was not on the writer but on the work. The school of thought was to take on the piece of literature, not the person's life. It was part of a particular critical theory being emphasized by our English department at the time.

I do know that Williams' was a doctor. I don't know much about T.S. Eliot's life (that I remember) but I did find his poems thought-provoking, and always think of "The Wasteland" when I walk on a beach.

As to influencial, I'm not sure. So many wonderful poets came out of that time frame. I would never be able to choose. Wallace Steves absolutely threw me for a loop. After that, for me is William Carlos Williams. I enjoyed Ezra Pound, but he's not held too highly now, I think.

A lot about these people became sliced by their politics, which was one reason the biographical info was eliminated from the study of their poetry. It might have been a way to avoid McCarthyizing the poetry world.

[rockydem]

248. the essence of their difference

Williams saw spring as a time of renewal, rebirth - it was a good thing.

Eliot saw it as cruel.

[pstokely]

239. have you ever had students use 'fair and balanced' sources like Faux

or Oxyrush?

[DrZeeLit]

250. Don't get me started on sources... oi, oi, oi!

I have a great source story.

This student who wrote a paper on prison overcrowding.
And that's a good topic. Okay.

I require the students to copy their sources. I didn't when I first started, but I was burned too many times. Plagiarism lives.

Anyway, I digress.

His copied source was an article on overcrowding all right. Overcrowding in cages of BIRDS!!!! It was from a bird breeding website! There was a picture of a bird at the top of the page. HE COPIED THE PAGE, picture and all.

Helllllloooooooo.

So, I try to explain: use serious, academic sources. Do NOT use "joe's tattoo parlor and reference site." Please. End of my lecture.


Yeah, they try almost anything. But I'm gettin' wise in my old age.

[Oscar2000]

240. I want to know about Catcher in the Rye

Why did we have to read that book in 11th grade?

[DrZeeLit]

249. Did you read it? n/t

[Oscar2000]

252. Catcher in the Rye?

Yes, I read it.

[DrZeeLit]

253. Oh, I was asking because

... I didn't know what you meant. I figured you might be asking because you didn't read it.

You were assigned this book because it's a rite of passage book for teens. I don't know if it is "outdated" or not. I considered using it for a coordinated seminar "life passages." Unfortunately, the psych professor, who would have been co-working the seminar, dropped out of the project (health) and it didn't get on the schedule.

I remember it fondly. Salinger writes well; the ideas are accessible and universal. Sometimes it's difficult to find novels which appeal to a wide range of readers in high school. "Catcher" always seems to work with the majority of students.

And that's probably why you were assigned this book.

[KayLaw]

251. I have a question

Is there a firm rule regarding the verb " to be?" Specifically, when do I use was, and when do I use were?

[Skittles]

257. LOL.........DrZeeLit

no questions, but I had great fun reading this thread! :thumbsup:

You might like this story: my mum is English, and when people say to her I LOVE YOUR ACCENT she replies *I'M* speaking English - YOU have an accent. :D

[DrZeeLit]

259. I like that story! When I took students on tours...

... and we stormed the castle, so to speak. When we arrived in Britannia the students would say something like, "why are they driving on the wrong side of the road?" And I'd have to stop myself from slapping them (not really). Helllloooo. It's their country. Sheesh.

And once, this will kill you, a group I was "guiding" crossed the channel and we were zooming along in a bus, reading all the French signs, and having a great time. But one student was a bit grumpy. She finally blurted out, "why don't they just use English?"

Helllooooooo. I do have quite a few stories from those trips.

[Skittles]

261. LOL

yup, I grew up in England (daughter of a US serviceman) and it does give one a different perspective having lived outside of America. I find most Americans so ignorant that the rest of the world actually exists.

[indigobusiness]

262. Orwell's advice

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print. 2. Never us a long word where a short one will do. 3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out. 4. Never use the passive where you can use the active. 5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent. 6. Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous. These rules sound elementary, and so they are, but they demand a deep change of attitude in anyone who has grown used to writing in the style now fashionable. One could keep all of them and still write bad English, but one could not write the kind of stuff that I quoted in those five specimens at the beginning of this article. -- Orwell, Politics and the English Language

[gardenista]

263. What is the meaning of the word "is"? nt

[JackDragna]

264. Yes, I have an English question..

..as an English professor, why do you resort to the lame, hackneyed and overused "Ask me anything" in this place to get attention?

[DrZeeLit]

265. Oh?

I thought it was de rigeur.
In my meager defense, I am rather new here. I just figured I'd follow the format. The other night I was waiting to watch the Red Sox threads and fumbling for something to do while I stayed awake until 1 a.m. (when I lived in California I never gave a thought to the poor souls on the East Coast who were watching those World Series games).

p.s. Are you really a Dragna? One of my mom's good friends/childhood chums was Frank Dragna. They went to school together and still talk periodically. Just wondered.