Better than a Kick in the Butt with a Cold Boot

One of my big challenges is getting students to interact with the text beyond the ritual, cursory reading often given when they’re assigned something. Analysis is a skill that’s invaluable in any situation; however, it takes a lot of thinking and is often put on the back burner to be done after all the other tasks in life: work, play, sleep, TV, root canal. Sometimes oral surgery does seem preferable to having to analyze writing.

A book that’s helped me tremendously is Writing Analyticallly by Rossenwasser and Stephen. Using a method of inquiry from their book that they’ve aptly named “The Method,” students were able to access and analyze an Ann Sexton poem entitled “Self in 1958.” This poem, written in the 50s, seemed daunting initially. However, with the close analysis that students did using “The Method,” they were able to access the text accurately and to come up with many insightful comments on the themes and strategies of the writer. We had a rousing discussion that impressed the dean, who had come in to do an observation for my tenure review, so thanks guys!