The CEA Forum

Summer/Fall 2006: 35.2

_______________________________________________

Table of Contents

In Memoriam: Jill Barnum / Sandy Marovitz (read more)

Commentary: Why We Keep Up / Charles J. Nolan, Jr. (read more)

Articles

Ann K. Hoff / Bishop, the Autobiographical Pact, and Poetic Pedagogy

"Either Sylvia Plath's father was a violent Nazi, or she was a frightful liar. Either Woolf's half-brother molested her, or she levies a false accusation. Because the stakes of these truths and lies are so high, it is often hard to help students realize the fruitfulness of considering, instead, the ways each author chooses to construct herself as an autobiographical subject..." (read more)

Marie A. Fitzwilliam / Does Hamlet Belong in Freshman Composition?: The Debatable Role of Canonical Literature in Composition

"If the goal of composition instructors is to provide the critical reading and writing skills necessary to surviving four years of college and entering the workplace, Hamlet and other representatives of canonical literature will become expensive luxury cars in a market that demands economy models ..." (read more)

Hal McDonald / Three Ways of Looking at a Blackboard: A "Trivial" Approach to Writing and Speaking

"Of course, having decided upon the trivium as the ideal curriculum for a freshman composition course, we're left with the daunting task of 'covering' grammar, logic, and rhetoric in a scant fifteen weeks. Difficult? Absolutely. Impossible? No..." (read more)

From the Classroom

Meg Meiman / Teaching the Social History of the Book

"Teaching the history of the book, then, becomes teaching the histories of the book—its connection with the histories of reading, writing, and libraries, and its connection to a particular place and time, as well as its relation to art, literature, and history..." (read more)

Gerald Lee Ratliff / The Performance Role of Reader's Theatre

"Whether constructed on the solid foundation of more traditional theories or inspired by experimental discoveries, today's Reader's Theatre cultivates the most imaginative instructional techniques available for students to see, hear, and feel literature in classroom performance..." (read more)

Susanna Kelly Engbers / A Story of Promises and Pitfalls in Whole-Class Peer Review

"Most students just don't get that sense of spotlight with smaller peer review groups. But they need it ..." (read more)

Austin Baker, Ivy Farr, Elizabeth Norman, Deno Trakas / A Novel Idea: The Freshman Book and the Writing Center

"It lets students connect with each other by having common experiences and introduces students to the close relationships they'll form with some of their professors, and it shows them that we value intellectual curiosity, reflection, and expression..." (read more)

Special Section: Teaching and Technology

Christine Denecker / So You Want to Be an English Teacher?: Technology, Literacy, and Language Arts

"Before jumping on the technology bandwagon, though, language arts teachers need to assess their purpose(s) for integrating technology into their classroom and avoid implementing technology for technology's sake..." (read more)

Terence Bowers / Freshman Composition and the Internet: Re-Assessing a Problematic Relationship

"While the Internet is a wonderful creation that gives us greater access to more information than print technologies could give us, it is not conducive to the acquisition of certain skills and mental habits long valued in the humanities..." (read more)

Cindy Murillo / Can We Establish an Effective Learning Environment Teaching Professional Writing via WebCT?

"Because the computer can be seen as a means of isolation, facilitating collaboration becomes imperative to reestablishing a connection among students and instructor in a virtual classroom where the discourse community might otherwise appear short-circuited..." (read more)

Columns

Kathryn Miles / Service Stations

Without student engagement, even the most insightful and well-planned course can turn into a real dud. In my experience, service learning (SL) offers a much needed panacea to such moments..." (read more)

Colin Irvine / Making Lemonade: An Assistant English Professor's Perspective on the Profession

" Here, then, are the similarities between running marathon and writing a book: Both undertakings are startlingly complex..." (read more)

Editors' Note:

Welcome to the Summer/Fall 2006 issue of The CEA Forum; we wish everyone a happy new year and a good start to the semester.

We regret to begin this new issue with a sorrowful note: the passing of former CEA President Jill Barnum. We thank Sandy Marovitz for sharing a piece commemorating her life and work.

This issue features an exciting diversity of pieces ranging from the teaching of poetry, to innovations in the writing classroom, to pedagogical strategies involving the use of technology. New articles give us fresh insights and approaches to teaching familiar material, showing us how we might transform the teaching and learning of poetry, rhetoric, and writing. In our "From the Classroom" section, creative innovations in the crafting of courses are shared by teachers...and their students. We are also pleased to present a special section, "Teaching and Technology." Here, our contributors consider—often with a fairly critical eye—our constantly shifting relationship to technology through the teaching of writing in a variety of settings and to a variety of purposes.

We remind readers to check out our list of Books Received—we are always looking for reviewers and suggestions for review titles. And...the 2007 Annual Conference is just around the corner, and as those of you who will be attending prepare your presentations, we encourage you to consider contributing work shared at this event to The CEA Forum or The CEA Critic. You can view the initial program here—we look forward to seeing you in New Orleans at what is sure to be a stimulating and productive conference.

Return to CEA homepage

Return to Forum homepage

View CEA Publications guidelines