Writing is Taught, Not Caught

1. Writing is Taught, Not Caught 2014 EKU Writing Project Summer Institute Demonstration by Dr. Gill Hunter with thanks and apologies to Carol Jago

2. “Working” (because I’m absolutely stealing recycling from Carol Jago)

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB6AS9bfEx8

4. Write for a few minutes: What role does work play in your life? What role does it play in the lives of the people you know or have known well?

5. work: [wз:k] n. something that is or was done; what a person does or did; an act, deed, proceeding, business; something to be done, or something to do; what a person (or thing) has or had to do; occupation, employment, business, task, function

7. How does work seem to have affected the people in this picture?

8. Read the poem to yourself. When everyone has finished, someone at your table read the poem aloud. (Everyone at your table has the same poem; each table has a different poem – I’ll give you the other two at the end of the Demo.) Don’t talk about the poem. Now that you have read and heard the poem, choose a line that strikes you and write about it. You can focus on work, but you are also free to go in any direction you wish. Write to make sense, think about, explore, appreciate, wonder, support, question…. Share what you have written, just as we do in Writing into the Day. Finally, talk with your table groups about the role of work in the poem. How does the poet define it? What does he/she say about it? What ideas especially resonate with you? Add margin notes to your copy of the poem or add to your writing as you wish.

9. Start reading “Blue Collar Brilliance.” You might not finish it, but you’ll get a strong sense of Mike Rose’s argument and the way he develops his ideas. In fact, as you read, determine, paragraph by paragraph, how Rose constructs his argument and provides evidence to support his claim. Highlight and make notes in your margins to capture these thoughts. We’ll gather together in about 15 minutes to talk about his argument and ideas, including the way he organizes and develops them and the purpose he seems to have in writing.

10. Now you’re ready to write: Summarize the key ideas about work found in the readings (the painting, the poem, the essay) and analyze and evaluate those claims, explaining why you agree or disagree with them. Use relevant material from those readings, class discussion, or your own work experiences (and/or research) to support your analysis.

11. End-of-Demo debriefing: What topics, like “Working,” can you envision to be relevant, complex, empowering, and thought-provoking to your students? As you list a topic, include readings and resources that come to mind as connected to the topic. Follow Jago’s model of pulling from a variety of text types. Make notes for yourself; talk in your table groups. In a few minutes we’ll pool ideas together by listing them on the board.

12. Be sure to get a copy of “Writing is Taught, Not Caught” and the other poems.