Tag: Westover

Class, Wed, 11/13

Thoughts on Westover

Fastwrite

So you now know a little more about Tara Westover as a person. How does that add to or change your response to her memoir, Educated?

Citing Articles and Web Sites

Author Date Title Publication Info
Who? When? What? Where?
Westover, Tara 2018 Educated: A Memoir New York: Random
Rodriguez, Richard 1978 “The Achievement of Desire: Personal Reflections on Learning ‘Basics.’” College English (40): 239–54.
Bocci, Goali Saedi 2018 “A Psychologist’s Take on Tara Westover’s Memoir, Educated.” Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/millennial-media/201804/psychologists-take-tara-westovers-memoir-educated.

Westover, Tara. 2018. Educated: A Memoir. New York: Random.

Rodriguez, Richard. 1978. “The Achievement of Desire: Personal Reflections on Learning ‘Basics.’” College English (40): 239–54.

Bocci, Goali Saedi. 2018. “A Psychologist’s Take on Tara Westover’s Memoir, Educated.” Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/millennial-media/201804/psychologists-take-tara-westovers-memoir-educated.

Citations are laboriously-coded, extremely slow hyperlinks.

Barbara Fister, “Decode Academy”, 2013

To Do

  1. Fri, 11/15, class: Bring a print copy of your all-but-final draft of your second essay to class. Make sure this draft includes a list of References or Works Cited. We will do some work on these pieces.
  2. Mon, 11/18, class: Bring a print copy of the final version of your second essay to class, and post an electronic version of it to Google Drive. We will discuss digitizing texts.
  3. Wed, 11/20, class: Studio time: Work on creating a version of your first or second essay to post on Medium.com.
  4. Fri, 11/22 through Fri, 11/29: No class: Thanksgiving Break!
  5. Mon, 12/02, class: Post the digitized version of your essay to Medium.com. We will construct an Arcade that allows us to view and discuss your work.
  6. Wed, 12/04, class: Closing thoughts. Evaluations.
  7. Mon, 12/09, 11:00 pm: Email me your revision of either Essay One or Essay Two (optional).

Class, Mon, 11/04

Workshops

Pretty much the same process as before. Read your drafts. (If you’ve written significantly over 1500 words, pick a 1500 word section to read.) Readers should focus on:

  • What’s working in this draft?
  • What does the writer need to work on more?

Added questions

  • What more do you need to know about the text the writer is discussing?
  • What more do you need to know about what the writer wants to say about that text?

Post-Workshop Memo

Send me an email in which you talk about:

  • What you need to say more about the text you’re writing about;
  • How you need to clarify your perspective on that text.

And

  • Any other questions you may have for me.

Revised Schedule

Of Interest

Fareed Zakaria interviews Tara Westover (8/19/2019)

To Do

  1. Mon, 11/04, end of class: Email me a post-workshop memo. I will email you back with my comments.
  2. Wed, 11/06, Fri, 11/08, and Mon, 11/11: No class meetings! (I will be at a conference.) Spend this time developing your good first draft into an amazing second draft. Consider making an appointment at the Writing Center to talk over your work with a tutor there.
  3. Tues, 11/12, 5:30 pm, Mitchell Hall: Listen to Tara Westover speak. Bring your copy of Educated. You might be able to get her to sign it!
  4. Wed, 11/13, class: Discuss Westover’s talk and your work on your second essays.

Class, Fri, 9/06

Scenes of Learning in Educated

  • Asking about the Holocaust (157)
  • Shifting meanings of the N-word (177–80)
  • Failing the first quiz (156, Manatees, Peyton)
  • Cheating in Art History 162–63, Whales, Maggie)
  • Switching Majors (228-30, Dolphins, Hannah)

Specs for Writing

Example: Joe H E2.docx

To Do

  1. Mon, 9/09, class: Post your X1 to the class Google Drive Folder, and bring three print copies with you to class.
  2. Wed, 9/11, class: Read the other two pieces in your group. Come to class with print copies of those pieces and your own.
  3. Fri, 9/13, class: Read Act One (pp. 3–56) of Educating Rita.

Class, Wed, 9/04

Thinking About How Tara Westover Represents Learning

Fastwrite

Tara Westover describes her memoir, Educated, as the story of a “changed person” (329). Please locate a scene or passage in Part Two of her book that either illustrates how Westover begins to change, to learn, to become educated, or shows some of the obstacles she faced in doing so. Explain why you feel this is an important or suggestive (or troubling) scene.

In Groups

Appoint a secretary. Share the passages that the members of the group have identified. Speak briefly (or simply read your fastwrite) about why you selected this particular scene.

Then, as a group, decide on three scenes that you’d really like to discuss in class on Friday. Send me an email in which you list those scenes (with page numbers) and say, in an sentence or two, why you’d like to talk about them. I’ll use these emails in structuring our class discussion on Friday.

Working Toward Your First Essay

  • A Midlength Critical Essay
  • X1: Westover on Learning

To Do

  1. Class, Fri, 9/06: Reread Part Three of Educated, continuing to think about how Westover represents the process of learning. What does she have to say about becoming “educated” that strikes you as new, interesting, or troubling?
  2. Class, Mon, 9/09: Submit X1. We will discuss guidelines and logistics on Friday.

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