Teacher Adventure Story

I teach a college English class.

Earlier this quarter, one of our teachers went out on medical leave for the remainder of the quarter, and myself and another teacher had to take over her four classes for the remaining three weeks of the quarter, in addition to our other duties.

This was admittedly a difficult transition for many of the students, as well as the two teachers involved. However, one student had a particularly difficult time with this transition.

All of these emails are an exchange between myself and this same student:

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• Wed, Nov 27 (day before Thanksgiving):

Dear Professor Guyton,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to express my concern about my current grades in your class. I’ve been completing my assignments and staying on top of the work, but I’m not sure why my grade looks this way, especially since Prof. ******* has been out.

I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions on what I can do to improve. Are there specific areas I should focus on, or additional resources you would recommend? If possible, I’d also like to schedule a time to meet with you to discuss my progress.

Thank you for your time and assistance. I am committed to doing my best in your class and look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

[Name redacted]

• Sat, Nov 30:

Hi [redacted], I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. I've checked your grades and it looks like you are missing five assignments. To see which ones, please check the gradebook and look for any 0's. Blank assignments have not been graded yet and have no impact on your final score. The five zeroes are causing the problem. I do accept late work at 10 points off per week, and I won't count Thanksgiving week against you. You should be able to access all five assignments on Moodle [*our online grading program*]. If you can submit them, I will accept and grade them. If Moodle will not let you submit them, please feel free to email the assignments to me directly.

• Mon, Dec 2:

Dear Professor Guyton,

Thank you for your email and for taking the time to review my grades. I appreciate your willingness to accept late work, as well as the clarification on how the missing assignments are impacting my Grade.

I will review the gradebook today to identify the five assignments with zeroes and ensure they are submitted as soon as possible. If I encounter any issues with Moodle submissions, I will email the assignments directly to you.

Also, may I receive the work we completed on paper in class when I come to class tomorrow? Because I didn't receive those.

Thank you again for your understanding and support.

Best regards,

[Redacted]

• Mon, Dec 2 (from me):

Yes, you may - although the paper assignments are all on Moodle as well. A lot of students prefer to type their answers, though I'm happy to give you a paper copy in class if you prefer.

• Wed, Dec 4:

Dear Professor Guyton,

I hope you're doing well. I wanted to follow up regarding the two assignments I submitted yesterday. I’ve noticed that my grade hasn't updated yet and wanted to check in to confirm that both assignments were received successfully.

Please let me know if you need anything from my side to ensure they are properly graded.

Thank you for your time and assistance.

Best regards,

[Redacted]

• Wed, Dec 4:

Hi [redacted], all of your assignments are graded in Moodle. If there's something I'm missing, please let me know. However, I've graded every assignment that I’ve seen from you.

• Thu, Dec 5:

[student emails her two missing assignments to me with no explanation. I respond with a receipt of acknowledgement]

• Wed, Dec 11 (2 days before the end of class):

Hello Mr. Guyton,

How are you?

I am writing to ask about my grade in your English class. I noticed that my grade hasn’t been updated yet. I submitted three assignments yesterday.

I was wondering if there are any opportunities to improve my grade, such as extra credit or missing assignments. Please let me know if there’s anything I can do.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

[Redacted]

• Wed, Dec 11 (same day):

Hi [redacted], I'm grading five classes and doing them as quickly as I can. There are over 100 students that I am trying to grade at this time. I am sorry if it's delayed, but I promise, I am trying to get through them as quickly as I can.

I do understand your concerns about the missing grades, but my hope is to have most of the assignments updated by tomorrow night. See me before or after class tomorrow, and I can look through each of the assignments to see which ones you are definitely still missing.

• Fri, Dec 13 (last day of class – 12:59pm):

Dear Mr. Guyton,

I hope you are doing well. I am following up regarding my grades, as I noticed they still haven't been updated. Since it's Friday, I would like to know if there is an issue with the system or any delays in processing.

If there’s anything I can do to assist or provide additional information, please let me know. Thank you for your time and support.

Best regards,

[Redacted]

• Fri, Dec 13 (same day – 2:49pm):

Hi [redacted], I was up until 5am this morning grading. I have just finished teaching my last class for the day. I am heading home now to finish grading. I'll be at it all night tonight and tomorrow, but you should have most of your grades up by tonight and the rest up by tomorrow night.

Again, I am very sorry for the delay. There are a lot of students between the five classes, but I am working hard on getting all of these assignments graded.

• Fri, Dec 13 (same day – 7:13pm):

Dear Mr. Guyton,

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to address a concern I noticed regarding my grade. The only update to my grade appears to be the bookwork assignment. As I mentioned before, I was never given a book for the entire term, and you kindly allowed me to use yours to complete the assignment. You also stated that points would not be deducted for this reason, yet I see that points were taken off for lateness, and my overall grade has dropped.

Additionally, there are still assignments I’ve submitted that have not been graded. I would appreciate it if you could review my work and ensure everything is accurately reflected in my grade.

Thank you for your time and understanding. Please let me know if you need any further information from me, thank you!

[Redacted]

• Fri, Dec 13 (same day – 7:22pm):

Hi [redacted], I do hear your concerns and I promise you, I am working hard on them. Since this morning, I have received over three dozen emails from students submitting late work. I am doing my absolute best to get the grades in and respond to emails in a timely manner. I have just completed your Annotated Bibliography and I have 5 more Annotated Bibliographies to go. Once I get those finished, I will grade the paper handout assignments, which tend to go much quicker. Once I finish those, I will begin working on the textbook assignments. Then, I will do the final essays. I am grading all 30 students in your class, plus 15-30 students in every other class. ALL of the grades are due by Sunday morning at 9am. I have never gotten my grades in late, and I give you my word that all of your grades will be in by Sunday morning the absolute latest. Some of them will be in by tonight, but I cannot promise that all will be in by tonight.

• Fri, Dec 13 (same day – 7:24pm):

Dear Mr. Guyton,

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to follow up regarding my grade in your class. I have been consistently communicating and completing my assignments, yet there has not been any noticeable change in my grade.

I understand that you have multiple classes to manage, but I am in a critical position where I cannot afford to fail this class, as it is essential for my graduation. Over the past few weeks, I have reached out multiple times and sought guidance on what I can do to improve my grade. My performance was not at this level prior to the transition to a new teacher, and I’m doing my best to adapt and keep up.

Please let me know if there is anything specific I can do to address this issue or if we can schedule a time to discuss this further. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to improve my standing in the class.

Thank you for your time and understanding. I appreciate your support.

Best regards,

[Redacted]

• Fri, Dec 13 (same day – 7:33pm):

[Redacted], based on what I've seen, it is highly unlikely you will fail. I am being very lenient in my grading because of the complicated situation with Prof. ****** getting sick, and I will even be grading on a curve at the end.

I realize your score looks low at the moment, but it will jump up quite a bit once I get all of the assignments in. I cannot tell yet whether you will get an A, B, or a C, but if it makes you feel better, I can promise that failure is extremely unlikely. Again, what the passing grade will look like is hard for me to say. Based on what I've seen so far, it is probably going to be in the B range, but if the final paper is really strong, then there's still a chance for an A. If the final paper is not very strong, then it could dip down to a C. I cannot imagine it going below that.

I hope this gives you some confidence. I understand your frustration and your concern. Please try not to think about it until tomorrow night. Once I get through the last two annotated bibliographies, the paper assignments and textbook assignments tend to go very quickly.

Also, I will not be accepting late work after tonight, so the email interruptions should cut back significantly.

• Sat, Dec 14 (a day after all assignments are due):

[Student submits a late assignment]

• Sat, Dec 14 (Same day - 2pm):

All right [redacted], although this is very late, I will accept it, and yes, before you ask, I am still grading. I will hopefully be finished by midnight or 1am.

• Sat, Dec 14 (Same day – 6pm):

Dear Mr. Guyton,

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to follow up regarding my grade for English. I noticed that my grade has not yet been updated, and I was wondering if there might be any updates or if there is anything further I need to do on my end.

I understand you have a busy schedule, but I would appreciate any information or clarification regarding this matter.

Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to your response.

Best regards,

[Redacted]

• Sat, Dec 14 (Same day – 6:03pm)

Hi [redacted] I've completely finished three of my classes. I am almost finished with yours. I should have your class finished by about midnight or 1am. Then, I will finish class #5 around 2 or 3am. I have done nothing but grade this entire day, as I promised you in my previous email.

• Sat, Dec 14 (Same day – 6:14pm):

Hi Professor Guyton,

I hope you're doing well. I want to start by apologizing for sending so many emails. I really appreciate all the work you're doing to grade everything. I just want to let you know that I am very serious about my grade in this class because it’s important for my graduation. I can’t afford to fail and I really need to pass with a good grade, which is why I’ve been emailing you a lot.

I hope everything goes smoothly with the grading, and I appreciate all your time and effort.

Thank you again!

Best,

[Redacted]

• Sun, Dec 15 at 2am (Grades have been submitted, and student has barely pulled off a C):

Dear Mr. Guyton,

I hope you are doing well. As I mentioned before, I never received a textbook for the class, which made it difficult to complete the assignments. I was only able to do one of the chapters because you kindly allowed me to use your copy at the time.

I wanted to ask what can be done to address the chapters I missed and the grades associated with them. Thank you for your understanding and for taking the time to help me address this issue. Please let me know how I should proceed.

Best regards,

[Redacted]

• Sun, Dec 15 at 2:40am (I was still up grading my final class):

Hi [redacted], I'll be honest. I assumed you were going to do all of the textbook assignments when you borrowed my book for five days. I was very surprised to see that you hadn't.

In any case, the grades are in now, and you do have a C in the class. As I mentioned - the final paper could bring you up or down, and I was a little disappointed with the paper. It was a research paper, but there was no research anywhere. No Works Cited page, no in-text citations. Also, there was a 750 word count, and your essay was only 450 words. You received a D on it, which lowered your overall score to a 67 - but as I mentioned, I do grade on a curve. The highest grade in the class was a 97, which meant that I was able to lift everyone's grade up by 3 points, and you ended up with a 70 in the class, which is a C. I know it's not what you were hoping for, but it is a passing grade, which is a good thing.

At this point, the missing textbook assignments would only bring you up to about a 74 or a 75, which is still a C.

If you have any specific questions on any of the assignments, I am happy to answer them.

Again, I am sorry that it took me so long to grade them, but there were a lot of students this semester, and I still have one more class to grade before I go to sleep tonight.

I hope you have a wonderful holiday break, and I hope the graduation goes really well for you.

• Sun, Dec 15 at 10am:

Hi Mr. Guyton,

Thank you for the update on my grade and for taking the time to explain everything. I wanted to share some clarification about the textbook assignments. When I borrowed the book, I wasn’t aware that I was expected to complete all of the assignments. When I asked about it, you had only mentioned one. Additionally, when Ms. ****** was here, she told some of us not to worry about certain assignments because she knew that not everyone had books at the time.

I’m confused about being penalized for something that I couldn’t control due to the limited availability of the books. I did my best with the resources I had and tried to complete what I thought was required.

I truly appreciate your hard work in grading and your willingness to answer questions. If there’s any way I can better understand where I went wrong or make up for this misunderstanding in the future, please let me know.

Thank you again, and I hope you have a wonderful holiday break!

Best regards,

[Redacted]

• Sun, Dec 15 at 10:37am:

[Redacted], I understand there was confusion between Prof. ***** being sick and myself taking over. However, when I took over, I tried to make absolutely clear what assignments were due every single week. I'm not sure if you looked through the Moodle page, but starting in Week 6 (when I officially took over), I very clearly laid out the assignments for every week:

1. Week 6: 11/19-11/21 / Due this week:
• Textbook Reading:
• Subject/Verb Agreement (Chapter 18), Verb Tense (Chapter 19), Pronouns (Chapter 20), Adjectives & Adverbs (Chapter 21): pp. 352-401
• Answer the Review Questions from all four Chapters.
• Warm-Ups:
• Argumentative Essay Worksheet Part I (Warm-Up)
• Argumentative Essay Worksheet Part II (Warm-Up)
• Final Draft of Illustration Essay
• All assignments this week are due Sunday, November 24 at 11:59pm.
2. Week 7: 12/2-12/6 / Due this week:
• Textbook Reading:
• Misplaced & Dangling Modifiers (Chapter 22), Coordination & Subordination (Chapter 23), Parallelism (Chapter 24), Sentence Variety (Chapter 25): pp. 402-436
• Answer the Review Questions from all four Chapters.
• Warm-Ups:
• Words with a Prefix
• Words Ending in ant, ent, ary, ery
• Quotation Assignment (Warm-Up)
• Annotated Bibliography for Argumentative Research Essay
• All assignments this week are due Sunday, December 10 at 11:59pm.
3. Week 8: 12/9-12/13 / Due this week:
• Textbook Reading:
• Narration (Chapter 6) & Illustration (Chapter 7): pp. 107-150
• Answer the Review Questions from both Chapters.
• Warm-Ups:
• Vowel Concerns - A
• Verbs Ending in -Ous
• Final Draft for Research Paper
• Any late or missing work
• All assignments this week are due Friday, December 13 at 11:59pm.

This is all right there on the Moodle page, including the textbook assignments.

I understand that you had difficulty getting the textbook, and I am sorry that happened. But I was willing to lend you my own textbook so you could get caught up. When you say that I “only mentioned one", I'm not sure what you mean, because the Moodle shell clearly listed three textbook assignments. (If I had been your teacher from day one, there would have been 8 textbook assignments - one for each week).

What I may have said in Week 7 was that you were only missing one textbook assignment at that time, which was true after Thanksgiving, but there were still two others scheduled.

It seems to me like you were not looking at the Moodle page, even though I went over it several times in class, and, every week, I had a student read out loud what was due that week.

I do not know where the miscommunication occurred, but I recognize that switching from one teacher to another can be confusing. I tried to eliminate as much confusion as I could. If there's anything else I could have done to make it more clear, please let me know.

I am sorry that things were challenging this semester. None of us expected Prof. ****** to get sick. I think we all did the best we possibly could under the circumstances.

• Sun, Dec 15 at 12:15pm:

Dear Professor Guyton,

Thank you for your response. I want to address some concerns regarding the communication this semester. I have made nothing but consistent efforts to email you, especially since before Thanksgiving break, to clarify what was required to improve my grade. However, when I asked for guidance, I was only told about the book assignments and was not informed that additional tasks needed to be completed.

I also feel there may have been conflicting instructions at times. For example, we were told not to worry about certain assignments, but later those tasks became part of what was expected. This has contributed to the confusion.

I’ve done everything in my power as a student to show that I care about my grade and see what I needed to do.

Sincerely,

[Redacted]

• Sun, Dec 15 at 12:45pm (from me):

I never once told you not to worry about certain assignments. I am not sure what Prof. ****** said or did not say, but I believe I was very clear - on Moodle and in the classroom - on all the assignments that I expected. From Week 6 forward, everything was laid out very clearly on the Moodle page and, every week, I picked one student to read the assignments out loud from the board so there would be no confusion. For any assignments given prior to Week 6, I was very lenient and accepted a lot of the work late because of the confusion over the transition.

I will say this - several times during the class sessions, I called out your name to ask you to read something from the board, and several times, you did not reply. One of your classmates often had to tap you to get your attention. Several times, I witnessed you pull something out of your ears which looked like earbuds. In my observation, it appeared that you were often not paying attention. I did not call you out on this. I did not try to embarrass you. My personal feeling is that you are not in elementary school. If you don't wish to pay attention, then I am not going to force you. However, I do not appreciate being told that I did not communicate well when it seemed very obvious to me that you were often not paying attention during class.

No, you were not the only student to wear earbuds in the classroom - I saw several students doing this - but you are the only student who is accusing me of not being clear. So, I will say this - if you don't wish to be confused in future classes, please don't wear earbuds in the classroom. Please try to give your teacher and classmates your full attention. If you are not willing to do that, then you must accept the likelihood that you will miss important information.

--------

The student has not responded since.

However, my student survey responses were all very positive except for one student (completely anonymous) who tore me to shreds and made very mean-spirited comments on the student evaluation form. I can only guess which student that was.

#howdoireachthesekeeeds

and

#doievenwanttoatthispoint

#HowDoIReachTheseKeeds

I began teaching college in 2015. I started out teaching Theatre classes as an adjunct, but I’ve recently been promoted to a Full-Time English teaching position, with an occasional Theatre class. Some of the comments I have received from students over the years have been absolutely wild. At some point, I started collecting the strangest answers I've received from students. Some of these are from exams, some from research papers or other assignments. Thankfully, most of my students do very well. I have taught over a thousand students by this point, and these are the anomalies. But, every semester, I receive a few like these. Please note that every comment below is absolutely a true comment that I have received from a college student (unless otherwise stated). I'm not sure if I can make a book out of these someday or not, but here is the list so far:

• Excerpt from a student essay: Shakespeare shows numerous of ways of expressing his talent which makes his work arthritic and unique

Excerpt from a student essay: Honestly the only reason most people wouldn't like Shakespeare was the old English language. My father is almost 60, and even he don't understand Shakespeare

My reply: #60isthenew406

• Student: Emotional memory (aka Emotional recall) was introduced by Stan Slavish, the Best Acting Coach ever.

Q: A Raisin in the Sun is partly based on a true story. What real-life events inspired Lorraine Hansberry to write this play?

A: based on the event of hairiet tubman not giving up her seat to a white man.

• Excerpt from a student essay: Romeo executed Gullet's cousin, Table, for murdering Mercuric, Romeos companion
• My reply: I can't tell if Autocorrect did you dirty here, or if you talked-to-texted or what. Please proofread!

In the MIDDLE of an essay on plagiarism, a student copied and pasted a sex conversation between herself and her boyfriend. She was not flirting with me. She accidentally copied and pasted her intimate convo right in the middle of a word, and then the word ends immediately after the last sentence in their convo. I have paraphrased it to protect her privacy, but it basically went like this:

A: It's important not to plaHeyBoi WAN2 GET FREAKY2NITE........(at least four lines of dialogue I can't share)... BUTTER ALL OVER YO BODYgiarize because it could seriously impact your grade in college.

My reply: I corrected her on grammar and told her that I appreciated her using a real-life example to show the dangers of copying-and-pasting.

• Excerpt from a student paper: "His grandfather was diagnosed with old-timers".

Q: What are some reasons for William Shakespeare's lasting popularity?

A: Dynamic dialogue. There was so much information and depth in the dialogue that it has been translated and altered in many different points of view... To put things in perspective, Shakespeare's "Hamlet" has been turned into a modern hip-hop musical starring Lin Michael Manuela.

• Q: During the Middle Ages, three types of plays were very popular. Name one and describe it:
• A: Menestrual Plays: Different companies would make sets on wheels and perform passages of the bible for citizens; earliest form of parades.
• My reply: I believe you mean “Medieval Mystery Plays”

Excerpt from a student's formal critique paper of Is He Dead? by Mark Twain:

"The characters that are involved are as follows, Chicago, Dutchy, Papa, Marie, and Cecile Leroux, Jean- Francois Millet, Bastien Andre, Madam Caron,Madame Bathilde, Phelim, O’shaughnessy, Basil Thorpe,Charlie, Claude Riviere, and the King of France. Dang that is a lot of people"

• An excerpt from another student's review paper of Is He Dead? by Mark Twain:
• "All of the characters speak with a French accent except for Phelim O’Shaughnessy who speaks with a Scottish accent and Chicago who speaks with a New York or Bostonian accent."
• My Reply: It's Chicago. The character named Chicago speaks with a Chicago accent. It's where he gets his name from.

Q: During the Renaissance, England was one of the few countries that did not require playwrights to follow the “Three Unities.” Why not?

A: Because they liked musical theatre and they were Catholic or because of the Great Depression.

My reply: The Three Unities were mostly enforced by the Catholic Church, and England was no longer Catholic, thanks to Henry VIII converting the country to Protestantism.

• Q: Thespis is considered to be the first professional actor in history. How did he achieve this honor?
• A: Great looks and ability to connect with an audience.
• My reply: He wore a mask.

Q: When Rome converted to Christianity in the late 300’s CE, they eliminated theatre. Why did they do this and how?

A: Because Julius Caesar was Catholic, by hiding troops in a statue of a horse (Trojan War)

• Q: What impact has August Wilson had on American theatre?
• A: August Wilson had on American theatre. Wanted to have a great experience but got into it with one of the audience members for saying something about him. Was an great character.

Q: "A Raisin in the Sun" premiered on Broadway in 1959 to a tremendous amount of success and acclaim. If it had premiered 20 years earlier, or later, would it have had the same level of success? Why or why not?

A: If it premiered 20 years earlier, I do not think I would have gotten much success because it was focused on slaves and things like that.

• Excerpt from a student’s essay: In theatre acting is a huge part of acting.
• My Reply: Yes, if this were a Venn Diagram, the circle for acting, and the other circle for acting would completely sit on top of each other. Also, this is a question about set design, not acting.

Q: When Rome was converted to Christianity in the late 300’s CE, one of the first things they eliminated was theatre. How did they do this, and why?

A: because Christians wanted to use another type of way to tell their story.

• Q: During the Renaissance, England was one of the few countries that did not require playwrights to follow the “Three Unities.” Why not?
• A: It was different because the way it was set up. It was preformed outside

Excerpt from a student essay on Shakespeare: Reasons people might not like his work because the way the plays would end. For example the play hamelt. He murderd his uncle. He his mother marries the perpetrator. Hamelt stab claudius with a knife after claudius drink posion. At the end hamelt dies.

• Excerpt from a student essay on Shakespeare: There are an abundance of reasons that people could dislike Shakesphere. One reason being the tone that he spoke in. His acts were written in an prehistoric time, so it's hard to adapt to his to his formal way of writing.
• My Reply: Yes, and the dinosaurs stomping around made it difficult to focus.

Student (via email): Good morning Professor Guyton, I will not be at class this morning my throat is hurting to a point where I can’t talk, so I am going to urgent care and will send you a doctors note. If that’s ok?

My reply: -----, class is over. Friday was the last day. You've already taken the final exam. Enjoy your summer.

• In a Reading class, students were asked to read an article about starfish. One student asked: “How the starfish know where to go or where their prey are located if they always facing down?”
• My reply: That’s deep, man.

Q: Greek philosopher Plato argued that all artwork must be censored, unless the government approves it first. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?

A: yes i agree that Plato's artwork should be censored unless the government approves it\ the reason on why i agree with him is because artwork is a piece that is worked on for a long time and mostly Plato's work was someone and since that person was real he is basically exposing the body of the person he makes as art.

• Another student responding to same question above: Greek philosopher Plato argued that artwork must be censored, unless the government approves it first. Do I agree with him no I do not agree with this what so ever i don't approve. Why I don't agree for freewill perspective film what you feel that would captivate the audience .Are there any instances where you might change your mind ? Of course I will in this day and age you cant just film anything  without challenging a targeted audience. 

Q: What impact has August Wilson had on American theatre? (Please be as specific as possible)

A: August Wilson has become one of the most important voices in modern theater

My reply: You’re not wrong, but this is clearly not as specific as possible. What did he do that was so special?

• Excerpt from a student essay: A set designer is responsible for many things such as visual impact. They are also responsible for clothing as well as lighting. Set designers set the musical side of the play as well.
• My reply: No. The Costume Designer is in charge of clothing and the Lighting Designer is in charge of lighting. The Musical Director (or possibly Sound Designer) is in charge of the music. The Set Designer is in charge of the Set.

Q: Name and describe two things you can do on film that you cannot do in live theatre. Why are these things useful to a filmmaker?

A: One thing that you can not do in theatre but you can do in film is hire most high actors.

My reply: Incorrect. I've met a lot of theatre actors that are high all the time. I don't agree with this sentence at all.

• Excerpt from a student essay: Lights are good signs that plays can be good and in scenes lighting matters because it can tell the audience how the scene is going to be played out within the time that they are there lighting is great to scenes it extremely important because without lighting plays or any other activities that show entertainment are literally top be un visible because people wont be able to even see or think of what is going on.

Q: Name and Describe one playwright of Ancient Greece whose work still exists.

A: Aristotle: he got alexander the great to like lays and theater so that's huge

My reply: Aristotle was not a playwright. Also, I suppose it’s possible that he taught Alexander about that first thing, but that’s a very awkward conversation to have.

• Q: When Rome was converted to Christianity in the late 300’s CE, one of the first things they did was eliminate theatre. How did they do this, and why?
• A: the Christianity made theater do mime theater witch made all christens hate it and since no one showed up to the theater it sooner died out.
• My reply: I'm sorry, what?

Q: What are some reasons for William Shakespeare’s lasting popularity?

A: Williams plays were different they were very avant garde which is something you don’t see everyday.

My reply: When Shakespeare first came along, he had some new and unusual ideas, so I can see your point a little bit. However, he is now the most produced playwright of all human history, so it’s hard to consider his work “new and unusual.”

• Q: The way a character speaks can change the way an audience interprets or understands that character. What are some language choices that a playwright might make, and what might those choices tell you about the character?
• A: if a character uses big and soplistcated words the audience would assume him to be education and vice versa. If he/she uses words like aint, gotter, gonna we assume he is geto.

Q: Some Cultural Theatre plays fall under the category of “Theatre of Identity.” What does “Theatre of Identity” mean, and can you provide an example of it?

A: Theatere of Identity is the different forms of theatre that represents different people from different background whyter it being for blacks, hispanks, or for the daffe.

• Q: Name and describe two things you can do on film that you cannot do in live theatre. Why are these things useful to a filmmaker?
• A: a) While in film your able to have a prop master, prop supervisor, etc. Theatre does not have that. b) In film a play is being done in Live action and theatre is being recorded.
• Me (in my head): Is it too late to switch careers? Mom always wanted me to be a lawyer.

Q: Please describe (in detail) five careers that can be found in the theatre. Tell me the job title and describe as many of the responsibilities as you can. This essay is worth 20% of your grade, so please be as detailed as possible.

A: In theatre there are five careers. And one career is usher the usher issues out tickets as well as provide for the service of people. Another is stunt devil the stunt devil does certain stunts the actor is afraid or isn't trained to do. And also exposition has plot structure that plays a big part and playwrights and director because of this it brings drama.

My reply: Do you mean stunt double? Also, exposition and plot structure are not careers. You literally swiped the wording from an unrelated question and slapped it on here. Also, none of this is very detailed at all.

• Q: Name and describe two things you can do on film that you cannot do in live theatre. Why are these things useful to a filmmaker?
• A: a) playwright - owning your own movie. b) director - the person who directors and writes.
• My reply: a) Playwrights do not own movies - except maybe on Blu-ray, DVD or digital copies. (VHS if they're REALLY poor). b) It's true that directors sometimes write, but not usually while they're directing. Also, "directors" is not a verb. c) Film AND theatre use scriptwriters and directors, so how is this different for film?

Q: A Raisin in the Sun is based on a true story. What real-life events inspired Lorraine Hansberry to write this play?

A: His child-hood and the dreams he wanted to accomplish. Because he wanted people to see him for who he was.

My reply: HER family was involved in a ground-breaking Supreme Court case that inspired both the Civil Rights Movement and this play.

• Q: What impact did August Wilson have on American Theatre?
• A: August Wilson made a huge impact on American theatre. The raw talent he had and determination that he put into those plays. You wouldn't come across any play that had raw energy like Mr. Wilson. The leadership and making sure everything was perfect.
• My reply: You have no idea who this is, do you?

Q: Greek philosopher Plato argued that artwork must be censored unless the government approves it first. Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Are there any instances where you might change your mind?

A: I agree with him because you want to make sure that your work is protected and is not putting you in no harm of trouble. making sure work is censored saves trouble in the long run.

My reply: Wait... Hold on, do you mean copyright? Because Plato precedes copyright law by a few thousand years.

• Q: Who is Georg II, Duke of Saxe-Meiningen? What contributions did he make to the world of theatre?
• A: I'm not sure who he is but he could've wrote Shakesphere or be the first to do something that impacted the theatre world.

Q: Name and describe two things you can do on film that you cannot do in live theatre. Why are these things useful to a filmmaker?

A: a) Forget your lines, it’s a live show and the aduinanes doesnt know whats real and has not itll also confuse the other actors and if it film you can just reshot  b) fall off stage in film you can just reshot

• Q: A Raisin in the Sun is based on a true story. What real-life events inspired Lorraine Hansberry to write this play?
• A: The grew up in a poor nephrohood ant was outside talking to everyone exprincing the open area.

Excerpt from student's essay: One career that can be found in theater is the set designer the set designer designs to look feeling in atmosphere of the shit they also are to be mindful of the directors vision and script but also the physical space when designing the set they must use accurate measurement in order for it to be exactly right for the play they must also watch for the playing areas. so they can be enough space for the fighting scenes or something in that nature.

My reply: I'm not sure why you felt the need to curse on your midterm, but this is mostly correct. I just wish you would add commas and periods where necessary.

• One student approached me after class and asked if I was into rap music. I said that I liked it ok, so he handed me a demo CD that he had recorded and asked me to listen. Mind you, this is a Theatre class, not a music class, but ok. It’s all art, whatever. So, I listened on the ride home and it was decent. A lot of cursing, violence and drug references, but the beats were catchy and he had some clever rhymes and turns of phrase. All in all, pretty standard fare for a rap album. Not ground-breaking, but I’ve heard far worse on Top 40 radio, so I figured he deserved encouragement. On the cover, he had a list of social media accounts where listeners could contact him. I normally don’t follow students on Facebook, but this was an artist page, and not a personal page, so I figured I could go on there and tell him which tracks I liked and why, and maybe give him some public praise – for whatever that might be worth.
• However, the first image on this student’s Facebook artist page was of himself leaning against a car smoking a blunt. Of course, this is not a particularly ground-breaking or unusual image for a rap artist. Also, I recognize that “street cred” is important for branding purposes and so on. As long as he’s not in the classroom, it’s none of my… Wait a minute. I recognize the parking lot he’s in. He is clearly smoking a blunt in the parking lot at our school. The caption below the photo says: “My mood 10 minutes before class.” Of course, I checked the date and time from the photo, and it was taken 10 minutes before MY class. Not only that, but I recognized the outfit he was wearing from earlier that week.
• I wrote below the photo: “Well, this explains the quiz grade.”

Excerpt from a student’s essay: They will be speaking in a normal day-to-day kind of conversation with a little dermatic reaction to it.

My reply: Dermatic reaction sounds like a skin condition. Do you mean “dramatic reaction”?

• Excerpt from a student’s essay on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: Just by the accents and dialogue each character had, you can tell it took place in England in the 40s or 50s.
• My reply: 1840’s, yes. But it sounds like you mean 1940s or 50s?

Q: Roman philosopher Juvenal coined the phrase "Bread and Circus". What does this phrase mean, and how is it relevant to Ancient Rome?

A: It relates to the entertainment back in Ancient Rome such as Medieval Times.

• Q: Please name and describe two styles of theatre that began in Asia.
• A: Sunshirt Drama and Musical

Excerpt from an essay on Shakespeare: I feel that many people do not find Shakesphere interesting because you have to read his work. Not many people enjoy reading.

• Excerpt from an essay on Shakespeare: There were people that did not like Shakespeare's work because he insulted so many people in his plays. Shakespeare used insulting scenes that offended blacks and Jews. He would have slaves being killed in his plays. Shakespeare would use comedy and tragedy to show disrespect to religion and race.
• My reply: Some of this is true of Shakespeare, but the killing of slaves in a play occurred several hundred years before Shakespeare's time - during Ancient Rome. There is no evidence that Shakespeare himself killed anyone. Additionally, I think it's important to note that he also had some positive things to say about people of color and Jewish people long before many of his contemporaries. Still, the offensive comments do exist in his work and need to be taken into consideration. I would just hate for you to believe he was flat-out evil. He was complicated, for sure, but not a murderer, and his works include both positive and negative depictions of the groups you've mentioned. Lastly, his combination of comedy and tragedy might have offended some religious people, but I can't see how this combination would disrespect anyone's race.

Q: Thespis is considered to be the first professional actor in history. How did he achieve this honor? (Please be as specific as possible)

A: He deserve this, he took time practicing and writing different plays. he was known to be one of the best actors around. It look him a lot of practice, dedication.

Q: This is all true actually, but not as specific as possible.

• Q: When Rome converted to Christianity in the late 300's CE, they eliminated theatre. Why did they do this and how?
• A: Theatre was popular being around that time, however many did not agree to many of the ongoing this that was taken place, it was by their WANT to eliminate theatre!

Q: In England, the years 1660 to 1700 CE are known as "The Restoration Period". Why is it called this, and what was theatre like during this time?

A: theatre around this time, was popular. they didn't really have issues in england it was more so their rules, getting what they wanted out of it.

• Q: What were some of the major world events that occurred during The Enlightenment Period? How did Enlightenment thinkers influence these world events?
• A: During, this time period things were different and alot changelling then many others. The events that occured were popular events, that invoked current authority.

Excerpt from an essay on Shakespeare: William Shakespeare was known to be one of the most popular people playwrights. A lot of people could not handle how well of a real person William was. Anything that he wrote or published was based on a real story. Their were many people who couldn't handle how real of a person he was. A lot of things William put out you had to really be willing to understand... Most produced playwrights would normally sound the same to me. However, William never wanted people to understand him, he wanted his plays to be understood. Their were many people who was always aganist his will and say. But he didn't allow that to affect him. While other Greek plays, roman plays became somewhat similar. I was known to always read books or anything that was by him, because, he was a voice of inspiring to being well understood.

• Excerpt from an essay on Shakespeare: William wrote his work in Lambrie Pentameter which made some actors hard to speak it. All the language in his plays were just hard to understand and if you don't understand it then it concludes that you don't know the meaning of anything in the play.

Q: Roman poet Juvenal coined the phrase "Bread and Circus." What does this phrase mean, and how is it relevant to Ancient Rome?

A: I believe the phrase means simply enjoy some bread while watching the preformances, bread was a comman dish eaten by the people of Ancient Rome and we know the romans thoroughly enjoyed watching live preformances.

• Q: Name one musical theatre creator and/or partnership that we discussed in class and describe their work (including at least one play title).
• A: Hair - this was a boy band musical group who were really known for introducing rock music.
• My reply: Yes, "Hair" introduced rock music to Broadway. I have no idea how you got "boy band" out of this, though. Also, who created it?

Q: When Rome converted to Christianity in the late 300's, they eliminated theatre. Why did they do this and how? (Please be as detailed as possible)

A: I believe Rome elimanated theatres due to the Christianity believe.

• Excerpt from an essay on Shakespeare: When I look back at the poetry you really never know whats coming. He surprises you every moment he gets and makes you feel like your in the play. He takes you on adventures that you just won't forget. Also Shakespeare produces Imabic Penaments with 38 plays... William Shakespeare isn't perfect and sometimes dosen't care bout what the critics think. He create playwrights that he want to make not what the audiences want to see. Some people say Shakespeare playwrights are outdated with the different, enchanted speaking.

Q: When Rome converted to Christianity in the late 300's, they eliminated theatre. Why did they do this and how? (Please be as detailed as possible)

A: Because of the impacts that were happening at that time with life.

• Q: Please name and describe two styles of theatre that began in Asia.
• A: The Fourth Wall and Black Box Theatre

Q: During the Renaissance, England was one of the few countries that did not require playwrights to follow "The Three Unities". Why not? (Please be as specific as possible)

A: Because they were against it because they're beliefs.

• Q: In England, the years 1660 to 1700 CE are known as "The Restoration Period". Why is it called this, and what was theatre like during this time?
• A: Theatre was bringing love plays because it was affecting the audience.

Q: What were some of the major world events that occurred during the Enlightenment Period? How did Enlightenment thinkers influence these events?

A: World War I & The Great Depression

My reply: The Enlightenment Period lasted roughly from 1660-1800. Good guess, but… no.

• Excerpt from a student’s review of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: my favorite scene is when he comes back to earth in the 18400’s time.
• My reply: Good lord – will the Earth even exist at that time?

Q: When Christians took over Rome in the late 300’s, they eliminated theatre – but not all at once. How did they do this, and why?

A: They crucified all actors because they think all actors should go to hell.

My reply: Yikes. Let’s tone it down a notch. Yes, they thought acting was a sin, but they did not have a specific policy to kill actors (at least not on a grand scale). They simply forbade actors from getting baptized, and they forbade any non-baptized people from owning property of any kind. Therefore, if you were not baptized, you were required by law to live in poverty. Not many actors were willing to live like that, so most gave up their profession and theatre died out for many decades.

• Q: During the Renaissance, England was one of the few countries that did not require playwrights to follow “The Three Unities.” Why not? (Be as specific as possible).
• A: They had their own way of doing things and English probably wasn’t very good during the Renesaunce area for History reasons.

I sometimes allow students to use their hand-written notes for their exams. I feel this helps with their notetaking skills and encourages them to pay more attention during class. As a result, the students who take better notes often do better on exams than those who do not. So obviously, I found it amusing to receive this email the night before an exam:

Student: Mr. Guyton, What is the best stuff to write down for the final exam?

Me: That's a broad question. I recommend going back through the material and writing down anything you might have trouble remembering. Are there any topics that are confusing, or material that you're unclear about?

Student: Is everything from all of the PowerPoints on the exam or just certain parts from those? Also, if only certain parts from the PowerPoints are on the exam, what are those?

Me (Sighing deeply): I can't tell you that in advance. That is the whole point of taking an exam. The professor covers a lot of material with the class and students try their best to remember as much as they can. Proper notetaking and studying skills will help you with that. If there is something on the PowerPoint that confuses you, I'm happy to explain it. However, everything we've covered on the PowerPoints is potentially on the exam.

• Q: Shortly after the Renaissance, England went through a period called “Restoration.” Why was it called this, and what was Theatre like during this time period?
• A: Improved stuff by What everyone thought from the previous era, which effected theature to not demonise actors and have no one die

Excerpt from an essay on Shakespeare: Shakesphere had its fair share of being dispised. For once, it’s found boring; there are rock concerts, broadway musicals, monster truck ralleys and there is some guy talking to a skull.

• Q: Thespis is considered to be the first professional actor in history. How did he achieve this honor?
• A: He achieved this honor by performing in front of the King.
• My reply: Athens was a democracy at the time. No king.

Q: Roman poet Juvenal coined the phrase “Bread and Circus.” What was he describing, and how is it relevant to Ancient Rome? (Be as detailed as possible).

A: He was describing the Roman Empire.

My reply: This is… not as detailed as possible.

• Our school has a software called TurnItIn which helps determine if the student plagiarized. One of my wildest stories about TurnItIn was a student who submitted a paper that came back with a 98% similarity score. The highest I had ever seen before that was 42%. The only words this student changed from his sources were his name and a few random words such as “the” and “are”. There were zero citations provided, and, according to TurnItIn, Wikipedia was the primary source. I had no choice but to report the student for plagiarism. I sent him an email laying out the accusation, along with the TurnItIn report and other screenshots, and the student responded to my email: “But professor, I didn’t cheat. My wife wrote the paper for me, and she’s the one who cheated!”
• My reply: You do realize that’s worse, right? Please tell me you realize that’s worse.

Assignment: Read and analyze Jonathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal", then answer two of the questions below. Research, integrate and use an in-text citation of at least one relevant academic article from the school database to support at least one answer.

Student: The book "A Modest Proposal" doesn't leave me with really any questions except for why made such crazy proposal he did not mean. I can probably answer that question if I read more about the author and the period he lived in.

My reply: Yes, that is why the assignment asks you to research and incorporate an academic article. You've literally just acknowledged that you did not complete the assignment.

• Student: Good Morning Professor Guyton, I apologize ahead time for not making it to class today, I have work during the scheduled class time which will make me absent. Is there anything I will be missing in class?
• My reply: Today is President's Day. School is closed. You are good to go.

Excerpt from a student’s essay (in an upper level English class): I definitely am going to read this book in my free time since the chapter left us on a cliff hanger lol.

Me: “lol” is fine for text messaging, but not appropriate in formal writing.

• Sometimes, I work in the tutoring lab. Recently, a student came in for tutoring at 9am. I was helping with her assignment, then she suddenly started sniffing the air, concerned.
• Me: What's wrong?
• Student (disgusted): You smell like nuts.
• Me: What?
• Student: Yeah, you smell like nuts.
• My brain (unspoken): Dammit, Dan, I told you to use talc this morning!
• My mouth (spoken): Do you mean like... peanuts, or...?
• Student: Yeah, like peanuts or cashews or something.
• My brain and mouth together: Oh! Hazelnut! I'm drinking hazelnut coffee!
• Student sniffs my coffee mug.
• Student: Yep, that's what it is. I knew I smelled nuts.
• My brain (unspoken): Thank *$*%*@# Christ.
• My mouth (spoken): Good, now let's get back to your assign- Wait. You're not allergic to hazelnuts, are you?
• Student: No. I just don't like them.
• Me: Ok, I'll just put that on the other side of the room then. All better?
• Student: Yep.
• Me: Good. Good. Now about this assignment...

Excerpt from a student answer: "As a notarized artist August Wilson, has created an interesting piece of work."

My reply: Unless his work was signed by a public notary, this is the wrong word here. Also, you should never put a comma between the subject and the verb: “August Wilson has”

• Q: During the Renaissance, England was one of the few countries that did not require playwrights to follow the “Three Unities.” Why not?
• A: King Henry VII converted the entirety of England to the Protestant Religion because, the Catholic Church would not allow him to divorce his wife Catherine. Therefore, England did not come to England until Henry VIII's daughter Queen Elizabeth rose to throne.
• My reply: It was Henry VIII, not VII. Also, what do you mean “England did not come to England”?

(In an English class)

Q: “Do you have any questions for your professor related to this course or this assignment?”

A: 1) What are the most common mistakes you see students make on the English essays? 2) How can I be su

My reply: The most common mistakes I see on English essays are incomplete words or thoughts like, "How can I be su         "

• (In an English class)
• Q: What are four elements often evaluated in rubrics?
• A: The sour elements oden evaluated in rubrics are appropriateness, main idea, support, and organization.
• My reply: Sour? Oden? As in Thor’s father?

(Same English class)

Q: What are some of the basics of critical thinking?

A: Be albert to assumptions made by you and others.

My reply: I know a guy named Albert who will love this answer, but not everyone wants to be an Albert.

• Excerpt from a student’s creative writing essay:
• “I’ve been looking for an opportunity to show off my success as an offer. I’ve written 37 books…”
• My reply: Wait, do you mean author?

Excerpt from a student journal on their expectations for the course:

“I am excited to be the best student I can be and graduate Summa Cum Laude, but I’ll settle for Manga.”

My reply: I too would settle for being a cartoon character these days.

• From a student email:
• “Professor, I didn't come to class Friday due to a dentist appointment, how am I supposed to complete the peer review?”
• My response: “In future, I will ask that you please ask nicely first, especially since I wasn't even aware that you were out for medical reasons. This wording: ‘Is it possible for me to complete the peer review assignment?" sounds much nicer than "How am I supposed to complete the peer review?" The second wording sounds like I have done something wrong, but in reality, I would have been happy to email you an essay to read, if I had known the situation. In fact, here is your partner's essay, as well as a Peer Review form to complete.”

English textbook assignment:

Q: For longer works, such as magazines, novels, books, newspapers, and so on, _________ the titles.

Correct Answer: Italicize

Student’s Answer: For longer works such as magazines, novels, books, newspaper, and so on, the titles of sacred books such as the bible or the Korean are neither underlined nor surrounded by quotation marks.

My response: Incorrect. Book titles and longer works should always be italicized (or underlined if you can’t italicize, for example, when handwriting) / Bible should be capitalized / Korean should be Koran / both book titles should be, once again, italicized.

• Excerpt from a student essay on social media: Social media can have some beneficial effects, but the negative has a better impact than the good.
• My reply: What does this mean?

Excerpt from the same essay: No one talks about the downfall of social media and how it can affect your mental health and change you for the worse.

My reply: We just talked about this the other day in class. We talked for almost 30 minutes on this topic. Half of your classmates chose this same topic for their essay. You’re talking about it now. We’re all talking about it. What do you mean “no one”?

• The title page of a student’s essay:
• Artificial Intelligence is a Threat to Privacy
• By
• Name of the student
• Name of the University
• Date
• My reply: You’re supposed to put your actual name and date on this essay. The school name is not that important, but the class name and professor name are also required. Please tell me you did not have AI write an essay for you about the dangers of AI?

Timeline - T-minus 4 days from semester's end.

Student: good morning, is there any way left i could pass the semester? is there any SPECIFIC assignments i can do , being put into the class late it was really hard to catch up & i re did most of my assignments but can barely get credit because i was put it there late and has to catch up

Me: The biggest assignments are the essay assignments. It may be a challenge at this point, but if you can get your essays in, that will be your best bet for passing the course. I know you were added to the class late, but then you were absent almost every day since then, which made it extra hard to catch up. Really, the essays count heavier than anything else. That includes the Topic Essay, the Midterm Essay, and the Argumentative Essay that's due this week. If you can get those in by Friday, you can probably still pass.

Timeline - T-minus 3 days from semester's end.

Student: For the topic essay what kind of topic is it about ? and What is our midterm essay about as well ill have them in this Friday

Me (to myself): Can it be the holidays yet? Please? Pretty please. I'm begging.

• Excerpt from a student essay on plot:
• Student: We climax with a jeweler revealing that the jewelry is actually real and extremely valuable.
• My reply: The wording "We climax with so-and-so" is probably not the best wording for this context. I recommend: "The story’s climax occurs with the jeweler"

Question: What does the term "Emotional recall" or "Emotional memory" mean?

Student: Emotional recall means when you think back to a memory from your own life that was similar. Stanislavski suggested this because actors were cutting onions before the scene.

My reply: Some actors might cut onions to make themselves cry, but they weren't all doing this. Still, this is mostly correct.

• Excerpt from student essay: "I would like to know more about the world before it had all of this technology. Before tv’s like what games did people play when they were bored. More so, what kind of music did they dance to or did they even have music."
• My reply: People have had music since they were living in caves - most likely drum-type music, pounding on sticks, etc. Singing has most likely been part of human culture since the earliest humans as well.

Student asked if they could do a peer review for the final essay:

I replied: "I'm afraid I never received a rough draft from you. The rule is that you must submit a rough draft in order to do a peer review."

Student replied to me: "I understand. No rush by the way please do it at your own convenience. Thank you!"

I replied: "I'm not sure what you mean? I need YOU to submit the rough draft before I can give you a peer review."

• On the positive side, one of my former students is having a book published. She sent me an advanced copy. The dedication at the beginning made me tear up a little:
• Student: I want to extend my deepest gratitude to a great teacher, Professor Daniel Guyton. As a first-time college student at the age of 54, I was required to take introductory literature courses. The class was a three-hour session, held twice a week, and Professor Guyton was the instructor. I vividly remember the first day of this class. It began with a warm-up assignment and quickly moved into a required read-aloud exercise from the textbook. This request alone had me shaking in my boots, but Professor Guyton was there to reassure us. The final task of the day was to start, and if possible, complete a written assignment before the class ended and I found myself frantically typing away at the computer keyboard. From that day onwards, it happened quite often. I would continue to write long after everyone else had left and was always the last student to leave the class.
• One day as I noticed the last student exiting the classroom, I heard myself say aloud, “I am always the last to leave” with great frustration. To my surprise, someone replied, “No Gwen, I am here with you.” It was Professor Guyton.
• Professor Guyton, thank you for being a teacher who is still passionate about the work you do so well and continuing to inspire and support your students. We need more teachers like you in every learning institution around the world. Thank you for your kindness.

#maybeireachedthesekeeds