- 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.
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