Here are the basic rules and expectations:
1) Discussion questions for each week's reading will be posted by mid-day on Monday (as well as occasional Wednesdays when there is new material). Each of you should plan to check the blog on Monday and Wednesday afternoon/evening and participate in the online discussion. You may contribute to the discussion either Monday or Wednesday or both. You may choose to skip two weeks of discussion.
2) Each of you will sign up for one session to post the "starter" question on Monday. You should e-mail it to me no later than noon on Monday and I will post it. I will post my own questions on the weeks that no one has signed up.
3) While responses should engage with and respond to the starter question, they do not have to take the form of simply "answering the question." Think of this as an ideal class discussion: a question might draw direct answers, but it might also inspire new questions; and by the fifth or sixth comment the discussion may have developed a new focus. We should all make an effort to engage seriously in the starter question, while at the same time allowing conversation to grow and evolve.
3) While responses should engage with and respond to the starter question, they do not have to take the form of simply "answering the question." Think of this as an ideal class discussion: a question might draw direct answers, but it might also inspire new questions; and by the fifth or sixth comment the discussion may have developed a new focus. We should all make an effort to engage seriously in the starter question, while at the same time allowing conversation to grow and evolve.
4) Our goal in devising discussion questions, as well as in responding, should be to incite thought, debate, and engagement in the details of the text. There are many different ways to write a successful question. Here are two sample questions, one not-so-good and one better:
An ineffective question:
"What does Thoreau mean when he says that "At a certain season of our life we are accustomed to consider every spot as the possible site of a house"? (This question does not really engage with the quotation or give any direction or substance to the discussion. )
A more elaborate and more effective question:
Thoreau begins the chapter "Where I Lived, and What I Lived For" by saying, "At a certain season of our life we are accustomed to consider every spot as the possible site of a house." There are two analogies in this sentence: the seasons (time) and the house (place). Does Thoreau's house coexist with those seasons, or does the house protect him against them? In other words, does Thoreau imply here that time and place are in tension with one another or in harmony?
Happy blogging!
Professor Scales
