Terms of Work for Composition -- Chapter 1, "Work"

I spent some time reading chapter 1 from Terms of Work for Composition yesterday, and I learned some interesting things.  Here are the highlights:

• Work often means producing academic texts, not teaching or administration (3)
• Courses are commodities owned by the institution, not the individual, which is part of why they aren't seen as work (6)
• There is a divide between intellectual/mental and non-intellectual/manual labor, and sometimes the teaching of Composition as seen as non-intellectual/manual labor (8)
• Unions can sometimes take away flexibility and freedom and autonomy, which is why they're not always the solution to academic labor issues; but Composition teachers may not lose a lot from them since they often have less freedom and autonomy from the start (22)

Overall, this chapter seems to be puzzling through what counts as "work" in the academy, in English departments, and in Composition.  Then it looks at the politics of these decisions and how they impact teachers/scholars/those in the field.

The discussion of unions on 24-26 still interests me -- I'd like to remember to ask Seth Kahn what he thinks of this discussion.  As part of the labor caucus, I've noticed that we discuss unions often, but I don't really get it all the time.  Maybe Seth can help?

Also, there was a citation that interested me (Gunner) related to the Wyoming resolution.  It looks like this is the article:

Gunner, Jeanne.  "The Fate of the Wyoming Resolution: A History of Professional Seduction."  Writing Ourselves Into the Story: Unheard Voices from Composition Studies.  Ed. Sheryl Fontaine and Susan Hunter.  Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1992. 107-22.

This might be kind of old to use in my Comps, but it also might be useful in my secondary section.  I'll look into this more soon.

Next up: read chapter 2 or read Sharon Crowley's review.

Responses to Questions from Yesterday -- Terms of Work for Composition, Bruce Horner

Yesterday, I was curious to know where Bruce Horner is now.  Here's what I found:

• He is at Louisville, and his bio here shows some interesting things that he is researching, which certainly relate to my project
• This bio is a bit more thorough and presents some of his CV information
• Terms of Work for Composition won the W. Ross Winterowd Award for the Most Outstanding Book Published Each Year on Composition Theory in 2001--neat!  This is the same award that Donna Strickland's book won!  Here's a link to the other books that have won the award, in case I need more books on my Comps lists.

I was also curious about the book The Violence of Literacy which Horner uses as an epigraph at the start of his book.  Here's what I found about this book:

• It's on amazon here.
• Here's the blurb from amazon: 

"This book counters most of our prevailing views about literacy. It says that literacy, rather than enfranchising people, is violent, ulterior, and uniquely devoted to Western economic ends. It claims that the literacy profession perpetuates injustice, whether it knows it or not.
This is a book for anyone who thinks that reading and writing are important to learning. In this respect, it's a book for everyone, but it's primarily for people on the hotseat - English teachers, especially composition/writing/rhetoric teachers, and teachers of dropouts and adults and minorities. The book addresses economics and social class, the political structure in which English teaching fits, the character of labor, the psychology or psychotherapy of literacy, and the future of social freedom in America.
This is an angry book written by an angry English teacher: The author is angry that literacy is the center of the storm; angry that the center of the storm foments nothing but itself; angry that most of what we do, even the good that we do, remains academic, powerless, and self-serving.
What solutions are offered? The author argues that literacy is not the solution. she argues that economics is the agenda, that the ability to read and write is less important than the ability to pay. The reality is that whose who set the agenda use literacy and literacy standards to maintain privilege and parcel disadvantage. The violence of literacy becomes, therefore, the customary domain of those who foresee no real change while foretelling it."

•  Hmm, this makes me interested in reading it.  Why is she so angry?  Do I do some of these negative things?  How can I change?  Maybe I'll add this to my list.  PLUS, it's only 140 pages :)  I think I can find time to read that!

Another thing I wanted to know about was this lack of focus on unions and what Seth Kahn might think about this.  But, you know, I think I should finish reading the book first. SO, I'll finish reading and then message Seth!

One more thing I wanted to see were reviews of Terms of Work.  Here's what I found:

•  The SUNY Press site, which is basically everything on the back of the book.  Might be useful when I have to bring the book back to the library.
• Yikes! This guy didn't like the book.
• This website looks like what someone else is using for comps, and it offers good stuff on the book. Notable notes, and quotable quotes, with an overview to start.  Love it!
• This one is more just summary, but may be useful for a refresher later on.
• I also found a review by Sharon Crowley in CCCC from 2001--I downloaded it to my desktop.  This would be useful to print and read, most likely, since I'd like a review of the book AND I'm interested in Crowley's opinion.  Neat.

Overall, I'd say I found some good resources to remind me about this book and get other opinions on it.  This will hopefully be useful in May, when it's been almost a year since I've read it.

For next time: Read chapter 1 on Work, and print and read Crowley's review (and file it away).

Horner, Terms of Work for Composition

I spent 25 minutes reading from Horner's Terms of Work for Composition.  My bds report can be found here.

Consider looking into The Violence of Literacy by Stuckey.

Also, where is Bruce Horner now?  The book says he's at Drake--really?  Is he still there (I don't think so...)?

Looks at:

1. Work
2. Students
3. Politics
4. Academic
5. Traditional 
6. Writing

I haven't abandoned you, sweet comps...

...I've just been busy with other writing/reading/teaching projects.  I've made a lot of headway with my English 2010 class, I've been writing my midterm for English 7040, I've done a bunch of grading, and I've been reading for the WGST 1120 class I'm designing.

I intend to revisit you soon :)

And so it begins

This week, I'm starting the marathon that is my Comprehensive Exam process.  I've been puzzling through where I want to take notes and how I want to record information as I read the 100-120 books on my reading list, and I decided that a blog would be a good place.  So, I'll post my reading responses and relevant information here!  This is what I intend to post in response to the books that I read:

• Summaries and relevant paraphrases from the books I read
• Important quotations that I might want to revisit or use in my essay
• Links to author bios or relevant author information
• Links to the amazon.com page for the book (which might offer summaries, publishing info, etc)
• Links to the MU Libraries page for the book (which will offer citation information and the location of the book if I ever have to return it and get it back)
• Reflections and thoughts on how the book might be useful to my studies

 In addition, I'll also post reflections and thoughts about the questions I might ask for my exam--those are still a work in progress, and I think that reading and thinking and reflecting will help them come to life in the next few months.

This might not be an interesting blog, and it may not be anything that anyone else wants to read, but I think it will be useful to me.  And that's a good thing :)