Antlers for “Antlers”!

by Gryphon Williams

In my Intro to Literary Studies class with Professor Laurie McMillan, the first story we read was “Antlers” by Rick Bass. We spent a few weeks analyzing the themes of the text, posting to the discussion board, and drafting essays to explore the deeper meaning behind the story. Then, on Halloween, Professor McMillan walked in with a gleam in her eye.

She gradually revealed that she was carrying bags of construction paper, scissors, glue, you name it. She scanned the room, stood at the front and emphatically said: “Today, we’re making antlers.”

 There we were, a bunch of 20-something-year-old students, elbow deep in construction paper and outlines of antlers and I can say, without a doubt, that was one of the most fun classes I’ve ever had in my college experience. During the weeks of stress and potential transition in the middle of a semester, it was a calming experience that I cherished.

 We also managed to catch a super cool picture that our Professor sent to Rick Bass, the author of “Antlers,” on Twitter!

Students in Writing Course Research…Themselves!

Our ENG 120 Critical Writing class began the semester with brief readings and self-reflections about our own strengths, challenges, and goals as writers. We then examined trends in those reflections, and each of us wrote a paper analyzing patterns we discovered.

At the end of that process, we decided our findings were worth sharing beyond our classroom. Hope you find it helpful whether you are a student, a professor, or someone who is simply interested in writing!

by Talulah Barni, John Beltrane Meza, Sam Diaz, John Dickson, Michael Ecker, David Fernandes, Roman Riscella, Mackenzie Garrick, Brianna Greto, Ramon Lantigua, Katherine Leon, Popo Mathwasa, Laurie McMillan, Sally Ninan, Jadalyn Ortiz, Odalis Paltin, Adreonnis Reyes, Mike Santucci, Ming Sherpa, and Ansa Thomas.

METHOD

• Our English class of 19 students at Pace University in Pleasantville, NY completed the following readings: 
  1. Introduction to Focus on Writing: What College Students Want to Know (McMillan, 2019)
  2. “WPA Outcomes Statement“
  3. “Framework for Success“
  4. Ch. 1 Why Write? in Focus on Writing: What College Students Want to Know
• We then answered the following questions on a Blackboard discussion board:
  1. How does this [college writing] course seem similar to and different from writing in high school? 
  2. Which of the outcomes (from the WPA Outcomes Statement) fit your strengths?
  3. Which of the outcomes seem challenging?
  4. Which characteristics (from the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing) describe you?
  5. Which characteristics do you hope to develop?
  6. What motivates you to write outside of school?
  7. What motivates you to write in school?
  8. What discourages you from writing outside of school?
  9. What discourages you from writing inside school?
• We reviewed the answers to the above questions, looking for trends, patterns, and connections. We also noted outliers.

We are hard at work!

PATTERNS WE NOTICED

• Students are motivated to write by their grades and GPA
• Students enjoy writing about things that interest them
• Students have better performance in writing when they have a purpose, interest, connections, and low risk
• People say they have trouble writing outside of school because of distractions
• People are writing more than they think (texting, social media comments, and communication in general)
• Students want to develop persistence for college writing
• Students found long-term projects in school more difficult to write than short-term projects 

HOW THE FINDINGS MIGHT BE USED BY TEACHERS

• get a better understanding of students and how they view writing.
• change curriculum to fit the needs of their students, making it more engaging and tailored toward students
• change lesson plans to interest everyone
• allow students to choose topics so they would be more interested in writing
• include more low-stakes writing
• break down longer writing projects into smaller parts

HOW THE FINDINGS MIGHT BE USED BY STUDENTS

• may feel reassured and validated that they’re not alone in their feelings toward the writing process
• collaborate to enjoy writing more 
• encourage each other to stop procrastination
• break down longer writing tasks into smaller steps
• find something about an assignment that might be interesting

classroom collaboration!

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM DOING THIS PROJECT THAT WE MIGHT USE IN FUTURE WRITING SITUATIONS 

• Most of us learned our weaknesses and strengths during this project, which we need to work on to better our writing in the future.
• We have many similar mindsets and opinions about writing, reading, and research.
• First drafts don’t need to be a specific length, and can be informal. It’s okay to work on small pieces at a time.
• We rely on different perspectives in order to edit and polish our papers.
• We can learn something just by looking at our own attitudes toward writing.
• How to properly cite student discussion board posts.
• It is okay to make mistakes.

This class ethnography was our first serious assignment in our writing class this semester, so we are glad we can share what we learned!