[Englecturers] 1ABC Booklist Meeting - Wed., May 4, 11 a.m. SPR 2355

[englecturers at lists.ucr.edu]

Hello all,

Next week, we're going to hold a meeting to make some decisions about the 1ABC booklist. Why? Well, firstly because we have received some interesting recommendations for new texts. Moreover, several texts that seem to be getting little use might need to be rotated out. However, because last week's survey results were not comprehensive or truly representative, we want to try again to drum up feedback before making a decision on these issues.

MEETING DETAILS:
Date: Wednesday of next week (May 4)
Time: 11:10 a.m.
Location: Sproul 2355

Below, I summarize the results of last week's poll, and list the texts that have been suggested as additions and/or replacements to the list. You might want to read this over before coming to the meeting next week -- or, if you cannot make it to the meeting, read over the material below and e-mail me by 6 p.m. on Tuesday with your opinion on the various undersupported and proposed texts. I'll treat such e-mails as proxies.

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Survey Summary

Note on sample size: I only had 10 respondents for this survey. Hence, none of the numbers below are "significant" in the statistician's sense of the term -- they are merely indicative, or exploratory, data. This means, if you find that your favorite text is listed as underutilized, it's probably because its supporters didn't respond to the survey, and may not mean that you are utterly alone. If you feel strongly about those texts, speak up, or come to the meeting. (You know the routine: Rock the Vote; Vote or Die; that sort of thing.)  For the time being, however, our input is being largely determined by the pool of TAs and lecturers (mostly lecturers) who seem to care the most about the outcome, and perhaps that's as it should be. 

1A TEXTS:
  a.. Weak Support: For two 1A texts, support appears to be weak or waning:
    a.. Zami -- None of the respondents (note my above qualification on sample size) are using this text. Few expressed any interest in it. Roughly half said they have no intention of ever using it. If this result is representative of most of our instructors, this particular work might be worth replacing, as it scored lower on my metrics than any other text, including those for 1B and 1C.
    b.. Always Running -- Only one respondent said s/he was using this text, but a few others said they might use it someday. Nevertheless, this text seems to be getting little use or support compared to most of the others on the list. I'd be interested in hearing whether this too could be replaced by something likely to see more use. 
  b.. Strong Support: Meanwhile, support for 1A single-author texts like Into the Wild, Obasan, Things They Carried, and Lone Ranger and Tonto appears to remain high. All of these texts have high proportions of respondents who are using them, or who claim they might use them in the future.  
1B TEXTS:
  a.. Weak Support: The Dispossessed, however, had but one defender and thus was the weakest performer in this category. 
  b.. Iffy Support: Twilight: Los Angeles, Medea, Tortilla Curtain, Heroes and Saints, and Writing the World each had weak usage but moderate support -- that is, like Always Running above, each of them had 1 user, plus 2 or so other respondents who said they might use it in the future. Thus, it's hard to gauge how much use these texts are likely to get in upcoming quarters. 
  c.. Strong Support: Fast Food Nation, Nickel and Dimed, and World of Ideas each had a great deal of sometimes emphatic support. Messing with them might incite a mutiny. Savage Inequalities is also popular, and very nearly in this category.
1C TEXTS:
  a.. Weak Support: We have two weak performers for 1C: Paradise and Dreaming in Cuban. No respondent claimed to be using these books anymore. Several respondents in each case claimed to be uninterested in them, or no longer interested in using them after having used them once or twice in the past. 
  b.. Iffy Support: Native Speaker, Confessions of a Justified Sinner, and Text Book appear to have more casual interest than actual usage, if the responses are to be trusted. For both of these books, the number of disinterested respondents outweighed the number of potentially interested respondents or users. (Specifically, Native Speaker has no users among the survey's respondents; Text Book and Confessions each have just one user.) Are people out there interested in a replacement reader for Text Book? (One has been proposed; see below.)
  c.. Moderate Support: Wicked and Devil in a Blue Dress. 
  d.. Strong Support: Hamlet, Signs of Life, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all appear to be getting healthy usage, and support for them remains generally high.
PROPOSED ADDITIONS/REPLACEMENTS:

Many respondents had interesting ideas for replacements and additional texts. Wherever possible, I've simply quoted them in support of their nominated texts. 

  For 1A (possibly as a replacement for Zami?) 

  Having Our Say: (By Sarah Delany, A. Elizabeth Delany, and Amy Hill Hearth). The respondent, who has used this text in the classroom, writes: 
  "I like this book better than the current selections for a number of reasons.  First of all, part of the goal of teaching English 1A is to help students develop their own authorial voices.  In this book, the reader can tell (even without the subtitles) which section is written by each of the two sisters; they have unique voices, and one is substantially angrier than the other about past events.  Secondly, they have a more positive and humorous outlook than many other authors writing about racism, prejudice, and discrimination, and not because they haven't experienced it.  Their father, though born a slave, was the first elected African-American bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US.  One was a school teacher, and the other the second female African-American dentist in New York.  I like the ways in which this book demonstrates multiple perspectives within a single family, the use of humor, and the value of elderly people, all without glossing over multicultural issues."

  For 1B (possibly as a replacement for The Dispossessed?)

  The Hungry Woman: The Mexican Medea: (by Cherrie Moraga). The respondent recommends this text for pairing with Medea. She writes:   
  "The Hungry Woman works to give another take to the Medea story. I haven't used it, but I think it would work." 

  The Hot Zone: (by Richard Preston). The respondent has used this text in the classroom, observing that students get caught up in it. I know that others out there have used this text, and would be interested in hearing more feedback on the matter: Is this text being used in the Basic Writing or 1SC classes? (If so, it might not be a good idea to reuse it at the 1B level.)

  For the 1C reader (possibly as a replacement for Text Book?)

  Rereading America: (edited by Robert Cullen, Bonnie Lisle, Gary Colombo). The respondent writes: 
  "Rereading America is an excellent text that creates a space for controversy in the composition classroom.  Many of the traditional hot button topics are found here, but, more impressively, the prose is very intelligent and provocative.  This could really get our students thinking intensely about popular culture and its intersections with more canonical thought.  I hope this text will be given due consideration."

  For the 1C single-author texts (possibly as replacements for Paradise or Dreaming in Cuban)

  Farewell my Lovely: (by Raymond Chandler). The respondent, who has used this text before in the classroom, argues that Chandler's gumshoe novel works well in combination with Devil in a Blue Dress, noting that "Farewell, My Lovely is important to situate noir."

  In the Belly of the Beast: (Jack Henry Abbott). The respondent, who has used this text in the classroom before, writes that ...
  "There is a lot of interest in prison issues and prison writing and I think it would be a good idea to move some of it into the freshman level courses.  This book is the fundamental text of 20th century prison writing, unless you count Jack London.  It could be paired with Jekyll & Hyde, or just about anything else on the 1C list so far as that goes.  Even though it's autobiographical, I think it's more of a 1C than a 1A text because of its cultural commentary and because we seem to be on a problematization-of-the-good/evil-binary-with-biblical-allusions trajectory with the current 1C list.  By the way, people often assume that Abbott was white, and he did tend to self-identify that way, but according to Norman Mailer he was half Chinese."

  Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain) or Cruddy (Lynda Barry): The respondent writes: "I would also like to see either Huckleberry Finn (to discuss mobility/class/race in America) or Cruddy by Lynda Barry (another novel about a young girl, who looks like a boy) who goes on a very Huckleberry-like adventure and I think is another good way of entering into mobility/gender issues/ class in America.  Plus, a really good read!"

  The Diamond Age (Neal Stephenson): The respondent in this case is yours truly. I have not yet used this text in a 1C class (since I rarely end up teaching that class), but immediately upon reading it last year I vowed to use it at the soonest opportunity. I might even wedge it into a 1SC class someday. In my own response, I wrote:  
  "We once used Stephenson's engaging Snow Crash in 1C some years ago, which might or might not work against this recommendation. For a 1C class, however, I think Stephenson's The Diamond Age would be spectacular because one of the many active themes of the novel is the role of literature in education. If you're interested in the Victorian period, science-fiction, fairy tales, nanotechnology, critical thinking, the necessity of subversiveness, or the importance of literature to education, you should know that all of these components are in overdrive in this story - a story which is, in fact, largely about stories. A logline won't really do it justice, so I'm going to skip the usual plot summary. However, the novel ties in quite well with Bruno Bettleheim, Wordsworth, Coleridge, fairy tales, and other department faves." 

  Meanwhile, here's a link to The Diamond Age's page on Amazon, where you can read summaries and reviews if you like: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553380966/qid=1114462922/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-6684319-2695314?v=glance&s=books

Okay, that's it. A long list, but with several interesting recommendations. Again, if you can't make the meeting next week, but want a voice in the matter, let me know by e-mail before Tuesday at 6 p.m. (I go to bed early on Tuesday nights.) 

Meanwhile, many thanks to those who responded to the survey; your input is greatly appreciated.

- Gray Scott


 













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