What happened?

I'm not sure what happened to yesterday or today. In fact, by the time I post this, it will be tomorrow (Saturday). No clue where the time went.

I've been working on grading the papers for 229 at long last, and I'm facing the exact same frustrations I face every year, every time. I try to explain, and structure the assignment to head the problems off at the pass--and the same problems, every single year. They write about all the awful things that have happened to Native peoples, or their traditions, or their current lives--with no support from any source and having nothing whatever to do with the literature they're supposed to analyze. They spend the entire essay re-telling the examples used by the critical essayists, instead of focusing on the points the critics are making with those examples, and then say "This idea can be supported by the story...": in other words, no matter how many times I tell them that the critical material supports their analysis of the story, they try to do the exact opposite. They still do not get what the critical material is for: the study questions are making zero difference. The thing they talk about least, and use the least support for, is the actual literature.

I just am at a total loss here. I have tried every way I can think of to explain the difference between primary and secondary material; I have tried to demonstrate in advance of their papers how to use the secondary material (that's how the study questions are designed); I have told them in writing and orally that their primary task is to analyze the STORIES, dammit, and that the secondary material is only there to support their analysis. And still they get it wrong, wrong, wrong.

Part of me wants to give up, to just forget about the whole critical material aspect of the whole thing and just have them analyze the literature, period. I grant you, it's hard enough to do just that, nothing more. And quite honestly, I didn't have to use critical sources when I was an undergrad. (I also didn't learn how to document sources until I was in grad school.) But my understanding is that undergrad programs now do expect juniors and seniors to be able to document sources properly and to engage in at least a little critical research, and I feel it's my job to prepare students for what they'll face next. But apparently I just can't figure out how to actually do that.

The students are going to feel sick when I give them back their papers and they see their grades. I do allow them to revise--only fair, as I know most of them have no clue what they're supposed to do and won't get it until they get their papers back, bloody with my comments. But I still feel awful about the fact that so many of them crash and burn on the first paper: a bunch will probably promptly drop, even some who could make it if they'd work at it. I do not relish this at all.

I'm suddenly thinking I may ditch the research requirement for the next paper. I have required it in the past because I want them to start to get the hang of it before their final research papers, but maybe it's just too much right now. Maybe even a final research paper is too much: maybe I should provide the sources and just help them understand how to use them. In the past I've always felt horrifically frustrated and angry that they don't get it--and I've always been able to tell the ones who had a real 102 and those who had a joke 102 (the ones where they just say "I could relate to 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' because he talks about crabs at the bottom of the sea and I love to go to the beach..."). And I really do feel it doesn't do them any favors to let them out of my class still unprepared for the next step. But more and more I also feel it is cruel to expect them to be able to learn in a few weeks what they should have spent the last two semesters (or more) getting prepared for.

I don't know. Real crisis of faith right now. I can tell I'm going to be mulling this over for the next few days. At the moment, I think I may just talk to them about it, tell them my thinking, tell them my concerns, and see what they think will help them most. Sometimes they're very good at that--and it helps them if they feel they have some say in what is going on. They should. It's their education after all.

Oh, and brief report: in my 101s on Thursday, I did have them focus on search terms and thesis statements and I did have them write them on the board. Worked a little better, but still took too much time. I now think I need to split the tasks into two separate classes: set up a library day for them to do research in one of the library labs with a librarian there to help, and then spend a day myself with them working on thesis statements.

God I wish I had more time! More time with the students at each level, more time to work outside of class on grading, and prep, and just thinking things through. This blog helps with the thinking things through part, but the rest, there is just never, ever enough time.

But it's late (speaking of time) and I have a ton of work to do the next two days, so I need to be able to get up early tomorrow. I'm going to post this without rereading, editing, or even spell checking. I share with students the Hemingway (I think) aphorism: The first draft of anything is shit. Well, so be it.