Thursday, October 14, 2010

October 13 - October 18

From Brian Truong: How do you feel about the quiz?

From James McDonald: How is Lynda Barry an Asian American author?

From Erick Tran: How does Li-Young Lee's approach in telling his poems affect your take on it?

From Patrick Pham: How would the new quiz experiment help us learn, or not learn?

32 comments:

  1. The quiz experience was definitely unique! At first I was taken aback and unsure if we were really being allowed to "give each other the answers." After thinking more about the new quiz style, I think that it adapts more of a collective and community mindset. The quiz eliminated the possibility of common approaches to cheating that I've come to know throughout my educational experience. The quiz allowed us to discuss and think through the answers while considering other peoples' opinions before we wrote something down. Also, we got into a short-lived habit of conversing and discussing more than we usually do in class. We were dependent on each other and I'm still surprised at how well it worked out.

    I think that the new quiz experiment allows us think without worry or fear. I felt less inclined to wonder whether or not I was right or wrong. I also didn't have to worry if I'd have to resort to studying more, possibly cheating, possibly whispering or whether or not I'd get judged for not writing down the right answer. This was the first time in my educational experience that I took a quiz that let me utilize my classmates instead of a "cheat sheet" or an index card. I think it'll help us learn more once we shatter the initials feelings of fear or worry about whether or not it feels right to depend on each other.

    ---

    I think Lynda Barry is an Asian American author because she identifies as part Filipina. Nuances of her Filipina identity are seen in her comics in that she uses Filipino words and names (ex: "N'ako" referring to a child, "Ronnie Delgado" references a very Spanish-influenced Filipino last name). She addresses problems of not being taken seriously as an artist, issues of understanding the way words and languages operate, and she's reflecting/writing/drawing about her experiences as a child.

    In class, people commented on how she seemed to be a modern Asian American writer, not conservative at all. I wonder if we could further (re)define what these words mean? I think we should examine what an Asian American author "is" or "was."

    --

    Li-Young Lee's poems, as he reads them, are unlike how I expected them to sound. I expected more vigor, more energy. A friend of mine gave me his CD a while ago and I didn't expect the poetry to be read languidly or slowly because, in my mind, his words had obvious vitality that painted scenes with words. His poems have a way reminding me of dreaded church sermons. (Learning that his father was a preacher helps me better understand his approach to his readings.)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 1. Regarding the quiz, I actually didnt enjoy it that much. Although we all had the option of helping eachother out and possibly receiving the correct answer from out classmates, most of the time I just became confused about the actual answers because it seemed like everyone had slightly different answers. Although I probably would have gotten a lower score on the quiz if we had to do it on our own, I still didnt like how it was a class contributed quiz.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Although Linda Barry "is" an Asian American herself, I'm not quite sure if she creates any form of Literature geared toward Asian Americans. though with her "hate" comic strip, her Filipino mother was definitely strongly represented in there I dont think just because of that fact that that comic strip can be defined as Asian American related. Not unless Barry is trying to generalize the Filipino culture in stating that it is a part of her mothers culture that she doesnt use the word hate then can we say that it could possibly be a clash between her and her mothers beliefs, therefore making it Asian American Literature because of the context. The comic strip then could be stating the clash of childrens beliefs with their parents beliefs.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've never taken quiz like that, but it was really good experience and hepled me a lot to understad others' opinions as well as answers. ^^
    I think Linda Barry is Americanized author because her comic and stroy seem not to close Asian style.As a matter of fact, I don't know what the Asian American author's style is... but when I read Barry's story, I couldn't feel the Asian American's something as I am Asian.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Linda Barry represents an Asian American artist based on her generation gap and her struggle to be taken seriously as a writer. In "Hate", there are misunderstandings between what her mother believed as hate and what she believed as hate. Where her mother didn't see it necessary to ever use the word; Barry saw it necessary to describe the emotions she felt about the actions towards her. Also, Barry shows she wasn't taken seriously as a writer through her second comic "Lost and Found". When she wanted to join the creative writing class, she didn't meet the academic standards. She would pretend to be knowledgable of scholarly books in order to fit in with other writers. And she struggled to write essays in college; but eventually she found a place in comics.

    ReplyDelete
  6. In reference to the questions about the quiz, i feel positive that i did a proficient job. I read the material covered for the quiz and made sure i understood the text. The quiz also was pretty straightforward with its questions, no surprise questions. The new quiz experiment has its pros and cons. It could indeed help us learn because we can take the quiz individually and when we get stuck we have each other to help us. We all can confirm the answers and get each others input on a certain problem. The con about this is that it might induce some to study less or try a little less. They might rely on the answers from the select few and just jot down the answers.

    But i believe that the students in our class are a bit more honest then that and that con might not take its effect too much.

    ReplyDelete
  7. The quiz was an interesting experience. To be honest, I felt it was a bit pointless to allow people to ask the whole class the answers to all the questions. All it did was confuse me because each person had different answers and I had no idea who was right and who was wrong. I feel like a normal quiz would have been better or even a class discussion.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The way we took the quiz was defintely different from any other quiz I've taken before. I think it could lead to a way where we can discuss and/or debate about the content of the material we read.

    Li-Yang's take approach in telling his poems really give me the sense of his mindset and what he was feeling while writing this poem. His poems may not tell us how to read his poem, but his tone, his voice, his rythm, and his speed gives the audience exactly what he feels.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The quiz was a new experience for me because no other teacher had done it. People could help others and tell the right answer, but some people dont. It tests out the honesty of our classmates and if we can rely on ourselves or not. It would help us learn that to do better on the quizzes, you really do have to study. It can also not help us learn because it may make us even more dependant on others.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Regarding the quiz experience, I felt very relaxing when I took it. I did not even realize it was a quiz until the time when I need to turn it in for a grade. I think the advantage of giving this kind of quiz is that it reduces the fear of taking the quiz. However, the disadvantage of this quiz is that some people may not take it seriously and do not study at all because people will provide answers for the quiz anyway. But, for the people who studied before the quiz, they might be very confused with all different kinds of answers. Like me, I had my version of answers, but after listening to others, I changed my answers to whatever answers that the majority people agreed. Personally, I do not like this kind of quiz.
    I think Lynda Barry is an Asian American author. The comic book, “One Hundred Demons” is the collection of Barry's memories about her childhood. After reading “Hate” and “Lost and Found”, I felt that both of her comics are filled with self-mockery. I feel that Asian writers tend to put themselves in a passive position to express their underlying pride. Indirectness might be one of the characteristics that can define Asian culture. Since she has a Filipino mother, she may experience the Asian culture at home. For example, in the comic that her mom influenced her not to say the word “hate” directly. In “Lost and Found”, she said, “Classic stories I never read, but I lied about because I was scared it was proof I wasn’t really a writer.” In this sentence, it indicates that she chose to lie rather than directly tell people that she never read about these books.

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1. The quiz was very different. I've never taken a quiz like that. It tested our trust for the other students answers deciding whether to write it on our test or not. Also I thought that it was cool and unique experience to be able to discuss the questions as a class.

    2. Lynda Barry is an Asian American author because she is one quarter Filipina. She is also a quarter Norwegian and half Irish.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Taking a quiz like that was new to me and I have never done that before from any of my classes. It was a little fun to do that. Most of the professors were not allowed to say out loud the questions to the class and answered them out loud. While I was taking the quiz, I was not sure about what to do.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think the quiz was kinda easy,although there were questions I didn't know the answer too. I'm sure I did better with the class's help. But I'm not sure if I like it because I might have one answer then somebody might blurt out another answer then it'll make me unsure.

    ReplyDelete
  14. The quiz format this week was really interesting, but I'm not sure if I liked it. I have taken a quiz in small groups of 4 or 5 people, but never with the whole class. It was nice to be able to be dependent on others for answers on questions we were unsure of, but I think it doesn't accurately reflect each person's understanding. Also, I think it got confusing at times for many, possibly causing them to get the wrong answers.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Quotation 3- I feel like for the people who did the reading and did the studying that these group quizes help because they help reinforce the fact that the students are understanding the reading if the answers are right. But I also feel that it could be bad that students who didn't read or study will just get free quizzes.

    ReplyDelete
  16. The quiz was kind of weird. I can see how it helps in confusion, but it also gave people who have not done the work a chance to pass. We are told ahead of time we will be having a quiz, and what it's on. So if I do the work it will reflect in my answers, same as if I didn't do my work. Maybe before the quiz we can have a discussion on what the quiz is about, to clear up any confusion a student may have.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't like the quiz (it certainly helped me out) but I didn't agree with with it's motives. I might have gotten a good grade, however I didn't learn anything, and my lack of studying didn't have a consequence, so without consequence, mistakes will be repeated.

    ReplyDelete
  18. The quiz helped me answer questions that I wasn't sure of at the time. How the quiz helps a person depends on the fact whether they read or not. The experiment helps people who have read and does little to those who have not. This is somewhat paradoxical because the quiz is supposed to determine whether you know the material anyway. Although in this case, I knew many of the answers but they weren't as obvious to me. Having other people answer helped confirm my answers and recall material. It was not that I did not know the material, but that it was helpful for something to refresh my memory.

    ReplyDelete
  19. i liked this format. less cheating and we were able to help each other out when we didn't know the correct answer to a problem. I'm in favor of the new quiz format.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I thought that the quiz seemed like a pretty good idea, but after a while it just became a hassle to have to listen to everybody. I think this would be a good idea if we could do quizes in our groups tho :D

    ReplyDelete
  21. I thought that the new quiz was pretty fun. The debate and people's uncertainty kept it interesting. Instead of people whispering answers everyone had an equal chance to get the same scores without cheating. Everyone was more involved and had sorta fun with this quiz

    ReplyDelete
  22. I thought the whole quiz process was a really good idea. Being able to help eachother out had an interestingly nice touch and feel to it, I loved it. And about Lynda Barry, she's an Asian-American author because she includes a lot of asian american experiences in her writing. For example, learning new words and her mother who was constantly playing the 'old school' asian american mom.

    ReplyDelete
  23. from my opinion with the quiz, i really thought it was an interesting idea. It helped bring our classmates together by sharing our answers only not to give them to others but to understand the reason why the answer was given out of perspective. The best part was the fact that it brought laughter and comfort in the classroom environment. we should do it more often !

    ReplyDelete
  24. For the Angel Island Poems why were the chinese being mistreated and imprisoned during the trip to america?

    ReplyDelete
  25. I like the quiz because we can discuss the different opinions about the question. I think the quiz is to make sure that we understand the question and this discussion helps us to understand instead of remembering the answer to it.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Honestly, the quiz was kind of stupid. It wasnt fair for people who actually read the stories because the people who did not read it got points as well. But overall, the quiz was really interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I honestly think that the quiz was not fair and it definitely gave people who did not study at all a free pass to do well on th quiz. People will not do their work and they will just rely to others most of the time. But on the otherhand, people helped me out as well because I was unsure about some of my answers too.

    ReplyDelete
  28. This new style of quiz-taking was interesting, but ultimately I don't think it really helps students learn. In a class this large, it is too easy for students who have not done any reading to skate by on answers given by others. Honestly though, I don't think that is the biggest problem. I think the biggest hurdle for most people was that although they had read the material, they may have misunderstood a point or could not remember a small detail.

    The only input given by the students who responded was the answer to the quiz question; there was no room for discussion and debate where we could all help each other understand the material and reach a sure conclusion. Obviously in a class this size this may be difficult to do, so I would suggest we split up into groups of 3 or 4 people to take the quiz.

    ReplyDelete
  29. I actually liked this idea of the quiz. It may be unfair to some of those people that have studied and having to share their answers with those who haven't studied, like me. I would have got a far worse grade if it weren't for those who have actually studied and read the material, and for those who have shared. I like how if you share something you have to do it so the entire class can hear you, and I think that just promotes unity in our class, so either we all get the answer right or wrong, and we have to work together as a class.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I think that the quiz went really well, although it was conducted in a manner that I had never experienced before. I think that it was helpful but also, possibly, misleading to be able to hear my classmate's questions/comments.

    In my opinion, Lee Young-Li's performance of his own poetry painted it in a different light. More specifically, his poety came off as more serious and heavy than I had imagined it.

    ReplyDelete
  31. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I thought the quiz was something fresh because we got to work on it as a class. It's so much better when we work collectively than as individuals. As for Lynda Barry i think she is humorous. For some reason i cant take her work seriously because she comes off as a goofy writer than a serious writer.

    ReplyDelete