1) Who is Perry’s audience? What details from the essay tell you who is audience is? What does he want his audience to do about the way they grade essay exams, especially with respect to “bull” and “cow”?
2) If neither “bull” nor “cow” represents “the true nature of knowledge,” what does? What kind of material should get the “C” or perhaps the “A” on an essay exam?
3) Why does Perry include the original story about the student confessing to having turned in “bull”? Why does he include the Metzger example? How do these two narratives raise and not resolve the question of ethics and its connection to “bulling”?
4) What is the purpose of the Columbus discovered America in 1492 example of a fact? How does it help us to understand what Perry means about the contexts, frames of reference, and points of observation necessary in evaluating the truth of “cow”?
5) Why did the teacher assign this essay? What should students in English 100 learn from reading this essay?
1) Who is Copland and why might he want to teach listeners how to listen? (This cannot be answered from the essay--what do you know or can you learn about Copland to help you to answer this question?)
2) What are the three levels of listening and what does Copland want you to do to listen well?
3) Are Copland’s examples appropriate for an audience of our class? What other examples might be more helpful?
4) Using the pattern of analogy Copland used for the three levels of appreciating drama, how woud you analyze performing your favorite sport or hobby using his three levels: sensual, expressive, technical. Can you come up with an analogy for reading or writing essays?
5) Why did the teacher assign this essay? What should students in English 100 learn from reading this essay?
1) What are the three grades of thinking and which is the best grade and why?
2) What does Golding want each reader to do to demonstrate Grade 1 thinking?
3) Why does Golding structure his essay as a narrative? What is your reaction to his humor?
4) What is the significance of the three statues? What do they symbolize? How would you arrange them to reflect your own moral, coherent, logical system of living?
5) Why did Golding include the Einstein episode? Was this an example of Grade 1 or Grade 3 thinking? (I don’t know the answer to this question so I am most interested in student responses.)
You should continue to ask the “Why was this assignment given?” question.
1) Orwell hides his thesis in the middle of the story. What does he tell us is the “true nature of imperialism”? What was our original understanding of why imperialism is wrong? How was it justified originally even before it was criticized? (In other words, what benefits did a conquored country gain from being part of an empire)?
2) How does our view of the elephant change? Find the details which give you at least four different possible interpretations of the power or powerlessness of the elephant.
3) Orwell differentiates between the views of the older British and the younger officers. What are their views and why is one view better than the other?
4) How many senses does Orwell refer to in describing the death of the elephant?
5) How is this essay an excellent example of a narrative essay?
You should continue to ask the “Why was this assignment given?” question.
1. How is this essay structured? It isn't chronological so what method is used? Why does White choose an unusual structure for this narrative?
2. What two different views of time does White discuss and why?
3. What happened to the Persona's father? Why isn't he there if this is August? How does the last paragraph tell us what happened? What realization does the persona come to about himself in the vast scheme of things?
4. Look at the paragraph about the storm. What happens during this paragraph and why is it an example of excellent concrete specificity?
5. Why does White use religious terms to describe the lake at dawn? What does this add to our appreciation of the place?
1. Why does Staples think colleges need to give more A's? Do you agree that there is competition between schools?
2. What do colleges need to do to maintain the quality of their offerings?
3. Do you agree with Staples' solution of refiguring the formula for the GPA?
4. Does Staples provide a solution to the problem of diluting education? What solution would you suggest?
5. Would you rather get all A's or a real sense of your mastery of any given course?
