Stumbling Toward June

Apparently some of my students have recently discovered this blog. That is surprising, since I don't advertise and the "stats" Google shows me do not suggest that this is a well trafficked site. Anyway, a note to any of my current students who may be reading this: "Hi, kids! Get back to work! How am I supposed to keep this thing going if you don't hand in your papers?"

There are some more classic examples this week from the Department of Stating the Obvious. As always, these are from student papers, names have been withheld to protect the illiterate guilty, and my comments are in (   ).

- Poems are often difficult for some to understand because they always have "deeper meanings."
- Every writer uses different elements in their writing to develop their theme.
- This line conveys extreme imagery. (Totally. It's like the X-games of imagery up in here.)
- Themes of poems have always been the messages that the author tries to get across to the audience. (I'll take note of that.)
- ...killing him on the stop.
- Often times, poems are ways for authors to get a point across about something. (Could you be more vague?)
- The sea allows as star to be navigation while a large ship steers and it is a beautiful sight with mystery. (Is this haiku?)
- Lady Bracknell also bases Cecily on her look.
- The structure of this poem is surely in iambic meter and is a quatrain.
- Mr. Tregennis is a self-contained man.
- Mr. Lestrade brought the attention of the crime upon Holmes.

Finally, a student writing about the poem "Sea Fever," by John Masefield, purposely used the words "pacifically," and "unshellfishly" in his paper, noting that he "couldn't resist." It needed mentioning.

J

The Obvious

I am starting with some random sentences, but then in the second part of this entry is a special collection of sentences from my last stack of College English papers. These sentences were all in introductions, and most of them were first sentences. And they all, one way or another, state the obvious. I hate that... I really do. As always my comments are in (      ).


- The narrator begins to avoid the external situation of her own inner impulses. (Sounds hard to do.)
- She also avoids attempts to avoid people. (Again, tricky.)
- Her mental thoughts... (As opposed to what other thoughts?)
- virgin: new, never expereinced something before i.e. sex, cheeseburger, alternative rock
- The characterization defiantly helps create and add to the story.
- It is causing the wallpaper to smudge and rube off onto her close.
- ...the wallpaper begins to such her in.

And now for the obvious:


- In many stories, authors use literary techniques to make clear their theme or central ideas of a story.
- In any story, long or short, the setting is one of the most important literary elements to develop.
- There are often several characters in fictional short stories that change throughout the story.
- A symbol can affect characters in different ways and can be interpreted differently.
- In many different types of writing symbolism is used to reveal a more complex reality.
- Many authors write in order to expose problems, or try to explain their beliefs regarding society.
- The literary elements an author uses, especially in short stories, often help exemplify the stories meaning and message.
- Symbols are used within literature to represent characters, events, items, or express ideas.
- Almost every story someone reads has an important symbol in it. Each symbol can be interpreted in different ways.
- Symbolism is a very important tool used by all authors because they are able to make a point with only an object.
- In stories the characters are one of the most important things.
- John Steinbeck is an author that has always been known to use symbolism in his writings.

Is it me or could all of those sentences be summed up by saying, "Writers write."

Summer is coming!

J