Texts and Teaching

Last night, I ordered desk copies of the Norton Anthology of American Literature.  My department chair loaned me hers, but it's an 8th edition, and we're now up to the 11th edition.  When I first looked at my chair's copy, I thought it was odd that it didn't include much from the 21st century.  Now I understand--it was published in 2012 or so.  (Update:  it's actually the 6th edition, with a 2002 copyright date)

I am thinking about different approaches to the nonfiction writing class that I'll teach next term.  Here's the course description from the catalog:  "This is a writing-intensive course that provides students with a foundation for composition in various nonfiction genres. The course includes nonfiction genres such as personal essays, memoirs, travel writing, biographical profiles, blogs, user guides, grant proposals, case studies, and infographics. Students will plan, create, workshop, and revise nonfiction documents and effectively learn to incorporate the foundations of storytelling into nonfiction writing in consideration of their purpose, audience, medium, and genre."

It's rare in my teaching life that I've had this level of control.  I've rarely been able to choose textbooks--I've felt lucky when I had a choice between three.  I understand why, from an administration stand point.  Less choice means an easier time for other parts of campus:  the bookstore, the folks who pay attention to accreditation, and even perhaps the folks in admissions.

I'm trying not to feel sad about how long it has taken to have the kind of academic job that I dreamed of having when I first started grad school.  I'm trying to remind myself of how much opportunity I've had in my jobs before this one, opportunities I might not have had if I had been in a more traditional school.  For example, I've taught a lot of creative writing classes, even though I don't have the academic degrees that would let me do that at traditional schools.

I was comparing spring schedules with a colleague yesterday, and she asked about my creative writing background.  I said that my Ph.D. was in British Literature, but my publications have been mostly creative writing.  And as I look back on what I've been writing, I'm struck by how much of my writing is the kind of writing I'll be teaching.

I am leaning towards having a text for my English 102 students.  At Spartanburg Methodist College, students pay a flat fee that covers all of their textbooks.  The fee doesn't change, even if I don't assign a text.  When I taught the class a year ago, it was fun at first finding the texts.  Then it got a bit exhausting.  So I ordered some exam copies when I was ordering the American Lit anthologies.

In some ways, this part of the process is one of my favorite parts of teaching:  dreaming about what might be possible, thinking about practical approaches.  I'm trying to savor it while I have it.