In 2006 and 2007 I spent 11 months in Shanghai, China teaching English at Fudan University. This opportunity came up because my employer, Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and Fudan University are partner universities. When the two universities agreed to a teacher exchange, Fudan sent a teacher of Chinese to VCU and VCU sent me to Fudan.

The Richmond Area Bicycle Association (RABA) asked me to give a presentation about my time in China at a members' meeting. Postcards from China was the name of my blog, this blog actually, on which I wrote about my experiences there. Those posts, including pictures begin in September 2006 and continue until August 2007. There are links to those month's postings to the right in this bloc, which I have renamed Get It in Writing.

To make a presentation about my time in China was a welcome opportunity and a challenge. I have numerous photos from that time. One of the challenges was to pick the ones that would best describe the experience and arrange them in meaningful groups. I settled on the following groups

• Fudan University
• VCU's Shanghai Apartment
• Old Shanghai
• Modern Shanghai
• Transportation
• Hainan Island and Dianshan Lake
• Food

The next challenge was to learn how to arrange the photos in a PowerPoint presentation and have them cycle through automatically. I was able to figure that out by creating a PowerPoint Photo Album for each of the seven topic areas and set up the slide show so that the photos changed every three seconds. While the photos cycled through and started over again, I was able to add general comments about that topic. This worked well and avoided the tedious photo-by-photo narration that often typifies such presentations.

The presentation lasted about 40 minutes and the audience seemed to enjoy it. In addition to enjoying the opportunity to deliver a presentation about my eleven months in Shanghai, I was able to learn some PowerPoint presentation techniques.

Same-sex couples should be allowed to marry because they should be treated equal to heterosexual couples and have the same legal rights that heterosexual married couples have.

Equal human rights is the first reason why same-sex couples should have the right to be married. Homosexuality is something that a person is born with, not something chosen. To deny homosexuals the right to marry is to deny them the equal rights of opposite sex couples. This inequality is unfair and not humanitarian. Same-sex couples have feelings and needs that opposite-sex couples have. They can love each other, care for each other, and want to form a bond with another person just as heterosexual couples.

Second, same-sex couples should have the right to marry in order to enjoy legal rights that heterosexual couples enjoy. For example, when someone seriously ill or injured is in the hospital it is often the case that only family members can visit them. In the case of a same-sex couple, the partner would be denied the right to visit and see their ill or injured loved one. To deny same-sex couples this right is unfair and cruel. Another example is what happens at the death of one partner in a marriage. In the absence of a will, common law usually grants the assets of the deceased to the surviving spouse. Same-sex couples do not enjoy this right.

Some people argue that if same-sex couples are allowed to marry, the population would decrease because they would not produce children. They will not produce children even if they are not allowed to be married, thus this not a reason to deny them the right to marry. For human and legal reasons, same-sex couples should be allowed to marry.

1. Discuss whether you think biological or social and cultural factors are more important in shaping gender roles. This one has promise and some interest for me. I think social and cultural factors are more important in shaping gender roles, so that would be my starting point. Finding sources on this question should be easy.

2. Examine the degree to which gender roles and expectations have changed in your culture over the last thirty years. This, too, is an interesting topic. Gender roles and expectations in the United States in 1979 compared to today. Didn't the big steps, the big changes begin in the 60s. By 1979 the radical ideas of the 60s faced reality, matured, and marched on. Would finding sources for this question be easy? No as easy as finding sources for topic 1.

3. Consider whether females or males are more restricted by conventional gender roles. The article Boys Will Be Boys by Kantrowitz and Kalb, which we read suggest that boys have a narrower horizon than girls in terms of gender roles. I have no strong feelings one way or the other on this question, but if would be fun to research and find out.

4. Focus on the ways in which you have been influenced, positively and negatively, by traditional gender roles and expectations. What comes to mind when I think about this topic is my mother dressing me in short pants when I went to grade school and how I was teased and called a "sissy." No other ideas or incidents come to mind and this point, making me wonder if I could find enough to write about on this topic.

5. Explore one of the following topics in terms of gender roles and stereotypes:
• rites of passage for girls or for boys
• women or homosexuals in the military
• the sports or toy industry
• anorexia and other eating disorders
• the body-image trade (diets, exercise fads, cosmetics, fragrance, fashion)
• a particular product of the mass media--for example, a TV program, film, magazine advertisement, music video, or children's picture book

There are several topics in this that interest me, but women in sports is the one that I would like to write about. Title IX of the 1972 Education Act states that educational institutions must provide women with equal sports opportunities that it provides for men. This landmark legislation has had profound effects on women and on sports. The combination of interest in the topic and observations of its effects would make it interesting for me Right now, this is the topic I plan to address in my essay.

Female Traits: compassionate, frivolous, intuitive, jealous, sensitive, sentimental, sophisticated, submissive

Male Traits: adventurous, aggressive, ambitious, competitive, decisive, jealous, self-reliant

There do seem to be tendencies that tilt these adjectives to one side or the other even though there are ample examples of crossovers, e.g. woman who are aggressive, ambitious, and competitive and men who are sensitive, sentimental, and compassionate. It is preferable, in my view, to minimize the tendencies and see each sex as capable of any of these traits. Generalizations can be helpful at times, but they can also be misleading. The trick is knowing which is the case.

Gender roles have been profoundly affected by Title IX of the 1972 Education Act passed by the United States Congress and that states:

"No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex be excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal aid." Dr Mary Curtis and Dr. Christine H.B. Grant at the University of Iowa. "Gender Equity in Sports." WWW. February 3, 2006. (http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/ge/GEREDESIGN.html)

This legislation requires all educational institutions to promote and allocate resources equally for women's and men's sports. Now, 27 years later, women athletes are more common, debunking the notion that only men were interested in and play sports.

This law and the effect it has had in changing a perceived gender role is a great topic for an essay. I plan to write about it for the second essay assignment for the Fall 2009 Academic Writing class.

388 words

This year's Richmond Folk Festival was the second version of the local spinoff from the National Event. From Friday, October 9 through Sunday, October 11, the area around the Tredegar Iron Works and Brown's Island was filled with the melodious and rhythmic sounds of roots music from the corners of the United States and from countries around the world.

The western music of Wylie Gustafson and his Wild West came from Montana; Jeffrey Broussard and the Zydeco Cowboys brought Louisiana music; Swamp Dogg dished out Virginia rhythm and blues, and Paul Williams and the Victory Trio wowed crowds with bluegrass gospel. From around the world there was La Gran Banda from Colombia, the Irish music of Martin HAYES and Dennis Cahill, the Jamaican reggae of Clinton Fearson and the Boogie Brown Band; Korean Dance by Sounds of Korea, and Puerto Rican bomba from Puerto Rico by Jorge Negron's Master Bomba Ensemble. From Kenya was the rumba and soucous Samba Mapangala and Orchestra Virunga. From the streets of Washington, D.C. came Trouble Funk and their bass-laden rhythms that had the jam-packed dance pavilion swinging and swaying in one giant mass.

The three days of music and music workshops was a musicologist's dream and everyone's time out from the day-to-day. Dedicated fans block out all other events for these three days and ensconce themselves in front of one of the several stages or in the dance pavilion to see and hear their favorites and some newfound musical treasures.

The wonder is seeing masses of people of all sizes, ages, colors tuned to the same cheerful vibes that float like a cloud above the gathering. A feeling of unity of people of community pervades and makes the shared experience all the more precious.

May the Richmond Folk Festival live on year after year and remind us of our commonality and the power of diversity.

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When I first looked at the five essay topics for this assignment I leaned toward the first one: "Discuss the extent to which you agree with one of the following quotations." The first quote was from William Zinsser, in which he wishes for all students some release from the clammy grip of the future. The second, from James Baldwin, states his view of the purpose of education, namely, to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions. Both of these quotations appeal to me.

My runner-up choice for the essay topic was the third one, which asks you to analyze the qualities of a good teacher. Researching and writing on this topic would help me to improve the way I teach. I would like to learn how to become a better teacher. The assignment suggests that the following items be considered: goals, values, teaching and learning styles, behaviors, and character traits. Using one or more of these items suggests a way to begin structuring the essay, in effect, a way into the assignment. There is much to be said for having an idea for starting. In the process of fleshing out the structure, other ideas may come to mind and suggest a course change.

In addition to liking the topic and having a beginning structure, I am reading What the Best College Teachers Do, a book by Ken Bain that explores, in seven chapters, the style and technique of the best college teachers. This book and the books in its bibliography will provide good sources on the topic. In addition, the students in this class have written a paper on the qualities of a good teacher, which provides another source of information.

Now the next step, making an essay proposal and deciding what my thesis will be.

374 Words

In Multiple Intelligences and Emotional Intelligence, David Sadker and Myra Sadker point out that Daniel Goleman, in his book Emotional Intelligence, argues that EQ or the emotional intelligence quotient, may be a better predictor of success in life than IQ, the intelligence quotient. The Sadkers quote Goleman's description of the "marshmallow story" which shows how EQ works.

In the "marshmallow story," a four-year old is told to do an errand. In exchange for doing the errand, the child may eat one marshmallow first then do the errand or do the errand and receive two marshmallows. This test measures the child's ability or willingness to defer gratification. Ten years later, when the child is now fourteen years old, her SAT score was compared against other children who participated in the marshmallow test at age four. Goleman found that the children who were able to delay gratification scored 210 points higher than those who did not delay gratification. The latter group, referred to as gobblers, were also more likely to be described as stubborn, easily frustrated, and lonely teenagers.

The Sadkers quote Kelly and Moon's definition of EQ as ". . . a type of social intelligence that involves the ability to monitor one's own and others; emotions, to discriminate among them, and to use the information to guide one's thinking and actions."

Hmmm . . . social intelligence . . . I like that phrase. EQ adds another dimension, another measure to what it takes to be successful, a new way of measuring intelligence. Peter Salovey, a Yale psychologist, has designed an assessment tool for measuring EQ that has five parts: Knowing Emotions, Managing Emotions, Motivating Oneself, Recognizing the Emotions of Others, and Handling Relationships. For each section there is a four-point scale upon which to assess oneself for that trait.

Looking at Salovey's EQ assessment categories one can easily see the importance of each category of emotional intelligence for success. Knowing your own emotions is an aspect of self-awareness that is critical for one to be able to self-monitor and find ways to better behave and relate to others. Managing one's emotions is a tough one for me. This category to control and manage emotions through good and bad times, to shake off depression and bounce back from life's setbacks is a tall order.

388 Words

Here are Rothenberg's Criticisms of Students' Use of the WWW

1. -the bibliography cites no books, just articles or pointers to places on the Web
2. -a lot of the information on the Web is at least a few years old
3. -pictures and graphs that are inserted into the text look impressive but often bear little relation to the precise subject of the paper
4. -unattributed quotes in which one cannot tell who made the statement or in what context
5. -few references to careful, in-depth commentaries on the subject of the paper
6. -the Web makes research look too easy
7. -students' attention spans wane and their ability to reason for themselves declines

Richard Cummins, in a letter to the editor, writes in opposition to Rothenberg's essay on how the World Wide Web is destroying the quality of students' research papers. Cummins claims that Rothenberg gives the Web far too much power over our lives and consciousness. Using the Web as a metaphor, Cummins says that it us up to the student to become either the spider or the fly.

The amount of information or misinformation on the Web is so large, and Rothenberg says that is one of the problems when using it for research. It is easy to get hundreds of thousands of hits, but not so easy to find the gems in that haystack. Cummins seems to suggest that it is up to the student to figure out what is good information and how to create searches that will find it.

Cummins makes the point that there are as many rotten books and worthless journal articles in libraries as there are rotten sources on the Internet. Thus, the job of finding good information in the library is as daunting as finding it on the WWW.

Rothenberg wishes for his students to sit under a tree with a book and read it from cover to cover. To read a whole book while sitting under a tree suggests that the reader should have a tent, a cook stove and a supply of food. Rothenberg loses credibility in his argument with this suggestion. Cummins' letter to the editor opposing Rothenberg's arguments is more persuasive in my view.

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I include the number of words in this blog entry because I asked students to write a similar journal entry in their newly-created blogs using 500 words. As soon as I began this assignment I realized that 500 words was too many. 250 to 300 words would have been better. Sorry class, for this mistake. Now I will look to see if any of them have written the assignment and how long their entry is.

One of my goals in this class is to help students improve their writing fluency, thus the emphasis on number of words written. We are dong ten-minute free-writing at the start of each class and counting the number of words. We will count the number of words in all our writing in this class. In this way, we will see what would be a reasonable goal for total words to be written in this semester-long course. 5,000? 10,000?

523 words. Whew! I made it with that piece on the end.

This the first time I have asked students to create a blog and using it for the practice of writing. By the end of the semester I should be able to evaluate the students' interest in writing a blog and the effect it has on their writing.

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