Bordo’s “Beauty (Re)discovers the Male Body”

CRTW 201

Dr. Fike

YOU MUST HAVE BORDO'S TEXT TO PARTICIPATE TODAY. IF YOU DO NOT, PLEASE GO GET A COPY AT THE COMPUTER CENTER.

Announcements: Paper One is due next Monday. Wilson's book is coming up. How many of you have it already? How many of you have selected a Global cultural event for Paper Four? Reread Nosich, chapter 2.

 

Preamble: Let's say that you have a 40-page reading assignment in one of your other classes. It's chock-full of material. How do you get from a reading of the text to a critical summary (one sentence per section)? CRTW suggests that using the elements can get you there. We won't burn more class time going over Nosich, chapter 2. Instead we are going to apply selected elements to try to get a handle on a text that is reasonably easy to read but so long as to be hard to pin down.

 

STEP ONE

It really helps to understand the key concepts on which a massive reading is based.

Half the class does an SEE-I for CULTURE, the other half for BEAUTY. Work in pairs. Share answers. 5 minutes to prepare, 5 minutes to share. Ask me to share my own SEE-I for each concept.

S: Culture/beauty is

E: In other words,

E: For example,

I: It’s like

Dr. Fike's SEE-Is

 

STEP TWO

Try to do purpose, Q @ I, and conclusion for the whole chapter at this preliminary stage. Work by yourself and write your answers in your notebook.

·       What is Bordo’s purpose?

·       Taking your clues from the title, can you come up with the Q @ I?

·       Can anyone do the conclusion (the answer to the Q @ I)?

 

We will make reference to your responses next time. (Note that the trajectory of this course is from hand-holding toward independent student engagement. Point: I will not tell you as much about Bordo as I told you about Tompkins.)

 

STEP THREE

Group exercise: Count off by 6. This is another exercise in critical reading. It is designed to help you practice a technique from Writing Analytically. It is another example of beginning locally.

WA 109: "Pointing" means that "members of a group take turns reading sentences aloud. Pointing provides a way of summarizing without generalizing, and it is one of the best ways to build community and to stimulate discussion." Within your assigned section, take turns reading to each other things that you marked as you read Bordo's text. (You may want to mark your text as others read aloud.) 10 minutes.

  

1. 189: Men on Display

2. 197: Thanks, Calvin!

3. 203: Rocks and Leaners

4. 208: "Honey, What Do I Want To Wear?"

5. 214: Male Decorativeness in Cultural Perspective

6. 225: My World . . . and Welcome to It?

 

ASSIGN HOMEWORK.

 

Today's main activity:

Getting Started: For this exercise, your group is your quarter of the classroom. Go slowly. Mark your books.

Susan Bordo Jeopardy Game: jeopardylabs.com/play/susan-bordo-jeopardy-game. This game is in the spirit of WA 5's statement that you can begin locally (i.e., with small stuff). With Tompkins we started with an outline (i.e., with the article's large structures). Now we are trying the reverse strategy. The game is a bit like "pointing," except that the professor is providing the prompts.

Do not play the game before class. It is intended to help you recall key points and mark your books. Whether you win or lose, you will receive a prize: enhanced understanding. I WANT YOU TO MARK YOUR BOOKS AS WE GO.

Remember that your answers should come in the form of questions. For example:

 

HOMEWORK: REREAD YOUR ASSIGNED SECTION. MAKE A LIST OF CULTURAL CODES (EXAMPLE: A STANDARD OF BEAUTY).

 

 

 

DAY TWO

YOU MUST HAVE BORDO'S TEXT TO PARTICIPATE TODAY. IF YOU DO NOT, PLEASE GO GET A COPY AT THE COMPUTER CENTER (IT IS LINKED TO THE COURSE CALENDAR).

Announcements:

QUICK CHECKIN REGARDING HOMEWORK: LIST OF CULTURAL CODES FROM YOUR ASSIGNED SECTION

 

STEP FOUR: PBFF 25 minutes

Sit with your group members.

Last time the Jeopardy game and your small-group activity modeled the technique in WA 5 called "pointing," which involves entering a text "locally," or via small details and individual sentences. Today we begin with another technique in chapter 5.

WA 109: "Passage-based focused freewriting is probably the single best way to arrive at ideas about what you are reading." The authors consider it to be the most important heuristic in the book (a heuristic is a way of discovering things). PBFF assumes that since the part reflects the whole, examining a passage will help you move toward an overall understanding of a text. It also assumes that physical involvement with the text furthers understanding. You are not just reading; you are reading, processing, and writing.

You do not all have to write about the same passage. Here are the steps that you should follow: 20 minutes (I will keep time for you.)

1. On your own, find what seems to be an important passage within your assigned section of the text (remember the 6 groups?) and spend 10 minutes copying it into your notebook by hand.

2. Spend 7 minutes annotating it in your notebook and freewriting about it. From WA 109: "Find an interesting passage. Sketch its context. Target and paraphrase key words and phrases. Explore why the passage is interesting. Draw out implications. Ask how the passage is representative of the larger reading."

3. Spend 5 minutes sharing your discoveries with your group members.

TELL THE REST OF THE CLASS ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE.

 

STEP FIVE 7 minutes

Work in your previously assigned groups to discuss each of Bordo’s six sections—one section per group. Use the following questions to guide your work. If you finish your section, start working on another. 10 minutes.

·       What is the Q @ I?

·       What is the conclusion?

·       What is Bordo’s point of view? (What HAT[S] is she wearing? Remember: point of view = vantage point or frame of reference; opinion = something you believe to be true.)

·       What information does she cite?

·       What are the key concepts?

The chart is too small, but you get the idea. Apply the five elements to your section. (Possibly: Then report to the class.)

 

Section title

Q @ I

Conclusion

Point of view

Info

Concepts

1. Men on Display, 189

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Thanks, Calvin!, 197

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Rocks and Leaners, 203

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. “Honey, what do I want to  wear?” 208

 

 

 

 

 

5. Male Decorativeness in Cultural Perspective, 214

 

 

 

 

 

6. My World . . . and Welcome to It, 225

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

STEP SIX 18 minutes--3 minutes per group

Selected responses: Report your findings to the class. TEACH your section to your classmates. This could involve showing them what to mark in their books. You are welcome to use the board and/or the computer. You may come up to the front of the class to make your mini-presentation. I will gladly get out of the way. Be clear and concise. Each group should not need more than three minutes. 18 minutes total. (I will again keep time.)

YOUR CLASSMATES SHOULD FILL OUT THE CHART AS YOU MAKE YOUR MINI-PRESENTATION.

 

 

STEP SEVEN 10 minutes

Get back in your groups: Keeping in mind the filled-out chart above, write a 1-sentence paragraph that summarizes your section. 5 minutes. Note: The elements won't help you very much if you cannot use them succinctly. (Note: I have a set of 6 sentences that I will share with you as long as everyone understands that my way is not necessarily the only way to summarize the text.)

 

Dr. Fike's six-sentence summary.

 

 

STEP EIGHT 5 minutes

Now go back to your Q @ I, purpose, and conclusion from last time. Are any revisions necessary? First, write. Then we will talk. 5-10 minutes.

 

Dr. Fike's elements 

 

STEP NINE

Remember: There is a difference between analyzing a text and analyzing your own reaction to a text. So far today we have been doing the former. Now it is time to do the latter.

Within your assigned section, consider the following questions: