Category: Daily Class Notes Page 4 of 6

Response Class Notes

On September 14, 2023

In preparation for Tuesday’s class visit, everyone split into groups to discuss and analyze the roles of some characters as well as the significance of their stories. We also formed questions that would be important to ask the book contributors when they came into class.

As stated by Kaylee, men throughout the book thought of women in two different perspectives. We discussed how men treat their mothers with respect and love while they treat other women in the book as sexual figures. A primary reason for this is because of the sense of purpose and belonging that these men feel between themselves and their mothers. With a majority of them having a poor father figure, their moms symbolize strength and stability in their lives. As for the miscellaneous women throughout the book, these men look at them with lust and not the qualities that they see from their mothers. The men don’t believe any other women can replace the mold of their mother.

Dr. Coogan:

What does he become to them? A character witness, a sponsor, a connection to the outside, a way of connecting to themselves? There’s a note that some people are followers, and when they’re together, they follow him.

The best way to describe Dr. Coogan is as the light at the end of the tunnel. For many of these men, they grew up with poor role models, whether it be their parents, partners, or friends. Through starting the writing program for the prisoners Dave allowed them to reflect and solve their greatest problem. Identifying who they were, who they are now and who they want to be. These prisoners struggled to express themselves, for example, sucking up their emotions and not crying. In some way, writing out their stories become the coping source to express all the feeling they felt and kept bottled up within themselves for their entire lives. Dave serves as a leader to the men but primarily as an initiator. He puts prisoners in position to be successful by initiating their personal growth through writing.

9/12/2023 – Class Notes

By Mitchell Parker

On September 12, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Mitch

*We may meet in dhall on Tuesday, 9/19 with David Coogan, Kelvin, and possibly Terrence.

We’re splitting into groups and recounting the stories of each character in the story, documenting page numbers of where their stories appear, and summarizing their experience.

Terrence (Alpha male stereotype, “…To be a man in any world is to know you are strong, weak, caring, sharing. That’s our true dominion.” pg. 195. Masculinity is a social construct based on actions, not who we truly are, and seems important to defend.)

Naji ,

Kelvin ,

Coogan (David also gains perspective from working with everyone; He hadn’t been exposed to many of the ways of thinking that people like Stan, Naji, or Terrence had. While he develops the thoughts of his students, he also develops his own throughout the story.)

Stan (Conveying feelings by constructing memories that may not have happened; not exclusively using nonfiction to add to what already exists in his tangible life story. For example, when he describes himself kicking in his birth mother’s womb “because she told me to” pg. 19, there isn’t any way he could’ve recalled this but he adds it to his story anyway and it remains in the final draft, also showing that Coogan recognizes its significance.)

*Telling your story is more than simply recounting the event in your life

*Metaphors are a powerful method to make your story more relatable

Response to Daily Class Notes 9/7/23

By William Sheets

On September 7, 2023

In Daily Class Notes

Response to class notes from 9/7

We focused mainly on the book “Writing Our Way Out” by David Coogan and the incarcerated men he worked with. We discussed how impactful the book was, not only as a piece of literature, but as an example of how storytelling can both educational and empowering, which I believe is an important focus of this class.

We talked about how important the structure of the book was to its meaning, discussing how splitting up the different men’s narratives not only made it easier to compare the different stories, but also showed how each writer was developing and becoming more open over time.

I think the idea we briefly touched on about nobody being completely objective is a really interesting one. I think it’s important to understand that it’s impossible to completely remove the biases and preconceptions we’ve developed as a part of our culture and upbringing. This is neither a negative or positive thing, in fact, I think that by analyzing someone’s existing preconceptions, one can learn a lot about who they are and what their life is like.

I also enjoyed the metaphor of the telephone game that Professor Dolson brought up when we were talking about the accuracy of the quotes in the book. When we played the game, the original message got distorted so it ended up being a little different from when Ana first came up with her sentence. This is similar to how the quotes in the book might not be exactly accurate to what the writers said. The sentences might have been distorted and altered in David Coogan’s mind, not by other people, but by time.

I think Nick G. made a really good point when we were discussing the importance of including the dates of the project in the introduction of the book. Nick said that the inclusion of the dates helped ground the book in realism and it made the stories inside feel more authentic and impactful.

We also talked out how important it was that both David Coogan and the reader are unaware of the men’s convictions until later in their stories. This is a good way to circumvent the potential biases we might have about the men based on their crimes.

For our upcoming writing assignment, I think the metaphor of the compost heap is a really helpful one. The idea that we’re taking quotes from the book and using them as “kitchen scraps” to then dive into the smaller details of the text is a really strong visual.

Overall, I think this was a very productive class period. The ideas we formed and the conversations we had about “Writing Our Way Out” were very thoughtful and I really enjoyed thinking about the ways in which the book affected us.

9/07/2023 – Class Notes

By Julia Dalmanieras

On September 7, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Julia

Today we started by discussing our Prep Notes posted prior to class on the first nine chapters of Writing Our Way Out.

Touching on the point of identity in the course, why is this novel a good example of how we sense other people’s identities? (I drew this as the theme for the class.)

What is the story of how this book got made? David Coogan, a Dr. at VCU recruits prisoners to write their stories, turning them into a memoir, ultimately helping the offenders develop for their future selves, and drawing insights to the lives of convicts. Coogan’s goal was to put their memoirs together, but did it rather unconventionally. Something we may be able to ask Coogan is what was his thinking when structuring the book. Some things we brainstormed in class is that David could be the connector between the men, and by telling the stories back to back, the reader can identify the parallels between each of the men’s stories. David was able to ask them questions that they’ve never had to answer, like “when did you make this conscious decision to lead this lifestyle?” Kaylee pointed out that by breaking the memoirs up piece by piece, the reader is able to understand the relationship between Coogan and the men, and how their relationship develops throughout the course. It also gives a perspective of how the writers grow into their emotions throughout their lifetime (Will Sheets).

No such thing as pure objectivity, like there used to be in journalism and now in science.

Creative nonfiction: paradox within itself; has aspects of truth and accuracy

Phrases in quotes in the memoir (like Stan’s on page 44) demonstrates that maybe it was actually said rather than paraphrased (or maybe it was what Coogan remembered). As readers, we can’t be totally sure.

break for telephone game

Even though some quotes are paraphrased, it holds meaning because it made its way into the book by Coogan.
Brings back to the question: Is this story true?

Next, we took a look at the dates from when these stories were accumulated. It started in 2006 and ended in 2011, following the men’s lives in their journey back to freedom. Coogan typed their handwritten drafts and also gave them their “cleaned up” versions of their first stories. Coogan incorporates these teachable moments, but notices he has to sacrifice them at the “sentence level,” which allows him to focus on the story overall, not punctuation, grammar, spelling, etc. Professor Dolson has us look at the end of the introduction that highlights the fact that many employers will still not hire ex-convicts.

Takeaways from stories:

The early ages that these traumatic incidents had on the men.
The effect that memories have on these instances, little kids aren’t just “turnips in car seats.

Break to share stories about the “moment we decided to be “____”. It’s not simple to decide who you want to be, or what you want to do. For some people there was a distinct moment where they realized what it was, for some it was a gradual decision over a long period of time, and some just didn’t know how to explain it.

How does language, and the evolution of language, help to make meaning and allow other people to understand it? Clogan studies rhetoric and communication studies, but focuses on this population because he wanted to raise awareness for the reentry of ex-offenders. “The workshop offered the prisoners a chance to reclaim their life in writing” (1). Reclaiming the life that was taken from them, reclaiming the fact that they are humans and still deserve respect, despite what they have gone through.

Listening to each prisoner’s story before finding out their convictions allows us to empathize more and accept each person for who they are and not focus on their crimes. Ana points out that finding out their convictions after hearing all of their stories and still being able to accept them is a very powerful deed.

Professor Dolson talks about how this book will connect with our project in the spring, and how we will grapple with getting to know convicts of our age, and whether or not we will want to know the reasons for being incarcerated or not. We will begin writing a critical analysis essay by pulling quotes from the book (compost heap), so it is important that we identify quotes/people whose stories we want to use and analyze. Reread pages 2-3 in order to draw conclusions from the text and find a theme for the critical analysis essay. By telling their stories, do the prisoners reclaim their agency, or even regain respect from society?

Follow up: what is coming up for you right now (either in the book or in life in general)?

Mine personally is that this book is very similar to the T.V. show “Orange is The New Black.” If you’ve never seen the show, it has a very similar plot line to this novel. It begins by focusing on a character and showing a small piece of their life, most of the time before they go to prison. Oftentimes, the reason would be unfair and I have a feeling at the end of this novel I will feel the same way as I did when I finished the show.

Response to Class Notes – 9/5/2023

By Zhuoyan Wen

On September 5, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Wesley

https://blog.richmond.edu/storytelling2023/

Today’s class began with a focus on reviewing our prep notes, emphasizing the significance of reflection and self-improvement. One student shared an effective method for daily mood reflection, involving self-assessment through a series of questions and ratings on a scale of one to ten. Professor Dolson then underscored the importance of maintaining self-notes and recommended creating Google documents for this purpose. These private notes serve as objective observations rather than judgment. “the act of writing is an act of thinking,” as Professor Dolson aptly stated.

After this initial reflection, our attention shifted to the Memory article. We embarked on an exploration into its origins and purpose. We searched the meaning of “Chronicle Higher Education” and discerned that Britt Peterson authored the article driven by his personal interests and expertise in the field. The content of the article draws from psychological scientific research.

This led to a broader discussion on how our memories play a pivotal role in shaping our identities, as Professor Dolson highlighted, “we become partly who we think of ourselves, influenced by how we’ve learned to integrate those memories.” During this discussion, a student shared their earliest memory—an endearing recollection of his dog protecting him by catching a bee when he were three years old. Professor Dolson contributed her own early memory, recounting an incident involving the police visiting due to a chemical spill. These anecdotes brought to the forefront the role of fear in enhancing memory formation. Professor Dolson aptly summarized the essence of memory, emphasizing that it possesses context and is not merely a collection of facts but rather a collection of narratives.

The class then delved into an exploration of long-term and short-term memory. One student posited that the duration of memory storage depends on various parts of the brain, while another student, drawing on psychological knowledge from high school, noted that long-term memory can retain information permanently, whereas short-term memory people can only remember for a period of time.

Then, we were introduced to the work of Polly Wiessner, an anthropology professor at the University of Utah, through the article “Firelight.” The article illuminates how the absence of light around a fire can serve as a catalyst for storytelling. It liberates storytellers from the constraints of judgment because listeners can’t easily notice facial expressions. This sparks our curiosity about the intricate role stories play in connecting individuals across distances. Stories, we learned, are not just narratives; they are a means of cultural transmission, allowing us to understand our societal roles.

9/5/2023 – Class Notes

By Haven Buechner

On September 5, 2023

In Daily Class Notes

Today, we started by looking at some of our Prep Notes. Note: the personal assignments and pieces that we create for the class won’t be posted on the blog.

Journaling and portfolio keeping both have elements of reflection (the writing itself is reflecting on an experience). By the time we look back at an experience, we can’t get back to what we thought before an experience. The best way to capture that feeling is to record it in the moment (recommends a self-check-in once a week to see how we’re feeling in the course).

As you are writing a draft for an assignment, do not just revise in the same document. Save the first draft as a separate document from the revised version!

We have two spaces to consider: the blog (our group space), and our personal space. “Artifacts” for the portfolio can come from both spaces. Everything we consider in our reflections must be accompanied by evidence (our own writing from either the blog or a personal folder).

For some people, the act of putting words to the page is the act of thinking, so just writing your thoughts down in your private space can be useful.

Reach out and support your peers – we’re here to learn from each other, and we can’t do that unless we’re all present and engaged.

Regarding the articles we read for today:

Memory is a spectrum of emotions, how people react to a situation (memories have context, feelings). The feeling of the article was more interpretive, less scientific. The author adds to the meaning of the writing (in this case, Britt Peterson). We can also see when the article was published (June 2014). It talks about other writings, so it’s more of an “article” instead of a “journal article.” The author is important to the piece, but so is the publisher. The publication is The Chronicle of Higher Education, and the word “chronicle” implies a record of something through time, or a timeline. Looking at the mission statement, and the humans behind the company, can help us understand why these people would want to publish the article (audience, purpose, etc.). The purpose of the publishers can often be tied to the the purpose of the article itself. Peterson’s goal was to make a starting point for faculty and students by giving an overview of some of Fivush’s and Bauer’s research. Both were psychologists, but it’s not necessarily written for other psychologists (more of a general audience).

Parents can have a real influence on which memories their children are developing (asking open-ended questions more than yes-or-no questions), but also how they learn to process memories. The stories they tell themselves become essential to their perception of their identities.

Children are not turnips in a car seat! They have opinions, they sing, they talk to their parents, etc.

Asked to think about our earliest memories – themes can be fear, or protection, but the memory has context. Can be very visual (i.e. the house surrounding us, the people in the space). Another element of memory: experiences that have been “put away” in a certain way. The difference between long-term and short-term memory is how quickly you can retrieve the experience.

How do memories get from short-term to long-term?

Firelight article: Deborah Netburn, 2014, the LA Times (what does it mean to be a news outlet today?). The journal article is by Polly Wiessner, an anthropology professor at the University of Utah, and her work was highlighted by an editorial board. Her work was based on conversations between tribespeople which she recorded at day and at night. The group of bushmen are among the last societies that are still primarily hunter-gatherers, so anthropologists use them to connect to old hunter-gatherer societies.

Firelight has a biological impact on people’s ability to tell stories. For instance, the lack of light takes away a barrier of worrying what others will think, because people’s faces can’t be seen as easily. Stories serve the function of connecting people across great distances (and even across time). It was a way to place themselves in other places, as well as communicate societal/cultural norms to their audiences. Telling stories around a fire allows people to pass down cultural knowledge to a new generation.

How might life be different if there was a story connected to every element of life, and those stories were shared every night with a group that you’re building your community with?

class 9/5: let’s look at

By Theresa Dolson

On September 5, 2023

In Daily Class Notes

Wesley’s points about the learning portfolio:

Nick G: https://blog.richmond.edu/storytelling2023/2023/09/04/prep-note-9-5-23-4/

journaling

Brice on memory: https://blog.richmond.edu/storytelling2023/2023/09/04/1870/

Ana on WOWO: https://blog.richmond.edu/storytelling2023/2023/09/04/prep-note-9-5-ana-michaelis/

Response to Class Notes – 8/31/23

By Kaylee Wyrick

On August 31, 2023

In Daily Class Notes, Kaylee

This is a response to the Daily Class Notes of 8/31

I really liked the flow of the conversation we had as a group in class. We went from talking about our past experiences to how we hope our future experiences within the class go. When it came to our past experiences, people made great points about leadership and how someone usually steps up to the plate so to speak.

We then talked about how there are certain leadership qualities that a person or people might have such as:

Keeping people on task
Being a “grounding” force
Listening to ideas
Having respectful discussions

Everyone who spoke agreed that working in a group (as long as everyone does their share of the work) is one of the best ways to get things done and to work towards a common goal. Our discussion highlighted how there needs to be an emergent leader for the group to function the best as well. When talking about emergent leaders one of our classmates told a story of when their friend was an emergent leader and was able to plan a trip for them.

Toward the end of the conversation, we talked about grading policies and how different ones work. Most students are used to a more standard grading system, but some interesting ones were brought up and conversations happened around them. One grading system that was mentioned was a contract system. The contract system allowed students to think about their attendance and the effort they wanted to put into a class. If you miss one class and put in a certain level of effort, you can agree to get an A. If you miss many classes and barely put in any effort you can agree to get a D. Basically you decide what your grade is, but you must agree to and meet certain criteria. Another grading system brought up was a more “secret” system. Students don’t know their grades, instead, they just know that they have to be on their best behavior and try their hardest. People agreed that it would be nerve-racking, but that it has the potential to be a good system.

Grades are something that is on everyone’s minds, especially at the University of Richmond. During the discussion today I believe that our class was able to come together once again for a great discussion where many great ideas/stories were shared. We talked about how it’s truly the mastering of skills that are reflected in grades. With this mastery in mind, I believe that this semester is going to be a learning curve for us all, but overall it will be a great learning experience.

08/31/2023 – Class Notes

By Angelos Charalampos Bouras

On August 31, 2023

In Angelos, Daily Class Notes

Comments on our personal stories of collaboration with others
-Specialization and responsibility are common themes in stories of collaboration
-Only through work and collaboration of individuals, the final result could be achieved
-The conclusion may be shine however the process of getting there is meaningful as well
-The common element is essential for people to come together
-Challenges may be faced during the process of creation; different backgrounds, perspectives, and interests may crush with each other – > therefore, compromise is key
-The importance of a leader was highlighted throughout the stories
-Emergent can be a key thing when it comes to being a leader

Comments on grading in high school
-Grades can reflect how hard someone has worked, how smart they are, or how much time they have spent
-Different elements or criteria contribute towards the creation of a grade
-Not sharing the grade may incentivize students to care more about the content rather than just numbers
-Education goes beyond just classes, grades, and certifications but developing skills, being exposed to experiences etc. leading to personal growth

group brainstorm boards