From

Hairston: Really? Even ten (alright, maybe a few more than ten) years ago, I was working on my English degree, with a concentration in Writing. Literature was the other concentration I could have taken, effectively making an English B.A. a degree in "writing" or "reading." I was taking lots of courses on different writing, in addition to the fine time I had in Chemistry for Business majors (we made brownies and ice cream, if that's any hint). I had Magazine Writing, Business Writing, News Writing, Fiction Writing, "Advanced" Writing (1 & 2 !!), Poetry Writing (finagled my way out of that one, pheeew!), and the great-aunt of all writing courses the senior seminar in Writing (nearly failed, why the hell would they schedule it at 8:00 in the morning? we were seniors for f___, sorry, tangent). But let me ask you now, do you see a common theme in these course titles? Looks like a taxonomy of products to me. No comment is meant on my instructors, I refer to the prescriptive layout of the program/institution. Larry and Crystal did care and give focus to process, but within the constraints of a program focused on finished products. Perhaps in that fateful seminar there was more process given, but to quote the social philosopher Lewis Black, "There isn't a goddamn thing you can learn outta one bloodshot eye."

Murphy: Oh, this should get good. My other course this Fall is Peter Kareithi's Power and the Story. I agree with his basic premise that stories are how we relate to experience. Even describing filling out a form is related as a story, albeit a pretty uninteresting one.

To Be Continued, the Coffee Shop I'm in is closing, so I'll finish up in the morning.

Continuation:

The meaning, the knowledge, related by a story is not reducible to a simple didactic proposition. One of the reasons, perhaps the main reason that we relate our lives and others' as stories is for their ability to hold emotional content. This content matters in the classroom because it is emotion that can motivate, disrupt, or simply make a topic enjoyed. Here:

I feel sad today. <<>>

When I woke up this morning, my roommate had already left, which is not unusual, but the cat was still asleep and I didn't need to rush off to work, so I was able to notice how quiet it was. At first I was just calm, soaking up the silence, but then I started to get lonely. The cat woke up and walked over, snuzzling into my lap, but I didn't get cheered up. I called up a friend and he was busy, so I called up another friend. He was busy too.

Which of those has more meaning?

My Smith book isn't in yet either.