Nathan McCall

We talked about Nathan McCall's "Men, We just don't get it."  Our conversation emphasized McCall's ideas => rather than the stories he told to develop those ideas.  To write a good academic summary you need to answer the "what was the essay about" questions in terms of ideas , NOT in terms of "what happened."  The story about "the list" illustrates his point that men are socialized in ways that shape them to think about women as "things" - the object of a conquest.  

During the second part of class you worked on your summary.  I emphasized that you should start by stating the overall point you see McCall as making.  What was he trying to get you to understand about male identity, cultural conditioning, and how men (and women) think about sex?    A good way to figure out the main point of an essay is to ask yourself what the title means.  For McCall - you might ask => what is it that men don't get?  What points does he make about why men don't get "it" and why it matters that they don't?

Pay attention to the strategies you use to figure out the main ideas.  Academic summaries require you to present ideas (and to avoid repeating the story or the details).  In your World literature course, you will be required to write about the main ideas in the literature you read - NOT to retell the stories.  For example, while Herman Melville's Mody Dick is certainly about a sea captain who tries to catch a whale and ends up dying - that is not how you would summarize it.  You might write that: Moby Dick is both an almost journalistic story about the details New England whaling industry, and a kind of parable about man against nature.   The point is - you need to write about the ideas.

For Tuesday:

Read: HTWA, Chapter 10, Position paper

Write:  Finish your summary of "Men, We just don't get it" and email it to me 

In class Tuesday, I will hand back your summaries of Lakoff and Johnson and we will talk about issues to work on - and how to work on them.  

Then we will talk about writing response essays - we will talk about what you have to say back to McCall - and you will get started on writing a response to his essay.

Have a good weekend!