Reading Comprehension

I have been working on several research project recently, most of which have to do (directly or indirectly) with my education. Yes, I partially refer to my blog as part of my education because most of the things on here end up morphing into something else. However, this weekend I have had to take some time out to work on the research I am actually being paid to do. For those of you who don’t know, while I am working towards (eventually) getting my doctorate I also teach, and simultaneously work on academic research (paid job that has nothing to do with my direct education).

Side note: I refer to all these places simply as “campus” so when I post pictures on Facebook/Twitter/Google+ referring to something on “campus” and they all look like they are different locations, it is probably because they are.

Anyway, returning to my research position, I am currently working on a project unlike anything I have done before. Usually the gist of my work comprises analyzing trends in education and summing them up to form conclusions that will help curriculum development for incoming college freshmen (generally my scope is within English departments). However, this time I will actually be part of the team implementing the very changes we have been analyzing.

For those of you unfamiliar with the school system in my area (Los Angeles, and for the purposes of my research, Southern California), over 70% of high school graduates cannot read or write at college entry level. While not everyone who graduates from high school wishes to enter college, there are large numbers who do, but cannot. These percentages, which have been gathered from entrance exams and assessment tests from CSU’s and community colleges within Los Angeles, are terrifying.

Since these students who wish to go to college cannot enter UC’s, or most private colleges, some go the CSU’s or community colleges where they can improve their English skills by starting out with basic skills courses that pretty much rehash what they have been taught since middle school in order to get them up to par with other freshmen. Some of these remedial classes can last years.

The program I am working on is in the pilot stages. In short, we are attempting to offer extracurricular assistance to students who want to improve their English skills and advance more quickly so they can take course work geared towards earning a degree.

We have been working on this for months trying to decide how best to approach the situation. We created workshops, and online practice sites, but then realized we were going about it the wrong way. We were attempting to tutor these students in the same way we would tutor highly motivated self-starters. This is not to say these students aren’t motivated, but they require a different instructional model. They are not going to come to us and attend our three hour workshops (although I am running one next monday). They are not going to spend hours online on endless reading comprehension and grammar quizzes. However, they may want to take part in brief online tutorials that they can access on their own time and that aren’t terribly demanding. So we began creating such tutorials.

Again, this is a pilot program so we don’t know how beneficial these will be or if students will actually use them. We will be publicly launching them in mid August and create test groups of students at different community colleges in the area to track how they are interacting with our program. In the meantime we are simply creating the tutorials.

The entire project focuses on different areas and I have colleagues working on basic algebra math segments, others working on study skills, I am working on the English model, and so forth. We decided we didn’t want these to be too extensive; each one should run five to ten minutes and cover only one simple concept. I began working on Reading Comprehension.

At first I thought this could not possibly be that difficult, but I was quickly proven wrong. My main problem is understanding my target audience. While I do teach English, I teach literature courses which are an entirely different matter. I am working with students who already know how to write basic sentences and who are able (even if not always willing) to read the material. For the purposes of this project I am trying to teach students how to read, and more importantly how to understand what they are reading.

Part of the problem (and I absolutely do not mean for this to sound condescending) is that I never had this issue, so I am having difficulty understand how to navigate it. Even when I didn’t understand something I never had an issue putting in as much extra time as was needed to improve. Basically right now I am trying to make reading comprehension as accessible as possible to students who don’t want, or know how to put in the full effort, but are at least motivated enough to try a short online tutorial.

I have spent a few weeks gathering my examples and planning it out, and then I have recorded the tutorial a few times. Each time I felt something was off, so I tweaked it a bit. This Friday we are going to meet as a group to go over what we have accomplished. Since this week I have paper grading, medieval research to do, and a conference in Sacramento, I don’t imagine doing that much more with it before Friday except recording it a few more times since I am not sure I like the way it sounds (unless of course I am struck with another idea, and then I will definitely work on it some more). But as of right now, I don’t know what else there is to say. I would love to go more in depth with a few of the instruction, but considering the time constraints that just does not seem possible.

In conclusion, here are two drafts I made tonight that I think are my best (one is my natural voice, the other is stretched a bit, both are spoken at a pace significantly slower than my natural speed- the one complaint I have from students is that I often speak to quickly). In one of them I am trying to sound very upbeat, hoping this will be a motivating factor. In the other, I am more mellow, trying to sooth students into learning. It will also become apparent that I am obviously trying to entertain while instructing (Horace, Longinus, and Aristotle after all thought this was a good idea), but perhaps I am trying too hard and the little quirky bits are distracting and I am debating taking some out.

For what it’s worth… here are the videos….(I know there are typos, and this will definitely not be the way it will be ultimately displayed, but this gives everyone an idea of what I am doing…)

Any feedback, suggestions, critiques, etc. are more than welcome.

 

 

Charles D’Orleans – Le temps laissie son manteau…

Charles de Valois at the age of fourteen became the Duke of Orleans after the murder of his father, Louis d’Orleans (brother to Charles VI of France). His history is well known, and easily found, so I won’t go into too much detail with it, but during his various periods of captivity he composed most of his famous works in both English and French, including his ballades and chansons. Despite the political upheaval of the time, little of it comes out in his poetry.

In 1440 he returned to France and spent the next ten years entangled in various political activities, after which he retired to his chateau at Blois where he focused on his poetic endeavors and welcomed the likes of Rene of Anjou and even Francois Villon into his home. During this period he composed the majority of his rondeaux, traditional short fixed form lyrics with recurring lines.

Tonight I wanted to look at one of his poems (accent marks are omitted):

“Le temps a laissie son manteau”

Le temps a laissie son manteau
De vent, de froidure et de pluye
Et s’est vestu de brouderie,
De soleil luyant, cler et beau.

Il n’y a beste, ne oyseau,
Qu’en son jargon ne chante ou crie:
Le temps a laissie son manteau!

Riviere, fontaine et suisseau
Portent, en livree jolie,
Gouttes d’argent d’orfaverie,
Chascun s’abille de nouveau:
Le temps a laissie son manteau.

Here is a common translation:

“The season has shed its mantle”

The season has shed its mantle
Of wind, cold and rain,
And has clothed itself in embroidery,
In gleaming sunshine, bright and fair.

There is no animal or bird
That does not sing or call in its own tongue:
The season has shed its mantle!

Stream, fountain and brook
Bear, as handsome livery,
Silver drops of goldsmith’s work;
Everyone puts on new garments:
The season has shed its mantle.

A laissie” has the connotation of something sliding, or of letting go, and combined with the imagery of spring I visualize the female form allowing the coat of winter to slide down her shoulder onto the ground as she welcomes the oncoming season.

I am not entirely sure I like the translation of “mantle” that is now most commonly accepted. Aside from the similarity with “manteau” I see no reason to use it, and would much prefer the lesser known versions that translate it to “coat” or “cloak.”

I love the imagery in the third line of embroidery. Much like now, in the fifteenth century when a woman was expecting, others would embroider blankets for the new baby as gifts. Here the image of embroidery plays with this idea as the new season is clothed in the embroidery reserved for a newborn. Further, imagine the change in clothing from cloak, or coat, heavy for winter, to lighter garments. The fourth line, focusing on sunshine, also alludes to the light of the sun and ties in with the lightness of the season as the word used “luyant” brings forth “lumiere” (light from the sun), but also “leger” (light as in light weight) that is made more apparent by the following adjectives-  “cler” (clear, as in transparent or translucent such as embroidery or light clothing, and “beau” (fair, with the implication of something pretty, dainty, and light).

In the second stanza the imagery moves towards the physical attributes of the natural world – from the personified Spring (perhaps in feminine form) to the actual animals and birds crying out with glee at the arrival of the new season. This is a joyous occasion.

The last stanza takes the invocation even further, refocusing it on even the inanimate yet intricate parts of nature that also share in festivities of welcoming Spring. Here the rich garments that adorn the rivers and brooks are more natural elements, yet described in terms of livery with silver and gold – concepts the reader could understand and use as points of comparison. The last two lines sum up the entirety of the poem, where “chacsun” (everyone, or everything) changes their wardrobe, and thus lets go of their winter cloaks.

I could not find the actual manuscript this was in. I found a reference to it stating it comes from MS. 25458, Bibliotheque National de France, and that the poem was on folio 365.  I found the manuscript online, and while it does contain Charles d’Orlean’s works, the particular excerpt was nowhere in the 528 pages of the manuscript.

This is the only picture I can provide:

charles d'orleans

 

The picture comes from French Poetry translated by Stanley Appelbaum.

I cannot tell for certain, but it appears two different hands worked on this text. The last five lines seem less careful than the first part, indicating that perhaps the first part was copied, while the latter writer was more confident and less concerned with making mistakes. Of course this is complete conjecture since the picture is not of the best quality, nor have I been able to find where it comes from, and it doesn’t help that the picture provided is not in color (the MS in question is written in predominantly red and redish brown ink).  Also, it makes little sense as to why two people would split such a short poem. However, what I can say with more certainty is that this handwriting (top or bottom) of my picture is unlike MS 25458.

If anyone knows anything about this, please let me know (more for my own curiosity than anything else) and it would be greatly appreciated.

In the meantime, here is Alain Jacques beautifully singing the poem:

Children in the Middle Ages

Today I read this post on Medievalists.net debunking certain common myths about the Middle Ages (the one about tomatoes being poisonous was a new one for me), and it got me thinking about another common myth that I hear all the time: people in the Middle Ages didn’t love their children.

This reminded me of a paper I wrote a few years ago tracing the concept of childhood through time (however, for the purposes of the class I was in, it did not extend back beyond the 16th century). Out of curiosity I spent a little time today looking at different sources where children were mentioned in medieval writing to briefly outline the ways they were viewed (and I am purposely not looking at other representations via other forms of art, even though I am sure they would produce a bevy of marvelous sources).

I actually began by looking at Philippe Aries’ theory of childhood (since he pretty much started it all) and then Nicholas Orme who counters Aries’ argument almost to a point of literary attack. Orme (among others) believes Aries argued that children didn’t exist. Of course they existed. He simply postulated that it wasn’t until the mid seventeenth century that children, and by extension childhood, were seen as they are now. In other words, the idea that children are fragile, innocent beings in need of coddling and extreme protection is a modern convention. While he may have overstepped in his analysis when stating that children did not at one point in history receive love from their parents, he never outright stated this as can be seen from the very first page of his book, and his overall argument for the most part relied on the treatment of children and not the emotional implications of having them. I think this is the key to correcting the myth about parents’ lack of love for their children in the Middle Ages – it was not that they loved their children any less than they do now, but it was simply not exhibited in the same ways.

children

(A child is depicted in the Massacre of the Innocents in the middle, and at the bottom three boys are playing a board game. It is the bottom picture that is of interest – children taking part in what would appear to be normal childhood activities. MS Ludwig IX 2).

Children were sent off for apprenticeships or marriage at young ages, but for the most part, even if only through letters, they maintained contact with their parents who inquired frequently about their well being and at times even took action to rectify wrongs against their children. When conducting some unrelated research on the Yeoman in the Canterbury Tales I came across an article describing the relationship between the Yeoman and the Knight and Squire. Despite the title of the work (see below in Sources), the article is mainly concerned with the father/son relationship between the Knight and Squire, attesting to the unusual nature of a kin pairing at a time when most young men were sent off to fulfill their service under the tutelage of another. Basically children left the home at a very young age, and when they didn’t, their roles in the home would in modern times be regarded in a negative light, feeding the notion that children were either unimportant, unloved, and even abused. Yes, children would play (see above), their imaginations would get the best of them (considering the amount of medieval toys and infant instruments that we have catalogued), but they were also expected to fulfill certain roles that extended beyond keeping their rooms neat and picking up their things. No one had time for fantasy when there was water to be brought, bread to be made, wood to be cut, laundry to be beaten, and numerous other chores. However, delegating responsibilities earlier in the life of a child than is common today does not denote lack of love or emotional investment.

Another contributing factor to this myth is the shortage of children depicted in manuscripts. Aside from those of notable birth, few babies or small children can be seen gracing medieval manuscripts in illumination or text. A few have argued that this is due to the high infant mortality rates, meaning parents did not want to become attached to a child they could potentially lose. However, records indicate that many parents went to great lengths to save their children when possible, and R. Finucane shows evidence of parents going on pilgrimages to pray for their ill children or severely grieving their loss.

children1

(Although this is the baby Jesus, and not a “common” child, the interesting part of this portrait is the baby walker being depicted. Not to mention this picture comes from an entire manuscript filled with domestic scenes that most of us would recognize today. Hours of Catherine.)

I also noticed a few pieces discussing the more natural order of infancy and motherhood, namely in regards to nursing a baby – a debate that continues well in our day. Le Chanson du Chevalier du Cygne et du Godefroid du Bouillon touches this subject in depth. 

children2

(Nature forging a baby. British Library, Harley 4425.)

 

Haggadah

(From the Golden Haggadah. A family portrait as everyone, including children, partakes in different chores).

This is a very brief discussion, but for more information (and a lot more manuscript pictures) go here, and/or see my direct sources. Enjoy!

 

Sources

Aries, Philippe. Centuries of Childhood.

Crawford, Sally. Childhood in Anglo-Saxon England.

deMause, Lloyd. The History of Childhood: the evolution of parent-child relationships as a factor in history.

Finucane, Ronald. The Rescue of the Innocents: Endangered Children in Medieval Miracles.

Hanawalt, Barbara. Growing Up in Medieval London: The Experience of Childhood in History.

Orme, Nicholas. Medieval Children.

Scala, Elizabeth. “Yeoman Services: Chaucer’s Knight, His Critics, and the Pleasure of Historicism”

Shahar, Shulamith. Childhood in the Middle Ages.