Using Bean to Structure Reading Assignments

I found the Bean chapter on reading assignments to be quite useful. Because the fist chunk of my class will be dedicated to reading White Noise, I think I'll need quite a few different types of reading assignments to keep things interesting. I definitely plan to use what Bean calls "Translations" -- probably during class time for the most part. I can think of several passages in the Delillo novel in particular that are somewhat baffling. I like the idea of encouraging close reading because -- if you choose a good passage to analyze -- the students will see how much subtlety (and even mystery) can lie beneath an apparently simple block of prose.

I would also like to employ reading quizzes (fairly regularly, but not heavily weighted), though I'm not so sure I like Bean's idea of students writing their own quizzes. I think it's possible to structure a simple quiz that can test more than just rote memorization of factual data. I think a good quiz would probably require a short response to a clear prompt that refers to something central in the reading for the day. The question or prompt itself could be more complicated, but it should refer to something that anyone reading the text would remember -- if he or she were reading with any level of awareness. I'll consider the idea of self-constructed quizzes, but I'm not sure I see the benefits just yet. Bean claims that self-created quizzes allow students to "distinguish between main and subordinate material, between points and data, and between concepts and illustrations" (146) -- but why couldn't a traditional quiz do the same?

In addition to these (and likely other) in-class reading activities, I am toying with the idea of assigning a "Reading Log," but allowing a much more creative engagement with the text than a traditional "journal." I would encourage students to share personal reactions to the text, compose creative work based on the reading (drawings, poetry, short stories, etc), and just generally to explore text in any way they want. I need to work on how I would assign this, but I think it may be something I collect every 2 weeks to check for progress -- and then at the end of the semester for a grade. These are just some preliminary ideas. I imagine that I'll have something more solid by the time the semester rolls around.