In order of speed.
- Ask the person beside you. Talking about a text with somebody is the method, not a shortcut around it.
- Read the page. Close Reading, The Essay, Citing Sources, and Getting Unstuck answer most of what gets asked.
- Ask me during the work part of the period. That is why I am walking the room.
- Come to Help Sessions — Mondays and Wednesdays at lunch.
- Email me. Slowest, still works.
Four sentences that get you moving
- “I do not know what the question is asking.”
- “I have a claim and I cannot find evidence for it.”
- “I have evidence and I cannot say what it proves.”
- “I read the scene twice and I have nothing.”
The last one is the most common with Shakespeare, and the fix is mechanical: we read twenty lines aloud together and paraphrase them line by line. It takes six minutes and it works every time.
Say it early
“I am behind” in week two is a scheduling conversation. In week nineteen it is a crisis. Nobody has ever been told off in this room for saying it early.