Playing a Double Game: Authorial Reading and the Ethics of Interpretation

Students in English education typically have to live in (at least) two worlds: departments of English in which they receive their disciplinary training, and departments or schools or programs of education in which they work to develop the pedagogical content knowledge they need to teach in that discipline. Often those worlds are far apart. In this article, Michael Smith and Peter Rabinowitz, describe their own collaborative efforts as fruitful, mainly because of their differences. Smith is a Professor of Literacy Education, while Rabinowitz is a Professor of Comparative Literature. They share that they have always been able to work through their differences because they share a theory of literacy reading despite their different disciplinary norms. They write here that their work developing this theory has been important to both of them for it has allowed them to benefit from (rather than dismiss) each other\u27s perspectives as their exploration of two important ethical issues in the reading and teaching of literature moves forward. The authors conclude by saying their differences mirror the larger disciplinary differences that students in English education often experience. They wish to encourage classroom discussions of literature that are informed both by the head and the heart, discussions that see seemingly polar positions complementing each other in meaningful ways

Before reading: narrative conventions and the politics of interpretation

(print) xxix, 249 p. ; 23 cmForeword: before reading in its own terms -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction: beyond readings/before reading. p.1 -- Starting points -- What is reading? p.15 -- Who is reading? p.20 -- The value(s) of authorial reading. p.29 -- The difficulties of authorial reading. p.36 -- Rules of reading. p.42 -- Trumpets, please!: rules of notice -- The hierarchy of detail. p.47 -- Basic gestures of noticeability. p.52 -- Privileged positions. p.58 -- Rules of rupture. p.65 -- The biggest black eyes I ever saw: rules of signification -- Signification defined. p.76 -- Rules of source. p.79 -- Good guys and bad guys: rules of snap moral judgment. p.84 -- Truth and the narrative audience: the rule of realism. p.93 -- Post hoc and propter hoc: rules of cause. p.104 -- The black cloud on the horizon: rules of configuration -- Configuration vs. coherence. p.110 -- Basic rules of configuration. p.113 -- Rules of undermining. p.119 -- Rules of balance: focus. p.125 -- Rules of balance: action. p.132 -- The austere simplicity of fiction: rules of coherence -- The nature of coherence. p.141 -- License to fill. p.148 -- Rules of surplus. p.154 -- Rules of naming, bundling, and thematizing. p.158 -- Through the glass key darkly: presupposition and misunderstanding -- Presuppositions and the ambiguity of interpretation. p.173 -- Getting to the bottom of things. p.178 -- Popular fiction as a genre. p.183 -- Scapegoating Carmen: reading misreadings. p.193 -- Some have greatness thrust upon them: the politics of canon formation. p.209 -- Selected bibliography. p.233 -- Index. p.24

LSQ13ddu: a rapidly evolving stripped-envelope supernova with early circumstellar interaction signatures

This paper describes the rapidly evolving and unusual supernova LSQ13ddu, discovered by the La Silla-QUEST survey. LSQ13ddu displayed a rapid rise of just 4.8 ± 0.9 d to reach a peak brightness of −19.70 ± 0.02 mag in the LSQgr band. Early spectra of LSQ13ddu showed the presence of weak and narrow HeI features arising from interaction with circumstellar material (CSM). These interaction signatures weakened quickly, with broad features consistent with those seen in stripped-envelope SNe becoming dominant around two weeks after maximum. The narrow HeI velocities are consistent with the wind velocities of luminous blue variables but its spectra lack the typically seen hydrogen features. The fast and bright early light curve is inconsistent with radioactive ⁵⁶Ni powering but can be explained through a combination of CSM interaction and an underlying ⁵⁶Ni decay component that dominates the later time behaviour of LSQ13ddu. Based on the strength of the underlying broad features, LSQ13ddu appears deficient in He compared to standard SNe Ib

Assessment of higher order cognitive skills in undergraduate education: modified essay or multiple choice questions? Research paper

Background: Reliable and valid written tests of higher cognitive function are difficult to produce, particularly for the assessment of clinical problem solving. Modified Essay Questions (MEQs) are often used to assess these higher order abilities in preference to other forms of assessment, including multiple-choice questions (MCQs). MEQs often form a vital component of end-of-course assessments in higher education. It is not clear how effectively these questions assess higher order cognitive skills. This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of the MEQ to measure higher-order cognitive skills in an undergraduate institution. Methods: An analysis of multiple-choice questions and modified essay questions (MEQs) used for summative assessment in a clinical undergraduate curriculum was undertaken. A total of 50 MCQs and 139 stages of MEQs were examined, which came from three exams run over two years. The effectiveness of the questions was determined by two assessors and was defined by the questions ability to measure higher cognitive skills, as determined by a modification of Bloom's taxonomy, and its quality as determined by the presence of item writing flaws. Results: Over 50% of all of the MEQs tested factual recall. This was similar to the percentage of MCQs testing factual recall. The modified essay question failed in its role of consistently assessing higher cognitive skills whereas the MCQ frequently tested more than mere recall of knowledge. Conclusion: Construction of MEQs, which will assess higher order cognitive skills cannot be assumed to be a simple task. Well-constructed MCQs should be considered a satisfactory replacement for MEQs if the MEQs cannot be designed to adequately test higher order skills. Such MCQs are capable of withstanding the intellectual and statistical scrutiny imposed by a high stakes exit examination.Edward J Palmer, Peter G Devit

Interaction of smoking and occupational noise exposure on hearing loss: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Noise is the most common hazardous agent at workplaces. Noise induced hearing loss (NIHL) has been known since the industrial revolution. Although NIHL is permanent, irreversible and frequent, it is preventable. The economic costs of NIHL have been estimated to be about billions of dollars. Besides, cigarette smoking is a common habit worldwide, and according to some recent studies smoking and noise may act in common causal pathways for hearing loss.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was designed to study the effect of smoking on NIHL in 206 male smoker workers and 206 male non-smoker workers in a large food-producing factory, in which workers were exposed to noise levels exceeding 85dBA. To determine noise exposure level, we used sound level measurements reported by industrial hygienists.</p> <p>A qualified audiologist assessed hearing acuity by using standardized audiometric procedures assuring at least 14 h of noise avoidance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We observed that the percentage of workers with hearing threshold differences of greater than or equal to 30 dB between 4000 Hz and 1000 Hz in both ears were 49.5% and 11.2% in smoker and non smoker groups, respectively (Odds ratio = 7.8, 95% CI = 4.7 – 13), and the percentage of workers with a hearing threshold of greater than 25dB at 4000 Hz in the better ear were 63.6% and 18.4% in smoker and non smoker groups, respectively. This difference was statistically significant after adjustment for age and exposure duration.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It can be concluded that smoking can accelerate noise induced hearing loss, but more research is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms. Accurate follow up of smoker workers who are exposed to noise levels exceeding 85 dBA is suggested. Smokers should periodically attend educational courses on "smoking cessation", especially in noisy workplaces.</p

Carnegie Supernova Project-II: Extending the Near-Infrared Hubble Diagram for Type Ia Supernovae to z∼0.1z\sim0.1

The Carnegie Supernova Project-II (CSP-II) was an NSF-funded, four-year program to obtain optical and near-infrared observations of a "Cosmology" sample of $\sim100$ Type Ia supernovae located in the smooth Hubble flow ($0.03 \lesssim z \lesssim 0.10$). Light curves were also obtained of a "Physics" sample composed of 90 nearby Type Ia supernovae at $z \leq 0.04$ selected for near-infrared spectroscopic time-series observations. The primary emphasis of the CSP-II is to use the combination of optical and near-infrared photometry to achieve a distance precision of better than 5%. In this paper, details of the supernova sample, the observational strategy, and the characteristics of the photometric data are provided. In a companion paper, the near-infrared spectroscopy component of the project is presented.Comment: 43 pages, 10 figures, accepted for publication in PAS