Kairos Critique [ Intro | Requiem | Formal | Comparative | Justification ] [About this site]

About "Kairos Critique: Kudos and Curses"

See before and after comparison.This web collection responds to a recent call for hypertexts:
"Letters and webtexts written in response to previous Kairos issues are requested for this interactive part of the journal. We particularly are looking for class projects or scholarly works that are based on Kairos publications."
In addition, the journal has been soliciting On this web site, I employ many different rhetorical strategies (testimonials, satire, exemplification, close reading).  The cheeky tone is an extension of one facet of my teaching persona.  That persona is suspicious of academic navel-gazing and Orwellian, PMLA-style jargon.  That persona also occasionally lacks tact... but the Internet is no place for wimps, as any netter who's ever flamed a newbie will tell you.

See: Comparison of this web site, before and after testing.
When I asked my technical writing students to review this web site, each wrote about 125 words -- about 50 more than each had written in their critiques of Kairos.  Any number of variables may have prompted the greater output, but more important, the comments reflected higher-level critical thinking.  This is not surprising, because the students understood that I was going to use their critique to improve the site; hence, their inquiry was more focused.  Collectively, they leapt at the opportunity to evaluate my work. (All quotes in this section are partial comments... see the full text.)

Even a student who called this site "an egotistical chest-thump" nevertheless had praise for my intentions: "To improve it, take your time but save the attitude. By save, I mean keep it. It's an admirable one."  In general, the students who responded positively were engaging with the subject matter (my critique of another web site) and were able to critique my critique intelligently and with enthusiasm.  My students generally had little to say about the organization of my web site -- presumably becuase they had little or no trouble navigating. What do you think?  Contact me at JerzDG@uwec.edu. [update]

First posted Oct. 31, 1999
Dennis G. Jerz

Kairos Critique [ Intro | Requiem | Formal | Comparative | Justification ] [About this site]