The Elements and Pleasures of Difficulty jived nicely with our discussion in class.

I just watched a snippet of The Paper Chase, a movie from the ‘70s about law school, and laughed when the professor tells his students that he will ask questions and they will answer. He states that they should not ever think they are correct in their answers or done with an answer as there will always be another question. And through this process, he drones, you will teach yourself.

I think that more than a test or a “put you on the spot” classroom setting would, the difficulty papers not only assess each student’s progress, but they provide a safe place for students to delve into the learning process with transparency in a way that is not embarrassing or promoting judgment. They allow for the student and teacher to stand back and observe learning calmly.

On page 43, the author describes how a confused student trusts her analysis. She realizes that her reactions came from the piece. The student also spent time looking up definitions and experimenting with the piece she had been reading. In my experience this sort of dickering in the learning process exists only in a very safe emotional place, far from tests and graded work; it comes up in hobbies.

The clues as to what responses such as “boring” may mean struck a cord with me. Long difficult pieces are off-putting. Cleaning your garage is off-putting. It is the overwhelming aspect of, “what the heck do I do with this?” that makes it frustrating. It is the moving around of things and the revisiting of the same unresolved questions. The journals act as a finger in the pages. They provide staging areas for unknowns or as the authors put it a “safety net”.

I think that the result of the difficulty papers would be a sense of accomplishment as the student came up with what he needed for a final paper on his own, no prompt required. I think that shows respect for the student. It reduces the need for tedious outlining and instead focuses the student on those elements of the piece that would be difficult and therefore interesting to think and write about. I really enjoyed the book and the ideas presented.