Heather Holleman's Blog, page 28

I’m Not Afraid of ChatGPT as a Writing Professor

Every day, I hear more news (both panic and hope) about ChatGPT. I’ve loved the articles some of you have sent me about how other professors use this Artificial Intelligence chatbot in the classroom. As I ask ChatGPT various prompts, I find its limitations immediately. But I’m still fascinated by what it can do. I used these prompts today with clever, efficient, and smart responses:

Write a chiasmus using the word “education.” (Education is not just about filling the mind but mindfully filling the soul.)

Write a paragraph using two analogies to explain what good writing is.

Give me a marketing plan for my next book.

How do I make the best avocado toast?

Make me a summer playlist with music from the 1980’s.

Write me a poem in the style of Emily Dickinson.

Write me a paragraph that sounds like Holden Caulfield. (So good!)

How do I get a better night’s sleep?

Try these prompts, and you’ll see how smart and fun this bot is!

But the limitations? It cannot find and write accurate citations for recent research. It cannot use rhetorical appeals itself. I asked it, for example, to write a paragraph appealing to ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos (persuasive techniques we use in writing courses). While the bot can define and explain each word, it tells me it cannot use them itself. It find the appeals “manipulative.” I laughed at that. So students cannot ask ChatGPT to write an introduction to an essay on prison reform using all the rhetorical appeals; it cannot do it. It can only report and compile. It cannot think about audience and use persuasive techniques in the way we teach writing in rhetoric classes.

I’m also finding that the way I teach writing nearly always stumps the bot. I teach my students to use repetition, varied sentence patterns, strong verbs, advanced grammar, and strategic pacing to create a written voice. When I asked the bot to write a paragraph “in the voice of a scholar” it used more complex diction (using words like longstanding, phenomena, rigor, integrity), but it used many weak verb constructions and nominalization (all which I discourage). It also failed to use any advanced grammar besides an occasional comma. Here’s an example from the bot: “While the process of research can be challenging and time-consuming, the satisfaction of making a meaningful contribution to my field makes it all worthwhile.” I would have students revise to move the verbs to the front of the sentence and condense like this: While the time-consuming research process challenges me, I value contributing meaningfully to my field.

I can imagine using ChatGPT to critique writing, but so far, it doesn’t produce the kind of writing I like to see in a college writing classroom.

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When You Take Care of Something or Someone

I’m slowly building a high-maintenance environment. Three cats, multiple fruit trees, a supremely needy potted gardenia, family members, various houseplants: I’m busy with caring for things. What I’m discovering involves the joy of care-taking routines. I wish I would have relished more those routines of baby and toddler care, but I didn’t. I kept waiting for the stage I was in to end so I could quickly get to the next thing.

Now, perhaps misting the gardenia, carefully removing any dead leaves and then checking the water level of the rock pond beneath the pot, puts me fully in the present moment. You stand there, smelling that gardenia fragrance and exploring the shiny leaves, and there’s nothing else but you and the task. Turning to the cats, I’ve learned to love brushing them, feeding them, and playing with them with a laser pointer. In that moment, I’m not worried about grading papers or agonizing about some past conversation. I’m just brushing a cat.

Ordering part of the day around caretaking brings a particular kind of peace and joy rooted in simplicity. I recommend adding it into the day. You can ask, “What might I add to my environment to care for, whether a plant or animal?” or “Which person in my life might I care for more?” Caretaking might involve cooking for someone, cleaning for someone, or listening well to them. It’s a role I’m growing into.

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A Strategy for Jealousy

Sometimes I joke with friends at church that I literally wrote a book on how to handle jealousy, and I still battle it. As I continue to speak on Seated with Christ, I find myself applying Ephesians 2:6 in fresh ways in each new season of life. I knew it would be this way; in fact, I remember asking a friend how anyone heals from jealousy through the various stages of parenting alone. We’re tempted to compare our child’s achievements, activities, and recognitions in grade school. Then, we compare college acceptances, first jobs, marriage proposals. Then, it’s grandchildren, vacation homes, etc. etc. etc. Around every corner, you can find yourself hit with Satan’s ancient strategy: jealousy from comparison. My new favorite idea is how Eve was in Paradise, and Satan was still able to convince her she was missing out on something. Paradise! She had everything! But Eve thought she needed more.

My understanding of jealousy continues to evolve as I meet women from all over, from every stage of life. Sometimes, jealousy is rooted in fear. Sometimes, jealousy brings with it anger and suspicion. Sometimes, jealousy involves the delusion that we’re seeing everyone’s perfect life on social media. I promise you: peel back the first glossy layer, and everyone struggles. Everyone. But in all cases, jealousy feels like soul-sickness. It ruins relationships. It clouds your thinking. And it makes you feel like you’re not the person who want to be. If you consider Galatians 5 and how jealousy is an obvious fruit of the flesh, it matters that we see jealousy as a spiritual problem first of all. We can ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit and help us keep in step with the Spirit. We can daily ask God to help us put on the new self.

But there’s also a fun and memorable strategy I’ve been learning to adopt whenever the sting of jealousy fills my heart. Once I picture my seat in the heavenly realms with Jesus, I have started using the acronym T.A.S.K. It’s working for me. Maybe it will work for you. I pray it does.

T: Thank God. Gratitude is jealousy’s best antidote. It fixes your mind on present blessings. Being thankful represents God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thess. 5:17). List out at least 5 things you love about your life. Keep doing this. List out small things, too. Don’t think about the past or the future. Think about this present moment and God’s perfect provision.

A: Ask God for what you need (Psalm 5:3). When jealousy strikes, it’s usually rooted in the fear we are missing out or that God has denied us something. What is it? What do you really want? Write it all down. God hears you. I then recommend asking God to help you understand your union with Christ. I love Dannah Gresh’s quote that “your worst day with Jesus is better than your best day without Him.” Sure, you could have the Malibu dream house. But without Jesus? It won’t meet your needs. You could have your dream relationship. But without Jesus? It won’t be all that you think. Often, if I’m jealous, I journal out exactly what I wish I had. By the end, it feels silly. But I still ask God for what I want that I think I need. He can take it. Just talking to Jesus about these things helps me realize He’s really what I’m after.

S: Surrender (Galatians 2:20). This is deep. Imagine you don’t get anything you want. Imagine this life you don’t like very much is actually God’s plan for you. What if God asked you, “Will you live the life I ask you to?” What would you say? What if your worst fears come upon you? When I said “Yes” to God to live out my crucified life, I found that jealousy lost its power. Life for me might include suffering, just like we’re promised in scripture. Will I surrender?

K: Know Him more (John 10:10). When I read God’s word to discover more and more about Jesus, I find I can use God’s word to defeat the lie of Satan that seeks to drown my heart in jealousy. The thief wants to kill your joy, steal your purpose, and destroy your faith. But God is the only path to abundant life. With Him, you have everything you need.

The T.A.S.K. method helps me apply my Christian faith to daily life. Thank Him, Ask Him, Surrender to Him, Know Him. When jealousy strikes (and it will), you know what to do. Praise God!

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God is Alive

This morning, I loved the words of Hannah Whitall Smith: “We must believe that divine guidance is promised to us, and our faith must therefore confidently look for and expect it. Settle this point first: Divine guidance has been promised, and if you seek it, you are sure to receive it. Next you must remember that our God has all knowledge and all wisdom, and that therefore it is very possible He may guide you into paths wherein He knows great blessings are awaiting you, but which, to the short-sighted human eyes around you, seem sure to result in confusion and loss. . .”

I like such a confident expectation that God is guiding and knows exactly what He’s doing—even when nothing looks or feels right to us. I think about His gentle, daily care for us that will result in more and more fellowship with Him. As I tend my gardenia and remove dying leaves, check the moisture, and mist it morning and night, I think of God as the gardener over our lives. Every morning, the new blooms that seemed impossible for me for so many years are indeed now coming. I would have been happy with one bloom. Now I have so many that the house smells of gardenia when I enter it.

I love how Easter reminds us that God is alive in us and working around us.

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Two by Two

It’s a beautiful Saturday here in Pennsylvania. Last night, the last evidence of a gorgeous sunset greeted us as we left a contemplative and meaningful Good Friday service at church. We woke up to a day full of Easter baking for tomorrow’s Easter feast: yeast rolls, mac-n-cheese, orange cake, deviled eggs. (PS: I finally figured out the best way to make hard-boiled eggs for easy shell peeling. I’ve tried everything on the internet, but today, I tried another variation. You boil water. You add your eggs carefully to the boiling water. You boil for exactly 10 minutes and then immediately put the eggs into a bowl of ice water. Cool for 5 minutes. It worked. I think it’s the cooling time, personally.)

We’ll also have a honey ham, fruit, potatoes, and banana pudding tomorrow. I haven’t decided on a vegetable. I love working side-by-side in the kitchen with whichever family member wants to hang out. And yes, no matter how old my daughters are, I still go over-the-top with Easter baskets. I even hide them and sometimes make them go on a hunt to find their basket.

My kitchen window looks out into the backyard and then the forest beyond. Great news! I notice the flowers finally emerging on my plumcot tree I grew from seed. It’s taken 3 years. Blossoms! Beautiful blossoms! Just in time for Easter.

It’s both good news and bad news. The bad news is I have no idea what kind of plumcot this is. I grew this tree from the pit of a grocery store plumcot. Most likely, it’s not self-pollinating. Most likely, this tree needs another plumcot to cross-pollinate with. This means I’ll wait another few years unless I find a blooming plumcot in a garden center somewhere that I might plant. My other plumcots aren’t available: One plumcot didn’t survive the winter (but I’m not giving up on it), and another is a year behind in growth. And if you’re curious, my peach tree is growing fine.

Every time I look out at my blooming plumcot, I think about how it’s not good to be alone. Jesus sent out the disciples two by two (Mark 6:7). God tells us we belong in pairs, like in Genesis 2 where He says, “It is not good that man should be alone.” Think of Moses’ father-in-law counseling against serving all alone as a leader in Exodus 18. He says: “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.”

You are not able to do it alone.

Consider Psalm 68:6 and how God “sets the lonely in families.” Consider how God Himself exists in community as the trinity. Consider how Easter means we might receive the gift of salvation to experience union with Christ. He made us for Himself (Colossians 1:16). We aren’t supposed to be alone. We’re supposed to be with Him.

My plumcot tree can’t live alone. It wasn’t made for it.

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Hope on Easter

Normally, right around this exact time, I post the traditional pictures of my blooming cherry blossoms against a vibrant blue sky. Today, just like always, the Weeping Cherry fully blooms. I love the hoping and then the realization. It always blooms. However, this time, there’s no blue sky. It’s cold and drizzly.

I look out the window and consider the nature of hope. It’s that beauty with the backdrop of sorrow and hard things. Hope is just like living Good Friday days when we know Sunday will come. I love how we learn of hope in Psalm 43:5:

Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.

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May I?

This morning, I arrived to campus with my hands full. I carried a container of treats for my students, my lunch, and my purse. As I walked up the stairs to my classroom, a kind person simply asked, “May I get that door for you?”

“Yes!” I said. “Thank you so much!”

“Well, you have your hands full!”

I smiled. I was suddenly so thankful for this person and for every good thing in the whole wide world.

And I thought about that loving expression, “May I?” followed by all sorts of kind words.

May I open the door for you?

May I hold that for you?

May I help you with that?

May I buy you lunch?

May I ask you to share your major stressors with me?

May I bring your family dinner tonight?

May I ease your mind?

May I pray for you?

How might we start a sentence with “May I?” today? I know that this afternoon, one of the most beloved professors in our department will invite me into her office. She always begins a conversation, like clockwork, with this beautiful question: “May I make you a cup of tea?”

She once told me how deliberate and symbolic this question is for students who stop by to see her. She explained, “When I ask someone if I can make them a cup of tea, it means that I have time, that I want them to spend time with me, and that I’m here to listen and take care of them. A cup of tea means conversation and slow time.”

As you can imagine, her office stays booked with students in a steady stream. She starts each encounter with, “May I?” And “May I?” means so much more than we can imagine.

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He’s Always on Time

I think of that delightful quote from the poet Lemon Andersen:

The Lord may not come when you call, but He’s always on time.

Lemon Andersen

God might not answer you today, but He will answer. He’s always on time. I think about this as I read Psalm 20 this morning.

In Psalm 20, we see the repetition of one key verb: answer.

1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
    May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
    and give you support from Zion!
3 May he remember all your offerings
    and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices! Selah

4 May he grant you your heart’s desire
    and fulfill all your plans!
5 May we shout for joy over your salvation,
    and in the name of our God set up our banners!
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions!

6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
    he will answer him from his holy heaven
    with the saving might of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They collapse and fall,
    but we rise and stand upright.

9 O Lord, save the king!
    May he answer us when we call.

We see a God who answers many times in the Psalms alone. God will answer. God has already heard you and is already answering you.

You may now wonder why God is taking so long or why you don’t have the answer you want. After all, Psalm 20 even describes the types of answers: protection, help, support, fulfilled desires, successful plans, victory of our enemies. But why is it taking longer than you hoped?

I consider Daniel 10:10-14. It’s a strange but powerful passage about delay. Daniel is “mourning for three weeks” (Daniel 10:2). He’s exhausted, hungry, and sad. Why is God taking so long to help Daniel? We read this:

10 And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. 11 And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly loved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling. 12 Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. 13 The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, 14 and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.”

I love how a messenger from God says to Daniel that he is a “man greatly loved.” Maybe these were the words Daniel needed most of all as he sat there. But then, the divine messenger says that as soon as Daniel went to the Lord with his problem, his words were heard, and God sent help. But why did the divine help take so long? Well, apparently, there’s a spiritual battle going on that Daniel knows nothing about. It’s so bad that another angel must come on the scene. Then, after three weeks of battle, the divine answer comes.

But it took a while.

Sometimes, perhaps our answer is on the way but held up somehow in spiritual battle. It happened to Daniel, and it can happen to us. I think God was teaching Daniel that his prayers involve something much deeper, much more expansive, and much more complicated that he can know. But God knows. And He sends divine help to fight battles we cannot perceive.

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Two Predictably Fun Questions

Sometimes, I let students choose which attendance questions they’ll answer from my list of 100 questions. Today before class one class began, we couldn’t decide between these two:

Have you ever met a famous person? What was the last thing you Googled? (or searched for online)

These questions always lead to fun conversations, laughter, and follow-up questions rooted in interpersonal curiosity. We learned one student used to live by Kanye West. We also learned that the last thing one student googled was how to fall asleep. We learned so much about each other and enjoyed some great conversations before we turned to the work of writing stellar academic conclusions.

Here’s the list below (and I keep adding to it):

1.  What is the most interesting course you have ever taken in school?

2.  What is your favorite quotation?

3.  What is one item you might keep forever?

4.  What were you known for in high school?  Did you have any nicknames?

5.  If you could have witnessed any event in sports history, what would it be?

6.  What is something you consider beautiful?

7.  What was your first song you played over and over again?

8.  What accomplishment are you most proud of?

9.  If you could be an apprentice to any person, from whom would you want to learn?

10.  What are three things that make you happy?

11. What’s one movie you think everyone should see?  What’s a movie nobody should see?

12.  Who inspires you?

13.  What’s one thing you want to do before you die?

14.  Get in groups of three people.  What’s the most bizarre thing you have in common?

15.  Whenever you are having a bad day, what is the best thing you can do to cheer yourself up?

16.  Have you ever experienced something unexplainable or supernatural?

17.  What was your best Halloween costume?

18.  What’s the last item you purchased and why?

19.  What was the last thing you Googled out of pure curiosity?

20.  What YouTube video / TikTok do you watch over and over?

21.  What’s the kindest act you’ve ever witnessed?

22.  Tell us one thing you know you do well (a talent?) and one thing you know you cannot do.

23.  What is your favorite way to procrastinate?

24.  What is your favorite home-cooked meal?

25.  What was your favorite childhood toy?

26.  What clubs are you involved in?

27.  What was your first paid job?

28.  Have you met a famous person? Who?

29.  What’s the story behind your name?

30.  Do you believe in anything that most people might not believe in?

31.  How would you answer this: I wish everyone would___________________?

32.  What’s the best sound effect you can make?

33.  What’s the funniest thing you did as a kid that people still talk about today?

34.  What idea do you think is worth arguing about?

35.  What is something quirky about you?

36.  For what reason do others often seek your help or input?

37. What is your guilty pleasure—something you love that almost embarrasses you?

38. What is one thing that’s important for others to know about you?

39. Do you still do anything today that you also loved to do as a child?

40. Do you have any daily rituals?

41. What is the most misunderstood word you can think of?

42. What is the first book you remember changing you somehow?

43. What piece of wisdom do you like to pass on?

44. Do you have an irrational fear or strange addiction?

45. What’s been the most surprising thing about this stage of life you’re in now?

46. What is your biggest pet peeve?

47. Who are your animal friends?

49. What’s something new you’ve learned this week?

50. What thought keeps you up at night?

51 What’s a question you like people to ask you?

52. What’s one thing that truly fascinates you?

53. Think of the best community you’ve been apart of? What made this community so great?

54. If you had to pick a song for your “entrance music,” what would it be? 

55. What’s something funny or surprising that happened to you lately?

56. When did you do something you thought you couldn’t do this year? When were you brave?

57. What are you learning?

58. What is your latest victory in life?

59. When was the last time you felt really good about yourself? What was happening?

60. Tell us about an encounter you had with a stranger, a strange place, or a strange animal.

61. What’s something that made you experience wonder or awe this year?

62. What’s something you experienced in childhood that children today don’t experience?

63. What’s one piece of good news.

64. What’s stressing you out most today?

65. What changes when you enter a room?

66. If you had to sing a karaoke song, which on would you choose?

67. What could be the best complement someone could give you?

68. What trait do I most admire in someone else?

69. How would I want others to describe me?

70. What do I look forward to each day?

71. What is the most heartwarming thing you’ve ever seen?

72. What have you most recently formed an opinion about?

73. Where is the most relaxing place you’ve ever been?

74. What fictional place would you most like to go to?

75. What are you most likely to become famous for?

76. What’s worth spending more on to get the best?

77. What is special about the place you grew up?

78. What fad or trend do you hope comes back?

79. What’s the farthest you’ve ever been from home?

80. What takes up too much of your time?

81. What’s an essential workplace item for you?

82. What job would you be terrible at?

83. What’s the story behind the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?

84. How is your day going on a scale of 1-10? What would make it a 10?

85. What do you like to do the old-fashioned way?

86. What popular TV or movie to you refuse to watch?

87. What’s the story behind a piece of clothing or jewelry you’re wearing?

88. What concept do you try to explain but often feel misunderstood when you do?

89. What is your ideal city to live in and why?

90. Have you ever tried to grow something? What happened?

91. What’s overrated? What’s underrated?

92. What’s something you didn’t want to do but were glad you did?

93. What’s your signature meal?

94. What are you tips for staying hydrated?

95. What’s your favorite study spot?

96. What is your role in a group or in your family?

97. What feels like “home” to you?

98. How do you pass the time on an airplane / train / car trip?

99. What did you bring for show-n-tell as a child? If you can’t remember, what would you bring for show-n-tell now?

100. What quality do you most respect in other people and why?

101. What’s one random thing you know a ridiculous amount about?

102. What do you genuinely like about yourself?

103. On a scale of 1-10 what kind of semester are you having? What would make it a 10?

104. What’s one random thing you know a ridiculous amount about?

105. What do you genuinely like about yourself?

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And It Worked!

Well—it’s a great day. My indoor potted gardenia experiment worked. It actually worked. I placed a tray of pebbles filled with water underneath the pot (apparently this keeps the gardenia in a humid environment; I don’t know why). Then I misted the plant twice a day. I put it in indirect sunlight. I watered it once a week. I fertilized it just once. Two weeks later, I see this bloom! It smells so good and fills my heart with the joy of simple pleasures. I’m so glad God made gardenia.

Indoor Gardenia Bloom

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