Busy and burnt
Apparently the way to get my students to talk is to take them outside on a nice day. They talked me into going outside (which I was all for, although I quickly realized that being in the sun for an hour and fifteen minutes was going to give me a sunburn, and yep, I can feel it on my neck), and I figured they'd all be distracted by goings-on around them. Instead, they were totally into the discussion. (Perhaps it helped that we're not quite halfway through The Forever War, which most of them seem to really like.)
I also gave them a quiz which consisted of holding up their book to show they brought it to class. A little over two thirds passed. Perhaps the others will learn from their mistake.
In other news, although I really don't have time for it, I think I need to make some time to go see one of the panels at this year's interdisciplinary conference on campus. Suzette Henke is speaking, and she's pretty big news in Joyce scholarship in particular and Modernism scholarship in general.
As for why I don't have time--that would be because I'm plowing through my orals review, and I made the disturbing discovery that I know NOTHING about American fiction, or prose in general, after 1830. (Or drama. But there's more fiction on the list.) Of the list stuff, I have dim high school memories of Scarlet Letter, Huck Finn and Gatsby, a decent knowledge of Life of Frederick Douglass, and I read Song of Solomon and My Antonia last summer. That's six out of nineteen novels (or long essays) on the list, and while realistically, for a 45-minute "conversation" on a list that covers Beowulf to Morrison that's probably enough, I still feel horribly ungrounded in the whole genre, as far as American lit goes. I mean, I know other important stuff (Winesburg, Ohio, East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, Slaughterhouse-Five, Catcher in the Rye, etc.), and substitutions are generally okay, but I'm still sort of like O_O. So I'm going to try and get through The Awakening this weekend, because really, my defense is going to be All Gender, All The Time, and this seems helpful.
(Drama I'm a bit more sanguine about. Okay, yeah, my drama review currently stops at 1721, but nothing good was produced in the nineteenth century, and of the six plays on the list I've got four--now that I read M. Butterfly this afternoon, which, hey, anyone who knows anything critical about that play, please feel free to comment!--plus Arcadia, which isn't on the list but is nevertheless my favorite play, oh, and Our Town.)
If only I can manage to keep the topic on British Modernism for as long as possible. That would be handy.
And I have grading to do this weekend. Of course I do. AAAAHHHHH. But since it promises to remain nice through Saturday, perhaps I'll do some of it outside. With sunscreen this time, and also my new big floppy hat.
I also gave them a quiz which consisted of holding up their book to show they brought it to class. A little over two thirds passed. Perhaps the others will learn from their mistake.
In other news, although I really don't have time for it, I think I need to make some time to go see one of the panels at this year's interdisciplinary conference on campus. Suzette Henke is speaking, and she's pretty big news in Joyce scholarship in particular and Modernism scholarship in general.
As for why I don't have time--that would be because I'm plowing through my orals review, and I made the disturbing discovery that I know NOTHING about American fiction, or prose in general, after 1830. (Or drama. But there's more fiction on the list.) Of the list stuff, I have dim high school memories of Scarlet Letter, Huck Finn and Gatsby, a decent knowledge of Life of Frederick Douglass, and I read Song of Solomon and My Antonia last summer. That's six out of nineteen novels (or long essays) on the list, and while realistically, for a 45-minute "conversation" on a list that covers Beowulf to Morrison that's probably enough, I still feel horribly ungrounded in the whole genre, as far as American lit goes. I mean, I know other important stuff (Winesburg, Ohio, East of Eden, Grapes of Wrath, Slaughterhouse-Five, Catcher in the Rye, etc.), and substitutions are generally okay, but I'm still sort of like O_O. So I'm going to try and get through The Awakening this weekend, because really, my defense is going to be All Gender, All The Time, and this seems helpful.
(Drama I'm a bit more sanguine about. Okay, yeah, my drama review currently stops at 1721, but nothing good was produced in the nineteenth century, and of the six plays on the list I've got four--now that I read M. Butterfly this afternoon, which, hey, anyone who knows anything critical about that play, please feel free to comment!--plus Arcadia, which isn't on the list but is nevertheless my favorite play, oh, and Our Town.)
If only I can manage to keep the topic on British Modernism for as long as possible. That would be handy.
And I have grading to do this weekend. Of course I do. AAAAHHHHH. But since it promises to remain nice through Saturday, perhaps I'll do some of it outside. With sunscreen this time, and also my new big floppy hat.