Three to Get Ready

Pageant of American Literature, view 1
 (Photo credit: CT State Library)

Yep, I still need three more posts to get full credit, and they have to be done in time to turn in the hard copy with my portfolio by 8am tomorrow.  I'm not too sure that I'm going to make it.  The rest of the portfolio is good to go -- I finished the cover essay pretty quickly, for once -- but I'm having trouble thinking of anything to write about in these last few entries. 

I got all the classes I wanted for spring semester, so that's good, but I just heard that they're not offering Masterpieces of American Literature over the summer, which is bad.  I wanted to take that to fill out my gen-eds before I transfer to a four-year school (which one, I don't know yet) because I already know something about it (unlike geology, ugh), and I thought I could manage a good grade in it, even at the faster summer pace.  On the other hand (what was the first hand?), I can work more hours if I'm not taking any classes, and I really do need the money. 

I've made length now, but this is the most pathetic post I've written so far.

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Talking American Lit while Rhonda Takes the Summer Off

English toffee (the chewy kind) in cellophane wrapping. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There's no comp class for me, so I'm taking the summer off and turning my blog over to Dr. Toffee (not her real name; a classmate suggested it when he was eating a Heath bar-- English toffee, get it?) until school starts in the fall.  So, here she is, and I'll see you later.

Just like Rhonda, I have no composition classes on my summer schedule, but I am teaching a section of Masterpieces of American Literature, and I thought it might be fun to talk about that for a change of pace.  It's a general education course that's available at most colleges, which makes it worth discussing on its own.  The class begins next Monday, and at this point I'm fine-tuning my syllabus.  There's a few things that didn't work as well as I had hoped last summer, and I need to figure out good substitutions for them.  I am limited here since I cannot choose the textbook for the course -- I have to use The Norton Anthology.  I'm not really wild about the selections, and I'm not at all happy about the physical weight of the thing, even though it's now in two volumes.  What I do like, of course, is the introductory material, which makes the whole thing worth buying.
At any rate, what I've found over the years I've been teaching this course is that students really dislike some authors that they've encountered before, but they're willing to give unfamiliar authors a chance.  The one author most of them already know and enjoy (sort of) is, ironically, Edgar Allen Poe (ironic, since he's not exactly the hottest academic topic in American lit). 
And, many students are extremely leery of poetry in general.  All of this means that I (like every other teacher of the course) have my work cut out for me.

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Gimme the LARGE Popcorn!



Tomorrow begins the last week of spring semester, and I should be getting ready for finals.  But I'm not.  I'm going to the movies.  For fun.  Yay!  I don't have to think about anything if I don't want to, and that's just what I need right now.
My sister and I are going to see The Raven.  She's a big fan of Poe (she used to be kinda goth), so this is a natural for her.  I'm taking Masterpieces of American Literature over the summer, so I can pretend to myself that this will be helpful with that.  Ha!  It's funny how I feel as if I have to justify spending a couple hours away from my homework.
I hope it's better than Roger Ebert thinks.  At the very least, I can write about it later, which is good, because I still need a few more entries in my research journal (due this Friday!).

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