I am finally comfortable teaching Walt Whitman. For years, I would worry about how to teach the “28 young men” portion (section 11 in the 1881 edition) of “Song of Myself.” How, I wondered, could I explain the line about not caring whom they soused with their spray? I would blush and [...]
Archive for October, 2007
Teaching Levity
Posted in teaching on October 24, 2007 | 6 Comments »
Metacommentary of the Damned
Posted in Books, Uncategorized on October 23, 2007 | 3 Comments »
In impossible, maddening, and ultimately brilliant The Political Unconscious, Fredric Jameson argues that a Marxist approach to literary criticism provides the most discerning analysis of a text by “always historicizing” and considering the political, social, and cultural contexts that other approaches, in his view, either minimize or ignore entirely. As Jameson presents this argument, [...]
Who’s Afraid of Henry James?
Posted in teaching on October 20, 2007 | 4 Comments »
Henry James intimidates me. Wordy, erudite, complex, profound, his works tend to make me feel as if I have not really earned my doctorate. Nevertheless, I have thrown a couple of his works at classes and managed to make sense of them and even convinced a few students to like the stories. A couple of [...]
I’m Going to Cry
Posted in teaching on October 16, 2007 | 9 Comments »
Yesterday I went online and ordered a desk copy of the anthology I will be using in a class this spring semester. Today I received an e-mail from the McGraw-Hill (and, yes, I’m naming names) telling me they are sending the book. It was a stock boilerplate form e-mail with my name and the name [...]
Bradbury the Martian
Posted in Books, Uncategorized on October 14, 2007 | 2 Comments »
I was ten or so when I pulled my dad’s copy of The October Country off the bookshelves, looking for something that would scare me in that thrilling way. I had read The Halloween Tree and was anxious to jump back into that strangely poetic-sounding but eerie world of Bradbury’s Green Town Gothic. [...]
The Mileage Messiah
Posted in cycling on October 13, 2007 | 5 Comments »
Today I rode another century, making two centuries on two consecutive Saturdays. Fendergal and Dorothy had arranged to meet in Manhattan and ride the Escape from New York Century, and they invited me along for the fun. After having a decent ride last weekend, my legs felt up to another big ride, and, [...]
Emily Is Awesome
Posted in teaching on October 11, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Last week, one of my favorite students came to see me. She is one of the good ones–smart, thoughtful, nice–and she’s also one of my TAs. She had decided after much agonizing and soul-searching that she did not want to be a teacher but wanted to follow her true love, which is publishing. “What do [...]
No Sex on this Beach
Posted in Books on October 10, 2007 | 6 Comments »
Ian McEwan’s novel, On Chesil Beach begins in 1962, when Florence and Edward, a nice young couple get married. Like many of their generation, they approached the altar, as the saying goes, chaste and pure, with Florence’s white dress perfectly justified. Edward eagerly anticipates the long-dreamed-of conjugal bliss awaiting him as the couple eat [...]
Moving
Posted in memes on October 9, 2007 | 2 Comments »
I was going to post on Ian McEwan’s On Chesil Beach, and I will soon, but I read Emily’s (aka the Queen o’ Memes) meme about moving, and I had to jump in. I am, you see, an expert.
What was your most memorable moving experience? In August of 1995 I moved from California [...]
Five Writing Strengths
Posted in memes, writing on October 8, 2007 | 6 Comments »
I was tagged for this meme by Charlotte, and I am, like everyone who has done it, more than a little afraid. Deep breath. Jump.
The meme is self-explanatory: you name five strengths in your writing. Self-explanatory, yes; easy, no.
I write quickly. Although this might not sound like any kind of strength at all, I think [...]
