Another Vacation

Today marks the end of Maymester. Two weeks of classes, four hours at a time, every day. And did I say anything about the HUGE amount of reading and MANY papers that had to be written? Of course, anyone who takes a Maymester class ought to understand that the workload is going to be heavy. Here's the bottom line: it was a great course, and I was, once again, caught up in the energy of learning that seems to permeate every class I take. Thank you, Professor H.......

Now, to attend to the grass, the dirty windows, the files scattered everywhere in my study center (2nd bedroom, begrudgingly allowed by the wife), and some rest and relaxation. School starts again on Tuesday, and I'll be raring to go!

Web 2.0

Fascinating

Sea Turtles

My wife works for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in an administrative capacity. One of the programs had a spot of bother and she was able to help them through some small logistical crisis. In return, the program folks, who are involved in the Sea Turtle program (link here), named one of their tagged turtles in her honor. The program captures, tags, and releases sea turtles and then tracks their movements for as long as the tracking device transmits location data. "Our" turtle, or to be more precise, "her" turtle, loitered in the coastal waters of Florida near Cape Canaveral for a while, but recently has fled North (like all good seasonal residents of Florida do). The tracking data is here. It is amazing to see the range of these magnificent creatures, and to see the commitment of the people that are trying to preserve the species. They need our support.

Remainder - Tom McCarthy

Cross posted.......

Remainder

Tom McCarthy has received much acclaim for his first novel, and rightly so. The writer-turned-artist has crafted a story that is unique, provocative, and intelligent. While pushing the envelope, he has used the medium of the novel to explore the questions of reality, memory, authority, and obsession in a unique way. Like the epic theater movement, founded by Bertolt Brecht in the early twentieth century, Remainder presents an idea and asks the reader to make his or her own judgment about the story; here, put another way, is a further definition of the Brechtian approach: “Epic theatre assumes that the purpose of a play, more than entertainment or the imitation of reality, is to present ideas and invites the audience to make judgments on them.”

And, thus empowered by the author, we are free to arrive at our own evaluation of Remainder. Able to observe, dispassionately, the struggle of a disturbed man battered by both misfortune and great fortune, for whom the re-creation of his past becomes the driving force in his life, we can, with clarity of vision and lack of emotion observe the search for self by a man who has neither. We can watch as he relentlessly marches towards madness, taking others with him, in the pursuit of the unobtainable. Or, we can regard the novel as an absurd work of art whose purpose is the minute examination of the inner processes of a disturbed man, providing no meaning for us other than as an abstraction of a bizarre idea. Like Brecht, McCarthy presents an idea; the rest is up to us.

James Wood, Harold Bloom, and the Aesthetic Approach

Cross posted at close Reading:

A morning without class! What a relief... immediately tempered by the awareness that a morning which includes a leisurely patrol through both the newspaper and the blogosphere must be followed by an afternoon of intense study of an opera of the epic theater school, requiring notes for a review, and, alas, an evening of writing a review of Remainder. The machinery of education never stops, grinding inexorably to its conclusion regardless of the wishes of the student.

In the morning's peregrination was an e-mail of a book review, courtesy of Powell's, that was enjoyable, but which also had,in the sidebar, a review of The Road that I had not seen before. In our classroom study, we have come across the name James Wood and, seeing that he was the author of said review, I dove in. Believing in the total immersion method of learning, I also resolved to read the review using the technique (at least as I understand it) advocated by Francine Prose in her wonderful book Reading Like A Writer.

I liked Wood's review for his analysis, his appreciation for the words and the style, and for an absence of the politicization that one sees in some reviews/criticism in other writing. Perhaps, in a moment of clarity, I liked it because I agreed with it (thus injecting my bias, but so what?). Having the luxury of a few moments to invest in an investigation, I searched the blogosphere for information about Woods. Quickly found was his interest in the aesthetic approach to criticism, also an approach favored by Harold Bloom. Given that we have so far seen many different approaches to reviews and criticism, it occurs to me that the first, and maybe most important, lesson of this course is that we should be free to say whatever we think, or feel, about the subject of our reviews. Now erased from the memory banks is the notion that the formulaic approach to writing papers, that forms the syllabus of introductory English classes, is the preferred approach to writing. It is as if we have been provided a foundation upon which to write correctly, and now we are freed to write from our hearts instead of with our minds.

Interesting.

The Reader

Virginia Woolf:

I have sometimes dreamt, at least, that when the Day of Judgement dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards - their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly upon imperishable marble - the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when He sees us coming with our books under our arms, 'Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.'

"The Second Common Reader"

The Firehose

Maymester=10 days=1 semester.

Drink deeply from the firehose. Don't choke.

Liberal Arts Education=too many good courses/not enough time=drink deeply from the firehose.

Why did I wait so long? Why did I waste all those years?

Drink deeply from the firehose.

When Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

A gray sky, blocking the sun, carrying the scent of a far distant forest fire. A perfect accompaniment, and a wonderful example as our class reads The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. Here is his description of the strange cast of the sky and sun that he must have meant to use for a day like today:

Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world.

Which is what I thought was happening to me when I first walked outside. Thank God a student told me what was going on, else I would have been convinced that the sudden onset of blindness was underway.

The Modern College Experience

Classes have begun for the short, but very intense session known locally as Maymester. 11 days of class, 4 hours per day, 3 books, 1 peformance, too many reviews to count, and BLOG ENTRIES! That's right, we have to put up our very own blog for this class, wherein we will post our reviews of the books and performances. We will share our links amongst each other with the intention that we will engage in spirited discussion about the many topics of our research. It could result in a critical free for all or it could turn into a two person pillow fight.......time will tell, and you should know by now which way I hope it will go. Either which way, this is a great way to teach a class; traditional subjects shared in a very modern way. What's next in the academic experience?

The journey is the destination.

An "A" .....Not An "A-"

How can I describe this? Let me start by saying that I did well this semester. I was surprised by the grades in two of my classes, because I thought that I had not done well enough on the final exams to push me to the best grade. But Providence, 100% attendance, participation, and every extra credit opportunity taken seemed to push me over the top. I did, however, earn an A- in a course that I thought I should earn an A. That was a disappointment, and frankly left me feeling that I had not accomplished what I had set out to do.

I stewed for a few days, wondering where I went wrong, and then concluded that I must have really screwed the pooch on the final. Today, I e-mailed my professor. I wanted to know what happened on the final, with the notion that I would learn a lesson about studying for exams.

Lo and Behold........a data entry error has been made, and the grade earned in the course is, in fact, an A! It will be corrected and will reflect in my transcript in the next few days!

I feel like I just won the lottery, that the hard work, nay, the obsession of the semester has paid off. I am so damn happy I can't stand it. There is a lesson in this.......never quit trying, and know where you stand.

Can I do it again? That's the challenge........

Gifts for Hard Working Students

Think you might want to give your hard-working student a gift to kick off school? Maybe serve up a small dose of motivation laced with some humor? Or, better, maybe a taste of what skills might be acquired NOW to be of use in the FUTURE? As in what your first JOB might require?

Herewith an idea: The Workaholic Survival Kit.

Presented by One Who Knows........

Tricks of the Trade?

With the start of Maymester (tomorrow), it is time to shift the mental gears of this old jalopy. Idling along in neutral for the past ten days, it's into first gear today and then into the higher gears as of tomorrow morning. This race (like all the others) will go, not to the fastest but to the surest, and so it behooves this student to be ready, rested, and raring to go.

This mental tip seems like a good idea. And for all those pups in class who will think the old man is losing his mind and desperately looking for a escape route, well, what they don't know won't hurt them. For sure.

H/T:The Evangelical Outpost.

The Second Kick of The Mule

With a semester under my belt, only slightly the worse for wear, and with a few days of recuperation behind me, it is time, again, to look forward. Next Monday will see the start of Maymester, the short, intense two week period where students take one course, meet every day for four hours, and try to cover, and learn, the material of a semester. In the spirit of Admiral Farragut, I charge ahead, regardless of the consequences, into the world of upper level English. Perhaps brainwashed is too strong, but it is fair to say that, in a moment of weakness, I fell for the call of the Sirens. Unlike Ulysses, there is nothing to prevent my destruction on the rocks besides my native strength and determination. Having learnt that my love of reading and writing is not always equal to the task of having to write and read, I face the possibility of much hard work. But it is from that process of "having to do" that much can learned. Thus the decision, and thus the edginess of thought that accompanies the understanding of a difficult road ahead.

It's nice to be on edge.

Post Exam Program

This should describe the state to which I have translated, at least for a few days........

The Second Battle - Won!

The second battle of the campaign for BS-DI is now over. Loyal readers will remember the first fight, known as the storming of the ramparts of academe. Once over the wall, our forces regrouped and charged the campus, only be met by our implacable foes the Barbarians, lead by Cheryl of the Algebraics. The historians, poets, and priests of academe tried to flank us on the right and the left, but were brushed aside by our calvary. Our strongest force, the infantry, has been engaged in hand to hand combat for what seems like forever, but in reality has only been 12 weeks. Nearing exhaustion, we have finally managed to dislodge the foe, but not before suffering from the slings and arrows of mis-function. Battered, bruised, and in urgent need of resupply, we are barricaded in a safe house, and will rest here awhile before resuming our attack. In the far distance, we can see the key structure, known locally as the cistern, which, successfully taken, will mark our victory as complete. But there is much fighting ahead...........

As another warrior has said:

... my purpose holds

To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths

Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down;

It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,

And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are,--

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Word, brother.