I am very sad to see Hee-Jung leave our class, and I know you are, too. I think we should do something to celebrate the time she was here with us. Any ideas? I'm open to changing our plans for Wednesday if you like--we could either do something else in class time, or "move" our class period from the morning to the afternoon, when we could go out for a "coffee" or something. You could then all sleep in, unless, of course, you wanted to be there at 8:30! Anyway, I'm sure that these aren't the only possibilities; if you have any ideas, please either email me or leave comments on this post. Hee-Jung, you can comment, too! If possible, please leave your comment as quickly as you can so that I can get a sense of what works for our class.
My preference is for no evening activities as I have family responsibilities at home.
In any case, if we do change our plans for Wednesday, and if any of you really want your post-midterm appointment with me on Wednesday, let me know that, and I'll come in. (I'll be at ELI anyway.) In fact, though, the appointments can probably be done in less than thirty minutes total.
Finally, I've marked all your work that has been handed in, and will return it to you on Wednesday whenever we meet. I was particularly impressed with your work comparing "The Lamb" and "The Tyger"--everyone who submitted something to me did very well on that assignment!
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Not Good
I'm pretty angry at all the (mostly white) crowd of (mostly) Canadians who participated in the recent riots downtown. When I saw a picture of this guy--the only East Asian I saw in the riot pictures--in a CBC News article, though, I could have sworn he was one of our own ELI students. At any rate, I'm certain I've seen him around campus. If you know this individual, don't trust him!
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Midterm Announcement
Hello everyone,
Our midterm will be held this Monday in Room 212 of the ELI building. You will have 100 minutes to write the test. I and another 600-level teacher will be in the room for about 40 minutes; after that, I must leave to join a group of other teachers for a standardization meeting.
It is possible that this information may change, so be sure to check the student schedules when they come out.
Our midterm will be held this Monday in Room 212 of the ELI building. You will have 100 minutes to write the test. I and another 600-level teacher will be in the room for about 40 minutes; after that, I must leave to join a group of other teachers for a standardization meeting.
It is possible that this information may change, so be sure to check the student schedules when they come out.
Monday, June 13, 2011
My Reading Program
Nowadays I've been thinking about my reading program. Some time ago, I decided that I wanted to read all the surviving plays of the "three Tragedians" [writers of tragedies] of Classical Greece: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. After I read each of their plays, I then discovered Aristophanes, and I slowly digested him over a rather lengthy period. Nowadays, I'm reading the fragmentary remains of his popular successor, the comic playwright Menander, who is widely considered the "father" of Western comedy thanks to his influence on various important Roman playwrights. Unfortunately, nearly a year ago I lost my ability to concentrate while reading on the bus, where I had done most of my reading. Nowadays, I could easily finish my Menander volume in a day, but I don't.
The main reason that holds me back is that I like to write something about each play that I read, and I rarely read a second play before a first one has been "blogged". Nevertheless, though I have certainly had the time, fatigue, busyness, or even what I would describe as a fog inside my brain have all conspired against me. It is, however, high time to end this foolishness! I am hereby deciding to hurry up and finish the plays of Menander.
After that, I may take a little break from the world of Classical Greece (though I am chomping at the bit to read the historians, especially Thucydides). My next choice after Menander has actually been inspired by two movies that both use Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, a musical tribute to Friedrich Nietzsche's book of that title (usually translated in contemporary English as "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"). I am not sure entirely what I'm going to "get out of" this book, but that's a topic for another day.
After Nietzsche, I intend to return to the Classical Greek side of things, with Robert Graves' take on the Greek myths, and then the primary texts of the historians: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon, in that order. After that will follow the unread balance of Plato, and then the entirety of Aristotle, as well as the Sophists. After that I will give myself a medal, or, at least, a smiley face!
The main reason that holds me back is that I like to write something about each play that I read, and I rarely read a second play before a first one has been "blogged". Nevertheless, though I have certainly had the time, fatigue, busyness, or even what I would describe as a fog inside my brain have all conspired against me. It is, however, high time to end this foolishness! I am hereby deciding to hurry up and finish the plays of Menander.
After that, I may take a little break from the world of Classical Greece (though I am chomping at the bit to read the historians, especially Thucydides). My next choice after Menander has actually been inspired by two movies that both use Richard Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra, a musical tribute to Friedrich Nietzsche's book of that title (usually translated in contemporary English as "Thus Spoke Zarathustra"). I am not sure entirely what I'm going to "get out of" this book, but that's a topic for another day.
After Nietzsche, I intend to return to the Classical Greek side of things, with Robert Graves' take on the Greek myths, and then the primary texts of the historians: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon, in that order. After that will follow the unread balance of Plato, and then the entirety of Aristotle, as well as the Sophists. After that I will give myself a medal, or, at least, a smiley face!
No Lab Today/Tomorrow
We'll meet in our regular room to have more time for midterm preparation. See you soon!
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