Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Chatting about Henry, Wilson and more
Tonight's BB IM chat will focus on The Red Badge of Courage. This is a two week pod which takes an in-depth look at Crane's best known novel. One post in the DB referred to why Henry was called the Youth. to be continued.....
Monday, February 24, 2014
Thus we begin a new blog, with new students, in a new semester......
New blogs are always exciting! I must confess that I actually 'blog' in spurts. Sometimes I can visit one of my blogs and write several times each day; other times I am hard-pressed to find something new to say.
The spring semester of American Lit seems to offer more topics for discussion. Maybe it is because (a confession here....) that I enjoy the writers in the second half of the series of American Lit courses more now than I did in the fall semester. Maybe it is because I enjoy spring, and there isn't the interruption of so many holidays, the fall harvest (since my husband is a farmer), and the sense of impending hibernation that puts me into a slight funk when it comes to adding my thoughts to the blog. I can't pinpoint the difference, but I do know it exists.
Anyway...here we go with a new semester of blogs. You might notice from the three that I carried over onto the My Blog List at the right that there was a focus on Poe for the last series of blogs. For some reason the students in ENGL 222 were fascinated with him and his short stories and poems when blog creation time rolled around. The same thing happened with the student in my ENGL 112 class as well---focus on Poe. Once again, maybe it was because of fall, Halloween, and who knows what else. I am anticipating some changes made in the original blogs of Courtney, Ashley, and Chris. No more Poe focus!
If you are reading this and haven't decided on a title for your blog, or a focus, or even an idea of what you want to write, think about the authors, the short stories, the poetry we have read or will read during the semester. Find a theme or a general (or a specific) topic to explore. Maybe you are taken by the women writers in Pod #2 and would like to explore more about them. Perhaps the Civil War lit of Stephen Crane sparked your interest and you would like to look at more war/battle related literature. The possibilities are endless...just be sure the title and the focus is American Lit related and applies to this semester of study.
Ready to get started? Have fun. I am looking forward to reading your posts and your responses.
Blog on!
The spring semester of American Lit seems to offer more topics for discussion. Maybe it is because (a confession here....) that I enjoy the writers in the second half of the series of American Lit courses more now than I did in the fall semester. Maybe it is because I enjoy spring, and there isn't the interruption of so many holidays, the fall harvest (since my husband is a farmer), and the sense of impending hibernation that puts me into a slight funk when it comes to adding my thoughts to the blog. I can't pinpoint the difference, but I do know it exists.
Anyway...here we go with a new semester of blogs. You might notice from the three that I carried over onto the My Blog List at the right that there was a focus on Poe for the last series of blogs. For some reason the students in ENGL 222 were fascinated with him and his short stories and poems when blog creation time rolled around. The same thing happened with the student in my ENGL 112 class as well---focus on Poe. Once again, maybe it was because of fall, Halloween, and who knows what else. I am anticipating some changes made in the original blogs of Courtney, Ashley, and Chris. No more Poe focus!
If you are reading this and haven't decided on a title for your blog, or a focus, or even an idea of what you want to write, think about the authors, the short stories, the poetry we have read or will read during the semester. Find a theme or a general (or a specific) topic to explore. Maybe you are taken by the women writers in Pod #2 and would like to explore more about them. Perhaps the Civil War lit of Stephen Crane sparked your interest and you would like to look at more war/battle related literature. The possibilities are endless...just be sure the title and the focus is American Lit related and applies to this semester of study.
Ready to get started? Have fun. I am looking forward to reading your posts and your responses.
Blog on!
