20 Days Later

It's been 20 days since I posted here. What have I been doing?

• Running
• Not running
• Teaching
• More teaching
• Watching my hair creep back
• Designing, drawing, making things
• Selling things I made
• Going to scout meetings
• Helping Greyson with reading and homework

Stuff. The stuff of every day. 

The most profound things I've been doing are making things. Putting my creativity to use. Sure, there's the sticker shop. It is so much fun...but in other ways I've been creative, too. 

This semester I'm teaching two university on-ground courses. For many years I taught the majority of my classes online. It's good to be back in the classroom more than I'm teaching digitally. 

One of my classes, my last one of the day on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, is full of athletes. FULL. A majority of those students are boisterous young men.They deliver on some of the things I expected when the class started: they talk over me and each other, they spit canned answers and tell me what they think I want to hear, and it is hard to get to the meat of a reading or a class discussion. Then they surprise me with what they divulge. The things they write. I'm not quite sure they know what to do with me, and me with them. 

More than anything, they challenge me. They make me turn inward. They make me read harder, annotate more, dig for material that we can sink our teeth into. Yesterday, in the middle of a discussion of literacy, sponsors of literacy, discourse, and discourse communities--a convo that wasn't really going anywhere--I pulled up a page full of Jeff Koons' work and asked the most eye-rollingly obvious thing, "IS IT ART?" And that was the thing that did it. We got past some of the canned answers. We rolled around in uncertainty. We were honest. They started to discuss the fact that there are big conversations going on everywhere, and unless we are curious and diligent, we will never know. We will never even know they exist...much less be a part of those conversations. Door...open.

Poking Head Out of a Hole

Hey splendiferous people! It was not my intention to take a bloggy break, but I had to act like a teacher this week. That is, our August term is getting ready to kick up at my dear sweet day job, and I'm in the tizzy planning for my Literature and Film, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Fundamentals of Writing courses. I'll also be teaching the usual College Writing I and II online, along with Children's Literature, this Fall. How crazy am I? A whole hell of a lotta crazy!

For a good week or two I did not touch a book. Did not so much as stroke the cover of one, but that little reading burp seems to be over. A Facebook buddy and former grad school colleague of mine sent along a copy of Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger (only slightly gnawed by her cat). So far I LOVE THIS BOOK. So much more than the part of Affinity that I read.

I was one of the sixty gazillion people seeing Harry Potter 7.2 on opening weekend, and I've since decided it's a crackerjack idea to re-read the whole series from the beginning to see what I missed along the way. And can I just say, in regards to the film, NEVILLE ROCKS! There. I needed to get that out of my system.

Finally, I will be hosting the BookClubSandwich discussion of Jael McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter on Monday the 25th! If you haven't finished reading, you should. Or you should at least try and come discuss. At that juncture you will see why I am a pot calling a kettle black. Ahem!

So that's about it. Crazitude teacher planning + exhaustion + summer sluggery in the 104 degree heat + a renewed interest in reading make me a blog comer backer. See me coming back!

Poking Head Out of a Hole

Hey splendiferous people! It was not my intention to take a bloggy break, but I had to act like a teacher this week. That is, our August term is getting ready to kick up at my dear sweet day job, and I'm in the tizzy planning for my Literature and Film, Science Fiction & Fantasy, and Fundamentals of Writing courses. I'll also be teaching the usual College Writing I and II online, along with Children's Literature, this Fall. How crazy am I? A whole hell of a lotta crazy!

For a good week or two I did not touch a book. Did not so much as stroke the cover of one, but that little reading burp seems to be over. A Facebook buddy and former grad school colleague of mine sent along a copy of Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger (only slightly gnawed by her cat). So far I LOVE THIS BOOK. So much more than the part of Affinity that I read.

I was one of the sixty gazillion people seeing Harry Potter 7.2 on opening weekend, and I've since decided it's a crackerjack idea to re-read the whole series from the beginning to see what I missed along the way. And can I just say, in regards to the film, NEVILLE ROCKS! There. I needed to get that out of my system.

Finally, I will be hosting the BookClubSandwich discussion of Jael McHenry's The Kitchen Daughter on Monday the 25th! If you haven't finished reading, you should. Or you should at least try and come discuss. At that juncture you will see why I am a pot calling a kettle black. Ahem!

So that's about it. Crazitude teacher planning + exhaustion + summer sluggery in the 104 degree heat + a renewed interest in reading make me a blog comer backer. See me coming back!

Grand Adventure: Ruining Children's Lit for Adults

Several years ago, when I'd just graduated with my Masters degree in English, my mentor threw me a wonderous bone. It was a recommendation for teaching an online Children's Lit course at a university one state over. I've been teaching the class for almost four years now, and I love every twisty minute of it. It's populated primarly by students who are Education majors, and teaching the future teachers of America to analyze and become more aware of the history and implications in children's and adolescent lit is SO COOL. For me, anyway. :D

As you might imagine, I receive pushback occasionally. For some of my students, seeing mixed messages in literature they always loved is a shocker and a terror and downright treason!!! For me, seeing multiple perspectives and acknowledging my changing attitudes as an adult enriches the reading experience, but for some of my students it feels like I'm trying to tarnish perfection.

Case in point, The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister is an all-time favorite picture book for many readers. It's a beautifully illustrated story about learning to share and developing a communal attitude. Or is it? Some academics posit that the book is actually forcing a beautiful, well-endowed fish to share his scales unecessarily. At its core, the fish self-mutilates because of peer pressure!!! Sort of reminds me of a "friend" in kindergarten who wouldn't remain my friend unless I gave her my ring I bought at the Dollar Store. Bitch!

But anyway...

Children's literature -- like all literature -- is full of mixed messages, friction, and irony. We look for it. We find it. We understand it. Even if my students don't always like it. They do learn to be more careful readers and to take multiple perspectives into account and make more informed decisions in their own classrooms. Is it really wise to read In Our House -- a picture book about owning things and having a nice (middle-class) place to live -- to inner city children? It's their decision, but they learn to take factors into account that they may not have before.

So what do I teach? Three units:

• Picture Books (and a Graphic Novel)
• In Our House
• Otto's Trunk by Sandy Turner
• The House That Crack Built by Clark Taylor
• Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti
• The Babes in the Wood by Randolph Caldecott
• I'm Glad I'm a Boy! I'm Glad I'm a Girl! by Whitney Darrow
• Arlene Sardine by Christopher Raschka
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• Folk and Fairy Tales (multiple versions of each)
• Snow White
• Cinderella
• Red Riding Hood
• Hansel and Gretel
• Bluebeard
• The Little Mermaid
• The Novel
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodson Burnett
• Skellig by David Almond

It's a whirlwind semester every semester, as you can see. I do plan to discuss these books more in depth throughout several posts in the near future, but in the meantime, what have you read and loved from this list? Anything you would recommend I add to the course if I change it up? How have mean, nasty professors stretched, hurt, or opened your mind when reading for a class? Or have they just irrevocably turned you off?

Grand Adventure: Ruining Children's Lit for Adults

Several years ago, when I'd just graduated with my Masters degree in English, my mentor threw me a wonderous bone. It was a recommendation for teaching an online Children's Lit course at a university one state over. I've been teaching the class for almost four years now, and I love every twisty minute of it. It's populated primarly by students who are Education majors, and teaching the future teachers of America to analyze and become more aware of the history and implications in children's and adolescent lit is SO COOL. For me, anyway. :D

As you might imagine, I receive pushback occasionally. For some of my students, seeing mixed messages in literature they always loved is a shocker and a terror and downright treason!!! For me, seeing multiple perspectives and acknowledging my changing attitudes as an adult enriches the reading experience, but for some of my students it feels like I'm trying to tarnish perfection.

Case in point, The Rainbow Fish, by Marcus Pfister is an all-time favorite picture book for many readers. It's a beautifully illustrated story about learning to share and developing a communal attitude. Or is it? Some academics posit that the book is actually forcing a beautiful, well-endowed fish to share his scales unecessarily. At its core, the fish self-mutilates because of peer pressure!!! Sort of reminds me of a "friend" in kindergarten who wouldn't remain my friend unless I gave her my ring I bought at the Dollar Store. Bitch!

But anyway...

Children's literature -- like all literature -- is full of mixed messages, friction, and irony. We look for it. We find it. We understand it. Even if my students don't always like it. They do learn to be more careful readers and to take multiple perspectives into account and make more informed decisions in their own classrooms. Is it really wise to read In Our House -- a picture book about owning things and having a nice (middle-class) place to live -- to inner city children? It's their decision, but they learn to take factors into account that they may not have before.

So what do I teach? Three units:

• Picture Books (and a Graphic Novel)
• In Our House
• Otto's Trunk by Sandy Turner
• The House That Crack Built by Clark Taylor
• Rose Blanche by Roberto Innocenti
• The Babes in the Wood by Randolph Caldecott
• I'm Glad I'm a Boy! I'm Glad I'm a Girl! by Whitney Darrow
• Arlene Sardine by Christopher Raschka
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• Folk and Fairy Tales (multiple versions of each)
• Snow White
• Cinderella
• Red Riding Hood
• Hansel and Gretel
• Bluebeard
• The Little Mermaid
• The Novel
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• The Secret Garden by Frances Hodson Burnett
• Skellig by David Almond

It's a whirlwind semester every semester, as you can see. I do plan to discuss these books more in depth throughout several posts in the near future, but in the meantime, what have you read and loved from this list? Anything you would recommend I add to the course if I change it up? How have mean, nasty professors stretched, hurt, or opened your mind when reading for a class? Or have they just irrevocably turned you off?

Teaching Lit: Scaring the Crap Out of Students a Class at a Time

It's that time again! We've just changed over from one academic term to the next, which means I'm rolling out new literature to new batches of students. This past term, I taught a Literature and Film independent study. My two students were great, and we had a good time discussing film in general. We read some selections from Stephen King's Different Seasons and Reginald Rose's classic play, Twelve Angry Men.

This term is going to be even MORE fun as I'm teaching another independent study, this time over Science Fiction and Fantasy. I'm also teaching a general Introduction to Lit class, which is a whole section of students--not an independent study.

Wanna know what I've decided to terrorize my students with??! Check it out...

Introduction to Literature:

Short Stories and Essays:

• "Coming to an Awareness of Language" by Malcolm X
• "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
• "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
• "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates
• "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor
• "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
• "Today's Demon: Magic" by Lynda Barry (comic)
• "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor

And WHOA, I'm seeing the male-writer-gap now. I still have some things to fill in, I just don't know what I'll use to flesh this out. Stay tuned!

Poetry for Intro to Lit:

• The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats
• “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
• “Totem” by Ted Hughes
• “Jilted” by Sylvia Plath
• "Mad Girl's Love Song" by Sylvia Plath
• “my old man” by Charles Bukowski
• “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy
• “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
• "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams
• "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound
• "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins
• Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare
• "Tyger! Tyger!" by William Blake
• "Howl" by Allen Ginsburg

And I'm sure I'll jam a few more in there somewhere.

Last, but certainly not least, I'm debating about the "drama" section of the course. The textbook has Antigone by Sophocles and A Doll's House by Ibsen. I've read both, I loved both, and I've taught A Doll's House to death. I would prefer to buy the class copies of Proof (probably can't afford it!). I'm also just not sure Antigone will "play" very well for this bunch. To be announced!

And for the Science Fiction and Fantasy class, we're reading a butt-load of fairy tales I won't list, but the short stories are:

 
--Excerpt from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
--Excerpt from We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
--"Mars is Heaven!" by Ray Bradbury
--"The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke
--"All You Zombies--" by Robert Heinlein
--"The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley
--"Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler
 
Honestly, I haven't read all of these yet. Most, but not all. I've taken some recommendations from a colleague who taught this course last term and is a heavy-duty sci-fi reader. I also have a bunch of others marked in the textbook like Geoff Ryman's "Dead Space for the Unexpected," but I plan to gather a bit more feedback and do a bit more of my own reading in the coming days.
 
If you were teaching your own Introduction to Literature or Science Fiction and Fantasy sections, what would you add to the reading list?

Teaching Lit: Scaring the Crap Out of Students a Class at a Time

It's that time again! We've just changed over from one academic term to the next, which means I'm rolling out new literature to new batches of students. This past term, I taught a Literature and Film independent study. My two students were great, and we had a good time discussing film in general. We read some selections from Stephen King's Different Seasons and Reginald Rose's classic play, Twelve Angry Men.

This term is going to be even MORE fun as I'm teaching another independent study, this time over Science Fiction and Fantasy. I'm also teaching a general Introduction to Lit class, which is a whole section of students--not an independent study.

Wanna know what I've decided to terrorize my students with??! Check it out...

Introduction to Literature:

Short Stories and Essays:

• "Coming to an Awareness of Language" by Malcolm X
• "August 2026: There Will Come Soft Rains" by Ray Bradbury
• "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin
• "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates
• "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O'Connor
• "Everyday Use" by Alice Walker
• "Today's Demon: Magic" by Lynda Barry (comic)
• "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor

And WHOA, I'm seeing the male-writer-gap now. I still have some things to fill in, I just don't know what I'll use to flesh this out. Stay tuned!

Poetry for Intro to Lit:

• The Second Coming” by W.B. Yeats
• “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” by T.S. Eliot
• “Totem” by Ted Hughes
• “Jilted” by Sylvia Plath
• "Mad Girl's Love Song" by Sylvia Plath
• “my old man” by Charles Bukowski
• “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy
• “Dulce et Decorum Est” by Wilfred Owen
• "The Red Wheelbarrow" by William Carlos Williams
• "In a Station of the Metro" by Ezra Pound
• "Introduction to Poetry" by Billy Collins
• Sonnet 130 by Shakespeare
• "Tyger! Tyger!" by William Blake
• "Howl" by Allen Ginsburg

And I'm sure I'll jam a few more in there somewhere.

Last, but certainly not least, I'm debating about the "drama" section of the course. The textbook has Antigone by Sophocles and A Doll's House by Ibsen. I've read both, I loved both, and I've taught A Doll's House to death. I would prefer to buy the class copies of Proof (probably can't afford it!). I'm also just not sure Antigone will "play" very well for this bunch. To be announced!

And for the Science Fiction and Fantasy class, we're reading a butt-load of fairy tales I won't list, but the short stories are:

 
--Excerpt from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
--Excerpt from We by Yevgeny Zamyatin
--"Mars is Heaven!" by Ray Bradbury
--"The Nine Billion Names of God" by Arthur C. Clarke
--"All You Zombies--" by Robert Heinlein
--"The Persistence of Vision" by John Varley
--"Bloodchild" by Octavia Butler
 
Honestly, I haven't read all of these yet. Most, but not all. I've taken some recommendations from a colleague who taught this course last term and is a heavy-duty sci-fi reader. I also have a bunch of others marked in the textbook like Geoff Ryman's "Dead Space for the Unexpected," but I plan to gather a bit more feedback and do a bit more of my own reading in the coming days.
 
If you were teaching your own Introduction to Literature or Science Fiction and Fantasy sections, what would you add to the reading list?

The Wayward Reader Returns OR The Sunday Salon

That's me! The wayward reader. It was actually pretty nice to take a blogging break. I can't say that I'm out of the woods yet. Tonight I finished final grades for one of the schools where I teach online, I have a buttload of papers to grade for another set of online classes, and there's the usual managerial nightmare of wrapping up one academic term in-person and starting another. I'm jonesing to get some work and reading done over the break. I'll be in the office but the students and teachers won't be! Woot!

One thing I'm really excited about is that I'm teaching an independent study next term!!! It's Literature and Film. Off the top of my head, I think we're supposed to read Stephen King's novella, "The Body" and then watch Stand By Me. I've never read it or watched it (Crazy! I know!). Another read-and-watch is Twelve Angry Men. Despite any readerly cravings I might have, I definitely need to read through these and brush up on my film terms over the holidays. I'm also itching to bring in some of my own short stories and films to the class. Number one among them: a chapter of Ghost World, and the fantabulistic movie. You heard me. Good stuff!

Other literary goings on in the coming semester: I'm teaching Early American Lit and Children's Lit again. Those are always a good time.

And I realize we all know this already, but OPRAH CHOSE DICKENS!!!! It made my Estella's Revenge heart go pitter-pat. I will most definitely buy a copy of this edition for my permanent collection. It's RED AND WHITE AND BLACK (just like my blog), and I've been meaning to re-read A Tale of Two Cities for eons.

Rocketgirl finished reading Great Expectations for school recently, and I'm happy to report that she really liked it. I'm not sure Estella and Miss Havisham had the same impact on her that they did on me as a kid, but she may come around in her later years.

So what have I missed? What are you reading? What challenges are you joining? How is the holiday season treating you all?

The Wayward Reader Returns OR The Sunday Salon

That's me! The wayward reader. It was actually pretty nice to take a blogging break. I can't say that I'm out of the woods yet. Tonight I finished final grades for one of the schools where I teach online, I have a buttload of papers to grade for another set of online classes, and there's the usual managerial nightmare of wrapping up one academic term in-person and starting another. I'm jonesing to get some work and reading done over the break. I'll be in the office but the students and teachers won't be! Woot!

One thing I'm really excited about is that I'm teaching an independent study next term!!! It's Literature and Film. Off the top of my head, I think we're supposed to read Stephen King's novella, "The Body" and then watch Stand By Me. I've never read it or watched it (Crazy! I know!). Another read-and-watch is Twelve Angry Men. Despite any readerly cravings I might have, I definitely need to read through these and brush up on my film terms over the holidays. I'm also itching to bring in some of my own short stories and films to the class. Number one among them: a chapter of Ghost World, and the fantabulistic movie. You heard me. Good stuff!

Other literary goings on in the coming semester: I'm teaching Early American Lit and Children's Lit again. Those are always a good time.

And I realize we all know this already, but OPRAH CHOSE DICKENS!!!! It made my Estella's Revenge heart go pitter-pat. I will most definitely buy a copy of this edition for my permanent collection. It's RED AND WHITE AND BLACK (just like my blog), and I've been meaning to re-read A Tale of Two Cities for eons.

Rocketgirl finished reading Great Expectations for school recently, and I'm happy to report that she really liked it. I'm not sure Estella and Miss Havisham had the same impact on her that they did on me as a kid, but she may come around in her later years.

So what have I missed? What are you reading? What challenges are you joining? How is the holiday season treating you all?

Buffet: Teaching New Lit Courses!

Having taught mostly at the technical and community college levels over the years, I don't get an opportunity to teach new courses often. It's mostly those ole freshman composition courses, developmental courses, and the occasional oddball writing or reading class. When I was a graduate student I was teaching or helping teach other things like children's lit, film, and guest lecturing on graphic novels, fairy tales, and even picture books.

The college where I work has recently added some new bachelors programs, and with those come additional teaching opportunities. Next term I'll have two sections of "Science Fiction and Fantasy" and one section of "Literature and Film." This is the first time I've gotten to teach either of them since grad school, and I cannot WAIT!

The way our school is structured, many of the required readings and the textbook choices come down from central administration. We have some choice in what else we bring into the class, but an overall structure is in place. With this in mind, we'll be reading the following:

Film and Lit:

Our main textbook is Adaptation: Studying Film and Literature. We will also be reading Stephen King's novella, "The Body" from the Different Seasons collection. We'll watch Stand By Me as a companion to it. We'll also be reading and watching Twelve Angry Men. Now these probably wouldn't have been my choices, so I'll likely bring in some additional materials like a portion of Daniel Clowes' Ghost World and the film adaptation. I had a wonderful adaptation class as a grad student, and I can't wait to share some of what we watched and read with my students.

In the Science Fiction & Fantasy class, we'll be using Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts edited by Heather Masri. We'll also be reading and watching a collection of stuff including The Great Fairy Tale Tradition by Jack Zipes and watching the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. We'll be reading Ender's Game and watching Starship Troopers and Deep Impact. There's more, but according to the textbook list, I'm a little unsure what we'll be reading, what we'll be watching, and what we'll be reading AND watching. I've done a lot of work with sci-fi and fantasy over the years, so I'm really excited about this one, too.

I always have a blast putting together new course materials for classes like these, and I'll probably start on that ASAP. I'll keep you posted as my short story and excerpt reading list takes shape!

Buffet: Teaching New Lit Courses!

Having taught mostly at the technical and community college levels over the years, I don't get an opportunity to teach new courses often. It's mostly those ole freshman composition courses, developmental courses, and the occasional oddball writing or reading class. When I was a graduate student I was teaching or helping teach other things like children's lit, film, and guest lecturing on graphic novels, fairy tales, and even picture books.

The college where I work has recently added some new bachelors programs, and with those come additional teaching opportunities. Next term I'll have two sections of "Science Fiction and Fantasy" and one section of "Literature and Film." This is the first time I've gotten to teach either of them since grad school, and I cannot WAIT!

The way our school is structured, many of the required readings and the textbook choices come down from central administration. We have some choice in what else we bring into the class, but an overall structure is in place. With this in mind, we'll be reading the following:

Film and Lit:

Our main textbook is Adaptation: Studying Film and Literature. We will also be reading Stephen King's novella, "The Body" from the Different Seasons collection. We'll watch Stand By Me as a companion to it. We'll also be reading and watching Twelve Angry Men. Now these probably wouldn't have been my choices, so I'll likely bring in some additional materials like a portion of Daniel Clowes' Ghost World and the film adaptation. I had a wonderful adaptation class as a grad student, and I can't wait to share some of what we watched and read with my students.

In the Science Fiction & Fantasy class, we'll be using Science Fiction: Stories and Contexts edited by Heather Masri. We'll also be reading and watching a collection of stuff including The Great Fairy Tale Tradition by Jack Zipes and watching the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Stardust. We'll be reading Ender's Game and watching Starship Troopers and Deep Impact. There's more, but according to the textbook list, I'm a little unsure what we'll be reading, what we'll be watching, and what we'll be reading AND watching. I've done a lot of work with sci-fi and fantasy over the years, so I'm really excited about this one, too.

I always have a blast putting together new course materials for classes like these, and I'll probably start on that ASAP. I'll keep you posted as my short story and excerpt reading list takes shape!

Reading and Teaching Food

I, I will surviiiiive! It's Monday, and how y'all doin'? I'm up, surprisingly perky, and in the middle of an English class at the moment. My students are on break, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to post my Monday goodness.

We had a good weekend. Swimming Saturday evening, visited my mom yesterday, did some cleaning and organizing, and whipped up some fried catfish last night while we watched the Cowboys game. While all of that was going on, Rocketgirl posted about her new books. She got into the ones I had recently packed up at my mom's house, so a big stack of those came home with us.

My "Monday What are You Reading" is slightly uneventful, but I've tried to embellish for your reading pleasure. Last week's academic start-of-term threw me off, so I haven't completed anything since Beatrice and Virgil. However, I do have quite a few books on the go:

In addition to Coop and The Secret Life of Bees, I spent some time digging into foodie books in preparation for my classes this term. I've taken a cue from Andi of AndiLit and decided to theme my freshman writing courses. We'll be discussing food in all its many facets: the familial, political, industrial, economic, environmental, and so on. We'll use this as a jumping-off point for our writing, and I think it'll be much more fun than what we've done in the past. The first paper they have to write is about a memory, so I'll have them write about one of their favorite memories of food. Their first reading will be an excerpt from "The Queen of Mold," Ruth Reichl's essay about her horrible-cook mother (taken from Tender at the Bone and published in part at Gourmet.com). Read it here.

So far I'm looking through the following books for other essays, pieces of essays, or chapters about all of the foodie topics I mentioned above:

Confections of a Closet Master Baker, by Gesine Bullock-Prado
A Cook's Tour, by Anthony Bourdain
Green, Greener, Greenest, by Lori Bongiorno
Food, Inc., edited by Karl Weber
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan

...and I might find something tasty-licious in Coop or The Bucolic Plague. Ya never know!

If you have any foodie/farming essays or books to recommend, please do! I'll gladly torture my students with the material!!!

In addition to our reading, I think we might also watch Super Size Me and Food, Inc. There's another documentary I ran across at Blockbuster, The Garden, that looks really good, too. Haven't gotten to watch that one, though.

Reading and Teaching Food

I, I will surviiiiive! It's Monday, and how y'all doin'? I'm up, surprisingly perky, and in the middle of an English class at the moment. My students are on break, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to post my Monday goodness.

We had a good weekend. Swimming Saturday evening, visited my mom yesterday, did some cleaning and organizing, and whipped up some fried catfish last night while we watched the Cowboys game. While all of that was going on, Rocketgirl posted about her new books. She got into the ones I had recently packed up at my mom's house, so a big stack of those came home with us.

My "Monday What are You Reading" is slightly uneventful, but I've tried to embellish for your reading pleasure. Last week's academic start-of-term threw me off, so I haven't completed anything since Beatrice and Virgil. However, I do have quite a few books on the go:

In addition to Coop and The Secret Life of Bees, I spent some time digging into foodie books in preparation for my classes this term. I've taken a cue from Andi of AndiLit and decided to theme my freshman writing courses. We'll be discussing food in all its many facets: the familial, political, industrial, economic, environmental, and so on. We'll use this as a jumping-off point for our writing, and I think it'll be much more fun than what we've done in the past. The first paper they have to write is about a memory, so I'll have them write about one of their favorite memories of food. Their first reading will be an excerpt from "The Queen of Mold," Ruth Reichl's essay about her horrible-cook mother (taken from Tender at the Bone and published in part at Gourmet.com). Read it here.

So far I'm looking through the following books for other essays, pieces of essays, or chapters about all of the foodie topics I mentioned above:

Confections of a Closet Master Baker, by Gesine Bullock-Prado
A Cook's Tour, by Anthony Bourdain
Green, Greener, Greenest, by Lori Bongiorno
Food, Inc., edited by Karl Weber
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver
The Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan

...and I might find something tasty-licious in Coop or The Bucolic Plague. Ya never know!

If you have any foodie/farming essays or books to recommend, please do! I'll gladly torture my students with the material!!!

In addition to our reading, I think we might also watch Super Size Me and Food, Inc. There's another documentary I ran across at Blockbuster, The Garden, that looks really good, too. Haven't gotten to watch that one, though.