Monday, March 16, 2009

Mailbox Monday - 3.16.09

I am so excited! This is the first time that I have had the opportunity to participate in Mailbox Monday, hosted by Marcia at the Printed Page . Most of the books received this week came via Amazon, as I had to order them for the classes I will be taking this summer through Middlebury College's, The Bread Loaf School of English. The program is designed to earn a Masters of Arts in 5 summers - taking 2 intensive classes during a 6 week session at one of 4 campuses: Middlebury, VT - Asheville, NC - Santa Fe, NM - and Oxford University in England. Last year was my first year and I went to Santa Fe and enrolled in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales (studied in Middle English, no less) and British Victorian Narratives. It was a fascinating experience - but incredibly intense. It had been 26 years since I had been a student in a classroom and that was quite intimidating. I learned SO much valuable information, however - and I am very anxious to return this summer.

I will be taking one writing class and one literature class in Asheville this summer. The writing class is entitled: Rewriting a Life - Teaching Revision as a Life Skill. The course description reads:
Through daily reading, writing, and rewriting, we will examine the usefulness of Kenneth Burke’s rhetoric for writers and teachers of writing and literature, particularly his images of life as “a rough draft” and a “’project’ in composition” and his theory of writing and reading as acts of identification. We will read the following works in the following order. Works by Murray and Stafford will be used throughout the course and should be read in advance. Students will present drafts and final copies to the class each week and prepare a final course portfolio. For the first class, read and take notes for discussion on Ernest J. Gaines’s A Gathering of Old Men.
The list of books for this course are as follows:
The literature class is a pedagogical course simply entitled, Teaching William Shakespeare. I feel as though this last course is designed specifically for me as two of the 4 plays we will study I currently teach. I am very anxious to learn some innovative ways to teach and engage students in Shakespeare's works. The description for this class reads:
This course focuses on the pedagogy of teaching the works of William Shakespeare. The aim of this course is to work with teachers to develop methodological and interpretive approaches that are easily integrated into their syllabi. Students will be introduced to cultural, historical, aesthetic, and generic materials as part of the study of selected works. Issues to be explored include: how to read a Shakespeare script; Shakespeare’s themes—universal or parochial; film versus stage; and reading for the poetry and interpreting for the performance.
The specified editions for each of the 4 works are as follows:
It is strongly recommended that we try to read all books prior to our campus arrival on June 16. Quite a tall order, but I think it is doable. I brought all books with me to Branson and I hope to read at least 2-3 before returning home on Friday. I will let you know how I do.

In addition to these "required" readings, I also received my first signed book directly from the author as a result of this wonderful book blog community. Becky alerted me to the fact that Christopher Barzak was giving away his newest book, The Love We Share Without Knowing, to the first 10 who visited his webpage and left a comment. I happened to read Becky's post at just the right time and was fortunate to make the top 1o cut off. I have brought this book to Branson with me as well in the hopes of reading and posting a review. I am very grateful to both Becky and Christopher Barzak for this opportunity.

Well, I have two bags worth of reading - and time is quickly passing. I have decided to read Yann Martel's Life of Pi first, as it is the next high school book club selection which we will be discussing on April 6. Not sure which book I should tack after that. Any suggestions?

13 comments:

  1. great list of books, even the ones for the summer workshop! In the Lake of the Woods by Tim O'Brien is one of my favorites.

    Happy reading, and keep us posted about class!

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  2. The classes sound really interesting! And the reading lists even better. I hope you will find some real gems there.

    I hope to read The Road this year, but we'll see.

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  3. you are going to be one very busy lady! Good luck with all your classes. They sound wonderful. Enjoy your get a way.

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  4. Your classes sound great. I haven't read any of those books besides The Tempest so I can't wait to read your thoughts. I received The Love we Share Without Knowing also. I think I'm going to read it this week. The first paragraph hooked me in. Happy reading!

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  5. Your classes sound wonderful and so do the reading lists! You have a busy summer ahead of you. I'll look forward to your thoughts on Life of Pi...I may be the only other person that hasn't read it.

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  6. Wow! It looks like you are going to be very busy! I really enjoyed Life of Pi - I hope you like it too.

    Here’s my post.

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  7. Wow -that's a lot of books!! I remember reading a few of them in college. :)

    Here's my Mailbox! ~ Wendi

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  8. That's a big list you got there. 'Life of Pi' should be an adventure for you, I really enjoyed it.

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  9. I'm so excited you're taking these two courses. The reading for the writing class is especially very thought-provoking. What Narcissism Means to Me has been in my pile. Keep us posted on the classes. :)

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  10. I hope you will have some time to explore Asheville while you're there - it's fabulous.

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  11. Sounds like you'll be taking some interesting courses. I hope you enjoy them. I think In the Lake of the Woods and The Road were great. I took a Shakespeare class in college, but the only play I've read out of the ones you listed is Macbeth. You'll have to keep us updated on how the classes are going.


    --Anna
    Diary of an Eccentric

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  12. Thank you for stopping by the mailbox this week. Good luck with school and enjoy your books.

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