#ooc

I picture a little butternut, hopping along

Morning all

Some acorn squash, looking for a home....

squash

Perception plus kenning for Adam

Stamina roll for Adam!

/roll 3

/roll coin

/roll 1

Ha

awww

I have to rouse Gyrf for an errand at 11 and then coffee chat after that, but will be free much of later day

That is such a cute 'poss......

It Emma blep

It IS.

Sigh

PAZUZU!!!

What did you do do?

Trouble!

Zuzu did a TROUBLE.

He was after me lucky charms.

But she won't mention the little cave near the stream

fry eyes

Damn, Arnie, good speech

Arnie is the kind of republican we need more of

I do miss when you could find more sane ones in office

hihi

I am trying to figure out how much I should say on my syllabus about potential reading landmines

Yeah, I do wish, though, that Arnold hadn't undermined that speech with a weak metaphor. If you keep heating and beating a blade, it'll get stronger. If you keep heating and beating AND QUENCHING a blade, the lamination will split, and the blade will be useless.

Oh, this year tell them every landmine ahead of time, Catnik. They'll need all the help they can get, and it might get them intrigued about the readings themselves.

I want them to read an excerpt from Uncle Tom's Cabin. I could, of course, just avoid having them interact with the script at all (I have no intent of making them read all of it)

But I also think it is important to talk about HOW DAMN RACIST 19th century theatre is, even when it's trying to be profressive

It's a text that a lot of people refer to, but few have read. I think they should read it.

Aiken's play, flat out, was the MOST PRODUCED play fo the century

the novel is important, too, though the play was arguably the more influential

it it mixes Stowe's abolitionist, religious intentions with minstrelsy

the idea of Uncle Tom was to show a black man as a human with a soul and a good christian who deserved to be free

and... well. The play.

You want a real trip, go see Mickey Mouse dressed up as Uncle Tom

OOF.

Well, whether novel or play, I think it is important. Yup, warn of problems, and provide your rationale for having them read it ahead of time.

I once had a professor who assigned Sister Carrie as the first text in a Modern American Lit class. I loved it! I was all set to discuss it at the start of the following class, and he started off saying, "So, I assigned this to you to show you how AWFUL some American literature can be." I was mortified.

Screw him

"Some of the readings may contain difficult or uncomfortable subject matter, which can be challenging on multiple levels. I encourage you to enter discussions with courage, empathy, and respect. In exchange for your courage, I will work to ensure a classroom environment that supports your taking these intellectual and emotional risks."