I got another batch of papers this week, and I glanced through most of them today. Now, some are better than others, as you might imagine, but on the whole, this batch is much stronger than the batch that inspired my post of yesterday. There are still some of the typical problems, and some faulty logic and such, but by and large, I do feel like the students made interesting claims and did their best to support them. I also had a good meeting with another student from the other class about a less-strong paper, and it was really a positive meeting.
So. All is well in paper-writing land today.
And while I woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, I also ate a boatload of chocolatey delicious ice cream, and this improved my mood greatly. Tomorrow I plan to accomplish a great many things, to make a delicious zucchini and summer squash gratin, and to take said dish over to BFF's house, where she and her grad school friend (who is now my friend by proxy and who is visiting for the weekend) and I will chef up a delicious dinner and socialize. Oh, indeed, tomorrow shall be an excellent day, as long as I can keep the crankiness at bay (for I've been very cranky today, and while it does seem to be lifting, I've still yet totally to emerge from the crankiness).
In other news, I'm starting on a diet and exercise plan come Sunday because I've been eating ridiculous things and not exercising at all, and this makes a Crazy chubbier than she'd like to be. Sigh. I wish that I were just naturally a rail-thin person. Or that my clothes magically expanded along with my stress levels :)
All the job apps I'm sending (barring any weird late entries) are out, so we'll see about that, but I think that thinking about them, too, has been adding to my crankiness, so will need to just stop thinking about them now. You know, it's weird: I've just been feeling very out of control and nutso this week and really, if I'm honest, for the past few weeks, ever since the book completion stuff. I'm trying not to over-analyze it all, and just to move forward from here. I think some solid girl-time socializing this weekend will really do me good.
On that note, I'm off to bed to read. I'm making my way through the Philip Pullman His Dark Materials books again.... for whatever reason, they're really the only thing I'm in the mood to read of late. Or maybe I'll start rereading Lolita, which I've decided I'm teaching next semester. Hmmm. We shall see.
12 years ago
4 comments:
yummy dish, i absolutely love lolita, was thinking of teaching it myself, love to hear your thoughts on how! and good luck with the job applications....you are sure to get interest with your book and generally fabulous self. god i hope i'm not competing against you:) i don't recal what your field is....
Thanks for the good wishes, AW, though I'll say, I'm not feeling particularly.... I don't know... it's not confidence I'm lacking, re: the job search, but having been through this I also know that there's so much out of my hands and that because of the schools to which I'm applying that I may well not see anything come of the applications - not because I'm not a strong candidate but because I'm a very specific candidate at this point in my career. Either they want what I am or they don't - there isn't the wiggle room of them being able to imagine me in the way that there was a few years ago. So, we'll see. I'm hopeful, but I won't be surprised if nothing comes of it. That said, it's easier to be more zen about it because I already know that I have to be at MLA for other reasons, so whatever happens, I won't be in the situation that I was in last year where going to MLA was all about interviews, and I think that is a good thing. And if it's any consolation, I don't *think* we're in the same field.... I've gotten an "Americanist" sort of vibe from you, I seem to think, in which case we're in no competition :)
As for *Lolita*, I'm not at all sure what I'm going to do with it in the classroom. I haven't read it for years, and I've decided to teach it on a bit of a whim. I'll be teaching it in my intro to lit course, and the other novel I'll be teaching in the course is *What Was She Thinking? Notes on a Scandal.* Basically, switching in these two novels has to do with being bored with the novels I've typically taught in there, and I decided on *Lolita* at BFF's recommendation because she noted that most students at our institution have heard of it when she mentions it but never have read it. Also, I like to teach some more recent texts in there to show them that literature doesn't stop somewhere around 1870 (or, even earlier, with Shakespeare). Hmmm.... perhaps I'll do a lengthier post that will go poof to talk about the course specifically....
thanks for the response, i'd love to hear more about how lolita goes, absolutely; i understand what you mean about the narrow/specific point in your career--that must be a relief, in some ways, to know that if they want you, they really WANT you.
and i'm terribly relieved to hear that we're not in the same field:) yes, i'm an americanist, sort of, i'm actually a blend. hmmm no way to explain it without giving away the whole farm, as my mom so often says:)
When you find those expanding clothes, let me know. I need them, too.
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