Monday, June 27, 2011

First day of classes - 6/27

Today was the first day of classes, and it was one of minor setbacks and plans gone awry.

It started well enough. I set up a closed group on Facebook for the students and faculty here. Then I manned the office from 8:00 until 12:00. No issues or problesm there. Then at lunch, there were more students actually eating lunch than were planned for, so I ended up going to a nearby sandwich shop and getting a sandwich.

After lunch, my class was supposed to meet in a room at the dorms used for a music room. It was locked and it wasn't ready, and when the staff at the hall were notified, they seemed surprised that we were asking to use the room. They promptly got the room ready enough to conduct a class in it, but since the room had been closed up for two weeks, it was hotter than blue blazes. The students were sweating and falling asleep - not a particularly productive day.

Still, we discussed William Wordsworth's sonnet, "The World is too Much with Us; Late and soon," and his "Ode on the Intimations of Immortality." We also discussed Lord Byron's "Prometheus." This was a very interesting poem that I had never taught before. Last, for today, we discussed Percy Bysse Shelley's "Song to the Men of England." In addition to reviewing the poems, the contexts of the poems, and their connections to the ideals and ideas associated with the Arthurian legends, we reviewed the basic elements and types of sonnets, and of the classic ode form and the English Ode. Despite the heat, it was a good class meeting.

After class, I was asked to escort one of the students to the medical clinic. There were issues involved, so we needed to go to a second clinic to get a prescription. With one thing and another, I did not make it back in time to go to t Globe Theatre to see Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. There will be other opportunities to see it, so I will still go - jus not tonight. Instead, it will be a quiet night with my aching feet elevated, catching up on the blog and email, and watching English TV.

Until tomorrow then. Oh by the way, no pictures today. Sorry.

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