Ok. So, the first few days of class are over with now and I have, at this point, attended the first class of 2 of the 4 classes I'm taking this semester so I thought I'd post for a second about how things are.
First of all, for those of you who don't know, I'm taking 4 classes this semester: Literature and the Graphic Novel, Spanish 102, Geography 101, and Sociology 100 (both these last classes are telecourses with online work supporting television shows airing on KET.) To date, I have attended the literature course (Mondays only, so only once so far) and the Spanish class (Mondays and Wednesdays, so twice so far.) Both telecourses are meeting for the first and only time on Saturday morning.
My literature course is going to be great. The professor is Andy Miller and this will be the . . . . twelth class I've taken with him. All A's! Woot! Half of the readings I already own and have read at least once (in some cases several times,) but all the readings are great. I'm currently reading Maus for the class though it won't be assigned for another month yet. It's really excellent and, if you've never heard about it, it is Art Spiegelman's biography of his father and mother's survival through the Holocaust with a twist. The Jews are all mice and the Germans are all cats. Though we've all heard and read tons of Holocaust stories before, it really makes you confront the Holocaust in a completely new way and it is surprising how affecting it is.
The Spanish class is a real experience too. Here's why: 1) I've never had the professor for any classes before, 2) I'm not even 100% sure what his name is, 3) I have ordered the text book but it hasn't come in yet, and 4) it's been over 5 years since my last Spanish course. To my credit, I really don't feel too lost and luckily, while I seem to have severely forgotten the vocabulary, I have retained a better than minimal knowledge of the grammar rules. So I'm thinking this'll be okay.
On the other hand, the professor seems ridiculously resistant to EVER speaking in English in class which, while I can appreciate that from a certain point-of-view, is going to be detrimental to the class I think. But whatever. I'm not in charge and he seems nice enough, so I'll stay in it. Not to mention that if I finish all four classes this semester, I'll only have to take 2 classes in the Spring to graduate. Go me!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Semester-in-Session Diaries #1
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2 comments:
You know...I took 4 years of Spanish and highschool and don't remember a thing! In college I opted to take 3 of those Humanity courses instead of the 2 Spanish classes...I know, I am dumb. I have never heard of Maus...it sounds really interesting though. I may have to try to find that at Half Price...do you think they would have it?
It's very possible, but I doubt it. They are pretty heavy made graphic novels that are sold widely but they're $18 a piece. Stop up at my cube and I'll let you look at it though. : )
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