The writing group is ill so I am calling people here since this is the check-in day. I am reiterating the prompt from last week, on being a happy writer. It is good and applies to more than theses; like all writing advice it applies to academic work generally and I in particular would do well … More Writing Group, Week 10
“I wish I could always have classes from you, because you are so much fun,” said my student. “It is not true that your classes are so demanding or difficult; you are merely intelligent and this challenges people.” She is in the minority. I have been telling people for twenty years that I should not … More On why I should definitely not be a professor
I like my classes this semester because I have programs for them I can believe in. We have current theory and criticism, and engaging, authentic materials; we are not classifying texts according to movements, nor authors according to generations. Memorable courses I took in college include: –Calculus with a Buddhist T.A. Theoretical and wiggy. –Denmark’s … More On college classes
It is a commonplace thing, but it has its complexities and charm. In every class there is a blond Latin American with a last name in Spanish who at some point during the semester pronounces an anti-Spain rant. The other students say “Now, now, they at least gave you your language,” and the speaker says … More Blanc kreyòl
Another way to roast chicken involves extra livers, golden raisins, brown mushrooms and red grapes. Take the giblets you have, except the liver, and simmer them slowly with a shallot, a clove of garlic and a bay leaf to make a broth. Take the liver and some extras, perhaps one per person, and chop them … More Une belle recette
In Poligramas 25 (2006) Noé Jitrik ends his commentary on María thus: El arte de Isaacs reside en las alusiones, en las suposiciones detrás de las cuales todos comprenden la verdad que por pudor se oculta, en los cambios de plano, de lo subjetivo a lo objetivo, lo cual crea una atmósfera de veladuras no … More Psychoanalysis
The history of Arizona. This is a key topic for alleged Hispanists. An interesting paper on intertextuality in María: the problems are reading Napoleon’s diary and mimetic desire. Thomas Ward’s bibliography on María. ♦ On racism and the racial divide in Venezuela. On gentrification and the “new urbanism”– the next racial project. Adolph Reed on … More Catch of the day
Doing research this morning I got this frisson, the project is moving. I had not had that feeling of engagement and progress in a long time. Today I worked for 12 hours: 1 on research, 9 on teaching, and 2 on service. It was a teaching day in midterms, hence the 9; we have a … More Frisson
“That is Old Spanish” (referring to the language of a 19th century text). “That is from Spain, so it is by the oppressor, so it does not interest me and I should not have to read it.” “All you ever teach is literary analysis” (meaning that in language and culture classes, film and history classes, … More Hypocrite étudiant
‘THE SOUL IS A NUMBER MOVING BY ITSELF’ –Aristotle, De Anima It is not cold at the top of the stairs. The years strike like radium drops. There is a little door, there is a little lock, There are many good machines whose purposes are lost. In the plump and tidy cabinets The red drawers … More Monica Ferrell
coldhearted scientist وداد 