A difficult term is now over, and with the cliched "promise of spring," I am looking forward to the new beginnings ahead of me. I have two new classes that I have not fallen behind in yet, and I have a new professor to TA for. Soon, however, things will pick up again, and once again, I'll have to confront the same issues, but with fresh mental armor and a new plan of attack.
Dr. Brown Shoes is now my instructor for my seminar in "Figures of Speech," and Dr. Too-tall teaches my "Science in 19th century American Literature" seminar. Both have written or edited texts that we are using in the course, which is something that I'm not sure how I feel about. On the one hand, I am getting information from knowledgeable people who are able to write an entire book about their subjects as they have obviously invested a significant amount of their careers in research and study. On the other hand, buying texts that they themselves have written is putting money in their pocket, in addition to the money paid for the class. Could be a conflict of interest, don't you think? Mostly, as the texts are relatively inexpensive, I feel okay about it, I think.
Dr. Khaki-pants is the professor who I TA for. In some ways, I feel sorry for the guy. He is unusual among most of the other professors in that he lectures for the full class hour. Most of the younger professors usually stop to have a class discussion or ask extensive questions. Today, he tried to point out the joke in a nineteenth century gothic novel. The irony, apparently, is that the scary, eerie stuff occurs during the day time. Illustrating a specific scene, the professor described how the main character slowly opens a chest placed at the foot of her bed expecting to see something truly horrifying. Instead, she peers inside and sees. . .gasp!. . .a counterpane. Here, the professor looked up expecting to see and hear the students' uproarious laughter. Instead, he got the bored stares of people who couldn't possibly have the slightest idea what a counterpane is. If he had told them that a counterpane was essentially a blanket, they might have gotten the joke and indulged his expectation a little, but just a little. He also tries to connect to his students by inserting passing references to The Simpsons within his lectures, but he uses the references like a secret password, expecting that the students will automatically connect to him if he demonstrates that he happens to know who Homer Simpson is. He means well.
As for future postings, I expect I'll be able to post more often for the next couple of weeks because it is the beginning of spring term and, like I said, I've got a fresh start. We'll see what happens around week seven or eight.