Day 11

I tried to cover the fact that I was coming in late due to an untimely debriefing by walking in on the heels of the 18 year old.
I think P.J. was more annoyed than suspicious.

Having missed the first part of the lecture, I had to piece together what was going on. From what I could make out she was taking us systematically through the book, start to finish, and pointing out things she thought were interesting and could guide us in our quest for a paper topic.1

Our assignment is to finish the book and begin work on our paper.2 Despite the openness she has fostered in our discussions, she cautioned us to adhere to one idea and one reading of the text as we begin to indite them.

The memorial day break will give me a chance to familiarize myself with the text and orient myself towards the English major ideas espoused in class.

NOTES:
1- We made it about half-way through before I realized class was over and I was once again down to the wire and racing to elude the paid assassins who continually pursue me.
2- Once again I find my mettle being tested. No half-page of half-baked ideas will suffice here. No colorful mobile will distract her from a lack of content. A legitimate 4-5 page paper ("I prefer longer."), my first as an English major.

Day 10

Today we were informed that rather than a literary history course, as we had assumed, we had actually enrolled in a course on remarkable women.
It's not that I mind, I just didn't come here to sort out mutinous professors defying the department for their own agenda.
I could do that, but it wasn't my original intent.

Marie de France. The lover of love. It didn't take me too long to read it, but, what with making arrangements for a reconnaissance mission to Italy, sorting out the details of collusion gone bad and... napping, I didn't get into bed until 3:30, which left me a good three hours of sleep.1

Our new voice is boosting the camaraderie on my side of the room. Not to mention the linguistic tangent of today. Smiles and headshakes all around. I'm growing a fondness for the fauxhawk in front of me.2 He got quite a kick out of many comments today and turned to find someone to share it with. I couldn't make out who he was trying to alert, if anyone.

The old English major was late today. Traffic? She was very sorry to have missed the tangent; I apologized for not having taken notes.

Chaucer next week and then an exam.3

NOTES:
1- The rigors of my day job.
2- Not of the hairstyle (shiver) but of the wearer.
3- My first real test. If I can pass an exam, I may be able to cut it out here. If not, I may be in over my head.

Day 9

Again I didn't pick up on what everyone else did.1 We're discussing Orlando. It's an interesting read. However, it opens up the "battle of the sexes" which bores me. We talk about the passage of time, reliability of the narrator, inconsistency, duality, and so on. Sometimes I can put myself in the discussion2, other times I sit out. She remembered my name today, which I count as a great success.

Unlike in 3701, the discussion is pretty well distributed. It's a smaller class, but more people want to speak up. I have not yet drawn conclusions about this.


NOTES:
1- Luckily I won't have to turn in "talking points" anymore. I'm much better at responding than initiating. I can think on my feet and make something up to go along with what someone else has said, but until I get the English major brain, coming up with topics from nothing is a pain. (Check it. A poem.)
2- I have to admit I like the 18 year old's comment about the oak tree becoming a symbol (or metaphor or metonymy?) for Orlando. Especially in conjunction with the idea that he only keeps the childhood poem entitled The Oak Tree: a poem which he then writes, rewrites and unwrites. Perhaps I can devise an intelligent comment on the idea that he is deconstructing and recreating his life culminating in his transformation into a woman. I'll get the tech people to work on it.

Day 8

More Beowulf. The whispering girl came up to me during the break and said something about falling asleep.1 Then she went off on a tirade about religion and how people should not force their beliefs on her because she's not Christian, "I'm not either." piped up the girl behind me, which garnered a high five. We talked about how long the class was and how her "anthro" class never went longer than an hour and a half.

A new voice is emerging. I can't see her because she sits in the far front corner, but she has an accent. She was a large part of the discussion today. Then there's the liberal girls, the conservative big guys in the back and the Christian hippy older English major. A few others make scattered comments.2

NOTES:
1- I was NOT asleep. She was bragging about how she had pulled her hair in front of her eyes so D...Professor Matheson wouldn't be able to tell. I did close my eyes for effect a few times, you don't want to seem too interested, unless you're a discussion dominator, which, in my efforts to remain incognito, I avoid, but I wasn't asleep. I have to stay on my toes.
2- I have not commented as yet. That must soon be rectified. I'll work on something for Marie de France.

Day 7

I didn't write the Choose Your Own Adventure. I started it and I think I will still finish it.

Today was another discussion day, but it was much quieter. People continue to drop the class.1 We have begun Orlando by Virginia Woolf. I enjoy it. I can read through it quickly. I don't have the English major knack of picking up on motifs from page one, but the daily assignments and discussions are doing their job and hopefully I'll catch on quickly.2
The 18 year old is pretty funny and kept his comments to insightful today. The older English major felt like criticizing Woolf. This is ok, but shocks my public school education.
We're struggling with names. I know a few. Tamara sat next to me again and bravely killed the spider I was afraid of without my even having to be obvious about it.
I can't remember her name but I had my first after class heart to heart with an English major (English and Communications double major, I mean.) I tried not to seem aloof while withholding the fact that I really like our professor. I told her that the professor had done me a favor and I was predisposed in her favor. I hope that wasn't too transparent.
There was a guy standing around as class began. He seemed to be listening interestedly to the pre-class conversation, but wouldn't sit down. When P.J. came in there were whispered words and he left. What could this mean?

NOTES:
1- I hope that they are dropping the class because they aren't coming and as soon as you miss three classes you can't get better than a C. As part of my mission I have to graduate with honors. Nothing less than an A (i.e. not even an A-) will suffice in any of my 11 classes.
2- I made a great effort to write in my book. Now that I know what to look for I will have to re-read and re-mark.