In bracing you all for the fact that I wouldn't be posting during the Girls Week, I should have mentioned I would also be out of commission for the Family Convention. But that would still not have accounted for the past week, since Melissa and I were SPONTANEOUS (gasp) and blazed off in a trail of glory for Georgia! But now we are back, and thus I must resume the great responsibility of blogging.
The rest of the summer will be full of curriculum planning. I am supposed to be developing a Classical Literature course for 10th and 11th graders and a more generic Literature course of 7th and 8th graders. I was on-line today looking at Great Books lists, and dreaming big dreams. I was also on the phone with Danny, and looking at a Lit book Dad loaned me. I am rich in resources. And good thing, too, since this is all so very new!
But I am reminded of how much I love Literature. I love the incredible way that it shows you insights into your own world, and allows you to see beyond your own world into things you would never otherwise experience. Literature can reflect the self and simultaneously transcend it. It can express in concrete ways the things that are often only vaguely troubling the edges of one's consciousness. It can present huge truths in beautiful and lasting ways. It can capture the human condition. It can demonstrate the way of escape. It comes the closest of any medium to expressing what is inexpressible about "this mortal coil." Unfortunately, since I can only appreciate Literature, and not produce it, this little tribute doesn't even do it justice.
So, needless to say, I think I have found my niche as an English teacher. What better career than one dealing with the lasting, the illuminating, the beautiful? And yes, I will be willing to discuss this further at the drop of a hat.
6 comments:
Welcome back to you both. Glad that it worked out. It was rather fun watching the two of you try and figure out if you could actually do it.Though it was also stressfull watching Melissa stress out so much. Hope it went wonderfully.
Welcome back! May you always be inspired about teaching your subjects! However, with the exception of the Bible, which will endure, what is the evidence for the lasting nature of literature? Or is it simply "lasting" compared to other subjects which fade away more quickly?
I notice Kimberly was able to post while down in GA. Cry me a river, wawawawaa.
As for the other stuff, books are great stuff. Couldn't agree more...
Welcome back my dear! Hope you had a good time in GA. I wanted to be spontaneous too and hop in the car and drive up to visit you. But not enough nerve.
redsoxetc: I'm thinking of the lasting nature of literature on two levels. First, I was thinking of its having lasted this long in history (in that we are still reading literature from the ancient Greeks, all the way through to the last century). Second, I was thinking of the eternal truths in literature that are the reason for literature's lasting through history. These truths, sometimes, are things that spring from the nature of God, and thus will endure timelessly. What do you think?
Sounds good to me.
Post a Comment