And then there's this: "Connecticut College Cancels Classes Over Racist Graffiti"

A bathroom stall is not a safe place.

Safe Spaces, Microaggressions, and Trigger Warnings

(Or, "A Little Dirt is Good for You")

Okay.  This has been bothering me for a while, and I want to know what you think.

It started with this article on "micro-aggressions".  Then this one on "trauma warnings".  And this morning, an op-ed about "safe spaces".

The "money quote" (if you'll pardon the expression):  A key passage:

Now students’ needs are anticipated by a small army of service professionals — mental health counselors, student-life deans and the like. This new bureaucracy may be exacerbating students’ “self-infantilization,” as Judith Shapiro, the former president of Barnard College, suggested in an essay for Inside Higher Ed.

But why are students so eager to self-infantilize? Their parents should probably share the blame. Eric Posner, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School, wrote on Slate last month that although universities cosset students more than they used to, that’s what they have to do, because today’s undergraduates are more puerile than their predecessors. “Perhaps overprogrammed children engineered to the specifications of college admissions offices no longer experience the risks and challenges that breed maturity,” he wrote. But “if college students are children, then they should be protected like children.”

The subject of germs came up the other day in Block 2, and I suggested, only half-tongue-in-cheek, that we're getting too sanitized these days: a little dirt is good for you.  It helps you build up immunities. Are we over-protecting ourselves?

At the same time, I am sympathetic to those people who have experienced psychological trauma, and I don't mean to belittle their sufferings.

So what do you think?  Read any or all of the articles linked-to above, and respond below.  (Or, directly to the in-basket, if you'd prefer.)  By "respond", I mean a lectio.  So, pick a passage from one of the articles, identify it, and respond to it.  [Hat tip to Jacob Burns.]

Due Date: Monday, March 30.

Bizarre at the Bazaar

Finally, our narrator has arrived at Araby!  But things are not working out as they were supposed to.  (How rarely they do!)  Joyce gives us this ending:

Remembering with difficulty why I had come I went over to one of the stalls and examined porcelain vases and flowered tea-sets. At the door of the stall a young lady was talking and laughing with two young gentlemen. I remarked their English accents and listened vaguely to their conversation.

"O, I never said such a thing!"

"O, but you did!"

"O, but I didn't!"

"Didn't she say that?"

"Yes. I heard her."

"O, there's a... fib!"

Observing me the young lady came over and asked me did I wish to buy anything. The tone of her voice was not encouraging; she seemed to have spoken to me out of a sense of duty. I looked humbly at the great jars that stood like eastern guards at either side of the dark entrance to the stall and murmured:

"No, thank you."

The young lady changed the position of one of the vases and went back to the two young men. They began to talk of the same subject. Once or twice the young lady glanced at me over her shoulder.

I lingered before her stall, though I knew my stay was useless, to make my interest in her wares seem the more real. Then I turned away slowly and walked down the middle of the bazaar. I allowed the two pennies to fall against the sixpence in my pocket. I heard a voice call from one end of the gallery that the light was out. The upper part of the hall was now completely dark.

Gazing up into the darkness I saw myself as a creature driven and derided by vanity; and my eyes burned with anguish and anger.

What do you make of this.  Please share your thoughts with me and your classmates.  As we did over the summer, please feel free to interact with earlier posts.

George Orwell -- "Politics and the English Language"

There's one must-read by George Orwell -- which we aren't reading in this class, so I'm leaving that up to you.  That, of course, is 1984.  Along with another numerically titled work -- 2001: A Space Odyssey, this book gave me an undying respect for, and fear of, advanced technology (and covert surveillance).

1984 was about the future -- and it still is, although in many ways it is 1984.  Remember, that smart phone you love so well, that you can't do without -- yes, let's admit it, to which we have become addicted -- knows where you are at every moment, and remembers everything you've texted (and will, long after you're dead).

Remember this commercial?  Of course you don't, you weren't even close to being born yet.  It's ironic, because here Apple is promising to free us from Big Brother, and now Apple is Big Brother.  (Or could that Apple insignia be the sign of the Beast?  Just sayin'.)

But as I say, we're not reading 1984.  We will be reading Orwell's essay on "Politics and the English Language".  Please leave your comments below.  I would suggest that you don't get hung up on some small details of language that Orwell presents.  He admits that he breaks many of them himself and that one should rather than "say anything outright barbarous".  Focus more on how language affects thought and communication.

New Frontiers of Warfare

Leave your comments to this article here.  Take a look at what others have to say.  Feel free to respond to them, too.

Welcome!

     Welcome to the Outside Reading Blog (and I certainly hope that you will be doing some of your summer reading out of doors).  Below you will find three blog posts -- one for each assigned text.  As you read,check in from time to time and leave a "Comment".  (Make sure to leave your name at the same time, so that you can receive full credit.)  You don't have to say anything profound -- asking questions is good, too.
     I may peek in from time to time, but I will pretty much stay out of these.  These pages should be a virtual readers' group.  You must make a minimum of one entry per text.  But while that would be "adequate", to be "good" or "exceptional", you will want to do more.
     You will also find a page with some suggested topics for the five-paragraph essay.

     Be sure to bookmark this page, as we will also use it from time to time during the course of the semester.

The Assignments

You will have two academic responsibilities to go along with your summer reading.

1)  The Blog.  You are asked to  respond as you read these three selections by leaving a comment on the post devoted to each work.  Be sure to leave your name so that you will get credit.
You must comment at least once for each work.  However, you may want to comment more than once, if
a) you want to maximum your point total, and/or b) you just start to get into the spirit of the thing.  It's an open forum, a roundtable, a virtual readers' group.
So, feel free to inject your opinions.  Ask questions.  (I love questions.  In my ideal classroom, I rarely say anything but in response to a question).  Go ahead and banter with your classmates.  Have a little fun.  Relax.  It's summer.
I'll be eavesdropping, occasionally, but if there's something that you want to ask me, go through the school e-mail.

2)  The Paper.  This will demonstrate to me two things.  First, that you've actually done your reading -- although, truly?  It's hard to tell.  There are those ethically-compromised students who take shortcuts.  You know what I mean.  But really.  Would you rather go to a five-star restaurant, or read the review of it?  Would you rather travel to Paris or Rome, or read an article in the travel section about it?  Would you rather have the actual experience, or have someone else tell you about it?
Secondly, it will tell me about whether or not you can put together a nice "five-paragraph" essay.  Which, believe it nor not, can be an essential skill in life.  (For all sorts of useful suggestions on crafting the essay, go here.)
The paper will focus on Hedda Gabler & The Return of the Native.  Below are three suggested topics.

I.  Compare the Heroines.  Now, some people like to say "compare and contrast".  But don't forget that to "contrast" is an implicit part of "comparing".
For this assignment, I'm going to dictate the structure that I want to see.  This paper should be an eight-paragraph "five-paragraph" essay.  That is to say:

1) Introduction.
2) Quality #1, character #1.
3) Quality #1, character #2.
4) Quality#2, character #1 (or #2, if that works better).
5) Quality #2, the other character.
6) Quality #3 (probably the contrast), character #1 (or #2).
7) Quality #3, the other character.
8) Summary and conclusion.

Total length, 3- 5 pages.

II.  The Illicit Love Interests.
Both of our married protagonists have old lovers sniffing around.  Let's take a look at them.  Why were they attractive to our girls in the first place?  What attraction do they continue to hold (if any)?  This could get a little tricky, because it will be difficult to separate the men from the women.  Are you going to be examining the men, or how the women relate to them?  That's liable to make your paper fuzzy, when what you are going for is a laser-like focus.
I'm not going to require the same structure as in Topic I, but let me include a couple of stipulations.  1) Keep the boys separate.  Different work, new paragraph (even if the quality you're examining is the same for both).  2) This means it will be more than five paragraphs long.  Remember: Introduction (1), Body (?), Conclusion (1).

III.  Minor Characters.
To be honest, there aren't that many easily likable characters in these works.  (That's not to say you can't be sympathetic to Hedda and Eustacia. You can be, and you should be.  But as Mary Shelley reminds us, "all men hate the wretched", and these ladies have their miseries.)  But good ol' Diggory Venn, the reddleman.  Always loyal to Tamsin (although that loyalty does stir up a little trouble at one point).  And Thea Elvstead, that little curly-headed pip.  Don't you love her?
Now, where does the paper come from on this?  Good question.  It's not as obvious as in the first two cases, certainly.  But that's part of the overall process of wrighting a paper.  (That's right, wright.  It's not a typo.)  You've got to assemble what you know about these characters, then stare at it like those Magic Eyes until a pattern appears.  But I guess I'd start with "what purpose do these characters serve within their works?" or even "why are these characters so admirable"?