Run Between the Raindrops

What is most amazing to me is the way that--seemingly--all the good titles for novels have been taken up by usually crappy books. One example is the novel that I am reading now. Mind you, I am re-reading it because it was one of the few books I actually read in high school, but it is definitely not a classic of the 20th Century literary canon. Another example: "The Sum of All Fears." A great title "wasted" on a beach novel. So, I am being opinionated today, I am sorry. Perhaps I should stick to the book. The Marines just entered Hue City in the story and casualties are mounting. What is most difficult for me is reading the narrative style Dale Dye employs. There are a lot of fragment sentences one after another. I guess he tries to capture spoken dialogue even when its just the narrator's mental meandering. Here's an example: "Staring through the mist at a pristine field of grass. Some two hundred yards from the railroad bridge that connected the two sides of the city. Grass field formed a well-manicured flank for one of Hue's most popular war attractions. Cercle Sportif. Laid out in concentric circles. Remnants of French colonial days. Picturesque fountain located at its center." And so forth and on. :-) There are some really gruesome scenes that are well written and make a clear picture in the reader's mind. They go to collect recon on a television station that fell on enemy hands. There they look for the remains of a soldier they knew. And find him they did... executed and decomposed, etc. Too terrible for details so please don't mind me changing the topic.

Today I finally learned how to create form pages on html to collect information on my course website. So now I can give students online examinations. I struggled to understand how to do this for a while, so I do feel like I accomplished a great deal. Tomorrow is the last day of final examinations. Thursday is the beginning of the new semester. Cheers.

New Course

This is a preliminary course description for the class I will be teaching next year:

This course is designed to introduce students to a critical and analytical examination of 21st Century popular culture and media. The main objective of the course is to provide students with the tools to effectively “deconstruct” the constant flow of messages in television, magazines, newspapers, Internet, music and videos. To that end, students will uncover embedded messages in popular music, contemporary film, advertising, newscasts, serial programming, print media and online sites, among others. Students also will learn the difference between fact, information and propaganda in a rapidly evolving information age. The course will teach students critical theory and how to apply that theory to the media maelstrom they confront on a daily basis. Requirements: Open to 11th and 12th grades only.

The Good Soldier

I have my hands full with a difficult book. Ford writes exquisitely, but the constant metaphoric and simile elements make it a hard going on following the plot. Right now, the Ashburnhams just met the Dowells. The action shifts from 1904 to 1915 almost constantly, so one has to be concerned with the technique that Ford employs and this leaves little space for actual enjoyment of the rhythm and other nuances of language. I only read about 50 pages last night, but I wasn't feeling well after a tough day so I went to bed.

The administration at the school just approved a course I designed for next year. The course is "Popular Culture and Media Studies," and it is promising to make waves all around. The course will concentrate on viewing and listening to popular films, television programs, songs, etc., with a constant awareness of the intended message and audience in mind. This is all critical thinking. I just wrote an outline of what the 18 week semester would look like; now I have to design it day by day. Lots of work for this coming summer!