On Tuesday morning I ran through “Chasseur d'ivoire” (Ivory Hunter) by Serge Gainsbourg in English and then uploaded it to Christian's Translations where I began the editing process towards blog publication.
I weighed 87.2 kilos before breakfast.
At 9:45 I started logging onto Zoom for my first Global Modernisms lecture. It took about ten minutes to connect and then the instructor didn't open up the room until 10:00. I was for some reason thinking the professor Apala Das was male but that's not the case. Apala is a PHD student and her dissertation is on global modernisms.
She will be recording the first couple of sessions because some students have not made it into the country yet.
She has uploaded more stuff to Quercus.
There is a sign-up for student presentations.
The course is still officially in person but will be online at least until the beginning of February.
She wants to learn about us so she has set up a Discussions Page with the thread beginning today. Just add to the thread. This will be replaced in person later. That's half of our participation grade. Write two things: one thought we had in class and one thought we had when we left. It could be any thought about some reference relevant to the lecture. Leaving with what we got out of the class. Post it by the end of the day. There is no word count for the index card. Just use full sentences. She won't respond to the discussion board but she will read it every day. A comment could be this was boring.
Someone informed her that there's no link in Quercus for a discussion. She was surprised and said she'll figure it out later but for today just write something down to add to the board later. Class readings are also not visible on Quercus and she didn't know that either.
Frankly the instructor seems confused. She's taking some time now to try to fix the problem. She thought she'd done it but it still was not working. Finally she fixed it and the Discussion Board is now open but she's taken a lot of class time.
She says read the posted essay before Thursday but then says don't worry too much about reading it.
This is a theory heavy course with an emphasis on ideas and concepts. It's okay to read ten pages and tear it apart with analysis rather than one hundred pages in a week. Don't use the theoretical texts as windows to the literary texts. Start reading and start thinking.
Of Heart of Darkness she says we do not have to only use the Modern Library edition. The Penguin will also be made available at the book store. She said it doesn't matter that much. I asked about the Norton Critical Edition. She says to let her know if we're using the Norton by email so she can post corresponding page references when needed. For the other books the editions are not a big problem.
There is also a Key Word assignment.
She will be showing us paintings and poems. Maybe there will be sub-discussions of texts. We will go back to Heart of Darkness and so on. Read the theoretical essays and then read the novels. Focus in class on the theoretical. She'll upload slides when she uses them. There will be a course archive to draw from.
Art objects. Bring things to class on Modernism. Focus on trying to understand and summarize complex theoretical ideas and form new ones. Critically analyze and challenge arguments. An argument is not a fact so it is challengeable. Depersonalize the texts if you feel attacked by them. She wants to nudge us. If we do not feel included by a text delve into it and engage with it.
I ask for an example of being attacked by a text. She says Heart of Darkness may feel racist. He's out in the empire. Modernists are radical. Picasso is radical and Conrad is radical but they are also trapped in their perceptions. Emotional responses can lead to forming theoretical ideas. Personally engage and express that. Don't limit debates to first impressions. Only if you take it personal do you find something new.
We took a break.
Apparently there are presentations soon.
There are only 43 students in class right now.
She strongly encourages us to use our web cams but it is not required. Only about five of us were using video. We need to use video for presentations.
If we need extensions for assignments just ask a week ahead.
All assignments are handed in online at midnight on the due date. The course has no TA.
There will be a bonus deadline if a little ahead with a bonus of five points. There is also a comment deadline of a week after if we take an extension, meaning the amount of comments will diminish after that week.
Of the presentations we could do a twenty minute presentation on one of the essays, on a few pages of the essay or on an idea from the essay.
On the Key Word assignment the key word may be “imperialism” or “religion.” The Key Word assignment enables you to hone your research skills.
On the Essay Proposal, an example may be read Untouchable but focus on Jameson. Engage with what interests you. The proposal is one page.
There will be an open book in-class test so one can do research and then write the test. Unless we want it as a take-home test then she is open to change. But then she's inclined to keep it as an in-class test. The Key Word assignment is now a take-home test.
The final essay is 2000 words, 5 or 6 pages.
The exam period is from April 11-29. The Key Word deadline is February 17. Write meaningfully as opposed to long.
Presentations begin from the third week on Thursdays in the one hour class but it is still a class. The class has 46 students enrolled. We might have to use one week in the end to finish presentations. Sign up as soon as possible and use readings from the given week. One could just do a passage from the essay, or introduce Heart of Darkness.
The presentations are filling up. She might open up the Tuesday class for presentations. The presentations are ten to fifteen minutes, leaving five of the allotted twenty for comments. Don't sign up for February 17.
We can bring something from outside if it is academic and peer-reviewed. But we can bring whatever we want to class outside of the academic sometimes.
The proposal is low stakes. A proposal says this kind essay can be written and this is how I'm thinking now.
She may record a given class on request but will only privately share the recording if emailed and asked.
She said we can ignore any text that is not on the syllabus. I ask if we really should ignore it if she mentions it in lecture. She says if it is too much ignore it. She keeps saying don't get stressed. We can express our frustration on the discussion board. She'll treat the discussion board as feedback at first.
I said I am a bit confused about all the things we have to do. She says she will attach lengthy prompt pages with more details about assignments. She'll make a prompt for class presentations and take feedback. Presentations are low stakes. She wants them to be in power point but if we can't it's okay. Just present well. Speak about the author and then how it fits in relation to the text.
Supposedly I weighed 85.6 kilos before lunch. I think I need a better scale. I can't see how I dropped a kilo from listening to a lecture.
I arranged to meet with Sarah on Zoom on Thursday at 12:30 to talk about my unfair essay grade.
I bundled up with two layers of pants and socks and four layers of shirts plus a vest under my zipped up motorcycle jacket and took a bike ride to Bloor and Ossington. I weighed 85.8 kilos when I got home.
I finished editing my lecture notes just before 19:00.
I posted my first comment on the discussion board:
I found the assignments referenced confusing, especially when the instructor kept changing her mind whether it would be an open book in-class test unless we wanted a take-home but then said she's inclined to keep it as an in-class test. Then the last I could make out it was finally a take-home test.
It feels weird choosing a presentation to do without having read all the material.
My takeaway feeling is fear of being overwhelmed with all these assignments swooping down like the evil flying monkeys in "The Wizard of Oz." Assignments on theory are especially scary for someone like me who is more of an autodidact than an academic.
I downloaded the first essay we have to read: “The New Modernist Studies.”
I notified the instructor about the specific editions I have of the texts.
I read the first few pages of “The New Modernist Studies.” It's pretty dry and it's amazing that it took two people to write it. It basically says that modernist theory has evolved to include cultures all over the world and there is a theory that modernism never ended. That kind of pushes post modernism off the precipice of time or maybe that theory believes there is no such thing as postmodernism and that post modernism is really just modernism.
I had a potato with gravy and a slice of roast pork while watching an episode of the Addams Family.
In this story it's Halloween and Gomez and Fester are having a competition. They are face down on either ends of a see-saw and trying to be the first one to force their end down to a bucket of apples so they can put their head in and grab one with their mouth. Wednesday comes back from trick or treating and is upset because Mr Williams across the street told her there are no witches. Gomez and Morticia say that Aunt Singe was burned at the stake at Salem and they have her ashes. They decide to hold a seance but Mama knows that they won't be able to really reach Aunt Singe because Halloween is a busy night for witches. She gets Lurch to speak in a high voice and pretend to be the voice of Aunt Singe from behind a wall. Wednesday asks her to make an appearance and Lurch says she will. Mama goes out looking for a witch to pose as Aunt Singe but then an adult couple in costume are out on a Halloween scavenger hunt. They split up and the woman, dressed as a witch, rings the Addams bell. Lurch lets her in, thinking she really is Aunt Singe from the spirit world. She asks them for a black Louisville bat but they bring her real bats. Then when Kitty Cat the lion comes down the stairs she faints and she is woken up by old cousin cackle who is a little old man with a long white beard who does nothing but cackle. She screams and jumps out the window so fast they think she flew.
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