OK, this is kinda cool. I was talking to my students in class the other day about Beowulf's fight with Grendel's Mother and how it was different from the fight with Grendel and whether that difference was either gendered or sexualized...blah, blah, blah. Anyway, I remarked that I was surprised that they were not skeptical when I raised the issue of it being sexualized and one of them said, "Oh, we've all taken a class with Dr. Libertine, so we're used to seeing sexual imagery in literature." [Note: Libertine is neither his real name nor his personality, but rather, fits his subject matter and period.] I laughed and suggested that maybe it was a lot easier to find sexual imagery in Dr. Libertine's literary period than in Old English texts (unless, of course, you're talking about riddles about keys and dough, but we weren't) and we went on discussing the text.
The reason why I brought this little story up is that later, while doing my evening run, something interesting dawned on me about that conversation. Students don't generally take both Dr. Libertine's class and mine, since they are actually only obligated to take one course about literature before 1800, and our students tend to stick to the requirements, especially when it comes to old stuff. Given that this large group of students had already taken Dr. Libertine's course and were now in mine, could it be actually possible that these students had chosen to take my class voluntarily?!
Wow! Imagine that! :)
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Maybe my students actually want to be in my classes -- imagine that!
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2 comments:
Hah! I love it that they can apply what they've learned in one class to another.
And, yeah, they either want to take your class because of you... or, they've somehow figured out that early lit is just way fun?
word verification: sjcyk - sneezing when you're sick
You know, you're right -- that they applied what they learned in one class to another is something worth commending1
As for their reasons being in my class -- whether it's me or my subject, either makes me happy! :) I'll be even happier if they *end* the class still interested in my subject!
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