Well, I just wasted an hour looking for a picture to go with this post but … after not finding something that I felt would work I decided to just forge on.
I have been somewhat absent on this blog these last two weeks or so, but there is a good explanation for that: I am a masochist. Yes, you heard me … a masochist.
Some background might be in order.
I am a first-year grad student and English 101 teacher in the Masters program at Western Washington University, and these last two weeks have been “crunch time” at the end of the quarter, meaning I have had 24 five- to seven-page freshman composition papers to read and grade, 24 three- to four-page final exams to read and grade, my own 20-page paper to write for my critical theory class (on the “violent spectacle” of women in the novels of Stephen King) as well as a two-page statement of teaching philosophy. As of this last Thursday afternoon when I turned in grades at 1:00 p.m., I think I had slept six non-consecutive hours of sleep in those past 48 hours. I spent most of the rest of Thursday and most of today in bed, just catching up on sleep. This has been grueling and a drain on my emotionally, physically and mentally. But it is worth it, because I’m a masochist.
All of this is the long way to say is that now that the quarter is over I’ll be catching up on the blog. I liked this last Thursday’s Booking Through Thursday, and I’ve got some Friday Finds to share that I have been holding on to for the last two weeks … so over the next two days, pus I have two reviews coming up: I finished the audiobook edition of Dan Simmons’ The Terror yesterday, and I’m 50-or-so pages from the end of Gerald’s Game, so I’ll be posting those soon.
So … the bottom line is that while this blog has been neglected as of late, postings here will be picking up soon.
2 comments:
Masochist is right. Is it true that Freshman papers are the worst things ever?
I wouldn't say they're the worst things ever ... they're untrained writers to be sure, and are often unsure of themselves in terms of writing something that's not a book report, but it's hard not to get down on them when you spend three months teaching them how to write, and then you get a final paper that makes it seem as if they've been asleep that whole time.
That said, however, my favorite little bon mot was when two separate students in two independent papers both used the same "new" word: EVOVLEMENT n.: the completed act of evolution.
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