A Week of Reading: part one - Reading in the classroom

I usually wait until I’ve finished reading a book to make mention of it here. Although I’ve logged a fair number of books this year (32), there’s nothing I’m terribly excited to write about, so I thought I would change things up and take a look at a week’s worth of searching, buying, and reading books!

In the Classroom

My students in Shakespeare just finished their second test – passing with flying colors, I might add – and we’re on to Julius Caesar and the film version of Richard III. I’m re-reading Richard because I love his evil little face so much, but it’s a difficult text for students, especially if they don’t have a strong grasp of the history. I’ll settle for letting them watch Ian McKellen literally play the villain! 

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In Epic, we just finished ElfQuest and are moving on to unconventional texts: albums! Here’s hoping that those who will not read might be inspired to listen! On that note (ooh, a pun!), I’m reading the quirky science fiction novella Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You. Being as fanatical a Rush devotee as I am, I guess I read that title as a challenge! And since we're on the subject of Rush, I'm making my way through the very bulky Big Beautiful Book of Bass and enjoying the historical information more than I thought I would. I’m also reading a modern interpretation of Beowulf, the text with which we began the class, called The Mere Wife. In it, Grendel's mom is a soldier that everyone thinks died in the Middle East. She's come home to hide out and raise her son. Very spooky and offers some neat insights about class, homelessness, and gender. 

In Human-Animal Studies, we just finished watching Blackfish, which has led me to read Death at SeaWorld and Into Great Silence (about a vanishing orca population). Next week, we’re starting two new works in that class. I always try to teach a new work to show students what recent scholarship looks like, so we’re reading Poached. In hopes of providing a unique way to look at things, we’re also looking into the graphic novel Pride of Baghdad.