I Loved to Write
I would pour parts of my soul into it...
I miss that. I recently gave away my dinosaur of a computer (circa 1996) with all of my essays on it. I guess with parts of my soul in it. Not really, though. The thoughts are still with me. Everything else is just paper and words.
Or if you listen to James Blunt, "It's more than just words, it's just tears and rain."
I miss writing like that though. I don't know when else I'll be able to dedicate such time and energy to it. Those of you out there complaining about college work loads, take a few minutes to enjoy the fact that you get to learn...just learn.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRADIT CANON,PART1
Course Description
A survey of English Literature from Chaucer to Cowper. Two
papers; two memorizations; a midterm; and a final exam.
Evaluation
XXXXX did consistently excellent work in this course. Early on she
distinguished herself as an excellent interpreter in section
discussions, and her work throughout showed a sensitivity to verbal
detail and to interpretive issues, poetic and thematic, that was
admirable. Her papers had largeness of vision as she argued
positions boldly and imaginatively. Her exams were both fine
efforts, notable for her sharp, systematic observations; the final
was excellent--thoughtful, adventurous, exploratory, challenging.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DANTE DIVINE COMEDY
Course Description
Students read Dante's Vita Nuova; the Inferno and the
Purgatorio of the Divine Comedy; selected lyrics from the
French and Italian courtly love tradition; selected books of
Virgil's Aeneid. Two papers (of 6 and of 8 pages) and a final
exam were required.
Evaluation
XXXXX did consistently excellent work in this course. She was a
regular participant in section and could always be relied upon to
raise provocative and challenging points. XXXXX's written work was
outstanding. Her first essay was a thoughtful, well-researched, and
well-argued discussion of different types of love in the Vita
Nuova and the Inferno. Equally successful was XXXXX's second
essay which performed a deconstructive reading of Cantos V and
XXXIII of the Inferno. Here, XXXXX asserted that a simple
mirroring (between love and hate; between Francesca and Ugolino) was
an overly simplified characterization of these seeming oppositions,
and that Dante required a more complex model that considered the
problematics of language more explicitly. XXXXX met regularly with
a group of other advanced students on her own time to further her
study of Dante, and she often consulted her teaching assistant for
suggestions about improving her already excellent work. XXXXX was
one of the most dedicated students in the section. Her excellent
final exam displayed her vast knowledge of the course material that
was evident in all of her work. Overall, an outstanding quarter's
work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRAD CANON, PART II
Evaluation
Survey of canonical 19th and 20th century British Literature;
readings: British poetry from William Blake through Seamus Heaney,
Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend. Students were required to
form small groups (3-5 people) and meet on a weekly basis
throughout the quarter to read poetry that was assigned but not
discussed in detail in lecture and work on Our Mutual Friend.
Groups were required to prepare at least one presentation of a
monthly part of Our Mututal Friend. Students were also
required to memorize and recite two selections of poetry of at least
twenty lines, and attend two poetry readings. There were two paper
assignments (4-5 pages), a midterm and a final exam. Students were
expected to demonstrate an understanding of the distinguishing
characteristics of Romantic, Victorian, and 20th century poetry and
prose, and of the social, political, intellectual, and historical
events and issues that shaped the English canon.
She did fine close readings of Byron and Wordsworth; her discussion
in the first paper of what is "lost" in the translation to prose was
excellent, as well as the commentary on the use of "shorter lines"
in poetry.
Her midterms were very good, especially on the Brownings; her final
excellent, very well expressed and articulated, thorough, thoughtful
and sophisticated. She participated actively and thoughtfully in
class discussion; her group did some of the best presentations on
Dickens. The course engaged her personally and she responded with
excellent work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AGE OF JOHNSON
Evaluation
XXXXX's work in this course was outstanding. She attended every
class, made frequent contributions to class discussion, and prepared
no less than three drafts of her final paper. She showed a high
degree of familiarity with all of the material studied in the class:
one of her most striking qualities as a classroom participant, in
fact, was her ability to produce passages from the text to support
the more generalized comments of her colleagues. Her in-class
presentation on Samuel Johnson's The Vanity of Human Wishes was
carefully researched and clearly delivered. In the accompanying
short essay, she alternated well between outlining general themes
and providing astute close readings of passages from the text. The
paper's only drawback was its tendency to make use of critical
truisms about Johnson without interrogating their validity. In
response to this suggestion about her first paper, XXXXX wrote an
entire final paper devoted to exploring some of the critical
literature on the question of Johnson's relation to hope and
pessimism-a central theme in Johnson criticism. She used her
secondary sources extremely well, testing them against her own
readings of individual passages from Johnson's poetry and prose.
Successive drafts showed greater and greater strengths in terms of
thesis, organization, and use of textual evidence, and she ended up
with a convincing and nuanced argument that I found at least as
compelling as much of the criticism to which she was responding.
XXXXX is a gifted writer and an extremely hard worker, whose
willingness to respond to suggestions about her thinking and her
writing enables the sort of rapid improvement demonstrated in her
skills as a literary critic over the course of this quarter.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STUDIES IN DICKENS
Course Description
This senior seminar focused on Dickens. We read several of his
works and discussed parts of Little Dorrit, commenting on
each other's presentations. Each student wrote a substantial
essay of at least 25 pages on an aspect of Dickens's fiction,
after handing in a preliminary prospectus, and critical
bibliography. Students participated actively in class discussion;
the materials of the course engaged them personally, and they
responded with thoughtful, accomplished work.
Evaluation
Her paper: "Ah, Love, Let Us Be True: Meaning-Making in Dickensian
England," was sophisticated, sustained and insightful.It articulated
central issues in Dickens and Victorian culture in analyzing the
issue of meaning-making. There was fine use of Wordsworth and
Arnold in providing important perspectives for Dickens, and there
was an exceptionally good.discussion of the theme of love and
idealism in the novels.It was well written, fine work. She did fine
work in this course.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19TH C.ENGLSH NOVEL
Evaluation
XXXXX accomplished outstanding work in this course. Her first
paper was a successful and engaging analysis of hope and
friendship in William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. In
this essay XXXXX convincingly argued that Thackeray's bleak novel
is not completely devoid of transcendental possibilities. Her
second paper, equally engaging as the first, was a highly
intelligent and careful Jungian analysis of opposing selves in
Bronte's Jane Eyre. Her third paper, perhaps the strongest of
them all, examined the inevitable sense of dissatisfaction that
accompanies Pip's expectations in Dickens's 1861 classic, Great
Expectations. For all three of these papers XXXXX submitted
carefully composed drafts and discussed possibilities for
improvement with the instructor long before the final due dates.
Her incorporation of the instructor's suggestions, along with her
own excellent sense of finish, transformed her papers into highly
polished pieces of writing. XXXXX's perfect attendance at lecture
and section demonstrated consistent engagement with course issues
and themes. Her perfect exam was a fine conclusion to a quarter of
exceptional work. In all, an inspirational performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MILTON
Evaluation
XXXXX's work in this course was outstanding. This was her third
course taken with the same instructor, and in each case she has
demonstrated a similarly high degree of engagement, responsibility,
and maturity as a thinker and writer. XXXXX's tendency is to go
beyond the demands of any given assignment: in her presentation on
one of Milton's short poems, for instance, she included a glossary
of key words assembled using the OED. These glossaries subsequently
became a requirement for all presenters. In this presentation, and
in her first paper, XXXXX showed a very strong ability to locate
and analyze the central tensions of the poems under discussion.
Rather than staying away from particularly difficult moments in the
text-moments of confusion or lines that are difficult to
comprehend-XXXXX seems to be drawn to such moments. She chose to
submit a series of drafts for her final essay and to do considerable
outside research. Her reading list would have been ample for a paper
written for a graduate seminar. The paper, on the figure of the
author in Paradise Lost, combined astute textual analysis with a
sharp knowledge of the context of early modern authorship and
authority. Her paper was one of the two most polished and original
final papers in the class.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOUTH AFRICAN LIT
A survey of South African literature in English from
1948 to the present. In addition to a brief map assignment, students
wrote two short papers, a 6- to 8-page paper on Gordimer's July's
People, and a final examination.
Evaluation
XXXXX XXXXX was an outstanding student in this course. With
nearly perfect attendance at both lecture and section, XXXXX was a
frequent contributor to class discussions. XXXXX's writing for the
course was equally impressive, partly because she often turned in
rough drafts of her papers to the TA for feedback and produced
revisions of her papers when she wasn't satisfied with the result.
In her first paper, XXXXX argued that Can Themba's short story "The
Dube Train" is about the black population's complicity in their
oppression under apartheid and that the action of the story serves
as a call to action. This was a valid and sophisticated argument to
make and XXXXX's prose in this paper was fluid and concise.
XXXXX's second paper traced the symbol of the unicorn in Nadine
Gordimer's novel Burger's Daughter. XXXXX argued that the unicorn
represents various things, including but not limited to Rosa's
fantasy of remaining in Europe as well as hope in the resistance
movement. XXXXX's argument in this paper was intricate and
fascinating. In her final paper, XXXXX argued that in Zoe Wicomb's
You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town, the character Frieda (and Wicomb
herself) writes herself a place to exist within her own created
text. Again, XXXXX produced a well-argued and well-articulated
paper. Overall, XXXXX was an outstanding student whose work in the
course was truly exemplary.
I miss that. I recently gave away my dinosaur of a computer (circa 1996) with all of my essays on it. I guess with parts of my soul in it. Not really, though. The thoughts are still with me. Everything else is just paper and words.
Or if you listen to James Blunt, "It's more than just words, it's just tears and rain."
I miss writing like that though. I don't know when else I'll be able to dedicate such time and energy to it. Those of you out there complaining about college work loads, take a few minutes to enjoy the fact that you get to learn...just learn.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRADIT CANON,PART1
Course Description
A survey of English Literature from Chaucer to Cowper. Two
papers; two memorizations; a midterm; and a final exam.
Evaluation
XXXXX did consistently excellent work in this course. Early on she
distinguished herself as an excellent interpreter in section
discussions, and her work throughout showed a sensitivity to verbal
detail and to interpretive issues, poetic and thematic, that was
admirable. Her papers had largeness of vision as she argued
positions boldly and imaginatively. Her exams were both fine
efforts, notable for her sharp, systematic observations; the final
was excellent--thoughtful, adventurous, exploratory, challenging.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DANTE DIVINE COMEDY
Course Description
Students read Dante's Vita Nuova; the Inferno and the
Purgatorio of the Divine Comedy; selected lyrics from the
French and Italian courtly love tradition; selected books of
Virgil's Aeneid. Two papers (of 6 and of 8 pages) and a final
exam were required.
Evaluation
XXXXX did consistently excellent work in this course. She was a
regular participant in section and could always be relied upon to
raise provocative and challenging points. XXXXX's written work was
outstanding. Her first essay was a thoughtful, well-researched, and
well-argued discussion of different types of love in the Vita
Nuova and the Inferno. Equally successful was XXXXX's second
essay which performed a deconstructive reading of Cantos V and
XXXIII of the Inferno. Here, XXXXX asserted that a simple
mirroring (between love and hate; between Francesca and Ugolino) was
an overly simplified characterization of these seeming oppositions,
and that Dante required a more complex model that considered the
problematics of language more explicitly. XXXXX met regularly with
a group of other advanced students on her own time to further her
study of Dante, and she often consulted her teaching assistant for
suggestions about improving her already excellent work. XXXXX was
one of the most dedicated students in the section. Her excellent
final exam displayed her vast knowledge of the course material that
was evident in all of her work. Overall, an outstanding quarter's
work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TRAD CANON, PART II
Evaluation
Survey of canonical 19th and 20th century British Literature;
readings: British poetry from William Blake through Seamus Heaney,
Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend. Students were required to
form small groups (3-5 people) and meet on a weekly basis
throughout the quarter to read poetry that was assigned but not
discussed in detail in lecture and work on Our Mutual Friend.
Groups were required to prepare at least one presentation of a
monthly part of Our Mututal Friend. Students were also
required to memorize and recite two selections of poetry of at least
twenty lines, and attend two poetry readings. There were two paper
assignments (4-5 pages), a midterm and a final exam. Students were
expected to demonstrate an understanding of the distinguishing
characteristics of Romantic, Victorian, and 20th century poetry and
prose, and of the social, political, intellectual, and historical
events and issues that shaped the English canon.
She did fine close readings of Byron and Wordsworth; her discussion
in the first paper of what is "lost" in the translation to prose was
excellent, as well as the commentary on the use of "shorter lines"
in poetry.
Her midterms were very good, especially on the Brownings; her final
excellent, very well expressed and articulated, thorough, thoughtful
and sophisticated. She participated actively and thoughtfully in
class discussion; her group did some of the best presentations on
Dickens. The course engaged her personally and she responded with
excellent work.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AGE OF JOHNSON
Evaluation
XXXXX's work in this course was outstanding. She attended every
class, made frequent contributions to class discussion, and prepared
no less than three drafts of her final paper. She showed a high
degree of familiarity with all of the material studied in the class:
one of her most striking qualities as a classroom participant, in
fact, was her ability to produce passages from the text to support
the more generalized comments of her colleagues. Her in-class
presentation on Samuel Johnson's The Vanity of Human Wishes was
carefully researched and clearly delivered. In the accompanying
short essay, she alternated well between outlining general themes
and providing astute close readings of passages from the text. The
paper's only drawback was its tendency to make use of critical
truisms about Johnson without interrogating their validity. In
response to this suggestion about her first paper, XXXXX wrote an
entire final paper devoted to exploring some of the critical
literature on the question of Johnson's relation to hope and
pessimism-a central theme in Johnson criticism. She used her
secondary sources extremely well, testing them against her own
readings of individual passages from Johnson's poetry and prose.
Successive drafts showed greater and greater strengths in terms of
thesis, organization, and use of textual evidence, and she ended up
with a convincing and nuanced argument that I found at least as
compelling as much of the criticism to which she was responding.
XXXXX is a gifted writer and an extremely hard worker, whose
willingness to respond to suggestions about her thinking and her
writing enables the sort of rapid improvement demonstrated in her
skills as a literary critic over the course of this quarter.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STUDIES IN DICKENS
Course Description
This senior seminar focused on Dickens. We read several of his
works and discussed parts of Little Dorrit, commenting on
each other's presentations. Each student wrote a substantial
essay of at least 25 pages on an aspect of Dickens's fiction,
after handing in a preliminary prospectus, and critical
bibliography. Students participated actively in class discussion;
the materials of the course engaged them personally, and they
responded with thoughtful, accomplished work.
Evaluation
Her paper: "Ah, Love, Let Us Be True: Meaning-Making in Dickensian
England," was sophisticated, sustained and insightful.It articulated
central issues in Dickens and Victorian culture in analyzing the
issue of meaning-making. There was fine use of Wordsworth and
Arnold in providing important perspectives for Dickens, and there
was an exceptionally good.discussion of the theme of love and
idealism in the novels.It was well written, fine work. She did fine
work in this course.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19TH C.ENGLSH NOVEL
Evaluation
XXXXX accomplished outstanding work in this course. Her first
paper was a successful and engaging analysis of hope and
friendship in William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair. In
this essay XXXXX convincingly argued that Thackeray's bleak novel
is not completely devoid of transcendental possibilities. Her
second paper, equally engaging as the first, was a highly
intelligent and careful Jungian analysis of opposing selves in
Bronte's Jane Eyre. Her third paper, perhaps the strongest of
them all, examined the inevitable sense of dissatisfaction that
accompanies Pip's expectations in Dickens's 1861 classic, Great
Expectations. For all three of these papers XXXXX submitted
carefully composed drafts and discussed possibilities for
improvement with the instructor long before the final due dates.
Her incorporation of the instructor's suggestions, along with her
own excellent sense of finish, transformed her papers into highly
polished pieces of writing. XXXXX's perfect attendance at lecture
and section demonstrated consistent engagement with course issues
and themes. Her perfect exam was a fine conclusion to a quarter of
exceptional work. In all, an inspirational performance.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MILTON
Evaluation
XXXXX's work in this course was outstanding. This was her third
course taken with the same instructor, and in each case she has
demonstrated a similarly high degree of engagement, responsibility,
and maturity as a thinker and writer. XXXXX's tendency is to go
beyond the demands of any given assignment: in her presentation on
one of Milton's short poems, for instance, she included a glossary
of key words assembled using the OED. These glossaries subsequently
became a requirement for all presenters. In this presentation, and
in her first paper, XXXXX showed a very strong ability to locate
and analyze the central tensions of the poems under discussion.
Rather than staying away from particularly difficult moments in the
text-moments of confusion or lines that are difficult to
comprehend-XXXXX seems to be drawn to such moments. She chose to
submit a series of drafts for her final essay and to do considerable
outside research. Her reading list would have been ample for a paper
written for a graduate seminar. The paper, on the figure of the
author in Paradise Lost, combined astute textual analysis with a
sharp knowledge of the context of early modern authorship and
authority. Her paper was one of the two most polished and original
final papers in the class.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOUTH AFRICAN LIT
A survey of South African literature in English from
1948 to the present. In addition to a brief map assignment, students
wrote two short papers, a 6- to 8-page paper on Gordimer's July's
People, and a final examination.
Evaluation
XXXXX XXXXX was an outstanding student in this course. With
nearly perfect attendance at both lecture and section, XXXXX was a
frequent contributor to class discussions. XXXXX's writing for the
course was equally impressive, partly because she often turned in
rough drafts of her papers to the TA for feedback and produced
revisions of her papers when she wasn't satisfied with the result.
In her first paper, XXXXX argued that Can Themba's short story "The
Dube Train" is about the black population's complicity in their
oppression under apartheid and that the action of the story serves
as a call to action. This was a valid and sophisticated argument to
make and XXXXX's prose in this paper was fluid and concise.
XXXXX's second paper traced the symbol of the unicorn in Nadine
Gordimer's novel Burger's Daughter. XXXXX argued that the unicorn
represents various things, including but not limited to Rosa's
fantasy of remaining in Europe as well as hope in the resistance
movement. XXXXX's argument in this paper was intricate and
fascinating. In her final paper, XXXXX argued that in Zoe Wicomb's
You Can't Get Lost in Cape Town, the character Frieda (and Wicomb
herself) writes herself a place to exist within her own created
text. Again, XXXXX produced a well-argued and well-articulated
paper. Overall, XXXXX was an outstanding student whose work in the
course was truly exemplary.
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