I’ve been very impressed by our discussions over the New Yorker article “Raj, Bohemian.” It’s interesting that 1st and 3rd hour came to fairly different conclusions about the narrator and what it means to be “bohemian.”

Here’s a synopsis of both arguments. Please let me know what you think of each, and whether I’m accurately recounting the discussion.

First hour: The narrator has set himself up to be robbed of his “cultural capital.” By placing such importance on the exclusivity of his interests and actions, he has allowed his personality to be dictated not by any actual interests he may have but by the sense of originality they afford him.

Third hour: This short piece highlights the impossibility of unselfconscious uniqueness in modern society. Because modern individuals are constantly bombarded by commercial goods and advertisements, it is impossible to make a completely personal choice about taste

Also, the narrator may be crazy.

Any thoughts?

Tomorrow we will be discussing the narrator’s self image in relation to the other chracters and his comments on his environment.

Cool side note: Hari Kunzru is the author of The Impressionist (2002), Transmission (2004), and My Revolutions (2007). His first won several awards in Great Britain and Transmission was a NYT notable book of the year. I haven’t read any of these. If you pick one up, let us know what you think.

I apologize for the late start, but it looks like we’re up and running now. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the blog; this will be my primary means of communicating with all of you outside of class.

On the right side of my nifty header are links to my other blogs/classes. W&G (or Windmills and Giants) is the AP English Language blog, and WN Blog (or Winter’s Night Blog) is the site for Modern Nonfiction.

It would be a good idea to bookmark this page now as I will be posting class information, reading lists, reminders, articles, and links to web pages here regularly. If you forget an assignment or are absent one day, I will normally direct you here for the information.

If you have an RSS reader (like Google Reader), click here to subscribe to this blog. If you don’t know what an RSS reader is, Google the phrase or ask me.

I have placed a list of the books I’ve just finished under the “Winsome Book-ness” button in the right sidebar. If you see something you might be interested in, come talk to me and I’ll lend you a copy.

Finally, the comment button at the end of each post allows you to ask questions about the post, especially if you have a question about an assignment. I check these regularly, so expect a quick response. Also, it is possible that someone else has a similar question.

Here is the video that began our discussion this week:

We’ve discussed what it means to be a student, what a school should provide an how, but what should we as individuals do when faced with this information? Do we dismiss it as alarmist, or do we need to make some changes? What are these changes? Do we think this is this an inevitable change in society, or is there something we can do to stop it? As individuals? As a class? As a school? What is within our power to change? What do we need help with in order to facilitate these changes?

Oh, the quest(ions) continue….

Some things to read while thinking about this:

Japan Looks to a Robot Future

The Mother Theresa of Baghdad

and to look at:

It’s a kitten, in a bucket, surrounded by yarn! Clear your thoughts and imagine your future.

Maybe.  I’ve been working with this template for a while, trying to get the elements lined up and the CSS…  I’m not sure why I’m telling you that.

The "Articles" link above (which I should fix in a day or so) will link you directly to my shared articles page at Google.  I will remove the widget in a week or so.

Remember, new and improved essays are due tomorrow.  Please attach your draft to the newer copy when you turn them in.

We will continue (or begin) the article discussions tomorrow.

Lastly, if you haven’t read the article from Slate.com comparing Obama and Clinton to Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck respectively, do it.  It’s an interesting and informed piece of creative journalism.

I think I broke my blog.