Amazing discussion today, guys. It gave me a chance to passively moderate the discussion while you all ran wild. I think we’ll keep this up, unless there are any objections. Comment below if you have a concern or another idea.
From the board:
Be sure to keep up with your reading journals. I cannot stress enough how important these will be when we begin writing our papers.
[Note: I wasn’t planning on posting these images, as they don’t accurately capture the discussion we (you) had. It was a dynamic document created as you talked, so things were erased. I’ve added notes to clarify a bit, but next time I’ll keep a more legible record. If you were absent today, I would greatly appreciate any feedback or questions about what we did, in order to help me clarify our discussion.]
As we decided in class on Friday, we are reading through chapter 10 of White Noise this weekend. (We will read through the first section, chapter 20, by Friday if you want to get a head start.) Here are a few themes you might want to focus on in your reading journals:
(We’ll talk about this in class on Tuesday, but think "things being important because of how they are described or advertised, not because they are valuable in themselves."
A few more to search for: reality/perception, memory, and "white noise."
Remember, it is more important to enjoy the book than to focus solely on these themes. This is normally an activity reserved for the second reading of a text, but since most of you scoff at me when I suggest reading a book twice, I thought I’d give you a head start.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday.
at Barnes and Noble on 41st if you don’t already have a copy. We will begin discussing the book tomorrow.
Yesterday, we chose to read and discuss Don Delillo’s White Noise. Unfortunately, because it is an amazing book and the world is against us, there is a shortage of copies in Tulsa. For your convenience, here are the number of books and their locations around the city:
Border’s 81st: 6
Border’s Midtown: 3
B&N 41st: 1
Steve’s Sundry: 0
Gardner’s Used Books: 0
Waldenbooks in Promenade: 0
Grab a copy if you have a chance. I’ve ordered five more copies from B&N at 41st, but they will take around a week to come in. I’ll let you know when they arrive.
We will begin this unit with shorter works that are thematically related to White Noise. The first of these will be "Raj, Bohemian" by Hari Kunzru (originally published in The New Yorker), a short story about modern identity and consumer culture. As we dive in, feel free to bring to class anything you feel will supplement our discussions.
Remember, article analyses are due every Tuesday and Thursday.
Enjoy your weekend. Go outside! Read near an open window if it’s raining!