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If you had to choose the best books of this time period to teach a 1yr class what would you teach? They can be American or British or any other type.

 

What I'm thinking so far is:

Frankenstein

The Giver

To Kill A Mockingbird

Selections of Poe

 

I know I should include The Scarlet Letter and perhaps Adventure of Huck Finn, but I'm really having trouble being motivated by them.

 

What lit would you suggest...

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Of your list, the only one I'd personally choose (I've only read 2 of them) is To Kill a Mockingbird. While I like A Scarlet Letter, I read it last year and doubt that I would have liked it in high school, so agree with you there.

 

Not that all of my dc will read all of these books, but if I had no other battles to wage and could choose all on my own, I'd include:

 

A Tale of Two Cities

Pride and Prejudice (because for some reason it's my favourite novel and I'm not a Jane Austen fan per se)

Anne Bronte's two books

Possibly The Republic of Love by Carol Shields (I'd include Canadian content, and this one is not dark the way her other novels are; I don't like Margaret Atwood at all.)

Songs of a Sourdough (poetry) by Robert Service

 

There are others, but I can't think of them right now. I have a lot of trouble with this, and know that I'm missing some excellent books that I'd include once I remember them.

 

I'm not so keen on Huckleberry Finn for high school, but my ds may do this.

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I would definitely suggest Wuthering Heights.

 

Emily Bronte was an amazing author who was very experienced in life for someone always so sick and non-social.

 

There are many themes in the book that can be taught throughout a whole year, whether you choose to focus on one theme or all, it could last a year, or more. There is just so much to take from this book. You could even go a little into Emily Bronte's life. She died from Tuberculosis at the age of 29 (I believe) and a lot of her life affects the book and you could definitely read between the lines on that.

 

She was an amazing author, her and her sister, Anne Bronte, and this book is just wonderful. Read it for fun last year and I have read it about 4 more times since then. I pull new things from it each and every time.

 

She also has some poetry you could look into and integrate into the lesson plan.

 

Good luck! I hope I've helped and didn't just ramble on and on. Lol.

 

God bless!

Edited by BeatleMania
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I would second A Tale of Two Cities my 9th/11th graders (VERY different boys) both named it their favorite

 

They also both liked Pride and Prejudice

 

The Moonstone was another favorite.

 

They both prefered Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde over Frankenstein (we read them back to back) but it was nice to contrast the two

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Wow, that is such a HUGE amount of works to choose from -- the last 200 years, and all around the world! My suggestion would be to narrow your focus a little to make it easier to select works. Some questions to consider:

 

- Do I want to cover a variety of types of works (novel, novella, short story, poetry, biography, essay) -- or focus on one type?

 

- Do I want to have a theme running throughout the works for comparison (worldview, romanticism, existential, culture comparison etc.) -- or individual stand-alone works?

 

- Do I want to focus on one type of genre for comparison (gothic, romantic, western, humor, sci-fi/fantasy, etc.) -- or do works from a wide variety of genres?

 

- Do I want to do just 2-4 longer works (Moby Dick, Les Miserables, etc.), or more shorter works (select more novellas and short stories)

 

- Do I want to focus on just a few authors (by doing a single long work, or several works by each), or many authors (select shorter works to do more authors)?

 

- Do I want to cover traditional classics, or "take the road less traveled"?

 

- Do I want a balance of 1800s and 1900s works -- or focus on one century?

 

- Do I want to do world literature -- or focus on just American literature?(BTW: your choices so far seem to lean toward an American Lit. class)

 

- Do I want to use a pre-made program (Lightning Lit, Windows to the World, LLATL Gold, Excellence in Literature, etc.) so works are chosen for me? Or select my own list of works and use individual guides or entirely write my own class?

 

 

For example, we covered American and British works, of a variety of types, from 1800s-1900s, when we made our own "Worldviews in Sci-Fi and Gothic Literature course:

- Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson) -- 1880s, British, novella

- Frankenstein (Shelley) -- 1820s, British, novel

- The Time Machine (Wells) -- 1880s, British, novel

- Animal Farm (Orwell) -- 1940s, British, novella

- The Giver (Lowry) -- 1980s, American, young adult novel

- Brave New World (Huxley) -- 1930s, British, novel

- Farenheit 451 (Bradbury) -- 1950s, American, novel

- A Canticle for Leibowitz (Miller) -- 1960s, American, novel

- short stories from Cosmicomics (Calvino) -- 1970s, Italian, short stories

- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Adams) -- 1980s, British, novel

 

 

In case it is of any help, below are some of the most frequently covered classics from the 1800s and 1900s. BEST of luck in your class! Warmest regards, Lori D.

 

 

1800s

 

AMERICAN

 

Novels

- The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne)

- Adventures of Tom Sawyer or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Twain)

- Moby Dick (Melville)

 

Novellas

- The Red Badge of Courage (Crane)

 

Short Stories

- Rip Van Winkle or Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Irving)

- Young Goodman Brown or The Minister's Black Veil (Hawthorne)

- Fall of the House of Usher or The Tell Tale Heart or other (Poe)

- Bartleby the Scrivner (Melville)

- Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (Bierce)

 

Poem

- The Raven (Poe)

 

BRITISH

 

Novels

- something by Austen

- Jane Eyre or Wuthering Heights (Bronte)

- Frankenstein (Shelley)

- something by Dickens

- Silas Marner (Eliot)

- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll)

- Treasure Island (Stevenson)

- The Time Machine or The Invisible Man (Wells)

 

Novella

- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson)

 

Short Stories

- a Sherlock Holmes short story (Doyle)

- The Monkey's Paw (Jacobs)

- The Open Window (Saki)

 

Poem

- Rime of the Ancient Mariner (Coleridge)

 

WORLD

 

Novels

- Crime and Punishment (Dostoyevski)

- War and Peace (Tolstoy)

- Les Miserables (Hugo)

 

Novella

- The Metamorphosis (Kafka)

 

Short Stories

- How Much Land Does a Man Need (Tolstoy)

- The Inspector General or The Nose (Gogol)

- The Necklace (de Maupassant)

 

1900s

 

AMERICAN

 

Novels

- Call of the Wild or White Fang (London)

- The Jungle (Sinclair)

- My Antonia (Cather)

- The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)

- To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee)

- Farewell to Arms or The Old Man and the Sea (Hemingway)

- The Grapes of Wrath (Steinbeck)

- The Chosen (Potok)

- Farenheit 451 (Bradbury)

 

Short Stories

- The Open Boat or Bride Comes to Yellow Sky (Crane)

- Gift of the Magi (Henry)

- Thank You Ma'am (Hughes)

- The Catbird Seat (Thurber)

- There Will Come Soft Rains (Bradbury)

- The Lottery (Jackson)

 

BRITISH

 

Novels

- Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde)

- Peter Pan (Barrie)

- Animal Farm or 1984 (Orwell)

- Lord of the Flies (Golding)

- Screwtape Letters or Till We Have Faces (Lewis)

- Lord of the Rings (Tolkien) -- trilogy

- Brave New World (Huxley)

 

Short Stories

- a Father Brown mystery (Chesterton)

 

WORLD

 

Novels

- All Quiet on the Western Front

- Diary of Anne Frank

- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Solzhenitsyn)

- Things Fall Apart (Achebe)

- Cry the Beloved Country (Paton)

Edited by Lori D.
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Thanks All,

 

Lori, you are right, it is a huge time period and too many choices. I was all set to teach AP LAng & Comp, had my syllabus ready and everything, when I found out that the AP stats and AP LAng test were on the same day. I didn't want to put dd through that, so I decided to change to a regular lit class and let her take a college level Amer History course through Univ of AL instead.

 

So now, I have to restart.

 

9th grade I taught Omnibus 1 at home, so we got most of the ancient Greek recommendations done there. I taught the Omnibus 1, secondary CS Lewis books in a co-op class.

 

This yr I'm teaching great books of the Middle Ages.

 

Your World views class looks great. I have the list saved in my file and admire it occasionally. Can you tell me what you used for the world view portion or what specific themes you focused on?

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If you had to choose the best books of this time period to teach a 1yr class what would you teach? They can be American or British or any other type.

 

What I'm thinking so far is:

Frankenstein

The Giver

To Kill A Mockingbird

Selections of Poe

 

I know I should include The Scarlet Letter and perhaps Adventure of Huck Finn, but I'm really having trouble being motivated by them.

 

What lit would you suggest...

 

I haven't read To Kill a Mockingbird, but the other books have a dystopian feel to them. Maybe you want to stick with that theme.

Brave New World

1984

Fahrenheit 451 (I read an interesting analysis of whether we're headed toward 1984 or BNW, with the conclusion from the writer that we are more inclined to apathy than having our rights taken away, anyway, it is an interesting discussion)

 

Science fiction writers tend to play with this theme a lot. Phillip K. Dick wrote a lot of stories about futures where things had fallen apart.

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Thanks Eliana and Sebastian for the suggestions. My main goal in teaching is not to teach the classics per say, but to teach them how to read critically. I want them to read books that will enlighten them in a way that will affect their lives today. I want the books/short stories/essays etc to be interesting enough or to make a point that will cause them to think about issues that are still important today, topics such as racism and acceptance, mans rights and liberties, man vs society etc.

 

I do like the utopia/dystopian themes as they cause you to think how should we live, in a time period in these kids lives when they are probably asking/answering these questions for themselves.

 

Thanks again,

Michelle

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If you had to choose the best books of this time period to teach a 1yr class what would you teach? They can be American or British or any other type.

 

What I'm thinking so far is:

Frankenstein

The Giver

To Kill A Mockingbird

Selections of Poe

 

I know I should include The Scarlet Letter and perhaps Adventure of Huck Finn, but I'm really having trouble being motivated by them.

 

What lit would you suggest...

 

Just my opinion, but The Giver is not one of my favorite books. It just didn't seem very deep to me. (My 14 year old is currently reading it and has to keep stopping to read me yet another passage that she finds tiresome...). If I wanted that sort of dystopian book in the list I'd go with something like 1984 or Brave New World or Fahrenheit 451 or Animal Farm. Animal Farm is short, easy to read, and with some humor, but there are a lot of deep themes for discussion.

 

To Kill a Mockingbird is great. It seems simplistic (the story being told by a child), but there's a lot going on in it. It can be read on a lot of levels.

 

We found Frankenstein hard to read. It's fairly repetitive. My kids also didn't really go for Poe. It seemed like a lot of gratuitous horror. If it were me, and I wanted to go for this sort of theme, I'd choose Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

 

A nonfiction book that might prompt discussion is Next of Kin (Fouts). And there might be some newer fiction books that would be interesting. The one that springs to mind is The Poisonwood Bible. There's some sex in it (if that's a concern). It looks at the differences between cultures which might bring up discussion.

 

You might look at the books How to Read Literature Like a Professor and How to Read Novels Like a Professor for some interesting suggestions.

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Thanks Eliana, your suggestions sound wonderful! I haven't read most of them, so they'll be new to me. I do remember Middlemarch as being one book that stood out form my high school years, I'll have to pick that up again.

 

I started Great Expectations last night and am loving it; some say it's too complex for high schoolers. To me it doesn't seem too difficult, and I think they would enjoy the humor placed in parts of it. My class has tackled Screwtape Letter, Beowulf, Sir Gawain, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer's Night Dream, Macbeth and Poe so far, and I think they've grasped the themes and literary elements so far.

 

Thanks for the recommendations, I'll enjoy looking in to them.

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Your World views class... can you tell me what you used for the world view portion or what specific themes you focused on?

 

DS had already read books on worldview and attended a WVA Camp, so he already understood worldview themes -- we were looking within the text for statements, choices, themes, etc. that supported a specific worldview for each book. We read aloud/discussed together, and then I had him do some writing for some of the works (a writing assignment idea from a study guide). You may find these 2 past threads of interest in works other people have used for a sci-fi unit, and how they did it:

 

1. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65435&highlight=Brave+World

2. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16938&highlight=Brave+World

 

 

In the post to follow are some resources for you. We did not use every single resource for every book. Also, this was a LOT of works to get through in one year. If you are doing this as a co-op class, I would suggest limiting the list.

 

Also I strongly suggest NOT doing Brave New World (BNW) in a class setting -- just too much potential for parents getting all upset at you. I think it is a book well worth doing, and DS and I had fantastic discussions -- but it's not for everyone. For more on BNW, see this past thread = http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86967&highlight=Brave+World

 

 

A few other works you might consider:

- "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" (LeGuin) -- short story; utopia (at the expense of a child for each generation) -- fits in with the Giver

- Below the Root (Snyder) -- young adult novel; utopia that is beginning to fall apart because it was at the expense of dissenters; very well-written book

- On the Beach (Shute) -- novel; post atomic apocalypse; everyone dies; the focus is on how the last people to be effected by the radiation face death

- "There Will Come Soft Rains" (Bradbury) -- short story; post atomic apocalypse (would fit in with On The Beach)

- House of Stairs (Slater) -- young adult novel; behavior modification applied to 5 teens; not classic literature, but the themes explored in the book are VERY powerful

- Perelanda (Lewis) -- novel; a man tries to prevent the temptation and fall of Eve on the planet Venus; fabulous book with Christian theology, but it may very well be over students' heads

- 1984 (Orwell) -- novel; dystopia/totalitarian state

- Picture of Dorian Gray (Wilde) -- novel; gothic elements; Christian theme of inborn sin nature (similar to Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde)

- The Metamorphosis (Kafka) -- short story/novella; existentialism/postmodernism; Glencoe guide = http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/metamorphosis.html

 

 

I just could NOT make us do a work with nihilism as a worldview. Too depressing! Instead, I opted to look at the worldview that comes after nihilism, but is not quite so depressing: absurdism. We used The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- DO be aware there is a bit of language, and a few crude sexual references or enuendos. You make take heat from parents for that, so preview.

 

If really interested in nihilism, PREVIEW these works:

- The Stranger (Camus) -- novel

- The Lost Traveler (Todd) -- novel

 

Nihilism = Wikipedia article = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nihilism

Nihilism = All About Philosophy summary = http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/nihilism.htm

 

 

BEST of luck! Warmly, Lori D.

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"Worldviews in Sci-Fi Literature"

List of Philosophical Movements = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_movement

List of Literary Movements = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_movements

 

1. Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde

- worldview = Christian theme of inborn sin nature

- worldview resources

* The Deadliest Monster (Baldwin)

Uses Mr. Hyde and the "monster" in Frankenstein as examples of 2 specific worldviews

- lit. guides:

* Progeny Press = http://www.progenypress.com'>http://www.progenypress.com'>http://www.progenypress.com'>http://www.progenypress.com'>http://www.progenypress.com'>http://www.progenypress.com'>http://www.progenypress.com

* Sparknotes (free online) = http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com

* Glencoe (free online) = http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/'>http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/'>http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/'>http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/'>http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/'>http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/'>http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/

* Cliff's Notes (free online) = http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Book-Summary.id-88,pageNum-1.html'>http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Book-Summary.id-88,pageNum-1.html'>http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Book-Summary.id-88,pageNum-1.html'>http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde-Book-Summary.id-88,pageNum-1.html

* Enotes (online; annual usage fee) = "How Does Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde relate to Gothic Literature?" = http://www.enotes.com/dr-jekyll/q-and-a/how-does-dr-jekyll-mr-hyde-relate-gothicism-26283

 

2. Frankenstein (Progeny Press; Sparknotes)

- worldview = romanticism (with some literary movement elements of the gothic novel)

- worldview resources:

* The Deadliest Monster (Baldwin)

* romanticism = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism

- literary movement = gothic elements

* gothic novel = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_novel

- lit. guides:

* Progeny Press = http://www.progenypress.com

* Sparknotes (free online) = http://www.sparknotes.com

* Glencoe (free online) = http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/

* Cliff's Notes (free online) "The Romantic Movement and Frankenstein" = http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Frankenstein-Critical-Essays-The-Romantic-Movement-and-Frankenstein.id-112,pageNum-322.html

 

3. Time Machine (online guide)

- worldviews = utopian socialism; evolution (Darwinism)

- worldview resources:

* Wikipedia socialism article = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism

* article on Fabians (utopian socialism) = http://homepage.newschool.edu/het//schools/fabian.htm

* Wikipedia Darwinism article = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwinian_evolution

- lit. guides:

* Wikipedia H.G. Wells article = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H.G._Wells

* Sparknotes (free online) = http://www.sparknotes.com

* Laurie Calvert guide (free online) = http://us.penguingroup.com/static/pdf/teachersguides/timemachine.pdf

* James Van Pelt guide (free online) = http://www.sff.net/people/james.van.pelt/wells/guide.htm

 

4. Animal Farm

- worldviews = communism/capitalism

- worldview resources:

* Wikipedia article on communism = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

* Wikipedia article on capitalism = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism

- lit. guides:

* Wikipedia article on Animal Farm = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm

* Sparknotes (free online) = http://www.sparknotes.com

* Glencoe (free online) = http://www.glencoe.com/sec/literature/litlibrary/

 

5. The Giver

- worldview = utopia/dystopia

- worldview resources:

* Wikipedia article: Utopian and Dystopian Fiction = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_and_dystopian_fiction

* Cliff's Notes: Utopian Literature (after Thomas More's "Utopia")

http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/literature/Utopia-Utopian-Literature-About-Utopia-and-Utopian-Literature-Historical-Background.id-157,pageNum-12.html

- lit. guides:

* Discovering Literature Garlic Press pub.

* Progeny Press = http://www.progenypress.com

* Sparknotes (free online) = http://www.sparknotes

* Cliff's Notes (free online) = http://www.cliffsnotes.com

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6. Brave New World

- worldview = utopia/dystopia

- worldview resources: (see above)

* Progeny Press = http://www.progenypress.com

* Sparknotes (free online) = http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com'>http://www.sparknotes.com

 

7. Farenheit 451 (Progeny Press; Sparknotes) = loss of literacy; cultural ascendency of the image

- lit guides

* Progeny Press

* Sparknotes (free online) = http://www.sparknotes.com

 

8. Canticle for Leibowitz (Wikipedia article; online guide)

- worldview = we more looked at a few themes:

* post-apocalyptic world

* rise to power/self destructive cycle of the state

* the Church as a preserving agent of culture/literacy/knowledge

- lit guides:

* translations of Latin phrases in the book = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz_Latin_translations'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz_Latin_translations'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz_Latin_translations'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz_Latin_translations

* Paul Brians guide (free online) = http://wsu.edu:8000/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html

* Wikipedia article: A Canticle for Leibowitz = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Canticle_for_Leibowitz

* enotes guide (online, annual usage fee) = http://www.enotes.com/canticle-leibowitz-qn'>http://www.enotes.com/canticle-leibowitz-qn'>http://www.enotes.com/canticle-leibowitz-qn'>http://www.enotes.com/canticle-leibowitz-qn

 

9. short stories from Cosmicomics

- worldview = existentialism; postmodernism

- worldview resources:

* Wikipedia article on existentialism = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism

* Wikipedia article on postmodernism = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism

- lit. resources:

* Wikipedia article: Italo Calvino = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italo_Calvino

* Wikipedia article: Cosmicomics = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmicomics

* Bookrags (online; annual usage fee) = http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-cosmicomics/'>http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-cosmicomics/'>http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-cosmicomics/'>http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-cosmicomics/

 

10. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

- worldview = absurdism

- worldview resources:

* Wikipedia article on absurdism = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absurdism

- lit. guides:

* Wikipedia article on Douglas Adams = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Adams

* Wikipedia article on the book = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitchhiker%27s_guide_to_the_galaxy

* Bookrags (online; annual usage fee) = http://www.bookrags.com

* enotes guide (online, annual usage fee) = http://www.enotes.com

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Hi Angel, don't worry, I didn't start reading classics until my oldest was 13! Then I wished I would've started earlier. I was too overwhelmed with homeschooling before then.

 

Thanks so much Lori and Eliana! These are great lists and so much to choose from. We have spring break and I'm sick, so I think I'll just lie around all week, read and research, which is my favorite thing to do anyway.

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