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Well, looks like I *will* be teaching English this semester


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I had enrolled the boys in concurrent Freshman Comp 1 at the local university. I picked the online instructor that my oldest son had years ago. He had an excellent experience and I found it worthwhile. However, when the boys logged on yesterday we discovered that the instructor was one that I absolutely DID NOT WANT! I have heard horrible things about her: she does not believe in concurrent status (and grades accordingly), she expects e-mails that are asking questions to be in "proper form" which includes an introduction, body, and conclusion (e-mails have traditionally not been relegated to "formal" writing) and she obviously used another instructor's syllabus because she forgot to erase the other instructor's name and there were several obvious misspelled words leaving me to going "HUH?" The uni Comp department is known to be agenda driven (of the liberal slant) which I had hoped to avoid by doing the class online.

 

So I will be teaching English this semester. My plan so far - considered after 3 cups of coffee this morning - is to work through Baron's SAT/ACT Grammar workbook, doing some of Jensen's Writing, and at least 1 book (the uni class scheduled Fahrenheit 451 which we've already done). The uni class also watches 2 full length movies.

 

I'd love suggestions for a different book (still needs to be rather short like F451) and maybe a play. I've got so many choices and am having trouble narrowing it down :p The boys have enjoyed the Hunger Games series, LOTR series, Narnia, etc. They are 18 and almost 17 years old. We've done a lot of the classics already but not a lot of modern classics.

 

thanks!

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1984 is definitely a good choice. My son talked for days on end about that book and he has to be fairly inspired to do that.

 

It would work well with the other Dystopian books they have read and Jane's right, Lori D. has an awesome thread somewhere on that topic. It was very helpful.

 

Does the uni really only require one book for a Freshman Comp. class?

 

 

Jane, I put A Canticle for Leibowitz on request at Paperback Swap over a year ago. No luck. Do we need to own it if we enjoy Dystopian literature? I have never read it. So sad.

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Jane, I put A Canticle for Leibowitz on request at Paperback Swap over a year ago. No luck. Do we need to own it if we enjoy Dystopian literature? I have never read it. So sad.

Need? I am not the person to ask since Dystopian is not my thing. That said, it is one of the few books of the genre that I have read. It is post-Apocalyptic and brilliant as far as I am concerned. Read the Wikipedia article on the book (if you can handle spoilers) and see what you think.

 

Another Dystopian novel that I liked is Stand on Zanzibar. Maybe fans of the genre can comment on these books?

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Does the uni really only require one book for a Freshman Comp. class?

Yes, that's the only full length book required. They do some short stories and short non-fiction readings. I think it's funny that they show more movies than books :) I guess that might reflect a bit on the type of student they typically have.

 

My second son took Comp 1 during his freshman year (we didn't do it concurrently) and he had a fabulous time - and that boy hates to write. But the teacher was able to engage him and make him enjoy the process. So...I think I'm just going to wait and let the last 2 take it when they actually hit college rather than concurrently. They certainly won't do worse than what's offered here :p

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It is you! Thank goodness.

 

Yes, it's still me :) When the opportunity came that allowed us to change our names I decided that CynthiaOK was pretty boring. Miss Marple suits my personality :p (and is one of my favorite literary characters - I didn't think The Count of Monte Cristo would work but it would have been my first choice).

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