Third Class Session

Tonight's class was packed. We had lots to discuss and did some discussing in small groups and some as a whole class. We discussed Delirium, which was universally well-liked and The Space Between Trees, which was mostly disappointing. While there were elements of the story and characterization that were intriguing and had potential, most people felt that this mystery stopped just short of fulfilling its promise. I think our class enjoys discussing as a whole class because we can all hear what everyone else has to say about the books. Our cohort has become pretty close and there are distinct personalities in our group. It is nice to hear the varying opinions about what we read because it enriches the reading experience of everyone. We also had a great presentation by the Fantasy group, who emphasized the blurred lines between fantasy, horror, and the supernatural. We did a triple-Venn activity in which we categorized certain elements as fantasy, horror, or supernatural and discovered that it really is difficult to distinguish sometimes between these three groupings because they share many common characteristics. I felt like this activity was particularly helpful because I have had a difficult time distinguishing between fantasy and supernatural for my book selections.

My favorite part of the night was our poetry slam. We each read someone else's original poem about their own adolescence; then we guessed who the poem was about. Sometimes, it was so obvious and other times, it was a mystery, but we learned something new about everyone. I think I won't be able to look at Barbara ever again without thinking about the Supergirl incident. I loved the part in her poem where she said that he got in trouble and she got a cool nickname. We also read some interesting poetry written by others. Most of the poems were pretty funny, but others were strong and opinionated, told a story, or were popular "teacher picks" for reading in the classroom. I have always loved reading poetry, so this exercise just increased my desire to read more and I would love to see more of an emphasis on poetry in schools.