Post by Lotus Eater on Oct 16, 2006 13:40:58 GMT 7
The dean has told me to create a couple of courses I would like to teach - yippee!! 
One I have thought would be interesting is "Allusions in literature; the world behind the words". For 2nd language post/grad lit students, many many of the allusions in books etc are just so many words to them. So ... to fill this gap in their education, I want to create this course of 'stuff' we all grew up knowing, partly from our own reading, partly from stories told by family, education institutions etc, partly from just from being alive in a world and hearing comments often enough to gather their meaning.
So - from your own reading - what do you figure would be useful? And we are talking wide-ranging here - from Mickey Mouse to ....
I figure some of the main mythologies we grew up with - really well known and used Greek/Roman ones Medusa, Promethesus, etc (plus stuff like Caligula fiddling while Rome burned), main Bible stories, Valhalla, the Valkyries, Bifrost, Odin and Thor, some nursery rhyme stuff, film allusions "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine" etc, musical stuff - Sergeant Pepper - etc etc etc.
Got any ideas - stuff you've come across you've had to explain to your students?? All suggestions gratefully accepted and considered - if not all used!
One I have thought would be interesting is "Allusions in literature; the world behind the words". For 2nd language post/grad lit students, many many of the allusions in books etc are just so many words to them. So ... to fill this gap in their education, I want to create this course of 'stuff' we all grew up knowing, partly from our own reading, partly from stories told by family, education institutions etc, partly from just from being alive in a world and hearing comments often enough to gather their meaning.
So - from your own reading - what do you figure would be useful? And we are talking wide-ranging here - from Mickey Mouse to ....
I figure some of the main mythologies we grew up with - really well known and used Greek/Roman ones Medusa, Promethesus, etc (plus stuff like Caligula fiddling while Rome burned), main Bible stories, Valhalla, the Valkyries, Bifrost, Odin and Thor, some nursery rhyme stuff, film allusions "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine" etc, musical stuff - Sergeant Pepper - etc etc etc.
Got any ideas - stuff you've come across you've had to explain to your students?? All suggestions gratefully accepted and considered - if not all used!
) He made the comment, "Is my nose getting longer?" as proof he wasn't lying. The student had no clue what he was talking about. So, my 2 jiaos worth is throw in a little Pinochio.
