Thursday, March 19, 2020
Ask me anything!
16 comments:
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ReplyDeleteHave you thought about using a live video chat platform like Skype or Zoom? I think it would be easier and more interactive than uploading videos and replying to the comments, and you can hold the sessions during what would've been normal class hours. I'm also pretty sure you can screen record the sessions so that you can upload them onto the blog afterwards.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with Zoom on my end is that I live in a small NY apartment with my wife who is also a BMCC prof. There is no where in the house I can do a zoom without her being in earshot and she has her own things to do — I teach four classes Mondays between 10 and 515 and Zoom would mean her having to hear me all day when she has her own work to do so its just not practical.
DeleteI was wondering if you could post a video of your own rendition of a monologue from a Shakespeare play? It would be pretty cool to see your acting choice!
ReplyDeleteHA! Maybe! But you guys have to listen to me TALK about shakespeare so much I dont want to give you too much more of me! It feels self indulgent!
DeleteI can understand why video chat platforms are appealing but my internet connection is really bad because there are family members who work from home where I live. I feel like this is probably the case with many students. As much as I miss a live class, I like this platform because it doesn't rely as much on my bad internet and possibly get in the way of other people's work.
ReplyDelete-Deborah Majowka
I know Shakespeare’ s work was fiction, But I wonder if his work was inspired by real events that occurred in his life or those surrounding him? If so, does it relate the Alexander Pope’s theory that art is a copy of reality which is good?
ReplyDelete-Tabitha Frederick
It would! But he was mostly inspired by other STORIES which is what we are going to discuss NEXT
DeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteThis is Mamata Nabila. I'm a student of your ENG 101 class,(Mon & Thu)-
(2:00pm-3:45pm) class.
You already took our 1st in-class essay writing. I got "C". you gave us option to rewrite the essay to increase the grade. I want to know where should i send you my rewrite-essay to increase my grade. Can i send you my rewriting for the essay via email or i have to use other source. please let me know.
Thank you :)
You type it up and send it to me by email which you can find off to the right of the main page. Check the syllabus for what that should look like basically — its a lot of things I want: double spaced, MLA bibliography, 12 point font, 750 words, heading etc. Plus I need you to write out whats on the card so I can find out if you did the thing I asked you to do. Thanks for asking!
DeleteIs this still an upcoming video? No rush of course, but how do you think writers can play a more vital role for a future pandemic (or world crisis), have a more practical effect on the world? Other than being a journalist, perhaps, and other than being an "artist" and just reacting to the world- is that the most a writer- or any artist- can do? React? Hope? Furthermore, what changes should the US gov, healthcare system, the international world enact to ensure a better existence for the human race? Do you think things will change, truly positively change, because of this? Will there be a UN for international healthcare, etc? Just speculating! (Also this is a bit more rhetorical but how did Soderbergh prove himself to be the master of the pandemic subgenre a decade ago?! The more Soderbergh I see the more Bresson becomes apparent as an influence in his work.)
ReplyDeleteIt doesn’t seem like I am gonna respond in video form — it seems like text makes more sense? I think writing’s effect on the world is pretty subtle, but the world is guided by metaphors and writers can work to change those metaphors, change the source code of a lot of the world. Stories — journalism and art — about people with AIDS for example changed the way people thought about AIDS victims, and I think that matters a lot. But honestly I think the real virtues of writing are often subtlety spiritual, there is an enlargement of the soul, an increased capacity to notice things, and I have a kind of religious faith that that matters somehow. It seems to me a handful of people having absurd amounts of wealth is not great for the existence of the human race. And while I am not confident this crisis will create a better world it seems to me that the only time the world CAN change is in a big crisis like this. I wish I had better answers for you, including Bresson, a director I need to spend more time with. What I have to offer is kinda bleak honestly — i feel like the world is a confusing hellscape, much like Hamlet does, and that art is one of the bright spots in it, and that the study of art is one of the few things that makes the whole world-as-meat-grinder worth being in.
ReplyDeleteTruly a crazy time to be human!
ReplyDeleteHow do you think the situation will affect society in the short/ling term?
ReplyDeleteLong term*
DeleteI wish I had an answer for you, but I honestly have no idea. What I do know is that society is hard to change, its sort of stubborn, a lot of people like it to look the way it has looked in the past so that they don’t feel lost even if that past was bad (this is where you get “Make America Great Again”, which does not tell you when america was great in the past). When a crisis hits its a chance to actually change things, to create something new — that new thing can be far right fascism or lefty socialism, but the point is it is a moment to create change, when people see things are not working. I want us to break left, but I don’t have a lot of confidence in my fellow citizens based for example, on their choice in political leaders.
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