Hit the road, Jack

Please read K. Anthony Appiah's piece, "Learn Statistics. Go Abroad." It is on page 124 in "Presence," but you can also read it here in Slate.
List one of the reasons he gives for studying outside the United States. Then answer the following question: If you could spend a semester or a year at a foreign university, where would you go and why?

Zora Neale Hurston

My favorite passage in "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" is this:
"Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." What strikes me is the tone. Many victims of oppression dwell on the pain they feel. Here, Hurston turns the tables. She practically feels sorry for the people doing the discriminating. How refreshing.
What is your favorite passage from the piece, and why?

Liminality?

Here's one way to look at Lynda Barry's graphic story:
"Liminality and mestiza consciousness in Lynda Barry’s One Hundred Demons” by Melinda de Jesus
A professor at Tufts uses "Common Scents" in an English class called Asian American Experience.

Fun way to find the right word

Check out the Visuwords Web site for an unusual -- and very visual -- thesaurus.

Lynda Barry

In "Common Scents," Lynda Barry writes about the different smells at friends' houses.
Describe your favorite place to visit because of its smell.
Mine is Chutters in LIttleton. Gourmet malted milk balls. Mmmm.

Error-catching Honor Roll

Be the first to point out an error the professor makes, and turn a quiz grade into an A.

Ashley M.: Feb. 17 (caught Friday-Thursday mistake)
Elaine: Feb. 16 (caught wrong page number for Langston Hughes reading)
Mary: Feb. 6 (caught a missing question mark in my lecture notes)
Lindsey: Feb. 3 (I called her by the wrong name -- twice!)
Jimmy: Jan. 29 (caught misspelling of friend's son's name)
Elaine: Jan. 28 (caught spelling error in lecture notes on Blackboard)
Elaine: Jan. 24 (David Sedaris story listed twice in class schedule)
Brian: Jan. 22 (LIttleton -- errant capital I)
Brittany: Jan. 21 (pointed out time-zone error on blog)
Moriah: Jan. 20 (18 students instead of 16)

Gummi Groups

Orange:
Ashley Adler
Mike Baribault
Samantha Dolloff
Neil Richardson

White/Clear:
Brandi Before
Mike Boisvert
Brittany Eldred
James Sinko

Green:
Shelby Budziak
Treg Butler
Jim Gaskell
Ashley Meunier
Heather Rego

Red:
Lindsey Fitch
Elaine Fournier
Mary Paquin
Moriah Pratt
Brian Taylor

Alice Walker response

The theme of our first essay is displacement -- how different (or not) college life is compared to your pre-college days. Read Alice Walker's "The Place Where I Was Born" and post a comment in which you imagine how displaced Barack Obama and his family will feel on their first night in the White House.

Welcome to The Goat Blog

This is a blog created for an English class at Lyndon State College in Lyndonville, Vermont.