"Paul's Case" Post #1 (Due Friday, 10/17)

As already mentioned in class, my goal through blogging is to open up a new medium by which we use technology to our advantage to discuss and share various aspects of literature outside of the classroom. Feel free to post any ambiguities or questions , formulate any connections, raise meaningful and insightful points regarding "Paul's Case", thoughts, or even debate issues amongst one another (keeping in mind that it is the issue we are debating, not the author of the post). Also make sure you leave your: LAST NAME, FIRST INITIAL (PERIOD #). Anonymous posts will be deleted regardless of its insight.

I will try to "prime" our literary minds by posing a few questions, however you are not obligated to respond to any of them...they are merely rhetorical questions. What are your thoughts regarding Paul, your diagnosis if you will? Some have commented by stating that Paul is delusional, living in a fairy tale...is he? Will "Paul's World" catch up with him? Is he a perfectly normal or average individual with an overly active imagination or does he act with reckless abandon and is headed for complete disaster?

Have fun!

Welcome to Blogging!

Ralph Waldo Emerson once stated that it was "... the good reader that makes the good book." In essence, I am asking you all to do more than merely "read" a piece of literature, and provide me with an artificial exercise to grade, such as a "book report" or even a series of questions. Rather, I want everyone to "absorb" the piece of literature, to establish a sense of "partnership" with the characters, to move "into, through, and beyond" the theme and plot, and to emerge a "changed person". As potential lifetime readers, I recognize that you will want to respond to your reading in various creative ways. Therefore, I intend to use this blog as a means of providing both direction and "creative space" for individualized expressions of understanding and appreciation. Blogging provides you an opportunity to respond to the readings and record your thoughts on them. Beyond agreeing or disagreeing with the authors, you should analyze why you agree or disagree. What is it about your own experience that allows you to connect with the author’s purpose and how does the author achieve his/her end? What is particularly striking about the writing, and what devices are at work. These are some of the effective kinds of questions you can ask yourself. How does the writing affect you? Where lies its appeal? Posting a comment to new posts on this blog are required and will count as a grade toward the course. Your comments will be graded on the amount of thought and effort shown.While my role is to lead and provoke discussion, and provide signposts for students to navigate their way towards becoming better writers and thinkers, I will do this with a minimum of expository lecture. This means, of course, that students must be involved, engaged and willing to share not only their opinions, but also their writing. By taking the role of reader who provides constructive criticism, you become informed with this insight as you express your thoughts in writing.

• When leaving comments it is important that I know who is leaving them so that I may give you proper credit for doing so. Therefore, let us adhere to the following standard...last name, first initial (period #)...for example: Falcone, G. (4E)