Nice dinner tonight; Kevin took over for his week, and we had braised short ribs over cheddar-bacon polenta, with roasted beets. Yum yum. If I were still at home, I'd be poking my head in the fridge to nibble some more polenta. Good thing I'm not. :-)
At the moment, I'm at an acquaintance's house, babysitting her two girls. Celly's been taking Kavi off on Thursday mornings for a few hours, and in exchange, I'm letting her and her husband go off for a dinner out. (This is through the NPN babysitting co-op.) Since the girls were asleep when I got here, it's a pretty damn easy trade, although I did have to groan a little at getting up off my couch to leave the house. And I'm a bit sleepy, what with DST, my normal 9 p.m. bedtime, and expecting to be awake for another 2-3 hrs. But it'll be okay. Soon I'm stop web browsing political blogs (I swear) and do my students' grading.
Although students, I give you fair warning. If McCain somehow manages to win, I expect to be crying for a week, so I may need to cancel Wednesday's classes. I'll make up the time later in the semester, but I just don't think you'd get much out of class with me standing in front of the room, sobbing.
I want this damn election to be over. Over over over. The tension is making me want to scream.
Maybe short response papers will distract me. Although I'm a bit worried that I may have made the topics too vague/broad. Hmm...opinions?
Choose either The Gangster We Are All Looking For or The Woman Warrior. Write a 2-3 page typed response to one of the following questions, being sure to incorporate citations (direct quotes) from the text to support your argument:a) Choose a female character in the text and consider how either 1) her actions, or b) her words, reflect her status in her society. What roles does she play for the people around her? In your own family and friends, what roles are you expected to play, and how is that reflected in your actions or words? (Hint: dont list all of them choose one major one, and explore it in detail.)
b) The Woman Warrior tells stories of how it was in the homeland. Why do you think the author chose those particular stories to tell? What political purposes is served by revealing what others in the culture might consider shameful secrets? In your own family, what stories are told of the homeland, and for what purpose are they told? (If the stories told within the family are different from those told to outsiders, that might also be interesting to explore.)
c) The Gangster We Are All Looking For traces connections between sexuality (adolescent and/or adult), danger, home, and death. Why would sexuality be considered dangerous in this story? Why does the mother issue so many warnings, on so many different subjects? In your own life, does sexuality seem dangerous? Why or why not?