Well, I recorded a teaching video today, for my 100-level class. These are a mix of students, but a lot of freshman, in a class that’s geared towards non-majors, so many of them aren’t used to doing a lot of literary analysis.
I’m not going to do videos for every assignment, and I’m not going to post them all, but I thought it was worth documenting. It’s a little nerve-wracking — what if I say something dumb? I mean, there’s no reason for other professors to watch this and call me out for saying something that makes no sense, and yet, they might. I didn’t really prep for this — maybe I should have? In a normal world, perhaps I would have.
Well, hopefully the students find it helpful, and you’re all certainly welcome to watch it too — no knowledge of post-colonial lit. or Chinua Achebe should be necessary to understand this. 20 minutes — I didn’t mean to go for that long, but I’m a rambler, I admit it!
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Collaboration Space Assignment:
(Answer at least one of these questions by Friday 4/10 at midnight — remember to sign your name!)
1. In the first pages of Things Fall Apart, how is Okonkwo described? (Pay close attention to the specific adjectives.)
2. Consider our direct government here in Illinois.
Take a few minutes to watch this video of Lightfoot’s PSA’s about staying home: https://www.cnn.com/…/lori-lightfoot-stay-home-s…/index.html
Of our President Donald Trump, Governor J.B. Pritzker, and Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who do you think is heroic, if any? What connections can you see between their characters and that of Okonkwo?
3. What are some jobs / roles that you think of as heroic? Why? Discuss how class may play a role in that.
4. In your own life in the last few weeks, has anyone seemed heroic to you? Why?
5. Superman or Batman — which is more heroic? Why? 