Literature, Class 1: Period 3, Thursday, January 8

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Miss Elizabeth Bennet was somewhat surprised, by how quickly life fell into patterns, and the unusual came to be routine. In the weeks she had been away from Fandom, she had missed teaching, had missed the interactions and discussions. It was quite good to be back.

"Welcome to class," she smiled. "My name is Miss Elizabeth Bennet, and I am to be your literature teacher this semester."

"We shall start class today with a question," she continued, seating herself on the edge of her desk and smiling at the new faces. "It's a simple one. 'Why Literature?' But for all its simplicity, it can be taken in many directions.

"First, why should I be teaching you literature? I readily confess, as I did last term, that I am far from being an expert upon the subject. I was accused once of being a great reader, who cared little for anything else," and her eyes twinkled with amusement, at that, "but that was idle gossip, and I assure you, it isn't the case. However, I do care greatly for books, and perhaps that's more important: having a passion for the subject. Scholars may get lost in themes and theoreticals that the average reader may never notice consciously. It is possible to be too detached from the work, perhaps; discussing the meter of a poem at length and never once touching on how that meter, in turn, amplifies the emotional thrust of the work. It is a moot point, however. I am no scholar, but I am indeed the person that will be teaching class, and I have at least one term more experience than I could profess, the last time I spoke to a classroom. We will make do as best we can.

She glanced around the room again. "So then, why is literature important? I will tell you my thoughts. Literature is nothing more than the stories that we tell to one another. Books resonate with us, as individuals. A good story can tell you things about the world or life or humanity that you hadn't quite realized before. A well-written character can seem so real that you wish for nothing more than an afternoon to take tea with him -- or to call him unpleasant names. Literature can inform us, can move us, can allow us to escape our lives and step into someone else's, for a while. Someone's taste in books is very telling, I've found. It's hard to think ill of someone who likes many of the works one does. Conversely, if a friend for whom you care deeply is unmoved by your favourite story, one might feel disappointed. Opinions on such matters can be terribly personal, I'm afraid."

"There is one last version of today's question." Eliza smiled around the room, hoping to catch the students' eyes. "Why literature, for each of you? What inspired you to sign up for this class? What do you wish to learn, or discuss? Furthermore, what do you read, in your leisure time, if anything? Why those works, above all others?"

"I assure you," she continued calmly, "there are no incorrect answers. If you read adventure stories because you get a thrill when pirates take the high seas, if you read gothic romance to swoon over the brave gentleman as he woos his lady, if you read the Holy Bible to immerse yourself in the Lord's Will, whatever you read, what matters is that you connect with it. I will state that there was an unfortunate incident, in the last class, where I made myself into a liar on this point, which is unacceptable on my part so now I shall attempt to make the matter slightly more clear. If your favourite subject matter is ... something which is thoroughly inappropriate for a classroom, that is perfectly fine as well, and does not constitute an 'incorrect' answer -- but I ask that you refrain from elaborating on the matter, if only to humour your rather old-fashioned instructor."

Her cheeks were slightly flushed, but her eyes were twinkling with amusement. "It is very possible that some of you may not read at all, either for lack of time or because you simply haven't the ability. Pray do not feel disheartened, if that is the case. Ladies in my society were encouraged to be accomplished, but none received proper schooling; in fact, my sisters and I had no governess, and had to educate ourselves in all matters. It was then that I discovered how greatly I enjoyed reading. It is my great hope that some of you may do the same. If I am moving too quickly over theoretical matters, or if I am failing to explain properly, please do tell me, at once. As I have said, I am not trained in educational matters, and if we are not communicating properly, the fault is mine, and not yours. I will rectify it as quickly as may be possible."

"One last matter: in the previous semester, I had two young gentlemen offer to be my assistants, and their aid was invaluable. If any of you are similarly inclined to provide assistance, please do speak with me after class. For now, let us being by introducing ourselves. Shall we?"

Comments

Sign In [LIT-1]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Reading is fun-damental!

Re: Sign In [LIT-1]

[peace_n_war]

Warren Peace

During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Light conversation and note-passing is permitted, but extended versions shall earn you detention. (Please see this post (http://clevermsbennet.livejournal.com/1995.html) for information on earning detention in Miss Bennet's class.)

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[stupid-toasters.livejournal.com]

Lee didn't take any notes, choosing more to pay attention since this was one of the less...unusual classes he'd taken. Hey, he'd promised to take some more 'possibly helpful in your future' classes this semester.

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[ambassadorinara.livejournal.com]

Inara would have been impressed by the quality of the lecture, if it wasn't for the fact that four words in, she'd recognized Miss Elizabeth Bennet as the Vampyre Queen she'd fought the semester before and become incredibly horrified.

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

She didn't take notes, not on the introductory class, but Hinata quietly was of the opinion that this may be her favourite class this semester.

She listened closely.

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[flashesforinfo.livejournal.com]

Angela wasn't taking notes, first class it didn't really seem necessary.

She was there and listening, though.

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[iamnotallgirl]

Jill took careful, comprehensive notes and paid strict attention to Miss Bennet.

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

Oh, hey, a lit teacher who wasn't going to tell people what they should read? Inasmuch as Katchoo ever really lightened up toward teachers, she might be starting to do just that now.

Re: During the Lecture [LIT-1]

[finding-x-dream.livejournal.com]

Agnes took notes thoughtfully. She had a feeling she was going to like this class.

Introductions [LIT-1]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

"Allow me to start," Eliza smiled. "My name is Miss Elizabeth Bennet; I am a gentlewoman, of late from Longbourn-house in Hertfordshire, 1793. Currently, I reside at 13 Griffin Way with Mr. Durden and Miss Boxer. I like to read a great many things: Addison's essays, for one, and I must confess a weakness for Gothic tales, particularly Walpole's Chateau of Ritanto (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle_of_Otranto). I also find myself drawn to works written by women, about the society we move within, such as Burney's wry Elyse (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelina) and Edgeworth's controversial Melina (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belinda_(Edgeworth_novel)). I have spent much of my time here attempting to uncover the nearly two hundred years of literature that I missed, chronologically. Much of it is exquisite, I must say, though not all of it is to my taste. Who should like to go next? Your name, please, where you are from, and if you could, name a few works of which you are particularly fond."

(Let chaos reign! Please feel free to ping to one another's threads. Also, please see OOC note on meta-ing!)

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[peace_n_war]

Warren hated introductions, but he enjoyed reading. Hopefully that would balance out sometime before he ran out of breath.

"My name is Warren Peace," and here is where he took his traditional pause to glare around the room in-case anyone decided to say anything about it being a pun, "from Maxville. I don't read much for the sake of escapism. Mostly I just study my notes so that I can pass my classes. But I do sometimes appreciate traditional Chinese literature, like the stories about Sūn Wùkōng."

That guy was a hardcore little monkey king.

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[chic-harper.livejournal.com]

Harper's very pink outfit probably wouldn't have gotten much notice normally, even with the big embroidered cupcake on her sweater. However, it would be very tough not to notice the big plastic cupcake anchored to her headband.

"My name is Harper Finkle, and I'm from New York City," she began, deliberately leaving out the year. She still wasn't sure yet why people claimed to be from other time periods. She'd figure it out eventually.

"And my favorite works have to be Among Ash-Heaps and Millionaires (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Gatsby) and The Era of Immaculateness (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Age_of_Innocence), mainly because they are set in and around New York."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[stupid-toasters.livejournal.com]

"Lee Adama," he said with a nod. "I'm from a place called Caprica that's nowhere near here. It's part of the Twelve Colonies. I'll read just about anything. My grandfather was a prominent lawyer back where I'm from so I read a lot of his law books when I was younger. I like comics a lot too...which aren't really literature but sometimes they're written more creatively than novels."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[ambassadorinara.livejournal.com]

"My name is Inara Serra," she said, once she'd gotten over her embarrassment, "and I'm from a planet called Shinon, about 300 years in the future."

Inara had learned to stop referring to Earth as Earth-that-Was, but it had taken some time.

"I'm afraid that many of this planet's classic works have been lost, and so I am unfamiliar with most of them. I will confess, however, to a love of poetry (http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl/9780307265678.html), as well as an affection for the works of Anais Nin. However, I would dearly love to expand the scope of my reading beyond what I was allowed to read at home."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[not_in_the_book]

"I'm Ronan Nolan," he began, "and I'm from Bray, in County Wicklow in Ireland. I used to read a lot more than I do now, I guess, when I was a kid, but I still like to take time when I can. I read a lot of fantasy novels, so I guess that's more modern than a lot of other stuff, last hundred years or so, and usually not even that old. My favorites are probably the Landocean books, by Ursula LeGuin."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[shyest-eyes.livejournal.com]

"My n-name," she said, speaking slowly to minimize her stutter, "is Hinata Hyuuga, and I am f-from Konohagakure. It is a village in a w-world much like this one's Feudal Japan, only with a h-higher level of technology. I enjoy... stories w-where people aren't always nice, or k-kind. When they a-are flawed, I find it is e-easier to understand them. Nick Sagan's trilogy, starting with Idlewild (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idlewild_(novel)), appeal to me f-for that reason. No one is p-particularly admirable, but they a-are very human in their lack."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[flashesforinfo.livejournal.com]

"I'm Angela Montenegro," she introduced. "From Washington DC in 1994," then there was a brief pause, "Or, '95 now, I guess."

"A lot of the time I recently I've ended up reading magazines," Angela admitted. "But I like reading crime novels sometimes. Figuring out who did it before the end is half the fun."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[iamnotallgirl]

"I'm Jill McTeague," said Jill, in a tone that suggested she was now realizing the teachers were insane, as well as the students. Her mother had sent her to an asylum. Great. "From Winterhead, Massachusetts. I read, you know, the classics, and some romance novels. And a lot of self-help books."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[thismaskiwear.livejournal.com]

"Katina Choovanski," she half mumbled. "I've lived a bunch of places but I was born in Chicago, and I lived in Houston for a while after that. I don't really read, except for Elegant Waste (http://community.livejournal.com/fandomhigh/1985156.html?thread=126059140#t126059140)."

Re: Introductions [LIT-1]

[therhimineecat.livejournal.com]

"I'm Seregil i Korit Solun Meringil Bokthersa," Seregil said, lips turned upwards at the edges, knowing the reaction his full name usually got. "I'm most recently from Rhiminee in Skala -- which is in another dimension from here. Since I've come here, I've read quite widely -- working in a book store provides easy access. I'm not sure I've a favourite; new information and new stories are all valuable and have thier own appeal."

Discussion [LIT-1]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Why did you sign up for this class? Do you read, in your leisure hours? If so, why, and if not, why not? What works are you drawn to, and why do you believe you enjoy those works? Why do you think we take literature so very personally?

(Once again, chaos is what we aim for; I hope this will be a discussion class, which means that you should all feel free to ping to one another and make the OCD as messy as possible. Eliza will ping to everyone as well, but please don't let that deter any of you from pinging one another; this is meant to be everyone conversing, not just many one-on-ones.)

Re: Discussion [LIT-1]

[stupid-toasters.livejournal.com]

"Admittedly, I first signed up for this class because I got some advise to not take one of the weirder classes," he said and blushed. "But, I do like reading. I work in the library on Sundays and check out a lot of their books to take back to my room with me. I read when I can and mostly fiction unless I'm paging through one of my grandfather's law books. I read a lot when I first arrived here about the history of the planet since I had nooooo idea. And there's a lot history."

Suggestions [LIT-1]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

What works do you believe we should cover in this class? What genres do you feel are especially important for students? What authors should be introduced to a wider audience? Any and all suggestions are welcome, though Eliza can't promise that they will be accepted as class topics.

Talk to Eliza [LIT-1]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

She would be especially grateful if you are volunteering to assist her, but would love very much to chat with any or all of you after class.

(I have no TAs set OOC or anything, so if you'd like to help, please do!)

Re: Talk to Eliza [LIT-1]

[iamnotallgirl]

"Miss Bennet?" Jill asked. "Can I speak to you for a moment?"

OOC [LIT-1]

[clevermsbennet.livejournal.com]

Welcome to Lit class! The class is going to focus on reactions and overarching themes more than detailed minutiae or lit crit theories, so that it's accessible to any of the students' level. I'm also going to try to aim for works that are up on SparkNotes (http://www.sparknotes.com/) or a similar site so that you-the-players don't need to have read every/any work we cover in order to be able to participate in discussion.

For meta-ing, author names are okay as-is, but please meta the names of any works, and link to the actual work so we know what everyone's talking about. And a special request: skip over any works that feature someone currently in Fandom, meta'd or no? I.e., no mentioning your character's love for "Pride and Prejudice" or "Romeo and Juliet," unless it's canon that your character loves that story, in which case we'll work around.

I totally stole this OOC note from last time around. Woo!

Re: OOC [LIT-1]

[not-fangirl.livejournal.com]

Can we mention the Zombie!Pride & Prejudice?