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Way back when I was In grad school, I read a lot of Shakespeare, Medieval Romance, French Poetry, Franz Kafka, Edgar Allan Poe. Whatever I was told to read, I read, probably two or three times over, for I certainly was not among the smartest students in the room. When my professors said to…
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What I like most in this book is to see first-time novelist Rachel Kushner make her own rules. That’s what I’ve always heard is best thing to do in any writing workshop I’ve ever participated in – I mean, this is fiction. When it comes down to it, the job of a fiction…
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Nearly fifty years ago, I began my first semester at college at UC Santa Barbara, and if my math is correct, that means I was about the same age as most of my students are now. One of my first elective classes was called something like “Pop Culture History.” Pop Culture was a…
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Above: Jay's Practice Musical Annotation – David Bowie – "Changes" This week I provide my students with THREE annotation assignments. As they work with their text, I want them to consider all of the ways they can connect with what they are reading. Here are some suggestions that will help them with their annotations:…
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I have read my share of Detective Mario Conde, the protagonist of Cuban author Leonardo Padura’s novel Transparency of Time. I first discovered him in the Netflix telenovela Las cuatro estaciones – The Four Seasons. I watched all the episodes in Spanish before I bought the Padura novels they are based upon. Mario C. is…
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Over Winter Break, I read the Graham Greene novel The Heart of the Matter about the most MISERABLE man, living in the most MISERABLE place, married to the most MISERABLE woman. Major Scobie is the assistant commissioner of police in a lawless, hopelessly corrupt Sierra Leone. He’s been here fifteen years, and he knows nothing…
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Lefty “El Zurdo” Mendieta is the complicated homocide detective featured in the Elmer Mendoza novels I read in both English and Spanish. I describe him as complicated here because on the outside he appears handsome, competent and confident, but in Culiacán, Sinaloa, that doesn’t mean all that much. Appearances can be deceiving. The entire…
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For me, Joel Selvin’s Hollywood Eden begins and ends with Jan and Dean. In 1958 Jan Berry, was smart, handsome, athletic, ambitious, and devious. He must have been Big Man On Campus at his University High School when there were plenty of Big Men to go around. This school – like 5-10 minutes from…
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Today I share my most recent classroom blog – Jay's Bloggin' in the Wind. If you are wondering about the title, well, you will have to read the first few posts. Each semester I try to create a new blog to represent our work in the classroom – Below you will see posts that describe…
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This semester I encourage my students to SHARE their ideas on PADLET and FACEBOOK before they begin developing their essays/ research papers on CANVAS. For me, INCREASED collaboration, leads to INCREASED performance. That’s good for them. And that’s good for ME. Often, students who work in isolation just lose interest in their writing. WE…