Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, II Allegreto

If you have not heard this beautiful piece of music created by Beethoven, I suggest you check it out. It is incredibly moving. I first heard this particular symphony in the film The Fall. It is repeated throughout and definitely has a way of seeping its way into your brain.

Anyways, here I sit at my place in Moss, listening to Beethoven, trying to find a new book to teach from for the Fall semester. I'll be teaching Comp. 120 again which is "Writing The Research Paper." I've narrowed it down to a few choices. "This Is Your Brain On Music" by Daniel Levitin, "Pop Culture: The Culture of Everyday Life" by Shirley Fedorak, "Superfreakonomics" by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner, or "Eating The Dinosaur" by Chuck Klosterman. I want a book that focuses on more current events so my students can relate and I also want something that will generate some good in class discussions. As interesting as "This Is Your Brain On Music" is, I feel that the content may be too limiting and specific for thorough discussions. The Pop Culture book could be interesting, but I fear that the writing style may be somewhat bland. "Superfreakonomics" is a sequel to "Freakonomics" written by the same authors. The first book had been taught before, but they pulled it out of rotation at school because it's been used so often, but this new one just came out, so that might work out well. I really like Klosterman's work and I recently taught "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" this past semester. The book went over well and prompted a lot of great in class discussions on our society and the mass media's effect on our lives, thoughts, and perceptions, and the students generally had a lot to say not only in class, but also in their papers, which was great. The only negative about Klosterman's work is that, when being used as a teaching tool, his work is pretty informal and unorthodox, which can confuse some students who are developing their writing abilities. Alongside "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs" I also taught from a book called "Cod," which was about the Scandinavian Cod Wars, and that was more of a research book with good examples of how to cite sources and what not. Looking back at what I have written, it looks I've narrowed it down a bit. "Superfreakonomics" and "Pop Culture" seem to be the safe bet...but sometimes playing it safe stifles creativity..hmmmm :P We'll see how things play out. I just need to figure it out By this week so I can turn in my book order.

Only three more weeks until my return. I miss you all and can't wait to see you!