Get It in Writing

A Gathering of Old Men by Ernest J. Gaines

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
We read this book in an Advanced Reading class that I taught for the Spring session. This was the second or third time that I have used this book in a reading class, and with each read it reveals more to me and increases my appreciation of Ernest Gaines' writing.

Gaines' device of using different narrators for each chapter gives this book a layered perspective of the events that happen over one day on a Louisiana sugar cane plantation in the nineteen seventies. Gaines knows his subject, Southwestern Louisiana and its people, well.

After a couple of chapters the students became interested in the story and often commented that they wanted to read beyond the assignment in order to find out what happens next.


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Posted by Ron Corio at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Flight: A Novel by Sherman Alexie

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow! What a ride this book is. Micol reported that this will be the Winter Book Selection for the VCU Focused Inquiry classes this year. It is a page-turning quick read. Zits, aka Michael, travels through past lives in order to find who he is. Amazing. Oh, how I would love to use this book in a reading class, but fear that some students would find it offensive.


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Posted by Ron Corio at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History by Art Spiegelman

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
It took a while to get accustomed to a graphic novel, but by mid-book the story and the drawings captured me. I look forward to reading Part II.

This is VCU's Summer Reading selection. All incoming students are asked to read this book before arriving in the fall, at which time they will participate in group discussions on the book. I get to teach the book in Advanced Reading class.


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Posted by Ron Corio at 8:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Halibut! I have discovered halibut. On a recent visit to the Yellow Umbrella, my favorite fish monger so-named for its origins selling seafood from the back of a pickup truck shaded by a yellow umbrella, I was in an adventurous mood and selected a halibut fillet. Not knowing how to cook it, I asked for advice and was given this simple recipe

Mix

• 1 tablespoon of dijon mustard
  
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
  
• sea salt
  
• black pepper
  

Wash and pat dry the halibut fillet. Spread the sauce over it and bake uncovered at 450 degrees for twelve minutes.

It was mouth-watering delicious with the sauce giving flavor to the tender and flaky meat of the fish.

Yesterday was the second attempt at this recipe, this time with a fillet from the recently opened Richmond location of Whole Foods. This too was a success.

Hooray for recipes that are as simple as ABC and create tasty dishes!

Posted by Ron Corio at 2:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The spring semester has ended, grades have been turned in, and the end of semester faculty meeting is history. Vacation time, right? Well, yes, it will be easy to slip into an easy flow routine and the agenda is cleared for that. Nonetheless, end of semester adrenaline and the challenge of improving the pass ratio of students in my AW3 class has me thinking and planning for the next semester's version of that class. As a guide and a target, here are some things to do:

1. Enroll in CTE's week-long Summer Teacher's Institute
   
2. Compose a student profile data questionnaire
   
3. Develop free-writing topics
   
4. Create a series of flash writing assignments
   
5. Write guidelines for creating a VCU blog
   
6. Develop blog assignments
   
7. Read Paul Johnson's Heroes
   
8. Select the topic for the research paper and find reading sources for it
   
9. Develop additional Ten-minute Timed-Writing Drills
   

Posted by Ron Corio at 9:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)