29. ENG 102 :)

Screenshot of our class wiki for ENG 102.

I thought I would give you all a 'sneak preview' of ENG 102, particularly what I have been planning, am planning, and will still be planning for the next month or so. I think it not out of order to do a little 'shameless promotion' to try to get you into my class again next semester. :) Last year 25 ENG 101 students joined my ENG 102 classes; ten of them studied in the same section, and that class in particular was special for that very reason. In fact, I received the most awesome news imaginable on New Year's Eve: my former ENG 101/102 student was chosen by the rector as 'The best ENG 102 student', and will spend a week at MIT in the spring, all expenses paid by SU! That is truly the pinnacle of pride for a teacher, and I cannot think of anyone who deserves this opportunity more. So a million congratulations to Sami, you're a star, and thanks for everything, not least for keeping me sane, you know what I mean.

So what's on the agenda for 102? Our overarching course theme is 'Explorations of Identity'. We will explore issues of race and adolescence in particular through a number of texts and short stories. We will also read Toni Morrison's wonderful 1970 novel, The Bluest Eye, and learn to use a class wiki (see screenshot) to explore the novel in preparation for our final seminar presentations. If you wonder what a wiki is and what it has to do with you, join my class! ;-) You may also be wondering how a 'seminar' presentation differs from what we have done in ENG 101. Basically, the difference lies in the greater degree of audience interaction, which you will elicit and develop throughout the presentation.

The other major project is a research paper. This is more than just a drafted essay; you will learn how to use the library databases, how to evaluate Internet sources, and how to prepare an annotated bibliography, all of which are valuable academic skills. The paper itself will be considerably longer than our ENG 101 essays, giving you more scope to delve into your research.

I think it's only fair to tell you that ENG 102 requires more work than ENG 101, so you should prepare yourself mentally. Participation also carries greater weight, so your contributions to the class will be, shall we say, scrutinised more carefully. ;-)

I am going to wait to get your final feedback on ENG 101 before finalising preparations for next semester, but this is the general outline.

I want to make next semester the best ever for personal reasons. I am thinking that if I wish hard enough, at least some of you will materialise before my eyes in the week of 15th February.