Sermo Lupi/Angels in America

Wulfstan believed the world was falling apart because people did not obey God. Specifically, he thought the Church and clergy needed more money and support. He was concerned about the rights of the powerless, such as widows, children, and slaves.

In class we considered how America in the 1990s seemed to be falling apart from a gay man's perspective. Concerns included: civil rights, AIDS, acceptance/understanding, the environment, politics, money, and immigration, among others.

We generated a list of types of people likely to be present in the plays. They included: politicians, religious figures, medical workers, people of different social classes, ethnic and sexual minorities, and homophobes.

Finally, we thought about different ways a gay playwright might envision the relationship between humans and God.

Reading for Fri 3/27

Here is the Sermo Lupi. To get the Modern English translation click on the Translation tab in the column in the margin.

An Apology to Students Who Were Prepared for Class

I didn't mean to imply in word or deed that I take your education less seriously based on the actions of other students.

Body Paragraph Questions

1. What is this paragraph about?

2. How does this paragraph relate to the overall thesis?

3. What evidence supports my assertions? NB: For close reading this will ordinarily be a quote. For other classes you might have a date, stat, etc.

4. How can I show I understand the significance of the evidence?

MIdterm Grades

I have submitted provisional midterm grades. There were some A's. (Keep up the good work!) But 13/50 students are failing, and there are low Cs and Ds. Generally speaking at this point you may raise your grade one letter by doing consistent A work.

If you have missed three or more classes any further absence/tardiness will be cause for failure, as will missing a journal entry if you have submitted fewer than 12 thus far.

NB: Midterm grades do not reflect class participation, so people who've missed a lot of class and/or have not posted class writing on your blogs can expect a lower final grade.

Midterm

Most students did well on the midterm; there were a lot of A's and B's. Everyone seemed to grasp the major themes of Beowulf, and most people are catching on to close reading, but a significant number of students failed. The one and only skill I emphasize in this course is close reading. If you don't quote the text, even if you've got excellent ideas, you have not produced a close reading, which is cause for an F.

PL Essays

A decidedly mixed bag. There were some A's and B's, including an essay I consider the best I've received ever from an undergrad. Clearly, then, the assignment was doable. But about 2/3 of the class got D's and F's. A large number of people didn't turn in the essay; they obviously wanted to fail, so I obliged them. Most of the remaining low grades came from simply not following instructions. Well over half the class ignored the supplemental reading, which cost a full letter grade. A lot of people just paraphrased their passages. The great majority re-hashed class discussion; the very best that'll earn is a B, and can easily get much lower. Not having any/enough quotes was another problem. One essay had significant enough plagiarism to fail, but thankfully not significant enough to fail the semester. 

Not surprisingly, students who wrote journal entries on time and attempted to avoid paraphrase tended to fare better. In terms of your grade journals can come in late, and I don't judge for quality per se, but they are intended as a way for you to practice skills and get feedback.  By the same token, the in-class writing that only a handful of students post is intended to give directed practice. Early in the semester when I warned about not keeping up with the small easy work this is the outcome I feared.