• My office hours Wed (2/1) and next Monday (2/6) will be cancelled to meet with the new children's literature candidates.
• Thanks everyone for turning in the first reading response. The second response is now available in Blackboard and is due next Monday (2/6) by 9am. I'll be responding to your posts over the week.
• Note: I accidentally included a mid-term in the course calendar. We are NOT having a mid-term, but we will have class that day.
• We discussed the articles assigned from the Norton Critical edition of The Secret Garden and the handout in groups.

Homework:

• Read Lissa Paul's "Enigma Variations."

• I passed back the first quizzes.
• I assigned everyone an article to read from the Norton Critical version of The Secret Garden. If you did not receive an article assignment in class, please email me and I will let you know which article to read. I also passed out a handout to go along with the article - you only need to fill out the front side of the handout, the rest we will do in class Monday. An electronic version of this handout is available in Blackboard, as is the list of possible articles.
• We discussed the end of The Secret Garden, including who the main character is, different definition of Magic, the spaces in the text, and focalizers.

Homework:

• First reading response due Monday by 9am.
• Read the article assigned from the Norton Critical version of The Secret Garden.
• Fill out the front of the handout.

• We had our first quiz.
• We continued discussing The Secret Garden, including our leftover discussion questions from Monday, a few term definitions, and some of the motifs in the novel. A slideshow summary is available in Blackboard.

Homework:

• Finish reading The Secret Garden. In class on Friday I will give the article assignment for Monday's reading.
• First reading response due Monday (1/30/12) by 9am.

• Melanie came to administer the IRB paperwork.
• We went over the first paper assignment (which is also available electronically in Blackboard). The paper is due February 10, 2012.
• We discussed our reactions to the first part of The Secret Garden with a partner then came up with a discussion question for the class.
• After some discussion, I went over some background for Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden, and the relationship between India and England in the novel.

Homework:

• Read The Secret Garden chapters 10 - 18.
• First reading response due next Monday (1/30) at 9am.

• We talked a bit more about the structure of the class and the reading response guidelines. An electronic version of the reading response guidelines is available in Blackboard.
• Everyone should be added to Blackboard now; if you are not, please let me know.
• Extra credit opportunity: Lois Lensky lecture series, feature Dr. Philip Nel on March 26th and 7pm. Dr. Nel will present a lecture about his upcoming book The Purple Crayon and a Hole to Dig: The Lives of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss.
• We talked a lot about what children's literature is, and what we should be looking for while reading. We discussed the Nodelman and Reimer chapter, especially the concepts of "implied reader" and "dual audience."

Homework:

• Monday: read chapters 1-9 of The Secret Garden.

First Day

• We went over the class syllabus (an electronic copy is available in Blackboard) and some of the goals of the class. Note: I will be adding everyone to Blackboard this afternoon.
• We also talked about the book selection for the semester, and why I choose the books we are reading.
• We talked about our names.

Homework:

• For Friday: Read the Nodelman article I passed out. If you missed the paper copy, an electronic copy is available in Blackboard.
• Monday: Read the first 9 chapters of The Secret Garden.

Welcome

Hello everyone, and welcome to the official blog for Ms. Pearce's ENG 125. I'll be using this blog to keep track of our activities during class and reminders about homework/upcoming assignments. If you have to miss a class, need a review of the material covered, or are confused about something, come to this blog. After the first day of class I will update the blog with more information.

I have also set up a Blackboard website for the class. The Blackboard site is password protected, so that is where you can download documents (all of the readings will be available in electronic form), check your grades, and submit your assignments.

My contact information is available in the right-hand column if you have any questions or concerns.