I had planned to write a brilliant first post of the semester saying all kinds of profound things about Janes Austen, and why I wanted to teach a class about Austen and the world of Austenalia. That post hasn't happened in the rush to start the semester--now in week 4! And profundity seems to be eluding me. Why teach this class? Because I really like to read and discuss Austen and I was convinced that students who had even a faint glimmer of appreciation for her novels would be enthusiastic and, therefore, write well.
What happened instead of that brilliant post? There have been great discussions and some promising essays are shaping up. I am suddenly seeing more in Helen Fielding Bridget Jones Diary than I ever have. I am finding myself convinced that maybe there's something to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies after all.
The real post about Austen is coming. In the meantime, one of the many tasks keeping me from blogging is reviewing the proofs of an essay that will be published this winter. Since everyone is now revising their first essay, you might take a quick look at a long post I wrote in February 2011. In that post I talk about the history of this now-finally-soon-to-be published article. It might be interesting if you want to know how the process of revision I'm asking you to do in this class lines up with writing and revising for publication.
