Each week (see the calendar page for the schedule), you’ll post a brief (or lengthy, if you like!) response on ANGEL to the week’s reading. These should be more than mere value judgments (“I liked this book!” or “why did you assign this, you horrible bastard?!”); they should articulate something interesting or noteworthy about the reading. You may have observations or provocations about one or more of the readings in terms of style, theme, character, plot, and so on. Some moment in a text may have stood out to you for one reason or another. Or you might relate a given reading to other readings we’ve covered, to discussions we’ve had in class, to broader conversations taking place outside our classroom, or to related real-world issues. Your response need only be a (rich) paragraph or so long (ideally more than “See Spot run. See Spot surveil. Surveil, Spot, surveil!”), but if you have more to say, by all means, let fly. These brief writings not only tell me that you’re keeping up with the reading and thinking about the course material outside of class, they will also give me a better sense of the topics that interest and provoke you, so that our in-class discussions can be happier and more productive.

(Note: if you want to make me really happy—and since I’m giving you grades, you probably should— start responding to and following up on each other’s posts. This should be a conversation, ideally!)