And I Head Back to School...

I am back into the swing of things, as far as grad school goes. I am taking two classes this semester, one is Advanced Shakespeare and the other is creative nonfiction writing. Plus I have to keep working through this list.

So what am I reading?

and 

I had my first Shakespeare class last night, and thankfully remain really impressed with this professor. His specialty is Renaissance-era literature, especially Shakespeare, so this class has a lot of promise! Last night, he gave us a brief background on the Bard, and then we worked with a couple of sonnets. Our goal now is to read the first act of Coriolanus by next week.I decided that I should watch this over the weekend as well as doing the reading--seeing Shakespeare performed helps me follow the flow of the play as I can better visualize what is going on.

And Emma is not a hard read (especially for a Jane Austen fan!). I also need to get 5-10 pages of "creative nonfiction" writing done prior to next week's meeting with my other professor. That won't be too much trouble as I decided to focus on memoir writing for the moment, and I already have a couple of [rough] pieces I can work with.

In homeschooling news, we've decided to continue with The Human Odyssey, but to drop actual Greek history for the moment, instead focusing on mythology as deadlines for the exam are approaching--it has to be returned by March 8th, I think. I plan to read a chapter each day with The Boy in the D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths, and then we'll study the recommended section in their book on Norse myths, since The Boy decided to take that section as well. (And pssst... don't tell my kids, but I am really relieved to be down to one strand of history for a while!!! Besides, I've shown The Boy that we will be getting to Greek history shortly anyhow!)

This week, in The Human Odyssey, we came across the name Gilgamesh, and for some reason that struck the kids as a hilarious name! Seeing that they are intrigued, I think I shall read these books to them (I've read them aloud before, but it has been a long time!)

Tonight I think we shall just relax and have a family movie. I think it is high time my kids became familiar with the Marx Brothers, and I personally loved this movie as a kid (although I must add that I have never been able to listen to the music from Carmen without hearing "I want my shirt! I want my shirt. I can't be happy without my shirt!")...