I really just love 'em

That SF class. Those students. There are a few who are riding the coattails of the others, but the majority of them are getting Left Hand on levels that I've never experienced before. I was all set to ditch the book for next semester--but now I'm wondering if I should keep it after all. I do have to remind myself that this is an anomalous experience; as lovely as it is, in the fall (assuming the course runs), I'm statistically more likely to get a bunch of students who can't hack it than I am to have a repeat of this pleasure.

Today, for instance, we were talking about one of the more important passages in the early chapters--the ones I wanted to make sure I covered with them (and did, today). The narrator of chapter 7, in her field report as an investigator, notes, "The First [envoy], if one is sent [to Gethen/Winter, a planet of genderless humans], must be warned that unless he is very self-assured, or senile, his pride will suffer. A man wants his virility regarded, a woman wants her femininity appreciated, however indirect and subtle the indications of regard and appreciation. On Winter they will not exist. One is respected and judged only as a human being. It is an appalling experience." First, a student pointed out that Genly--the man from Terra who was sent to Gethen--is certainly not senile, and the student thought Genly was sent in contradiction to what had been said. I pointed out that the recommendation wasn't to not send someone but simply to warn that person, and Genly had been warned. But I pointed to the more challenging and important bit: that being "respected and judged only as a human being" is "appalling." First, I asked, what does it mean to be respected and judged that way? They got it: it means to be seen for "who you are," your real, inner self. And why would that be appalling? Well ... yikes. Do we really want people looking that deeply into the content of our character and judging us only on that?

I think we have to revisit chapter 7, as we didn't get a chance to talk about all the psycho-social implications of living in a genderless society, as reported by the investigator--nor how Genly is struggling with those implications, as we might, no matter how much we think our society has "advanced" since 1969 in terms of gender politics. But ... well, they're getting it.

And it just now occurs to me (just call me Pollyanna) that--wonderful as these students are--they may be getting it because I encouraged them to use the crutches and props of the "cheater" websites and audio books and whatever else would give them the handles they need. If they are using those resources, it's working: they're able to see and understand details in the novel that students haven't been able to notice in the past. So if that's what makes the difference, yeah: I can keep assigning it--as long as I condone the use of those props and crutches.

Shifting gears: I am accumulating enough homework and essay submissions that I really do need to pay attention to them. I should start today--and I did do some work responding to the posts by the students in Nature in Lit--but apart from that, well, it's tired and I'm late. Or something like that.

And, of course, tomorrow is ... well, it sure isn't today.