syllabus ENGL298 Second Year Seminar: This Bridgewater Life
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Need to be in touch with me?
LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 ltorda@bridgew.edu www.leetorda.com |
SPRING 2014 Office Hours
Monday: 3:30 to 4:30 Tuesday: 11:00 to 12:00 Friday: 1:00 to 2:00 and by appointment. |
Lee Torda
Sample “GL” In-class Listening Notes
Story One: Good Guy Discount story. From the start of this story, I was in agreement with the poor guy doing the asking: I don’t think that good guys ask for discounts. What I mean, what became clear was that the good guy discount was sort of a discount that people give other people—special other people. I think that real good guys take it on the chin, are team players, do things for other people. They don’t believe in preferential treatment. And our story teller proves that at the very end of the episode when he tells the story about eating cake with his son and father. A good guy gives you his last piece of cake.
Story Two: So what is wonderful and heartbreaking about the Mike Birbiglia is that when he is explaining what decent people do. It sort of goes along with what I say earlier—decent people don’t ask for discounts and they don’t ogle pretty women. But Birbiglia is a good guy who wants credit, which, again, comes at the end when he is talking to his wife. She has that sweet line about marrying her, and he says that’s not enough. So he’s a good guy, but not a perfect guy. But we see here how much work it can be to be a good guy.
Story three: This guy dies trying to do right by another dead guy. I would not be such a good guy, but in the end, we learn that when the guys body comes up so does the body of the other guy. He finished what he set out to do. That’s a good guy thing to do.
Story four: weirdest most disturbing story. I don’t know that I trusted that narrator. I feel like he was sort of insincere. I can’t say why, but I felt that. Anyway, I would say that, thematically, while the idea of what a good guy is is developed throughout, it revolves around a question about whether or not wanting to kill someone makes you a good guy or a bad guy. What is the struggle is that he doesn’t just ant to kill guys in the war who are enemies, he wants to kill people. But he knows this is screwed up, but it doesn’t change that he wants this. Now, the story is larger than that. It’s about military attitudes generally, but, still, when it comes down to it. It’s a story about someone who knows what a good guy should do, but, also, doesn’t want to be a good guy entirely.
Sample “GL” In-class Listening Notes
Story One: Good Guy Discount story. From the start of this story, I was in agreement with the poor guy doing the asking: I don’t think that good guys ask for discounts. What I mean, what became clear was that the good guy discount was sort of a discount that people give other people—special other people. I think that real good guys take it on the chin, are team players, do things for other people. They don’t believe in preferential treatment. And our story teller proves that at the very end of the episode when he tells the story about eating cake with his son and father. A good guy gives you his last piece of cake.
Story Two: So what is wonderful and heartbreaking about the Mike Birbiglia is that when he is explaining what decent people do. It sort of goes along with what I say earlier—decent people don’t ask for discounts and they don’t ogle pretty women. But Birbiglia is a good guy who wants credit, which, again, comes at the end when he is talking to his wife. She has that sweet line about marrying her, and he says that’s not enough. So he’s a good guy, but not a perfect guy. But we see here how much work it can be to be a good guy.
Story three: This guy dies trying to do right by another dead guy. I would not be such a good guy, but in the end, we learn that when the guys body comes up so does the body of the other guy. He finished what he set out to do. That’s a good guy thing to do.
Story four: weirdest most disturbing story. I don’t know that I trusted that narrator. I feel like he was sort of insincere. I can’t say why, but I felt that. Anyway, I would say that, thematically, while the idea of what a good guy is is developed throughout, it revolves around a question about whether or not wanting to kill someone makes you a good guy or a bad guy. What is the struggle is that he doesn’t just ant to kill guys in the war who are enemies, he wants to kill people. But he knows this is screwed up, but it doesn’t change that he wants this. Now, the story is larger than that. It’s about military attitudes generally, but, still, when it comes down to it. It’s a story about someone who knows what a good guy should do, but, also, doesn’t want to be a good guy entirely.
