Lee Torda's Spring 2021 Teaching Site
  • Home
  • Previously Taught Classes
    • ENGL101 Writing Rhetorically >
      • 101 SYLLABUS
      • BOOK CLUB >
        • How to do virtual BOOK CLUB
        • BOOK CLUB OPTIONS
      • PARTNER INTERVIEW MINI-PAPER
      • 101READER'S NOTES
      • THE BIG DEAL: Archival Ethnography of Bridgewater State
      • THE BIG TALK: Alumni Interview Project
      • THE BIG IDEA: WE ARE BRIDGEWATER: FINAL PROJECT & PRESENTATION
    • ENGL344 YA LIT >
      • ENGL344 YA LIT SYLLABUS
      • ENGL344 MONDAY UPDATE
      • ENGL344 ALL-CLASS DISCUSSION BOARD
      • ENGL344 YA LIT assignment: Flash Memoir YA Edit
      • ENGL 344YA LIT assignment Teaching Discussions
      • ENGL344 YA LIT assignment BOOK CLUB READING JOURNAL
      • ENGL344 YA LIT assignment WRITE YOUR OWN YA
      • ENGL344 YA LIT assignment FINAL PROJECT
    • ENGL 202 BIZ Com >
      • ENGL 202 Business Writing SYLLABUS
    • 226 Writing & Writing Studies
    • ENGL 227 INTRO TO CNF WORKSHOP
    • ENGL 298 Second Year Seminar: This Bridgewater Life
    • ENGL406 RESEARCH IN WRITING STUDIES
    • ENGL 493 THE PERSONAL ESSAY
    • ENGL 493 Seminar in Writing & Writing Studies: The History of First Year Composition >
      • ENGL 493 Assignments: Annotated Bibliography & Presentation
    • ENGL 513 COMP THEORY & PEDAGOGY
    • ENGL 511 Reading & Writing Memoir
    • ENGL 489 Advanced Portfolio
    • DURFEE Engl101
  • BSU Homepage

syllabus ENGL298 Second Year Seminar: This Bridgewater Life

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.

 

Proudly powered by Weebly