9/11, last thoughts about THE MERCY SEAT, and thinking about JARHEAD

Hey all:

While we spent sometime last night talking about the events of 9/11/2001, we also didn't speak about our own personal connections to this day. That was on purpose because I really don't know how to talk about that day without, as Ben in The Mercy Seat says, sounding fake. To paraphrase Tom from his blog, I'm also glad that this play dealt with 9/11 as the back story instead of up front and center.

But on this day, for those of you who lost friends or loved ones, or for those of you who were affected in a personal way, I hope you find comfort.

Maybe that's all any of us can ask for.



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I appreciated the energy in the class yesterday. I realize that it's 6:00pm and after a long day of work or classes or practice, to sit in a room and talk about ideas can be tough. But as we talked in the first class, let's not waste time. Use three hours to think through the material, to push your ideas and think through some tough material.

On that note, Peter asked me an interesting question at the end of class. He asked me about the "answer" to the play. And I could see what he was getting at: we spent three hours reading sections outloud and talking about possibilities of who Abby or Ben are or what "mercy" means or if Ben is a sexist jerk, etc, etc. We talked about a lot, but we didn't come up with an definitive answers. I can see why this is frustrating. Or how it could lead some to think, "Well, then anything is right!"

In a word, no. While class is very loose and I want to hear all of your ideas, one thing I want to work on more is referring directly to the text. This is not just an opinion class where you just say what you think; rather, it is a class where we think through our ideas and try to convince ourselves (and others) through referring directly to the text. You know, be intellectuals, as I wrote about in the syllabus.

In other words, if you come in class with a set view and you have not had your ideas challenged or questioned or, better yet, if you haven't discovered something in the text in a new light, well, you just weren't listening.

I know you all helped me see things very clearly about what "mercy" means--and it is very different from what I originally thought it was. This course, like all your courses in the Humanities, should stretch you and help you see the world in just a little bit different way. I'm not talking about radical changes, but, like when you see the morning light hit an object that you have seen 1,000 times but suddenly it seems completely new, that's what listening to each other can do--you can see the text you read and think you know, all of a sudden new and more relevant and alive.

Okay, that's enough for "phliosophizin'"tonight.

You are now reading JARHEAD. There will be a temptation for some of you to just rent the film. Don't. The book and the film are completely different. It's a decent film, yes, but the book is much more complicated.

So the first 130 pages are due for next week. Bring your energy into class again, keep up with your blogs and I'll see you all soon.

Onward!