I’m teaching The Scarlet Letter to my 11A class. I’m teaching it as a book club book, since I REALLY dragged my feet about teaching it. “It’s booooo-ring,” I would whine. Granted, I had never read it before, but it was written in the 19th century, so how could it possibly hold my attention? I decided to just read it with the kids, which is actually pretty fun, as opposed to positioning myself as the authority figure.
Well. For the third time this year, I have proven myself wrong. I. Love. This. Book. I’m finishing it tonight, and I very well may loathe the ending. But there are three divine chapters in the middle that made me swoon almost as much as reading Persuasion makes me swoon.
I started today’s discussion with this quote from Chapter 21: “We have yet the learn again the forgotten art of gayety.” And we talked about how we aren’t really encouraged to have fun anymore. Our lives are busy, our bosses are humorless, and everything must be done NOW. RIGHT NOW! I MEAN IT!
So I’ll ask you, just like I asked my 22 juniors: when was the last time you did something really fun? What was it? And why was it fun for you?
September 27th. We drove the 20 minutes to Destin and spent an hour watching the sun set as the boys played in the clear emerald waters of the Gulf. The water was so clear you could actually see the fish being tossed up in the tide. Chloe loved the feel of the sand on her hands (and feet, and oddly, mouth) and she noticed every seagull that flew by, pointing and smiling. We got some great pictures and then drove to the best pizza place in the world and had dinner as a family. Good times. Fun times.
Fun, what’s fun? I guess that’s the point of your post. Maybe this weekend….I loved Scarlet Letter when I read in HS. I don’t remember why exactly…just that it was really very good.
i had the scarlet letter in my hand the other day when I was trying to decide which book to read next. I put it back and grabbed the road instead. I’ll have to try it.The last time I had fun (real good fun)was when we all went hiking a couple of weeks ago. It’s fun to watch our kids enjoy the world.
i guess reading blogs is my idea of fun. as for gaeyty (sp?) i’m not sure. but i’m positive that very recently i read on someone’s blog where they said they LOVE scarlet letter and how they may love it as much as persuasion. maybe it was someone on goodreads. wish i could remember who! you??? probably.
A few minutes ago being kissed and charmed by Finny. That kid is fun (and charm) personified. Before that it was last night doing a “cultural scavenger hunt” at the library with my Laurels. They were impressive.When was the lat time you had fun?
Oh, so much fun is being had across the country!I’m not sure when I last had a really fun time. Probably with my family this summer. And I’m glad I’m not the only one who loves The Scarlet Letter, because my students mock me like crazy for all the swoonage.