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The joys of the first day of classes. I can't begin to be coherent right now, so I'll just summarize each class experience in its own paragraph.

"Language, Culture, and Society" (Anthro 118): A good course that I would be happy to take. I wasn't enthralled with it, but the lectures seemed interesting and the prof gave me a good vibe. He played a Monty Python clip for us. A number of my friends are in the class, which is always helpful. Reviews seem positive, but the negative ones complain about the course being too broad, disorganized, or dry. The subject seemed really interesting, but I'm not exactly sure where he'll go with it. Final Verdict: Pending

"Structure and History of English Words" (Linguistics 108): At first I really didn't like this class because the prof spoke in a flat monotone, but as it progressed he seemed to let his guard down and reveal his sense of humor. The material seemed to take a similar trajectory -- dry and abstract at first, then more intriguing as the examples got specific. Like the previous course, this is an interactive lecture, but it meets in a smaller room, which is comfortable. Unfortunately, it meets on Friday, but the sections are optional. It will be offered again in my senior year. By the end of the class I was feeling positive enough about the course to oeruse the texts, which seemed both dry and fascinating, paradoxically. It was just so wholly new. I'm still not sure how I feel about -- I really wish I felt passionate about spending my time doing linguistics problem sets so I could learn all the wonderful insights into our rich language. Final Verdict: No.

"Fictions and the Forms of Narrative" (Lit 120): This was a really good experience. Whenever a course declares it will change the way you look at stories, it had better have something to say or else it just sounds pretentious. Apparently it used to be so controversial they listed it as "Lit X" in the course book! I was impressed by the lecture, though. It actually did put some new ideas into my head. I wish I could reiterate them in an intelligent manner! I'm very excited about this course (it's team-taught and mixes lectures and seminars) as well as the reading list. Final verdict: Yes.

"Shakespeare and the Canon: Comedies, Histories, and Poems" (Harold Bloom): I came into this course when it was halfway over, and I literally could not fit in the tiny seminar room. I had to stand on my tiptoes to see Bloom and strain my ears to hear him. It's supposedly a seminar, but the whole time I was there no one talked but Bloom, so I think they should hold it in a lecture room. From what I could discern, Bloom seemed lucid, funny, and deeply brilliant, but he seemed to expect us to have read all the plays he was talking about already. Maybe that's just because it was an overview. Anyway, I didn't stay long because of physical discomfort, and I like Lit enough that I can pass on this. I don't particularly feel like studying the Bard this year after last year's saturation with the English tradition, and his spring course on the tragedies would be more up my alley anyway. Final verdict: No.

"Archaeological Ceramics": Wow. What an amazing class. I was so intimidated to discover all the middle-aged people in the course! That's what happens when your 300-level class is double-titled as a 700-level. There is another D-port soph in the class, though, so we'll help each other out. Everyone seemed so knowledgeable! I felt that the class would be doable and wonderful, and I was praying not to be cut, since there were 18 of us in the room. The prof was very nice, and knew everyone except me, so I asked if he wanted to go to lunch later in the week to get to know me. He responded eagerly and seemed glad to have me in the course, suggesting that he would try his best to accommodate everyone. Looks like we're in the clear! Yay! Final verdict: YES!

Phew. Three more tomorrow!