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| The book that inspired it all for me... |
Good morrow, gentleman and gentlewomen! Methinks it is time to strike spurs and set forth upon great adventures...
(Okay, I'll drop the Middle English bit...)
But truly, welcome! BJ here. Thank you so much for joining us on this amazing experience. Personally, I've been dreaming of this sort of trip since I first read The Boy's King Arthur in my youth. For me, there was something so appealing about the prospect of questing about in search of adventure, of lazily eating fresh-picked apples from trees, of caring for the horses and the people of the court...the fantasy goes on and on...
Welcome to the course blog! To encourage conversation beyond the classroom, this course will make use of a daily blog. Essentially, prior to each class you will be expected to craft a 300-500 word post in response to the assigned text, analyzing the literary techniques at work, while also tracing thematic relationships between the various texts throughout the course. In addition to demonstrating your critical work, these blogs might also be a place for your to demonstrate your creative side, too. Transcend beyond the texts to describe your real world adventures in Arthur’s shadows. What are you seeing, hearing, and experiencing throughout your time abroad? How do the daily readings [AND] your daily interactions contribute to the larger experience in England? To put it differently: how are the texts, in conjunction with our daily interactions, impacting you? Feel free to post photos of your adventure, links to cool discoveries, etc. Each post will be due by midnight prior to the following day’s class.
Aside from the wonderful experience of co-teaching this course with Paul (and traveling with you all!), an additional goal, for me, is to try to write about the experience. As a writer, every experience is story worthy, I believe. While I don't quite know where this story might lead me, I'll be taking diligent notes. I would always be so grateful to hear about your insight, too. Collectively, I bet we can all capture a great story for ourselves as individuals, as well as for the larger group.
For me, one of the course's main themes is my inability to "capture" the "real" King Arthur. Who was he according to history, literature, and lore? The answer, I think, is that he was a different person in all of these contexts. And how much we know about the "real" King Arthur depends on how much of which source you want to believe. To this end, the photograph to the right seems a fine visual representation of this quandary. King Arthur, for me, is always simultaneously here and not here, flittering between the "real" world and the imaginary world. Much like the image.Now then, let's set spurs for real and let the adventure begin! Thank you for your commitment to this subject, and to a safe and productive journey.
-BJ
