Friday, May 22, 2020

Farewell Blog Response from Mr. P.


Dear Scholars,

With the year coming to a close, I would like to say how proud I am of all of you, and everything you accomplished this past year. If you peruse the blog and Turnitin.com you will find a considerable amount of written work, not to mention all the major novels, poems, short stories, and plays you explored. I am not sure if you noticed, but most of the pieces dealt with human relationships. I did my best to ensure that your experience transcended an “English Class” and became more about personal development. Who knew we would be going through this unprecedented world wide experience. This should help you remember that no matter what anyone tells you, it is a round world we live in. We are all in this together. Further, my experiences as a Fulbright scholar, TEA co-operating teacher, English teacher, world traveler, and Global Citizen reinforced to me that people are integrally all alike. We also read so many of the same authors. We just need the right translation. Always remember...

“We read literature to know we are not alone.”

This quotation remains with me to this day. With the focus in education shifting to more testing, factual information, and reading passages instead of complete works, I worry that people are moving away from novels. Personally, I felt misunderstood most of my life (still do) and being immersed in a novel made me feel safe. People often say “fiction is fake,” but nothing can be farther from the truth.

I am reminded of author James Baldwin, seeing him in past interviews from the documentary: I am Not Your Negro. In every interview, he tries to explain his experience and no one on the panel appears to understand. I can see why fiction became such a valuable outlet for him, another way of trying to make others see the world as it exists. Reading between the lines is vital, especially with the landscape we live in now.

I have never been much of a phone person, and I do not use social media. This year, I replaced scrolling through my phone with carrying a physical book with me. As a result, I have explored quite a few collections of poems, novels, plays, and nonfiction since January. I read The Plague by Albert Camus, Arias by Sharon Olds, reread sections of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and An Enemy of the People by Henrik Ibsen, explored Tinkers by Paul Harding, as well as currently revisiting The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Hugo. For nonfiction, it was The Instruction and The Old Soul’s Handbook by Ainslie MacLeod, White Fragility: Why it’s so Hard to for White People to Discuss Racism by Robin Diangelo, and Minimalism: Live a Meaningful Life by Joshua Fields Millburn. In every case, I found myself questioning the world around me and discovered answers in a book. I also reconnected with drawing and painting. Playing some guitar. This came from literature. Reading helped me focus, see what is important and move away from daily minutiae. I hope you will continue to read literature in your life, disconnect from the anger in the world and find peace.

Whatever you choose to do in the coming year, do your best to recognize the “ghosts” and make the best decisions for you. Life is about finding balance. Making choices, which means NOT choosing everything and enjoying nothing. A career and family. No matter what you do, you will have to choose to give one of these more of your time. Will you become a parent? Get married? Which order? None? The choice will be up to you. Know that you and you alone will choose. Be kind to yourselves. Also, if you see an opportunity to travel – take it! Explore the world. Take a cue from Ashoke Ganguli for Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake: “We all came out of Gogol’s Overcoat. One day you will understand.”

So, what is it that you need?   Just remember...Everything you ever needed to learn, you learned in Mr. P.’s Class...
  • Life is unfair.
  • Everyone morns in their own way...some wear an inky cloak others will remarry a week later.
  • Ghosts may haunt you but you can exorcise them if you are true to yourself.
  • You are free to eat all the macaroons you want...but you must be ready to handle the consequences.
  • Nothing but a comma, a breath separates life, from life everlasting...so go out! Enjoy your friends, hmmmm? 
  • We create our own versions of the past from our memories...so make your moments count.
  • All women turn into their mothers that is their tragedy....no man ever does, that's his
  • Life is unfair
  • To thine own self always be true.
  • It doesn’t hurt to get insurance. 
  • Be careful with what you sign your name to, what you post...your word is forever.
  • When you say, "Hi!  How are you feeling today?"  Mean it.  
  • We all just want to be more human.
  • To be premature is to be perfect...
  • Life is unfair.
  • There is always a subtext to the plot.
  • You are a symbolic character in search of the right foil character. A confidant or confidante. Choose wisely.
  • Finding the right translation is everything.
  • It’s all about timing, pacing, and blocking.
  • You do not always need to call the code team...it is okay to make mistakes.
  • Always wear the right costume to befit the scene.
  • Make sure we can hear your voice…
  • …Unless it is not your turn to speak.
  • Be kind to the Dr. Ranks of the world. They may not be flashy, but they love you.
  • Kill people like King Claudius and Pastor Manders…with kindness.
  • Know your lines. Prepare carefully…
  • …but, remember, there is something to be said about improvisation.
  • Treat the dress rehearsal like a Broadway performance.
  • If you screw up your lines, do not start over, just keep going.
  • Sometimes we have to play the Third Watchman, Student 4, Helen, or Lane for a while, before we are cast as Hamlet, Marjorie, Mrs. Alving, Jack, Nora or Vivian.
  • Some of us will NEVER be Hamlet, Marjorie Mrs. Alving, Jack, Nora or Vivian and that's okay, too.  We need Susie, Horatio, Lane, Dr. Kelekian, and Helen because they are the ones who make it possible for main characters to exist.  
  • Do not disguise the best of yourself. Be seen.
  • Be kind to your family and loved ones
  • Life is unfair.
  • Your future is NOT mapped out for you.
  • Choose a partner who respects you, one who is your most trusted friend. No someone who wants you to go to a nunnery, stay in the house, avoid boring conversation, forget your child, or only loves you because your name inspires absolute confidence.
  • Being kind to yourself in all the above…
  • …is the most wonderful thing of all.
I wish you all the best of luck in your endeavors,


Mr. Pellerin


P.S.  Feel free to leave a farewell comment to me and/or your classmates in this blog space.


Mr. P. says, "Always remember your five-year-old essence.  Be kind to yourselves."

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Due Friday, May 22nd - Final Project - Time Capsule


Overview:  This is your final assignment for me, but it is more for you.  I would like you to spend some time reflecting on your life as a reader and writer of literature.  You are an A.P. student, after all.  When you go off to college, or whatever your next phase may be, it will be possible to NOT read anymore novels or write for reflection.  I hope this will not be the case, but this project is a way of helping your future self reconnect with the dreams and aspirations you have presently.  Given our current state, I hope this assignment helps you put your thoughts in order and meditate on where you are and where you would like to be.

Directions:  You will create a time capsule to be opened 20 years from now.  It will contain a letter to your future self, personal mementos, lists of your Tops Fives, a drawing or photograph of your ideal bookshelf, and a book you would like your future self to read.  We will share on our final Google Meet class.  See full directions, below:

Time Capsule

I.  Container – Any size is fine. A shoe box works best.  It will probably stay in your closet waiting for you to open it years from now. You may decorate it or not depending on how you feel. The only criterion is that it must be labeled somewhere – Do not open until 2040.


II.  Letter – Write a letter to your future self. Include the following in your letter:
  • How do feel about yourself at present? What obstacles are you dealing with at present? (Use your journal to cull ideas from our global citizenship work).
  • What positive things are happening? Think about Mr. Rogers and his positive ideas of self.
  • Where do you see yourself in 5 years? How will school turn out? What job do you expect to have? What will your love life be like? What will you relationship with family and friends be like?
  • Where do you see yourself in 10 years? Do you expect to be married? Children? Traveling? Working?
  • Reflect on the course. What worked for you? What did you learn? What lessons or units were most effective and why? What books, stories, poems had the greatest impact on you? What concepts will you take with you? Has your reading and/or writing style changed? Are there any other general, memorable moments?
  • Reflection on your Ideal Bookshelf
  • Reflection on your Top Fives
  • Tell yourself what book you want to read and why.

III.  Mementos – You may include anything that you want your future self to see from your present. 

IV.  Book – This is essential. What book would you like to give your future self to read?  Is there a novel from high school you never read, and would like to someday?  Is there a favorite you'd like your future self to revisit?  Explore the possibilities.

V.  Top Fives - Lists of your all-time, desert island Top Fives of all media (See my lists at the bottom of the post)

VI.  Your Ideal Bookshelf Visit the website.  Use the handout (see below), create a vivid image, or photograph of your ideal bookshelf. What books changed your life? What books shaped you into the person you are today. Can you see yourself in the list? Here are some "prompts" to help you make your list.  (See my ideal bookshelf, at the bottom of the post).

  • My Favorite Book 
  • The Book That Changed My Life 
  • The Book I Read Again and Again 
  • The Book I Love the Most 
  • The Best Book I Ever Read 
  • The Book That Makes Me Cry 
  • My Favorite Trashy Novel 
  • The Book That Changed With Me 
  • The Book That Makes Me Feel Inspired 
  • The Book I Couldn’t Put Down 
  • The Nonfiction Book That Felt Like Poetry 
  • The Author Who Makes Me Race to the Bookstore 
  • The Book That Made Me Fall in Love With Poetry 


Mr. Pellerin's Ideal Bookshelf





Mr. Pellerin's Top Fives (I had trouble narrowing some lists down)

Fiction
  • Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, Translated by Julie Rose
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
  • The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
  • Selected Stories by Andre Dubus
  • The Minority Report and Other Stories by Philip K. Dick
  • The House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
Plays
  • Wit by Margaret Edson
  • The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
  • Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen
  • Hamlet by William Shakespeare
  • Glengarry Glenn Ross by David Mamet
  • A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
Non-fiction
  • Patient by Ben Watt
  • The Writing Life by Annie Dillard
  • The Instruction by Ainslie MacLeod
  • Little Girl Blue: The Story of Karen Carpenter by Randy L. Schmidt
  • Between the World and Me by Te-Neishi Coates
  • Townie by Andre Dubus III
Songs
  • Temptation by New Order
  • The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get by Morrissey
  • I Am Enough for Myself by Sinead O’Connor
  • Rainy Days and Mondays by The Carpenters
  • Here’s Where the Story Ends by The Sundays
  • Olympian by Gene
  • All Your Tears by Mojave 3
  • Brittle Heart by Brett Anderson
  • Sit Down by James
  • Megan by The Smoking Popes
Albums
  • Vauxhall & I by Morrissey
  • Singles 1969-1973 by The Carpenters
  • Louder Than Bombs by The Smiths
  • Les Miserables (10th Anniversary)
  • Amplified Heart by Everything But the Girl
  • Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic by The Sundays
  • Gospel Oak by Sinead O’Connor
  • Some Kind of Wonderful (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  • The Stone Roses
  • Chronicles by Rush
  • Destination Failure by Smoking Popes
  • Out of Tune by Mojave 3
  • Eddie Reader
  • A Charlie Brown Christmas (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
  • Love Story by Lloyd Cole
  • Violator by Depeche Mode
  • Powerslave by Iron Maiden
  • Abbey Road by The Beatles
  • Kind of Blue by Miles Davis
Films
  • Defending Your Life
  • Happy-Go-Lucky
  • Amelie
  • Amadeus
  • Groundhog Day
  • Jaws
  • The Blade Runner
  • The Minority Report
  • The Empire Strikes Back
  • High Fidelity
  • Frank
  • Magnolia
  • The Wonder Boys
  • Castaway
  • The Shawshank Redemption
  • Broadcast News
  • Nothing in Common
  • Some Kind of Wonderful
  • Back to the Future
  • Rainman
  • It’s A Wonderful Life
  • Christmas Carol (1951)
  • Sideways
  • Pulp Fiction

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Post for Tuesday, May 5th - "Marjorie Prime" by Jordan Harrison - Part II, Scene 1




Overview: Jordan Harrison's Marjorie Prime explores our relationships with family, much like Henrik Ibsen did in his time with A Doll House.  However, Harrison also delves into the ways in which memory shapes our choices and future.  By doing so, he attends to the new challenges we face in our psychologically conscious world.  Today we read Part II, Scene 1

Questions to Ponder:  By using the conceit of a Prime, how do the characters reinvent their loved ones into what and who they want them to be?  How do the Primes and the living, in turn, reinvent themselves?  How are we all like Marjorie, when it come to memory retrieval?  How do the ideas of Existentialism apply to these ideas and this play?  Are there any questions or concepts you found interesting or confusing that you would like to explore in class?


Friday, May 1, 2020

Post for Friday, May 1st - "Marjorie Prime" by Jordan Harrison - Finish Reading Part I



Overview: Jordan Harrison's Marjorie Prime explores our relationships with family, much like Henrik Ibsen did in his time with A Doll House.  However, Harrison also delves into the ways in which memory shapes our choices and future.  By doing so, he attends to the new challenges we face in our psychologically conscious world.  Today we finished reading Part I.

Questions to Ponder:  By using the conceit of a Prime, how do the characters reinvent their loved ones into what and who they want them to be?  How do the Primes and the living, in turn, reinvent themselves?  How are we all like Marjorie, when it come to memory retrieval?  How do the ideas of Existentialism apply to these ideas and this play?  Are there any questions or concepts you found interesting or confusing that you would like to explore in class?


Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Post for Tuesday, April 28th - "Marjorie Prime" by Jordan Harrison - Part I, Scene 1, pages 1-13



Overview: Jordan Harrison's Marjorie Prime explores our relationships with family, much like Henrik Ibsen did in his time with A Doll House.  However, Harrison also delves into the ways in which memory shapes our choices and future.  By doing so, he attends to the new challenges we face in our psychologically conscious world.  Today we read Part I, Scene 1, pages 1-13.

Questions to Ponder:  By using the conceit of a Prime, how do the characters reinvent their loved ones into what and who they want them to be?  How do the Primes and the living, in turn, reinvent themselves?  How are we all like Marjorie, when it come to memory retrieval?  How do the ideas of Existentialism apply to these ideas and this play?  Are there any questions or concepts you found interesting or confusing that you would like to explore in class?


Friday, April 17, 2020

Post for Friday, April 17th - "Wit" by Margaret Edson - Dramatic Reading of pages 56-end

Google Meet for Tuesday, April 28th (10:30 am - 11:15 am)

TERM THREE GRADES IN ASPEN - YOU HAVE UNTIL TOMORROW TO EMAIL MISSING WORK.

Recap of Today's Class: We reviewed the last section of the play, and I explained its essence.  We started reading the play on page 56, and finished. We see Vivian's last moments.  There are no more flashbacks, as we have reached the present.  Vivian is on a morphine drip and is no longer conscious. In a surprise moment, E.M. Ashford enters and sits with Vivian.  She reads The Runaway Bunny" which, thematically, presents the same idea as Donne's Holy Sonnet, "If Poysonous Mineralls."  Vivian need not hide from love.  She can embrace it.  Vivian dies and walks toward the light.  Jason, unfortunately, calls the code team and makes a mistake.  He is in the same place as Vivian, when she visited E.M. Ashford as a young student.  Will Jason learn from his mistake?  Or will he continue?  I included the YouTube link, so you can see the film if you wish.  It is also available on Amazon if you wish to see it in better quality.



  Enjoy your vacation!  We will begin Marjorie Prime when  we return on Monday, April 27th.

Overview and Homework:  As we discussed, below you will find materials to prepare you for our next class session. I provided a link for our Google Meet on Monday. With regard to late work, please email any work you complete to my K12 account, and make sure it is dated and labeled by Friday, April 17th. The last assignment is the close reading essay for Wit, titled "Just a Comma" (The essay may be posted to Turitin.com, also by the 17th).  I provided the video of myself teaching the lesson, below. You will also find the complete prompt, assignment, and film clip to make it easy for you to proceed.


Mr. P. gives tips for writing this essay, from last week's post


"Just a Comma" Assignment, Prompt, and Film Clip

Essay Prompt:  The following dialogue is an excerpt from Wit a play by Margaret Edson, produced in 1999. Read the passage carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how Edson reveals her values about the importance between literary analysis and real life experiences through characterization and other literary devices.

VIVIAN. (Hesitantly) I should have asked more questions, because I knew there was going to be a test. I have cancer. Insidious cancer, with pernicious side effects – No, the treatment has pernicious side effects. I have stage four metastatic ovarian cancer. There is no stage five. And I have to be very tough. It appears to be a matter, as the saying goes...of life and death. I know all about life and death. I am, after all, a professor of seventeenth century poetry...specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne...which explore mortality in greater depth...than any body of work in the English language. And I know for a fact that I am tough. A demanding professor. Uncompromising. Never one to turn from a challenge. That is why I chose to study John Donne...while a student of the great E.M. Ashford. (Professor E.M. Ashford, fifty-two, enters, seated at the same desk as Dr. Kelekian was. The scene is twenty-eight years ago. Vivian suddenly turns twenty-two, eager and intimidated.)

Professor Ashford?

E.M. Do it again.

VIVIAN. (To the audience) It was something of a shock. I had to sit down. (She plops down).

E.M. Please sit down. Your essay on Holy Sonnet VI, Miss Bearing, is a melodrama with a veneer of scholarship unworthy of you...to say nothing of Donne. Do it again.

VIVIAN. I, ah…

E.M. Begin with the text, Miss Bearing, not with a feeling.

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for thou art not soe.”

You've entirely missed the point of the poem, because you've used an edition of the text that is inauthentically punctuated. In the Gardner edition –

VIVIAN. That edition was checked out of the library –

E.M. Miss Bearing!

VIVIAN. Sorry.

E.M. You take this too lightly, Miss Bearing. This is metaphysical poetry, not the modern novel. The standards of scholarship and critical reading...which one would apply to any other text are simply insufficient. The effort must be total for the results to be meaningful. Do you think that the punctuation of the last line of this sonnet is merely an insignificant detail?

The sonnet begins with a valiant struggle with death calling on all the forces of intellect and drama to vanquish the

enemy. But it is ultimately about overcoming the seemingly insuperable barriers separating life, death and eternal life. In the edition you chose, this profoundly simple meaning is sacrificed to hysterical punctuation.

And Death – capital D – shall be no more - semi-colon! Death – capital D – comma – thou shalt die – exclamation point!

If you go in for this sort of thing I suggest you take up Shakespeare. Gardner's edition of the Holy Sonnets returns to the Westmoreland manuscript source of 1610 – not for sentimental reasons, I assure you, but because Helen Gardner is a scholar. It reads:

And death shall be no more, comma, Death thou shalt die.
(As she recites this line, she makes a little gesture with a comma.)

Nothing but a breath, a comma separates life from life everlasting. Very simple, really. With the original punctuation restored, death is no longer something...to act out on a stage with exclamation marks. It is a comma. A pause.

This way, the uncompromising way...one learns something from the poem, wouldn't you say? Life, death, soul, God...past, present. Not insuperable barriers. Not semicolons. Just a comma.

VIVIAN. Life, death, I see! (standing) It's a metaphysical conceit, it's wit! I'll go back to the library and re-write the paper –

E.M. (Standing, emphatically) It is not wit, Miss Bearing, it is truth. The paper's not the point.

VIVIAN. Isn't it?

E.M. (Tenderly) Vivian, you're a bright young woman. Use your intelligence. Don't go back to the library, go out. Enjoy yourself with friends. Hmmm. (Vivian walks away. E.M. slides off.)

VIVIAN. I, ah, went outside. It was a warm day. There were students on the lawn, talking about, nothing, laughing. The insuperable barrier between one thing and another is…just a comma? Simple human truth. Uncompromising scholarly standards. They're connected. I just couldn't...

I went back to the library.



Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Post for Tuesday, April 14th - "Wit" Review of pages 47-56

Google Meet for Friday, April 17th (10:30 am - 11:15 am)

TERM THREE GRADES IN ASPEN - YOU HAVE UNTIL THE END OF THE WEEK TO EMAIL MISSING WORK.

Recap of Monday's Class: We reviewed the last section of the play, and I explained the essence of the scene.  We started reading the play, again, and ended the session on page 56. In a series of flashbacks, we see how cruel Vivian could be in the classroom.  She seeks kindness, now, but she was unable to show her students kindness.  The last scene we read today shows Susie caring for Vivian, telling her that she must make a decision about the code team.  Vivian chooses DNR. If her heart stops, she wishes it to stop.  We will continue reading the play on Thursday.

Poem of the Day:  "Do You Have Any Advice For Those of Us Just Starting Out?" by Ron Koertge

Overview and Homework:  As we discussed, below you will find materials to prepare you for our next class session. I provided a link for our Google Meet on Monday. With regard to late work, please email any work you complete to my K12 account, and make sure it is dated and labeled by Friday, April 17th. The last assignment is the close reading essay for Wit, titled "Just a Comma" (The essay may be posted to Turitin.com, also by the 17th).  I provided the video of myself teaching the lesson, below. You will also find the complete prompt, assignment, and film clip to make it easy for you to proceed.


Mr. P. gives tips for writing this essay, from last week's post


"Just a Comma" Assignment, Prompt, and Film Clip

Essay Prompt:  The following dialogue is an excerpt from Wit a play by Margaret Edson, produced in 1999. Read the passage carefully. Then write a well-organized essay in which you analyze how Edson reveals her values about the importance between literary analysis and real life experiences through characterization and other literary devices.

VIVIAN. (Hesitantly) I should have asked more questions, because I knew there was going to be a test. I have cancer. Insidious cancer, with pernicious side effects – No, the treatment has pernicious side effects. I have stage four metastatic ovarian cancer. There is no stage five. And I have to be very tough. It appears to be a matter, as the saying goes...of life and death. I know all about life and death. I am, after all, a professor of seventeenth century poetry...specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne...which explore mortality in greater depth...than any body of work in the English language. And I know for a fact that I am tough. A demanding professor. Uncompromising. Never one to turn from a challenge. That is why I chose to study John Donne...while a student of the great E.M. Ashford. (Professor E.M. Ashford, fifty-two, enters, seated at the same desk as Dr. Kelekian was. The scene is twenty-eight years ago. Vivian suddenly turns twenty-two, eager and intimidated.)

Professor Ashford?

E.M. Do it again.

VIVIAN. (To the audience) It was something of a shock. I had to sit down. (She plops down).

E.M. Please sit down. Your essay on Holy Sonnet VI, Miss Bearing, is a melodrama with a veneer of scholarship unworthy of you...to say nothing of Donne. Do it again.

VIVIAN. I, ah…

E.M. Begin with the text, Miss Bearing, not with a feeling.

“Death be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for thou art not soe.”

You've entirely missed the point of the poem, because you've used an edition of the text that is inauthentically punctuated. In the Gardner edition –

VIVIAN. That edition was checked out of the library –

E.M. Miss Bearing!

VIVIAN. Sorry.

E.M. You take this too lightly, Miss Bearing. This is metaphysical poetry, not the modern novel. The standards of scholarship and critical reading...which one would apply to any other text are simply insufficient. The effort must be total for the results to be meaningful. Do you think that the punctuation of the last line of this sonnet is merely an insignificant detail?

The sonnet begins with a valiant struggle with death calling on all the forces of intellect and drama to vanquish the

enemy. But it is ultimately about overcoming the seemingly insuperable barriers separating life, death and eternal life. In the edition you chose, this profoundly simple meaning is sacrificed to hysterical punctuation.

And Death – capital D – shall be no more - semi-colon! Death – capital D – comma – thou shalt die – exclamation point!

If you go in for this sort of thing I suggest you take up Shakespeare. Gardner's edition of the Holy Sonnets returns to the Westmoreland manuscript source of 1610 – not for sentimental reasons, I assure you, but because Helen Gardner is a scholar. It reads:

And death shall be no more, comma, Death thou shalt die.
(As she recites this line, she makes a little gesture with a comma.)

Nothing but a breath, a comma separates life from life everlasting. Very simple, really. With the original punctuation restored, death is no longer something...to act out on a stage with exclamation marks. It is a comma. A pause.

This way, the uncompromising way...one learns something from the poem, wouldn't you say? Life, death, soul, God...past, present. Not insuperable barriers. Not semicolons. Just a comma.

VIVIAN. Life, death, I see! (standing) It's a metaphysical conceit, it's wit! I'll go back to the library and re-write the paper –

E.M. (Standing, emphatically) It is not wit, Miss Bearing, it is truth. The paper's not the point.

VIVIAN. Isn't it?

E.M. (Tenderly) Vivian, you're a bright young woman. Use your intelligence. Don't go back to the library, go out. Enjoy yourself with friends. Hmmm. (Vivian walks away. E.M. slides off.)

VIVIAN. I, ah, went outside. It was a warm day. There were students on the lawn, talking about, nothing, laughing. The insuperable barrier between one thing and another is…just a comma? Simple human truth. Uncompromising scholarly standards. They're connected. I just couldn't...

I went back to the library.