Margaret Emery
I am retired, have a great interest in the teaching and learning of foreign languages, belong to a book group and the U3A. I lived in the USA in the 70s and in the Netherlands in the 80s.
Location South Buckinghamshire, UK
Activity
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Margaret Emery replied to Margaret Emery
My original observation was being very nit picky, as the quote from the course rubric read ""Now let’s take some time to explore plot in Selby Wynn Schwartz’s After Sappho."
This has now been amended to "to explore setting", which is in fact the designated topic for this week.. My point was that if one reuses material from past courses, one does need to amend... -
Margaret Emery made a comment
"Now let’s take some time to explore plot in Selby Wynn Schwartz’s After Sappho."
Recycling lectures, videos, questions, worksheets is totally normal practice in education, but....PLEASE proof read the details of the course before uploading it. Once again an error - this week's focus is supposed to be setting, not plot. Not the first time this has happened. -
Authors using names and descriptions of clothing to indicate personality/ social background are, I think, relying on their readers being able to interpret the code. This indicates that the author has a specific readership in mind when they start writing. Readers who can't interpret the code are thus being excluded and have to rely on the characters' actions...
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Chis, the exact same thing happened to me, and that was one of the things which prompted my original post. I understand the Mr Men books (Mr Grumpy etc) but I remain surprised that in adult fiction names should be considered as indicators of personality, characterization.
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Accepted correction ladies.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I agree with several others that the sections in Oman are more convincing than those in the UK, and that the loneliness and regrets of the narrator underpin almost all her thoughts and actions. She is, however, the least clear character in the book, a blank page, a conduit to others. At one point I wondered if her feelings for Kuhl and Imran were...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Interesting that the educators seem to give equal weight to names and clothing and physical description as indicators of character. I would prioritize a character's actions, their spoken interaction with others, the way others talk about them and (if known) their thoughts and opinions of others as being truer indications of personality. In today's popular...
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Margaret Emery replied to Michael Robinson
Oh I agree totally that the crisis still exists. I think the Netflix audience is larger than the readership of a long novel like "Demon" and so if the makers/writers are not only wanting to widen public understanding and knowledge about this but also effect change in society, then film is the way to do that.
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Margaret Emery replied to Michael Robinson
Thanks for the reference to "Painkiller" Michael. I've watched 4 episodes now and the parallels with "DC" are many and mutually complementary. All of which renews my confusion about Kingsolver's purpose in fictionalizing a crisis which dates from the 1990s and about which others have written both fiction and non fiction and film versions.
I'm also still... -
and all the email writers are unreliable in one way or another, so the reader is on quicksand for most of the book. I thought that one way to read "The Appeal" in a book group would be to ask members to only read so far and then all discuss what they consider to be the "truth". After that everyone could read another long section. Might not work practically but...
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Margaret Emery replied to Sue Hicks
I agree with you Sue, and I don't think it's anything to do with spoon-feeding. There is some very interesting discussion on the earlier sections of this week's topic, but its not focused on the one book we have in common, (DC), so is pretty meaningless to anyone who doesn't share any knowledge of he other books being mentioned . Yes, such discussion might...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Much as I enjoyed hearing Alex Lawrie's clear explanation of the difference between plot and story, the purpose of flashing backwards and forwards, how variations in pace are achieved and for what purpose, the different types of narrative etc, I too wonder how much plot there is in "Demon Copperhead"? Maybe some examples from our text of the techniques...
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Margaret Emery replied to Rob Edwards
I totally agree with you about Alex, Rob. The year we did "the Lesser Bohemians" Alex and I had a lengthy email discussion which was way beyond the brief she had as an educator on this course. Leaders of other courses could learn a lot from her.
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Totally agree. Care for the family, feeding the man of the house first and yourself last left little energy for contemplating equality or the more esoteric things in life. For the most part the female thinkers/writers/ artists/scholars of the 19th century came from the more privileged strata of society.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I am really concerned about the apparent acceptance by so many participants in the course that developing a sense of group identity almost inevitably leads to HATRED of anyone not in that group, OR the converse, that those outside a group automatically HATE those within the group. Surely you are confusing jealousy with hatred?
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I am starting to lose faith/trust now. If there are errors in the course which the more number gifted amongst us are picking up, what hope is there for me?
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I could do sequence d and e as they are "mathematical " in my understanding of the word. The others are the kind of things I see and don't understand on Only Connect.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Don't know any technical terms for sequences, but I like figuring uot the patterns on puzzle pages.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Did these the old fashioned way, no calculator, and got the same answers as the rest of you.
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@MichaelAnderson very helpful, I did loads of examples and I can do the sumss and am trying to make myself think about whay I am doing waht I am doing.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Afraid the format of the multiplication examples on the worksheet has me baffled. I really need an intermediate step where the sums are set out in a traditional way before I can get my head round a grid like that.
Back to bottom set for me, I need the task differentiated please. -
Margaret Emery made a comment
On the worksheet I found question 2 examples easier to think through than the question 1 ones.
I like Nigel's suggestion of the bank accounts analogy. Thank you. -
I did the calculations and got the same answers as the rest of you so I am thrilled. The concept of "the difference between" is a revelation to me.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Oh this looks great - things I have heard about but never learned about.
Will start on Monday. -
Margaret Emery made a comment
A useful learning and revision week for me as far as factors and multiples went, but the importance of Prime numbers in my life eludes me so I decided not to waste brain cells on puzzling it out.
Thanks to the other participants for being unfailingly helpful and courteous. -
Margaret Emery made a comment
basic question. When writing down the factors of 20 i included 4, but now think this was wrong as I already had 2. Is this correct?
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@JohnTench Thanks John.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Divisibility rules, brilliant. Thank you. I grew up before calculators, so am very used to doing mental arithmetic and seem to have instinctively worked out ways of "guestimating " things. I remember in primary school that inspectors would come in and test our mental arithmentic
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Margaret Emery made a comment
From a totally non maths background, I would have said 0 was neither odd nor even,as my thinking is it can't be divided by anything. 1.6 was even as I can divide it by 2, and 2.3 odd asI can't divide it by 2.
. Clearly I am wrong. Oh well, I am here to learn. -
Margaret Emery made a comment
evens, odds, some 2 digit, some 3, some 4
number 24 is divisible by 2,4,6,3,8
others very random
Not sure what this proves at all -
Margaret Emery made a comment
nothing to add to the explanations given below.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
i have found this week extremely challenging, and my brain is unwilling to go further than Binary and base 10 at the moment. However, i am looking forward to week 2 and hope the bits I have missed out won't impede my progress too much. Helpful fellow learners, but some way above my head.
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have asked grandson aged 14 for help and feel a little happier about this now.
My answers for 10 are:-
9=1001
8= 1000
14=1110
17=10001
18=10010
30=11110 -
Margaret Emery made a comment
Sorry team, I think I am lost totally now. I need loads more easy examples of binary to base 10 and vice versa before being launched onto doing them myself. Maybe I need a private lesson or to go down to bottom set.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Same question as Wafa. I am doing my examples on paper - old fashioned maybe, but easy. How to we check if we are correct?
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Margaret Emery made a comment
623 =DCXX111
29 =XX1X
680=DCLXXX
141=CXL1
426CDXXV1Numbers up to 1000 seem OKish for me, but above 1000 i don't really have clue , so i have decided to split my random generated numbers and do the bits i can do.
235847 =........DCCCXLV11
398469= .......CDLX1X -
Margaret Emery made a comment
I am a retired secondary languages teacher- the last time I did any formal maths was in 1960! I'd like to see if my brain is still working, and to put myself out of my comfort zone.
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Thank you so much Dorothy - I echo Bill's words here. Just what I wanted to know! It's all subjective of course, but this answers so many questions.
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Hardly requesting a part 2, Tim. I don't think you delivered what was implied in the title of part 1.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I thought this course would be more focused on BR, that theory would be exemplified by the playing of extracts from BR, and showing us how certain combinations of notes, chords, lyrics, combined to produce a specific effect. Somehow I feel that BH was hook to lure us into the course. So much of the tutor input was verbal and not musical. So, for me the Why?...
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I agree, Dorothy. I thought this course would be more focused on BR, that theory would be exemplified by the playing of extracts from BR, and showing us how certain combinations of notes, chords, lyrics, combined to produce a specific effect. Somehow I feel that BH was hook to lure us into the course. So much of the tutor input was verbal and not musical. So,...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Afraid I don't agree with most of the posters about this.
Our emotions were influenced/manipulated by being told the context of the Ariane Grande concert so our response was not involuntary.Was this rendition of BR more or less emotive than others????
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Margaret Emery made a comment
This is the first time I have read the words of this song, and they have surprised me. My background id literature not music, so before reading what anyone else has written I thought I would look at the text as verse, to see what I make of it.
Superficially,
verse 1 - someone questioning their place in the world, no real sense of direction probably easily... -
Margaret Emery made a comment
I have done a couple of courses, and initially found it very difficult to contribute to the discussion forums as it was a new way of learning for me. I now appreciate better the benefits, and appreciate it when the tutors join in to support, correct, exemplify the comments made by learners. Without such intervention some discussions have become "i like it...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
The title intrigued me. I think i will be totally out of my comfort zone as I have never thought or talked about music at any length in a structured or personal way, so I am looking forward to learning and discovering things about myself.
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Margaret Emery replied to Lena Posselwhite
Hi Lena, I agree about too many repeated street names being off putting. I also get annoyed when authors include snippets of foreign language in dialogue if the book is set abroad. For me it fails to make it more atmospheric, it just feels pretentious.
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Margaret Emery replied to Suzanne Cobb
I agree about "The Shadow of the Wind", Suzanne. My copy had a city map at the back, marked with the locations, so one day i too want to go and explore the setting of that novel. Wonder how well it would have worked if it had been set elsewhere? Paris in WW2, Berlin after the war? London?
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Margaret Emery replied to Ken Brown
If you believe that the medium is the message, then a more conventional layout of dialogue makes the content more accessible to a greater number of readers, whereas stream of consciousness actively deters many from even attempting to try to decode it.. How widely read is James Joyce compared to Roddy Doyle? Over the last 30 years more and more writers of...
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Margaret Emery replied to Ray Wilson
it's a relatively short article Tim, and he doesn't mince his words.
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We read this in my book group, or more truly 5 people read it and several others gave up very quickly because of the language or the sex or both. Only 2 said they would recommend it to friends because of the effort required in getting to grips with the style. Once I got into the style i actually didn't find it hard, but I definitely liked the first third of...
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Margaret Emery replied to Ray Wilson
Have you read this article by Tim Lott?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jan/01/subsidise-writers-lost-plot-literary-fiction-authors-readers-story -
Totally agree with you both. Good to be made to think and admire.
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I agree with Mila here. As a reader I found this scene totally understandable both from the external visual scene painted, and also from the inner workings of Eily's head. She is way out of her depth culturally and emotionally at this point, and trying so hard to put a sophisticated gloss on her behaviour, verbal exchanges, thoughts and emotions.
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Margaret Emery replied to Ken Brown
Interesting that you say the same words written in a different format would seem trivial - does that imply that the reader is being "conned" into thinking that stream of consciousness writing is inherently superior to conventional dialogue? Most of life's dialogues are trivial on one level, but it's often what is not said that is the important factor.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I haven't read everyone's comments yet, but when I first started this book I too found it hard to get into, and thought that the stream of consciousness was to represent a young person's sense of confusion as she plunged into the very different world of the London drama scene. I imagined that as she came to grips with her new world, her thoughts and feelings...
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Margaret Emery replied to Margaret Emery
I totally agree, Mark, and accept that I have concentrated more on the form than the content of the course. I just expected more comment, guidance from the tutors than is the case with this course. I am continuing to read the articles, but will not make any further contribution to the discussions.
Thanks for your comments! -
Margaret Emery replied to david rowland
Hi David, you might like to read a comment I posted at the start of module 2, and the subsequent discussion. I agree with your comment on the need for more educator input "model answer" style.
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Margaret Emery replied to Margaret Emery
Thank you all for continuing this discussion.
In no way am I advocating a return to the didactic methods of my youth, where questioning the teacher's input was unheard of, and in my own career my approach to teaching, facilitating and learning has evolved and taken account of trends which have come and gone.
I agree with much of what you all say, and... -
Margaret Emery replied to Margaret Emery
Thanks Sheila, your advice is supportive and understanding. The jury is out as far as I am concerned.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I continue to have a problem with this course. Maybe this just isn't an appropriate learning environment for me. I joined because i wanted to be taught something as well as explore new ideas. I accept that it is necessary for teachers to find out where their students are coming from, what their base level of knowledge is and then to build on that, but......I...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I tend to agree with those who are positive about this week's input being a broad brush introduction to what is a much more multifacetted topic than i had expected, and share the hope that there will be more in depth input from the leaders and opportunity for reflection and analysis in the weeks to come. Several of the discussion questions this week elicited...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
No comment.
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Margaret Emery replied to Bruce Cotter
also, families which rely on their land to provide their meagre food supply and cash from the sale of extra produce often need the children to work with them and hence fewer complete high school and thus restrict their life chances.
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even deep fried toast, pre- buttered. Texas toast.
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Margaret Emery made a comment
In the early 1970s I spent several weeks in a small town in Texas called Palestine. At that point it had 36 churches and a drive in movie, but was in a dry county i.e. impossible to buy a drink with a meal in a restaurant. People were very intrigued by my English accent, and very welcoming. i attended one of the Southern baptist churches several times, more...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
Looks like a team with a very broad range of specialist knowledge. I am very interested in the portrayal of the south in literature and film, and Megan's research areas sound fascinating. The tension between historical fact and its interpretation over the generations is evidenced in the literature of all countries. My special interest has been WW2 in France,...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
The material covered has been wide ranging, the presentation of ideas by the course leaders stimulating, and following this up in detail is now up to us. However, I remain rather confused about the course title, as "Modern Languages" seem to me to be largely irrelevant in this context. History, cultural icons, international universal themes, the opportunity ...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
It's very interesting to look at different translations of the preface. The balance of the sound and rhythm as well as the sense of the original French "tant que" is, I think, better conveyed by this translation "as long as" rather than "while" in the Norman Denny translation in the Penguin 1976 version I have at home. Maybe "for as long as" could have been...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
I would like to introduce two into the discussion. Neither is feel good, both are political. The first is from Hugo Chavez's Venezuela, and I saw it on HUGE billboards everywhere during my travels there in 2007.
"Patria, Sociolismo o Muerte". (Homeland, Socialism or Death" Chilling.
The second dates from World War 2 in Vichy France, and was coined by... -
Margaret Emery made a comment
I would like to explore the question of freedom in a wider context - the fight for electoral, racial, gender, religious freedom. The twentieth century saw struggles the world over to gain freedom for groups of people in an extremely wide range of political and social contexts. If the struggle resulted in freedom there was a euphoric sense of relief and joy,...
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Margaret Emery made a comment
No idea how this is going to work out, but looking forward to the challenge
