I'm afraid I was a bit long winded today, all that mumbo-jumbo about GOOD and language and tsunamis and Nadsat...my brain hurts. The best lessons go off without a hitch, spontaneous and funny and intriguing. But the ones that are over-planned and cover too much material (like today's) tend to fail or be weak or at best are uninspiring. Be careful, therefore not to overplan. On Wednesday when I return, I'll give to you the essay topic that you will write on Friday. Know it, know the material, do all the related assignments, think about what you'll write about...but DON'T over do it. Don't over plan. Don't blow it with you good intentions (the way I do). Try to keep the spontaneity and freshness in your writing. You don't want to bore your audience the way some of us tend to.

Against boredom, the gods themselves struggle in vain. -Frederick Nietzsche