A Valuable Book

The most valuable book that I read this past semester had nothing to do with the subject I am studying, which is history. It is a slender volume entitled The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E. B. White (of Charlotte's Web fame). This is a book that should be mandatory reading for anyone taking any class that has anything to do with writing. Pastors, teachers, business people, and anyone else would do well to peruse the hundred or so pages of this book to ensure that their writing is crisp and clear. If you are concerned about a bunch of dry rules of English, let me assure you that there is plenty of humor in this book. At times, I found myself chuckling or laughing.

Whew! It's Over!

Well, my second, and much more challenging, semester of grad school is behind me. I had two tough classes, and did not have time to blog much over the last couple months.

For both of you who read the blog (Thanks, mom. [Actually, I don't think my mom knows what a blog is.]) I will try to post a little more over the next month.

Wow! I am Impressed!

In my one class last spring, we never received a syllabus. Never. Still waiting...

My classes for this fall start next Wednesday, and I have already received the syllabus for one of the classes. At least now I can plan my schedule.

The older I get, the more I like to plan. I want to know what is coming next. That way, I can set aside time to study. The problem with the class in the spring was constantly shifting expectations and assignments. The class itself was very interesting, but I hated that we never really knew what was coming next.

I think ("hope" may be a better word) it will be different this fall.

Thinking on the Thesis

With only 3 credit hours down, I am beginning to think about my thesis. This appears to be a bit tricky. I have to find a faculty member willing to guide me through the process. My interest is in 20th century American history, particularly the post-World War II era. The problem is that the guy who had been the 20th century American specialist recently retired. They are searching for a new one.

I have always been interested in political history, but my interest has recently been trending toward social history, specifically integration.

One area of integration that has piqued my interest is the role of the Church in integration, either with helping or hindering. In the Church of the Nazarene, there was a drive to integration beginning in the late 1940s. The Church of the Nazarene formed the Gulf Central District, which was made up exclusively of black churches in the Old South.

I would love to investigate this further to see how and why this was attempted.

Three Down, 30 To Go

I have finished my first graduate school class, and have ten to go. I have earned three hours of the required 33. I earned an "A," somehow. We never did get a syllabus, so it was all fuzzy expectations.

Here are some conclusions about Twentieth Century European History:

• The Nazis and Fascists were not right-wingers. They were socialists.
• Europe was not a seething cauldron of anti-Semitism in the early part of the century, although parts of it were.
• The triumph of democracy, in western Europe after World War II and eastern Europe after the Cold War, was not inevitable.

Next up, some American history. In the fall, I get to take Historiography and Problems in North Carolina History.

I have gotten my feet wet, and will tackle two classes.

The Big Wind Down

The semester is winding down. This time it is on two fronts for me: teaching and studying.

As far as teaching goes, the semester has been incredibly average. Nothing great, but nothing awful. I did make a student cry, today. With finals coming up next week, I gave each student a note letting them know what they need to make on the final to get their desired grade (A, B, or C). Some students have no chance. One who has no chance left the room crying. I tried to console this student, but to no avail. I feel terrible about it, but I am not a magician.

This also concludes my first semester as a graduate student, but only attempting one class. The thing I loved about this class: no tests. The thing I did not like: fuzzy expectations (we never received a syllabus). I have to turn in my final review essay by next week. I just have to take the chainsaw to it, as it is ten pages rather than the suggested five to eight pages.

The light is at the end of the tunnel, and it is the summer sun.

This Amazes Me

Perhaps I am a little late to the new wave of technology, but I am amazed. For my 20th Century European History class, we have to do research on a sub-topic (mine is anti-Semitism). We are to look at secondary sources--academic articles and monographs--but no primary sources--archival material, etc. I have managed to compile a long list, which I am trimming down to the assigned number of sources.

That is not what amazes me. The thing that amazes me is that I have not set foot in a library anywhere to do this project. I have not been to the university library, the public library or any other library. I have done all the research on-line. I have downloaded numerous articles, or had them e-mailed to me via inter-library loan. Both of the monographs that I am considering are available on-line through the university library's collaboration with NetLibrary.

Like I said, perhaps I am late to the party, but it amazes me. When I was an undergraduate, I practically lived in the school library.

Decisions, Decisions

I am in the midst of trying to figure out my class schedule for the fall. I know that I will be taking Historiography, but mostly because I have to. I am torn for the second class. I am trying to decide between Problems in North Carolina History and American Revolution and Early Republic. Neither really strikes as more interesting than the other.

Further Signs of Aging

I attended my first class last night, and it went well. The one odd thing is that I realized I am an old man. I am the second oldest student in class. I am not sure if some of the guys in the class have started shaving yet. Some of them look like they are twelve.

During introductions, I mentioned having children. Later, as the prof was talking about his kids, he asked how many I had, then asked the other gentlemen who is my senior how many he had. He did not bother ask anyone else.

I do think that age will work to my advantage. I had considered grad school after college, but never did it. I am more mature (hopefully) now than I was then. I am more serious now. I have experienced life. I am more widely read now. That, and I am only taking one class.

Today Is The Day

I start grad school this evening. I will be in class every Wednesday night from 6:30-9:30 for the next four months studying twentieth century European history. I would be lying if I said that I was not nervous.

Decision Made

Well, my first foray into graduate will be in the subject of "Twentieth-Century European History." Come January 9, 2008, I will be a graduate student. There are only five books required for the class, with a cost of about $140 for them.

Tough Decisions

As I prepare to head back to school, come January, I am in the process of deciding which class I should take. I am seeking my master's in American history. Our financial situation pretty much dictates one class at this time, which is fine with me. I want to get my bearings without being overwhelmed by the demands of grad school.

I am just not sure what class to take. There are five American history classes offered in the Spring semester. However, only one fits with my work schedule. The deal is, the professor teaching the class has absolutely horrible reviews on ratemyprofessors.com. And by horrible, I mean horrible. I realize that all profs will have some negatives (you can't please everyone), but this guy's negatives run about 10 to 1. The words boring, unclear, and rambling occur over and over.

The other option I have is that I can take one of the two classes outside my concentration (i.e. something that is not American history). Again, I only need two classes. I am not sure that I want to burn one of those right out of the gate. At the same time, the Twentieth-Century European History is one of the electives that I had seriously considered.

I want to get off to a good start.

Acceptance

None of us wants to be rejected. We want others to accept us. Yesterday, I was accepted into graduate school to pursue my master's degree in history. Next spring, I will begin a journey toward that goal.

One Last GRE Update

I received my official GRE scores in the mail yesterday. The only thing new was the Analytical Writing Section score, which was 5 out of 6. I was hoping to do better, but it is not bad.

It's Over!

Today, I took and completed the GRE. I am so glad it's over. I can go back to using small, simple words. I am satisfied with my score: 1380. It's not amazing, but it's 300 points over the average of the school to which I am applying.

I can rest. Except, that I start teaching Thursday.

I'm So Confused

My last minute preparations for the GRE (tomorrow, 8/14) are coming to a close. The hardest part for me is going to be the antonyms. I took an online practice test yesterday and a paper one today. Yesterday, I got the question:

DISSIPATE:

Answer choices: wander, coalesce, oscillate, exhume and restrain.

My brain went to the mention of dissipation in the Bible. I recalled it being a sin, so I chose "E" (restrain). Wrong-o. It is coalesce, as to dissipate means to disperse. Then I recalled the weatherdude on TV saying that the rain shower would "dissipate," or go away.

Today, on my paper test, I run across the word:

DISSIPATED

Answer choices: temperate, pleased, inundated, encouraged, and planned.

Remembering what had happened on the previous attempt, I chose inundated. The reason being that if rain showers dispersing or leaving or dissipating, the opposite would be that we would be inundated. Wrong-o! The answer is temperate, because as the book says, "The word dissipated can be a pejorative reference to someone devoted to the pursuit of pleasure--the opposite of dissipation is restraint or moderation." So the answer was temperate.

The online test and the book are from the same company. In one place they say outright that dissipate and restrain are the opposite.

Ugh! My brain is beginning to ache.

I think that I am pretty much done studying. I cannot wait until tomorrow afternoon when this test is behind me. I know I will do well (I'm using positive self-reinforcement here).

GRE Test Prep Continues

With only 13 days to go until I make my attempt to prove my worthiness for graduate school by taking the GRE, I am in overdrive for prep. My Kaplan Test Prep Book is smoking. Now that my teaching summer school has ended, I am able to devote more time.

I took a sample Quantitative Section (i.e. math) test and got 51 of 60 right. In looking back, I missed about 4 that were either because I didn't read the question carefully or made a stupid math error. That's the same types of things that I am constantly getting on my students for doing.

I have just started reading the Analytical Writing Section. One thing kind of struck me as funny. The second principle that Kaplan gives is to keep the essay simple. One should avoid being overly complicated. One should use simple words. I guess you could say that one should be pithy and avoid prolixity. In other words, don't use a lot of the words that the GRE insists that you know in the Verbal Section. One must know words like turgid, euphony, panegyric and torpor, but one must not use them when writing the essay for the test.

GRE: Date Certain

I just did it. I registered, and paid a whopping $140, to take the GRE test. It all seems much more real now. The date is August 14, which is my dad's birthday. I have commenced projectile sweating.

I did a practice test for the verbal section this morning. I did well on the sentence completion, and the analogies. Doing well on the analogies really surprised me. I was most worried about that. The reading comprehension was not great, but I have never been great at that. I am a more auditory learner. I hardly read anything in college. I absorbed most from the lectures, and fortunately most of my profs tested on the lecture. The antonym section was awful. It is hard to know what the antonym is to a word you have no clue about. Prolix? Who uses the word prolix? It apparently means "wordy."

I have to hone my studying, as the date approaches.

GRE Test Prep

As I mentioned some time ago in this space, I am planning (God willing) to go to grad school starting next spring (2008). In order to enter grad school, one has to jump through numerous hoops. One of those hoops is the Graduate Records Exam (GRE), which is basically to grad school what the SAT is to college. (Look, I made an analogy!)

I went out and purchased Kaplan's GRE study book. As I was studying yesterday, I came across the word "pedant," which means "someone who shows off learning." My immediate thought was, The person who came up with the GRE was pedant.

Oh well, the studying goes on. I just hope that when I finish grad school, I ain't no pedant.