My minimester course — Topics in Shakespeare — is held in the same classroom as my Folklore course last semester, and where my Film & Literature will be held in the spring. I was the first one to class yesterday, after swinging past the bookstore and collecting the assigned readings. I took the same seat I had in folklore: back row, far right. It’s where I plan to sit for Film & Lit, too.
By the time the class started, I’d recognized a couple of other faces from Chaucer. I guess I’m not the only one who did so poorly they had to make it up by torturing themselves over their winter break (I am getting drunk every single night of spring break). One girl, taking a class while home before returning to St. John’s in New York, asked me if I’d ever had the professor before. I told her no, and that I’d heard he was very strict and I’d always avoided having him before. She didn’t believe me until a few minutes later when another student entered, sat down, asked if any of us knew who the professor was, and when told, said “shit” and began banging his head on the desk.
One of the biggest surprises was how filled the class was: probably close to thirty students, surprising for such a truncated course. It was jam-packed, and I’m going to have to get to campus early every day to secure a good seat: not a problem, I always get to campus early.
Halfway through class — I assumed, there was no clock, I’d turned off my cell phone, and the girl sitting next to me didn’t have a watch — I realized all I’d had to eat was a slice of cheese pizza earlier in the day. I made a mental note: eat something at least somewhat substantial before arriving for class from that point on.
The good news, as I see it, is that the professor, who I’ve always avoided taking previously because I heard he was a slave driver, isn’t. He can be a soft-speaker, and it was a bit of struggle to take notes — 3 pages worth. He’s hardly as strict as I imagined: he said we could use other editions of the Shakespeare plays if we had them and wanted to save the dough (no help for me, I’m afraid, we’re doing the histories — Richard II, both parts of Henry IV, Henry V, others, and what is currently on my personal bookshelves are the comedies). Six books, most of them small and tiny, one softcover Norton — sixty-five smackers total. Also good news, we have grading options: five announced quizes, one test and a paper; or five announced quizes and a test (in which case the quizes will be worth more). I’m going with the latter option.
When the minimester is finished, I’m going to ask the prof if he’s read Josephine Tey’s “Daughter of Time.” Not entirely fitting — we’re reading Richard II, not III — but somewhat related, and I haven’t read it recently enough to risk being quizzed by him in class.