English 100 at Ashland

I’m writing this as the semester wraps up. People ask me how I will be spending the summer, and my answer usually disappoints them. It might be fun to go to Paris or London, but, all things considered, I am more likely to travel to Paris, Kentucky, or London, Ohio. (Nice town. Had friends who lived there.) If you are like most of us, you will get a summer job, hang out with friends, and try to pull yourself together for college in the Fall. Here are a few suggestions for the next few weeks. Two things are in the back of my mind. The first is that I want these ideas to be low-impact and inexpensive. The second is that I want them to be fun. Most college instructors will tell you that they would like their students to be better at reading and writing, so maybe summer would be a good time to work on those things. First suggestion: Get a library card. Summer is a great time for shade-tree reading. Doesn’t have to be heavy or academic. If you don’t know w...

In 1939, movie-goers were hit with an amazing spectacle. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her little dog Toto were swept up by a tornado and blown into the magical land of Oz. Until the moment when she opened the door of the cabin and saw where she had landed, every movie was in black-an-white—when she opened the door, suddenly everything was in brilliant, vivid color. And Dorothy says to her little dog: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.” College might feel that way. It will be a huge change, but it will be a good one. (After all, Oz was in full color!) I will be writing this blog throughout the summer to help you adjust and get ready for this new land. A few details about this blog: This isn’t an official AU site, and everything here is my own opinion. Because it’s not an AU site, anybody on the Internet can read it, so if you have a friend who is in another English class—perhaps even in another c...