Mornings are cold these days. My cohort (the class from Dang) members get ready almost on time. At least one or two remain signed up when I enter the Google Meet class. My impression so far is that everyone is committed to surviving the four years ahead. I have no right to slacken though yawning frequently could befit my age and working style.
I do not consider my performance today to be the best. I got up early enough and turned the classroom on to welcome the cohort. My expectations were met. Majority of them read poems from my poetry blog and tried to explain what they found interesting. I could suspect the use of AI here or there. But it is the process of learning, and they are in the scratch. If I discourage them from using available resources, they may stop using any resource. Here I foreground my own concession: “In the absence of a resourceful mentor and a resource-filled learning center, any source of information, including AI tools, is welcome. Because it helps me if I use it judiciously, it must help others in the same condition. I listened to them patiently and explained the ways of identifying poetic elements. The class ended with a cursory look at the history of English literature. I focused my comments on the days when there was no printing press and literary production relied on handwritten texts. The absence of press signified the presence of calligraphers and the production of perfect literary works, especially poetry. Handwriting long narratives in prose and making them available to the public could be a colossal task. If any person did in history, it should have been with the highest level of commitment to craft, creativity, and communication.
The first module is done. The module to follow substantiates the first by expanding the discussion of literature through the identification and application of literary devices. The classes on literary devices transcend the structured lectures on elements. In fact, the second module will also use the elements extensively while delving into the universal machinery of literary creations. I believe that my contribution to the first module involves setting a proper prelude for the second. I am not sure whether the cohort will internalize the basics of literary crafts to the extent of embellishing their own expressions. From what they perform now, I can say there is a long way to go to develop visible and audible aesthetics in their creations.
This can be an experimental group in the sense of letting this adaptive-evolutionary syllabus mature. No doubt, I am helping myself to learn literature and relive much of what I have forgotten. I also relive the satisfaction that learning English long ago without resourceful mentors and resource-filled learning centers was a great adventure and source of the sense of accomplishment.
28 December 2025