I have to write a great paragraph about Nabokov or my career is fucked

[xfer]

I was told my registration date was Nov.18, so today I come into work and tried to register for a graduate Nabokov seminar (cross-referenced English and Slavic Languages) I'm really excited to take. I only can take 2 more English classes, ever, and one has to be Shakespeare, so this is my one elective. And I've never taken a Nabokov class, despite the fact that he's maybe my favourite writer.

Come to find out registration actually began Nov.13, and the class was totally full. I called the professor and begged, and he told me a lot of people had begged also, and I should e-mail him a paragraph or so telling him why I should be in the class over the others, and he'd choose from among them.

So, like, I guess I'm going emphasize that unlike the others I'm in the School of Education and I really want to learn Nabokov to teach it. Do you think that's a good approach, or should I instead construct something about Nabokov's symbolism or whatever?

 

[minxnim]

whatever you do, talk about his dozen, not freakin lolita! but yes i'd go from a teaching angle but also mention your own interests

 

[lizard]

I know nothing about nabokov. but you couldn't go wrong with telling the prof he is totally HOTTTTTT.

 

[xfer]

well i was thinking of mentioning Pale Fire. is that too conventional? should i talk about Pnin or Invitation to a Beheading or Glory or something?

 

[xfer]

there are no suitable Shakespeare classes this semester. if i don't get this class, i'll either have to take a stupid English class i don't want to take for my LAST ELECTIVE EVER, or extend my schooling by eight fucking months.

 

[minxnim]

GLORY definitely go with that.

 

[avi]

my advice: get down and start bobbin'

 

[xfer]

wellll unfortunately i never read Glory. i read like 5 nabokov books in a row and then put Glory on my shelf as one of those books i would read when i retired, as a way to prevent myself from reading everything and being like "So, I guess I'm done with Nabokov" and being depressed.

i guess i can't say much about the substance of the book in just a paragraph, but I'd be uncomfortable trumpeting a book i never actually read. so you think Pale Fire is too "everybody likes that"?

 

[lizard]

Avi - we are being ignored.

xfer - seriously dude, I feel for you. when I got my A.A. and transferred to UNH they didn't accept two of my classes. I ended up spending an extra semester in Durham.

 

[TheNewChupe]

the various posts/advice tidbits in this thread cover such extreme ends of the spectrum

 

[xfer]

actually i haven't gotten my nine english credits transferred yet! so it's possible i'll need to take them again and be there another twelve months anyway!

i guess that's the bright side.

 

[minxnim]

pale fire is okay to write about also i think

 

[FuSoYa]

If he's asking you to tell him why you should be in the class over the others, I think you probably should just mention all the things you did in this thread, i.e. that you want to take it for teaching, why you haven't read Glory, and that you don't want to be stuck in some crappy class as your last elective ever.

I mean, I guess trying to show him how much you already know about nabokov will let him know that you aren't just taking it as a random elective and that you'll contribute to the class, but I think you also should keep in mind his emotional element as opposed to just the academic. Also you don't want to come off as a know-it-all namedropper who's just going to annoy the shit out of the entire class.

 

[xfer]

but the professor looks like a know-it-all namedropper, himself!

http://fmwww.bc.edu/SL-V/shrayerm.html

 

[avi]

I'm an inferring that Toby's post is a covert way of saying that Alex tends to be a name-dropping know-it-all in class. true?

 

[xfer]

I actually tend to do the opposite--conceal knowledge of individual things or insert "I think..." before I say something I actually know--specifically to avoid that. It's really frustrating because I usually over-correct myself and end up getting lectured about things I know already but didn't mention.

 

[xfer]

and anyway I haven't had class with Toby since, like, the fourth grade.

 

[FuSoYa]

Haha, I wouldn't know, honestly.

 

[xfer]

Hello Professor Shrayer,



I telephoned you earlier to see if there was any way I could possibly squeak into the graduate Nabokov class you’re teaching in the spring. I was really excited to hear it was going to be offered, and I was crushed when I realised I had noted the wrong registration date and let the registration opportunity pass me by.



I never took a Nabokov class while I was an undergraduate at BostonCollege (class of ’99), and in the intervening years between undergraduate and grad school, I read a slew of Nabokov on my own and fell in love with him. I’m in a program for an M.A.T. in Secondary Education (English) in the Lynch School of Education right now, and I only have two open English class slots left in my degree, one of which has got to be a Shakespeare class. I would really love to be able to take a Nabokov class for the last one. I know Nabokov is usually taught on a college level, but it has a presence in high schools, too, and I’d really like to be able to show him to my future students and instill in them an appreciation for his writing and culture.



So I hope that you’re able to find a place for me! Please let me know, and good luck with the class if not.



Alex Driver

 

[xfer]

HE RESPONDED WITH AD ADVERTISEMENT FOR A LECTURE HE'S GIVING ON CAMPUS ABOUT RUSSIAN JEWS OR SOME DAMN THING