Emeeeeeeerson Reading Progress?

Now that you've spent some time doing some "deep reading" with Emerson, what are your thoughts on this type of heavy, dense reading? Does it feel extra difficult in light of Nicholas Carr's assertion that digital texts make it more difficult for us to appreciate long, sustained reading? (Carr is the guy who wrote the article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" Remember him?)

One way to make sense of difficult texts is to share your thoughts on reading strategies. In the next week, post a quick comment to this blog post, a thought on a reading strategy you've found useful for reading R.W.E.

Keep being deep readers, folks. (By the way, is Emerson even reading the book in this picture? Maybe he's in a transcendental state...)

"I have no expectation that any man will read history aright..."

Remember this quote above? It should look familiar (it is, after all, on our blog). Here it is again in full:

I have no expectation that any man will read history aright, who thinks that what was done in a remote age, by men whose names have resounded far, has any deeper sense than what he is doing to-day.

As you all know by now, something happened last night that will resound through history books for the rest of your lives. And as Emerson argues in the quote above, what happened yesterday is history, and you all lived it.

And it's appropriate we celebrate both candidates by giving Senator McCain the stage, too. McCain delivered a magnanimous concession speech in which he identified the historic nature of the recent election. In case you missed it, here it is:

Senator McCain

Tuesday Night Preparation

Early this week we'll continue our discussion of the election by having you visit the New York Times interactive Electoral College map. Here's the link:

Map

The nice thing about the map is if you click on the link titled "Your map" you'll be able to change which states vote red or blue and see the results in Electoral College votes. This website helps illustrate how the process works (a nice connection to the Constitution) and it will also help you anticipate what you should look for as you watch the results Tuesday night. Have fun!