To Have Sense or Sensibility?

photo by Cara Mac Neil :)

Seeing as this blog needed a little updating I thought I would come back to it even as a graduate :) Over the summer Sigma Tau Delta-ers and Non-Sigma Tau Delta-ers alike have joined forces in agreeing to read and discuss Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. My friend Katie and I were the driving force behind this because we both realized that while we loved the ever-popular Pride and Prejudice we hadn't touched some of the other books.

A lot of people who consider themselves Jane Austen fans came out of the woodwork to say "I too haven't really read much besides P&P " or "I've read everything except Sense and Sensibility" and I'm wondering why exactly that seems to be the case. Surely Jane Austen is not a One Hit Wonder among female Victorian writers so it seems strange to me that she is known primarily for one novel. People assume that if they like P&P that they will love the rest of her books because she has developed a reputation for being formulaic: a Happy Endings type of writer.

I wonder if this is true, if this is false or if it is simply her genius.

Being about halfway through the book I cannot wait to have someone to talk about it with and am so excited that the society of English Majors seems to be a bond that lasts even after the college years become officially behind me.

Sometime in August (date TBA) we are all meeting to discuss this book and professors are even getting in on the deal! It really is amazing to feel like part of a literary community and it makes the reading experience sweeter knowing that I will absolutely get to dissect the nature of Mrs Jennings and other strange but loveables in this book.

It seems to me that we English Majors are full of sense..... and a bit of sensibility :)


-- Cara

To Change Our Blog Design?

Do you notice anything different about our blog? Why! The design has been changed of course! The scarlet red color fits in well with our national Sigma Tau Delta colors.

Be sure to read our blog on Tuesday, June 15th for the 2010 Book Club selections that you voted for!

To Select Books For A Book Club?

Now is your chance to vote on what books you want to read next year during our brand new Sigma Tau Delta Book Club! Try not to judge the books by their covers...I know I included pictures of all of the books in the survey, but if you're unfamiliar with a book please look up a summary/review online.

http://tcnj.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6EzsBclCYnB1Gni

Please remember:
1. Include your first and last name.
2. Select only your top 5 book choices! Only 5!
3. Type in which book is your #1 choice.

Feel free to rally for the book of your choice on this blog! Post a reply/comment to this blog post, telling us why we should choose a certain book to read.


This following chart shows the top 10 books so far. Keep that in mind as you're voting on books!

To read for 17 hours straight?

Our last post announced our effort to read The Fellowship of the Ring from cover to cover. As of 12:00 pm this afternoon, we were on chapter four, reading away in the Bliss Hall lounge. Come take a break from the end of semester stresses and enjoy Frodo's and Sam's adventures as the leave the Shire and embark on their journey to the dark lands of Mordor!

To Read The Fellowship of the Ring?

We are getting geared up for this year's marathon reading, and for the first time, allowed student members to "vote" with their spare change (all proceeds to the Trenton Public Libraries!). The year, we are reading the first novel in J.R.R. Tolkein's Lord of the Ring trilogy: The Fellowship of the Ring.

This is a novel I first read on the advice of my youngest brother Phil, who devoured it one summer while he attempted to live the rest of his life. He read it while delivering newspapers (American children used to walk around their neighborhoods delivering afternoon papers). He read it while playing Little League ball -- probably the most important reason his coach put him in left field.

To Find a New Hero?

About a dozen of us attended Chris Abani's talk tonight at the conference. We laughed, wept, and found ourselves questioning the essentializing labels we toss around: refugee, citizen, writer, literature. Earlier in the day, I attended his question and answer session and had much the same reaction to him. His book, Song for Night, is this year's common reader, and I now regret profoundly that we didn't organize an activity around the novella. So I promise $5 for the marathon reading kitty when we get back home. Let's read this profound story of a child soldier as he reconnects with his essential humanity.

I can't even begin to describe all the wonderful things that Abani said, so I would like members to come back in and revise my posting. But the most marvelous thing that he said this morning was "Writers are the curators of our humanity."

--Felicia Steele

To "Meet me in St. Louis"?

March 18, 2010: The first full day of the annual Sigma Tau Delta Conference here in St. Louis, MO. Everyone arrived safely, and everyone successfully registered for the Conference and checked into the hotel. Our rooms overlook the Mississippi River and the Gateway Arch. TCNJ is the largest delegation here at the Convention,with 21 students, 2 faculty, and 29 scholarly essays to be presented.

The Conference registration site has a bulletin board with 9 "outstanding essays" on the Conference theme of "Storytellers," and I was delighted to discover that one of these outstanding essays was written by our own Nicole Pieri! Congrats, Nicole.

I've attended both the Chapter Sponsors session, and picked up some good ideas -- let's celebrate Banned Book week next September -- and my first paper session -- at which Kristen Casabona read a super Toni Morrison essay on Beloved. In addition to the sessions, students are also planning to take the tram to the top of the Gateway Arch and visit the fabulous St. Louis city zoo and the Budweiser Clydesdales (who live here by the Anheuser Busch brewery).

More later . . . Diane Steinberg