KidLit Forum

I have just finished reading all the posts in this forum. Well...

WOW! I'm impressed at the level of engagement and attention and sophistication you have displayed here!

First of all, congratulations to our Trailblazer and Ice-Breaker, Monika Bandi, who wrote full essays devoted to the books she has so minutely read, annotated and analyzed. Monika is a very attentive reader, and uses close reading expertly and unhesitatingly. I knew from our seminars how well prepared she was to supply the right quotation or context for a discusssion. (BTW, folks, you could ask her to tell you about her method of close reading, for it's really effective.

There is then in Ms Bandi an effort towards finding the best concepts and categories that fit her texts, so that these go towards a holistic view of the book. I also appreciate Monika's connecting the texts with various disciplines, such as cultural anthropology, lexicology or sociology.

And, last but not least, she knows how to drop those observations and conceptualizations without making them sound boring, and she knows --like a good teacher that I know she is-- to alternate serious insight and conceptualization with lighter passages (see the lexical notes to "Fat Camp" or the links to funny videos...).

All in all, thanks Monika for enlivening the forum and the seminar (even if this term you have been a tad too discreet in class) and for providing a high level of professional discussion.

Also Kudos to Simona Filimon, who has a gift for the detection of the most relevant quotations, which she array put in meaningful constellations, that cast unexpected rays of critical light onto the text. Simona seems to be the kind a person fro whom forums (or fora, if you're a purist) like ours can come in handy: often intimidated to speak up in class, she opens up for discussion in the online environment.

A true poet's nature, Adelinne captures too the essence of texts in well chosen connections. She is after the lyrical, the emotional and the surprising and reminds us that these texts are, after all, a matter of Art.

Florina Ciupe, thank you too. You posts, coming usually at the end of a discussion, represent an effort towards synthesis, and they bring often the much-needed (and often forgotten) ethical ground. The pedagogical and ethical twist you bring to these discussions is welcome!

Thank you all. I feel like commenting on individual posts, and maybe I'll do that once I free myself from the grading chores. I hope your colleagues have visited these pages. Upon re-reading them I feel sorry we did not spend more time in seminar discussions (it all has to do with the unfortunate decision to shorten the lot to 2-hours, an impossible format, I admit. Mea culpa!). Your contributions would have had great resonance in class, together with Cristina's intelligent analyses and Octavian's interesting connections qwith other domains.

Thanks again,

AO