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Mark Edmundson, Dwelling in Possibilities

Mark Edmundson, Dwelling in Possibilities

Read Dwelling in Possibilities and check your comprehension by answering the following questions. Then “submit” your work.

1. What was the subject of the author’s work that he related to the student in front of the statue of Homer?

Samuel Johnson

Freud

Wordsworth

Escher

2. Students today graze rather than

skate quickly, as Thoreau suggested, across the ice.

dive deep.

spend time in solitude.

selectively shop around.

3. Why does the author call the four first-year students who showed up without computers the “incoming James Deans and Marlon Brandos”?

They simply didn’t seem to care about anything.

They were rebels, like Dean and Brando.

They dressed the part of rebellious youth.

Their only interest seemed to be the movies.

4. What is the one book most of the author’s students have read?

On the Road

Howl

Catcher in the Rye

Wuthering Heights

5. What plan does Edmundson adopt to slow his students down?

Students must write discussion questions in response to each day’s lecture.

He prohibits laptops in his classroom.

Students must outline each reading assignment.

He assigns lots of research.