Re: don't just watch

[Gordon Grant <Gordon_Grant@BAYLOR.EDU>]

I realized yesterday that I was reading obsessively (on the web), both
about current developments in NYC and historical/political background, as
my way of coping with these events.  I talked to my students about my
response and told them about a few of the articles that have helped me
start to regain my balance:  in addition to the NYT editorials, stuff from
the Nation archive on the historical rise of bin Laden, and several
articles from the London Times, which is just far enough away to offer
another view of our shock and pain.  Check out the commentary by Simon
Jenkins (which was partially quoted on CNN) and, oddly enough, the
interview with Norman Mailer.  I also received from a friend a forwarded
email apparently written by Michael Moore (making of the film Roger and
Me) that has not, as far as I know, been published anywhere yet.  I tried
to shift into an analytical mode with one class by talking about the
stories we are using to frame this tragedy.  The pearl harbor comparison
has been quickly made and quickly critiqued, but other references and
narrative frames need to be explored, especially for how they position
both the perpetrators and the victims.  Tom is right to remind us that we
are particularly well-suited for this work.

Gordon Grant
Baylor