The Class of 2011

[intertext]

Thanks to Carla Beard, The Web English Teacher for drawing my attention to this list of things we need to remember about the mindset of students entering college with year.

The majority of our first year students were born in 1989 (and if that doesn't make you feel old...). For them, the world has certain realities. I was particularly struck by a few:

What Berlin Wall?

They have never "rolled down" a car window

Nelson Mandela has always been free

Fava beans have always been a pop culture reference

U2 has always been more than a spy plane. (shows you how long they've been going!

Tiananmen Square is associated with an Olympics venue, not the scene of a massacre

Check out the whole list - it provides quite a bit of food for thought, and reminds us teachers to be careful about our cultural references. They might not be as "obvious" as we thought!

Crossposted at RealToads (yes, yet another blog)

Comments

[owlfish]

I don't know a pop culture reference for fava beans, but on the other hand, I didn't know U2 was a spy plane. (I know other meanings for it than the band, though.)

[intertext.livejournal.com]

"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti" Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs

And I didn't know U2 had other meanings besides the spy plane and the band!

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

"I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti"

As parodied by The Two Ronnies, "Porno and Bribeasy of the Yard" - something along the lines of -

"Ugh, that's disgusting, Sarge. you don't want to drink Chianti with liver, you want something much lighter."

[owlfish]

Not only have I not seen any of the Hannibal Lecter movies, nor read the books, I've managed to miss all references to fava beans in that context as well. (Or rather, if I saw them, was not tuned in enough to enquire further.)

U-bahn 2 (abbreviated U2) is a subway line in Berlin (and various other German-speaking places).

[wellinghall.livejournal.com]

The U2 was a high-altitude American spy plane of the early Cold War (okay, and the late Cold War - it was a very resilient design). Gary Powers was shot down in one by the Soviet Union.

The fava beans come from "Silence of the Lambs" - Hannibal Lecter ate them.

[owlfish]

Thank you!