From the looks of it, your 250 was a lot more educational than the equivalent I took with you-know-who. I enjoyed our version of it, and everything it seems your students have touched on in their essays was mentioned in our text, which I loved, yet we didn't discuss it that much in class. Ours felt more like a writing class, and less of an English class. Was still fun, but the essays your students have produced look more like what I thought it would be. Hmm. :)
no subject