Dr. Bordelon's English I On-Campus

Radio Stations

If you’d like to keep up with current events but can’t find the time to read the New York Times, try listing to NPR news radio.  You have your choice of programs: Morning Edition 7:00 – 8:30 mornings, or All Things Considered 5:00-7:30.  I live north of the college and listen through the internet.  Those who live south of the college can listen on 89.9 FM (Manahawkin). You can also listen on the web at www.npr.org  Check the site for the station in your area.

Suggested Reading
Most available from OCC’s library

Periodicals
Harper’s: monthly magazine which includes a mix of short excerpts from a wide array of sources (letters from insurance companies, internal memos from businesses, diaries, etc) artwork, essays on contemporary issues and culture, and short stories.

The New York Times Book Review.  Did you ever think to yourself “I don’t know what to read?” This weekly magazine prints short reviews on recent books and is a great way to pick out your next book.

Smithsonian Magazine: Everything from art (great illustrations) to zoology, once a month.  A fantastic way to painlessly gain the kind of cultural literacy that will make you a favorite at cocktail parties – and sure to make your boss think “I knew I did good when I hired her.”

Books
Encyclopedia of Careers and Vocational Guidance by Andrew Morkes
A several volume set (in the ref. section in our library) that examines, as the title suggests, careers.  What’s especially good about this series is its format: for each career the book offers an array of information including history, “The Job,” requirements, starting out, work environment, and the outlook.  A great place to start planning your professional career – and seeing if the career you’ve chosen is really all it’s cracked up to be.

The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Ed. Ed. Hirsch, Joseph Kett, and James Trefil.
This belongs on your reference shelf.  Contains short entries and illustrations on items/phrases which often fall under the radar of encyclopedia.  Run across a word/phrase that’s not in your dictionary (such as “market economy”)? You’ll find it here.  A must have.

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn.  A  fascinating guide to America from the ground up.  Instead of reading about George Washington’s wooden teeth, you can read about the people who made his teeth, how much they were paid (or not paid), and why they kept rioting.

The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien.  A collection of related short stories roughly centered on the Vietnam War, but really about truth, art, the meaning of life, morality, courage, etc.  In other words, literature as life.

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman.  A, well, amusing look at how television, with its passive format, is slowly (quickly?) destroying our will.

Manufacturing Consent by  Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky Review by Amazon.Com: An absolutely brilliant analysis of the ways in which individuals and organizations of the media are  influenced to shape the social agendas of knowledge and, therefore, belief. Contrary to the popular conception of members of the press as hard-bitten realists doggedly pursuing unpopular truths, Herman  and Chomsky prove conclusively that the free-market economics model of media leads inevitably to normative and narrow reporting. Whether or not you've seen the eye-opening movie, buy this book, and you will be a far more knowledgeable person and much less prone to having your beliefs manipulated as easily as the press.

Maus I and Maus II by Art Spiegelman.  A fantastic and graphic (literally and figuratively – it’s literally a graphic [i.e. cartoon panels] and figuratively gut-wrenching) look at the Holocaust through the eyes of a cartoonist who interviews his father – who survived Auswich.  By turns wickedly funny (the father is the kind of person who leaves the gas burner on at a summer house so he won’t have to pay for matches to light it) and devastating (he also recounts walking over the bodies of concentration camp prisoners who had died of typhus), it puts a “human” face on a horrific event.

Great Artists by Michael Cummings.  A short and accessible history of painting and painters.  Great format: a major work by each artist with commentary on how that work connects to the overall work of the artist.  A perfect intro to art history.

From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun.  History told as one long story – and made relevant today.  A great antidote to the often rushed presentation of Western Civilization in college courses.

Into the Buzzsaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press edited by Krinstina Borjesson.  Filled with specific examples of how the government, business, and other competing forces interfere with your first amendment right to know what’s going on around with.

The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.  A classic book on writing that wears its age lightly.  Available on the net, but it’s a browser’s delight and worth purchasing.

Homeland by Dale Maharidge and Michael Willamson.  A tour of America, post 9/11, revealing the contradictions of a nation at war with its own best interests.  An essential book for understanding the mindset of contemporary America.

Music
Tabula Rasa by Arvo Paert.  A haunting collection of atmospheric tonal music.

Kind of Blue by Miles Davis.  If you have only one jazz CD, this should be it.  From “So What” to “All Blues” a milestone (if you’ll pardon the pun) collection.

Bach’s Cello Sonata’s.  Incredible music.  Goes straight to your cerebral cortex and stuns you.  I prefer the Yo-Yo Ma performance.