MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2014 Activities by Sponsor - Literature

Expand All | Collapse All


Mobile Marathon: The Great Gatsby

Sandy Alexandre, Professor

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

The Literature Section hosts its annual IAP Mobile Reading Marathon of a crowd-pleasing work of literature. We've chosen F. Scott Fitzgerald 's The Great Gatsby (1925). Members of the group, including students, faculty, staff, and community members, will take turns reading from the book out loud until we've finished reading it in its entirety. Following the reading we will gather to watch Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film adaptation of the novel, starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

The reading is neither an acting audition nor an endurance test. You can choose to read your part(s) simply or perform them with impressive élan. Don your flapper dress, felt fedora hat, or something 1920s appropriate if you have it. If you don't, please come wearing whatever you have on that day!

Let's not forget the mobile aspect of the reading marathon.

The novel will lead us through East Egg (East Campus/Talbot Lounge), Valley of Ashes (Ashdown/ Hulsizer Room), and West Egg (Chocolate City/Main Lounge). Feel free to drop in and out throughout the day!

You can tweet the Mobile Marathon at #IAP2014Gatsby.

Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: Sandy Alexandre, 14N-422, 617-253-4450, alexandy@mit.edu


The Great Gatsby

Jan/23 Thu 10:00AM-11:30AM East Campus (Bldg62), Chapters 1-3
Jan/23 Thu 11:50AM-02:00PM Ashdown House (NW35), Chapters 4-6
Jan/23 Thu 02:00PM-04:00PM Chocolate City (W70), Chapters 7-9
Jan/23 Thu 05:00PM-08:00PM 3-133, Movie

The Mobile Marathon will kick off in the Talbot Lounge of East Campus Dorm (bldg 62), move to Ashdown House (bldg NW35) in the Hulsizer Room on the first floor, and finish reading in Chocolate City's Main Lounge on the third floor of New House-House 1. The reading will be followed by a screening of Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby" in building 3, room 133.


Pleasures of Poetry 2014

David Thorburn

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up
Attendance: Participants welcome at individual sessions

This popular activity –- which aims to reach all lovers of poetry -- has been offered every IAP for the last fifteen years.  Each one-hour session is devoted to a single poet, usually a single poem.  The goal is discussion and shared pleasure.  No lectures or professorial arrogance allowed. Some participants attend every session, but many others attend only once or twice to read and discuss a favorite poet or poem.  The roster of poets is always immensely diverse: from ancient Chinese masters to contemporary American poets laureate, from such famous Greats as Shakespeare, Keats and Auden to Dr. Seuss and Bob Dylan.  Discussion and collaborative close reading are the aim and ideal of each hour.  A packet of all the chosen texts will be posted online (lit.mit.edu) and will be available in hardcopy from the Literature Office.

Sponsor(s): Literature
Contact: David Thorburn, 14N-335, 3-6950, thorburn@mit.edu


PoP

Jan/06 Mon 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/07 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/08 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/09 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/10 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/13 Mon 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/14 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/15 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/16 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/17 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/21 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/22 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/24 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/27 Mon 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/28 Tue 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/29 Wed 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/30 Thu 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304
Jan/31 Fri 01:00PM-02:00PM 14E-304

Schedule and poems available at www.lit.mit.edu