aka THE GRAND FINALE
So in the wake of our beloved teacher's departure, Anna and I are writing a heartfelt article in the Prowl about J.D. and his various trials in this past year.
So... say something!
How did you feel when he left and we had to go on without him?
How do you feel about him leaving—and having to finish without him?
How awesome of a teacher was he?
This is probably the last thing that'll be on this blog, so let's make it good, shall we?
Thanks for your help, guys. You can read the article in the May issue of the Prowl, if you'd like.
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11 comments:
Sweet! First post! :))
Many of my fondest memories of High School Literature are linked to even fonder memories of J.D. He introduced me to both excellent authors and excellent musicians, and has influenced my reading and writing technique far more than I will readily admit. His razor sharp wit kept the class lively and stimulating. I remain convinced that for every joke of his I understood, five must have hovered over my head.
What stood out most to me about Mr. Duncan was his enduring optimism and good humor. The opportunity for a joke or pun was never lost on J.D., and even after his injury, his wit was never crippled. Mr. Duncan's passion for literature and enthusiasm for all creative works, not only writing but art and music, inspired every student fortunate enough to have him as a teacher.
I'm not really sure what else to say, other than it was a unique experience having J.D. not only for AP Lit, but for publications too. It's been a memorable year, and it has been a pleasure learning from him.
Mr. Duncan always evoked in me a mixture of terror and curiosity- terror because I knew he would never overlook any small error and may in fact point it out to the rest of the class, curiosity because, well he is quite unlike any other teacher I have ever met. Apart from many odd idiosyncrasies Mr. Duncan's deep and genuine love of what he is teaching and his dedication to his students sets him apart. I learned so much from Mr. Duncan about literature and life and more about Hamlet then I ever wanted to know.
Mr. Duncan, my pen pal! Oh where to start…
Well first of all, Mr. Duncan is the only lit teacher that I have ever genuinely liked, and he was the only one that finally taught me to love literature, the only one who was able to bring me to the “dark side”. Mr. Duncan is easily the funniest human I have ever laid my eyes upon, even his gestures make me laugh until I cry. I can guarantee that none of us will ever forget his infamous desk leaning. No one can lean on someone’s desk better than Mr. Duncan can, not even Mr. Puterbaugh’s attempts even come close to the real thing, and that is a FACT. Mr. Duncan’s humor is far superior and more sophisticated than anyone else, even while he was drugged (legally of course)!
Mr. Duncan taught me so much that it is impossible to even begin to express it. He pushed me so far over the edge in AP Lit, that when I finally rose through the pain, I became three times stronger than before. Mr. Duncan gave me the toughest and eventually, most rewarding class I have had, and I will never be able to thank him enough for it.
On one will ever be able to replace Mr. Duncan! I am extremely sad that I wasn’t able to have Mr. Duncan as our teacher the entire year, but from what I did have, that time was priceless.
Mr. Duncan is one of my favorite people on the face of this planet.
Posting on the blog daily: 2 hour of my time
Writing and rewriting essays: 10 hours of my time
Reading all those books: my whole life
Watching Mr. Duncan lean on all those desks: priceless
*For what books can’t teach you, there’s Mr. Duncan.The end.
jeez, david, way to badger people into this. a simple hey would have been sufficient. ;)
anyways, I have LOVED having Mr. Duncan as a teacher. I fancied myself a pretty good writer until I wrote my first essay for AP Lit on Great Expectations... That was a total wakeup call. I got a K and realized that my writing needed a lot of work. Mr. Duncan really helped me realize not only what was wrong, which was pretty easy to identify, but also how to fix it, which was a lot harder to do.
I think one of my favorite memories from Lit this year is when I got back my Hamlet revision. I had worked so extremely hard on the first draft that I was bummed I only got a 70 something. I got together with Mr. Duncan during 7th period and we discussed every single thing about my essay and how I could make it better. After working with him, my grade was bumped up to an A, one of only two in the class for the Hamlet paper.
Not only is JD a brilliant teacher, but he is a hysterically funny guy. From playing mood music for whatever we're studying or even not (anyone remember that song by the Smiths that he played?), he has made what could potentially have been a boring class totally interesting and engaging. I've also enjoyed his talent for making fun of members of the class, myself included. Overall, he's definitely one of my favorite teachers that I've had and I'll miss him.
Well, I haven't been in this class for too long, but already I've had a great time and have gotten to known Mr. Duncan's spirited personality. Though I don't have the experiences the rest of you guys do, I've learned quite a bit and thoroughly enjoyed the discussions about literature as well as music!
PS: Mr. Duncan, I'll get the CD to you as soon as they send me a copy. :)
Mr. James Duncan was an awesome teacher... I struggled to survive when he wasn't here! Haha, but really he was great. Learning is so much better when you have a good teacher. Literature hasn't always been my most favortie or best class, but J.D. always had some funny/sarcastic comment that made me have a good time. Even when those funny/sarcastic comments were directed at me and the other Health Careers students.
As Dickens would say, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," Though for me it was pretty much "the best of times"
I resent two things. First of which is David calling me a moron. I am no moron, good sir, and I challenge you to a duel to stand by your words! Second is Miranda's implied joke that she "struggled to survive" when Mr. Duncan was absent. She thinks it's funny, that it would perhaps be [i]humorous[/i] to say that one could not survive without Mr. Duncan. I take great offense to this, for I was struggling for life every moment Mr. Duncan was not at my side. I remember on one day, I came crawling in, coughing up blood, on all fours, with chapped lips, and sweat-matted hair. Matt Putnam asked me "What's wrong, buddy?" and I told him "Oh, not feeling too well." He immediately knew what I meant, so he pulled up a photo of Mr. Duncan and I regained my composure almost instantaneously.
My favorite part of Mr. Duncan is the way he never hesitates to pass up an opportunity of friendly banter and/or mocking. I won't give any examples of this, because I believe in some rights of privacy, but I don't know a single person he has let evade his humorous impersonations or no-harm-intended ridicule.
If we were in Europe, I would say "Here's to you, Mr. Duncan" and clink my bottle of Heineken with yours, but hey, we can pretend.
Here's to you, Mr. Duncan.
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