Alex TP 11

   I went back over to Mubarak’s apartment at Grand Marc yesterday. Having no school work, or just about anything to do, he didn't have much of a problem with the idea of homework. However, when I got there he said he had looked over the story and skimmed and whatnot. I took from this the fact that it was over twenty pages, he was given a day to read it, and the idea of doing so was either so daunting or uninteresting that he’d neglected to do so. When I realized this, rather than open up pointless communication about it, I asked him to read a short editorial by comedian Anthony Jeselnik about Christmas. As I sat there and he read I jotted down some potential talking points such as “what could he mean by financial spider web” and “what do you think he’s referencing when he’s saying “Sorry Dad. You fire up the model chain. I’m going to see Django Unchained”. Being a piece that relies heavily on understanding American culture, I wanted to evaluate his basic understandings.
   Turns out he understood more about Christmas and American culture than I thought. He caught on to some of Jeselnik‘s phrases such as “mistletoe is a botanical license to rape” and  how Christmas is “the first time your parents lied to you”. The few that he didn't catch I filled in and explained their cultural reference. Regardless, in the cultural understandings he did demonstrate, I recognized a lot of improvement from when I met him earlier in the semester. We wrapped the session up by watching some of Jeselnik’s stand-up, which after each 2-3 minute clip and righting down the topics of the jokes, I’d review them and check for, then provide cultural context.