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At last year's Book Bowl, students beat the faculty by one point. |
Randolph-Macon College will host the second annual Book Bowl at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 22, 2010 in Washington-Franklin Hall. The event, a face-off between students and faculty, encourages the study and enjoyment of literature.
This year, students challenged faculty to read Paulo Coehlo’s
The Alchemist, while faculty challenged students with Samuel Johnson’s
Rasselas. “Since the students bested the faculty last year, they got first pick for this year,” says R-MC English Professor Marisa Cull. “The student team gathered in the fall to choose a book that they thought would be best for a challenge. In response, the faculty challenged with a book on a similar ‘theme’—both
The Alchemist and
Rasselas are books about the pursuit of living well.”
The winners enjoy a year’s worth of bragging rights. “The Book Bowl isn’t about cash prizes; it is about friendly competition between students and faculty,” says Cull. “The students won last year and have taken every opportunity to remind the faculty of their superior memories and reading skills!”
Last year, students beat the faculty by one point. “Each team came to the Bowl with ten prepared questions; students asked faculty questions on
The Book Thief, and the faculty asked students questions on
The Uncommon Reader—both books about reading,” says Cull. “The Washington Literary Society, which sponsors the Book Bowl, wanted to start a ‘signature’ social event for the organization—something fun, but also something connected to the original goal of the Society, which is to encourage the study and enjoyment of literature. Faculty and students, led by Christopher Lambert ’10, planned and organized the event.”
For Lambert, the Book Bowl is the culmination of a lot of hard work and collaboration. “It took the combined efforts of many students, as well as Professor Cull, to make the Book Bowl a huge success last year… and I know it will be successful this year, too,” he says. “The Book Bowl combines two of the greatest things in the world: fun and literature!”
The showdown will be judged this year by R-MC Bookstore Manager Barclay DuPriest, and faculty, staff and students are encouraged to watch this exciting event. For more information, contact Christopher Lambert at
christopherlambert@rmc.edu.
For information about the Washington Literary Society, visit
http://www.rmc.edu/Academics/english/washington-literary-society.aspx.