Hi, Raggs! I'm so thrilled that one of the writers of this awesome show is able to take some time to respond to inquiries from us out here in the real world. Thank you so much for your time and humorous replies. The interaction between some of the staff and the viewers here on The Fuselage is helping to cement the show's success.

Alright, I'm taking off my viewer hat and putting on my English teacher hat. I teach English 11 in a suburb of Grand Rapids, MI. Every week we watch an episode of LOST, and I use that experience to introduce them to a particular literary element. For instance, with this year's Everybody Hates Hugo episode, they identified an example of dramatic irony. We also do different character analysis exercises.

Thank you for such an intelligent, complex story and such rich, detailed characters. I know a few people on this board sometimes question why characters do what they do, but I want to tell you that for my students, they completely "get" that the characters are in a stressful, unfamiliar situation, with post-traumatic stress, and among strangers. They don't question the characters' actions, they find them completely believable given the circumstances. It's a great teaching tool, and the best thing is that my students can transfer their new knowledge of these literary elements to whatever it is they are reading.

Keep up the good work!

Hi Dmcquickly,

Just knowing that you are an English teacher makes me a little nervous, I must admit. However, I shall press on in spite of this trepidation -- God hates a coward, after all...

Thank you so much for your very kind words. We all take an enormous amount of pride in the fact that our scenes are as rich in literary elements as (we hope) they are in dramatic energy and purpose. It is, as I am certain you have realized a very difficult show to write. But knowing that we can play some small role in helping you to educate the next generation of writers and artists and, hopefully, teachers is a source of tremendous satisfaction for us and for me personally. A feeling rendered all the more salient for the fact that the students in question hail from the great state of Michigan. My wife is from Livonia...

Thank you so very much for watching -- and more impotantly for teaching. You keep up the good work, too!

All the very best,

Raggs

Thanks for the response. I printed it and am posting it in my classroom.

Michigan says hello to your wife!

Don't fear--the writing is solid! (And I'm not grading you all anyway! lol)

Greg Vaughn

Thanks, Mr. Vaughn. My wife says "hello" right back to you all. Now my row is straight and clean, so can we go???