At the outset today, Will volunteered that he had taken his first flying lesson over the past weekend. We spent some time discussing this experience, which I take it was favorable, given the enthusiasm of his remarks. He picked up a marker and drew diagrams of the plane in order to explain certain features; this involved a smooth, quite natural role reversal: Will tutored me. Had there been any independent witnesses, they would have been impressed, as I was, with Will's pedantry; he was a good instructor on this subject. Next I returned Will's graded Chapter 10 quiz (29/30) and went over it with him. He and I were both pleased by his excellent performance. We then began consideration of Chapter 11, addressing social and economic issues in the South, circa 1820-1860. The main topics, as one would expect, were the development of the cotton industry ("Cotton is king"), and the corresponding expansion of slavery westward (especially in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, even Texas). Additional topics included the South's inadequate railroad network, its poorly developed banking system, its economic dependence on the North, the resentment such dependence engendered, the notion of Southern white male honor, the placement of the Southern white female on a proverbial pedestal, and the concept of role playing in Southern culture.