Writing on the Edge

The Writing Instructor

Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities

and a whole bunch more.

Parlor Press has been an independent publisher of scholarly and trade books and other media in print and digital formats since 2002.

I think they need to update their entry page, but other than that, it looks interesting. Maybe next time I will propose for their Writing for Reading series. And, who knows, maybe I’ll try to get a Free Verse Edition published as well.

WAC Clearinghouse

The WAC Clearinghouse, in partnership with the International Network of Writing Across the Curriculum Programs, publishes journals, books, and other resources for teachers who use writing in their courses. The site is open to all, but please consider creating an account. Membership is free and privacy is respected. Members can list their programs and add materials to this site.

The WAC Conference will be in May in 2010. The last day to submit is October 19, 2009. See their presently minimal CFP.

Utah State UP imprints CCDP–Computers and Composition Digital Press

CCDP is committed to publishing innovative, multimodal digital projects. The Press will also publish ebooks (print texts in electronic form available for reading online or for downloading); however, we are particularly interested in digital projects that cannot be printed on paper, but that have the same intellectual heft as a book.

The goal of the Press is to honor the traditional academic values of rigorous peer review and intellectual excellence, but also to combine such work with a commitment to innovative digital scholarship and expression. For the Editors, the Press represents an important kind of scholarly activism–an effort to circulate the best work of digital media scholars in a timely fashion and on the global scale made possible by digital distribution.

AND a list of many comp journals, which I would have liked to have known where to find last year. I may have to publish a separate post for this.

Homework: Find/choose a patriotic song/poem. Research the history of the poem and the author. Do a 5-minute reading and introduction to the poem. (<4 min = -20, >6 min = -20)
Poem suggestions:
“Barbara Frietchie” John Greenleaf Whittier
“Ragged Old Flag” by Johnny Cash
“America the Beautiful” by Katherine Lee Bates
“America for Me” by Henry Van Dyke

“Proud to be an American” by Lee Greenwood
“Battle Hymn of the Republic” Julia Ward Howe
“When Johnny Comes Marching Home” (Civil War song)
“Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Phillips Sousa
“You’re a Grand Old Flag” George M. Cohan
“Ballad of the Green Beret” SSG Barry Sadler and Robin Moore
“I, Too, (sing America)” Langston Hughes
“Old Ironsides” Oliver Wendell Holmes
“O Captain, My Captain!” Walt Whitman
“The Concord Hymn” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“God Bless America” Irving Berlin
“A Nation’s Strength” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“America (My Country Tis of Thee)” Samuel Francis Smith
“Have You Forgotten?” Darryl Worley
“The Marine’s Hymn”
“The Army Goes Rolling Along” (either the 1917 or 1956 version)
“Anchors Aweigh” Charles A. Zimmerman
“The US Air Force” Capt. Robert Crawford
“Semper Paratus” Captain Francis Saltus Van Boskerck
“Eternal Father, Strong to Save”
“The New Colosus” Emma Lazarus
“Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (This is a long poem. You need to choose only a section of it to read aloud.)

Poetry paper:
Definition/illustration
Look up definitions of family, love, patriotism. Write a definition paragraph.
Then use three poems to illustrate the definition. One paragraph each.

“Gothic (goth-IK): a literary style popular during the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th. This style usually portrayed fantastic tales dealing with horror, despair, the grotesque and other “dark” subjects. Gothic literature was named for the apparent influence of the dark gothic architecture of the period on the genre. Also, many of these Gothic tales took places in such “gothic” surroundings, sometimes a dark and stormy castle as shown in Mary Wollstoncraft Shelly’s Frankenstein, or Bram Stoker’s infamous Dracula. Other times, this story of darkness may occur in a more everyday setting…. In essence, these stories were romances, largely due to their love of the imaginary over the logical, and were told from many different points of view. This literature gave birth to many other forms, such as suspense, ghost stories, horror, mystery, and also Poe’s detective stories. Gothic literature wasn’t so different from other genres in form as it was in content and its focus on the “weird” aspects of life. This movement began to slowly open may people’s eyes to the possible uses of the supernatural in literature” (Taylor).

“Gothicism is part of the Romantic Movement that started in the late eighteenth century and lasted to roughly three decades into the nineteenth century. The Romantic Movement is characterised by innovation (instead of traditionalism), spontaneity (according to Wordsworth good poetry is a “spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings”), (“Neoclassic and Romantic”) freedom of thought and expression (especially the thoughts and feelings of the poet himself), an idealisation of nature (Romantic poets were also referred to as “nature poets”) and the belief of living in an age of “new beginnings and high possibilities (“Neoclassic and Romantic”)” (Hamberg).

“GOTHIC: TALES OF the macabre, fantastic, and supernatural, usually set amid haunted castles, graveyards, ruins, and wild picturesque landscapes. They reached the height of their considerable fashion in the 1790’s and the early years of the 19th century (Oxford Companion to English Literature, p. 405-06)” (“Literature”).

“The main protagonist is usually a solitary character who has an egocentrical nature. Even though the genre is a phase in the Romantic movement, it is regarded as the forerunner of the modern mystery or science fiction novel” (Hamberg).

“Gothic heroes are trapped in gloom unable to appreciate the light of day. They are the descendants of Cain, Satan, and Prometheus - heroic in their rebellion yet pathetic in their destiny. Their pain and suffering exalt them above the collective and enshrine them in their excruciating settings. In order to depict the shadowside of their heroes, Gothicists used ghostly visitations, especially a device known as a döppleganger, a mirror image of the self” (Hamberg).

“Although Gothic novels were written mainly to evoke terror in their readers, they also served to show the dark side of human nature. They describe the “nightmarish terrors that lie beneath the controlled and ordered surface of the conscious mind” (“The Romantic Period”). Surprisingly, there were a vast number of female Gothic authors. It is not unlikely that this kind of fiction provided a release for the “submerges desires of that . . . disadvantaged class (“The Romantic Period”)” (Hamberg).

Hamberg, Cynthia. “Gothic Literature.” My Hideous Progeny: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstien. 27 September 2007.

“Literature: What genre of literature?” Watershed Online.

Taylor, Jerry. “Gothic.” Glossary of Literary Terms.

Here is a call for one.

The Valley Humanities Review is currently seeking essays in the humanities for publication in its Spring 2010 issue. We seek essays of high quality, intellectual rigor and originality that challenge or contribute substantially to ongoing conversations in the humanities. Topics may include but are not limited to: literature, history, religion, philosophy, art, art history and foreign languages. VHR is committed to undergraduate research and scholarship in the field; therefore we only accept submissions by current or recently graduated undergraduate students. Our reading period runs from September 1 to December 1 of each year. All submissions received outside of those will be returned unread. Essays should be between 3,000 and 6,000 words in length, be free of errors, and have an original title. Submissions may be emailed to submissions-vhr@lvc.edu. Please visit our website.

It would be interesting in a literature course to make this the final paper that the entire class moves toward. If I were teaching a lit class in the fall, I would do this.

This was a short assignment I gave in lieu of a quiz on the literature reading that had been homework.

1. Draw on the best learning experiences you have had in several classes to analyze your own learning style. Do you acquire knowledge best by experience, observation, study, visual examples, or some other way?

2. Write an essay about some pastime that used to be a very big part of your life but which you have since outgrown. What was it about the pastime that was so compelling, and why have you fallen away from it? Are there times when you miss it or feel that you have lost something you can’t get back?

3. Eric Fromm, a psychiatrist and social critic, says that every generation defines attractiveness in males and females differently. From your observation of old movies, photographs, and advertisements from your parents’ generation, describe the differences between you generation’s definition of attractiveness in males and/or females and your parents’.

4. What is the key as you see it to getting along with other people? Illustrate your answer with personal experiences.

5. What methods do you use to cope with problems and stress in different situations, such as the death of someone close, adjusting to a new environment, having too much to do in too little time, etc.? Comment on the kinds of situations you have faced this semester, why you use the methods you do, and how they help you.

6. Discuss the ways in which qualities of your parents’ personalities appear in your own.

The papers I most remember from these topics were those that dealt with number six.

1. Attend or view one of the following and discuss what occurred and what effect this event might have on the history/tradition of the college.
There were four events listed including: Faculty Publication Display, Library Display Case

2. Interview someone on campus who either attended or worked at the college before 1972. Ask them to tell you how the school has changed. Record their responses.
The college had a lot of older faculty. I was asking them to find someone who had been there for twenty years. Some of the schools I have taught at since aren’t that old.

3. Do one of the following:
•Interview an older family member and ask about the oldest family anecdote they know. Write it down. If it is very short, ask for two or three.

•Find out if there are any old recipes or games which have been passed down more than two generations in your family. If there are, write one down along with any history about it you can discover.

•Write down the courtship or early marriage story of an older (50+) couple who have been important in your life.

I didn’t want to limit them only to the school.

4. Interview someone in the old folks home attached to the college who attended the college. Write up the interview.

Most people in the old folks home did attend the college. Or at least their spouse did.

An earlier journal topic list was for a written introduction of themselves that was read/presented to the class.

Suggestions for methodology:
•song
•poem
•letter
•essay
•wanted poster, with sufficient verbal detail to facilitate recognition
•description of your dream home, if it includes the whys
•resume
•written collage
•newspaper article for the college newspaper
•your funeral eulogy
•your family’s favorite story/stories about you
•comic explanation of how you ended up at our college
•a riddle about some personally important item you brought to college with you
•a shopping list of what you would purchase if given a million dollars
•a description of your favorite place to go or thing to do in high school
•chapter titles and the front cover blurb from your autobiography
•family history depicting scandalous or strange ancestors
•the best thing that has happened in your life and what impact it has had on you
•your three favorite songs, poems, stories, novels, magazines and the impact each has had on you
•how your life would have been different if you had been born the opposite gender
•five things people (generally family members) tell strangers about you that embarrass you
•least and most favorite high school teacher, class
•something you have learned about yourself in the last six months
•the most important goal and why it is most important
•list of your favorite somethings (Remember, this has to be interesting!)
•things you never want to do
•explanation of one of your favorite songs and why you think it is a good one

Syllabus:
Poetry introduction.
What is poetry?
Where is poetry?
Who writes poetry?
History of poetry.
How do they write poetry?
How can you write poetry?
How to read poetry aloud.

Homework: Find two people’s favorite poems. Bring a copy of these two poems to class.

What is poetry?
words
create a feeling
set a scene
may tell a story- used to tell a story, now more often a photograph/scene
may give a moral
may rhyme
a way of expressing something (thought/emotion)

“should be written at least as well as prose” Ezra Pound
pay attention to the way it looks on the page

“use no superfluous word, no adjective, which does not reveal something” E. Pound

If you had to pay $1 for each word in your poem, how many would you have to keep?

Poetry is an experiment.

The poet is trying to say something in a way you’ll KNOW it.

concrete- not abstract “go in fear of abstractions” E Pound
original- new way of saying that gives you a new way of thinking about the thing
has a form- shape or structure the words take MATTERS; haiku, prayer, psalm, etc.

Where do we find poetry?
Jump rope rhymes
Mother Goose
“America the Beautiful”
hymns
songs
poems
playground
books
Reader’s Digest-” Life in these United States” (Robert Frost)
(I was referencing a joke about a police stop and the Frost reference within it.)
comic strips, cartoons
music
radio
paper: editorials, qtd “Tree” by Sgt. Joyce Kilmer
on the wall? “Foot prints in the Sand” wall hanging
fancy magazines like Sat. Evening Post, The Atlantic Monthly
children’s books
Bible
SF novels- John Ringo qts Kipling
Fantasy novels- Christopher Stasheff quotes lots of folks

Who likes poetry?
English teachers (That’s the students’ standard answer.)
police officers
singers
song writers
poets
people who like music
religious people
Paul, quoting a poet about the people
story tellers of all kinds

Who writes poetry?
people who care a lot
missionary
dr., nurse
soldier
fundraiser
spokesperson—
like Michael J. Fox for Parkinson’s

people who like to play with words

people who read a lot
newspapers
classics
journals (genre specific mags for people in certain fields)
fiction, nonfiction
poetry
people who write a lot
curious folks
people who are willing to work hard to improve—often requires a lot of revision

How do they write poetry?
different ways
Virgil (Roman poet) walked in gardens all day long.
Thought it was a good day if he got one new line.
Elizabethan poet Ben Jonson wrote a prose paragraph first.
Then wrote poem on topic.
John Milton was blind.
Composed Paradise Lost in his head and dictated it.
Frank O’Hara would eat lunch with friends. Go back to work.
Type one poem. Get back to working.
Maya Angelou writes on a bed. She’s been doing it so long she has a callous on one elbow.

How can you write poetry?
Colonial America = Kept a commonplace book. Place to write ideas down.
Artist’s Way- write three poems a day
Keep a journal
Keep a book where you put in “interesting stuff”
Someone gave me one when I was 15. I loved it. Still cut articles, etc.
Practice writing traditional poems
“paying your dues”
Hemingway didn’t write grammatically correct sentences in his novels, but he knew the rules.
Keep a list of subjects to write about.
Ray Bradbury makes a list of nouns. Eventually many become stories.

How to read poetry aloud.
Poetry written to be read aloud.
Read it silently first.
a. Skim the poem: title, length, form.
b. Read it silently to yourself.
c. Look up words you don’t know.
d. Take notes. Many folks use notes to create a history of their reading.
e. Note unfamiliar words and surprises. Pay attention to those.

Read as if you’re interested.
Read in a conversational voice.
Read at a moderate pace. Don’t rush.
Pause at
any punctuation
any surprise
the end of each line
the end of a group of lines
Re-read the poem later. Poems change as you do.

How old is poetry?
See this Poetry Timeline for a different presentation.

Now: Poet laureate, Collins

20th century poets like Maya Angelou who read for Clinton’s inauguration
____ who read for JFK
Christian musicians
Robert Frost
Langston Hughes
TS Eliot

19th C poets like Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote America the Beautiful
Twas the night before Christmas
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Robert Browning
Emily Dickinson
Edgar Allan Poe
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Francis Scott Key (Star Spangled Banner)
Walt Whitman

18th C poets
John Keats
William Wordsworth

17th C poets
Phyllis Wheatley
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
John Donne
Shakespeare

16th C poets John Milton
Edmund Spencer The Fairie Queen

15th C poets George Herbert
Dante’s Divine Comedy
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

14th C
The Owl and the Nightingale

8th C
Beowulf

2nd C Christian poetry on fish

Aeneid
Odyssey
Iliad

7th C BC Gilgamesh

10th C BC Psalms

It turned out not to be a bad thing at all.

We talked about what I had been doing in the profession this year. I mentioned some of the conferences and publications I have had.

She looked at my classes. I think she was planning to ask me to teach a second semester freshman comp class, but then I told her I was already teaching four comp classes. That ended that.

I was thinking I might end up with just three classes, but I do have four. All but one is filled and I have no doubt the one will be filled by the time classes start. And if it’s not, that will be okay with me. Six classes is probably a bit much, especially when they are all comp classes.

We talked about my degree. She offered me a rhetorical history class later. It is being created and they need someone to teach it. Since my PhD is in rhetoric and composition, that means I have the qualifications. It is in the comm dept.

I think we had a good talk. I did make an abrupt change of topic at one point, but she had finished what she was going to say about the topic at the time and I did want to not forget what I was asking.

Overall I think the discussion was quite encouraging.

She did not, unfortunately, immediately offer me a full-time job teaching composition at the school, but the talk went well.