Whew...what a week!
As a class, we had a quick exposure to Drama and some of the major elements that contribute to a dramatic performance. Much of the information seems so familiar probably because there are many similarities between Drama and Fiction, yet the five parts of the Plot are new to me.
The Final Exam is a two-part test, and Professor Hueners has supplied a study guide to assist in our studying preparations:
210 Final Exam Review SheetThe test is not so much a comprehensive final as it is a 2nd term test. The following information is designed to help you prepare, but it is in no way a contract for information that will or will not be covered on the exam.
Format - Similar to midterm
Objective and short answer portion in Respondus
Essay portion completed via hard copy. (Essay portion will not be complete “open” book, but the full text of some poems will be provided and you may use one 3 x 5 note card.
Entire test will be worth 100 points. (Probably more of a 50/50 split this time.)Content - Objective Questions (Matching/Multiple Choice/Short Answer)
1. Terms – poetry and drama terms that are the same as short fiction. Here are some possibilities although the list is not exhaustive.
Metaphor
Simile
Speaker
Symbol(ism)
Alliteration
Assonance Onomatopoeia
connotation Denotation
Rhythm
Theme
Stanza Tenor
Vehicle
Character
Protagonist
Antagonist
Plot
Conflict
Exposition
Rising Action
Climax
Falling Action2.
Poets and Poems – We had read many poems. Here is a list of poems that were assigned and discussed during class. Be familiar with these poems and poets.
Seamus Heaney “Mid-Term Break”
W. H. Auden “Musee’ des Beaux Arts” and “Stop All the Clocks”
Theodore Roethke “My Papa’s Waltz”
William Carlos Williams “The Red Wheelbarrow” and “Landscape with the Fall of Icarus”
Unknown “The 23rd Psalm”
e.e. cummings “in Just”
Content – Subjective Questions (Essay and Explication and Evaluation)
Here is a forecast of the ideas stewing in the back of my mind.
Big Questions – There will be a number to choose from. They may range from the truly broad to more specific questions about particular ideas discussed in class.
What is literature and why does it matter?
What is the difference between Poetry and poetry? How can we distinguish one from the other?
Discuss the differences in theme and tone that Auden and Williams produce in response to Brueghel’s “Landscape of the Fall of Icarus”?
Explicating Poems – This may sound scary, but you’ve been doing this all along. Explicating simply means explaining the meaning of a poem—think of the guidelines for reading and writing about poetry found in “Poetry: Reading, Responding, Writing” section (pages 409 – 410 in the portable). If you’ve been writing good journal entries, think about how you’ve been responding to poems there.
You’ll have two shots to demonstrate your ability to read and understand a poem.
1. I will provide the text of a poem and ask questions to help you get started. (Think of the “Catching the Mole” quiz only you’ll write a longer explanation.)
2. You will provide the text of a poem. Bring to class on Thursday, a hard copy of a poem that means something to you. Do not use one of the poems listed above. (Make sure it is a capital P poem, and bring a hard copy—either printed or handwritten.) I will ask questions to help you get started.
Evaluation – Some of you may have noticed that we still had one more writing project that we just ran out of time for. The final paper was to be an evaluation essay, asking you to reflect upon changes that may have taken place this semester in response to the course. Possibilities might include: your reading abilities, your approach to literature (or a specific kind of literature), your understanding of the purpose of literature (or a specific kind of literature), your understanding of creative approaches, your ability to appreciate or connect with literature, etc.
We don’t have time for another complete essay, but I’d still like you to consider the question, so there will be an essay asking you to evaluate your growth in these areas.
What You Need to Bring on Thursday:
Your Tablet with Respondus loaded and ready to go
A pen or pencil—we’ll be going low-tech for the second portion of the exam. (I’ll provide the paper.)
A hard copy of a poem of your choice. You will be turning this in with your test.
A 3 x 5 index card to use during the second portion of the test (optional). If you use an index card, you will be asked to turn it in with the test.
In addition to these preparations, I have begun my Wildcard Project for the class:
Ms. Figurative Literature
The project I chose to create is a woman mannequin covered with quotations about the human body, life, health, and statements concerning specific parts of the body that draw upon “figurative” language to make a certain statement. At first, I felt maybe the time constraint to complete the project as well as some fear that I may not create a “nice” piece kept my commitment to this idea at bay. Yet, the more I thought about the design; I just had to say to myself, “what the heck, go for it.” I found so many timeless quotations from authors and philosophers that it seemed I would have to pick and choose exactly what would make it into the final project. Many casual sayings are also drawn from body parts, so I intend to throw those in where there may be some small spaces on the body while also paying attention to place these statements where they may be ironically relevant.
I had so much fun finding the quotations. I learned about individuals whom I had not previously known of and I saw that literature brings us together humankind, much like music. While we may all express ourselves differently and hold separate views on what may be beautiful, I think we can gain better understanding of ourselves by learning about others.
To decide upon the color scheme to use for the project, I created a page of color swatches and drew on top of each color with silver, gold, and black. Ultimately, the colors that worked together nicely were red, gold, and black. So, red is the background on the body and the black and gold pens will be used to hand write the messages on the body. I was fortunate to have many suggestions from classmates concerning the color scheme and feel appreciative for the input and the ultimate outcome.
Listed below is a list of the contributing authors for the quotations used upon the mannequin titled, “Ms. Figurative Literature.”
Marilyn Ferguson E. M. Forster
Theodor Hertzl Lao-tzu
Edith Wharton Juvenal
George Santayana Henry Miller
Henry David Thoreau Bob Dylan
Helen Keller Gracie Allen
Martha Graham Isodore Duncan
Oprah Winfrey Carol Burnett
Pythagoras Wilson Mizner
Shakti Gawain Elayne Boosler
Gloria Steinem Robin Morgan
Cleobulus Timothy Leary
Allegra Kent Virginia Woolf
I still have 2/3 of the mannequin body to design, so I am happy to have about a week to complete her!
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Elements of Drama
Elements of the genre:
Character: a person represented in a plot, as well as the unique qualities that make up the personality.
"a lot of character" = if one has integrity and stands up to pressure.
"to be a character" is when one may provoke laughter, annoyance, or reproach.
Plays rely upon characters because people portray characters on stage, a concrete manner.
When actors are "in character" then they speak and behave as the character they are portraying on stage.
Protagonist, antagonist, hero, heroine, foil (character that brings out qualities in another character by contrast), stereotypes.
Plot and Structure
The invention, selection, and arrangement of the action for the story, thus there can be no PLOT without some unifying sense of the purpose that joins the story line to the characters and the theme.
A "dramatic irony" is when the fulfillment of the plan, action, or expectation comes as a surprise, often the opposite of what the characters intended.
Stages, Sets, and Setting
Stages: Thrust stage (audience sits around three sides of the stage), Arena stage (when the audience sits all around the stage), and the Proscenium stage (typical stage, all audience is set in front of the stage on different levels.
Sets/Setting: background of the stage, movable walls, curtains, murals, furniture, pictures of scenery...etc.(the design and decoration and scenery)
PROPS: articles or objects used on stage to assist in the portrayal of the drama.
Tone, Style, and Imagery
Tone: the style or manner of expression, speaking loudly/softly, sweetly/angrily, accent/native, fear/love/sarcasm...
Theme: a statement or assertion about the subject of a work. Not part of the work, but an idea extracted by the impact of the entire work.
Response to Susan Glaspell's "TRIFLES"
The "script" sets forth the CHARACTERS first, then sets the SCENE with a description of what the audience will see when the curtains open...every detail such as where certain characters are on the stage, what their emotional state may be, how they may be dresses, and the sets and props.
Then, before each LINE to be read by a specific CHARACTER is that characters name and perhaps a notation directed at how the character should behave or move.
the title sounds like it's a story about small occurrences, maybe funny or witty...
I love the way the characters were so nosey as they went through the house of the scene of the crime. All that banter back and forth about this and that...hooey, just like folks do! Also, the way the men behave as opposed to the way the women behave...and that the two women conceal that they might feel the woman did murder her husband, yet they make all kinds of excuses for how hard it it to be alone all day and how the women's personality had changed so much from when she was young and happy. The Sheriff and the County Attorney just figure the woman is guilty of the murder and they are looking for evidence to support that belief...kind of funny and tragic all at once. And, that poor little canary. Really vivid images of the setting, the characters and their behaviors, the theme (concealing a crime?, justifying poor behavior?), the props, how the characters were to move about the stage sets, and all the wonderful facial expressions on the characters.
This type of Literature seems difficult to write, but then again, maybe after you do it for a while that you would just almost see everything like a script? Probably "think" that way...in that world!
Character: a person represented in a plot, as well as the unique qualities that make up the personality.
"a lot of character" = if one has integrity and stands up to pressure.
"to be a character" is when one may provoke laughter, annoyance, or reproach.
Plays rely upon characters because people portray characters on stage, a concrete manner.
When actors are "in character" then they speak and behave as the character they are portraying on stage.
Protagonist, antagonist, hero, heroine, foil (character that brings out qualities in another character by contrast), stereotypes.
Plot and Structure
The invention, selection, and arrangement of the action for the story, thus there can be no PLOT without some unifying sense of the purpose that joins the story line to the characters and the theme.
A "dramatic irony" is when the fulfillment of the plan, action, or expectation comes as a surprise, often the opposite of what the characters intended.
Stages, Sets, and Setting
Stages: Thrust stage (audience sits around three sides of the stage), Arena stage (when the audience sits all around the stage), and the Proscenium stage (typical stage, all audience is set in front of the stage on different levels.
Sets/Setting: background of the stage, movable walls, curtains, murals, furniture, pictures of scenery...etc.(the design and decoration and scenery)
PROPS: articles or objects used on stage to assist in the portrayal of the drama.
Tone, Style, and Imagery
Tone: the style or manner of expression, speaking loudly/softly, sweetly/angrily, accent/native, fear/love/sarcasm...
Theme: a statement or assertion about the subject of a work. Not part of the work, but an idea extracted by the impact of the entire work.
Response to Susan Glaspell's "TRIFLES"
The "script" sets forth the CHARACTERS first, then sets the SCENE with a description of what the audience will see when the curtains open...every detail such as where certain characters are on the stage, what their emotional state may be, how they may be dresses, and the sets and props.
Then, before each LINE to be read by a specific CHARACTER is that characters name and perhaps a notation directed at how the character should behave or move.
the title sounds like it's a story about small occurrences, maybe funny or witty...
I love the way the characters were so nosey as they went through the house of the scene of the crime. All that banter back and forth about this and that...hooey, just like folks do! Also, the way the men behave as opposed to the way the women behave...and that the two women conceal that they might feel the woman did murder her husband, yet they make all kinds of excuses for how hard it it to be alone all day and how the women's personality had changed so much from when she was young and happy. The Sheriff and the County Attorney just figure the woman is guilty of the murder and they are looking for evidence to support that belief...kind of funny and tragic all at once. And, that poor little canary. Really vivid images of the setting, the characters and their behaviors, the theme (concealing a crime?, justifying poor behavior?), the props, how the characters were to move about the stage sets, and all the wonderful facial expressions on the characters.
This type of Literature seems difficult to write, but then again, maybe after you do it for a while that you would just almost see everything like a script? Probably "think" that way...in that world!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Personal Observations about Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
I have begun reading the Drama chapter from the class text, and some ideas are floating around my head:
Fiction is like expanding ideas and situations to explain a scenario and capture our hearts and minds.
Poetry is like minimizing the use of words to express and idea or emotion, and concentrating it all!
Drama is like itemizing individual correspondence/dialog to express a "grand total" of an idea over the course of a dramatization, leaving us to connect earlier thoughts to a grand picture of design.
I never really grouped these all together as Literature. Now, with the aid of this course and the pieces we have viewed, I can see that Literature comes in the form of many faces. I think I took it all for granted, like I take life for granted. This beautiful yet linguistic transfer of knowledge and feeling that seems to weave its way through our lives without us knowing it is a gift.
We all have it, we all use it, we're just not always aware that we do.
Even if I write a bad poem or a poor story, at least I put it down...there is no fault for personal journey. Maybe many faults for style and exposition, yet, we are mortal and only the words we speak and write are left behind. I feel very small right now, yet very large in my own little world of the English language.
If I die tomorrow, at the very least I was pursuing knowledge of things I knew so little about.
a twist on the old saying: "if you get lemons, make lemonade"...
"out of shit, make manure!" That's what I intend to do, and may the flowers blossom!
Fiction is like expanding ideas and situations to explain a scenario and capture our hearts and minds.
Poetry is like minimizing the use of words to express and idea or emotion, and concentrating it all!
Drama is like itemizing individual correspondence/dialog to express a "grand total" of an idea over the course of a dramatization, leaving us to connect earlier thoughts to a grand picture of design.
I never really grouped these all together as Literature. Now, with the aid of this course and the pieces we have viewed, I can see that Literature comes in the form of many faces. I think I took it all for granted, like I take life for granted. This beautiful yet linguistic transfer of knowledge and feeling that seems to weave its way through our lives without us knowing it is a gift.
We all have it, we all use it, we're just not always aware that we do.
Even if I write a bad poem or a poor story, at least I put it down...there is no fault for personal journey. Maybe many faults for style and exposition, yet, we are mortal and only the words we speak and write are left behind. I feel very small right now, yet very large in my own little world of the English language.
If I die tomorrow, at the very least I was pursuing knowledge of things I knew so little about.
a twist on the old saying: "if you get lemons, make lemonade"...
"out of shit, make manure!" That's what I intend to do, and may the flowers blossom!
Final Poetry Project plus interview questions for my class partner, Kurt
Shades of GreyBy Amy Woolston
Mother raised and Father groomed, grasped pen and paper, brush and paint.
Genius knew no boundaries, virtuosity mistaken.
Traveled young Barcelona art, off to France, Matisse, Lautrec.
Abstract Cezanne, large, austere Pablo creates beyond what’s real.
This child of Spain sought past misdeeds his Red and Gold soaked in blood.
A favor shows the world a culture, Jura de Bandera!
His tools he raised to share turmoil, death, starvation, massacre.
With ash and black, no red nor sun, sharp angles attend defeat.
Screaming horse and woman grief, execute the lines of battle.
Innocents pay the bloody fee, while Ferdinand turns his head.
Bombs in their bellies rather than food, the masterpiece a tomb.
Interview to Kurt Jensen:
Interview by Amy Woolston, Poetry Project
Poem by Kurt Jensen
“Forebodings”, original poem with reference to
Winslow Homer painting, “Forebodings” 1881
Woolston: What was the driving force that moved you to choose this painting?
Jensen:
Woolston: Why did you appear to use more language that reads like a poem from the
1800’s?
Jensen:
Woolston: Why did you use the line “Keep a thumb on ‘em, ‘times they up and leave” in line 3 of your poem? Is that a famous reference to another “saying?”
Jensen:
Woolston: Is there a reason why you chose religious allusions to illustrate a common occurrence in the lives of fishermen/seamen?
Jensen:
Woolston: In the sentence of your poem, “Thank God some girls are led languid by love”, line six, what is the meaning that one should be thankful that some women are lead languid by love for the purpose of your poem?
Jensen:
Woolston: I can’t help but wonder, is there a history of fishermen/seamen in you own family tree?
Jensen:
Woolston: Are men really “sweeped seaward” and why would their women even be surprised of the fishing/business season of their sea career?
Jensen:
Woolston: Do you think your poem is sad or hopeful? What do you hope your audience to feel?
Jensen:
Woolston: What does the last line, “ Lethean tides flood fearing hearts” mean for the
layperson?
Jensen:
Woolston: Did your painting of choice originate from your previous familiarity with
it or did you find the painting moved you in a personal way upon first viewing the painting, “Foreboding?”
Jensen:
Interview from Kurt to me:
Interview by Kurt Jensen, Poetry Project
Poem by Amy Woolston
“Untitled”, original poem inspired by
Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica”,
Jensen: Prior to this project were you familiar with the painting?
Woolston: Not at all, perhaps I saw it in 1983 during an Art History class, but the history behind it escapes me now! I do love Picasso, so “in your face”, “love me or leave me” type mentality.
Jensen: What attracted you to this painting so forcefully that you were able to successfully use it for the basis of your poem?
Woolston: I chose a painting that seemed to illicit emotions I currently have, with the war going on and all…and I made an effort to stay away from religion/love, felt the topic would have been too removed for me. Plus, all those images in his painting, and no color! I was attracted to its simplicity, yet also its complicated topic and use of form.
Jensen: You created a fantastic piece of literature. Considering the painting that attracted you in some way, was it a difficult process to write about it or did it come easy to you, did the words see to flow from you?
Woolston: Yes, I found this difficult to meet the criteria, and I also tend to focus on that so I really had to “get over it” and take the assignment out of it before I could move forward. I’d say the first 4 sentences were the hardest…then it took its own course.
Jensen: In line 8 of your poem you wrote “creates beyond what’s real”, which is an interesting, thought provoking tag; would you be willing to expand on that?
Woolston: Well, as I read about Picasso’s personal history and how he was treated in general by the “art public” I saw that since his images could not always be understood or translated into something, that he saw things differently and painting that way…with a twist or a spin. It’s unnerving to see a painting and not “see” a painting, and many of Picasso’s works seem intangible. But, “Guernica” was one I could “see”…no hidden agenda, just the atrocities of war.
Jensen: The capitalization of the words “Red” and “Gold” in line 10 boast more significance than the words themselves. What should we as readers draw from the capitals? Does it speak of a nation soaked in blood?
Woolston: Yes, touché! The Spanish flag is two red wide stripes and one wide gold stripe up the middle with a coat of arms on the left side. Picasso was asked by the “PTB” of his country to create a mural for the Worlds Fair to honor his country. He designed the political mural of “Guernica” and while much of the world seemed to understand, the politicians in his country were not pleased.
Jensen: It took some sleuthing, but does line 12 translate to “oath of allegiance?”
Woolston: Almost, it is the Spaniards “oath of our flag.”
Jensen: Line 18 incorporates the use of a pun; it could be taken in terms of “battle lines” or the lines of battle drawn by the artist. Either way it’s a great line. Did you set out before beginning this project to consciously invest in little subtleties like the one in line 18 and the alliteration in line 2, or did they come as a surprise to you?
Woolston: I had a couple notes on a post-it that said “opposing angles” and “lines of death”…from there I bet it’s as much a surprise to me as anyone! Plus, counting the syllables and then squeezing in your point thereafter and within is arduous…there has got to be some luck there, eh?
Jensen: The last sentence of your poem starts out “bombs in their bellies”, would you be willing to expand on that phrase?
Woolston: Yes, thousands of people were murdered, placed in concentration camps, and many died of malnutrition due to the duress of the socioeconomic status of their country. Death was not discriminatory, people from every age group, sex, and social status were affected. So, they surely got “bullets in their bellies, rather than food”…I guess I like the last two lines of the poem best, the most “to the point” and upsetting.
I really like the way you last line seems to sum-up the entire painting.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
In-Class Prompt 19 April 2007
Respond to this question:
Can we do anything to ease the suffering of others? We can only do what we can...what we feel we can do that will fit in with our lifestyle yet still help us feel connected to others and compassionate. I guess in a way, helping others is selfish, it makes us feel better about ourselves and helps us rationalize our own good fortune.
Should we? Yes, we should do what we can without sacrificing our own family's needs and resources. I guess sometimes a group effort seems more fruitful and lends actual help, but a group takes many individuals...just don't let the problem overtake you or allow it to change your own hope for the future and belief in others.
The poem forces you, the reader, to make an interpretive choice. What is your choice?
My choice is: yeah, shit happens....sometimes we notice, sometimes we turn a "blind eye"...sometimes we CAN help...but I cannot make the theme of others my own. The not-so-old saying "think globally, act locally." I gotta take care of me and mine, and yet I am part of a community and I need to be available to those around me in need.
What is your interpretation? Should we act to ease suffering or is it beyond our scope to do so?
I interpret the idea to be "pain is all around...sometimes people are too busy to even care to notice and we sometimes need to turn away for our own mental health. But, when we do have the resources and the power to aid others, then we are responsible for some effort."
Can we do anything to ease the suffering of others? We can only do what we can...what we feel we can do that will fit in with our lifestyle yet still help us feel connected to others and compassionate. I guess in a way, helping others is selfish, it makes us feel better about ourselves and helps us rationalize our own good fortune.
Should we? Yes, we should do what we can without sacrificing our own family's needs and resources. I guess sometimes a group effort seems more fruitful and lends actual help, but a group takes many individuals...just don't let the problem overtake you or allow it to change your own hope for the future and belief in others.
The poem forces you, the reader, to make an interpretive choice. What is your choice?
My choice is: yeah, shit happens....sometimes we notice, sometimes we turn a "blind eye"...sometimes we CAN help...but I cannot make the theme of others my own. The not-so-old saying "think globally, act locally." I gotta take care of me and mine, and yet I am part of a community and I need to be available to those around me in need.
What is your interpretation? Should we act to ease suffering or is it beyond our scope to do so?
I interpret the idea to be "pain is all around...sometimes people are too busy to even care to notice and we sometimes need to turn away for our own mental health. But, when we do have the resources and the power to aid others, then we are responsible for some effort."
Poetry Project
The Poetry Project
Acknowledgment: Credit to Dr. Casualene Meyer, who gives credit to Helen Bedtelyon, her high school English teacher, for the principle part of this assignment.
Tip: Get started on this assignment right away by selecting and studying a painting. Your mind can then work on it even while you are doing other things.
Learning Goals:
• To better understand and appreciate the intellectual/cultural activity of creating literary text, specifically, poetry.
• To better express yourself in writing by creating a poem and answering questions about your work.
• To critically analyze your own creative process and also the poetry of a classmate.
• To develop creative capacity by crafting a poem and considering yourself a creator of literary text as you engage in an interview about your own work.
Assignment Summary:
Art inspires art. An example of this is W.H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” inspired by Brueghel’s painting, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. After reading this poem (565-566) and studying the painting that inspired it, you will choose carefully a painting to craft a poem about in similar fashion. What you are creating is an emulation of Auden’s poem. Your poem will have certain requirements (see below). Finally, partners will exchange poems and conduct electronic interviews about the creative process. Poems, links to paintings, and edited interviews will be posted by the deadline.
Instructions:
Always ask questions if you cannot figure things out on your own quickly. Time is short at this time of the semester, and we’re here to help each other.
1. Study Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” as well as the painting which inspired it. Pay attention to the structure of the poem in relationship to the painting. What is the first stanza about? How does it operate? What is the second stanza about? How does it operate?
2. Find a high-quality painting about which you would like to write a poem. Be very careful to choose work that is worthy of your time and suitable for an intelligent general audience. Try Web Gallery of Art (www.wga.hu ) for browsing or to locate a specific painting.
NOTE: You can either start with a painting and "extract" the message/problem from it, or you can have a problem/condition in mind and browse to find a painting that illustrates it. That choice is yours to make.
3. Craft a poem that meets these three minimum criteria:
The poem follows Auden’s two part structure of a first stanza that makes a general statement and a second stanza that shows how the painting illustrates the general statement. Please make direct reference to the painting in the second stanza, just the way Auden does.
The poem is at least ten lines long.
The poem uses a traditional poetry form (such as a sonnet) or creates and follows its own rules. In other words, it follows some kind of identifiable pattern. An easy choice would be a rule like this: each line must have seven syllables. Syllable counting is fun, fairly easy, and can yield some really neat stuff. Ironically, following a rule boosts creativity. Please make your form readily apparent.
4. Form partnerships, and have one partner email me to inform me who will pair with whom. I have made a spot on the bulletin board for people seeking interview partners. Anyone who hasn’t formed a partnership by April 19 will be assigned a partner.
5. Send your poem and art link to your partner no later than April 23 at 5:00 p.m.
6. Read your partner’s poem and study it. Prepare seven (7) GOOD questions to ask about its composition, form, content, and so on. (We’ll spend some time on 4/19 discussing how to form good questions.)
7. During class on April 24, partners will conduct interviews. Electronic (or at least partially electronic) interviews are recommended simply because it will ease the efforts of preparing your interviews. Two possibilities are asynchronous e-mail interviews OR synchronous IM/ chat interviews.
8. Edit the interview which YOU conducted. Editing means to copy and paste either the e-mail text or the chat text into a Word document, and then remove anything that looks ugly (such as the “>>>” on an interview). In addition to visual appeal (again, visual appeal is not fancy fonts so much as neatness, regularity, and a set up that makes it easy to locate information), your interview should use proper grammar and mechanics. It’s okay to omit material (use ellipses) and fix your interviewee’s sentences if they need help in their delivery.
9. Exchange interviews for final approval from your partner. Discuss and make any requested changes.
10. Send the interview to your interviewee.
11. Submit, by the deadline, your poem, the art link, plus the interview you conducted and the one conducted on you. Note that your poem is due for the interview portion of the assignment on April 24—the deadline for New Tricks. What a coincidence! I encourage you to submit your poem to New Tricks at the same time you send it to your partner.
12. HAVE FUN! I have seen amazing poems come from this assignment.
Your Project’s Format: On the first page of your document, center your poem top to bottom on the page but NOT left to right—do NOT center every line of the poem. Start with the title (same size and font as the body of the poem), skip a line, and begin the poem. After the poem, provide a link for finding the painting online. (If you like, you may also insert an image of the painting.)
Double or single space, depending on what the poem seems to require (use your aesthetic judgment).
Use a reasonable (boring) font, such as Times New Roman 12 point; no fancies, bolds, or biggies anywhere.
After the link to the painting, insert a page break. On the next page of your document, present the interview your partner conducted with you, followed by the interview you conducted with your partner. (There will be some redundancy I realize, but that way everyone is covered.) The interviews should be single spaced with double space between each Q or A. The interview should look like the script of a play with you and your partner’s last names before the colon, and your questions and answers after the colon. An example would be
Herron: Why did you choose to write a poem based on a Monet painting?
Erickson: I have always appreciated Monet. . . .
Due Dates:
April 23 – Email a copy of your poem and a link to the painting to your partner.
April 24 – Conduct interview during class. (New Tricks deadline for submissions.)
April 26 – Final product due.
Grading Considerations:• Since the poem is patently creative and therefore more subjective than an analytical text, let’s have this agreement: you will try your hardest to create a piece of art THAT MEETS THE FORM REQUIREMENTS (given the time constraints), and I will be appreciatively open minded and accepting of your earnest efforts. I am mostly interested in how well you can emulate the basic format and concept of W.H. Auden’s poem, “Musée des Beaux Arts.”
The beginning of my Poetry Project:
A. V. Woolston
Professor Hueners
ENG 210, Poetry Project
19 April 2007
“Guernica” by Pablo Picasso
www.terra.es/.../asg00003/picasso/grguer2.html
After looking through what seems to be thousands of paintings, this painting spoke to me the most. This painting is not defined by religion or faith, rather the atrocities of war. I will research the Spanish Civil War and learn about the sequence of events during the war and the great loss of life and injustices that took place during this civil war. The painting was created in shades of grey, which seems to show the carnage without the blood, yet the painting is still haunting and tragic to look upon nonetheless. I will use the historical data to pull words of description for the “Poetry Project.”
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SPcasualties.htm
Available information suggests that there were about 500,000 deaths from all causes during the Spanish Civil War. An estimated 200,000 died from combat-related causes. Of these, 110,000 fought for the Republicans and 90,000 for the Nationalists. This implies that 10 per cent of all soldiers who fought in the war were killed.
It has been calculated that the Nationalist Army executed 75,000 people in the war whereas the Republican Army accounted for 55,000. These deaths takes into account the murders of members of rival political groups.
It is estimated that about 5,300 foreign soldiers died while fighting for the Nationalists (4,000 Italians, 300 Germans, 1,000 others). The International Brigades suffered heavy losses during the war. Approximately 4,900 soldiers died fighting for the Republicans (2,000 Germans, 1,000 French, 900 Americans, 500 British and 500 others).
Around 10,000 Spanish people were killed in bombing raids. The vast majority of these were victims of the German Condor Legion.
The economic blockade of Republican controlled areas caused malnutrition in the civilian population. It is believed that this caused the deaths of around 25,000 people. About 3.3 per cent of the Spanish population died during the war with another 7.5 per cent being injured.
After the war it is believed that the government of General Francisco Franco arranged the executions of 100,000 Republican prisoners. It is estimated that another 35,000 Republicans died in concentration camps in the years that followed the war.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SPmayriots.htm
On the 3rd May 1937, Rodriguez Salas, the Chief of Police, ordered the Civil Guard and the Assault Guard to take over the Telephone Exchange, which had been operated by the CNT since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Members of the CNT in the Telephone Exchange were armed and refused to give up the building. Members of the CNT, FAI and POUM became convinced that this was the start of an attack on them by the UGT, PSUC and the PCE and that night barricades were built all over the city.
Fighting broke out on the 4th May. Later that day the anarchist ministers, Federica Montseny and Juan Garcia Oliver, arrived in Barcelona and attempted to negotiate a ceasefire. When this proved to be unsuccessful, Juan Negrin, Vicente Uribe and Jesus Hernández called on Francisco Largo Caballero to use government troops to takeover the city. Largo Caballero also came under pressure from Luis Companys not to take this action, fearing that this would breach Catalan autonomy.
On 6th May death squads assassinated a number of prominent anarchists in their homes. The following day over 6,000 Assault Guards arrived from Valencia and gradually took control of Barcelona. It is estimated that about 400 people were killed during what became known as the May Riots.
These events in Barcelona severely damaged the Popular Front government. Communist members of the Cabinet were highly critical of the way Francisco Largo Caballero handled the May Riots. President Manuel Azaña agreed and on 17th May he asked Juan Negrin to form a new government. Negrin was a communist sympathizer and from this date Joseph Stalin obtained more control over the policies of the Republican government
Negrin's government now attempted to bring the Anarchist Brigades under the control of the Republican Army. At first the Anarcho-Syndicalists resisted and attempted to retain hegemony over their units. This proved impossible when the government made the decision to only pay and supply militias that subjected themselves to unified command and structure.
Acknowledgment: Credit to Dr. Casualene Meyer, who gives credit to Helen Bedtelyon, her high school English teacher, for the principle part of this assignment.
Tip: Get started on this assignment right away by selecting and studying a painting. Your mind can then work on it even while you are doing other things.
Learning Goals:
• To better understand and appreciate the intellectual/cultural activity of creating literary text, specifically, poetry.
• To better express yourself in writing by creating a poem and answering questions about your work.
• To critically analyze your own creative process and also the poetry of a classmate.
• To develop creative capacity by crafting a poem and considering yourself a creator of literary text as you engage in an interview about your own work.
Assignment Summary:
Art inspires art. An example of this is W.H. Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts,” inspired by Brueghel’s painting, Landscape with the Fall of Icarus. After reading this poem (565-566) and studying the painting that inspired it, you will choose carefully a painting to craft a poem about in similar fashion. What you are creating is an emulation of Auden’s poem. Your poem will have certain requirements (see below). Finally, partners will exchange poems and conduct electronic interviews about the creative process. Poems, links to paintings, and edited interviews will be posted by the deadline.
Instructions:
Always ask questions if you cannot figure things out on your own quickly. Time is short at this time of the semester, and we’re here to help each other.
1. Study Auden’s “Musée des Beaux Arts” as well as the painting which inspired it. Pay attention to the structure of the poem in relationship to the painting. What is the first stanza about? How does it operate? What is the second stanza about? How does it operate?
2. Find a high-quality painting about which you would like to write a poem. Be very careful to choose work that is worthy of your time and suitable for an intelligent general audience. Try Web Gallery of Art (www.wga.hu ) for browsing or to locate a specific painting.
NOTE: You can either start with a painting and "extract" the message/problem from it, or you can have a problem/condition in mind and browse to find a painting that illustrates it. That choice is yours to make.
3. Craft a poem that meets these three minimum criteria:
The poem follows Auden’s two part structure of a first stanza that makes a general statement and a second stanza that shows how the painting illustrates the general statement. Please make direct reference to the painting in the second stanza, just the way Auden does.
The poem is at least ten lines long.
The poem uses a traditional poetry form (such as a sonnet) or creates and follows its own rules. In other words, it follows some kind of identifiable pattern. An easy choice would be a rule like this: each line must have seven syllables. Syllable counting is fun, fairly easy, and can yield some really neat stuff. Ironically, following a rule boosts creativity. Please make your form readily apparent.
4. Form partnerships, and have one partner email me to inform me who will pair with whom. I have made a spot on the bulletin board for people seeking interview partners. Anyone who hasn’t formed a partnership by April 19 will be assigned a partner.
5. Send your poem and art link to your partner no later than April 23 at 5:00 p.m.
6. Read your partner’s poem and study it. Prepare seven (7) GOOD questions to ask about its composition, form, content, and so on. (We’ll spend some time on 4/19 discussing how to form good questions.)
7. During class on April 24, partners will conduct interviews. Electronic (or at least partially electronic) interviews are recommended simply because it will ease the efforts of preparing your interviews. Two possibilities are asynchronous e-mail interviews OR synchronous IM/ chat interviews.
8. Edit the interview which YOU conducted. Editing means to copy and paste either the e-mail text or the chat text into a Word document, and then remove anything that looks ugly (such as the “>>>” on an interview). In addition to visual appeal (again, visual appeal is not fancy fonts so much as neatness, regularity, and a set up that makes it easy to locate information), your interview should use proper grammar and mechanics. It’s okay to omit material (use ellipses) and fix your interviewee’s sentences if they need help in their delivery.
9. Exchange interviews for final approval from your partner. Discuss and make any requested changes.
10. Send the interview to your interviewee.
11. Submit, by the deadline, your poem, the art link, plus the interview you conducted and the one conducted on you. Note that your poem is due for the interview portion of the assignment on April 24—the deadline for New Tricks. What a coincidence! I encourage you to submit your poem to New Tricks at the same time you send it to your partner.
12. HAVE FUN! I have seen amazing poems come from this assignment.
Your Project’s Format: On the first page of your document, center your poem top to bottom on the page but NOT left to right—do NOT center every line of the poem. Start with the title (same size and font as the body of the poem), skip a line, and begin the poem. After the poem, provide a link for finding the painting online. (If you like, you may also insert an image of the painting.)
Double or single space, depending on what the poem seems to require (use your aesthetic judgment).
Use a reasonable (boring) font, such as Times New Roman 12 point; no fancies, bolds, or biggies anywhere.
After the link to the painting, insert a page break. On the next page of your document, present the interview your partner conducted with you, followed by the interview you conducted with your partner. (There will be some redundancy I realize, but that way everyone is covered.) The interviews should be single spaced with double space between each Q or A. The interview should look like the script of a play with you and your partner’s last names before the colon, and your questions and answers after the colon. An example would be
Herron: Why did you choose to write a poem based on a Monet painting?
Erickson: I have always appreciated Monet. . . .
Due Dates:
April 23 – Email a copy of your poem and a link to the painting to your partner.
April 24 – Conduct interview during class. (New Tricks deadline for submissions.)
April 26 – Final product due.
Grading Considerations:• Since the poem is patently creative and therefore more subjective than an analytical text, let’s have this agreement: you will try your hardest to create a piece of art THAT MEETS THE FORM REQUIREMENTS (given the time constraints), and I will be appreciatively open minded and accepting of your earnest efforts. I am mostly interested in how well you can emulate the basic format and concept of W.H. Auden’s poem, “Musée des Beaux Arts.”
The beginning of my Poetry Project:
A. V. Woolston
Professor Hueners
ENG 210, Poetry Project
19 April 2007
“Guernica” by Pablo Picasso
www.terra.es/.../asg00003/picasso/grguer2.html
After looking through what seems to be thousands of paintings, this painting spoke to me the most. This painting is not defined by religion or faith, rather the atrocities of war. I will research the Spanish Civil War and learn about the sequence of events during the war and the great loss of life and injustices that took place during this civil war. The painting was created in shades of grey, which seems to show the carnage without the blood, yet the painting is still haunting and tragic to look upon nonetheless. I will use the historical data to pull words of description for the “Poetry Project.”
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SPcasualties.htm
Available information suggests that there were about 500,000 deaths from all causes during the Spanish Civil War. An estimated 200,000 died from combat-related causes. Of these, 110,000 fought for the Republicans and 90,000 for the Nationalists. This implies that 10 per cent of all soldiers who fought in the war were killed.
It has been calculated that the Nationalist Army executed 75,000 people in the war whereas the Republican Army accounted for 55,000. These deaths takes into account the murders of members of rival political groups.
It is estimated that about 5,300 foreign soldiers died while fighting for the Nationalists (4,000 Italians, 300 Germans, 1,000 others). The International Brigades suffered heavy losses during the war. Approximately 4,900 soldiers died fighting for the Republicans (2,000 Germans, 1,000 French, 900 Americans, 500 British and 500 others).
Around 10,000 Spanish people were killed in bombing raids. The vast majority of these were victims of the German Condor Legion.
The economic blockade of Republican controlled areas caused malnutrition in the civilian population. It is believed that this caused the deaths of around 25,000 people. About 3.3 per cent of the Spanish population died during the war with another 7.5 per cent being injured.
After the war it is believed that the government of General Francisco Franco arranged the executions of 100,000 Republican prisoners. It is estimated that another 35,000 Republicans died in concentration camps in the years that followed the war.
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/SPmayriots.htm
On the 3rd May 1937, Rodriguez Salas, the Chief of Police, ordered the Civil Guard and the Assault Guard to take over the Telephone Exchange, which had been operated by the CNT since the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. Members of the CNT in the Telephone Exchange were armed and refused to give up the building. Members of the CNT, FAI and POUM became convinced that this was the start of an attack on them by the UGT, PSUC and the PCE and that night barricades were built all over the city.
Fighting broke out on the 4th May. Later that day the anarchist ministers, Federica Montseny and Juan Garcia Oliver, arrived in Barcelona and attempted to negotiate a ceasefire. When this proved to be unsuccessful, Juan Negrin, Vicente Uribe and Jesus Hernández called on Francisco Largo Caballero to use government troops to takeover the city. Largo Caballero also came under pressure from Luis Companys not to take this action, fearing that this would breach Catalan autonomy.
On 6th May death squads assassinated a number of prominent anarchists in their homes. The following day over 6,000 Assault Guards arrived from Valencia and gradually took control of Barcelona. It is estimated that about 400 people were killed during what became known as the May Riots.
These events in Barcelona severely damaged the Popular Front government. Communist members of the Cabinet were highly critical of the way Francisco Largo Caballero handled the May Riots. President Manuel Azaña agreed and on 17th May he asked Juan Negrin to form a new government. Negrin was a communist sympathizer and from this date Joseph Stalin obtained more control over the policies of the Republican government
Negrin's government now attempted to bring the Anarchist Brigades under the control of the Republican Army. At first the Anarcho-Syndicalists resisted and attempted to retain hegemony over their units. This proved impossible when the government made the decision to only pay and supply militias that subjected themselves to unified command and structure.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
"The Elder" painting by Pieter Brueghel, poems by W. H Auden and William Carlos Williams
THE PAINTING COMES TO LIFE!
This was wonderful. To see a painting on a computer and then practically see the painting come to life within the words of the poets. Each poet had a different approach to how they interpret and therefore see the poem, yet each poet met my imagination. I read the poems first, then read them again....then read them again. Finally, I read them out loud. Then, I went to see the painting and voile...triumph of the language carnival of poetry. I think that now I will always associate the poems with the painting. I wonder how many other poems expand a 2-D artwork? To see the possibilities and the stealth at which these "word artists" put to pen a stroke of paint. Just marvelous. The theme is there, the rhythm now floats from the painting as the words are read, and the moral of the story is forever burnished in my memory, well, at least until Alzheimer's sets in.
Williams' "Landscape With The Fall of Icarus" cites the farmer in the painting and ends his poem with Icarus in the water. Surely the Icarus story was first relayed by words and/or by storytelling and the poet uses his "tools" of words to set the painting into language.
Auden in "Musee des Beaux Arts" quite differently describes the scene in the painting, yet his musings about life's anecdotes and how life almost ignores the tragedy of Icarus' fate...another "language fest" for the mind to devour, with the images coming forth in our minds and seeing the painting and "hearing" the story of Icarus in our heads as we read the poem.
All are masterful creations.
This was wonderful. To see a painting on a computer and then practically see the painting come to life within the words of the poets. Each poet had a different approach to how they interpret and therefore see the poem, yet each poet met my imagination. I read the poems first, then read them again....then read them again. Finally, I read them out loud. Then, I went to see the painting and voile...triumph of the language carnival of poetry. I think that now I will always associate the poems with the painting. I wonder how many other poems expand a 2-D artwork? To see the possibilities and the stealth at which these "word artists" put to pen a stroke of paint. Just marvelous. The theme is there, the rhythm now floats from the painting as the words are read, and the moral of the story is forever burnished in my memory, well, at least until Alzheimer's sets in.
Williams' "Landscape With The Fall of Icarus" cites the farmer in the painting and ends his poem with Icarus in the water. Surely the Icarus story was first relayed by words and/or by storytelling and the poet uses his "tools" of words to set the painting into language.
Auden in "Musee des Beaux Arts" quite differently describes the scene in the painting, yet his musings about life's anecdotes and how life almost ignores the tragedy of Icarus' fate...another "language fest" for the mind to devour, with the images coming forth in our minds and seeing the painting and "hearing" the story of Icarus in our heads as we read the poem.
All are masterful creations.
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