Comments on:

By: Amy McDaniel

Amy McDaniel — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:07:10 +0000

thanks so very much everyone. i will let you know how what i choose from this lovely list goes over with my class.

By: Tim Horvath

Tim Horvath — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:01:35 +0000

I teach a class called Unruly Fictions and make it a point to throw some experimental stuff at my students whatever the class is called, even if it’s something like “Unabashedly Conventional Linear Narratives about Characters Firmly Entrenched in Reality” or something along those lines. Anyway, a few pieces have worked particularly well for me. One is a piece by Sandy McIntosh from Alimentum issue 8, entitled “A Partial Menu of Dishes Returned to the Kitchen by a Former Girlfriend,” which is done in the form of a chart listing the venue, the item, and circumstances of dish-dismissal. It is hilarious and generates discussion about the story and characterizations implied in the interstices, and best of all can be readily emulated with parallel categories. Another good one is Matt Bell’s piece, “An Index of How Our Family Was Killed,” up at http://www.conjunctions.com/webcon/bell09.htm. I’ve had students burn through this like a Dan Brown novel. Also, Italo Calvino’s invisible cities have worked well in inviting the invention of other cities. In general, I find that by writing something in the same form or spirit, they are able to access the work more authentically and engage it. Not doing so is akin to going to a museum filled with mindblowing stuff kept under glass as opposed to one of those interactive museums where you flip over rocks, perform open heart surgery, commandeer the space shuttle and such.

By: aL

aL — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:53:42 +0000

Jack Spicer, Kim Hyesoon, Kenneth Koch, Aram Saroyan, Jean Valentine. Maybe some vizpo, sound poetry and conceptual stuff. I bet the kids’d love some flarf. I’ve always wished I had had more exposure to how far the poetry world really extends. Poetry education generally seems severely lacking in that regard as far as I’ve seen.

By: mimi

mimi — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:50:01 +0000

I feel compelled to add one more thing to this thread:

Whenever I feel “confused” “forgetful of” what I’m doing in the classroom or when providing staff development to other educators, I return to this (to me) simple and meaningful quote:

“The teacher’s task is not to implant facts but to place the subject to be learned in front of the learner and, through sympathy, emotion, imagination, and patience, to awaken in the learner the restless drive for answers and insights which enlarge the personal life and give it meaning. “ 
- Nathan M. Pusey, Former President of Harvard University

By: mimi

mimi — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 03:35:40 +0000

In reply to Mike Meginnis’ comment:

There is nothing wrong with a writer writing for “writers only”. IMHO, a person can write “to” any audience they please. (And do they preface with: “This work has been written for the reading pleasure of writers only”?)

but

I am also most definitely interested in “other people” for “a lot of reasons”.
I, for one, am a populist, and have found intelligence and insight “everywhere”.

By: jh

jh — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 01:26:47 +0000

Oh, good point. I also try not to confuse my puppy humping my leg for genuine affection.

By: Amber

Amber — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 23:37:26 +0000

This isn’t college, but my mom has her high school English classes read Saunders, and they love it for exactly that reason–because it doesn’t feel like reading. She does On the Road and the Beats with them for the same reason.

By: Mather Schneider

Mather Schneider — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:16:11 +0000

Don’t confuse a student’s desire to get a good grade with genuine enthusiasm for the works…

By: howie good

howie good — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:08:15 +0000

last year i was discussing “rashomon”-like point of view with an “advanced” writing class when it began apparent they didn’t know what the hell i was talking about. i took a week out of the schedule (and away from my syllabus) to watch and discuss the movie with them. now they know who kurosawa is and now they have seen one of the great movies of all times. what’s covering “material” compared to that?

By: howie good

howie good — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 21:05:11 +0000

a piece of literary journalism that always turns my students on is hunter thompson’s “kentucky derby is decadent & depraved.” in the same vein, anything from klosterman’s books “sex, drugs and coca puffs” and “eating the dinosaur” excites them. similarly pieces from sarah vowell’s “take the cannoli” — her take on disneyland is pretty awesome

the bastards here don’t let me teach fiction — or poetry. this is about as genre-bending as i can get.