November 25th, 2009 / 11:59 am
Snippets
Snippets
Amy McDaniel—
ISO SYLLABUS SUGGESTIONS: In past semesters, I’ve mostly taught conventional short stories to my conservative, non-English major Intro Lit students, thinking they’d be turned off by raw/experimental/genre-bending stuff. But I just taught “Cat N’ Mouse” by Steven Millhauser, and they loved it the most. Also, in another class, my students dug James Tate, though they were totally down on Lyn Hejinian. So I’ve changed my thinking, and I’m looking for suggestions of stories and poets to teach that/who are less conventional but more approachable for students who normally see reading as a chore. Whatcha got?
Elena Cruz Valera, Paava Haavikko, Pentti Saarikoski…these are poets.
sea oak by george saunders
everything ravaged everything burned by wells tower
maybe chablis by donald barthelme?
some dave berman. maybe classic water or the one about making snow angels or self-portrait at 28 or the cantos for james michener.
maybe this poem http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/the-poetry-section-the-last-critique-by-josh-bell
Elena Cruz Valera, Paava Haavikko, Pentti Saarikoski…these are poets.
sea oak by george saunders
everything ravaged everything burned by wells tower
maybe chablis by donald barthelme?
some dave berman. maybe classic water or the one about making snow angels or self-portrait at 28 or the cantos for james michener.
maybe this poem http://www.theawl.com/2009/11/the-poetry-section-the-last-critique-by-josh-bell
anchor book of new american short stories is a good source. you have everyone from dfw to george saunders, mark richard, joe wenderoth, diane williams, sam lipsyte, gary lutz, aleksandar hemon, brian evenson and on and on.
anchor book of new american short stories is a good source. you have everyone from dfw to george saunders, mark richard, joe wenderoth, diane williams, sam lipsyte, gary lutz, aleksandar hemon, brian evenson and on and on.
I’ve thought about the exact same thing. Usually I’ll try to ease my students into experimental work. I do this generally by starting with more humorous pieces, and transitioning to heavier/harder stuff.
For instance, this semester they loved Etgar Keret, who has a great sense of humor– we read “Fatso” from The Nimrod Flip-Out. On the same day we also discussed “Surprise Egg,” which is in the same collection, but is much darker.
I guess that’s another strategy: to include two works by the same author on the same day, both experimental, both tonally different.
I’ve thought about the exact same thing. Usually I’ll try to ease my students into experimental work. I do this generally by starting with more humorous pieces, and transitioning to heavier/harder stuff.
For instance, this semester they loved Etgar Keret, who has a great sense of humor– we read “Fatso” from The Nimrod Flip-Out. On the same day we also discussed “Surprise Egg,” which is in the same collection, but is much darker.
I guess that’s another strategy: to include two works by the same author on the same day, both experimental, both tonally different.
i use anchor book in my intro lit(fiction) classes. it has a nice mix, but, as i posted before, many of my students think the anthology is ‘sad.’ but you can read a story like doerr’s ‘the caretaker’ next to excerpts from letters to wendy’s.
i use anchor book in my intro lit(fiction) classes. it has a nice mix, but, as i posted before, many of my students think the anthology is ‘sad.’ but you can read a story like doerr’s ‘the caretaker’ next to excerpts from letters to wendy’s.
both of my story suggestions are from the anchor book. that’s what we were taught in my fiction workshop in undergrad.
both of my story suggestions are from the anchor book. that’s what we were taught in my fiction workshop in undergrad.
any barthelme would do.
‘rhinoceros’ by ionesco if you can find a copy of the short story (that is not the play).
any barthelme would do.
‘rhinoceros’ by ionesco if you can find a copy of the short story (that is not the play).
I didn’t know Ionesco wrote this as a short story. Huh, cool. Gimme it.
I didn’t know Ionesco wrote this as a short story. Huh, cool. Gimme it.
As a former Biology major (graduated) who took an English class every semester because I love to read, I urge you to not discount the reading/appreciation potential of your “non-English major Intro Lit students”.
“Conservative”, that’s another issue, one I can’t speak to, but still…. Minds are made to opened/changed.
One of the reasons I keep coming back to HTML GIANT, in addition to the always enlightening and entertaining comment threads, is the interesting, diverse and thoughtful reading suggestions.
And, one final thought, English majors may do well to check out some things “science-y”.
As a former Biology major (graduated) who took an English class every semester because I love to read, I urge you to not discount the reading/appreciation potential of your “non-English major Intro Lit students”.
“Conservative”, that’s another issue, one I can’t speak to, but still…. Minds are made to opened/changed.
One of the reasons I keep coming back to HTML GIANT, in addition to the always enlightening and entertaining comment threads, is the interesting, diverse and thoughtful reading suggestions.
And, one final thought, English majors may do well to check out some things “science-y”.
i really wish i had a copy of it. i know a friend of mine has an old collection of surrealist stories – it’s in there.
i’ve been searching for it online without any luck. i’ll try to scan this guy’s book soon; i’ll send it your way when i get it.
it’s a really amazing short. it’s worth it.
i really wish i had a copy of it. i know a friend of mine has an old collection of surrealist stories – it’s in there.
i’ve been searching for it online without any luck. i’ll try to scan this guy’s book soon; i’ll send it your way when i get it.
it’s a really amazing short. it’s worth it.
you’re worth it, joe murphy.
you’re worth it, joe murphy.
Consider some short stories by Jamaica Kincaid from her first collection AT THE BOTTOM OF THE RIVER(1983); also, some of the short stories by Herta Muller from her collection NADIRS (2009). I’d also suggest looking at the brilliant collection ALL OF US: THE COLLECTED POEMS by Raymond Carver, some amazingly mysterious writing there that quietly assaults the heart.
I think this is important, Mimi, thanks. We tend to get angsty about the fact that only writers read, especially “experimental” stuff. I think that may be selling ourselves, and the wider reading world, a bit short.
I think this is important, Mimi, thanks. We tend to get angsty about the fact that only writers read, especially “experimental” stuff. I think that may be selling ourselves, and the wider reading world, a bit short.
Absolutely go with the Wells Tower story. Speaking from firsthand experience, that is great story for the context. Same for any Barthelme, really. The Balloon and The School are fairly digestible, and Saunders has a pretty good essay on The School in Braindead Megaphone.
Lisa Robertson for poetry? I think The Men has classloads of accessible material, and you’d probably have each student come in with a wholly different point of entry.
Absolutely go with the Wells Tower story. Speaking from firsthand experience, that is great story for the context. Same for any Barthelme, really. The Balloon and The School are fairly digestible, and Saunders has a pretty good essay on The School in Braindead Megaphone.
Lisa Robertson for poetry? I think The Men has classloads of accessible material, and you’d probably have each student come in with a wholly different point of entry.
My students have objected to the same thing: “sadness.” It can turn off young students.
I wonder about this, sometimes out loud in class. Is sadness an acquired taste? is it fundamentally linked to good literature? can you have good literature without it?
Is it harder (or more meaningful) to break a heart than to lift it?
Was there a post about the role that “sadness” plays a while back? I can’t remember. In the event that there was, I apologize for these questions.
In the meantime I’m going to get my hands on that Anchor Book.
My students have objected to the same thing: “sadness.” It can turn off young students.
I wonder about this, sometimes out loud in class. Is sadness an acquired taste? is it fundamentally linked to good literature? can you have good literature without it?
Is it harder (or more meaningful) to break a heart than to lift it?
Was there a post about the role that “sadness” plays a while back? I can’t remember. In the event that there was, I apologize for these questions.
In the meantime I’m going to get my hands on that Anchor Book.
dude joseph i know your younger brother!
dude joseph i know your younger brother!
i would like one, too, please
i would like one, too, please
Thom Jones, “Tarantuala”
David Foster Wallace, a number of stories in Brief Interviews are approachably mind-blowing.
Joy Williams, uh, anything I guess.
Thom Jones, “Tarantuala”
David Foster Wallace, a number of stories in Brief Interviews are approachably mind-blowing.
Joy Williams, uh, anything I guess.
‘Rhinoceros’ will be scanned for all then. i’ve made a phone call plea. it’s happening.
saying non-English major was perhaps inexact. i was not an english major. more to the point: when my students read Millhauser, their highest compliment was that reading it “doesn’t feel like reading.” some of my students had never written a paper before coming to college–there are just some things they aren’t ready for, and if i try to deny that, my class will be a failure (i know from experience). but i hardly need to be urged not to discount anything about my students, which is why i started this thread.
‘Rhinoceros’ will be scanned for all then. i’ve made a phone call plea. it’s happening.
saying non-English major was perhaps inexact. i was not an english major. more to the point: when my students read Millhauser, their highest compliment was that reading it “doesn’t feel like reading.” some of my students had never written a paper before coming to college–there are just some things they aren’t ready for, and if i try to deny that, my class will be a failure (i know from experience). but i hardly need to be urged not to discount anything about my students, which is why i started this thread.
I get that a lot, too, that too many of the stories are sad. I like this idea of basing a discussion around those questions you raise, Joseph; i think that would be productive and instructive for everyone, perhaps especially me
I get that a lot, too, that too many of the stories are sad. I like this idea of basing a discussion around those questions you raise, Joseph; i think that would be productive and instructive for everyone, perhaps especially me
it’s in this collection called “anti-story” edited by philip stevick.
it’s in this collection called “anti-story” edited by philip stevick.
late Borges
late Borges
Barthelme of course of course–as has already been said. There are a million good stories to choose from (I know you already know that) but one way to make your life easier would be to choose “The School,” because you could teach it alongside Saunders’s essay on “The School” which appears in The Braindead Megaphone and also in the McSw Barthelme tribute. Then you could follow that up with something of Saunders’s own, and that’s basically like half your semester, right?
I think that students don’t worry too much about experimental/non-experimental, because most of them are so under-read that in terms of difficulty and strangeness, it’s all more or less of a piece.
What they like is work that seems open and accessible–inviting, is perhaps a better way to put it–and I think this is why they may have reacted poorly to the Hejinian. I think even an admirer of Hejinian’s has to concede that the work is infused with a kind of diffidence to–if not aloofness from–the reader’s presence. That’s not the same as being “difficult,” in the sense of “hard to read,” but it is a matter of concern. As much as I love Gary Lutz, I would be hesitant to teach his fiction in the 101 class I am teaching right now, because so much of what I enjoy and admire and cherish about his work has to do with the way he twists and perverts and challenges whole sets of standards about what prose fiction can or “ought” to be. But given that many of my students had never read a short story before entering my class, they’re not in a position to be impressed by his subversion of realist narrative practice, etc. That doesn’t mean I couldn’t hold him up as a stellar example of sentence-by-sentence brilliance, or just great writing for its own sake–I certainly could make those arguments and teach that lesson, but after seeing them struggle to make heads or tails out of something as straightforward as Jim Shepard’s historical fiction, I decided to recalibrate the scale.
For a dedicated reader/writer, that feeling that a work does not need you–that it can take or leave you, just as much as you can it–registers as an admirable, magisterial quality, or at the very least as a challenge. (“Fuck it, man, I’m gonna read Finnegans Wake if it kills me.” Etc.) But for a young reader/writer/student, especially one unaccustomed to the strategies/methods/pleasures of *any* kind of reading, it’s just going to seem like something they won’t or can’t “get.” Which is NOT to say they are right to feel that way–they’re typically much more capable than they give themselves credit for being–but once they hit upon that emotion, they will latch onto it and then shut down. I don’t know why, but students start out by assuming that they are largely incapable, and they seem eager to find evidence to support this spurious claim, so your main goal is to save them from their own worst instincts and get them to re-think sets of assumptions they may not even be aware of holding. I don’t know what happened to the good old-fashioned hubris of the young, but I sure do miss it.
Barthelme of course of course–as has already been said. There are a million good stories to choose from (I know you already know that) but one way to make your life easier would be to choose “The School,” because you could teach it alongside Saunders’s essay on “The School” which appears in The Braindead Megaphone and also in the McSw Barthelme tribute. Then you could follow that up with something of Saunders’s own, and that’s basically like half your semester, right?
I think that students don’t worry too much about experimental/non-experimental, because most of them are so under-read that in terms of difficulty and strangeness, it’s all more or less of a piece.
What they like is work that seems open and accessible–inviting, is perhaps a better way to put it–and I think this is why they may have reacted poorly to the Hejinian. I think even an admirer of Hejinian’s has to concede that the work is infused with a kind of diffidence to–if not aloofness from–the reader’s presence. That’s not the same as being “difficult,” in the sense of “hard to read,” but it is a matter of concern. As much as I love Gary Lutz, I would be hesitant to teach his fiction in the 101 class I am teaching right now, because so much of what I enjoy and admire and cherish about his work has to do with the way he twists and perverts and challenges whole sets of standards about what prose fiction can or “ought” to be. But given that many of my students had never read a short story before entering my class, they’re not in a position to be impressed by his subversion of realist narrative practice, etc. That doesn’t mean I couldn’t hold him up as a stellar example of sentence-by-sentence brilliance, or just great writing for its own sake–I certainly could make those arguments and teach that lesson, but after seeing them struggle to make heads or tails out of something as straightforward as Jim Shepard’s historical fiction, I decided to recalibrate the scale.
For a dedicated reader/writer, that feeling that a work does not need you–that it can take or leave you, just as much as you can it–registers as an admirable, magisterial quality, or at the very least as a challenge. (“Fuck it, man, I’m gonna read Finnegans Wake if it kills me.” Etc.) But for a young reader/writer/student, especially one unaccustomed to the strategies/methods/pleasures of *any* kind of reading, it’s just going to seem like something they won’t or can’t “get.” Which is NOT to say they are right to feel that way–they’re typically much more capable than they give themselves credit for being–but once they hit upon that emotion, they will latch onto it and then shut down. I don’t know why, but students start out by assuming that they are largely incapable, and they seem eager to find evidence to support this spurious claim, so your main goal is to save them from their own worst instincts and get them to re-think sets of assumptions they may not even be aware of holding. I don’t know what happened to the good old-fashioned hubris of the young, but I sure do miss it.
the sadness thing isn’t only evident in the anchor anthology. i have to go back and read that post you wrote up ryan, but funny thing is, i taught a class this semester to adult learners: people from the age of 50 and up, and i thought that it’d be interesting to break the class (5 weeks) by decades and so i used the BASS that was edited by updike and went into the oughts using the anchor book. the class loved most of the stories (by the likes of roth, updike, james alan mcpherson, annie proulx, lorrie moore, etc.) but felt that overall the stories were too sad. but doesn’t that just go back to that old dictum that stories are driven by conflict and since most stories that are written in that chekhovian vein leaves things open-ended, a majority of them are going to be sad?
the sadness thing isn’t only evident in the anchor anthology. i have to go back and read that post you wrote up ryan, but funny thing is, i taught a class this semester to adult learners: people from the age of 50 and up, and i thought that it’d be interesting to break the class (5 weeks) by decades and so i used the BASS that was edited by updike and went into the oughts using the anchor book. the class loved most of the stories (by the likes of roth, updike, james alan mcpherson, annie proulx, lorrie moore, etc.) but felt that overall the stories were too sad. but doesn’t that just go back to that old dictum that stories are driven by conflict and since most stories that are written in that chekhovian vein leaves things open-ended, a majority of them are going to be sad?
Good to hear, Amy. Thanks.
Good to hear, Amy. Thanks.
Robert Coover has two spellbinding stories in Pricksongs called something like “The Babysitter” and “The Magic Trick”, they are inventive but accesible. Maybe try some Russell Edson for poetry or Jeffrey McDaniel. Also, I think a lot of southern fiction is both important and accesible, not to mention inspiring–like Larry Brown’s first book, Facing the Music. Funny stuff is also a good bet–maybe Barry Yourgrau or Sam Lipsyte (Venus Drive).
Robert Coover has two spellbinding stories in Pricksongs called something like “The Babysitter” and “The Magic Trick”, they are inventive but accesible. Maybe try some Russell Edson for poetry or Jeffrey McDaniel. Also, I think a lot of southern fiction is both important and accesible, not to mention inspiring–like Larry Brown’s first book, Facing the Music. Funny stuff is also a good bet–maybe Barry Yourgrau or Sam Lipsyte (Venus Drive).
Richard Brautigan
Sam Pink
Pat Ingoldsby
Richard Brautigan
Sam Pink
Pat Ingoldsby
i second the Babysitter. seems like kids would eat that shit up
i second the Babysitter. seems like kids would eat that shit up
I would 2nd ALL OF US, though it’s hardly the raw/experimental/genre-bending stuff you’re looking for. It’s definitely accessible though, and can best be summed up by his line in “Locking Yourself Out…” when he says, “If this sounds like the story of a life, okay.”
Just the idea that you can simply read his poems and take them at face value, and it’s accessible in that way, or you can question what he really means by the poems, dig into the objects, the syntax, etc.
I would 2nd ALL OF US, though it’s hardly the raw/experimental/genre-bending stuff you’re looking for. It’s definitely accessible though, and can best be summed up by his line in “Locking Yourself Out…” when he says, “If this sounds like the story of a life, okay.”
Just the idea that you can simply read his poems and take them at face value, and it’s accessible in that way, or you can question what he really means by the poems, dig into the objects, the syntax, etc.
Funny’s always a good way to appeal to non-English majors. So Saunders, some DFW, Barthelme work. “Literary” fiction shades toward the downbeat, the melancholy. Most of these folks, if they’ve read much fiction, have probably read mostly in genres, which tend to be upbeat. The protagonist gets what he/she wants in the end — often what’s wanted is to solve the murder, save the day, save the world. Turning from Stephen King or Lee Child to Faulkner or Updike or Carver can be strange and offputting. One has to learn how to read them. So mixing it up with humorous fiction is good.
Funny’s always a good way to appeal to non-English majors. So Saunders, some DFW, Barthelme work. “Literary” fiction shades toward the downbeat, the melancholy. Most of these folks, if they’ve read much fiction, have probably read mostly in genres, which tend to be upbeat. The protagonist gets what he/she wants in the end — often what’s wanted is to solve the murder, save the day, save the world. Turning from Stephen King or Lee Child to Faulkner or Updike or Carver can be strange and offputting. One has to learn how to read them. So mixing it up with humorous fiction is good.
David–
aHA!– I THOUGHT I recognized your name (and not just because our cousin shares it)!
I’m looking forward to your novel, man. Mario’s been telling me about it.
David–
aHA!– I THOUGHT I recognized your name (and not just because our cousin shares it)!
I’m looking forward to your novel, man. Mario’s been telling me about it.
I would definitely recommend some Brautigan, Tate, or Edson–just writers who are in some ways irreverent in general. I think a lot of people are turned off to “literary” and/or “experimental” writing because it comes off as so damn serious all the time. Gudding’s “A Defense of Poetry” might be a good collection to excerpt.
I would definitely recommend some Brautigan, Tate, or Edson–just writers who are in some ways irreverent in general. I think a lot of people are turned off to “literary” and/or “experimental” writing because it comes off as so damn serious all the time. Gudding’s “A Defense of Poetry” might be a good collection to excerpt.
Amy–
Thanks!– if you post about it, I’m there. If I remember correctly, there was an N+1 essay on *exploiting* sadness not too long ago…
Amy–
Thanks!– if you post about it, I’m there. If I remember correctly, there was an N+1 essay on *exploiting* sadness not too long ago…
Amy–
Thanks!– if you post about it, I’m there. If I remember correctly, there was an N+1 essay on *exploiting* sadness not too long ago…
ha, re the harder to break a heart than lift it question? i have a lot of trouble creating
conflict when i’m lifting hearts. my wife and others have challenged me to write an
uplifting story. no desire to though.
ha, re the harder to break a heart than lift it question? i have a lot of trouble creating
conflict when i’m lifting hearts. my wife and others have challenged me to write an
uplifting story. no desire to though.
ha, re the harder to break a heart than lift it question? i have a lot of trouble creating
conflict when i’m lifting hearts. my wife and others have challenged me to write an
uplifting story. no desire to though.
nodding
the whole self-fulfilling prophecy thing comes to mind
nodding
the whole self-fulfilling prophecy thing comes to mind
nodding
the whole self-fulfilling prophecy thing comes to mind
THE DARING YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE
THE DARING YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE
THE DARING YOUNG MAN ON THE FLYING TRAPEZE
Wow, the Internet rules. Thanks Joe!
Wow, the Internet rules. Thanks Joe!
Wow, the Internet rules. Thanks Joe!
The big myth for young teachers, I think, is don’t teach what you love, which has always struck me as total bullshit. I’ve taught ‘Good Old Neon’ to four different English 101-type classes, and without fail, it has been their favorite part of my class–this includes watching ‘The Wire,’ watching wacky Japanese commercials, etc. I think it’s for a couple of reasons: a) I spend a lot of time explaining Wallace’s place in lit. history, the reasons he’s important, what ‘solipsism’ is, how it functions as a kind of call to arms (just look up the number of times thinking is referred to militaristically), how people, even good looking, successful people can be lonely, etc. B) They’re all at a time in their life when obviously the pull/push from their parents is real strong, and many of them are deeply energized by success, but also somewhat wary of it. C)Almost all of them have some kind of experience with suicide by midway through their first couple of semester: either they know someone on their hall who killed themself, or have heard of someone, or knew someone who did it in high school. I usually couple it with the ‘Letter from an Ex-Resident’ (check the Granada House website). D) It’s a serious text, and they like to be treated seriously. I don’t know what-all articles you have them reading, but where I am, they have to suffer through university-mandated Washington Post articles that are about as interesting to them as paint drying, etc.
The big myth for young teachers, I think, is don’t teach what you love, which has always struck me as total bullshit. I’ve taught ‘Good Old Neon’ to four different English 101-type classes, and without fail, it has been their favorite part of my class–this includes watching ‘The Wire,’ watching wacky Japanese commercials, etc. I think it’s for a couple of reasons: a) I spend a lot of time explaining Wallace’s place in lit. history, the reasons he’s important, what ‘solipsism’ is, how it functions as a kind of call to arms (just look up the number of times thinking is referred to militaristically), how people, even good looking, successful people can be lonely, etc. B) They’re all at a time in their life when obviously the pull/push from their parents is real strong, and many of them are deeply energized by success, but also somewhat wary of it. C)Almost all of them have some kind of experience with suicide by midway through their first couple of semester: either they know someone on their hall who killed themself, or have heard of someone, or knew someone who did it in high school. I usually couple it with the ‘Letter from an Ex-Resident’ (check the Granada House website). D) It’s a serious text, and they like to be treated seriously. I don’t know what-all articles you have them reading, but where I am, they have to suffer through university-mandated Washington Post articles that are about as interesting to them as paint drying, etc.
The big myth for young teachers, I think, is don’t teach what you love, which has always struck me as total bullshit. I’ve taught ‘Good Old Neon’ to four different English 101-type classes, and without fail, it has been their favorite part of my class–this includes watching ‘The Wire,’ watching wacky Japanese commercials, etc. I think it’s for a couple of reasons: a) I spend a lot of time explaining Wallace’s place in lit. history, the reasons he’s important, what ‘solipsism’ is, how it functions as a kind of call to arms (just look up the number of times thinking is referred to militaristically), how people, even good looking, successful people can be lonely, etc. B) They’re all at a time in their life when obviously the pull/push from their parents is real strong, and many of them are deeply energized by success, but also somewhat wary of it. C)Almost all of them have some kind of experience with suicide by midway through their first couple of semester: either they know someone on their hall who killed themself, or have heard of someone, or knew someone who did it in high school. I usually couple it with the ‘Letter from an Ex-Resident’ (check the Granada House website). D) It’s a serious text, and they like to be treated seriously. I don’t know what-all articles you have them reading, but where I am, they have to suffer through university-mandated Washington Post articles that are about as interesting to them as paint drying, etc.
I have a lot of fights with people who feel that writing for writers is an awesome idea.
I mean, writers can be a great audience, but I’m more interested in other people, in general, for a lot of reasons.
I have a lot of fights with people who feel that writing for writers is an awesome idea.
I mean, writers can be a great audience, but I’m more interested in other people, in general, for a lot of reasons.
I have a lot of fights with people who feel that writing for writers is an awesome idea.
I mean, writers can be a great audience, but I’m more interested in other people, in general, for a lot of reasons.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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?
Don’t confuse a student’s desire to get a good grade with genuine enthusiasm for the works…
Don’t confuse a student’s desire to get a good grade with genuine enthusiasm for the works…
Don’t confuse a student’s desire to get a good grade with genuine enthusiasm for the works…
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.
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.
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.
Oh, good point. I also try not to confuse my puppy humping my leg for genuine affection.
Oh, good point. I also try not to confuse my puppy humping my leg for genuine affection.
Oh, good point. I also try not to confuse my puppy humping my leg for genuine affection.
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”.
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”.
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”.
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
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
thanks so very much everyone. i will let you know how what i choose from this lovely list goes over with my class.
thanks so very much everyone. i will let you know how what i choose from this lovely list goes over with my class.
thanks so very much everyone. i will let you know how what i choose from this lovely list goes over with my class.