Writing Across Cultures

Reflect on your 4 years here in the Creative Writing Department. What was memorable? What could have been avoided? What would you have liked more of or less of? Reflect honestly on your experience from 9-12th grade. Put your reflection in the COMMENT section of this post. Each reflection should be at LEAST 500 words in length. So no skimping. Have at it. Due by Monday, June 12.

Culture Project: Period 1: Research your chosen culture: Provide basic historical/geographical information about the country. Find 1 famous or significant poet from the culture & include a short poem from that author. Find 1 famous author (prose) from the culture and include a short excerpt from a story or prose piece from that author. Discuss pop culture (film, leisure, media, sports, trends, music, etc.) Compare traditions with us in the US. Include a works cited page If you have time, check out this material as we tour the world... For those of you who are not completely exhausted from learning, you may find these resources here helpful in setting your fiction, poetry, plays, and essays in a European setting. Since we are running out of time to cover the entire world in this course, we will only briefly glimpse at a very rich and extensive culture. For your benefit click on these links and learn about these cultures. Some of their literature can b...

Period 1: IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW, please indicate what date you will present your CULTURE project: Wednesday or Friday. Please note that if everyone selects Friday, we will have to draw randomly (and some students may not have time to go). This will affect your final grade. If you possibly can go 2nd period Wednesday, please do so. Research your chosen culture: Provide basic historical/geographical information about the country. Find 1 famous or significant poet from the culture & include a short poem from that author. Find 1 famous author (prose) from the culture and include a short excerpt from a story or prose piece from that author. Discuss pop culture (film, leisure, media, sports, trends, music, etc.) Compare traditions with us in the US. Include a works cited page. Period 2: 8:15. Let's go hear about your chosen philosopher. Then let's hear about your philosophical argument (see homework from last 2 classes). HOMEWORK: See above.

Lab: (Until 8:10) Submit your best work to me as a shared Google file. I need these asap if you want to be included in the issue of  Lambent . I'll pick up any last files on Thursday (June 1). That's our absolute deadline. I'd like some more prose, if possible. Essays count as prose. Look through your portfolios. Next: Please research your chosen culture: Provide basic historical/geographical information about the country. Find 1 famous or significant poet from the culture & include a short poem from that author. Find 1 famous author (prose) from the culture and include a short excerpt from a story or prose piece from that author. Discuss pop culture (film, leisure, media, sports, trends, music, etc.) Compare traditions with us in the US. Include a works cited page. Period 1/2: 8:10. Let's go hear about your chosen philosopher. Then let's hear about your philosophical argument (see homework from last class).  With time left, we will examine  So...

Lab: (Until 8:00) Submit your best work to me as a shared Google file. I need these asap if you want to be included in the issue of Lambent . I'll pick up any last files on Thursday (June 1). That's our absolute deadline. I'd like some more prose, if possible. Essays count as prose. Look through your portfolios. Next: Please choose and select one of the following cultures: Cuba Colombia Argentina Brazil Mexico Chile China Japan Turkey Poland Russia Thailand Phillippines Vietnam New Zealand Norway Sweden Finland Denmark Spain Italy Greece Germany Czech Republic Switzerland Croatia Research contemporary writers (including singers, poets, novelists, essayists, celebrities, film directors/writers, playwrights, etc.) and find out what is unique about the culture you picked. How is the culture different from ours? Examine cuisine, gender roles, philosophy, leisure activities, pop culture, art, media, politics, religion, history, as well as auth...

In the lab: (Until 8:00) Watch the following 2 videos, then read your chosen pairings of articles to examine/present to the class today during our class time. If you have a partner, meet with this person to discuss what you will present to the class. What is Philosophy for? (video) Crash Course Philosophy #1 (an introduction) Read your chosen article. Gather with your partner (if you have one). Discuss the main points in the article. Be prepared to share with our classmates in a few minutes. You may also find it helpful to preview the video on your subject. Plato Aristotle The Stoics Lao Tzu The Buddha Augustine Thomas Aquinas Rene Descartes Immanuel Kant How to Argue How to Argue, Part 2  (induction/abduction) Be a philosopher: Create a premise (choose one to answer): What is the meaning of life? Why is there evil? Is there a God? What makes a happy person? How do I know that anything is true? What happens to us when we die? What is art or beauty? Wh...

Today, during class we will practice and prepare for tonight's coffeehouse. At the end of 2nd period, I will leave you in the care of Mr. Greven. We may also have some visitors 2nd period to see us practice and prepare. HOMEWORK: None. You may continue reading The Stranger.

Period 1: Coffeehouse preparation. Please gather in two small groups of 6-7 students for the first 20 minutes of period 1. Read your selected coffeehouse piece to each other. Each member should have the opportunity to speak and practice. Monday and Tuesday of next week we will be using the Ensemble theater where you can practice for your coffeehouse presentation on Tuesday. For the last 20 minutes or so of the period, either finish sharing/performing your work--or work on assignments for your writing portfolio. See previous posts for details and ideas. During period 2, we will finish our conversation about Things Fall Apart , and pick up our last novel: The Stranger by Albert Camus. Introduction to Philosophy Under the main heading of philosophy, there are several branches. These are divided by the kind of questions they ask. Here are the main ones: I.  Ethics : the study of values in human behavior or moral problems: (what is good or right?) II.  Aesthetics : th...

Classroom: Please complete presentations on gender. Then, let's discuss the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. Chinua Achebe  was born Albert Chinualumogu Achebe in the  Igbo  village of Ogidi (Nigeria) in 1930. Achebe became fascinated with world religions and traditional African cultures from an early age, and began writing stories as a university student. After graduation, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Service. Later he began teaching, and immigrated to the U.S. He taught at Bard College for fifteen years and was awarded the Man Booker International Prize in 2007. In recent years he was an Africana Studies professor at Brown University. He died in 2013 at the age of 82. There are a variety of  allusions  in  Things Fall Apart  that you may wish to know about. The first is the title, which refers to  William Butler Yeats  poem  The Second Coming . As you read, consider the connection ...

Lab: (until 8:00) 1. Please pick a piece for the coffeehouse. 2. Gather with 3-4 others in this class. 3. Read your chosen piece out loud.  4. Give performance critiques to your peers Classroom: Presentations/Things Fall Apart Discussion HOMEWORK: None.

This morning during our lab time, please choose one article from the website: The Art of Manliness . Choose an article (see the menus at the top of the page) from: A man's life Dress & grooming Health & sports Manly skills Money & career Relationships & family  or a Podcast Scroll down for a variety of choices.  Read the article. Summarize it. Then, join a person you are not sitting next to and share your summary article with that person. Discuss ideas gathered from these articles. Then in a short reflection discuss gender, men, women and ideas presented in the articles/discussion.  You may develop these ideas for your portfolio.  At 8:00 please return to the classroom to discuss gender in various cultures from last class. With time remaining, we will begin discussing the novel Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.  HOMEWORK: Pick a piece for the coffeehouse.

Lab: Turn in homework (see below for details). Then please use the lab to complete/prepare the following: 1. Begin choosing your coffeehouse reading selection. 2. Choose your best 3 pieces of writing, put them in the same file (as a Google Doc), proofread, then share them with me (and class editors) for Lambent. Please put your name on the file + Lambent 2017. 3. Complete homework from last class if you did not do so: Pick a culture from the following list and research the traditional roles of women & men, noting how gender roles compare/contrast to the U.S.A. Be prepared to share your findings with the class today during the 2nd half of class. Iraq India Somalia Iceland Japan Korea Yemen Pakistan Syria Chad Jordan / Jordan Israel Indonesia Turkey Malaysia Saudi Arabia Senegal (Girls Not Brides, documentary) 4. Examine the concept of HONOR and POWER in  Things Fall Apart . 5. If you need a prompt/assignment for your portfolio, here you ...

A little history of Iran . Watch the crash course video and learn something... Hafez : (Persian/Iranian poet) Ode 44 (translated by Richard le Gallienne)  Last night, as half asleep I dreaming lay,     Half naked came she in her little shift,          With tilted glass, and verses on her lips; Narcissus-eyes all shining for the fray,          Filled full of frolic to her wine-red lips,          Warm as a dewy rose, sudden she slips     Into my bed – just in her little shift. Said she, half naked, half asleep, half heard, With a soft sigh betwixt each lazy word, ‘Oh my old lover, do you sleep or wake!’ And instant I sat upright for her sake, And drank whatever wine she poured for me –    Wine of the tavern, or vintage it might be Of Heaven’s own vine: he ...

This morning, take a moment to watch Samantha Bee's " The Great Feminists in Feminism Herstory Hall of Fame " What is your opinion about feminism? Do you consider yourself a feminist? Why/why not? Take a few minutes and write about what you believe. Turn it into something creative. Then please sign up for a reading role for Top Girls . We'll read that today in class. With time left over, we'll go back to our poetry... HOMEWORK: Read Things Fall Apart and examine the role of gender in that book.

LAB: Until 8:00. Please continue to work on your writing projects for your portfolio. Additionally, please take a look at the following:   "In my heart, I think a woman has two choices: either she's a feminist or a masochist." —Gloria Steinem "The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race." —Susan B. Anthony "In passing, also, I would like to say that the first time Adam had a chance he laid the blame on a woman." —Nancy Astor (British Politician) Feminism  is the theory that men and women should be equal politically, economically and socially. Notice that this theory does not subscribe to  differences  between men and women or  similarities  between men and women, nor does it refer to excluding men or only furtheri...

Period 1: If you missed these the first time through, take a moment to read these short articles and apply them to the novel The Stone Gods :  GJ1132b  (synthesis),  Easter Island  and Why People Are Marching for Science . Prep for our discussion:  1. Examine the poem "The Sun Rising" by John Donne:             Busy old fool, unruly sun,              Why dost thou thus  Through windows and through curtains call on us?  Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?              Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide              Late schoolboys and sour prentices,        Go tell court huntsmen that the King will ride,        Call country ants to harvest offices;  Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,  Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.  ...

Lab: Continue working on your decade project. See previous posts for more details. Also, I asked you to complete some homework. If you completed this work, please turn your draft in before 8:00. See previous posts if you did not accomplish this task. Then complete on your own time and turn in late. Also, for our discussion on the novel (look! a synthesis!), please read the following short articles on the book (see handout): Freshmen Skipping Fun Home for Religious Reasons  in  The Chronicle  by Claire Ballentine Duke Freshmen Boycott Acclaimed Graphic Novel:  in  The Daily Dot , written by Aja Romano The Duke Freshmen  by Jacob Brogan Listen Up Duke Freshmen  by Emily Shire for T he Daily Beast At 8:00, we will go to the classroom to discuss Fun Home . Here are the discussion questions: An "artificer" is a skilled craftsman/craftsperson or inventor. Give some reasons where, how, and why Bechdel uses this trope in the book. (...

Period 1: Sigh. Master classes, senior trips, AP testing, absences, looming graduation malaise--most of you are probably behind a few class periods. Please catch up during your advisement periods or at home. I have to move forward, despite wanting to give you more time to accomplish projects and stories. If you have an upcoming AP exam, you are needed in the Ensemble theater this morning. Please note what you will be missing in the lab and make up the work as needed. LAB: Work on your decade project story draft.  Last class you were to complete a draft by doing the following (see our previous post): Write a story draft set in your decade (or chose someone else's decade if that intrigues you...)   Use what you have learned to inspire your story. Connect your character's main  conflict  to popular culture in some way. All stories need a well thought-out and researched (if possible) setting. Often this comes from our memory, but snuggling into a setting ...

Period 1: Please complete your decade presentation (padlet/prezi, etc.) and send us the link in the comment section of this post. Authors: view these presentations for ideas for your decade story project. Here's how to do it: Write a story draft set in your decade (or chose someone else's decade if that intrigues you...)   Use what you have learned to inspire your story. Connect your character's main conflict to popular culture in some way. All stories need a well thought-out and researched (if possible) setting. Often this comes from our memory, but snuggling into a setting that is alive with wriggling details can enchant the hardest cynical reader. Our job as writers is to provide this "stage" or setting on which our characters play out their fictional lives. Setting is not just location, but includes weather, season, props--the things that characters touch or see or smell or taste or hear. It is imagery. And absolutely required of good writing.  Se...

Period 1: Decade project preparation. Please take the research you have done on your chosen decade and complete your research. Using a padlet , pre zi , or other presentation software of your choice that we can view in class, prepare to present your decade to the class Thursday. Your presentation will only be sharing your work with the class (you will not need to walk us through your presentation--or read it to us. We should be able to figure it out by viewing the Prezi or Padlet. See below for an example. In your project, hit the highlights of popular culture, fads, fashion, music style, leisure activities & games, high/low culture, movies, technology, and major political or social events for your decade. Here's an example of popular culture for the 1700's as a model (hint: view the videos and read the text!): Padlet Write a story draft set in your decade (or chose someone else's decade if that intrigues you...)  Use what you have learned to inspire you...