Literature
Lay down these words
Before your mind like rocks.
?Gary Snyder, "Riprap"
These lines are from a classic Gary Snyder poem that I thought of as I was making a rock pathway today outside the cottage I rent in Davis. Some of Snyder's more recent works are really effective for teaching basic poetics in introductory literature classes. For example, "Day's Driving Done" (from his 2004 collection Danger on Peaks) is a simple ten-line poem about floating in a motel pool at the end of a long day of driving, and listening to the highway sounds. Many college students can relate to the content (if they can't relate immediately, at UC Davis you can always walk out of the classroom building and hear the white noise of Highway 80). The form of the poem plays with space and acoustics in very teachable ways. Sonic tricks such as alliteration, consonance, onomatopoeia, assonance, and internal rhymes are just a few of the devices used in this poem. Line breaks and irregular internal line spacing call attention to specific sounds and silences. I have spent easily over an hour on this one poem in a single class, and the students seem to genuinely enjoy it--and learn from it. Teaching this poem is a good way to practice slow reading.
- Teaching At The End Of The World
Below is the short paper I gave at the BABEL Working Group conference at UC Santa Barbara earlier this month. I presented alongside four of my wonderful colleagues from Loyola, and we were all talking in various ways, coming from different angles, about...
- Introducing Tim Morton
The title of this blog post is silly; Tim Morton needs no introduction at this time. But I had to introduce him last night, before his talk at Loyola, and writing an introduction for Tim was a nice walk down memory lane?so I'm posting it here for...
- Summary Of The Trees Are Down By Charlotte Mew
Charlotte Mew (1869 - 1927) was highly regarded by writers such as Thomas Hardy. She vowed never to marry because she feared she might carry hereditary mental illness, as a brother and sister committed to institutions. This fear, and grief...
- One Art By Elizabeth Bishop Summary
One ArtBorn in 1911, Elizabeth Bishop had a turbulent childhood, her father dying in her first year of life, while her mother suffered from mental illness and was committed to an institution when Elizabeth was five. She was never...
- Rhythms Of Life And Death
SUMAILA UMAISHA?s review of IFY OMALICHA?s collection of poems, Now that dreams are Born, published by Kraftgriots, 2011, p.141. The Nigerian literary scene is fast becoming famous for churning out promising writers. Ify Omalicha, a master?s degree holder...
Literature
Moving Rocks
Lay down these words
Before your mind like rocks.
?Gary Snyder, "Riprap"
These lines are from a classic Gary Snyder poem that I thought of as I was making a rock pathway today outside the cottage I rent in Davis. Some of Snyder's more recent works are really effective for teaching basic poetics in introductory literature classes. For example, "Day's Driving Done" (from his 2004 collection Danger on Peaks) is a simple ten-line poem about floating in a motel pool at the end of a long day of driving, and listening to the highway sounds. Many college students can relate to the content (if they can't relate immediately, at UC Davis you can always walk out of the classroom building and hear the white noise of Highway 80). The form of the poem plays with space and acoustics in very teachable ways. Sonic tricks such as alliteration, consonance, onomatopoeia, assonance, and internal rhymes are just a few of the devices used in this poem. Line breaks and irregular internal line spacing call attention to specific sounds and silences. I have spent easily over an hour on this one poem in a single class, and the students seem to genuinely enjoy it--and learn from it. Teaching this poem is a good way to practice slow reading.
- Teaching At The End Of The World
Below is the short paper I gave at the BABEL Working Group conference at UC Santa Barbara earlier this month. I presented alongside four of my wonderful colleagues from Loyola, and we were all talking in various ways, coming from different angles, about...
- Introducing Tim Morton
The title of this blog post is silly; Tim Morton needs no introduction at this time. But I had to introduce him last night, before his talk at Loyola, and writing an introduction for Tim was a nice walk down memory lane?so I'm posting it here for...
- Summary Of The Trees Are Down By Charlotte Mew
Charlotte Mew (1869 - 1927) was highly regarded by writers such as Thomas Hardy. She vowed never to marry because she feared she might carry hereditary mental illness, as a brother and sister committed to institutions. This fear, and grief...
- One Art By Elizabeth Bishop Summary
One ArtBorn in 1911, Elizabeth Bishop had a turbulent childhood, her father dying in her first year of life, while her mother suffered from mental illness and was committed to an institution when Elizabeth was five. She was never...
- Rhythms Of Life And Death
SUMAILA UMAISHA?s review of IFY OMALICHA?s collection of poems, Now that dreams are Born, published by Kraftgriots, 2011, p.141. The Nigerian literary scene is fast becoming famous for churning out promising writers. Ify Omalicha, a master?s degree holder...