Thursday, September 25, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
David Foster Wallace
This interview with David Foster Wallace is crazy and so freaking real-- what a loss.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Links
Merce Cunningham
The Frank Stanford Literary Festival, in Fayetteville, AK, is approaching...
Werner Herzog's Bells From the Deep...the bell ringer
The Frank Stanford Literary Festival, in Fayetteville, AK, is approaching...
Werner Herzog's Bells From the Deep...the bell ringer
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Spread this.
Police & FBI agents in Minneapolis have raided several RNC protest mobilizing sites, in a move that seems deeply unconstitutional.
Minneapolis police raids
Minneapolis police raids
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Why we need to NOT build new prisons
This NY Times article, on a proposed prison closing in Pontiac, Illinois, hits on just how hard it is to shift away from reliance on prisons. In towns where prisons supply a big enough proportion of jobs, the entire town's working class is ruined if the state closes one. In other words, once you have built prison infrastructure, you find yourself in a catch-22: fuck over the working class by closing it, or keep fucking over those deep in poverty by keeping it open (and thus maintaining a demand for "supply").
There's no good solution here. But there is an even stronger imperative to actively resist the building of any new prisons. For more information, or to get involved, visit the Prison Moratorium Project (California is one of the biggest fronts on this issue right now.)
There's no good solution here. But there is an even stronger imperative to actively resist the building of any new prisons. For more information, or to get involved, visit the Prison Moratorium Project (California is one of the biggest fronts on this issue right now.)
Friday, August 22, 2008
8G:1 Syllabus!
Wish I knew how to transfer my formatting & font sizes in here, but oh well. Here's the syllabus for my first class.
Interpretation of Literature
8G:1 Section 38
Fall 2008
MWF 11:30-12:20
in 202 EPB
Adam Roberts, Instructor
Adam-Roberts@uiowa.edu
In this course we will aim to develop ways of reading that can help us better understand, and question, our relation to the world. We will begin by considering where we stand, personally, as readers: what influences how we read? How can we look to challenge, or extend, that position? From there we will seek to develop critical reading practices and to explore the many ways in which language can operate, drawing from various genres and styles (from poetry to short stories to popular media). Finally, we will engage with the “real-world” contexts of these sources, asking (of both the historical and the contemporary): to what is this responding? What kind of intervention does it—or might it—make?
Students will themselves respond both analytically and creatively; writing assignments will range from formal academic papers to informal reading journals. As members of a supportive learning community, everyone is expected to participate energetically in discussions and come to class prepared and with an open mind.
Course requirements: regular class participation, a response journal, two formal essays, and a final exam. The University expects a three-hour course to require at least 6 hours a week of outside preparation. Expect to put in approximately 4 hours of reading and 2 hours of writing each week for this class.
Course Objectives:
-To build fluency reading, talking about, and writing about literature
-To learn to see ourselves as readers; to read slowly and closely, and to enjoy reading in this way
-To recognize the influence of our own backgrounds, beliefs, and assumptions on the way we read/look at the world
-To question these ways of seeing, and to explore other perspectives/ways of looking
Books:
Literature: A Portable Anthology, eds. Gardner, et al, St. Martin's Press
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five, Laurel / Dell
Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red, Random House (available at Prairie Lights)
Moleskine Journal (available at Prairie Lights) or other spiral bound notebook
THE RESPONSE JOURNAL
What is the response journal?
This is the most exciting part of the class. The response journal is your place to engage with the readings in whatever way you find meaningful. That can mean personally (how does this relate to my life? what does it mean to me?), speculatively (by asking questions of the text), analytically (by making some sort of argument), or creatively (with poetry, a drawing, etc.). I will often give you a specific prompt to respond to, but you are always free to write on something you find more interesting.
Why?
The response journal will help you relate course readings to one another. It will also help you engage with these readings on your own terms. It’s very rare to have the chance to write informally for an academic class, and my belief is that this can be an important part of making literature truly relevant to our lives.
How often will we write in our response journal?
You should have one entry for each class (in other words, three per week).
How long do our responses have to be?
A paragraph is fine; a list of a few questions is fine; a poem is fine. Don’t spend more than 25 minutes on an entry unless you feel like it.
How will the reading journal be incorporated into class?
Each day we will begin class with 5-10 students sharing from their response journals. Everyone is responsible for stimulating discussions. If this kind of thing makes you nervous, please come talk to me during the first week and I will help you come up with a good solution.
Wait, so what’s actually going to fly?
Any response is acceptable…so long as it displays effort and thinking. Engaging in the PROCESS of learning is more important than any finished product here. Is there something you’re struggling with? Something you don’t understand? Work through it in the response journal.
Okay, I am totally nervous about this response journal thing now.
Try not to be. I can’t stress this enough—you are not being evaluated on how “good” your response journal is, only the depth of the connection you form with it. Have fun, be honest, ask questions. You’ll be fine.
GRADING POLICIES
Paper 1 (due 9/26)= 20%
Paper 2 (due 10/31)= 25%
Final Exam = 15%
Response Journal = 25%
Class Participation/Attendance = 15%
• A work is excellent. It notably exceeds minimum expectations. It is original, thoughtful, and well–developed.
• B work is good. It exceeds minimum expectations. It is thoughtful but not particularly nuanced. It is organized logically and has few errors.
• C work is average. It meets minimum expectations. It offers some insight, is reasonably clear, but lacks the overall consistency and depth of B-level work.
• D work does not meet most expectations, but it is developed enough to earn some credit. It may have noticeable organizational problems or offer little more than summary.
• F work is either so incomplete that it does not deserve full credit, or it does not resemble the particular assignment. Errors may be so distracting that they detract from content.
Papers:
Late papers/assignments will be marked down a half-grade for each day that they are late. If you would like an extension on a paper due to legitimate extenuating circumstances, I am open to that, but you must let me know at least 24 hours before the deadline.
Response Journal:
I will collect your response journal three times over the course of the semester. You will receive full credit for all complete entries, and zero credit for any missing entries. Credits will be added up at the end of the semester and averaged into your final grade. I will give you a heads-up of how you are doing mid-way through the semester. Everyone should aim to get the full 25% here; all you have to do is make sure to engage & put something thoughtful down every time you sit down to read.
Class Participation/Attendance:
While it is true that not everyone likes to speak in class, you must be actively engaged with classroom discussion. If you are not speaking, you should be actively listening, taking notes, etc. If you are speaking, you should be contributing thoughtfully and constructively, as well as trying to include others in the discussion.
Showing up to class is extraordinarily important. We are building a community of learners, which takes everyone getting to know each other, and a good deal of consistency from week to week. If you do not show up consistently to class, you will receive a zero for your participation/attendance grade, and it will most likely endanger your chances of passing the class.
THE FINE PRINT
1. Plagiarism: DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. At all. Period. Please read the guidelines carefully, and ask me any questions, if you are worried about a specific paper, before you hand it in. (Remember, I grant extensions if you come to me at least 24 hours before a deadline. Come talk to me!) If you plagiarize on an assignment, you will receive a zero for that assignment. It also means that you and I must have a painfully embarrassing and awkward conversation, and afterwards, I have to do lots of paperwork that labels you as a “problem” student for the rest of your college career. Plagiarism guidelines can be found here: http://www.english.uiowa.edu/gel/resources/PlagiarismPolicy.pdf
2. Additional Contacts: 1) General Education Literature Director: Brooks Landon, brooks-landon@uiowa.edu, 376 EPB, 335-0641, HOME: 338-8233 2) General Education Literature Program Associates office phone: 335-0484, 64 EPB
3. Grade concerns and complaints: Arrange a time to talk with me in person, during my office hours (i.e not by email). From the university: “Students should always first bring such concerns to their instructor. If no satisfactory resolution is gained from discussing the problem with the instructor, students should contact one of the following Program Associates in 64 EPB responsible for grade complaints: Victoria Sprow, Carolyn Hall, LeDon Sweeney.”
4. Students with special needs: Please come and speak to me during my office hours if you have a disability that may require seating modifications, testing accommodations, or accommodations of other class requirements, so that appropriate arrangements may be made. It is the responsibility of students with disabilities to register with the Office of Student Disability Services (3101 Burge Hall, 335-1462) and to present a Student Academic Accommodation Request (the SAAR form) to the instructor when discussing specific requests for accommodation. See the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requirements at http://www.clas.uiowa.edu/faculty/teaching/classroom_p&p/disabilities.shtml
5. Controlling policies for students from other colleges: This course is given by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This means that class policies on matters such as requirements, grading, and sanctions for academic dishonesty are governed by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Students wishing to add or drop this course after the official deadline must receive the approval of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Details of the University policy of cross enrollments may be found at http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/deos/crossenroll.doc
6. Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is reprehensible and will not be tolerated by the University. It subverts the mission of the University and threatens the well-being of students, faculty, and staff. Visit the sexual harassment awareness site at http://www.sexualharassment.uiowa.edu/ for definitions, assistance, and the full University policy.
7. Tornado: The University of Iowa Operations Manual section 16.14 outlines appropriate responses to a tornado or to a similar crisis. If a tornado or other severe weather is indicated by the UI outdoor warning system, members of the class should seek shelter in rooms and corridors in the innermost part of a building at the lowest level, staying clear of windows, corridors with windows, or large free-standing expanses such as auditoriums and cafeterias. The class will resume, if possible, after the UI outdoor warning system announces that the severe weather threat has ended.
8. Writing Center: The Writing Center is an important resource that can help many students. For more information about the hours and offerings of the Writing Center go to its website at http://www.uiowa.edu/~writingc/
SYLLABUS
Subject to change. Note: Readings & assignments listed on a date should be completed by the beginning of class on that date. Page numbers refer to Literature: A Portable Anthology unless otherwise noted.
Unit One: Laying the Frameworks
WEEK 1: Introductions
8/25: Introductions. Course Themes. Goals.
8/27: Buy a reading journal and bring it to class. Response Journal: Timeline of “Reading” Preferences. Share reading timelines.
8/29: Share reading timelines (cont.)
WEEK 2: Laying the Frameworks: Reader, Text, World
9/1: No class (holiday)
9/3: In class: Practicing reader/text/world in analysis. Sherman Alexie, Postcards to Columbus (p. 714), Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses (p. 675)
Response Journal: bring in at least three thoughtful questions about the text.
9/5: Reader/text/world cont. Response journal: practice text/world analysis. One paragraph.
WEEK 3: Poetry (1): The Romantics
9/8: Wordsworth: Lines (p. 423-427), Preface to Lyrical Ballads (ICON)
9/10: Shelley: Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind (438-441)
9/12: Whitman: Song of Myself (467-478)
WEEK 4: Poetry (2): “Modern” American Poetry
9/15: Whitman: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (ICON)
9/17: Dickinson: all poems (488-490)
9/19: Whitman and Dickinson (cont.) RESPONSE JOURNALS COLLECTED (1).
WEEK 5 : A play. Writing the first paper.
9/22: Oedipus Rex (719-762). No response journal; work on paper.
9/24: Oedipus (cont.), questions about papers. No reading journal; work on paper.
9/26: PAPER 1 DUE. Receive response journal (1).
Unit Two: Forms of Protest
WEEK 6: Writing War (1): Slaughter-House Five
9/29: Vonnegut, Slaughter-House Five: Chapter 1 (p. 1-22).
10/1: Chapters 2-3 (p. 23-71)
10/3: Chapter 4 (p. 72-86)
WEEK 7: Writing War (2): Slaughter-House Five (cont.)
10/6: Chapter 5 (p. 87-135)
10/8: Chapters 6-7 (p. 136-161)
10/10: Chapters 8-10 (p. 162-215)
WEEK 8: Poetry (3): American Poetry in the 50’s and 60’s
10/13: Allen Ginsberg (ICON)
10/15: Robert Creeley (ICON)
10/17: Robert Creeley (cont.)
WEEK 9: Writing War (3)
10/20: James Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues (p. 220-247)
10/22: Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried (332-346)
10/24: Yusef Komunyakaa (657-658)
WEEK 10: “Quiet Protest”: Minimalism in Poetry & Music
10/27: Paul Celan (ICON). RESPONSE JOURNALS COLLECTED AT END OF CLASS (2). No response journal, work on paper.
10/29: Inger Christensen (ICON). No response journal, work on paper.
10/31: PAPER 2 DUE. Response journals returned.
Unit Three: (Un)Tying It All Together
(or, Working for Something Else)
WEEK 11: An Election Week Special: Literature and Politics
11/3: In-class discussion on presidential election. Response journal: Use your time outside of class to think about who you’re going to vote for…and to go out and vote!
11/5: In class response journaling and discussion: reflections on the election; what’s ahead.
11/7: TBD
WEEK 12: Autobiography of Red (1)
11/10: Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red: Introductions, Appendices, Chapters I-V (p. 1-36)
11/12: Chapters VI-XXIV (p. 36-75)
11/14: Autobiography of Red discussion, cont.
WEEK 13: Autobiography of Red (2)
11/17: Chapters XXV-XXXII (p. 76-107)
11/19: Chapters XXXIII-XLVII (p. 107-146)
11/21: Autobiography of Red discussion, cont.
WEEK 14: Analyzing Contemporary Popular Media
12/1: TBD
12/3: TBD
12/5: TBD
Week 15: Response Journal Reflections/Exam Prep
12/8: TBD
12/10: TBD
12/12: TBD
Interpretation of Literature
8G:1 Section 38
Fall 2008
MWF 11:30-12:20
in 202 EPB
Adam Roberts, Instructor
Adam-Roberts@uiowa.edu
In this course we will aim to develop ways of reading that can help us better understand, and question, our relation to the world. We will begin by considering where we stand, personally, as readers: what influences how we read? How can we look to challenge, or extend, that position? From there we will seek to develop critical reading practices and to explore the many ways in which language can operate, drawing from various genres and styles (from poetry to short stories to popular media). Finally, we will engage with the “real-world” contexts of these sources, asking (of both the historical and the contemporary): to what is this responding? What kind of intervention does it—or might it—make?
Students will themselves respond both analytically and creatively; writing assignments will range from formal academic papers to informal reading journals. As members of a supportive learning community, everyone is expected to participate energetically in discussions and come to class prepared and with an open mind.
Course requirements: regular class participation, a response journal, two formal essays, and a final exam. The University expects a three-hour course to require at least 6 hours a week of outside preparation. Expect to put in approximately 4 hours of reading and 2 hours of writing each week for this class.
Course Objectives:
-To build fluency reading, talking about, and writing about literature
-To learn to see ourselves as readers; to read slowly and closely, and to enjoy reading in this way
-To recognize the influence of our own backgrounds, beliefs, and assumptions on the way we read/look at the world
-To question these ways of seeing, and to explore other perspectives/ways of looking
Books:
Literature: A Portable Anthology, eds. Gardner, et al, St. Martin's Press
Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five, Laurel / Dell
Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red, Random House (available at Prairie Lights)
Moleskine Journal (available at Prairie Lights) or other spiral bound notebook
THE RESPONSE JOURNAL
What is the response journal?
This is the most exciting part of the class. The response journal is your place to engage with the readings in whatever way you find meaningful. That can mean personally (how does this relate to my life? what does it mean to me?), speculatively (by asking questions of the text), analytically (by making some sort of argument), or creatively (with poetry, a drawing, etc.). I will often give you a specific prompt to respond to, but you are always free to write on something you find more interesting.
Why?
The response journal will help you relate course readings to one another. It will also help you engage with these readings on your own terms. It’s very rare to have the chance to write informally for an academic class, and my belief is that this can be an important part of making literature truly relevant to our lives.
How often will we write in our response journal?
You should have one entry for each class (in other words, three per week).
How long do our responses have to be?
A paragraph is fine; a list of a few questions is fine; a poem is fine. Don’t spend more than 25 minutes on an entry unless you feel like it.
How will the reading journal be incorporated into class?
Each day we will begin class with 5-10 students sharing from their response journals. Everyone is responsible for stimulating discussions. If this kind of thing makes you nervous, please come talk to me during the first week and I will help you come up with a good solution.
Wait, so what’s actually going to fly?
Any response is acceptable…so long as it displays effort and thinking. Engaging in the PROCESS of learning is more important than any finished product here. Is there something you’re struggling with? Something you don’t understand? Work through it in the response journal.
Okay, I am totally nervous about this response journal thing now.
Try not to be. I can’t stress this enough—you are not being evaluated on how “good” your response journal is, only the depth of the connection you form with it. Have fun, be honest, ask questions. You’ll be fine.
GRADING POLICIES
Paper 1 (due 9/26)= 20%
Paper 2 (due 10/31)= 25%
Final Exam = 15%
Response Journal = 25%
Class Participation/Attendance = 15%
• A work is excellent. It notably exceeds minimum expectations. It is original, thoughtful, and well–developed.
• B work is good. It exceeds minimum expectations. It is thoughtful but not particularly nuanced. It is organized logically and has few errors.
• C work is average. It meets minimum expectations. It offers some insight, is reasonably clear, but lacks the overall consistency and depth of B-level work.
• D work does not meet most expectations, but it is developed enough to earn some credit. It may have noticeable organizational problems or offer little more than summary.
• F work is either so incomplete that it does not deserve full credit, or it does not resemble the particular assignment. Errors may be so distracting that they detract from content.
Papers:
Late papers/assignments will be marked down a half-grade for each day that they are late. If you would like an extension on a paper due to legitimate extenuating circumstances, I am open to that, but you must let me know at least 24 hours before the deadline.
Response Journal:
I will collect your response journal three times over the course of the semester. You will receive full credit for all complete entries, and zero credit for any missing entries. Credits will be added up at the end of the semester and averaged into your final grade. I will give you a heads-up of how you are doing mid-way through the semester. Everyone should aim to get the full 25% here; all you have to do is make sure to engage & put something thoughtful down every time you sit down to read.
Class Participation/Attendance:
While it is true that not everyone likes to speak in class, you must be actively engaged with classroom discussion. If you are not speaking, you should be actively listening, taking notes, etc. If you are speaking, you should be contributing thoughtfully and constructively, as well as trying to include others in the discussion.
Showing up to class is extraordinarily important. We are building a community of learners, which takes everyone getting to know each other, and a good deal of consistency from week to week. If you do not show up consistently to class, you will receive a zero for your participation/attendance grade, and it will most likely endanger your chances of passing the class.
THE FINE PRINT
1. Plagiarism: DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. At all. Period. Please read the guidelines carefully, and ask me any questions, if you are worried about a specific paper, before you hand it in. (Remember, I grant extensions if you come to me at least 24 hours before a deadline. Come talk to me!) If you plagiarize on an assignment, you will receive a zero for that assignment. It also means that you and I must have a painfully embarrassing and awkward conversation, and afterwards, I have to do lots of paperwork that labels you as a “problem” student for the rest of your college career. Plagiarism guidelines can be found here: http://www.english.uiowa.edu/gel/resources/PlagiarismPolicy.pdf
2. Additional Contacts: 1) General Education Literature Director: Brooks Landon, brooks-landon@uiowa.edu, 376 EPB, 335-0641, HOME: 338-8233 2) General Education Literature Program Associates office phone: 335-0484, 64 EPB
3. Grade concerns and complaints: Arrange a time to talk with me in person, during my office hours (i.e not by email). From the university: “Students should always first bring such concerns to their instructor. If no satisfactory resolution is gained from discussing the problem with the instructor, students should contact one of the following Program Associates in 64 EPB responsible for grade complaints: Victoria Sprow, Carolyn Hall, LeDon Sweeney.”
4. Students with special needs: Please come and speak to me during my office hours if you have a disability that may require seating modifications, testing accommodations, or accommodations of other class requirements, so that appropriate arrangements may be made. It is the responsibility of students with disabilities to register with the Office of Student Disability Services (3101 Burge Hall, 335-1462) and to present a Student Academic Accommodation Request (the SAAR form) to the instructor when discussing specific requests for accommodation. See the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences requirements at http://www.clas.uiowa.edu/faculty/teaching/classroom_p&p/disabilities.shtml
5. Controlling policies for students from other colleges: This course is given by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This means that class policies on matters such as requirements, grading, and sanctions for academic dishonesty are governed by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Students wishing to add or drop this course after the official deadline must receive the approval of the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Details of the University policy of cross enrollments may be found at http://www.uiowa.edu/~provost/deos/crossenroll.doc
6. Sexual Harassment: Sexual harassment is reprehensible and will not be tolerated by the University. It subverts the mission of the University and threatens the well-being of students, faculty, and staff. Visit the sexual harassment awareness site at http://www.sexualharassment.uiowa.edu/ for definitions, assistance, and the full University policy.
7. Tornado: The University of Iowa Operations Manual section 16.14 outlines appropriate responses to a tornado or to a similar crisis. If a tornado or other severe weather is indicated by the UI outdoor warning system, members of the class should seek shelter in rooms and corridors in the innermost part of a building at the lowest level, staying clear of windows, corridors with windows, or large free-standing expanses such as auditoriums and cafeterias. The class will resume, if possible, after the UI outdoor warning system announces that the severe weather threat has ended.
8. Writing Center: The Writing Center is an important resource that can help many students. For more information about the hours and offerings of the Writing Center go to its website at http://www.uiowa.edu/~writingc/
SYLLABUS
Subject to change. Note: Readings & assignments listed on a date should be completed by the beginning of class on that date. Page numbers refer to Literature: A Portable Anthology unless otherwise noted.
Unit One: Laying the Frameworks
WEEK 1: Introductions
8/25: Introductions. Course Themes. Goals.
8/27: Buy a reading journal and bring it to class. Response Journal: Timeline of “Reading” Preferences. Share reading timelines.
8/29: Share reading timelines (cont.)
WEEK 2: Laying the Frameworks: Reader, Text, World
9/1: No class (holiday)
9/3: In class: Practicing reader/text/world in analysis. Sherman Alexie, Postcards to Columbus (p. 714), Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses (p. 675)
Response Journal: bring in at least three thoughtful questions about the text.
9/5: Reader/text/world cont. Response journal: practice text/world analysis. One paragraph.
WEEK 3: Poetry (1): The Romantics
9/8: Wordsworth: Lines (p. 423-427), Preface to Lyrical Ballads (ICON)
9/10: Shelley: Ozymandias, Ode to the West Wind (438-441)
9/12: Whitman: Song of Myself (467-478)
WEEK 4: Poetry (2): “Modern” American Poetry
9/15: Whitman: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (ICON)
9/17: Dickinson: all poems (488-490)
9/19: Whitman and Dickinson (cont.) RESPONSE JOURNALS COLLECTED (1).
WEEK 5 : A play. Writing the first paper.
9/22: Oedipus Rex (719-762). No response journal; work on paper.
9/24: Oedipus (cont.), questions about papers. No reading journal; work on paper.
9/26: PAPER 1 DUE. Receive response journal (1).
Unit Two: Forms of Protest
WEEK 6: Writing War (1): Slaughter-House Five
9/29: Vonnegut, Slaughter-House Five: Chapter 1 (p. 1-22).
10/1: Chapters 2-3 (p. 23-71)
10/3: Chapter 4 (p. 72-86)
WEEK 7: Writing War (2): Slaughter-House Five (cont.)
10/6: Chapter 5 (p. 87-135)
10/8: Chapters 6-7 (p. 136-161)
10/10: Chapters 8-10 (p. 162-215)
WEEK 8: Poetry (3): American Poetry in the 50’s and 60’s
10/13: Allen Ginsberg (ICON)
10/15: Robert Creeley (ICON)
10/17: Robert Creeley (cont.)
WEEK 9: Writing War (3)
10/20: James Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues (p. 220-247)
10/22: Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried (332-346)
10/24: Yusef Komunyakaa (657-658)
WEEK 10: “Quiet Protest”: Minimalism in Poetry & Music
10/27: Paul Celan (ICON). RESPONSE JOURNALS COLLECTED AT END OF CLASS (2). No response journal, work on paper.
10/29: Inger Christensen (ICON). No response journal, work on paper.
10/31: PAPER 2 DUE. Response journals returned.
Unit Three: (Un)Tying It All Together
(or, Working for Something Else)
WEEK 11: An Election Week Special: Literature and Politics
11/3: In-class discussion on presidential election. Response journal: Use your time outside of class to think about who you’re going to vote for…and to go out and vote!
11/5: In class response journaling and discussion: reflections on the election; what’s ahead.
11/7: TBD
WEEK 12: Autobiography of Red (1)
11/10: Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red: Introductions, Appendices, Chapters I-V (p. 1-36)
11/12: Chapters VI-XXIV (p. 36-75)
11/14: Autobiography of Red discussion, cont.
WEEK 13: Autobiography of Red (2)
11/17: Chapters XXV-XXXII (p. 76-107)
11/19: Chapters XXXIII-XLVII (p. 107-146)
11/21: Autobiography of Red discussion, cont.
WEEK 14: Analyzing Contemporary Popular Media
12/1: TBD
12/3: TBD
12/5: TBD
Week 15: Response Journal Reflections/Exam Prep
12/8: TBD
12/10: TBD
12/12: TBD
Monday, August 11, 2008
Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
Quirky, hypnotic, energetic, and (at times) beautiful....I really like this record. David Longstreth, the principal creative force behind the Projectors, sings, alternating (as is his thing) between warbling vibrattos and careening screeches. This can be, I admit, a bit of an acquired taste, but it's also kind of a cool game: unstable vocal leaps, as they get close to something beautiful, splinter into pieces...then, when they do splinter, they're mutated in turn (by gorgeous vocal accompaniments) into harmonies that seem exponentially more full...as if they could only get there by bursting ugly first. It's great, and what drives everything is the truly inventive rhythm on this album-- weird jangly guitar runs, drumming that alternates subtle and relentless.
In the bits and pieces I've heard of the Dirty Projectors, I've always been drawn in by the wonderful precision of their messiness-- songs that begin to emerge, duck elsewhere, lose themselves, find something (different) again. It can be exhausting listening, but I always find the uneven spits of beauty well worth (and probably caused by) the effort in between.
From the reception of Rise Above, people seem to be relieved at the kinder balance; many of the songs are not only stylistically tight, but downright catchy. The album is conceptually tight, too-- a near-complete remaking of Black Flag's Damaged (1981).There's a shared spirit of resistance here, although Longstreth obviously takes it well into his own direction. What's so interesting about the project is that in contrast to Damaged, Rise Above's urgency comes less from anger than from, I think, creativity. That this urgency might actually be a response, albeit two decades removed, to the same source-- i.e. authority in its dehumanizing forms--is what gives the creative peaks of this album their own, peculiar, power.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Iowa City!
I'm here...and Iowa City is pretty great. Some of my favorite spots so far:
The Workshop starts in 2 weeks!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Look At The Light Of This Hour
Charles Bernstein on Robert Creeley.
Scroll down for the English, and, also, for a pic of Creeley's gravestone...carved by Brooke Roberts (my dad.)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Links
Also from Bedroom Community: the "ambient hardcore" of Ben Frost
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Concerts A Emporter (take-away shows) from La Blogotheque
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Comics by Kate Beaton
Brown Profs, New (heavy.) Books
C.D. Wright has a new book out-- Rising, Falling, Hovering-- and it's very good.
The book consists of a long title piece (which came out in the Chicago Review a couple years ago) and a handful of other shorter poems. The whole thing meanders in the way that her books do-- interspersing the personal (bits of dialogue, anecdote, description) and various mutations of public language (hijacked "press-speak," advertising, dates and numbers). It's a world of shock and despair at continued war, in all its forms...as well as the shards of what it means to be a human found here.
Crying helps
Crying doesn't help
One wants to make oneself smaller than the mouse
under the icebox One wants to dry into invisible ink
One has a sense of something out there that needs saving
and one ought to attach the buckle
to a heavy-gauge wire and pull him through
Wright's work is the best kind of political poetry: an open wound; work that pries open, rather than attempting to shut.
John Edgar Wideman, whose "fact & fiction" class I took at Brown, has a new book out, too. Fanon (Houghton-Mifflin, 2008) is a strange cobbling of, well, fact and fiction-- the culmination of a project on Fanon that Wideman was never able to fully realize. It's a meditation on disappointment-- with a society still failing to address race, and life, in meaningful ways; with one's own self and work-- that eats itself from the inside out, often within a single sentence. I took his class while he was working on this project, and just after I had read, and been absolutely destroyed by, The Wretched of the Earth (during my time off from school).
Wideman begins the book with a quote of Fanon's:
"The imaginary life cannot be isolated from real life, the concrete and the objective world constantly feed, permit, legitimate and found the imaginary. The imaginary consciousness is obviously unreal, but it feeds on the concrete world. The imagination and the imaginary are possible only to the extent that the real world belongs to us."
What makes this book so desperate, to me, is that the authoritative, hopeful note struck by Fanon is such a counterpoint to what follows. Wideman seems to be saying: this is a failed work of fiction insofar as it is a failed work of life. The world doesn't belong to us, yet.
under that big dry socket of god
the camera mounted to capture
ordinary traffic violations
fixes instead on your final face
a single frame of unadulterated
urgency is what you see, urgency it is
The book consists of a long title piece (which came out in the Chicago Review a couple years ago) and a handful of other shorter poems. The whole thing meanders in the way that her books do-- interspersing the personal (bits of dialogue, anecdote, description) and various mutations of public language (hijacked "press-speak," advertising, dates and numbers). It's a world of shock and despair at continued war, in all its forms...as well as the shards of what it means to be a human found here.
Crying helps
Crying doesn't help
One wants to make oneself smaller than the mouse
under the icebox One wants to dry into invisible ink
One has a sense of something out there that needs saving
and one ought to attach the buckle
to a heavy-gauge wire and pull him through
Wright's work is the best kind of political poetry: an open wound; work that pries open, rather than attempting to shut.
***
John Edgar Wideman, whose "fact & fiction" class I took at Brown, has a new book out, too. Fanon (Houghton-Mifflin, 2008) is a strange cobbling of, well, fact and fiction-- the culmination of a project on Fanon that Wideman was never able to fully realize. It's a meditation on disappointment-- with a society still failing to address race, and life, in meaningful ways; with one's own self and work-- that eats itself from the inside out, often within a single sentence. I took his class while he was working on this project, and just after I had read, and been absolutely destroyed by, The Wretched of the Earth (during my time off from school).
Wideman begins the book with a quote of Fanon's:
"The imaginary life cannot be isolated from real life, the concrete and the objective world constantly feed, permit, legitimate and found the imaginary. The imaginary consciousness is obviously unreal, but it feeds on the concrete world. The imagination and the imaginary are possible only to the extent that the real world belongs to us."
What makes this book so desperate, to me, is that the authoritative, hopeful note struck by Fanon is such a counterpoint to what follows. Wideman seems to be saying: this is a failed work of fiction insofar as it is a failed work of life. The world doesn't belong to us, yet.
***
under that big dry socket of god
the camera mounted to capture
ordinary traffic violations
fixes instead on your final face
a single frame of unadulterated
urgency is what you see, urgency it is
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Nico Muhly, "Mothertongue"
I spent much of my final undergraduate semester in the music library, hurriedly downloading entire collections of contemporary classical composers. By the end of my time at Brown, Steve Reich and Meredith Monk had become absolute favorites. I loved how energetic their (very different) minimalisms were, and I loved, particularly, how they found ways to push joy up through other textures in their music.
That each often (or always, in Monk's case) chooses to use the human voice as an instrument for this purpose makes them a good starting point for talking about Nico Muhly’s second album. Mothertongue (2008, Bedroom Community) is a beautiful exploration of the intersection between human voice, found data, and music. I’ve been following Muhly—who studied under Philip Glass at Juilliard, and is somehow only 26 years old—ever since another friend introduced me to his first album, Speak Volumes (also released by Bedroom Community), late this winter during a visit to Iowa City.
Muhly’s first collection of pieces carves out a wonderful variety of terrain. “Honest Music” is a memorably intense piece for solo viola; “It Goes Without Saying,” maybe my favorite piece, has a more patient and meditative but equally rewarding release; “Pillaging Music” dances with playful (or sinister?) Reich-like syncopation. The last piece on Speak Volumes is a “duet” between viola and Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnson’s). Here’s an attempt at a description. Two-and-a-half minutes of solo viola begins, then…some small cooings. Antony’s voice enters the space, immediately enlarging it, then drops out. Strings begin to be tapped. An organ enters. Antony’s voice hangs from edges and drops. Strings, voice, tappings. No organ. When the organ re-enters, strings and voice bend toward it. The organ bends away. Gorgeous harmonies last just long enough to grip you—then lose themselves. Then build. Return.
Towards the end of the piece, Antony’s voice is by turns bird-like, computer, human. It’s pretty astounding, and you have to hear it.
I was happy, then, to hear that Muhly was exploring voice in this second collection. It’s the dominant element in Mothertongue, which features three different vocalists on three separate multi-track sequences. While it’s hard to top Antony, I think Muhly manages to do something moving and different in each of the three sequences he gives us here.
That each often (or always, in Monk's case) chooses to use the human voice as an instrument for this purpose makes them a good starting point for talking about Nico Muhly’s second album. Mothertongue (2008, Bedroom Community) is a beautiful exploration of the intersection between human voice, found data, and music. I’ve been following Muhly—who studied under Philip Glass at Juilliard, and is somehow only 26 years old—ever since another friend introduced me to his first album, Speak Volumes (also released by Bedroom Community), late this winter during a visit to Iowa City.
Muhly’s first collection of pieces carves out a wonderful variety of terrain. “Honest Music” is a memorably intense piece for solo viola; “It Goes Without Saying,” maybe my favorite piece, has a more patient and meditative but equally rewarding release; “Pillaging Music” dances with playful (or sinister?) Reich-like syncopation. The last piece on Speak Volumes is a “duet” between viola and Antony Hegarty (of Antony and the Johnson’s). Here’s an attempt at a description. Two-and-a-half minutes of solo viola begins, then…some small cooings. Antony’s voice enters the space, immediately enlarging it, then drops out. Strings begin to be tapped. An organ enters. Antony’s voice hangs from edges and drops. Strings, voice, tappings. No organ. When the organ re-enters, strings and voice bend toward it. The organ bends away. Gorgeous harmonies last just long enough to grip you—then lose themselves. Then build. Return.
Towards the end of the piece, Antony’s voice is by turns bird-like, computer, human. It’s pretty astounding, and you have to hear it.
I was happy, then, to hear that Muhly was exploring voice in this second collection. It’s the dominant element in Mothertongue, which features three different vocalists on three separate multi-track sequences. While it’s hard to top Antony, I think Muhly manages to do something moving and different in each of the three sequences he gives us here.
The first four tracks comprise “Mothertongue,” the title piece and my favorite of the three. The minimal building blocks of the first track, “Archive”—strings of letters, zip-codes, city-names—sing and chatter together, along with some wandering strings and an occassional spine of bass fuzz. Towards the end, the orchestration becomes more lush, introducing piano and harp textures (and the occasional, obligatory clarinet—someone please tell me why this instrument always sounds so perfect). “Archive” transitions almost unnoticed into “Shower,” in which a single voice (mezzo-soprano Abigail Fischer) ascends over a now foregrounded chatter. You have to listen to this music on headphones. Muhly uses a variety of “non-instrument” sound snippets throughout the album—there’s water dripping & falling here, and a cup of coffee is brewed and poured to open the third track—but they never overwhelm the whole. Recorded noises work so wonderfully inside the snippets of voice, fuzz, and careful orchestration that they’re less noise than…becoming-musics.
What else could we ask from any piece that uses found or recorded sound material? That its instrumentation then take on an eerie, overheard-sound dimension? Oh, we get that too. The fourth track, Monster, is probably the most startling gorgeous of the album. A build-up of xylophone(?), strings, and morse-like fuzz blips occasion a desperate, insistent return of the zip-codes—suddenly, startlingly human. It’s fantastic, powerful stuff.
The other sequences require, I think, a bit more work to access, but if you’re there for the first four tracks of Mothertongue you’re more than willing. The record transitions pleasurably, if jarringly, to the Renaissance-sounding harpsichord and voice (featuring Icelandic artist Helgi Hrafn Jónsson) of “Wonders.” Muhly has a real affinity for older choral music, and his ability to inject this sensibility into the contemporary uncovers a bit of the uncanny in each. It’s what makes these middle tracks work. There’s compositional continuity, too—one voice set against a curtain of voice-blips and chatter, along with deliberate instrumentation (this time, some horns and the aforementioned harpsichord). The sequence apparently explores an actual complaint against a 17th century organist named Thomas Weekes. Go figure. (It always takes me about a billion listens to actually process music lyrics, let alone this kind of thing.)
The combination of archaic source and “new” sound is further charted in “The Only Tune,” which features the voice of Sam Amidon (whose debut album All is Well, also from Bedroom Community, was among my most-listened to albums this winter/spring.). The text here is the story—unleashed a syllable at a time (literally)—of a girl who pushes her sister in the river to drown. Nice. Amidon’s voice is great, but it’s a bit distracting in this context, at least if you’re used to his other work. His folky wail takes up so much space on its own that it can tend to overwhelm Muhly’s careful orchestration. Even if the elements seem to be competing for stretches, the sequence still yields some great moments. The chaos and disintegration of the middle track gives way to Part 3, in which the elements really actually do find their stride aside one another. (This works nicely with the text: suddenly, when you least expect it…redemption. The story tells itself, without disintegrating, comes into its own. It’s all very clever.)
On the whole, Mothertongue is more than clever: it's absorbing, challenging, and moving. It also manages to both more cohesive and more complicated than Speak Volumes…which is saying A LOT. I’ll be listening to it for weeks to come.
What else could we ask from any piece that uses found or recorded sound material? That its instrumentation then take on an eerie, overheard-sound dimension? Oh, we get that too. The fourth track, Monster, is probably the most startling gorgeous of the album. A build-up of xylophone(?), strings, and morse-like fuzz blips occasion a desperate, insistent return of the zip-codes—suddenly, startlingly human. It’s fantastic, powerful stuff.
The other sequences require, I think, a bit more work to access, but if you’re there for the first four tracks of Mothertongue you’re more than willing. The record transitions pleasurably, if jarringly, to the Renaissance-sounding harpsichord and voice (featuring Icelandic artist Helgi Hrafn Jónsson) of “Wonders.” Muhly has a real affinity for older choral music, and his ability to inject this sensibility into the contemporary uncovers a bit of the uncanny in each. It’s what makes these middle tracks work. There’s compositional continuity, too—one voice set against a curtain of voice-blips and chatter, along with deliberate instrumentation (this time, some horns and the aforementioned harpsichord). The sequence apparently explores an actual complaint against a 17th century organist named Thomas Weekes. Go figure. (It always takes me about a billion listens to actually process music lyrics, let alone this kind of thing.)
The combination of archaic source and “new” sound is further charted in “The Only Tune,” which features the voice of Sam Amidon (whose debut album All is Well, also from Bedroom Community, was among my most-listened to albums this winter/spring.). The text here is the story—unleashed a syllable at a time (literally)—of a girl who pushes her sister in the river to drown. Nice. Amidon’s voice is great, but it’s a bit distracting in this context, at least if you’re used to his other work. His folky wail takes up so much space on its own that it can tend to overwhelm Muhly’s careful orchestration. Even if the elements seem to be competing for stretches, the sequence still yields some great moments. The chaos and disintegration of the middle track gives way to Part 3, in which the elements really actually do find their stride aside one another. (This works nicely with the text: suddenly, when you least expect it…redemption. The story tells itself, without disintegrating, comes into its own. It’s all very clever.)
On the whole, Mothertongue is more than clever: it's absorbing, challenging, and moving. It also manages to both more cohesive and more complicated than Speak Volumes…which is saying A LOT. I’ll be listening to it for weeks to come.
Sound Projects
I've gone and created a YouTube channel for a couple sound projects I created back in college.
The first, Anger, is Robert Creeley reading the poem of the same name + instrumental sections from The Downward Spiral.
The first, Anger, is Robert Creeley reading the poem of the same name + instrumental sections from The Downward Spiral.
The second, It (for 66 Voices), is a layering of 66 different people reading overlapping sections of Inger Christensen's book-length poem It. The piece breaks down as follows:
Section I: a 66 line stanza read by 66 voices
Section II: two 33 line stanzas read by 33 voices each
Section III: three 22 line stanzas read by 22 voices each
Section IV: six 11 line stanzas read by 11 voices each
Section V: eleven 6 lines stanzas read by 6 voices each
Section VI: twenty-two 3 line stanzas read by 3 voices each
Section VII: thirty-three couplets read by 2 voices each
Section VIII: sixty-six single lines read by a single voice each
It turned out to be a pretty amazing project.
You can also find It posted on Pinko's Copies.
Section I: a 66 line stanza read by 66 voices
Section II: two 33 line stanzas read by 33 voices each
Section III: three 22 line stanzas read by 22 voices each
Section IV: six 11 line stanzas read by 11 voices each
Section V: eleven 6 lines stanzas read by 6 voices each
Section VI: twenty-two 3 line stanzas read by 3 voices each
Section VII: thirty-three couplets read by 2 voices each
Section VIII: sixty-six single lines read by a single voice each
It turned out to be a pretty amazing project.
You can also find It posted on Pinko's Copies.
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