Lit Instructor

A Sure Thing?

2009-05-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

A Utube version of Sure Thing is available for viewing by clicking on the title of the play or the title of this post. Thanks to Valerie! I'd welcome critical comments about this performance on your blogs concerning acting, direction, costumes, set, etc.

You Are Invited!

2009-05-01T12:16:00.001-07:00

In honor of Confluence Press Founder Keith Browning’s 82nd Birthday. . .
LCSC Visiting Writers Series
Presents
Montana poet,
songwriter,
political satirist,
Latter Day worm
fisherman,
&
post-western
blues troubadour
GREG KEELER
READING FROM HIS NEW MEMOIR
And
performing some crazy and often politically incorrect songs. .
Thursday, May 7th 7:00 pm
Sage Bakery
1303 Main Street Lewiston
Free & Open
To the
Public

Fiction Assignment

2009-04-14T08:02:00.000-07:00

Choose a particular short story from our text and study each of its elements—character, point of view, setting, symbols, themes, tone, and style. Then take a series of photographs with a digital camera that illustrates each element. Transfer the photos to a computer and edit the photographs and choose only the best shots for a particular purpose. Using direct quotations from the story, caption and title each photograph. Then write a personal essay that describes your experience with sensory detail and explains your choices. Create a new blog devoted exclusively to this assignment and post your essay and your captioned photos on the new blog. Create a link to your new blog on your class blog and station the link inside a new post.

An Open Letter to 150 Students

2009-04-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Simon Tucker with Kokanee 2009

Dear Students:

Please keep an active log of your fiction reading during this period of our semester, especially on your blog. Although I am generally very pleased to be able to award most of you the full twenty points possible for poetry, the hardcover copies of your papers were often less than professional in appearance and content. Please prepare your fiction papers using MLA style and format. Perhaps just as importantly, I'll be judging your next written work partly on style. Using "u" instead of "you," for instance, sloppy grammar, usage, mechanics, poor critical thinking, haste, poor organization, lack of supporting evidence and examples will all detract significantly from your grade next time.

On the other hand, several of your papers were fine, and I very much appreciated the analytical and personal comments about our class that many of you made concerning our experiences in poetry so far this semester. Almost of all of you apparently enjoyed Simon Tucker's Blues Workshop. Consequently, I have purchased three tickets for the "winning" group of the "A & P" (Updike) assignment to attend Simon's forthcoming solo concert at 8:00 p.m. in the Silverthorne Theater on 16 April. Tickets are $5.00 in advance and $7.00 at the door (or free if the class votes your group the best on the assignment).

Speaking of performances, you might want to mark your calendars as well for two other dates:
Fiction writer, singer and song writer, poet and essayist, Greg Keeler will perform in Lewiston on 7 May. He called this morning, however, to cancel his appearance in our class. Greg's Lewiston performance will be free of charge. You can click on the link to his web site by clicking on Greg's name in this sentence. He called me just now and asked me to give you all his greetings. His new book is a kind of non-fiction memoir called Trash Fish.

The first and current Poet Laureate of Washington State, Sam Green, and I will be reading at the Asotin County Library in Clarkston soon to celebrate National Poetry Month. I've forgotten the date. Maybe next weekend or (yikes!) maybe this coming one. Of course, you're invited. Saturday 11 April 7:00 p.m. Free.

There is no extra credit available, however, for your attendance at any of these events. Your attendance is desired and welcomed but neither required nor coerced.

By the way, author John Daniel had to cancel his classroom visit. He's at home nursing his wife, Marilyn, back to health after recovering his own.

Trevor and I also invite you to the LCMYK fundraiser. Click on the link for more details.

Assignment in Point of View

2009-03-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

Retell Updike's story, "A and P," from the PointOfView of one of the following characters:

Queenie
Stoksie
One of Sammy's parents or siblings
Plaid
Lengel
A customer
Big Tall Goony-Goony

Make sure your original story has a clear beginning, middle, and end; a conflict, crisis, and climax; and a supermarket setting. Be sure to employ at least some foreshadowing and include a backstory. You may change the setting to a store in the contemporary western United States.
Be sure readers of Updike's story can identify your character without a name. On second thought, let's keep the same time period as the original story. Write from the first person point of view in the voice of the character. Your story, keep in mind, needs to stand on its own as its own story. If successful, your story will appear as one chapter in a work of fiction that includes the original Updike story alongside the stories of other characters listed above.

Please

2009-03-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

Please post at least some of the writing we do in class on your blog. Thanks.

Win A Full Scholarship to the Jackson Hole Writers Conference

2009-03-11T17:01:00.001-07:00

As part of our introduction to literature course, you may want to investigate the link to this post and enter the contest. As a former faculty member at the conference, I can highly recommend the experience to student writers and emerging writers who are serious about their work as well as to serious readers who would like to know more about what goes on "behind the scenes" of contemporary writing in the United States.

Historic Jackson Hole, of course, is a nearly ideal setting for a writers conference. The conference's director, Tim Sandlin, is himself a fine American writer. Here's what he has to say about himself on his website.

I wrote five novels about my problems and then I ran out of problems so I wrote movies because you don't have to have problems to write movies. After a few years of that I developed all new problems so I went back to novels and that's where I am now. If you want the bio stuff, keep reading. If you don't, stop here. I suggest you go to bed, or read a book. Make yourself useful.

"He was born in Oklahoma and his mother's name was Thelma Liz." That's a Ray Wylie Hubbard song but I lived it. I spent my summer rite-of-passage years in Wyoming. I worked over 40 entry-level jobs including driving an ice cream truck, skinning elk, cooking in a Chinese restaurant, trail inventory for the Forest Service, gardener for the Rockefellers, pizza parlor manager, belt buckle buffer, and countless dishwashing jobs. Throughout this period I lived most of the year on public lands, first in a tent and later in a Cheyenne tipi. The more mind-numbing jobs have helped me to hone my creative skills, but all of these experiences have helped me to learn to appreciate life and its inherent follies.

I have published eight novels and a book of columns. I wrote eleven screenplays for hire; two have been made into movies. I turned forty with no phone, TV, or flush toilet and spent more time talking to the characters in my head than the people around me. Now have seven phone lines, four TVs I don't watch, three flush toilets, and a two-headed shower. My wife and I recently adopted a little girl from China. I'm now living happily (indoors) with my family (wife, Carol; son, Kyle; daughter, Leila) in Jackson, Wyoming.

Service Video

2009-02-27T08:49:00.000-08:00

With this post, I'm hoping to provide you with a link to a service video I recently received in an email. To view it, click on the title to this post or on the link here below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42E2fAWM6rA

The post itself is an example of a poem that can be read both forward and backward with surprising results.

Thank You

2009-02-12T21:46:00.000-08:00

I want to thank everyone from whom I received a valentine today. I haven't had time to read them all, but I will soon create the time. Meanwhile, I hope you will use your valentine haikus, short-stories, and poems to enrich the lives of your friends, families, and lovers, but I also hope you will use them to reach out to at least one of your adversaries. A teacher once instructed his few students as follows:

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

Surely even pagans like me who celebrate St. Valentine's Day must recognize and acknowledge the profound worth of such a radical and mostly ignored and seldom realized turn of thought in this neglected passage, which is arguably at the very center and fiery core of all of Christ's teachings.

I've read that one of the various St. Valentine's had been condemned to death by a Roman emperor, but that Valentine somehow performed a miracle by curing his jailer's daughter of blindness on the eve of his death.

Well, it's getting late here, too, at Casa Hepworth. Time for bed. Happy Valentine's Day to all of you.

Announcement

2009-02-03T08:06:00.000-08:00

I will not be in class today, Tuesday 3 February.

Consequently, please use the time today to meet in your groups and rehearse your Emily Dickinson poem. Be ready to perform the poem as a group on Thursday. I'll post the performance criteria on the blog if I get the chance, but meanwhile, please consult the handout I gave each of your groups or visit the poetry outloud website.

Please do take the Poetry Outloud virtual field trip and view some of the high school performances.

Remember that we'll each be doing our own podcast or video of an individual poem.

And keep blogging! We now have thirty-one bloggers and "followers." I expect a minimum of two posts per week.

John Daniel Surprise Visit

2009-01-29T06:54:00.000-08:00

Our friend, John Daniel, a poet, essayist, and novelist-to-be will make at least one surprise visit to our classroom this semester from Oregon. John murdered a dry doe in Montana last Thanksgiving with a single shot from a borrowed rifle, and we may serve some of it to you for breakfast when he comes. Meanwhile, you may feel free to order and read his new book. If you do, be sure to bring it to class with you for him to sign. Anyone may, of course, may check out his previous books from the library. If you read his first book of poetry, however, you are eligible for five extra points in poetry. Please let me know if this option interests you, and I will provide you with a book: that is, with this option, you receive a free copy of John's book of poems on the condition that you read it and answer a few questions. You may then keep the book and have John sign it. To view John's website, click on the title for this post.

Check Out One Response to President Obama's Inaugural

2009-01-25T16:26:00.000-08:00

It's difficult to know what you have written on your blogs unless you become a follower to this one as several of you have done. As you'll see by clicking on the title of this post, however, critic Stanley Fish has written a fine piece, and so have plenty of others. If nothing else, you can add to your blog by answering some or all of the questions I've posted for you in a previous post. I hope you commence blogging soon if you haven't already, and I look forward to seeing you in class this week with Dickinson poems committed to mind and ready to unfold.

Of course, if you prefer to write about the inaugural poem rather than the inaugural address, that would be welcome, too, but you do need to add your voice to the chorus that continues to sing all around us...and to commit yourself to a new age.

Bull Elk In Yellowstone by Mary Ann Waters

2009-01-23T15:44:00.001-08:00

This is a poem by Mary Ann Waters

Study Questions for President Obama's Address

2009-01-22T05:48:00.000-08:00

At what points in our history has the oath of office been spoken during

rising tides of prosperity?
still waters of peace?
gathering clouds?
raging storms?

President Obama says our nation is at war, our economy in crisis, as "a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also [as a consequence] of our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age." Which hard choices? Whose failure? What is this "new age"? How is it "new"? Where is this New World?

President Obama refers to "jobs shed" and "homes" that have been lost: how many jobs and homes? When?

He writes that "our schools fail too many," but doesn't he mean "teachers fail too many"? What is he talking about? How can "schools fail" people? Is your school failing you? No? Yes? Maybe?

He writes that we suffer from a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and of fears that the next generation must lower its sights. Aren't declines inevitable for every civilization? How long do civilizations tend to last? Who is the "next generation"?

He says that our serious challenges "will not be met easily or in a short span of time"? What constitutes "a short span of time"?

He says that "recriminations and worn out dogmas" have "too long" "strangled our politics." Which dogmas? What are dogmas?

He says that we must "reaffirm our enduring spirit" and "choose our better history." How can anyone "choose" history?

He writes that "greatness is never a given. It must earned." He says that "our journey has never been" . . . the path for those "who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame."

Doesn't everyone prefer leisure over work?
Aren't we supposed to seek the pleasure of riches and fame? Isn't that really what America is all about and has been about?

Who fought and died

at Concord?
Gettysburg?
Normandy?
Khe Sahn?

President Obama writes that "our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions" has "surely passed" and that we must "begin again the work of remaking America"?

Whose narrow interests have been protected?
What are these unpleasant decisions that "we" must make?
Who is this "we"?
How is this "we" to accomplish the remaking?

When he writes that we "will restore science to its rightful place and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality. . . and transform our schools and colleges to meet the demands of a new age," can he be serious?

To what specific things does he allude in his reference to science?
How are schools failing to meet the demands of a new age?
Which demands? How failing?

He says that those who question the scale of "our ambitions" have "forgotten what this country has already done"? To what specific things is he referring? How do you know?

He writes, "a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous." Does our nation favor the prosperous over the poor or the less fortunate or the middle class?

Is America "a friend of each nation"? Have we been? Why should we be? Why us more than other nations?

What specific acts does President Obama refer to when he writes that "our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please." What is entitlement?

We are ready to lead once more? Haven't we been leading? When did we quit?

What does President Obama refer to when he mentions giving up our ideals for "expedience's sake"?

How can power issue from restraint?

Isn't President Obama exagerating when he refers to us as a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus—and non-believers? Are we really—and shouldn't we be—a Christian nation?

Have American polictical leaders attempted to silence "dissent"? Which ones? How? And why shouldn't they attempt to silence dissent?

Who are these people that President Obama says have been "indifferent" and who, he says, we can longer "afford"?

What is the "spirit of service"? How is it born? Who has it? How can we know?How do we acquire it?

How have you served the nation during the last eight years? What have you done with courage and conviction for others? What will you do now?

Upon whom is President Obama calling? Who do you think must answer? How? If not now, when?

Winter Fishtrap: February 20-22 Wallowa Lake

2009-01-22T05:37:00.000-08:00

Re-Imagining the Wild is the theme for this winter's Fishtrap. The assumption here is that the "wild" is as much a place in our minds as it is a place "out there." And wilderness, Roderick Nash points out, is a uniquely American state of mind, constantly changing. But in an era when 68% of adults say that a microwave is something they can't live without, is wildness as endangered in our minds as we believe it is out there. Or are our notions of what is wild simply changing? Have we moved beyond an outdated view of the world as "natural ecosystems with humans disturbing them?" If, as Kathleen Dean Moore says, human lives depend on being able to respond to the natural world, what does "nature deficit disorder" portend for our future? A cultural obsession with the language of economics and "managment units" has taken the wild out of the wilderness, but Jack enoucrages us to move beyond the abstract wild and "dig in someplace."

Dig in with us and explore these ideas: one scholarship still available.

Elizabeth Alexander's Inaugural Poem

2009-01-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

Text of the inaugural poem

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

The following is a transcript of the inaugural poem recited by Elizabeth Alexander, as provided by CQ transcriptions.

Praise song for the day.

Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each others' eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.

A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, "Take out your pencils. Begin."

We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of someone and then others who said, "I need to see what's on the other side; I know there's something better down the road."

We need to find a place where we are safe; We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain, that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle; praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign; The figuring it out at kitchen tables.

Some live by "Love thy neighbor as thy self."

Others by first do no harm, or take no more than you need.

What if the mightiest word is love, love beyond marital, filial, national. Love that casts a widening pool of light. Love with no need to preempt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, anything can be made, any sentence begun.

On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp -- praise song for walking forward in that light.

Here It Is: Read It and Be the Cange You Want to See in Our World

2009-01-20T17:02:00.000-08:00

FULL TRANSCRIPT: President Barack Obama's Inaugural Address

President Barack Obama Delivers Inaugural Address at US Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Jan. 20, 2009

Full transcript as prepared for delivery of President Barack Obama's inaugural remarks on Jan. 20, 2009, at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.

My fellow citizens:

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land - a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many.

They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America - they will be met. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn. Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions - that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act - not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort - even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.

To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us today, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages.

We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends - hard work and honesty, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism - these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed - why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive...that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Class Syllabus: Buy Into It Today and Print One Out

2009-01-14T17:17:00.000-08:00

English 150 Introduction to Literature Spring 2009
9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Library Techno-Classroom
Dr. James R. Hepworth, 309 Spalding Hall
Office Hours: 12:00-1:30 p.m MW 10:30-12:00 TTh and by Appointment
Email: hepworth@lcsc.edu Telephone: 792-2385

Required Text and Materials

Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. X.J. Kennedy and Dana
Gioia. Portable Edition 10E. New York: Pearson Longman, 2005.

• A plain file folder with your last name followed by your first name on the flap.
Prerequisite/Co-requisite: English 101

Course Description and Course Outcomes

We read, critic Harold Bloom says, to strengthen ourselves and to learn of our
own authentic interests. With that in mind English 150 introduces students to reading and
understanding literature as a method of thinking critically about historical and
contemporary aspects of the human condition and about themselves and their cultures.
We will attempt to strike a balance between an in-depth study of selected works and a general introductory survey of fiction, poetry, and drama.

We will all work to improve our critical thinking skills by reading and discussing
assignments. We will also practice analytical and imaginative writing and take advantage
of special events. By the end of the semester I hope you will have increased your
enjoyment and confidence as a reader of literature and your knowledge of literary
terminology and techniques. You should also come away from our class having clarified
cultural and individual values and better knowing how the arts affect cultures. And
finally, our work should help us to identify and to better understand social institutions
and the roles people play within those institutions.

Grading
One Exam (20 points):
Fiction Project (20 points),
Poetry Project (20 points),
Drama Project (20 points)
Blog (20 points)

A Word about Blogs
Please use your web log (blog) to record your reactions to the reading assignments. Write whatever else you like, but try your best to answer the questions at the ends of textbook reading assignments. I might only look at your blog once or twice, but I expect you to post your thoughts there at least once a week and to share your blog address with your team mates and to read and comment on their work. From time to time, I may give mandatory assignments for posting. Otherwise, students are on their own.

The Course Website

I also expect students to benefit from the various resources on our course website, including short video lectures and the diagnostic exam, which every student is required to take. Please submit your grades to me through Grade Tracker once you join the class online. Here again, however, I expect students to use the resource independently of formal assignments to supplement their reading and writing experiences.

Extra Credit: I expect all students who complete the reading and writing assignments to do well in our class, but I will also make extra credit available to everyone. These will often be assignments in research, reading, and writing, but they might also include field trips, podcasts, film and drama reviews, and photography.

Course Policies
Attendance and Participation. Students who miss a single class will suffer no reduction
in grade. For each successive unexcused absence, however, I reserve the right to substantially reduce the student’s final grade by half a step (B to B-). Five absences will result in an F for the semester. If you arrive late for class or leave early or if it is obvious that you are unprepared for class (e.g. you’re missing homework assignments or you obviously haven’t read the assignment) I might count you absent. Homework assignments are due at the beginning of class. Two tardies count as one absence.

Plagiarism (or any form of cheating) will result in an automatic F for the semester.

Formatting for Assignments: With the exception of assignments written in class, all
work must be formatted in MLA style and keyboarded using a word processing program.
Print assignments the night before they are due to circumvent printing problems. Always
print two copies and keep one on file in case your first copy is lost or stolen.

Late Assignment Policy: All written assignments are due at the beginning of class. I will
deduct two letter grades for late assignments and accept no assignments after the first
class period past the deadline (e.g. if an assignment is due on Tuesday, I will not accept it
after Thursday). I will not accept late assignments placed under my office door.

Special Needs: If you have a physical disability or a learning disability, be sure you have
registered with Disability Services (RCH 111) to verify the disability and to determine
suitable academic accommodations. Then during the first week of class, make an
appointment to meet with me in my office to make arrangements specific to this class.
Later notification may result in the requested accommodations being unavailable.

Email: I generally check my Email once a day, usually early in the morning. Please limit your
emails to three well-written sentences. College policy requires that faculty members
communicate with students by Email exclusively through WarriorMail. I will not respond
to students who use their personal Email accounts. Please use Email reasonably and
efficiently. Please do not, for example, Email me after missing a class and expect me to
“tell” you what you “missed,” and please do not submit an assignment or an essay by
email as an attachment. I will accept only hard copies of written assignments. Email me
exclusively at hepworth@lcsc.edu and only at that address.

Incompletes: I will grant you a grade of Incomplete at the end of the semester if (1) you
have completed 80% of the work and (2) if you have a documented medical or family
emergency that occurs in the last few weeks of class.

Poet-in-Residence William Johnson to Visit

2008-02-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

Lewis-Clark State College poet-in-residence, William Johnson, will visit class on Tuesday, March 11, at 9:00 a.m. in the TCC Room in the Library. Visitors are welcome.

Johnson, a former Idaho State Writer-in-Residence, is a widely published poet. Two of his poems are featured in the current (February) issue of Poetry Magazine, the oldest continually published magazine devoted exclusively to poetry in the United States.

Johnson has taught at the college since 1981 and will retire at the end of this academic year to devote full time to writing. He also writes and publishes essays.

Johnson, who also writes nonfiction, has published two books: What Thoreau Said: 'Walden' and the Unsayable (University of Idaho Press, 1991) and Out of the Ruins (Confluence Press, 2000), a collection of poems.

Johnson is pictured with Greg Keeler below on this page in a photograph taken in 2004 when he and Keeler both visited Dr. Hepworth's Intro class on separate occasions.

Exercise in Metaphor and Simile

2008-02-27T08:02:00.000-08:00

You fit into me

You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

a fish hook
an open eye

Write a series of ten short poems based on the model above by Margaret Atwood (1971). Borrow the strategy and form of the poem: in stanza one: present an initial image, a metaphor or a simile; stanza two: make a turn that both undercuts and clarifies the first image. Number each of the ten poems.

Here's one off-the-cuff example I used in an older post:

1.
A pen can send a bullet
to the brain

a stray bullet
an idle brain

As I mentioned in class, I'm hoping to publish the best of your work in a class anthology. Keep in mind as you create your own four-line poems that any two things can be compared, although obviously some things make better comparisons than others, and that comparison is the weakest form of logic. In drafting your poems, however, lower your standards. To get started, take anything that occurs to you and keep writing. Better to write too much and then cut. Nobody needs to see your drafts but you. We will, however, be sharing finished drafts in class and perhaps giving away prizes for those poems we collectively judge to be the best work.

Peter Chilson Reads and Lectures at LCSC

2008-02-26T11:36:00.000-08:00

American expatriate writer Peter Chilson read from his award-winning collection of stories, Disturbance Loving Species, to a room of Lewis-Clark State College students on Valentine's Day. He read from his story, "Toumani Ogun," answered questions, and visited informally informally with students. Dr. Hepworth, the instructor for English 150, video-taped Chilson's visit. The class hopes to produce a forty-minute DVD of Chilson's visit. Anyone interested in assisting with this project should contact Dr. Hepworth in person. Chilson is pictured in the middle in this photograph, sandwiched between two very happy students: Dennis Bortz (L) and Brittney Wolkoff (R).

Peter Chilson to Be Our Valentine

2008-01-22T11:35:00.000-08:00

Author Peter Chilson will visit our class on 14 February to read from and talk about short stories from his prize-winning collection, Disturbance Loving Species. He is also willing to autograph books. Please make sure you have read at least one of the two stories I'll be handing out in class and to prepare your questions ahead of time. You can click on his name to visit his website.

Photos from the World Premiere's of "A Fable" and "Reading the Paper"

2007-12-11T22:07:00.000-08:00

Left: Scene from "Reading the Paper" Starring Jake "The Stalker" Lake, Lonny Gehring, Sara Hasenoehrl (not pictured by request), and scripted by Constance Vance (adapted from the short story by Ron Carlson); Right, Kemo Scott proposes to Shauna Wilcoxon on the subway while "Mother" ('yo mama') Daemon Hayes looks on in "A Fable" adapted from the short of the same title by Robert Fox, Kyle Maughan Technical Director.

End of the Semester Get Together

2007-12-10T17:00:00.000-08:00

All students in English 150 are invited and encouraged to attend an end-of-the-semester celebration:

When: Wednesday 12 December from 5:00 p.m. to. . . whenever.

Where: The Garden Room: Macullen's Restaurant 1516 Main Street in Lewiston (across from Bruneil Tires).

What: free food, music, and non-alcoholic beverages.

Who: feel to bring a friend or two. (No fraternities, please. Sororities welcome.)

Uh-Oh! Here Comes Christmas

2007-11-29T09:39:00.000-08:00

Opening: 29 November 7:30 p.m. Silverthorne

Matinee: 2 December at 2:00 p.m. Silverthorne

Runs

1 December (Sat)

6 December

7 December

8 December

Class Curtain Schedule

2007-11-29T09:30:00.000-08:00

December 11 Tuesday 9:00 a.m.

"A Fable"

December 13 Thursday

"English Made Simple," "Mother, A Mid Summer Night's Dream"

December 18 Thursday

"Sure Thing, A Fable"

Extra Credit Opportunity

2007-11-08T07:44:00.001-08:00

Friday 16 November 7, 2007

Author Gregg Olson will make a presentation from his non-fiction novel The Deep Dark

At 7:00 p.m. in The Lewiston Community Center

No Charge.

Found Poem

2007-11-01T08:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Sherly

This is a letter for you
explaining our apologies for the Last
couple problems with the dogs. We
are in the prosses of training
them to want to remain in the
bockyard. Also we will getting the
fence nailed up to minimise their
escape routes. Also we apologies for
the tresh we had built up in the back
alley. We will reman to keep thot
clean and enough room for fire trucks.

Thank You

Sincerely

Brur Ward

Hur Mine

Assignment in Metaphor and Simile

2007-11-01T07:57:00.000-07:00

You fit into me

You fit into me
like a hook into an eye

a fish hook
an open eye

Write a series of five short poems based on the model above by Margaret Atwood (1971). Borrow the strategy and form of the poem: in stanza one: present an initial image, a metaphor or a simile; stanza two: make a turn that both undercuts and clarifies the first image. Number each of the five poems.

Here's one off-the-cuff example:

1.
A pen can send a bullet
to the brain

a stray bullet
an idle brain

Annual Wallace Stegner Lecture

2007-09-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Rick Bass, short story writer, essayist, novelist, and environmental activist will deliver the 2007-2008 Wallace Stegner Lecture at Lewis-Clark State College at 7:30 p.m. on September 26, 2007 in the Williams Conference Center on campus.

The lecture is free and open to the public. A question and answer session will follow the lecture prior to the reception.

Students who wish to earn extra credit may document their attendance at the lecture through photography and blogging.

Partial Scholarships

2007-09-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Three of four partial scholarships are still available to exclusively to LCSC undergraduate students who wish to attend the Children's Writing Workshop with Debra Fraser and Ed Edmo later this month. (See the post below for August 21.)

If you (or someone you know) are interested in attending the workshop, please see Professor Hepworth in person.

You're Invited

2007-09-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

What: To an evening of live music, hors d'oeuvres, great wine, and fine art by Professor Ray Esparsen.

When: Sunday, September 23rd, 2007 from 4:00 p.m. until . . . .

Where: 326 Main St. Apt. #4 in Lewiston

Donations accepted.

First Assignment in The Oral Tradition

2007-08-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

Read all of chapter one "Reading a story" in "Part 1: Fiction" (hereafter referred to as Kennedy) and answer (in writing) the questions after each story.

Use your access code (which came packaged with your book) to register for MyLiteratureLab. Take diagnostic #1 and submit your grade through Grade Tracker.

Go online to www.blogspot.com and create your own blog. Be sure to give your blog a name your teammates can remember. If possible, give it a version of your own name.

Create a team blog.

Extra Credit: Find and read N. Scott Momaday's The Way to Rainy Mountain.

Children's Writers Workshop

2007-08-21T12:19:00.000-07:00

Children's book author Debra Frasier is returning to the Northwest. You may join her, storyteller Ed Edmo, and the Fishtrap staff for the annual Children's Writers Workshop September 21-23 at the Coffin House in Joseph. This is a first come affair, and we have 25 slots. You can go to the web site-- www.fishtrap.org --- and click on Children's Writing Workshop for more information. You can register on-line, or print a form, write a check and send it in, or call.

Stories for Children in Words and Pictures

Bring a story with you– or create one while you are here! This workshop will be about developing stories for children in words and pictures. Workshop leaders are author and illustrator Debra Frasier, and poet and storyteller Ed Edmo.

The workshop will begin with dinner on Friday, September 21 at the Fishtrap House in Enterprise, Oregon, and run through brunch on Sunday morning, September 23. There will be stories, demonstrations, talks on story and book building, and hands on time with both artists. You are welcome but not required to bring books and stories you are working on. Enrollment is limited to 25, and is on a first come, first served basis.

The cost for the workshop is $165, which includes Friday dinner, Saturday lunch, and Sunday brunch. Rooms are available at the nearby Ponderosa Motel for $60 per night for a single with the Fishtrap discount. There are other motels and bed and breakfasts in Enterprise and nearby Joseph, and campsites at Wallowa Lake. For more information on lodging–and on other Wallowa County activities--go to the Chamber web site at www.wallowacountychamber.com.

Presenters:
Debra Frasier is one of the outstanding writers and illustrators of children’s books in the country. Her first book, On the Day You Were Born, became an instant classic, and has welcomed hundreds of thousands of newborns into the world. We know Debra at Fishtrap because she illustrated a Bill Stafford poem, The Animal That Drank Up Sound, and one of Kim Stafford’s, We Got Here Together, and did a half day workshop here years ago (that workshop filled quickly with folks driving from miles away). Most often Debra does her own writing to accompany her incredibly rich art work.

Debra is a Florida ocean girl who has lived for years in Minnesota and longed for water. Big water and big sky are prominent in her books– e.g., Out of the Ocean and The Incredible Water Show-- and she is now embarked on an incredible project of canoeing rivers across the country. Her own pictures and words are too good to summarize briefly; go to your local bookstore, or to www.debrafrasier.com and see for yourself!

Ed Edmo is a Native American with Shoshone-Bannock tribal affiliation, a performer, traditional storyteller and lecturer on Northwest tribal culture. Since 1986, he has narrated the production "Children of the Raven" for the Eugene Ballet Company. He performed his play "Grandma Choke Cherry" at Fishtrap in 1994 and at The Newberry Library, Chicago in 1996. In 1995, he joined the Eugene Ballet Company’s world tour performing "Through Coyote’s Eyes: A Visit with Ed Edmo," in Syria, India, and Jordan. Ed adapted the Klickitat legend, "Bridge of the Gods" for the Tears of Joy Puppet Theatre with help of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant. He's taught "Legend as Drama" at the Longhouse of Evergreen State College. His poetry, short stories, and plays have been published widely, and his new book, Color: Ethnic Racialized Minorities in Oregon, is just out. Ed’s poem, "Indian Education Blues" appears on Portland's Tri-Met Busses in the program "Poetry in Motion," and in stone at The Valley Library, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon.

Thanks

2007-05-10T10:22:00.000-07:00

Thank you to all who recorded their work for me on CD in the studio this week. I'll do my best to post our recording to this blog as soon as possible, but please be patient. Remember: I'm a rookie blogger, just like most of you.

I very much enjoyed having each of you in our class: no exceptions.

Best wishes.

Dr. Hepworth

Student Course Evaluations

2007-05-07T09:40:00.000-07:00

If you have not already done so, please take a minute to complete a Student Course Evaluation for English 150.

Spoken Word Recording in the Library

2007-05-07T09:15:00.000-07:00

As you know, we will meet in the library for both of our class sessions this week to record The Spoon River Anthology. We'll meet in the lobby before going to the studio and breaking into small groups.

Here is the order in which you will present your poems in the studio.

Recording Schedule for Intro to Literature

Jesssica Brink Introduction

Eric Lamb #2 Hod Putt

Amanda Kom #8 Amanda Barker

Kyle Purcell #10 Chase Henry

Kelsey Williams #9 Constance Hately

Jessi Smith #17 Emily Sparks

Karina Hermanson #19 Daisy Fraser

Aaron Roberts #20 Benjamin Fraser

Tara Allgier #24 Mrs. Mier

Richard Smith #41 The Town Marshall

Sue James #44 Nicholas Bindle

Dustin Cook #48 George Trimble

Joe Alexander #50 Ace Shaw

Jennifer Schlake #61 Nellie Clark

Sidryn Sam #62 Louise Smith

Rachael Armstrong #68 A.D. Blood

Aaron Galbraith #79 Wendell Boyd

Ryan Norland #82 John Church

Rachael Elson #83 Russian Sonia

Rachael Poffenburger #89 Mrs. George Reece

Kama Stevens #81 Franklin Jones

Talley Gaskins 86 Petit the Poet

Kiley George #90 Rev. Lemuel Wiley

Jody Fegert #114 Mrs. Sibley

Dennis Bortz #121 The Unknown

Jennifer Gregg #142 Lillian Stewart

Harjot Kaur #143 Hortense Robbins

School Shootings

2007-04-24T11:11:00.000-07:00

In the wake of recent events, not only at Virginia Tech but also on our own campus, I ask that you take some time to reflect on the problems associated with violence in American culture.

After your reflection (whether a moment of silence or after reading articles about the shootings) write two brief scenes of dramatic dialog using the same technique of repetition that we examined in Sure Thing (the play by David Ives that we read aloud in class).

Limit your cast to no more than three characters. Use our campus as your setting.

Include any stage directions you think necessary.

Pete Fromm Reading

2007-04-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Novelist, short story writer, and essayist Pete Fromm, whom writer David Duncan once dubbed "The Chechov of Great Falls," will read from his work at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 23 at the Center for Arts and History in downtown Lewiston.

Fromm is a five-time winner of The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award.

The reading is open to the public free of charge.

Fromm has also agreed to sign books and answers questions.

The First Annual Humanities Bowl(ing)

2007-04-16T13:43:00.000-07:00

Who: Humanities majors and prospective majors. If you are considering (or would like to consider) a major or minor in art, English, communication. . . your are welcome.

What: Free bowling. Free food. Free drink. Prizes for low score, top score, best bowling shirt, best bowling style, and best bowling haiku.

Where: Orchard Lanes (244 Thain Road in Lewiston)

When: 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. Thursday 19 April

Why: Just for fun.

Term Paper: Drama Options

2007-04-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

If you have never written a term paper for college, be sure to read and study the chapter entitled “Writing a Research Paper” in our text. (I also strongly advise you to take a draft of your paper to the Campus Writing Lab in Spalding Hall before you turn it to me.) You will also want to read Chapter 37 “Evaluating a Play”; “Reviewing a Play”; “Writing About a Play” (2174); and “Writing Critically” (1893-94), all in Kennedy and Gioia.

Option One:
Compare and contrast the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets starring Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt with a more recent or current romantic comedy available on DVD or videotape.

Option Two:
Help our class discover the best film versions of Shakespeare’s plays currently available on videotape or DVD by writing a persuasive essay (5-6 pages) that compares and contrasts at least two film versions of the same play.

Option Three: Write a persuasive essay (5-6 pages) that compares and contrast two films, Fast Food Nation (2006) and Supersize Me. Persuade us that one film is superior to the other.

(For more options for term papers, see the post below.)

Although few of us will ever take a job as a drama or film critic, we all have to make up our own minds about the plays, films, or television programs that we watch. What’s more we often have to decide whether or not to recommend a production or performance to someone else.

As the editors of our anthology point out, however, evaluating a dramatic production is difficult. For one thing, by the time we see a new play or a new film or a new television series, at least part of the evaluation process has already been completed for us. In the case of films and television, for example, huge sums of money and the efforts of hundreds of professionals have already been invested in the process. Even in the case of a new play like Snapshots, the process of evaluation has already been considerable. Consequently, what we end up seeing on the stage or on television or on film is usually “somebody’s safe investment.” “More often than not,” our editors write, “our powers of evaluation confront only slick, pleasant, and efficient mediocrity. We owe it to ourselves to discriminate. Life is too short and theater tickets too expensive to spend either on the agreeably second-rate” (Kennedy 1760). There are too many first rate films and plays that we might miss.

On the other hand, even a masterpiece can end up being mutilated and abused. Take a look, for example, at Robert Ebert’s 1996 review of Romeo and Juliet in which he refers to this film version starring Claire Danes and Leonardo Decaprio “as a mess.” Or consider Mick LaSalle’s comments in the San Franciso Chronicle where he calls the film “a monumental disaster.” Of course, theirs were not the only voices to register an opinion as the reviews on the Rotten Tomatoes website attest. At best, however, the film received “mixed” reviews.

Term Paper: Poetry Options

2007-04-14T17:10:00.000-07:00

If you have not already done so, please be sure to read the chapter entitled “Writing About a Poem” for advice on both the writing process and MLA format guidelines. Be equally sure to read the examples of student essays on poetry in our anthology. Having done so, you may then choose one of the options below and begin your project.

In an essay of four to five pages, examine any single poem in our anthology and demonstrate how its imagery helps communicate its general theme. Be specific in noting how each key image contributes to the poem’s total effect. Feel free to consult criticism on the poem, but please make very sure to credit any observations you borrow exactly from a critical source.
Find two poems in our anthology that use very different sorts of diction to address similar subjects. You might choose one with formal and elegant language and another with very down-to-earth or slangy word choices. Some good choices include John Milton’s “When I consider how my light is spent” and Seamus Heaney’s “Digging”; Dylan Thomas’s “Do not go gentle into the good night” and Andrew Hudgins’s “Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead” ; and William Shakepeare’s “When, in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes” and Jane Kenyon’s “The Suitor.” In an essay of 750-1000 words (3-4 pages), discuss how the difference in diction affects the tones of the two poems.
Write a three to five page explication of William Johnson’s poem “Indians Fishing at Grand Coulee” in which you not only summarize and paraphrase the poem in the course of explicating it but you explore its form and content in sufficient detail to answer any and all of the study questions on our exam.
In an explication of four to five pages, compare and contrast William Johnson’s “After Barnswallows” with Hopkins’s poems “Pied Beauty” and “Windhover” in order to highlight any differences and similarities you can find between the poems in terms of style, symbol, tone, theme, and word choice.

Term Papers, Portfolios, and Plagiarism

2007-04-14T16:40:00.000-07:00

In recent semesters, more than a dozen students have plagiarized their term papers and then reacted with surprise, shock, and, of course, denial before I confronted them with the evidence. As you know, plagiarism is a form of stealing and cheating. It will automatically result in your failure for the course, and it might even result in your dismissal from college. Consequently, to help prevent the problem from recurring, I now require all students to show me the genesis of their term papers in a portfolio. I want to see the entire process of your writing. Therefore, in order to receive a grade for your term paper, you must show me the evolution of your paper. That’s fairly easy to do. Just keep everything you write, including notes and drafts. Then organize the contents of your portfolio inside an 8.5 x 11 inch file folder. Please be sure to label this folder with your last name first and to print your phone number on an inside flap.

Place the final draft of your term paper formatted in MLA style on top.
Underneath the final draft, place a preliminary draft that highlights all direct quotations.
Underneath a preliminary draft, place your handwritten notes and prewriting.

Notes from viewing, reading, or studying the script or the poem

Brainstorming (lists, clusters etc.).

Freewrites, Outlines
Notecards and Source Cards

Underneath it all, place a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return of your essay. Be sure that all the materials in your portfolio will fit inside the envelope and that you have included sufficient postage for their return.

Please note that your term paper will be due no later than Thursday May 3. That’s a dead line. I will not accept term papers for this class after that date. You may, however, make arrangements to turn your paper in prior to the deadline.

Correction

2007-04-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

I apologize for the misprint on the calendar of our course syllabus. Here is a corrected version:

Week Thirteen T April 10 Th April 12

Exams over poetry.

Week Fourteen T April 17 Th April 19

Introduction to Drama. Bill Johnson returns! Read Hamlet and related critical and background articles in the Kennedy Casebook on Shakespeare and prepare to take a quiz on Hamlet.

Week Fifteen T April 24 Th April 26

Class readings and discussion of Hamlet. Quiz.

Week Sixteen T May 1 Th May 3

View Hamlet. Term Paper Dead Line.

Week Seventeen T May 8 Th May 9

No Final Exam Week. Studio Recording of Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology. Meet in the Library. Term paper posted to blog with links to create hypertext.

Announcement: Class Audio CD Production Dates Set

2007-04-10T08:16:00.000-07:00

Our class will meet in the library on Tuesday 8 May 2007 to begin recording our audio production of Edgar Lee Masters Spoon River Anthology. Please be on time. And please continue to practice and rehearse.

Study Questions for Poetry Exam

2007-03-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

Except for "Yellow Cars" by William Stafford, each of the poems by other writers that Dr. Johnson read to us appears in the pages of our text and has been part of our assigned reading. Two of them are "Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town" (767) by e.e. cummings and "Pied Beauty" (767) by Gerard Manley Hopkins. I hope you will take a serious look at them. I also hope you will read and study the criticism for "Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town." I will include these two poems in our examination. I will also require you to accurately write out the poem you have memorized on the examination sheet.

Several of the questions I collected from you puzzled over what I consider to be one of the best (though most difficult and least accessible) of the "new" poems Dr. Johnson gave us to read, the one entitled "Indians Fishing at Grand Coulee." Please study this poem carefully. I would also advise you to read the links to this post that I've highlighted below. Much of our understanding of a poem depends upon the knowledge we bring to the act of reading it. The links will take you to other web pages and provide you with visual help and background reading that can assist you in understanding the poem's various historical allusions and cultural contexts.

With Dr. Johnson's permission, I will include this poem on our next exam and ask you to analyze it. Meanwhile . . . "Time is the stream I go a'fishing in," says Thoreau.

Here is a list of twenty-five study questions based on "Indians Fishing at Grand Coulee." I hope they help you think about and better understand this extraordinary poem. Several of these questions, by the way, came from the questions you gave me. In order to derive any benefit from these questions, however, you will need to have the poem with you as you read through them. You should also keep in mind that Dr. Johnson's poem remains, at least technically speaking, unfinished and in draft form. In all likelihood, Dr. Johnson will continue to revise the poem. In other words, we have the privilege of reading and critiquing a poem-in-the making. For a poem on the same subject you might consult Sherman Alexie's "The Pow-Wow at the End of the World."

1. What does the title of the poem tell us about Johnson's subject?

2. What is the setting of the poem? Is there more than one setting? If so, how many?

3. What is a "coulee"?

4. What do the words "Grand Coulee" connote to educated people, especially to those of us who grew up in the Northwest? What places and events do we most commonly associate with these words?

5. What is the denotation of the term Grand Coulee?

6. At which Grand Coulee are the Indians Johnson refers to fishing and how do you know?

7. What is a "daguerreotype"? What is a "camera obscura"? What is "sepia"? What is a scaffold?

8. Are there any other words in the poem you need to look up? How about "engender"?

9. What literally happens in the poem? Can you summarize what happens in two sentences or less?

10. How many Indians are fishing? In what sense are they "strand[ed]"?

11. What is the "cracked print" and what happens to this "cracked print" in the poem?

12. Who might the "fickle collector" be? The "muller over of shadows"? Who or what makes the shadows? Who mulls them over? Is the reader in any way included in the mulling?

13. Who or what are "the leapers" and where and what do they leap? "Through" what? "Behind" what? "Beyond" what?

14. In what ways, if any, does the form of the poem (nine couplets) and its arrangment on the page contribute to its meaning?

15. Why in line eight, for example, does Johnson repeat the word "falls"? Can you find any other elements in the poem that repeat each other or mimic each other?

16. In what ways, if any, do particular sounds in the poem contribute to its meaning?

17. Can you find any parallels between the "cracked print" and Johnson's poem as objects of contemplation? Does art play any role in this poem?

18. Who is entering "the kitchen" and what action takes place there? How is this "room flooded with light" related to the "sepia-faded river" and the "cracked print" and the "mist" and "the leapers" and "the headwaters"?

19. What is "the coffin" in line seventeen? Is the language here literal or figurative or both? (This is probably the most difficult question to answer and the greatest "leap" that Johnson requires his readers to make in order to catch all his allusions, pun intended.)

20. Does it matter at all that the season is "autumn"? If so, why? Couldn't the season just as easily be early spring?

21. If you had to pick out a symbolic object in the poem, what would it be and what would it symbolize? Can you find more than one? What do they symbolize?

22. Does the poem contribute to the stereotyping of Native Americans as relics of the past? If so, how? If not, why not?

23. In his visit to our class, Johnson several times spoke about death and sacrifice. "Each of us, he said, "will eventually lose everything we love and hold most dear. Everything!" He also said that marriage required "sacrifice," the giving up of a life or some parts of a life. Do death and sacrifice figure into this poem? If so, how? Who or what has been sacrificed and to what end?

24. Would knowing that William Johnson grew up in Spokane, Washington, and that his wife is descended from Colville Indian ancestors who actually fished at Grand Coulee add anything to the meaning of the poem?

25. Would it help if you knew that Johnson has taught environmental ethics, written a book on Thoreau, and served memberships in organizations like the Idaho Conservation League? How might such information add to or subtract from your reading of the poem?

Former Idaho State Writer-in-Residence to Visit

2007-03-15T01:44:00.000-07:00

Former Idaho State Writer-in-Residence William Johnson will visit our class on the Thursday following Spring Break. Johnson is a Professor of English at LCSC. His many honors and awards include an Idaho Book Award (the first ever given to a book of poems) and a 2006 Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. He's pictured on the right next to fellow poet and playwrite Greg Keeler and an unidentified scribe outside McCullens restaurant in Lewiston. Professor Johnson will read from his poems, talk, and answer questions. I would appreciate it if someone could photograph the event and record it on video for extra credit.

Mission Possible

2007-03-15T00:48:00.000-07:00

Part of your reading assignment over the Spring Break is to memorize one of the lives/poems from Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology, a poem that you will be asked recite one week from the day classes commence again.

During this same two week period, one of your writing assignments is to create your own poem modeled on the poems in the Spoon River Anthology, in other words, to create an imaginary life for an imaginary or historical local character. Here are a few guidelines for raising your own character from the dead.

Make sure to write from the first person reliable point of view.

Whether you write a lyric poem with narrative elements or a narrative poem with lyric elements, be sure to tell the story of a “secret life” (or at least a secret) that your imaginary character took to his or her grave.

Let us know not only how you lived but how you died and what you did for a living.

Concoct a lie, a big lie, but refer to real places in contemporary Lewiston, Clarkston, Asotin, and anywhere else you like.

Confine your writing to a free verse monologue of thirty lines or less.

Restrict your writing to no more than ten or twelve words per line.

Title your poem with first and last name of your imaginary character. You may also choose to include nicknames, middle names, or middle initials in your titles.

Here are some helpful (I hope) hints for creating your imaginary character.

Remember to lie outrageously, to fabricate the truth, which is usually stranger than any fiction.

Choose to imagine a character unlike yourself in some important way, different in age, gender, race, physical or mental ability, religion, morals, education, taste. . . .

Read some real obituaries if you get stuck. Rewrite one of them from the third person into the first person, making sure to change the names of people.

Work with your group or with a partner. Imagine that you died together. Borrow attributes from people you know.

Eavesdrop on a conversation or steal lines from television news or a magazine.

Ignore any of these rules and suggestions and make up your own.

Write too much and then cut.

You will eventually need to post the poem to your blog and print out two hard copies: one for me and one for the person who memorizes and performs your poem later in the semester when we study drama.

Checklist for Paraphrasing a Poem

2007-03-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

Read the entire poem closely—more than once. On second reading, read for exactness. Look up any words you don't know or understand in a dictionary. Dwell on any difficult parts of the poem as long as you need to do so.

Go through the poem line by line. Don't skip lines or sentences or any key details. Write out, in your own words, what each line says.

Write your paraphrase as ordinary prose. In other words, forget about line breaks and stanza breaks. You're not writing another poem: you're writing a paraphrase.

Describe the literal meaning of the poem. Don't worry about any deeper meanings.

After you have described what literally hapens in the poem, go over your paraphrase and see if you have captured the overall significance of the poem along with the details.

Love Poem with Cash

2007-02-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

Read and reread as many times as necessary “Love Poem with Toast” by Miller Williams on the Poetry 180 Website. Summarize the poem in one or two well-crafted sentences that accurately encapsulate the gist of the piece. Then, after reviewing the instructions for paraphrasing a poem in Kennedy and after reviewing William Stafford’s paraphrase of his poem “Ask Me,” paraphrase the poem by Miller Williams.

Post both your carefully written summary and your well-written paraphrase on your blog.

Submit hardcopies of both your summary and your paraphrase to your teammates and choose one summary and one paraphrase to represent your team this Thursday.

The winning team in each category will receive the cash to be divided as the group decides.

2007-02-14T09:03:00.000-08:00

Sonnet XIV
Copyright 2007 by James R. Hepworth

In my coming death, I want to precede you
as twilight precedes the dark, not to leave
you behind like the hours, but to spare you

my body’s decrepitude: vain banalities
of stained sheets, deliriums and tremors, hospital
nightmares, tedium of pills, stasis of machines!

If you must choose, when the time comes choose death.
Give back my life’s little infinity. No space
is greater than the expanse of our love, which had
no birth and therefore has no death. Give earth

my earth, and quickly spend your grief. Save what
only we can keep, each for each, tenderly.
I will find you again, endlessly—bliss
by bliss—in world—after world—after world.

Required Reading and Writing Assignment

2007-02-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

During last Tuesday’s class, we briefly discussed “Cathedral,” one of Raymond Carver’s signature short stories, which was a part of our assigned reading. We also listened to an apocryphal and somewhat inaccurate retelling of Plato's 'The Allegory of the Cave" from Book VII of The Republic. (My thanks, nevertheless, to the story teller.) During our discussion we discovered possible connections between the Carver story and Plato’s “The Allegory of the Cave,” as well as connections between Plato's story and the act of storytelling itself. I then gave you time to briefly write about these connections.

Before completing this writing assignment, please review both the Carver short story and read Plato’s allegory. (You can find an accurate translation of Plato's story by double clicking the underlined text in this line. Be sure to scroll down to Book VII.)

Finally, in a brief (150 words) commentary in which you quote from both Carver’s story and Plato’s allegory, discuss any parallels and connections between the two narratives that you can “see.”

Post your commentary on your blog where I can read it, and keep this post as part of your online journal for the remainder of the semester. Title your post "Carver and Plato" so I can easily find it.

Remember: You can also access my blog from my website jimhepworth.com

New Jim Harrison Novel and Video Clip

2007-02-10T09:28:00.000-08:00

Jim Harrison, novelist and short-story writer, the legendary author of Legends of the Fall (also a film starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins), has just published a new novel, Returning to Earth. Click on this link to view a short video interview of Harrison posted by The New York Times. While you're at this site, you might also check out their book reviews, still some of the best critical writing published anywhere in the world.

Steinbeck Scholar Susan . . . visits Lewiston Airport

2007-02-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

Steinbeck scholar Susan Shillinglaw, pictured here at Nez Perce County Airport, visited Lewiston briefly last week as part of Fistrap's Big Read Project. The founding director of The Center for Steinbeck Studies at San Jose State University and a former Scholar in Residence at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, Susan probably knows more about John Steinbeck than anyone I've ever met with the possible exception of one of her mentors, Jack Benson. I just finished her new book, A Journey into Steinbeck's California (Roaring Forties Press, 2006) lavishly illustrated with contemporary and historic photos and designed with plenty of sidebars for slow readers like me. I also appreciated the bibliography and timeline. She also promised to send our class a copy of her edited book, John Steinbeck: Centenniel Reflections by American Writers. She plans to return to our region the summer after next with her husband, a fly fisherman and Stanford professor. I have to say, Susan blew a breeze of fresh air my way for which I am very appreciative. Twenty Extra Credit Points to any class member willing to read a Steinbeck novel and one of Susan's two books.

Extra-Extra! Read All About these ExtraCredit Opportunities

2007-02-02T07:45:00.000-08:00

You may receive extra credit by reviewing any college-sponsored play or literary reading and posting your review on your blog. Of course, you’ll want to read the appropriate section of our text (for example “Reviewing a Play,” 2174-2176). I may ask to see your notes on the film or the play or the reading, so be sure to take some.

[Prefer to work in the oral tradition? Great. You have two other options: (1) you can drop in during my office hours (or make an appointment) and deliver your review orally as a short speech or (2) you can arrange to present your review (limited to five minutes) during class time.]

In general, students who wish to receive credit for attending non-college sponsored films, plays, and readings may do so provided they speak with me before or after class in advance of the event. (For instance, you may want to sponsor a private showing of Will Farrell’s new film Stranger than Fiction for your group as soon as it comes out on DVD. Excellent idea. I'm glad you thought of it. Just ask. Emma Thompson plays a hot writer so well I promise she will get inside your head. . . . Or maybe you want to sponsor your own fiction reading, a very exclusive event, just the people in your group. Yet another great idea I'm glad you thought of while you were reading this meta-text. Ideas are cheap, arent' they? But plan to document the event by taking digital photos and posting them on your blog, okay? That way you have at least some evidence to support your claim that you held a reading of Kafka's "Metamorphasis" before you turned into a mute cockroach. Honest. You really did.)

Interested in playing the role of Town Crier for the remainder of the semester? (See me about some major extra-credit points. Let’s make a deal.) Acting a role in a play or film this semester? I can tell you how to double-dip for credits without double-dipping and how to add depth to your character in the bargain. Prefer to create a list of literary films available free of charge to LCSC students to writing a term paper? See me. I can help.

From time to time, of course, I’ll be posting extra-credit opportunities like the ones below.

The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare, (Abridged)
Lewiston Civic Theatre
Saturday, February 3
8:00 p.m. Curtain

Five Time National Champion Australian Bush Poet Milton Taylor
Performs With the Urban Coyote Bush Band
Admission by Donation to the Palouse Folklore Society
7:00 p.m. Thursday 9 February 2007
The Attic (314 East Second Street)

This should rock. I’ll take my car and drive if anyone wants to go.

And remember the Special of the Week: twenty-five extra credit points (!) for reading Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. . .

I can't believe nobody is going to take advantage of the John Steinbeck lecture (not to mention free meals, free lodging, free tours at the Fishtrap House, etc.) this weekend. . . well, yes, I can. By the way, NEA lit guy David Kipen was a hoot. I wish he could have come to class but it was a Sunday. That's him in the photo above seated at Zany Grey's behind Lewiston's famous Wimpy Burger (and yeah, he ate the whole thing!). And that's his new first book on film theory. Photo copyright 2007 by James R. Hepworth.