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Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Starting Over

Since my laptop crashed I've been frantically trying to write some portions of my thesis. My notes are mostly gone, so it's like a fresh start... which is usually good, but not always. I've started with a chapter on The Fruit of the Tree

Here's a little of what's been mustered:


Like many writers of her moment, Edith Wharton was deeply concerned with questions regarding nature and artifice. Although as scholar James L. Machor, author of Pastoral Cities, suggests, this concern was not a “central configuration of her work” but rather “a part of the imaginative pattern” (205). Still, even as a few threads in a finely wrought cloth, this part of the pattern is important and persistent across many of Wharton’s novels. Manchor looks to the canonical novel The House of Mirth for his example. There he finds that both the language and plot positioning of Nettie Crane’s story exhibit Wharton’s dissatisfaction with the notion of the “the home as pastoral enclave in the city” (206). For Manchor Lily Bart’s death “constitutes perhaps Wharton’s most ironic, tragic comment on the tenuous appeal but final inadequacy of urban-pastoral projections” (206). Although I find this reading quite compelling, I am somewhat troubled by its through reliance on the symbolic for it’s portrayal of the pastoral project. Of course when dealing with humanity and its cultural products, everything has a symbolic status, nevertheless I think an equally interesting critique of the urban-pastoral can be found in Wharton’s second, and less acclaimed novel, The Fruit of the Tree. In this work the urban-pastoral project in described in both symbolic and ecologic terms.

The opening pages of her 1907 novel The Fruit of the Tree establishes the tension between nature and artifice through Wharton’s descriptions of Justine Brent and John Amherst, two of the primary characters. Wharton presents Justine Brent in the following terms: “[s]he did not use, in speaking, the soothing inflection of her trade: she seemed to disdain to cajole or trick the sufferer. Her full young voice kept its cool note of authority, her sympathy revealing itself only in the expert touch of her hands and the constant vigilance of her dark steady eyes” (4). From this beginning Wharton develops traits in Justine that remain pivotal throughout the novel. Justine, although she fades into the background of the text for several chapters is really the main character, and it is through her perceptions that the reader first glimpses John Amherst who initially seems to be the main actor in the text.

Wharton states:
The nurse, sensitive by nature and training to all physical characteristics, was struck at once by the contrast between his alert face and figure and the silent way in which he moved. She noticed, too, that the same contrast was repeated in the face itself, its spare energetic outline, with the high nose and compressed lips of the mover of men, being curiously modified by the veiled inward gaze of the grey eyes he turned on her. It was one of the interests of Justine Brent's crowded yet lonely life to attempt a rapid mental classification of the persons she met; but the contradictions in Amherst's face baffled her, and she murmured inwardly "I don't know" (5)

Although this passage will likely slip from the readers mind as the text becomes powerfully focused on Amherst, this initial presentation of him is quite meaningful. Justine’s confusion regarding Amherst is well justified by the end of the novel, and so here Wharton is giving the reader exactly what she suggests in her description of Justine Brent, a character that is perceptive, honest, “sensitive to physical characteristics” and given to “rapid mental classification of the persons she met”. Justine Brent represents a scientific mind, a naturalist of sorts, in a highly urbanized setting. The contradictions in Amherst are troubling to her, but for the reader they seem perhaps enticing, after all the many appears to possess both a physique made for action and a mind made for reflection, two traits highly valued in men by western culture. If this troubles the perceptive Brent the reader might imagine that perhaps this is only because a girl in her “lonely” circumstance has not yet met a man possessing so many fine qualities.

However, Wharton’s prose continues to favor Brent’s perceptions. Outside of the hospital in the next chapter Justine “was amused to see that he [Amherst] failed to identify the uniformed nurse with the girl in her trim dark dress, soberly complete in all its accessories, who advanced to him, smiling under her little veil” (8). Brent can identify Amherst in the dim October evening, but he cannot pick her out, the language of this passage suggests that the reason for this is that Amherst has made her a social “type”, a nurse, rather than having examined her physical traits as is Justine Brent’s method.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Tagcloud After Thursday

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Will it Never End?

Seriously.... I feel like this is the term from hell, and winter break promises little relief. The paper is in process, but I am not sure it is making any sense. Oh well. I will simply be glad to be done with it.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Birthday

Yes. Today I am 31.... I still procrastinate.... 9 more pages to go.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Grading Portfolios Yet Again

Last stack of portfolios is on my desk... Grading. Final grading.... so exciting to be almost over this term. Just a few big papers left to crank out.... Aghhhhhhhhhhhh

Saturday, December 6, 2008

GP Once More

We're down south. Lots going on here, not much work being done, but overall i'm having a great day.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Introduction So Far


On November 9, 1989 representatives from fifteen countries gathered together to discuss the politics of food. From their discussion the Slow Food International movement was formed and began to promote their manifesto that, “[i]n the name of productivity, Fast Life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. So Slow Food is now the only truly progressive answer” (“Manifesto” par. 8). Since its inception the Slow Food movement has spread to 122 countries. This movement is not the only one of its kind. In recent years the focus on food has been a critical part of the ecological movement, introducing new concepts and even new language to describe the human relationship with food (locavore for example). These movements represent a sensible ordering of thought around a logical central idea. Food is a logical point around which to organize ones feelings and actions regarding their relationship to nature and resource use, because food is one of the few items that make obvious human reliance on and interconnection with the natural world.

The body of American literature contains multitudes of works focused on humanity’s relationship to the natural world. Many of these works, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries, rely upon a worldview which vilifies the urban and elevates the wild as a sacred place apart. This tension between urban and wild is a central element in Willa Cather’s 1925 novel The Professor’s House. Characters such as Tom Outland and Louis Marsellus seem emblematic of this dichotomy. Even their names provide support for this concept, Outland (out-land) as the mesa dwelling place apart, and Marsellus (mar-sell- us) as the eager capitalist who Cather portrays as corrupter of Outland’s legacy. While this division has been widely accepted in many circles for generations, the concepts of glorified “wild” and vilified “capitalist” are not in the end polar opposites, but rather reflections of a similar human desire to manipulate and organize the natural world while conveniently ignoring the relationship between humanity and nature that exists at all levels of landscape.

A useful place for interrogating this binary in The Professor’s House rests in Cather’s representation of gardens. According to garden enthusiast and philosopher Mara Miller, “[t]he task of the garden is to mediate those tensions or polarities which are important for a given culture” (25).

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Ending with a Boom/ Beginning with Slow Food

It was the last regular day of 121 for my classes today. We ended on a great note, especially in my 10 am class. They were so intensely interested and interactive, it was tremendous. We laughed and joked and learned. I was totally delighted by the experience and I hope some of them will end up in my 214 class. 


In my own work, I've been pleasantly surprised to find that very little has been done addressing food and ecocriticism. In my brief preliminary search I found only a few links. One of the most interesting was a Call For Papers that I wish I'd found sooner.  Even this however does not make the link between food, ecocriticism and fiction. It seems much more interested in the literature of slow food or locavore movements. 

I am eager to really begin the paper, hopefully my enthusiasm will last. 

I also need to find a copy of "Loving Ourselves Best of All". A brief glance at this article has me pretty excited.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Ecocriticism and the Locavore

Today I started working on the introductory paragraphs of my Cather seminar paper. In the paper I intend to look at how productive garden's in The Professor's House occupy a place between the idealized wild and vilified city. For me the garden is a place that destabilizes the civilization/nature binary. 


To kick off the essay I've begun by looking at how food has become intimately related with ecology and environmental movements. I will claim that food is a logical point around which to organize ones feelings and actions regarding their relationship to nature and resource use... then examine it in the Cather novel... 

It is only a beginning, but if feels like a good move.

Monday, December 1, 2008

Teach This

Today it became clear that my students don't/didn't understand warrants. The better part of the day was spent explaining warrants in detail and providing a number of exercises to help them get some practice with warrants. It went especially well in my 10am class where students took initiative and began working with other students outside of their groups. In my 8am there was also one remarkable instance of a student working beyond the scope of the assignment to provide a fellow student with some tutoring. 


We also revisited information literacy by discussing context and how context effects rhetoric. We talked about how to search for information about the historical context of an essay, and how to determine if something historically concurrent is also relevant. 

It was a highly productive day in the classroom. 

Outside of the classroom, not so much, but hopefully I can set things right in my own academic house before the week is out.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Wicks-Giving 2008


This weekend in GP was inspired by the fiasco known to me as Wicks-Giving. This is an assembly of roughly 25 Wicks folk in a feeding frenzy.
I got very little academic work done this weekend, but we're on our way back up to Corvallis soon and school work shall resume then.

Friday, November 28, 2008

The Long Weekend

Put together a small collection of poems for a friend's birthday, and thought about how much I miss writing...which made me think, damn I miss painting and photographing too... lame

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Yep This Says It ALL: Happy Tagcloud Thursday

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

GP Once Again

We traversed down to GP again. The roads were foggy in the mountain tops, but otherwise fine.


I've graded most of my student's papers and I admit I've been pretty strict, but I feel as though I coached my heart out and if they failed to follow my lead it's their problem. Next term is business writing, so a whole new adventure. 

I gave my presentation on Salsa music today in Spanish, and took every opportunity to highlight the connections between Africa and Salsa.  I even included clips of Celia Cruz performing in Zaire and images of Santeria and Yemaya. It was nerve-wracking, but fun.

So much more to do...

Monday, November 24, 2008

Short Week

I am so thankful that this week is going to be short. I just got a stack of student papers and I have so much of my own work to do. Meh. This is getting a bit intense. I am anxious for the term to end so I can stop all of this and focus, or try to focus on my thesis.... panic, just a little touch of panic.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

After the IL Summit

As the readers likely know, Friday was the Information Literacy Summit. I was rather nervous about presenting there but over all it went well. It was interesting to listen in on the conversations about who is responsible for teaching IL in the classrooms. Many people seem to be fine with the job being seated in composition classrooms while others seem to take it as a slight. I think that overall there is a sense that Information Literacy is everyone's business. There are different levels of specificity in IL just like in everything else and those levels can't all be covered in one or two comp. classes. 


I really enjoyed teaching Information Literacy in a more detailed way. If ever I was given the opportunity to co-teach an info lit class I would jump at the chance. Before going to OSU I had seriously considered an MLIS degree. I loved working in libraries and the idea of being a University Librarian is still very appealing, but I love teaching in the classroom so perhaps the Ph.D. seems the most obvious choice.

Who knows...all I know is that I need to focus on the immediate future and this imminent Cather paper... meh

Friday, November 21, 2008

Summit Dealy-O


Sitting at the IL Summit, feeling much less distressed than I did yesterday.... haven't spoken yet, but still. The PPT is done and that's all I need to prompt myself to speak.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Three-way Dance

In Betj's class today I noticed that I see in two of Cather's novels (Death Comes for the Arch-Bishop and The Professor's House) an argument for an intermediary space between to "poles". In both of these books this intermediate space seems somehow related to gardens or orchards. I have not worked out all of my thoughts about this, but I do know that I totally adore both of these works of fiction and it will be a pleasure to write about them, I only wish I had more time.

In other news nothing has happened with the thesis....stasis.... I can only hope that my ecocritical work with other texts and in other contexts will prove fruitful when the time comes to crank out chapters.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Back to the Grind

Back in Corvallis, and back to school. I am very ready for this term to end despite the fact that I haven't completed my seminar papers yet.

Much work to be done!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Road Call '08 (back tracking)



We had lost some film a while back and recently recovered it. What great fun to develop these shots taken during out March 2007 trip from MA to Oregon.

1. Wall Drug Jack-a-lope
2. SD rest area
3. Portland OR's world famous Voodoo Donuts

Saturday, November 15, 2008

The Road


We drove down to Grants Pass last night after Spanish class. It got dark early, but we got to see a stupendous sunset on the western side of the highway,and some remarkable fog between the mountains on the eastern side. I realized that my limit for living without massive travel has been reached. I've not been on a long distance adventure since March 2007... apparently just shy of two years is my limit. I see a pattern.


I came home from extended roadtripping in late 1999

January 2001 I went to California for a few weeks (via bus)

January 2003 I went to Nebraska (plane)

April 2003 went from NE to IL for a few weeks (train)

May 2003 went from NE to MA for a few weeks (bus)

October 2003 Nebraska to MA (train)

March 2006 (phew it was a long wait) I went to Oregon for a few weeks (via plane)

May 2006 went to Oregon for a month (plane/bus adventure)

August 2006 went to Oregon for a few weeks (bus)

Sept 2006 drove from Oregon to Mass

March 2007 drove from Mass to Oregon.... waiting....waiting...


I need an adventure. Or a life which pays me to have wild adventures....hmmm

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Another Classic Translation of My Spanish Work & More

The Slow Travellers


I am a traveller. In my life it was many leases. One of my favorite adventures I happen in September 2006. The first day of year 2006 meets my wife to me Bird. In that one time it lived in Oregon and I lived in Massachusetts. This situation this good by anybody, then in September we did not decide move from house to Massachusetts. September 25, 2006, went to Massachusetts with Bird in the truck of her. The hard trip eleven days. We were very slowly because our U-Haul weight but by the truck. In Wyoming, next the Rockies we considered we left our possessions. After mountains it was easier to lead. We liked Wyoming in spite of all problems. In Wyoming to the area of listed rest many squirrel played with us. We gave to eat to. We gave nuts, peanuts, and granola. We pass of mountains and prairie. We sleep in the truck and one night in hotel. One night we slept in the truck and I begin rain. We were a little wet. We wish to travel per months, but our horse I travel to Massachusetts in another truck, therefore we traveled by only eleven days. Perhaps in the future our hope it would realise.

Good stuff.

Even better is to take this translation, translate it into French and then back into English....

The slow travellers 

I am a traveller. In my life c' was much of beams. One of my preferred adventures I occur in September 2006. The first day of l' year 2006 meets my wife with me BIRD. In this time he lived in Oregon and j' lived in Massachusetts. This situation this good by whoever, then in us September n' did not decide mudar house in Massachusetts. On September 25, 2006, went to Massachusetts with the BIRD in the truck of it. The hard voyage eleven days. We were very slowly because our U-Transport the weight but in the truck. In Wyoming, after the Rock ones that we were considered our possessions left. After qu' it was easier to carry out mountains it. We liked Wyoming despite everything the problems. In Wyoming with the sector of the much enumerated rest accumulate played with us. We gave to eat with. We gave nuezes, groundnuts, and the granola. We pass from the mountains and the meadow. We sleep in the truck and a night in l' hotel. One night we slept in the truck and I begin the rain. We were little the wet ones. We wish to travel per month but our horse which I travel to Massachusetts in another truck, therefore we travelled by only the d' days; ounces. Perhaps with l' future our hope qu' it would realize.


Decided that INaDWriMo 2008 sounded like a challenge... I pledged to write 18000...we'll see. Right now it's looking sad. Do blogs count? Ha!




Zokutou word meterZokutou word meter
500 / 18,000
(2.8%)

Primal Scream


The past few days I have felt like I am just squeaking by. It's conference week so almost every minute of my day has been tightly packed with scheduled events. On top of this the term is winding down so there are many projects with fast approaching due dates.


I managed to get all of my reading done on Death Comes for the Arch-Bishop, which is great, because I actually enjoy this novel, (which means I got to do something I enjoy for a little bit) and I always feel miserable when I fail to complete the reading for Betj's class.  I also tapped into the Cather Studies website and found a bunch of info for my upcoming seminar paper. 

I have a presentation of sorts at the upcoming Information Literacy Summit which I haven't worked on much and will likely spend my weekend trying to tackle. There's also a draft due on Tuesday for my final paper in SJ's class, but I feel pretty much prepared for this.

It's nice out today, lightly overcast, warmish...

Fifteen conferences, two large assignments, and several chapters to go until the week-end

Arggg!


Tuesday, November 11, 2008

In Light of This

Some of my conferences are frankly depressing. I know that I've done my best as far as instructing these students but many of them are quite transparently trying to pull the wool over my eyes. Many have submitted frankly useless drafts which seem to have been put together in one night. There are few if any quotes, no citation and little organization. It is overwhelming because I am not sure what more I could do.

In light of this let's forget about 121 for a moment....

Here's a little floundering bit of semi-recent poetry


Yaquina Head

Sooth on sooth the sea
tosses and wears away the meanings

in an arching skyward cauldron
combusting ginkgo

A delta leaf vein tremulous
stilled in Holocene weed fields

Rosebay pointing up and up
spike on spike between clusters

Salal all finger-linked haunched
and sea air rounded in great hills


Sunday, November 9, 2008

O Tomorrow...

Tomorrow I have a test in Espanol, and my conferences start for paper two. It is rough. I don't really understand my Spanish that well with regards to verb conjugation, and I don't know why, but my students seem awfully confused lately, as though midterms sucked out their brains. My plan is to have them read their essays out loud to me while I take notes or ask questions about what I hear. We'll see how it goes.

In the joys of Sunday, my garden is doing well. We ate fresh strawberries this morning, and there are beans ripening. One sunflower has blossomed and many more are on their way. The peas have blossoms also. Oak leaves are crowding the lettuces, and it is a daily battle fending them off. Soon I'll be planting chard and kale. The herbs look great and the pansies too, some gladiolus soon to bloom. Sweet Oregon!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

One Down



Today I went to PDX and took the English Literature Subject GRE. I was much dismayed to see that almost all of the questions were British Lit pre-1800... egh. This of course is a section of lit that I know almost nothing about. I answered what I could and left some blank since blank spaces don't really count against you. It was three hours of testing that I would have been happier without, and 150 bucks I would rather have spent on --well on just about anything-- but sadly the Subject GRE is needed by most of the schools I'm looking at.


I registered for the test before I decided not to apply immediately for the Ph.D. Since then, I've decided to put off applying to Ph.D. programs in hopes that the bridge position might be available and attainable. If that falls through I figure there's plenty of other things I could do for a year while I'm waiting to see who wants me as a Ph.D. candidate.

In other news I need to get cracking on my thesis... egh. I bought some Eco and more Wharton at Powells today, but really I need to stop reading, and start writing.


Thursday, November 6, 2008

Argh and Other Groans Of the Overwhelmed


I am feeling pretty overwhelmed these days. Meh.

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Equality is Equality

It's pretty depressing to think about how many African-Americans voted to preserve or create inequality.

For me Judy Weider says it all.


I think the simple fact is that struggles for equality have been linked in American History and if we as a people really want equality we will need to find our way together.

In the meantime I'll be enhancing my political activity now that my faith in the process has been somewhat restored. 

Free at Last

It’s the answer that led those who have been told for so long by so many to be cynical, and fearful, and doubtful of what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America. - Obama


But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!- MLK

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Eyes on the Prize!


I am so excited about the election. Having had Bush in office for the past eight years I've felt pretty down about America and our politics. Now for the first time since the great robbery of 2000 I'm excited about the election and hopeful about the future. Naive? Perhaps, but I am still feeling good.


Looking at the images of black voters and young voters taking to the polls I am filled with pride. Could it be that the American ideal of equality is coming an inch closer to fruition?


Beware of all the lies and hype... whatever your opinion vote.


Sunday, November 2, 2008

It's Not About Grades: ILP

I've noticed over the past few days that the ILP grades for my class seem a bit lower than usual. There could be a number of reasons for this. Primarily I am thinking it is a result of these two: 


The ILP itself changed. Different questions, and it seems slightly different point values since last year.

Being taught in class gave students a sense of over-confidence with regard to the timeline. Several of the lower grades in my class are due to a failure to complete all of the assignments.

Either way, grades aren't everything. I tend to stress this fact to my students, and I feel that in this instance it is an appropriate sentiment. This term my students seem to be much more engaged with their topics, they are curious, they want to know. It doesn't feel like I am dragging them along from one assignment to the next. This is great. 


It's Electric!

So recent research into our energy use has yielded fantastic results. As most readers know, we are serious about reducing our energy use. We moved to a small place, we replaced all of our bulbs with CFLs and we have been minimizing electricity use in every way practical.


The other day we went to Energy Star to test our usage. Our total source energy consumption is 51,111 KBTUs which is well below that of 99% of US homes. That is still a lot of energy, we cook and heat with electric. We watch TV in the evenings and use our computers quite a bit, but still we're doing pretty well.  

CFL's and unplugging everything when not in use are probably the main reasons for our reduction.

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Studs and Yahoooooo?

RIP Studs- "With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.



I'm thinking it might be fun to make a yahoo account for my mother so that we could occasionally have a game of scrabble or cards (prehaps even pappy since he might be bored these days). Not that either of us are particularly into games, but it would be something fun to do, and chatting over an online game of scrabble can be fun...though I am deadly awesome at said game....

Anyone want to play? 

Annie? I think this might work with dial up too.


Friday, October 31, 2008

Samhain

This Samhain I am feeling much better than I was last year. It was lovely to be healthy and able to celebrate with my people. We handed out candy and had a nice ritual replete with apples, pumpkin ale, mullein, and elderberries.


The night was cool and pleasant. We all dressed with a little Spanish/Romani flair and listened to Romanian Gypsy Music. 

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Let's Form a Committee


I talked for a good while with Betty Campbell about my thesis project. I had been thinking about who I wanted on my committee and in looking through the staff pages I found that she has an interest in botanical elements in literature. This had me excited. Our talk was lovely and very productive.


Just one more member to go... the search continues

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Hysterical Translations

So for giggles I ran my recent spanish essay through a translator. These translators are so funny because they sort of know what is being said but thet arrange things in an insane way. Here is what the translator made of my paper:

Me Life This text is a window present life. My life this ventured but is not pleasant. I am called Julie and I been 30 years old. In the past I lived in many states but now alive in Corvallis, Oregon. Alive in a house “Witham Hill Oaks” is called. I share my apartment with handcuffs to me, our Jan friend and our dogs Freyja and Moose. We are a very contented family. Our apartment is very small, but it is sufficient for me. I like to live circa on the University. I am instructor and student of English. I like to teach. Desire to teach in the future also. Work and study much. Every week work and study in a demanding way. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to very early wake up and way to me to the car shutdown bus. I teach to classes of writing to eight and the ten. At noon I visit me wife and ways the coffee by lunch. Two I attend the Spanish class. I like Spanish, but it is very difficult on long time of English writing and Literature. I need much concentration by the orations easy. The nights I cook food by my family and mirro CSI and The Colbert Report. Tuesdays and Thursdays I attend a class of Willa Cather and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. This class is favorite me. Tuesdays I help to teach new instructors. I do not have long free time but I like to work in my garden Saturdays and Sundays. Now culture the peas, brócoli, onions, cucumber and lettuce. My life is similar garden, always money changer and to bloom.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Cold and Confusion

I'm sick...not really sick, just sort of sick, but sick enough to be a little more brain dead than usual. The good news is that I've finished my grading.


Now it's on to drafting up my ideas for a seminar paper on Cather. still reading O Pioneers, which is almost as awesome as The Professor's House. It actually bares many disturbing similarities to a novel I was writing about Nebraska... odd... tis the season for odd...


Sunday, October 26, 2008

Summer Strikes Again

Our allergies have been bad and the temps high. It's lovely here in the Willamette Valley. I potted up about 18 lettuce seedlings yesterday and they're looking good. Bird and I moved the cukes out back, and we noticed a little spotty mildew on the leaves, hopefully the better air circulation will help keep it under control. There have been red and white breasted nuthatches, mucho chickadees, hairy woodpeckers and downy woodpeckers too. I hate to go back to school with the weather so nice... eh

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Grading Portfolios and Such

I've been diligently grading my student's work for the past few days. It is an emotional roller coaster of sorts and I will be glad when it is over. I'm trying to formulate the top five issues I want to address in class. So far I only have issues two that I am sure of addressing.


So far my number one issue is Second Person Voice / Narration.
Despite the fact that I pointed this issue out in class and in conferences, about 80% of the papers I've graded contain some second person. It is making me crazy. I've avoided being overly punitive about it, but I am annoyed.

My second biggest gripe is formatting.
I'm not talking citations or works cited, I am talking about simple format. This includes margins, spacing, and font. I am almost sure that my students are tech savvy enough to figure this stuff out, so why are they choosing not to? Laziness is the only thing I can come up with.

I am weighing the pros and cons of attaching heavy penalties to the violation of these particular issues for paper 2. I don't know... 

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Thesis Thursday Strikes Again


Meeting with Betj today to discuss the thesis. I've been entertaining thoughts of adding Cather to the mix, but perhaps I won't. I don't know. I am feeling some confusion about the whole thing. I've started looking at Dana Phillips' Truth of Ecology again, and I am really enjoying it. So far the book sticks it to Buell and most ecocritics, accusing them of being more interested in their own personal revelation than in either ecology or literature. It is hard for me to hear this in some ways because I'd been willing to call myself an "ecocritic".... however I don't share these views or methods. I think the "pastoral" in literature and life has been a mess. People deluding themselves into deepening the illusory divide between humanity and nature... I see no such divide. 


Phillips writes: "ecocriticism ought to cultivate an attitude of wary impartiality, which should be the best way to avoid what Buell calls the "environmentalist's dilemma of having to come to terms with actual natural environments while participating in the institutions of a technological culture that insulates one from the natural environment and splits one's allegiances." This is a dilemma that Buell say the pastoral "anticipates," and I agree, because I think it's a dilemma that by anticipating the pastoral first helps to create, then sustains and exacerbates. The pastoral does this when it buys wholesale the distinction between natural environments and "technological culture"" (19).

Oh yeh, I'm with this. This idea is pretty much at the base of my thesis. We'll see how the day goes.


Monday, October 20, 2008

Library Day Part 1

Today I held my 121 classes in the Willamette Room of the Valley Library. Today's class was designed to familiarize students with the Library of Congress system, help them figure out where a good book for their paper might be, and determine (at least superficially) if a specific book will be useful for them.

I started the lecture with a brief intro to shelf reading. I drew some "books" on the board and had the students figure out how to order them properly on the shelf. This went reasonably well. I'm sure that not everyone was completely following, but enough of the students seemed to get it, and I am certain that none of them had been exposed to this information before. In fact none of them had ever taken a book out of the Valley Library before.

I followed this lesson with a brief overview of where books are located in Valley. They each brought three call numbers they'd looked up the night before, and wrote down the floor where each book would be located next to their call numbers. I then showed them some floor maps and gave them navigation advice. After this, they were turned loose to hunt up some books for 20-25 minutes.

When they returned with their quarry we went over how to use the table of contents and index to get an idea of how useful a book might be. I assured them that a book can be counted as a source even if only a few pages relate to their paper. This seemed to make them feel some relief. Most of them checked out a book or two.

We will be using those books that they checked out in class on Wednesday. During that class we'll get into MLA for books, and I'll set aside some time to address some more specific questions about Summit and ILL which we touched upon only briefly today.

Lesson of the day...Make it UBER EXPLICIT that the ILP/Paper topic cannot be changed after ILP 2. Some student today was trying to make a case for changing his topic because "there isn't enough information". Frankly I know this is a lie. He doesn't know it's a lie, but it is. Almost any topic imaginable has been considered by enough people to make a suitable 121 Paper 2 topic.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

Saturday Morning with Georges Bataille

Today I got started on my Ciceronian project for Betjemann's class.


Since we were invited to make this a visual project I thought I would take the opportunity to paint something. Back in the day, 2000-2003, I was in love with abstract art. I painted for hours on end in my parent's garage smoking clove after clove in the wee hours of the morn. Lacking a garage this project is a bit less "animated" but is still coming out well. 

I have so many other things to work on, but spending Saturday morning rendering my understanding of Georges Bataille's "The Solar Anus" in cheap acrylics is delightful.

in parting...a little Andre Masson pour inspiration


Friday, October 17, 2008

ILP: Day Two

Today we worked on ILP 2 and 3. My morning class attendance was surprisingly sparse, but their involvement in the activity was good. I had them quick write a question or two that they still had about their topic, something that might be a good opening research question. My example was "How does hip-hop promote or negate misogyny?"  They were then instructed, as they are in ILP 2, to come up with some good search keywords from their question. For example "Hip-hop", "misogyny" and perhaps "promote" or "negate". 


When they were done with this I had them get into small groups of 2-4 people and share their questions and keywords with one another. They were supposed to offer any additional or alternative keywords to their partners. Then each group selected one person, preferentially the person having the most difficulty coming up with keywords, to come to the front of the class and share their info. During this part of the exercise the whole class and I offered new keyword possibilities. 

We then talked about how with a list of 5 or more keywords a person might want to use different combos of 2 or 3 words when searching. They seemed to understand what I was getting at, and many seemed interested in the journal databases which is cool.

After all of this activity we talked about formulating multiple research questions and why questions are better than claims of policy. I am not sure that this really got through, but I am strongly hoping that it did. Papers that start out as questions are always more interesting and exciting than those that are born from trying to prove an already held belief. 

Finally we looked at the library catalog and talked about keyword and subject searches. They will be done with the ILP by Wed, and by then we should be well into the research for paper 2.

Yeee Hawww... it's the weekend...  

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Draw Me A Mesa


So today after Cather and Gilman, Betj and I had a tremendous discussion about The Professor's House (which is fast becoming one of my top three novels).  Our discussions are always enlightening but in the presence of a chalkboard, as our talk was today, this characteristic was heightened. I took a sketch from our blackboard elaborations home with me in hopes that it might yield a fine paper. We'll see.


In other news I've committed myself to presenting my first draft thesis intro within a few weeks time. I guess I had better start working on it.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

ILP: Day One

Today we previewed ILP assignment one. It was great fun. 


I've never taught through the ILP before and I am so glad I'm doing it. Usually no matter how much I remind them or update them about the ILP, their reaction always feels vague and sort of disengaged, but the reaction today was for the most part quite different.

I started the day by having them jot down three or more possible ILP topics. They did this and then I collected them for later approval.

I then showed them where to find the assignment online, and let them know how to use the rubric to determine the quality of their answers.  We opened up the ILP itself and I guided them through all of question one. We talked about biases and values, read the Academic Writer and then had a quick write addressing their biases. If they want I imagine they could use this quick write as the answer to question one.

Then we moved on to the other questions.

Number 2 instructs them to go to Wikipedia and look up their topics. In my 8am class I used Manatees as at test topic, then in my 10am I let them shout out a topic. The one I heard loud and clear was Hip-Hop Dance. We Wiki'ed it and looked around. I showed them the discussion and history tabs and we had some fantastic conversation about hip-hop v. rap, and what the relevance of what they learn in Wiki might be to their paper.

We also went over keywords and search terms. This was especially productive in my 10am because the students were amused by "popping and locking" as a potential search term.

Overall I feel really good about the class and the ILP topics they chose. I've gotten back to them all with my input on their topics. There is an amazing array including: woolly mammoths, country music, African languages, hip-hop, sharks, Bigfoot, and more...

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Hybridity

I enrolled in a class about Hybrid classrooms that started this week. By Hybrid Classroom I mean a mix of online and in class teaching. This type of teaching is totally my thing. This term I've turned my 121 into a totally hybrid experience.

So far the class has been interesting. I've been able to discus my views on hybrid classrooms with a number of people who seem to be a bit skeptical about online classes and how they might be able to meet the needs of their students through something that seems to appear to be limiting in their view. I've been an online student and I have a different take on it.

In fact I'm getting pretty passionate about the hybrid class, so much so that I'm using this topic as the project for my Comp. Assistant class.

Monday, October 13, 2008

One Big P-Nut Butter Cup and More

So I made cookies yesterday, or should I say one big cookie. Using my powers of experimentation I came up with a giant peanut-buttery-choco cookie of delight.

Today at school it was return to conferences.
Nine students...
Two who brought next to nothing
&
One who didn't really need a conference

Just five more conferences to go, then Wed it's back to the teaching grind whence I'll be experimenting with teaching the Information Literacy Portfolio, and conducting a workshop for any students who bring in revision (if any do).

We'll see...

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Conferences Part One & Tagcloud Thursday



So today conferences for paper one begin. Fifty students in four days...No sweat hahahaha. 

So far four conferences are done. Some were in need of serious help, some were well done, but all of the conferences felt productive.

Twelve more to go today.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Nature, Identity and Force: Cather's Alexander's Bridge

Prepare for rambling...

In our class examination of Willa Cather's first novel Alexander's Bridge (1911), I was particularly struck by the final sentence of the work (pre-epilogue). This sentence reads, "The mind that society had come to regard as a powerful and reliable machine, dedicated to its service, may for a long time have been sick within itself and bent upon its own destruction". 

What is so striking about this idea for me is the way this text, or rather my reading of this text, establishes a close relationship between scientific, mechanic and market forces in futile opposition against nature and identity. 

This final line is tremendously loaded. Following the destruction of the bridge and the death of Bartley (and many of his workers), this line seems at first glance to allude only to the death of the protagonist, but for me it is suggestive of so much more. 

Allusion to the mind suggests the scientific energy of the Professor, which is predominantly voyeuristic and taxonomic. Emblematic of the mind and connected with Psychology, the Professor seeks to document, organize, and control the natural force of human thought and behavior just as the mechanical force of Bartley's bridge building and engineering. Furthermore I think other forces are also subtly implicated such as notions of romance, and the forces of the market, which also seem to be reliable forces "in service" of society, yet act in this text to bring about destruction. 

Although by the end of the work most readers seem to regard Bartley Alexander as an unsympathetic character who has perhaps used and manipulated those around him, (as the Professor suggests, "He belonged to the people who make the play, and most of us are only onlookers at best") I think this assessment is deeply complicated by B.A.'s own sense of his lost identity.

A number of times in the text it is suggested that B.A. has progressively lost control of his identity. This suggestion is made explicit in his letter to Hilda. The text also seems to couple this loss of identity with a move away from the west where Bartley was raised. Although this loss is initially perceived as a loss of youth, or a quest to regain the energy and bliss of young love, it seems as though the reunion with Hilda is insufficient precisely because it does not allow Bartley to regress far enough, to a place where he felt he still had command of himself.  

This agency of youth seems linked to nature, the very thing that the protagonist in his maturity has worked successfully to overcome. 

I don't know...just some thoughts.

Monday, October 6, 2008

MAWG Monday

Well, since I need an excuse to blog about the thesis, and by excuse I mean a prompt to keep me on track, I've decided to make this MAWG Monday. The MAWG is a thesis work group that I should have signed up for last year, but foolishly didn't. I'm enrolled in the class this year, and just got done reviewing one of my fellow MA's thesis proposal. It's pretty good, Superman and the American Dream...interesting stuff. 


I never wrote a proposal of this sort, I just kicked my idea around with Peter and went to work. Maybe the proposal would be a clever way of really outlining what I intend to do... Hmm.

Well the MAWG is tonight, I'll be sure to update this post when it's over.

In other news teaching went well today. They're turning in their first drafts on Wed and I am pretty excited about them. I'm even more excited about figuring out how I want to teach through the ILP since I've never done it before. It should be interesting. Hopefully it will help them with not only the ILP but paper 2 as well. We'll see.

For all those who haven't seen me in a while....

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Sustainability Sunday: Garden Quick Glimpse

I spent a chunk of the day winterizing the garden. I got some cull wood to build a little drainage shelf for some of the bigger plants. I dismantled the tomato plant and put in tulips, crocus, radishes, and broccoli. Things are looking good out there. Now I just need to build a little plastic lean-to to keep the heavy rains off. I'm thinking bamboo and old shower curtains.


The mid to late summer plantings are doing well. We've had a cuke and there are plenty more on the vine getting bigger and tastier everyday. The purple beans have been offering a steady supply. The leeks are still teeny but doing well. The strawberries are booming, and the fuschias are blooming.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Español

I am both loving and hating Spanish class. 


I dislike the fact that I MUST pass this class and two more terms of Spanish... Although I see how the requirement might be useful for a Literature person, especially in Lit and Culture,  I don't think it is ultimately useful for a person studying 19th and early 20th century American Literature. 

I like Spanish though. 

I like Spanish poetry and music. I like many elements of Spanish culture. This class however is sucking out my brain. Although I feel like I understand la professora when she teaches (all en español) I really am no good at speaking. Meh... frustrating. Frustrating because I am failing at it and also frustrating because as a Ph.D. speaking will likely never be part of my need to comprehend the language. 

Argh.


Thursday, October 2, 2008

Debate


Tonight I made pizza and watched the vice presidential debate. It was ok, but nothing stellar. Biden had better (clearer and more direct) answers but that is not shocking at all.  Palin was "cute" as usual, and less blatantly stupid. Whatever...no fire was ignited in my heart. It's still Obama all the way, no shocker.


In class tomorrow we'll be having a little debate ourselves (really more of a discussion of the readings but I sense some tension). I'm trying to figure out how I want to moderate things. I appreciate Betj's super-positive style, but I have a hard time being positive when I think what someone's saying is foolish. Obviously it won't do to call out WR121 students, but I do want to press them into more critical thinking. We'll see how it goes. 



Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Sleeeeeeeep

I am beat. I don't know how I am going to get any thesis work done. Meh.

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

TA Tuesdays: A new pattern emerges

I thought Tuesdays might be a smart day to reflect on the TA adventure and perhaps to vent about the events of my Monday morning teaching experiences. Yesterday I taught for the first time this term, once at 8am and then again at 10. I was surprisingly nervous before the first class began. I think the long summer break had me feeling rusty. 


The 8am class got the squeaky version of my performance. I covered all of the important first day stuff, but it wasn't as snazzy as my typical style. I talked too much and didn't get them engaged enough, but it was too early to think on my feet. It went ok, but not stellar. I give myself a B. 

During the hour between the two classes it occurred to me that the They Say, I Say templates we use in class are very much like a mad lib. They are in fact so clever that you can insert almost any topic into them and come up with something very arguable. To prove this I started ranting about Twinkies. 

Observe (the bold is my addition):

In recent discussions of snack foods, a controversial issue has been whether Twinkies are an acceptable snack. On the one hand, some argue that Twinkies are not healthy. From this perspective, it is clear that if a snack must be healthy, Twinkies will not qualify. On the other hand, however, others argue that a snack need not be healthy to be acceptable and satisfying. In the words of one of this view's main proponents, "A snack is an occasional item, thus a tasty Twinkie is totally acceptable". According to this view, the fact that a snack is a small item, not a staple of the diet, means that anything food in small quantity can be appropriate. 

Realizing this I decided to have the 10am students try this out. I had them get into small groups and gave them 5-7 minutes to draft something. They came up with some really good introductions. Topics included the USC/OSU game, logging, Batman, and McCain v. Obama. 

Tomorrow we'll talk about paper one and MLA. So much to do...so little time.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Sustainability and the TA

In an attempt to bring sustainability into my classroom I've turned all of the homework assignments into online assignments using our online classroom component known as "Blackboard". 


Although computers use a great deal of electricity, it is a simple fact that 99% of my students turn in computer produced homework assignments. Since they are on the computer anyway, I figure making the assignments paper-free will cut down on resource use, and reduce the clutter on my desk. I'm all in favor of this. 

I'm also experimenting with some online peer review. While this may not be a move toward sustainability, I want to see how the online portion of my class might be used to facilitate discussions that might not happen face-to-face. I have no idea how this will work, but at the very least it will be a learning experience for me. I think online teaching is a great thing. It is a way to reach students who otherwise might never attend the university. It is also a way to enhance the learning experience of students in traditional classes. Ideally I'd like to teach online courses in the future. Later this fall I'm planning to take a course offered through Chemeketa Community College called Hybrid Instruction. 

Tomorrow it all begins again. The teaching, the reading, the panicked writing, the marathon conferencing, the endless research.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Money

So WAMU has been bought out by Chase... meh.


I was not a huge fan of WAMU since they mismanaged my account and Bird's, but it is sort of distressing to see an increasing consolidation of bank power. How much does Chase control? Seriously?

I'm thinking FDIC insured Federal Credit Union. Or my mattress. Either one seems like a good idea. 

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Summer Tagcloud

Apparently this is how I spent my summer... cool

Pre-Terrm Madness: How to update updates...

The past few days I've been working with Sara J, Peter and Laura to orient the new TA-folk. This has been an exciting and exhausting process for me, and likely for the incoming TAs as well. I sense that many of them might be feeling a bit overwhelmed, but it can't really be helped.

When it comes to my own situation I am at the moment bewildered but indifferent to the challenges of finding the correct classes to fulfill all of my requirements. I've decided to dedicate this term to completing one chapter (and hopefully the preface) of my thesis. I've also compiled about 12 schools that I am "interested" in attending (although really only two or three are totally desirable). The next step is signing up to take and studying for the subject GRE. I am not a big fan of standardized tests, and I typically don't do that well on them, so this is a source of some minor anxiety. To remediate this anxiety (a little at least) I am dropping most of my classes this term and taking some thesis hours to round out the gaps.

My teaching plans are in order so I am happy to say there is no tension surrounding that particular issue.

Wharton, Spanish class, Writing 121 and more Wharton look like the immediate future of my academic life.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

A Little Ruby


TA Tired

Helping to orient the new TA's has been surprisigly exhausting...maybe I am just rusty. Hopefully.



Sunday, September 21, 2008

Sustainability Stumbling

So this past weekend I decided it was time for me to get some new clothes for school. Clothes shopping is a huge issue for me for a number of reasons, not the least of which is my dismay over how fashion is used to "shape identity" in the consumer culture. If it were up to me I would own all second hand or hand made clothes, but my well-fed girth prevents the first and my lack of skill prevents the second. This being said I was prepared to spend some money on clothing that was either locally made or union made. 


I purchased a t-shirt at the Eugene Saturday Market from a guy who does batiking. The shirt is great and although it is not organic I felt pretty much ok because I was supporting a local artist. I still needed pants so I decided to find some Carhartts, since for as long as I can remember Carhartts are union made in the USA. 

Upon arriving back home I was dismayed to see that the pants I bought were Hecho en Mexico.

Boo...even Carhartts!!! Is there nothing sacred? I feel a bit bad about buying this gear, but mostly I am irked by the corporate decisions that I've just learned about (too late).

I guess I need to hunt up some sewing patterns...and some time.

New sustainability goal...one tub per week of recycling. Reducing packaging even more...yay.

New garden scavenging mission....free 5 gallon buckets and old clear plastic shower curtains

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Coastal Waters, Coast Range, Dog Coats

So we've been trying to squeeze the last drops out of summer these past few days.

We went to the coast on Thursday and had a nice time seeing the usual circuit of
places we and the dogs love. Agate Beach was almost empty and the cool clean air was a delight after many days in the smokey valley. The absence of humans on the beach helped to preserve a number of great sand formations, but high tide timing on our part made shell hunting unrewarding. We delighted in the huge driftwood tangles instead.

Today we took Hwy 99 to Eugene for
Saturday Market. The coast range was extra lovely with layers of smoke, cloud cover, and fog. In town we took the dogs to a new dog park and Freyja had a great time exploring the various little swimming pools. Later though we noticed that she was shivering, so we put one of my shirts on her...she was not pleased, however she was warm.

So it goes. Onward to fall!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Arrr!!!

Greetings on Talk Like a Pirate Day! Although I spent most of this day gardening in true landlubber fashion, I do live in the home of this blessed day, and I tip my ratty tri-corner hat to all of the pirates out there fighting global warming. Because as we know more pirates=less global warming....

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Tagcloud Thursday is here again

Ode to the Wharton-l

So many people on the Wharton-l have offered great responses and suggestions. It seems I am behind the times. No surprise there. Apparently others have also suggested Adams as the location for The Fruit of the Tree.  This is great news. Now I have a place to really center my eco-historical research. 


I contacted the Massachusetts historical society in hopes that they might know of people doing environmental history research on the Berkshires. My aunt has also sent me a number of good leads on information regarding Adams and North Adams. Things are taking shape, or at the very least direction.

I'm reading Hudson River Bracketed right now, and am about  half way into the novel. This novel will present some challenges I think. I am hoping that some more direct water references will be made, but if not I could use this book as an example of how nature is used as an aesthetic. Plenty of room for this reading in the title alone.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Fruit of the Hoosic?

In my efforts to get some more work done on my thesis I've been concentrating my efforts on The Fruit of the Tree. I got myself onto the Wharton-l and started asking around to see what opinions other Wharton reserchers and readers might have. I have gotten back some interesting leads, one suggesting an edition of the novel edited by Donna Campell, and another directing me to a lecture given at the Mount last year by Dr. Jennie Kassanoff. I've emailed Dr. Kassanoff since I've been unable to find a copy of her lecture, and I'm on the look out for the Campbell edition in the University library. 


My theory at the moment is that the novel may well have been based on the Hoosic River Valley. I have a few reasons for this. 

1. The novel is set in the Moosuc River Valley (old spelling of Hoosic is Hoosuc. Similarity?)
2. The city of Adams is along the Hoosic and was the site of a large cotton mill
3. Adams mills were in the news quite a bit during 1906 due to worker strikes
4. Wharton was living in Lenox about 20 miles south of Adams

Even if there is no way to prove that Hanaford is based on Adams I think that I could make a strong case that the descriptions of fictional Hanaford strongly resemble the ecological and social concerns in Adams during the time in which the novel was written. 

My next challenge is finding sufficient environmental history regarding this region. I am particularly interested in how the river was engineered and otherwise degraded to benefit the mill in the time leading up to the 1907 publication date of Wharton's text. I am also very interested in any wetland drainage that may have occured in the area. Some contemporary sources indicate that there are few wetlands in the Hoosic Watershed but several older maps (1930's) show a number of small ponds in the area. This part of the search for information has been slow going so far. I think I might need to get in touch with some history folk for better leads. 

My interest in this wetlands aspect is due to the quote at the end of the novel: 

"And do you remember how we said that it was with most of us as it was
with Faust? That the moment one wanted to hold fast to was not, in most
lives, the moment of keenest personal happiness, but the other kind--the
kind that would have seemed grey and colourless at first: the moment
when the meaning of life began to come out from the mists--when one
could look out at last over the marsh one had drained?"

A tremor ran through Justine. "It was you who said that," she said,
half-smiling.

"But didn't you feel it with me? Don't you now?"

"Yes--I do now," she murmured.

He came close to her, and taking her hands in his, kissed them one after
the other.

"Dear," he said, "let us go out and look at the marsh we have drained."