I shall keep the word "welcome" in my mouth. . .

. . . in hopes you'll visit this page again someday.



Thanks for a great Unit 4, bloggers! I am so glad that your work has found publication somewhere besides the bottom drawer or *just another school assignment*. Perhaps you'll continue to post, and your blog can become much more than a 101 unit project.

But, wait: like an Indian Summer comes the "101 Reading" on Friday at 11:45 in LA208A. See you there.

Digital Collaboration

As Unit 4 ends, take some time to reflect on the different alternate genres we've looked in the past few weeks. You've been doing great work; I hope you'll continue to think about creative writing and your place in the writing world.

In the right-hand panel, I've posted the video, "The Machine is Us/ing Us" that we watched in class during Unit 2 (our genre/audience/purpose unit). Now you're a part of the collaborative digital genre. . . what do your blogs say about you? How have you contributed to the "net full of nothing"?

Collaboration... fun words.

Here's the link for the video, "Bulbous Bouffant," that we watched in class on Friday in case you wanted to watch it again and didn't want to be caught writing down the address in class: http://fireball20xl.com/slapdash/bb.swf. And, you'll be pleased to know that all your abandoned words have found a home in my new poem:

"A Story of a Dog, Boy, and Flower-Decorator"

Another day under the cotton-headed-niggy-muggin sun
as Francisco and his corpulent pug walk past the stop sign
on the corner of Hey and Poop!

past the neurotic flower decorator
always sniffing for a good unamerican burger.
Francisco slows, his addidas shoes pad the pavement
like tum-tum-tum.

The flower lady, all supercalifragilisticexpialidocias
and pretty says,
"I like your sweater."
The dog's blubber heaves
and ripples under the red cotton,
and Francisco replies, "You're a sweetie.
I made it for my Accordagoitia myself."

The dog squats,
she yells, "Criminy!"
and Francisco looks devoid of zinc.
"Get out of here!" she screams,
waving her phallic flowers in his face. "Get lost!"

The dog yarks on her sidewalk.
"Now that's onomatopoeia," Francisco mutters.

Thwuck. A rosebud flops on Francisco's ear.

"No, that's onomatopoeia," she retorts,
as she confusticates the open and closed sign.

He leaves, but not before a giddy giggle and tapdance.

Problem Solving?

This is probably a reminder to most of you, but I wanted to say it again: please don't navigate around this blog through the link on Blackboard or an email from me. Open a new browser, type in the address, and see if some of your posting/responding problems are solved.

Thanks to Kayla for pointing this out.

Ask the Experts

Poetry is an alternate genre that we've been looking at during this unit; it's not as straight-forward and easily digestable as other genres, but that's what makes it fun. And we're breaking it down even further: on Wednesday, 11-7, come ready to share your expert knowledge on your assigned poem genre.

You should be able to:
1. define the genre according to experts and in your own words
2. describe its conventions (what makes a ______ a ______? ex: what makes a sestina a sestina?), such as # of lines, rhyme scheme, rhythm, and others
3. provide an example (at least one) of a published poem in this genre

You will have time on Wednesday to talk in your groups for a few minutes, and then you'll break off with members of the other groups and share your expertise. By the end of the day, you'll be experts on five of different poetry genres. Riveting, isn't it?

Here are your groups:

SESTINA
Sonja, Kayla, Kristina, Melissa, Rob

VILLANELLE
Brittanee, Stacie, Nathalie, Carrie, Nate

ERASURE
Hannah, Josh, Nick, Mark, Rachael

PANTOUM
Lauren, Steven, Phillip, Tucker, Taylor

HAIKU
Travis, Hailey, Ashley, Brittney, Kelsey

If you feel so inclined, you can also post your example as a comment on this blog (or as a supplementary post on your own!) for your classmates to see.

Let me know if you have questions about your genre; happy reading!

Parody/ Satire Example

"Oprah Out of Control"
Headline in The Star

I have seen many horrible headlines
Of disasters on land and in air;
I have watched documentaries with breadlines
And pinched faces defining despair.
I have stood on the shores of the ocean
While the storm-surges darken and roll,
But I have never heard such a commotion
As Oprah out of control.

I have seen Jenny Jones stand as witness
And Geraldo go down on his back,
Kathy Lee giving lessons on fitness
And Montel telling how to be black.
I have watched Jerry Springer take cover
When a guy finds his filly's a foal
Or a girl finds a girl is her lover:
But Oprah out of control?

Oh, I hope that the world will be saner
When the talk-shows at last reach an end,
When poor mom needs no guard to restrain her
And a friend kisses only a friend.
But I cling to my pillow-- it's so soft--
And I shake to the depths of my soul,
And I shudder, in spite of my Zoloft,
At Oprah out of control.

R.S. Gwynn
first published in Light Quarterly, no. 32, Spring 2001
Republished in Poetry Daily (2003)

A real post of sorts.

Thanks to all who chose to create and maintain a blog over the next three weeks during Unit Four. I admit that blogging is rather addicting for me too! I keep fiddling with colors and borders and such... but I think I'm satisfied with the blog's appearance so far. If you have any suggestions for academic links or other (appropriate) blogs, leave me a comment to add them.

I've received some really interesting questions about this unit, which shows me that you're thinking hard about the assignments and how to represent them in your unit project. The class activities are designed to expand your thinking, challenge you, and give you an opportunity to explore alternate genres. The writing assignments build on the activities, which you should try at home and then post on your blog or work them into your performance. If you're not clicking with the prompt-- which happens-- try the "Extras" in your readings packet or free-write, compose a poem, post past explorations, or post a picture and respond to it. Just get the writing done!

P.S. Someone in my office just walked by and said, "Are you blogging at school?" Yes, I'm blogging at school: disciples unite!