NCTE Response

So, I'm pretty much done with the NCTE book and I must say that I really enjoy reading it. I think the author has some great activities regarding bringing in multiple texts (like paintings) and revision. Her discussion of activities really made me take a step back and view Carver from more of a teacher lens. I'm looking forward to teaching some of his stuff to my future students and I hope to use some of the techniques in this book to do so. In this response, I am just going to highlight some stuff I like about the NCTE book. To me, Carver is a writer of human conversations, which is why I'm excited to be able to talk about him in a public place next week.

First, I would like to talk about the poetry section of the NCTE book. I am not a huge fan of catalog poems, but I like the exercises that the author had her students do in class. I like the class catalog poem (the Fear of...) because it encourages collaboration and could potentially be used as an introduction to a more vast unit on poetics (68-70). I hadn't read any Carver poetry until reading some excerpts in this book and I must say that I like his style. I think his poetry, in many ways, is very similar to his fiction; it isn't too abstract and it usually tells a story. While reading his short stories I definitely felt as if I could make a connection personally to them, which is why I'm glad his poetry is similar (it has the same impact).

Next, I would like to talk about the revision section of the NCTE book. I must admit that, in high school, I also hated the idea of editing my paper or "revising" it. Rubenstein's chapter on revision really made me rethink what revision means. I like how she juxtaposes a few versions of Carver's stories to show us how they have changed through revision. Honestly, after reading, I really wanted to go back to some of my poems and re-imagine some of them. To re-envision seems much more enticing than "editing." I think if we can get our students talking about Carver, then they will be more willing to partake in revision (especially after we show them how Carver revised some of his stories). I really like how her kids wanted to read the other version of his stories when they read only one version; the power of Carver is strong.

I like the way Rubenstein's students came to know Carver as "Ray." I've said this before... but there is really just something so different about Carver when you juxtapose him with other writers studied throughout curriculum. He puts it all out on the table and asks us to take a closer look at situations or conversations we might otherwise miss while in transit. There are tons of things we could use from this book for our paired teaching. I look forward to discussing the possibilities over some food... I think that's how Carver would want it done.

The NCTE Post

I think I will talk about the insights I enjoyed and then cover Carver’s applicability in the classroom.

The fact that he did not like being the father of minimalism was not surprising. He didn’t appear to be the type to want any recognition. But obviously he wanted the fellowships so he wouldn’t go bankrupt for a third time.

I would say that dirty realism describes Carver; however, he is more than that. I mean, it fits well, but I hate to pigeon hole him considering I could never predict what each story was going to contain. I suppose, as Carver said, he is a precisionist. Yup, I more than suppose; I agree.

In my reading of Carver, I missed two things which Rubenstein pointed out. His stories were mainly in the present? Looking back I can see it’s true, yet I never considered it or made the connection. Maybe that is what allowed him to jump in at the middle of the story and get readers wrapped up so quickly?

I also never realized Carver’s lack of figurative language. People were as they were. Yet I rendered them vividly in my mind. There is something to be said for describing people in basic, human ways?

Carver in the classroom… Rubenstein even admits that some might argue that Carver’s life is not for adolescents…we already acknowledged this. So, as Adam suggested before, we would use certain stories or certain excerpts from certain stories. Who knows, maybe we’ll get lucky and be teaching English to juniors and seniors at a progressive high school so we’ll just use it all; bahahaha, right.

Why would anyone introduce Carver (2)? I like how Rubenstein quietly released him.

In the section we are responding for there were specific stories mentioned, but they weren’t ones we read. A few more pages ahead Rubenstein goes into more detail about revision and the examples of “The Bath” and “A Small, Good Thing” are relatable. After reading “The Bath,” I am sold on the idea of using the two together in class. It can show students that one is not better as revision is mistakenly said to do; they are different (47).

Rubenstein makes it sound like Carver shakes things up among her students. I am not surprised. The same short stories are always read in school such as “The Necklace” and “Gift of the Magi” which are, I don’t know, distant by comparison. “The Most Dangerous Game” is good though…but yea, unlike authors who say their technique or text or classroom creates the effect they write about, I want to believe Rubenstein. Like the fact that students react to the endings...I mean, I felt lost in final sentences; wouldn’t that be universal and good for conversation (24).

Bringing in paintings? Yes, yes, yes; Y, E, S (31-33).

There was more that interested me. I want to save it though. I am sick of writing about Carver. I want to converse about him.

Response 7

Gentlemen. Sorry for my absence from the blog. I've returned. For response 7 I have created a cartoon of the story "Fever." This story really got to me. I can't get the line "Happy. As if, Carlyle thought, happiness was all there was to life." I feel it's one of those sentences that gets right to the heart of what Carver is writing about. That there's so much more to who we are and what we want and what we experience than just seeking happiness. It may be part of it, but by no means is happiness all that life is about. Genius.

I have mixed feelings about the Toondoo website I used. For one thing, the name is stupid and childish, but the real danger with this website and places like goanimate, and even glogster is that I think there is a chance of mocking the literature we read in high school English class. There are good, all-in-fun parodies, but some of these websites have the potential for completely missing the point when in students hands. They also have potential for beautiful creation. It is incumbent on the teacher to build that respectful classroom community, I suppose. But I get nervous. I'm the same way as a dad. I can see the 300 ways my daughter could lose an eye or a tooth at anytime, and have to convince myself that taking risks is good for everyone's development. Just as it is our students. Ah well. Here is the cartoon.

By MisterAA | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

I tried to incorporate the scenes that really stuck out, made an impact, and carried the story. Let me know if I succeeded. The story is beautiful and terrible like the best of Carver's works and I worry about walking the line between parody and disrespect.

Peace.

NCTE Book

Well, the book breaks into three sections nicely.

1. Introduction through first interlude: xi-38

2. Three, interlude and four: 39-76

3. Five through Chronology: 77-112

So I guess for now I would say read the first section and we'll do no-frills reader response. Just put it up when you have the chance? By class next week? Sometime next week? It's nebulous.

From what I have read of this book I am pleasantly surprised, so don't dismay.

For the last two I think we should turn it into an in-person discussion? We can get some food and run our mouths about Carver and education.

Thoughts?

James Final Post

For my final post I decided to take one of Rob's suggestions and create a Capzle. Having never done something like this before, I thought it would be fun to try out.

I like Capzles because it allows you to move at your own pace through a chronological slide show. In my case, I tried to set up a brief log of events through the story "Careful." I also like that Capzles can incorporate all sorts of media: photos, videos, blog posts, mp3s, etc. You can create your own unique multimedia account of the events in the story. That's how I envision this activity with students. Not only can they use these materials to represent the story, but they can also make their own capsules for future events. In my example, I referred to a time before the story. Students can make slides of what they believe may happen to characters after the events of the story.

All in all, I like the setup of the site. I like the look of Capzles--they're sharp and easy to navigate. I also like the timeline aspect of them, which I think would separate them from an ordinary blog or slideshow.

Here's my lame attempt...I couldn't figure out how to embed the videos into the posts. It wasn't working for me.

http://www.capzles.com/#/4c2dfd94-70fa-415e-9569-bdbb33af9b0d/

Short Cuts

Well, I switched around about whether to describe this assignment as modeled for my current desires, future students, only our group, literature circles in general or other frames of reference; it is disjointed, even in my mind. So, I will write what I have done, what I was thinking at the time and how to apply it to our blog/future classrooms.

I wanted to make this prompt into an opportunity to have a reading group come together and discuss things in person. I suppose that could have been done based on any of the weekly readings we did, but it was never explicitly assigned. The five readings for this week were great and could have been discussed yet I wanted to add more to the mix. For that reason, I watched Short Cuts.

I thought of making the prompt to watch the movie and then meet to discuss it; that only adds to our work load though. You could make that assignment generic enough for any literature circle. For your future reference, Short Cuts costs twenty bucks on Amazon and is not streaming on Netflix so the best way to get it is through the queue on Netflix.

The movie is well done and has the same feel as Carver’s stories. It is based on nine of his stories and a poem, which I sort of knew about before watching the movie. Of the nine, we had only read two, yet Carver’s motifs which we have seen were abundant. Surprisingly, it is a little over three hours long. Rather than write anything about the movie, I will just tell you to see it if you can (I attempted to express that I merely had a positive experience with the movie without hyping or explaining it before you watch it).

I didn’t read closely about what the movie was based on until after finishing it. When I realized that I hadn’t read seven of the stories that I was based on, I read those too: “Neighbors,” “They’re Not Your Husband,” “Will You Be Quiet Please?”, “So Much Water So Close to Home,” “Jerry and Molly and Sam,” “Collectors,” and “Tell The Women We’re Going.”

Combining the movie and the stories was a solid experience. I liked knowing enough about Carver to enjoy the movie but at the same time I was in the dark on a majority of the plot line. After reading the other stories I have respect and admiration for the screen writer of Short Cuts.

So what was this as a prompt for me/grad students? I suppose it was to watch a movie based on the book used for the literature circle text and if necessary, further reading of the author.

How would I use it for our students? Have them watch the movie based on their book and discuss with group members in person.

It is great that students can collaborate online and create interactive media presentations, but I missed having a conversation in real time about an author I had never read and a style that I was intrigued by even when I found it jarring. Making the final assignment to meet and talk gives students the option of discussing the stories or the novel they read, along with the movie. I also feel like it would be a great capstone to reflect on the blog.

If I need to articulate or defend my point of view better, ask me in class. Also, if you want to know more about Short Cuts or the other Carver stories, definitely ask me. I struggled to hold back a bunch of things because I don’t want to influence your future readings or viewing.

Post 7 - Glog

For this prompt, I chose to create a Glog (this was my first time creating one--pretty fun, actually). I put a few videos I found on YouTube as well as my "video journal" from the last prompt. I created four found poems from the stories we read this week and then recorded an audio component for each one. I registered an account so you all should be able to see my Glog. If anyone has a problem please let me know.

I think students would enjoy creating Glogs because they encourage kids to pick out things they like about authors or stories and then showcase them with relevant YouTube clips and songs. It's extremely easy to embed video and audio, which is great. I also thought it would be cool to create a Glog for each class that we teach. On the Glog, we can embed videos our students have done or videos of classroom happenings and stuff like that. We could also insert some interesting/funny quotes that were said by our students over the course of the semester. Just throwing some ideas out there. Hope everyone is enjoying the break.

Here is the link to my Glog:
http://vcglog.glogster.com/carver513/

Last Post Prompt Before NCTE Book

For next Friday, March 18th (pushed it back...we'll make up for it in the NCTE book), we will be reading "Careful," "The Train," "Fever," "The Bridal," and "Cathedral." That will complete the collection of Cathedral.

The final prompt is:

Create your own activity and experiment with it on the blog...

So, I say, we do what we want. Try to make it at least tangentially related to something a student could do, but make sure you do something that you find satisfying. Don't get caught up in trying to use one of these sites below if you don't want to:

http://www.glogster.com/ (example: http://ma96.glogster.com/langston-hughes/)

http://prezi.com/

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

http://www.capzles.com/

Also, I think it is important to note that this doesn't have to be approached as a final assessment assignment. I was getting stuck on that idea, but each post has been enough of an assessment that there doesn't necessarily need to be a capstone to the blog.

James Response 6 (cont.)

Here's the Youtube link in case it doesn't work...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_itB9mbCn_Q

James Response 6

Boy's response to his father (Myers) from "The Compartment"...

Post Six: Stream of "Vitamins"

It is all in the video...

Post Five: Founding "Feathers"

The lines that I chose as my favorite are in italics. The other lines were chosen based on their ability to give a summation of the story while adding to the oddity of the poem.

At first I thought that there wasn’t much information provided at the beginning of the story, as is usual for Carver, but the first two lines I chose disprove that. It is clear that the guy is only a friend from work. He is not a friend; he’s a friend from work. Big difference. And the fact that he provides a detailed map that I assumed was hand-drawn stood out, but didn’t quite click until it was said Bud lived twenty miles outside of town. He’s a rural bumpkin. I would say I was a rural kid, but no bumpkin by these standards.

Oh, next up, the fact that during the whole wishing thing our narrator is talking about how he wouldn’t love Fran if it she cut her hair...that was a bit of a gender issue which gets another look at the end.

The only part of my next line is “we could hear.” It was the description of the car pulling in on the gravel driveway. When I was a kid, we had a gravel driveway so I suppose the sound reminds me of childhood. It is not perfect euphony, it is probably actually an annoying noise, but it is distinct.

Speaking of which, as a child I also went camping at a state park that just so happened to border a peacock farm. I guess they are extra loud at night. I slept through it all, but I remember my mom freaked the hell out the next morning. Youtube one of those SOBs; they’re something.

The swan. The beauty of it; made of crystal only to have its back filled with ash. The wisp of smoke was almost romantic. I took the beautiful swan and gave it the characteristics of Olla’s teeth to show that few things about this story were beautiful. In a way, I made the swan into the hated peacock.

The description of the baby was wow. I do not find them aesthetically pleasing in any way. I combined both the lines about the baby’s ugliness for maximum effect.

Finally, the line about his wife’s words going through him like eenie-meenie-minie-mo down to his toes. I read it a couple times and was smiling at the allusion while also feeling concerned for what could be next. Of course, our narrator concludes with has a child and a distant wife. It is not clear if the child made them distant, but he did say he might not love his wife if she cut her hair. Well, she cut it. And got fat. It’s not politically correct the way he talks, but he did warn her to not cut her hair…

Feathers

this friend from work

gave major and minor.

stop loving her

we’d wish out loud.

didn’t for kids,

it felt good.

we could hear

a peacock

dressed up.

she didn’t know

the mother,

face bright red.

the swan

crooked, jaggedy

to remind me.

to be polite

we paid.

drew a breath.

ugliest, so ugly

this baby beat anything.

courage was beginning

another stage

about my life.

I grinned, shook,

hollered and let go.

she’s gotten fat

she and I…less and less.

Feathers by 13rmg