Future Readings

Okay, so for March 7th we'll be reading:
"Feathers," "Chef's House," "Preservation," "The Compartment," and "Vitamins."

Then we'll manipulate these prompts to fit our short story needs:

Post 5: (Chapters 8 – 10, pages 80-120) As you read the next three chapters, pick specific lines to respond to. What lines did you like or dislike the most from each chapter? Why? Do you think these lines are important to the overall development of the story? Do you have any problems with the way race, class or gender is being portrayed here? Do you think these lines relate at all to your life? Why did you pick them? What do they mean to you?

Use these lines to create a found poem you feel relates to the big critical issues in the story, post the poem to the blog – record it and upload it to the blog so blog members can listen to it as well. You should try using voice thread for this activity (http://voicethread.com/)

Post 6: (Before you start the end of the book) Pick a character from the story and create a piece of writing that they would write in their journal or diary. Start with a specific event in the story, but also add events, issues, characters that we were not told about. In your post try and address the issues you believe the character is thinking about and dealing with that we may not have been told about in the story. Record video of this piece as if the character were reading it and post it to the blog as a v-log. Your group members can comment on your post as characters from the story as well.

Then for March 21st we'll be reading:
"Careful," "The Train," "Fever," "The Bridal," and "Cathedral." That will complete the collection of Cathedral. We've already read "A Small, Good Thing" and "Were I Am Calling From" out of this collection. This would be a good time to go to an establishment and talk because next we would be getting into the NCTE book.

The final prompt is:

Post 7 (Chapters 11 and 12, pages 120-145) Create your own activity and experiment with it on the blog.

Some sites you may want to consider using:

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/

Raymond Carver Videos on YouTube

Hey All,
I was on YouTube and decided to do a Raymond Carver search. I found some pretty cool videos about Carver's life and his writing. I found what seems to be a three part mini-documentary (it discusses some of his stories as well). As Adam showed us in Carver's obituary, Carver was a heavy drinker for a while (interesting since we just read "Where I'm Calling From"), I'm going to embed the three videos below.

James Response 4

The character that most intrigued me in our readings this time was the main character from "Pastoral," Mr. Harold. Once again, Carver leaves much of the protagonist's background to the imagination, and I think that's what draws me to him. We keep on getting little bread crumbs that eventually lead us to the heart of the story. I took the heart of "Pastoral" to be solidarity, isolation. I'm debating whether to extend that to loneliness, as I believe that things with Mrs. Harold aren't going so well.
But I see myself in the main character in his need for time alone. We all feel that sometimes. Every so often I wish I could go get lost in the woods somewhere all by myself. There's something simultaneously terrifying/exciting/and soothing about being out in the middle of nowhere. Mr. Harold is seeking this refuge, I feel. The man seems bummed, he just wants to get out, drink some scotch and catch a few fish. The one thing I do not share with the man is his love of fishing...I could not spend hours wading in freezing water for a couple of cod. No thank you.
I think this is why Harold has such an intense reaction to the hunters that stroll by. I think he hates them, not just for hunting, but for invading his sanctuary. They have interrupted his solitude--the time he had set aside for just him and his thoughts. And by disrupting the sanctuary of the Nature around him, the upset him doubly. Like the baker in "A Small Good Thing," I want to know more about Mr. Harold. Raymond Carver, you beautiful bastard, why must you tease me so? What is he running from? How are things with his wife? Why does he hate hunting so much, but loves fishing? Maybe some outdoorsmen can settle that one for me.

I won't link it on here, because it would be horribly inappropriate, but the scene involving the hunters aiming their gun at Mr. Harold made me think of the movie "Deliverance." There's a part where these...we'll call them "hillbillies"...terrorize a couple of city boys who have made their way into the backwoods. The way that they hold the outsiders captive with them gun, degrading them in the process, made me think of how the hunters in "Pastoral" felt the need to make Mr. Harold fear for his life. With only a gun, they were able to reduce him and dehumanize him, if only for a moment. Look up the clip at your own risk.

James Response 3

Hmmm...current events you say? I'm not sure if this fits exactly, but as I was reading "What We Talk About..." I could not shake the image of Muzzammil "Mo" Hassan standing in front of a judge. Hassan was the man recently convicted of stabbing his wife to death, a murder that culminating with Hassan beheading the woman he once claimed to love. I feel the question raised in "What We Talk About..." is an interesting one, and I can picture my friends and I debating the same thing over a few drinks. The intense violence of Hassan's actions, and the vehement defense that he was merely defending himself were the talk of Buffalo the last couple months. Hassan claimed his wife had a history of verbal abuse and the stabbing was last stand. He claimed he was the victim. Whether this mad man's story has any validity is not important. The characters in Carver's story recount details of past abusive relationships and question whether they exhibited true love or not, despite the presence of violence. Terri talks of how her ex, Edward, used to beat on her, yet she felt he loved her still. "Sure, it's abnormal in most people's eyes. But he was willing to die for it. He did die for it" (313). Her husband Mel can't fathom this, and the table continues their discussion. I can't seem to decide whether Hussan is Terri or Edward in this case...I guess it depends on whether his story is true (thus contradicting my earlier statement). All in all though, Carver asks us to ponder whether love can exist in the face of violence. Can we hurt those that we claim we love? When you say you love someone, is that love forfeited the moment we lay a hand on him or her? Interesting ideas to think about, and I like that it is brought up in such a quaint setting. It's an intense philosophical question taking place in the suburban home of a doctor with a couple bottles of gin. It's almost appropriate. As if Carver is saying that the debate is not only for the defunct and tragic stories we hear secondhand, but it is something we can examine in our own lifetime (god forbid).

I included an article about the Hassan story, in case anyone is not familiar...

http://www.buffalonews.com/topics/mo-hassan/

I also am super lame and decided to include the Eminem video for "Love the Way You Lie," which depicts a couple struggling with the violence/love dichotomy. Sometimes the most passionate relationships can't contain their fire.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U

drunk like love

Response 3

First, I stumbled upon Carver's obituary. Here it is, although, I think it's only helpful for us as teachers and wouldn't add much for students unless you were asking them to write obituaries.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE5DB1630F930A3575BC0A96E948260&pagewanted=all

On to current event connections. This may be a loose connection, but I couldn't stop thinking about Chris Lee after reading the prompts. No, there are not any craigslist references in Carver's stories, but they are about being drunk and what love means. I can only imagine that Chris Lee was under the confusion of at least one of these things when he posted a self-pic to a very, very, very public site, and named himself there. idiot. I thought Terri said it more directly in "What We Talk About...", but she says, "People are different, Mel." In reference to her abusive husband. I had it in my reading mind that she said something like, "We all do crazy things for love." In "Where I'm Calling From," Roxy finds a boyfriend when her husband, JP won't stop drinking. Chris Lee was obviously out looking for love. He is different, and he sought out love in a way that didn't make sense to most of us. Stupid, but maybe he was trying to figure out love. A discussion starter.



Response 4

I created the wordle using Terri's dialog. The biggest words were "Mel drunk like love." poetry. also crazy and Marjorie were pretty big. Both of these stories could be described this way, I think. "crazy drunk like love."

Starting with "What We Talk About" I thought of all the times I've been in love at the beginning of the story. I was especially struck with Mel's question about where that love goes when the relationship has ended. I've ended 3 long-term relationships and always used to think that the love was not in vain. That the love I shared with those women was important and will remain a part of me. I'm not so sure anymore. I still don't believe it was in vain, but that love has certainly left me, and I am satisfied with the love I have now, although I will say that I learn every day how difficult and beautiful love in a marriage turns out to be. As my great grandfather liked to say "It's hard work." (and he was married 70 years.) That's the personal part.

The responding to the text part: There is great irony as I look back over this story, especially with Mel. He states that he doesn't love his ex-wife any longer, but the drunker he gets, the more it seems that there is something there that he at least misses. He may not love Marjorie any longer, but he doesn't just hate her. There is too much regret. The ending of the story is not quite foreboding, but certainly at least resigned. They fall in silence into the dark. I especially like the lines, "I could hear everyone's heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving..." I've been at that table where something deep, profound, and unmet has been dared to be spoken. When you are suddenly aware of your own fears that love may not be true. Where you wish you could dissolve with the others into the sunset, so as not to be challenged or grounded by expectation or feeling.

Carver says a lot about love and its many manifestations. I think in terms of using this in high school, I am at first inclined to only use the first 3 pages.

In "Where I'm Calling From," Carver also gives a portrayal of life and love gone awry. This one ends abruptly too, and maybe there is symbolism in the allusion to Jack London's "To Build a Fire," and we could all write 5 paragraph essays on lots of English junk, but overall Carver's stories leave me with the impression that we are all just a drink, a step, a relationship away from being in the halfway house, or prison, or on the street. That our lives are more fragile and tenuous than we let ourselves think about. That those moments at 11:38 at night when we think, "what am I doing" may soon turn into "what have I done?"

Response 4

Let me begin by saying that I was impressed by wordle. Making your own is even better than observing someone else’s…so if you did not make one for this assignment, I suggest messing with the site.

Just like in the story, Mel is the biggest part of the conversation. He is surrounded by his smaller thoughts and feelings which amply describe him and his ideas. The random placement and lack of context for words like open and breaking stand out to me. He was open with what he felt, but I as the story continued I thought his points were starting to break apart in the eyes of his friends. More than anything though, the phrase “heart fucking drunk” read off as a concise description of Mel’s state of mind. He walks a fine line with his wife and tells his friend’s girlfriend that he’d love her if things were different. He was definitely f’n some hearts in his drunken tirade.

I randomly organized the words many times waiting for something to strike me. Then I saw love removed from all the other words. It was the focus of the story and most often mentioned, so it is the biggest, but because it was all opinionated philosophizing, love was never neatly packaged. It is as if no one ever approached what it was.

I was struck by the ending of the story. It was anticlimactic, just like passing out after a night of drinking rather than going out. I feel I have been trained to read to the end for the final insight or neat conclusion. I anxiously wait to see what the story will all wind up as, and I think I miss the importance of each page; it was the middle of the story that held the grand statements. As far as applying that to the wordle, I know better than to BS BSers.

Response 3

I pursued the issue of alcoholism in “Where I Am Calling From” and also extended it to include underage drinking. I was thinking about this more in terms of how to apply it to students even though it was not a short story we would normally consider using in class. Students would likely not want to talk about alcoholic family members, but they are always quick to point out their peers who do too much of anything. No names would be used if it came to it, just “a friend” or “someone I know.” I am not looking to change how kids act, but I do not think a discussion about it could hurt.

So many popular songs talk about being in clubs, drinking or actually addressing alcoholics (Shots by LMFAO) that it is obviously relevant to students. And Four Loko was a popular topic only a few months back and I know plenty of students who talked about it.

As far as quotes for this overall idea go, the whole story is a representation. There is nothing glamorous about it; it’s observation of lost men and their meandering conversations with a neutral ending. It paints a drab picture of addiction. I suppose the fact that “he was eighteen or nineteen years old and out of high school and had nothing whatsoever he wanted to do with his life” until he began cleaning chimneys and became an alcoholic might come up in conversation, but the underage drinking discussion is not about directionless students; it applies to all students (454).

If you want students to be bored and disengaged, give them this government article full of lists and minutiae…http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001940.

This article covers slightly more provocative topics and statistics that could be excerpted for discussion…http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/649993.html.

This picture is the downward slope and upward struggle of alcoholism. The concise phrases to describe the steps in either direction…http://www.addictionz.com/images/alcoholism-chart.gif.

Finding youtube videos that are related to alcoholism without being too colorful is difficult, but this news story gives the cops and story keeper’s point of view on underage purchases. It contrasts with the businessweek article that says students are given drinks by parents…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKlJVvjTG3s&feature=fvst.

I am not very happy with how this turned out, but I was covering Mel’s character from “What We Talk About…” and I did not want to use that story twice. I found “Pastoral” to be narrow in every way, so I avoided using it. I feel like Carver’s stories are so realistic that they do not provide exaggerated avenues to pursue.

Response 3 and 4 questions

Hello Gentlemen,

For our convenience I've taken it upon myself to post the questions for us to respond to this time round. Feel free to add to or change your response as you see fit. Maybe switch which story goes with which question if you don't like how they match up. I didn't get a chance to read pastoral. I bought a collection that Carver called his best works, and it wasn't in it. Sorry guys, I went the indie route and went to Talking Leaves.


Post 3: (What We Talk About When We Talk About Love) After reading respond using these questions: What connections do you seeing between the story and current events? Be specific – include quotes from the story to help you convey your ideas. Find some news articles, video shots on youtube and other video hosting websites and post them to the blog. Explain the connections you see. Ask your group members to comment.

Post 4: (Where I'm Calling From) After reading the story: Pick a character you are interested in and spend some time writing about them. Who do they remind you of in your own life? Why? Try and use specific references to events in the story and your own life. What do you think of the decisions they have made up to this point? Do you like this person? What advice would you give them? Who else do they remind you of from other literature you have read or other characters in movies, television shows and other texts from popular media? Share some links to these things on the blog.

"Pastoral," "Where I'm Calling From," "What We Talk About..." Responses 3 and 4

Response 3

          Since the stories from this week seem to deal heavily with the human condition and the hardships we sometimes face (love, loss, alcoholism, loneliness), there are plenty of current events that are relevant to Carver’s stories. Before I get into the connections that the stories have with current events, let me just say that I am beginning to understand why some might consider Carver a “minimalist.” Similar to “A Small, Good Thing,” the stories from this week, “Pastoral,” “Where I’m Calling From,” and “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” are written in a very minimalist manner. Not in a sense where the stories were two pages each and Carver used broken syntax, but in a sense that we are, once again, given bits and bits of small information. Did anyone else find similarities between the beginning of “Pastoral” and “A Small, Good Thing?” I enjoy reading Carver’s work thus far because I must keep reading if I want to find information that is usually given to me in the first page of other books (such as the name of narrator and other characters). Although the plots of Carver’s stories are usually linear, I often feel like I am watching an in-sequence version of the movie Memento. For those of you who haven’t seen it, I won’t ruin it by explaining it, but I will provide a clip from the movie so that you can see where I’m coming from (start the clip around 2:25 and just watch for about a minute—I think you’ll see some similarities. The way this guy is questioning stuff... that's how I feel while I'm reading Carver sometimes. We get small details in even smaller doses. 

While reading Carver, I am constantly asking myself, “Where is this happening? Who is this guy? What are they talking about?”

            I’m finding it difficult to link any of these stories to current events on the news because I think most of what is discussed in Carver’s stories (thus far) has to do with little things or relationships that we often overlook. “Where I’m Calling From” is my favorite from this week, as it deals heavily with alcoholism and the weight of drinking on relationships (I like the emotions it provokes you to have and the things it causes you to ponder). In the beginning of the story, the narrator explains (in relevance to the “drying-out facility” (452), “I’ve been here once before. What’s to say? I’m back” (452). This made me think about how difficult it must be for people to stop drinking after doing so excessively throughout their lives. It’s clear that the narrator has been at the drying out facility for help before, but regardless, he’s back for help again. The aforementioned and the fact that his drinking has had a negative impact on his family life made me think about what happened to MLB baseball player Miguel Cabrera this past week. Cabrera had been in legal trouble with drinking before and after his successful season last year most people thought he was done with excessive drinking and had turned everything around. However, on Wednesday, Cabrera was charged with a DUI.

Here’s a link to the article: http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2011/02/17/miguel-cabrera-charged-with-dui/

I’m sure that like our narrator in, “Where I’m Calling From,” Cabrera’s struggles with alcohol have had an impact on his family… both blood and baseball. Also, him drinking heavily again and doing this is very similar to the fact that our narrator is back in the drying out facility after being out of it for a bit.

            In “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” Mel exclaims, “it ought to make us feel ashamed when we talk like we know what we’re talking about when we talk about love” (Carver 316). I’m not entirely sure how to connect this to a current event, but doesn’t it connect to so much more than one event? I think most of us have dealt (or are dealing) with what we might consider love at one point or another. Like Mel suggests earlier (315), we always think when we’re in love, nothing could ever be better… but after the relationship ends we move on. Today, people get divorced all of the time and fall in “love” with someone else a few days later (mostly we see this from celebrities). So, in that sense, I suppose that’s where this love thing fits in on the larger spectrum of “events.” Truth is, though, maybe we just don’t know what we’re talking about and that’s how we know what love really is. It’s a very complicated topic, I think.
            As far as “Pastoral,” I’m not sure what events we could tie to it and I’m interested to see if anyone else makes a connection. Does anyone else think Mr. Harold is having trouble with his wife and that’s why he’s at this cabin fishing and taking his mind off of things? It’s a pretty gloomy story, but the ending, to me, suggests that he is having some troubles with his wife, “he couldn’t very well go home” (Carver 204).


Response 4


"Wordle" link for J.P.'s character: http://www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/3178959/j.p.

            For this response I decided to create a “wordle” for J.P. from “Where I’m Calling From.” For the “wordle” I used some of his dialogue as well as some words used by the narrator to describe him. I think the words in the “wordle” describe J.P. extremely well. I like how the word “kids” is extremely large because I feel that although he’s going through some tough times, J.P. still loves his wife and his kids. Speaking of his wife, I also included her name, Roxy, and a line from J.P. in which he exclaims, “That’s her!” (463) in reference to his wife visiting him at Frank Martin’s place. Seeing how the “wordle” looks is pretty cool because the disheveled layout of all the words could suggest how chaotic and jumbled J.P.’s life is in the book. His head is clearly all over the place, he is nervous (shaking), and has gone through a lot of things.

            I also chose to insert the word “well” into the “wordle” because of that whole scene where the narrator is talking about J.P.’s well story (454). This part of the story is my favorite, as I think the well symbolizes a bunch of stuff. This is the first parallel I think we can make. As a kid, J.P.’s dad rescues him after a while and brings him back into “the world he’d always lived in” (454). As an adult, the well could symbolize J.P.’s struggles with alcohol and how his problems have disconnected him from “the world he’d always lived in.” I would argue that Roxy is the equivalent of what J.P.’s father was during his childhood (his savior). This connection (between the well symbolizes his alcoholism) can be further argued for if we consider this line, “everything about his life was different for him at the bottom of that well” (454). It’s a really gloomy picture, isn’t it? To be stuck at the bottom in a dreary place but still have a view of something greater (the blue sky, the clouds, and the birds). A young J.P., pretty similar to an old J.P., seems kind of helpless.

            I chose to put Roxy’s name in the “wordle” because, as I mentioned briefly before, I think she is his savior. After reading, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” I was thinking about the type of relationship Roxy and J.P. have in “Where I’m Calling From.” Although they have fought (verbally and physically) several times and don’t seem to always get along, they still care about each other in the end. It’s almost as if she understands that drinking makes J.P. become another person (be stuck at the bottom of the well) and she believes that he can become who he once was (and get out of that well). Without her, I wonder if J.P. would care about getting better. I think he needs her as he needed the rope when he was stuck in the well. I suppose love isn’t about giving up on the person you claim to love.