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

James Response 5

Quotes:

Feathers

“I put my face right up in her hair and hugged her some more” (360)

“Honey, fill me up with your seed!” (376)

“Olla, I called here once. You answered the phone. But I hung up” (368)

Chef’s House

“What about me? What about my sake? Don’t come back, he said” (378)

“This has been a happy house up until now” (380)

“If I was somebody else, I wouldn’t be me. But I’m who I am” (381)

Preservation

“Sandy and her husband sat at the table and drank whiskey and ate the chocolates” (383)

“She waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t” (391)

Compartment

“I gave you life and I can take it back!” (393)

“This boy had devoured Myers’s youth, had turned the young girl he had courted and wed into a nervous alcoholic woman whom the boy alternately pitied and bullied” (398)

Found Poem:

You answered the phone.

Her husband sat at the table,

Ate chocolates and drank whiskey.

Fill me up with your seed!

Honey.

Face in her hair.

Say something, anything.

She waited for him…

What about me?

What about my sake?

I gave you life!

But I’m who I am.

I hung up.

_______________________________________________________

Okay, so I'm really new to any of this voicethread/v-blog/embedding business, so I apologize if my posts are all messed up.

As a general theme, I took lines from each story that showed the deterioration of relationships. I got a sense from each that these were people slowly being torn apart. Foundations were cracking, there was trouble beneath the surface (or on it). I chose lines that showed what once was...and what was to be.

The first line I chose from "Feathers" was something that caught my eye from the narrator. He describes this lovely, quaint relationship he has with his wife Fran. It's simple and loving, and there is a romantic quality to it until the fateful dinner date. I like this quote in that it showed the beauty of the untainted relationship. Before circumstance and doubt rear their ugly heads.

The next quote, "Honey...," was great. It really takes you off guard. I chuckled uncomfortably when I first read it. This line, for me, represents the beginning of the end. Fran has become caught up in the baby fever and, while in the act of making love, she makes a desperate plea for something these two were content without. The line turns not only your head for a double-take, but also turns the fate of the couple's marriage.

I like this next quote, when the narrator tells Olla how he had hung up on her, because in retrospect, that is exactly what he should have done--kept hanging up (in a metaphorical sense). The moment he and Bud extended their relationship outside its parameters was the moment things went downhill. Just as Fran pushed things with the baby, so did they. Some things needn't be forced. Fran and the narrator were content with what they had. Bud and the narrator were fine friends at work. The speaker admits to Olla that he had called, thinking it silly. But really, deep down, he knows he was right to do it.

From "Chef's House," I chose this first quote because I thought it represented the selfish aspect of love that is seen in the story. Wes can't get over the fact that they're losing the house, and he lets that disappointment tarnish his renewed relationship. This line early on shows how Edna's boyfriend is selfish in a way as well. Is Carver making a comment about all of us? This guy can't take that his girlfriend feels the need to be there for her struggling ex. He can't look past her leaving him and see that what she is doing is the right thing to do.

"This has been a happy house..." This is Wes' selfishness. It STILL is a happy house. He is wallowing in his own pity and letting it affect a beautiful thing that he and Edna had forged over the summer. Until he can reconcile with this, he is doomed to forever let her down.

I loved Wes' philosophical rant at the end, so I chose this next line. It's hopeless. Wes feels like no one can change, least of all himself. He may remain sober forever, but he'll always be an addict. I feel like he's ultimately saying that he may have had a blissful summer with Edna, but it appears he'll always find a way to screw it up.

This whiskey and chocolates line from "Preservation" was just so sad and pathetic...it was beautiful. What a sorry state to be in. A perfect picture of a couple hitting hard times, with the chocolates representing a last gasp at love and romance. But what ultimately will win out? The whiskey.

This next line, where the woman waits for her husband to say something, encapsulates her feelings from the whole story. She has been DYING for him to show some sign of life, or affection, or love. She waits for him to speak, to give her any reason to believe or hope, but he can't. Just another Carver relationship fallen into decay.

I just noticed Vincent chose this line as well, and with reason. It's probably the most striking image of the story--this intense battle between father and son. And the idea that by conceiving the child, a gift has been given to the son, and that because of this, there is something that the father feels he OWES him...it's almost the root of their torrid relationship. Be it respect, love, or adoration, Myers feels he hasn't gotten what he deserves from his son, and he despises him for it.

The next line, "devoured youth," was my favorite. It was incredibly powerful. You see the intense animosity Myers has for his son. Although he claims he is not the same man that put the child in a headlock years before, this line says otherwise (as does his eventual cowardice). He places the blame for his failed marriage on the son, instead of where it probably belonged: on a sad, lonely man who had no place being a father.

Post 6: Video Blog

Journal entry as Edna from "Chef's House."        

         I tried to get though to Wes, to see if maybe this summer actually changed him a bit. I had asked him to consider how life would be for us if he supposed none of that bad stuff had ever happened (381). Wes got defensive and told me he could never do such a thing because then he would just be pretending he was somebody else. It’s just hard for me to accept the way things ended up with Wes, I remember we used to spend so much time together and he used to be so different. After he found out about Fat Linda, he just transformed back into the Wes I knew before the summer house.

In a way, this house is a kind of rehab for us. The worst part, though, is that I think our relationship can only continue successfully if we live here. I just wish he didn’t get so damn sad when he found out we had to move out… I think we could work on things if he’d be willing. But maybe I don’t even want to work on things. I’m not sure if it’s me or this house that makes him happy. If it were me, why would it matter if we had to move elsewhere? I don’t know, I suppose this place is just good for him.

Last night when we found out about Linda having to move in, I cooked the rest of the fish we had and we had an extremely awkward supper. I swear, you could have heard a pin drop. Wes spent most of dinner playing around with his food, with his head plopped down a few inches from his plate. It’s like he had no gas left in his tank. That, or he just gave up on himself… it’s clear he’s given up on us. We both plan on leaving here tomorrow even though we have until the end of the month. Chef was nice enough to let Wes stay with him for a week or so just so he doesn’t have to be alone. I still write Bobby and I think I’m gonna go out to Washington and see how he’s doing. I have nothing else to go home to, my friend isn’t gonna be taking me back and I don’t know what I want.

I do know, though, that the summer at this house has been great. I’ll never forget the times I had and how great it was to spend time with Wes. When I think about him later on in my life, I want images from this summer to come into my head. It’s just a shame things can’t be how they are in those smaller moments that we remember. But maybe those moments are so special because they’re small. I suppose the bigger the picture, the more prone you are to finding some flaws. This is a good time for me to move on, beyond Wes. I’ll keep that small photo in my pocket along the way.

"Feathers," "Chef's House," "Preservation," "The Compartment," "Vitamins" Post 5: Found Poem

The poem I created stemmed from the following lines (please note that I broke the lines down and mixed them around in order to create more fluent poetry):


“I caught myself talking like it was something that had happened in the past” (Chefs House 381).
“Someday, they’ll understand things.” (Chefs House 381).
“that will be the end of it” (Chefs house 382).
“Telephone call told her that he was dead” (Preservation 390).
“she waited for him to say something, anything, but he didn’t” (preservation 391).
“I gave you life and I can take it back” (Compartment 393).
“a look of total incomprehension” (Compartment 397)
“the hand of his enemy” (Compartment 398)
“being carried, then pulled back, into sleep” (Compartment 401).
“not be able to push the doorbell” (vitamins 426).
“she walked to Euclid avenue and out of our lives” (Vitamins429).
“I can’t remember what I dream. Maybe I don’t dream” (Vitamins 430)
“things kept falling” (vitamins 440).

Found Poem

I caught myself talking

like it was something that had happened

in the past

Someday,

they’ll understand things

that will be the end of it

                                                           telephone call

she waited for him

to say something, anything

but he didn’t

a look of total

incomprehension

he was dead

the hand of his enemy

being carried, then pulled back

into sleep

                                                             push the doorbell

I gave you life and I can

take it back

I can’t remember what I dream

  “she walked to Euclid avenue”

out of our lives,

things kept

f

a

l

l

i

n

g

maybe I don’t dream 

Voicethread:

Response:

            Let me start off by saying that I really like this assignment because I love writing poetry and using the work of another artist as inspiration (and framework) is definitely a useful constraint. I chose the lines I did because I feel as if they do a great job at capturing a beautiful picture with only a few words. Carver does a great job at conveying emotions and aesthetics through only a few words. To me, all of the lines I chose could work individually as great poems. Similar to Hemmingway’s short poem, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn,” I think the lines I have chosen could create lasting conversation. Often time’s poetry is seen as the creation of multiple lines, stanzas, and the implementation of poetic devices. I think it is important for us, and for our students, to consider the fact that poetry doesn’t always have to be sets of stanzas; it could just be one line… maybe even one word. Anyway, enough about my rant on poetics, I will now explain why I chose some of the lines I did.

             The three lines from “Chef’s House” capture some very important plot occurrences. The first line where Edna explains, “I caught myself talking like it was something that had happened in the past” (381) is crucial because it addresses the relationship between Edna and Wes toward the end of the story. More specifically, upon realizing they had to leave the house, Edna and Wes begin talking about their summer experience as if it were an experience that occurred way back in the past (realistically, it is just about to end). I chose “someday, they’ll understand things” (381) because it is a line spoken by Edna about her and Wes’ kids understanding his bad habits and why their family grew apart. “That will be the end of it” (382) is the last line of the story spoken by Edna. The line is literally about how after cleaning up the house that will be the end of the couple’s time there. However, one would argue that it is Edna explaining that once they move out, that’s the end of the relationship between Edna and Wes. Edna tried to talk sense into Wes, but he remained pessimistic once he heard they had to move out.

            One line I chose from “Preservation,” mentions how Sandy found out her father was dead through a telephone call. This line is important because it sheds light on the disconnect between Sandy and her father and how sad it is that he died after they hadn’t spoken for a while. They line also adds a level of drama to the story because Sandy used to go with her father to auctions when she was a kid and she’s about to go to one with her husband. The other line I chose just showcases her husband’s inability to function as he once did after being laid off.

            “The Compartment” is a great story rich with plenty of awesome quotes. I chose the ones I did because they emphasize how rocky the relationship is between Myers and his son. “Incomprehension” and “enemy” are two words that I think are important to the central plot of the story. One would argue that Myers seems to be pretty indecisive in the story, especially at the end. I also chose the line in which Myer’s describes what he said to his son the last time he saw him, “I gave you life and I can take it back” (393). When we read this line, we are able to figure out what kind of relationship Myers had with his son the last time he saw him. I thought about times where I had verbal altercations with people and said certain things I regretted afterwards. It seemed as though Myers felt bad for what he said (because he’s going to visit his son, after all), but it is clear at the end of the story that Myers still resents his son (which is why he doesn’t get off the train). The last line I chose is the last line of the story where we read about Myers finally being able to fall asleep. I think it’s interesting how he cannot fall asleep in the compartment by himself, but he has no problem falling asleep in a compartment packed full of people. I would argue that Myers couldn’t sleep in his own compartment because he was alone with his thought. Once he goes into the compartment where people are telling stories, he falls asleep (probably because he felt at ease hearing something besides his own thoughts).

            The lines I chose from “Vitamins” are lines that I felt discussed many important movements in the plot. My favorite line out of all of the lines I chose for this poem is the line in “Vitamins” that reads, “things kept falling” (440). These are the last words in the story and I don’t think Carver could have ended it better. Once again, Carver cuts a story off mid-conversation, as if to give his story a “natural” ending. To me, those final lines mean that the situation between the narrator and Patti just got worse. I also think it’s interesting that the story ends with the narrator searching for aspirin. He’s looking for something to cure him, but I wonder how temporary that cure would have been? To compare it to his relationship to Patti, I wonder if they’re too far into the complications of their relationship that they are beyond repair (beyond any type of aspirin).

            I decided not to use any lines from feathers because I didn’t see them fitting into the poem I wrote. I will say, though, that I really like that whole living room scene where they notice Olla’s teeth. Weird, but for some reason it reminded me of Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying because Anse was always talking about new teeth.