So I’m just about finished with the novel, and I want to write about the similarities between Leonard Bankhead and David Foster Wallace. First off, there are superficial resemblances pertaining to the “appearance” of DFW, such as Leonard wearing a bandana, chewing tobacco, and being depressed. Eugenides eschews interviewers regarding these similarities. According to the Christian Science Monitor interview: “The bandanna that Leonard wears, I put that on him because of Axl Rose, the singer from Guns N’ Roses. There are some things in Leonard that are reminiscent of Wallace, like Leonard putting the tobacco tin in his boot. Wallace used to put his tobacco tin in his sock. But the totalities of the two characters are completely different. Leonard’s parents are divorced, Wallace’s were not; Leonard is from Portland, Wallace was not; Leonard grew up very poor, Wallace did not; Leonard is a biologist, Wallace was not; Leonard gets married at 22, Wallace did not; Wallace was a writer with depression, a very different disease to manic depression. I could go on and on. If you look at the two of them, they are not very alike.”
I think that Eugenides utilizes the idea of cloyingly manipulating these diversions, beginning with the plot, and continuing with his characters, especially Leonard Bankhead. He appropriates Victorian tropes for the plot, while intertwining tacit post-modern characteristics throughout the narrative. For example, when we first meet Leonard, he discusses with Maddy about the “eternal verities” of life, or the “learning how to die.” This theme is obviously pervasive throughout literature, but specifically, this is Wallace’s premise for the majority of his work, particularly his later works. He even uses the term eternal verities in interviews and such. What is “clever” about this juxtaposition is that Leonard’s post-modern nexus is ensconced in the reality of the Victorian narration. The reality that Leonard searches for, but cannot because of his illness, is, I believe, commentary on Wallace. Going back to “All Things Shining” the authors refer to this epic, albeit unfulfilled search as the “search beyond borders,” and Leonard does this throughout the novel. Eugenides prefers to keep his characters moving through the narrative rather than step back and handle their own specific realities, which is a Realist trope.
There are many other things that I enjoyed, such as the Mitchell/Leonard contrast, but I really was fascinated with Leonard’s likeness to Wallace. I know, I’m totally obsessed, but what are you gonna do, right? We all have our manias, so why not exploit them.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Thursday, November 17, 2011
First Quarter of the Marriage Plot
In the first hundred or so pages of The Marriage Plot, I am seeing themes of identity formation, meaning (obviously with all the semiotics talk, but also through the action of the people), and how we make meaning out of ourselves and others through a complex interchange of social and personal constellations. Madeline is busily trying to define herself in a time when the definition of who she can be is changing. She is reacting against the norms of her parents expectations, her own expectations, the tropes inbued in the nineteenth century novels she reads, the semiotics class she is a part of, and her attempts to rationalize falling in love through the writing of Barthes. Much of her identity and the identity of the other characters is wrapped up in the tropes of literature. Both overtly stated in the book, but additionally in the almost stereotypical literary stock figure descriptions that the author uses as he is writing the Marriage Plot. ( I suppose you could say this is post-modern in the sense that he is “ironically” using cliché to make his overall point come out. Look I am a writer who is writing a story about meaning and language and how it is stereotypical and I am using language and stereotypes to make my point. I am so clever. And he is clever, but not in a tiresome way) None of the characters seem to have any agency of their own, but are all driven by the interpretations they are given and then they act within those parameters. Even the ones who think they outside looking in like Thurston. This is not to say I don’t like the book, because I am enjoying it greatly. I read the first quarter of the book Wednesday afternoon, enjoying all of it; I only stopped because I had a meeting to attend. I like the interplay of the narrative and the themes I am seeing so far; he uses the mechanics of storytelling to make his points without becoming mechanical.
I look forward to watching it unfold (or should I say unpack itself, to be "deconstructive").
I look forward to watching it unfold (or should I say unpack itself, to be "deconstructive").
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Meh.
I found "The Thing about Life" to be fairly pedestrian. Shields lays out facts about the inevitable collapse of the the body in a fairly uninteresting manner. I kept wishing for someone like John McPhee to come in and salvage a decent idea, but that never happens. For the most part I found the book to be a long whine about how the author is getting old, cannot accept that, keeps wanting to relive his glory days as a young athletic boy, and still hasn't resolved issues with his father, who doesn't seem to be as upset about getting old as his son is and want his father to be. His staccato writing style was also irritating. One can tell he is a sports writer. Endless short sentences without the élan of a Hemingway. I felt as if I was being beat with a stick by reading this book. Maybe I am not testosterone driven enough to give a shit about getting older. (I am the same age as the author), but I am more concerned with where I am in my life to worry about where I was. Be here now.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Your Story is Never About You
I liked the stories inside of stories and the never-ending quality of the stories. I assumed that the stories were going to be interrelated by the end, so I just trusted that assumption and plowed along even when i could not make a direct connection. I liked that the connections were not obvious, if there at all. I am not sure there were direct connections. It took me most of the novel to realize (i am slow) that the Hakawati was the son. Duh, he was telling the story, the only first person narrator in the book. And the story was about him, since the story was about everyone else. (See title of entry, which came from the novel).
I also liked that the stories were over the top mythologized, even or especially the contemporary "true' ones. "The only true event in that whole story, in all its versions, is that the man existed." No one's story is ever true, or complete, in and of itself. We retell, revise our own stories constantly as we re-shape, re-cast our identities and justifications for our interpretations of those stories. But it is not just our personal stories that matter. It is every story we here. They all inculcate themselves into our lives, helping to give it meaning through the interpretations we take from the stories we hear. Early in the novel, the narrator's grandfather, the hakawaiti, is fussing at Osama, "Here I am trying to infuse you with culture, my flesh and blood, my own kin." But Osama doesn't want to listen, to take the story as his grandfather is giving it to him. Yet the story still takes hold. Perhaps not in the way the grandfather intended. Later in the novel speaking about the Baybars story-line, "in almost al the remaining versions of the story, none of them are about Baybars. You see, the hakawaitis' audience is the common man who couldn't really identify with a royla, almost infallibel hero, so early on the hakawaits began to introduce characters that their audience could empathize with (p.441). The story is never really about the hero of the story, but more about the listener. What we take from the story that we are listening to, as well as the one we are making. The repetition of the word "listen" as the first and last words of the novel, as well as being repeated multiple times throughout the novel, I think, emphasizes the role of the listener/reader in the making of the story and the meaning that can be derived from the the story.
I also found it interesting, at one point (which I cannot find right now) there is a direct quote from Macbeth's witches from the beginning of Macbeth. When shall we three meet again, and what not which brings the idea of fate. Are we destined to live out our lives, as in a novel? Or do we have some agency? Or does the way we interpret the storylines that are given to us determine our fate, and in that act of interpreting lies our agency?
Overall, the book has caused me to think about things. Not necessarily in a new way, but it is still resonating with my thoughts/life since I finished it this morning. I imagine it will for awhile yet. That is if I am aware enough to listen.
I also liked that the stories were over the top mythologized, even or especially the contemporary "true' ones. "The only true event in that whole story, in all its versions, is that the man existed." No one's story is ever true, or complete, in and of itself. We retell, revise our own stories constantly as we re-shape, re-cast our identities and justifications for our interpretations of those stories. But it is not just our personal stories that matter. It is every story we here. They all inculcate themselves into our lives, helping to give it meaning through the interpretations we take from the stories we hear. Early in the novel, the narrator's grandfather, the hakawaiti, is fussing at Osama, "Here I am trying to infuse you with culture, my flesh and blood, my own kin." But Osama doesn't want to listen, to take the story as his grandfather is giving it to him. Yet the story still takes hold. Perhaps not in the way the grandfather intended. Later in the novel speaking about the Baybars story-line, "in almost al the remaining versions of the story, none of them are about Baybars. You see, the hakawaitis' audience is the common man who couldn't really identify with a royla, almost infallibel hero, so early on the hakawaits began to introduce characters that their audience could empathize with (p.441). The story is never really about the hero of the story, but more about the listener. What we take from the story that we are listening to, as well as the one we are making. The repetition of the word "listen" as the first and last words of the novel, as well as being repeated multiple times throughout the novel, I think, emphasizes the role of the listener/reader in the making of the story and the meaning that can be derived from the the story.
I also found it interesting, at one point (which I cannot find right now) there is a direct quote from Macbeth's witches from the beginning of Macbeth. When shall we three meet again, and what not which brings the idea of fate. Are we destined to live out our lives, as in a novel? Or do we have some agency? Or does the way we interpret the storylines that are given to us determine our fate, and in that act of interpreting lies our agency?
Overall, the book has caused me to think about things. Not necessarily in a new way, but it is still resonating with my thoughts/life since I finished it this morning. I imagine it will for awhile yet. That is if I am aware enough to listen.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
The weaving story
Digging the Hakawati. At times, I just like to get lost in the story, and not try to figure out the source, since there are so many layers of story here. But, isn't that what the author wants you to do? Some gems of stories in here, I might steal them just to sound clever.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Quotes and Cowboy Commentary: Shooting from the Hip
“There is nothing to fear from someone who shouts.”
P140
The whites take over without too much ado, they simply move in and change the narrative of the region.
“There is no story that is not true”
P141
Stories become true depending upon who and how many believe them to be true. “The WMD” during the run up to the Iraqi war for example. The willingness of the villagers to listen to the stories of the missionaries, because throughout the book the people tell stories to each other to explain and reinforce custom and beliefs: the construction of social reality through story telling.
‘“Your buttocks understands our language,’ said someone light-heartdly and the crowd laughed.
“What did he say?” the white man asked his interpreter.’ P145
The blind arrogance of the white culture to not listen even when the villagers are talking. The story of the oppressed does not concern the oppressor.
“But stories were already gaining ground that the white man had not only brought a religion but also a government. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umuofia to protect the followers of their religion. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary.”
“Although such stories were now often told they looked like fairy-tales. . .”155
The villagers begin to hear what was happening in other villages, but refuse to believe the stories, dismissed as fairy tales. To “foolish” to be true, even with the earlier statement that all stories are true. This was their downfall to not pay attention to the stories that were rampant, to discount tales that did not fit into their social constructs as childish, or womanish.
“The heathen speak nothing but falsehood. Only the word of our god is true” 157
“The story had arisen among the Christians themselves” 158
Nice contrast of ideas: The whites deny that the villagers can have any truth, yet the Christians are the origin of the false story that one of the people killed a “god” without consequence, thus trying to prove the superiority of Christianity over the nativist religion.
They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance. P174
The difference between the “trial” of the village elders, where they heard the stories of each side and made a judgment based on what was right rather than the “law.” Justice in the village was not blind, but took in to account the people involved. The trial of Okonkwo and the others, by contrast, was a blatant use of power to control the narrative. There was no attempt to hear the villager’s story in any context other than the context of the oppressor.
“Does the white man understand our custom about land?”
“How can he when he does not even speak our tongue?” 176
Not only a different language, but the “way of knowing,” of understanding the meaning of the world around them: a discourse community.
“from the very beginning religion and education went hand and hand “182
to control the story line, or what people believe to be the storyline/cause and effect of their lives, the religion/faith of the people and the education of the people must be controlled in a coordinated fashion. Not that there is a conspiracy to control, but religion and education are very efficient “judges of normality” (Foucault) or reinforcers/editors of the community narrative.
“those who believed such stories were unworthy of the lord’s table” 185
Again, if you believe something “other” than the norm then you are not worthy of full participation in society’s goods. Makes me think of James Gee and his Discourse (big D) communities where in order to acquire the “goods” of whatever group you are in you must be fluent in the discourse of the community. Also who determines what discourse is appropriate is determined by power structures/relationships within those communities. The current “value” of education/college vs. business and making money is an example, the way the talk is being framed, as if it should be debated at all puts the western idea of “liberal” education, or the education of free (liberty/liberal) men at risk. Learn to do something that is of value to business, so you can become a commodity.
“We cannot leave the matter in his hands because he does not understand our customs, just as we do not understand his. We say he is foolish because he does not know our ways, and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not know his. Let him go away.” 191
“The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate. There was so much else to include, and one must be firm in cutting out details. He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: the pacification of the primitive tribes of the lower Niger” 209
The last few sentences of the book: perfect. The life of Okonkwo and his world reduced to a paragraph in the omnivorous narrative of the west. Cut out the details because they open up a space for a counter narrative, too messy and confusing.
Final thought: I can see why this book is often taught in tandem with "Heart of Darkness" and "The Poisonwood Bible." Lots of questions about who is in charge of the narrative, oppressor and oppressed, civilization vs. "primitive" culture.
The Horror. Exterminate them all!
P140
The whites take over without too much ado, they simply move in and change the narrative of the region.
“There is no story that is not true”
P141
Stories become true depending upon who and how many believe them to be true. “The WMD” during the run up to the Iraqi war for example. The willingness of the villagers to listen to the stories of the missionaries, because throughout the book the people tell stories to each other to explain and reinforce custom and beliefs: the construction of social reality through story telling.
‘“Your buttocks understands our language,’ said someone light-heartdly and the crowd laughed.
“What did he say?” the white man asked his interpreter.’ P145
The blind arrogance of the white culture to not listen even when the villagers are talking. The story of the oppressed does not concern the oppressor.
“But stories were already gaining ground that the white man had not only brought a religion but also a government. It was said that they had built a place of judgment in Umuofia to protect the followers of their religion. It was even said that they had hanged one man who killed a missionary.”
“Although such stories were now often told they looked like fairy-tales. . .”155
The villagers begin to hear what was happening in other villages, but refuse to believe the stories, dismissed as fairy tales. To “foolish” to be true, even with the earlier statement that all stories are true. This was their downfall to not pay attention to the stories that were rampant, to discount tales that did not fit into their social constructs as childish, or womanish.
“The heathen speak nothing but falsehood. Only the word of our god is true” 157
“The story had arisen among the Christians themselves” 158
Nice contrast of ideas: The whites deny that the villagers can have any truth, yet the Christians are the origin of the false story that one of the people killed a “god” without consequence, thus trying to prove the superiority of Christianity over the nativist religion.
They had built a court where the District Commissioner judged cases in ignorance. P174
The difference between the “trial” of the village elders, where they heard the stories of each side and made a judgment based on what was right rather than the “law.” Justice in the village was not blind, but took in to account the people involved. The trial of Okonkwo and the others, by contrast, was a blatant use of power to control the narrative. There was no attempt to hear the villager’s story in any context other than the context of the oppressor.
“Does the white man understand our custom about land?”
“How can he when he does not even speak our tongue?” 176
Not only a different language, but the “way of knowing,” of understanding the meaning of the world around them: a discourse community.
“from the very beginning religion and education went hand and hand “182
to control the story line, or what people believe to be the storyline/cause and effect of their lives, the religion/faith of the people and the education of the people must be controlled in a coordinated fashion. Not that there is a conspiracy to control, but religion and education are very efficient “judges of normality” (Foucault) or reinforcers/editors of the community narrative.
“those who believed such stories were unworthy of the lord’s table” 185
Again, if you believe something “other” than the norm then you are not worthy of full participation in society’s goods. Makes me think of James Gee and his Discourse (big D) communities where in order to acquire the “goods” of whatever group you are in you must be fluent in the discourse of the community. Also who determines what discourse is appropriate is determined by power structures/relationships within those communities. The current “value” of education/college vs. business and making money is an example, the way the talk is being framed, as if it should be debated at all puts the western idea of “liberal” education, or the education of free (liberty/liberal) men at risk. Learn to do something that is of value to business, so you can become a commodity.
“We cannot leave the matter in his hands because he does not understand our customs, just as we do not understand his. We say he is foolish because he does not know our ways, and perhaps he says we are foolish because we do not know his. Let him go away.” 191
“The story of this man who had killed a messenger and hanged himself would make interesting reading. One could almost write a whole chapter on him. Perhaps not a whole chapter but a reasonable paragraph, at any rate. There was so much else to include, and one must be firm in cutting out details. He had already chosen the title of the book, after much thought: the pacification of the primitive tribes of the lower Niger” 209
The last few sentences of the book: perfect. The life of Okonkwo and his world reduced to a paragraph in the omnivorous narrative of the west. Cut out the details because they open up a space for a counter narrative, too messy and confusing.
Final thought: I can see why this book is often taught in tandem with "Heart of Darkness" and "The Poisonwood Bible." Lots of questions about who is in charge of the narrative, oppressor and oppressed, civilization vs. "primitive" culture.
The Horror. Exterminate them all!
Monday, May 30, 2011
Things fall apart. Favorite part.
Just like all great books, "Things fall apart" has parts that resonant with your present day life. Undoubtedly, this book would have other scenes of resonance if read at different time because I believe this book has that potential, just like all important pieces of literature. The scene in which Okonkwo is exiled to his mother's homeland was it for me. In this passage, Okonkwo meets with his mother's family and is a basically told to stop being so melancholy and suck up his pride. He has taking shelter with his mother's family because children take shelter with their mothers. He is told to get some perspective, realize that it could be worst and it has been for others. "You think you are the greatest sufferer in the world? Do you know that men are sometime banished for life?...(Uchendu talks about losing his wives and children.) I did not hang myself, and I am still alive." This passage reminds me of a young man I taught this year that lost is salutatorian position, was unable to speak at graduation and could not suck up his pride, failing to show up for his own high school graduation. This passage really reminded me of you, Amman. Again, great books do this. I would like to read this one again in a few years and see what other parallels I will find. Good pick Nathan!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Things Fall Apart
The title of the new book comes from the following poem by Yeats. The first four lines are quoted before the novel begins. I thought it would be useful (maybe) to see the whole poem.
THE SECOND COMING
W. B. Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
THE SECOND COMING
W. B. Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
Sunday, April 24, 2011
More Elegy than Memoir (First Reaction)
Yes, it is a memoir. But by the end of the book, it became for me a lovely elegy for Robert Mapplethorpe and the friendship that they had built and that Smith lost with his death. Maybe it is just my emotionally unstable state these days, but I found myself crying at the end. Very simple and elegant book, I never felt the heavy handedness or self-centered quality that inhabits most memoir.
I loved the vignette where the book gets its title. I need to remember to take my students seriously, because they take themselves seriously. They are just kids, but they are creative human beings as well.
Part of why I loved reading this book is because Patti Smith and her music has been a constant since my sister gave me Horses when I was 15 or 16, and then finding a copy of Radio Ethiopia at the k-mart in Victoria the next year. When I came to Austin for a speech tournament, I went to Grok Books (now Bookpeople) and found a copy of Smith's poetry. I used a quote from her liner notes to Radio Ethiopia to introduce my poems I was reading in speech tournaments. The year Dream of Life came out I was teaching in Beeville and the uprising in China was occuring so close after the fall of the Berlin wall. I remember listening to People have the Power and believing it.
Several years ago, Patti Smith played a free concert in Waterloo park. Lisa and I left the children with the grandparents and stood in the cold drizzly park to see her. One of the best concert experiences ever. During Gung Ho, a song about Viet Nam and Ho Chi Min, the Star Flight landing at Breckenridge added a surreal element to the whole event.
Thanks Richard for choosing this book.
I loved the vignette where the book gets its title. I need to remember to take my students seriously, because they take themselves seriously. They are just kids, but they are creative human beings as well.
Part of why I loved reading this book is because Patti Smith and her music has been a constant since my sister gave me Horses when I was 15 or 16, and then finding a copy of Radio Ethiopia at the k-mart in Victoria the next year. When I came to Austin for a speech tournament, I went to Grok Books (now Bookpeople) and found a copy of Smith's poetry. I used a quote from her liner notes to Radio Ethiopia to introduce my poems I was reading in speech tournaments. The year Dream of Life came out I was teaching in Beeville and the uprising in China was occuring so close after the fall of the Berlin wall. I remember listening to People have the Power and believing it.
Several years ago, Patti Smith played a free concert in Waterloo park. Lisa and I left the children with the grandparents and stood in the cold drizzly park to see her. One of the best concert experiences ever. During Gung Ho, a song about Viet Nam and Ho Chi Min, the Star Flight landing at Breckenridge added a surreal element to the whole event.
Thanks Richard for choosing this book.
The Jackson Song
I posted this on Facebook back when I started reading "Just Kids" Now that I have finished and since she talked about this song near the end of the book, I thought I would post it again.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Review of Just Friends
Unpretentious, poetic, and inspiring - loved the reminiscing of NYC. Love that place. Never heard any of her music (I know who she is, but I never listend to any albums - missed the boat on that one.) I'm checking out "Horses" right now. Great stuff.
PS - I'm going to do some research on Mapplethorpe photography when I get back to work on Monday. I'm excited to see what he has to offer. Thinking about doing a Mapplethorpe photgraph poetry to picture project with my kids...lol.
PS - I'm going to do some research on Mapplethorpe photography when I get back to work on Monday. I'm excited to see what he has to offer. Thinking about doing a Mapplethorpe photgraph poetry to picture project with my kids...lol.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Friday, April 8, 2011
David Foster Wallace is my Justin Bieber
I know, I know, I've been totally obsessed over this guy. Don't worry - the feelings will eventually quell once his new book comes out this month. I'm just very excited to read his final work (well, his pieced together work) and after reading our book for this month, it only intensifies my anticipation.
I'm looking forward to what people thought about the book - oh, and to drink beer.
See you guys on Sunday.
I'm looking forward to what people thought about the book - oh, and to drink beer.
See you guys on Sunday.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=241610
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/journal/article.html?id=241610
Interesting article by John Ashbery on the difficulties of translating Rimbaud's Illuminations. See picture of Rimbaud at the top of this blog.
Interesting article by John Ashbery on the difficulties of translating Rimbaud's Illuminations. See picture of Rimbaud at the top of this blog.
Language Group at University of Houston Victoria Campus
Among other things, they talk about how differently private college profs read as compared to public college profs. Makes sense in the terms of discourse communities, figured worlds, and communities of practice.
http://societyforcriticalexchange.org/default.asp
http://societyforcriticalexchange.org/default.asp
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Time Turns Elastic
Finished Tinkers. What I enjoyed about the book is the elasticity of time and how the relationship b/w father and son flourished. I like the mythology aspect; how Howard became a manifestation of that death that George collapsed onto in the end. I finally liked the end, especially how it was so simple, yet filled with such magnitude. Great book, never really liked books that focused on death, but this one does wonders with the morbid topic.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Pedagogy review
What I enjoyed most throughout the book is the theme of dehumanization. Being oppressed has its own caveats, respectively, and the book does wonders explaining how this works and how to fix it, yet this comes from the point of view of how to forge the two together pedagogically and dialectically. I also felt that, since I am a big proponent of everything that he says in here, this book is not intended for me. It was almost like as it was “preaching to the choir.” This book should be read by those who are unaware of how they observe their lives, or how they oppressively “manipulate” their lives to create this false pretense. Sure, this might be taken from a teacher’s perspective, and how we need to “humanize this pedagogy” but for those who live these unexamined lives, blind to what they are exuding, this book will help them tremendously - to “liberate them from their oppressing.”
We are all enlivened by this “Democratic Spirit” Freire evokes. DFW speaks of this:
“This kind of stuff is advanced U.S. citizenship. A true Democratic Spirit is up there with religious faith and emotional maturity and all those other top-of-the-Maslow-Pyramid-type qualities people spend their whole lives working on.”
This idea that we can all “work together for the common good” emboldens our desire to work harder. But does what does that entail? Does a teacher believe that they are evoking this spirit by giving students more tests, challenging them, burying them with homework? This “narration sickness” has envenomed the American Educational system for decades. It worked in the 40’s and 50’s because our country was distracted by the blind patriotism of wars, wars in which we were successful (or at least partially successful.) We could afford to dictate information because that was our only agent of dissemination.
Believe it or not, children read and write more than any time in our nation’s history. Blogs, social networks, and schools rife with applications to get into top colleges, garnering attention to the importance of education should be top priority. We must rekindle the importance of knowledge to our children. Freire says: “Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry men pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.” This book cut a swath with the old ways of teaching, and it is up to us to see that the new way is upon us. With this in mind, we can augment how our children understand knowledge, and how vital it is to their own lives, as well as those around them, familiar or strange. When we can discern that learning is transcendental and that sharing knowledge is transformative, only then will Education in America make a difference.
So, should you read this book? Well, if you are a conscious educator, like me, then yes, absolutely. But I highly recommend it to those unfamiliar with what they do in the classroom. For those that “deposit” information into students’ heads, and hopefully retaining it for test time is their only goal. For those that wonder why they hate teaching, or are sad because their two weeks of vacation time are up during the winter break. These people need this book.
We are all enlivened by this “Democratic Spirit” Freire evokes. DFW speaks of this:
“This kind of stuff is advanced U.S. citizenship. A true Democratic Spirit is up there with religious faith and emotional maturity and all those other top-of-the-Maslow-Pyramid-type qualities people spend their whole lives working on.”
This idea that we can all “work together for the common good” emboldens our desire to work harder. But does what does that entail? Does a teacher believe that they are evoking this spirit by giving students more tests, challenging them, burying them with homework? This “narration sickness” has envenomed the American Educational system for decades. It worked in the 40’s and 50’s because our country was distracted by the blind patriotism of wars, wars in which we were successful (or at least partially successful.) We could afford to dictate information because that was our only agent of dissemination.
Believe it or not, children read and write more than any time in our nation’s history. Blogs, social networks, and schools rife with applications to get into top colleges, garnering attention to the importance of education should be top priority. We must rekindle the importance of knowledge to our children. Freire says: “Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry men pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.” This book cut a swath with the old ways of teaching, and it is up to us to see that the new way is upon us. With this in mind, we can augment how our children understand knowledge, and how vital it is to their own lives, as well as those around them, familiar or strange. When we can discern that learning is transcendental and that sharing knowledge is transformative, only then will Education in America make a difference.
So, should you read this book? Well, if you are a conscious educator, like me, then yes, absolutely. But I highly recommend it to those unfamiliar with what they do in the classroom. For those that “deposit” information into students’ heads, and hopefully retaining it for test time is their only goal. For those that wonder why they hate teaching, or are sad because their two weeks of vacation time are up during the winter break. These people need this book.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
A Third Level to Pedagogy's
I became incredulous to the thorough explications regarding what being "oppressed" and being an "oppressor" was. Then, as it continued, this efflorescent idea of how the "context" of these two function congealed into this heightened understanding of consciousness within worldly examples we all understand from a global perspective. I was ready to move on to the next chapter, expecting to discern how each example works within the precepts of the oppressed and oppressing context as far as "teaching" me, when it said, "now take all of these ideas expanded, and place them into how the teacher works and how the student works." I was blown away! In each primordial existence of one example's counterpart, it is only an integral part of how the teacher exists in its "oppressing" stasis, as well as the student "oppressed" stasis, and how our goal is to fully comprehend how we can move past this "dated" way of thinking about teaching. This third level brought all of the things I think about when it comes to how I perceive the "representation" of the teacher in America, and how "communication" and "trust" bring students to higher learning. Amazing stuff. Will most likely finish this weekend.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Going Slow
I am plowing along in The War, but it is slow going. I still like it. I like the wheels within wheels of the political maneuvering within all parties. I imagine that Llosa is doing the same to the reader, but I don't feel as obviously and as ham-handily manipulated as I have in other novels. I am not looking for transparency where the dream that is the text takes over and I am lost in the text, because I enjoy the break down of language and the archaelolgical work of reading into the craft of the writer. I find much of the meaning in a text can be created in this manner. The repetition of patterns from the story or stories in the novel appearing in the over arching structure of the text. Where the telling of the novel by the author through the telling of the stories in the novel by the narrator becomes yet another layer of storytelling told by the reader to herself as she makes meaning in and with the text.
(I liked that last sentence; I sure hope some of you guys read this blog still).
(I liked that last sentence; I sure hope some of you guys read this blog still).
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