Day 22: Trailing. Poetry. Sleep, or the lack thereof.

First, thank you Witch and Other Witch - for helping rein in the crazy. For now, at least.

Then, A.b.'s new post also helped some - because it took me back to thinking about prioritizing - about asking "What do I want to do more than other things?" as a way of answer "Why am I doing this?" (in terms of trailing, I mean).

So, again - Thanks you folks. Y'all are the awesomest women I know.

***
In my classes, I've been trying to teach poetry.
It is traditionally one of the units that comes up against a truckload of resistance.
(Although, this semester, one of my classes is responding much better - much more openly, at least - than the other.)

How does one teach poetry?
Most of my students seem to arrive at poetry with some kind of a bias. The most commonly used adjective to describe poetry in my classes "boring", followed by "confusing", followed by undisguised, unabashed yawning.
Although I can see (and understand) the source of these reactions, I'm saddened when my students see right through this poem by Miller Williams:

Listen 014
I threw a snowball across the backyard.
My dog ran after it to bring it back.
It broke as it fell, scattering snow over snow.
She stood confused, seeing and smelling nothing.
She searched in widening circles until I called her.
She looked at me and said as clearly in silence as if she had spoken, I know it's here, I'll find it, went back to the center and started the circles again.
I called her two more times before she cameslowly, stopping once to look back.
That was this morning.
I'm sure that she's forgotten.
I've had some trouble putting it out of my mind.

So, I've decided to use the idea of "poetry as a story in action".
We shall start by talking about tone and persona in poetry.
Tomorrow, they shall hear Pete Seeger's "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy"

And I'm hoping that this will spark a connection back to "The Things They Carried".
(Ooh! I just thought of the magnificent conversation around 'Nam that we could have if the class engages.)

I've racked my brains and other than showing music videos (as an extension of poetry), can't think of anything else to get them to engage with the poems. Twitter poetry maybe? Or maybe I could sing alound in front for my classes? No, wait, I'm trying to teach, not traumatize. Teach, not traumatize. That is my noble motto.

So yeah, seriously, how would you do this? How would you introduce poetry in a class? How can you make reluctant freshman engage with the content (or form, even) of a poem?

How?

I'm listening.

***
And on a final note: Trauma.
I can't sleep well anymore. Between my own little crazy and waiting to hear from grad schools, my brain has turned into a sheet of bubble-wrap, being very slowly and deliberately, yet irregularly popped every few minutes.

How is it possible that five of seven schools have sent out some mailers to folks, but not one of these schools has contacted me (with *some*, any news)?
Sighs.
Waiting is the hardest part.
***

On a different note (F sharp, this time) - we're almost through 28 days!
6 days to go, actually. Whee?

Day 15: Really, Gov. Barbour?

Today has been full of fun and exciting things. Like good weather.

And... news that Mississippi is getting license plates to honor Confederate Gen. and Ku Klux Klan leader, Nathan Bedford Forrest  - Apparently Gov. Haley Barbour has decided not to denounce the move. (Thank you, class on historical fiction. Also, a.b., you really have to be in this class with me!)

Would you get license plates to honor Nathan Bedford Forrest?
Admittedly, this is not history I grew up with. And I get the heritage not hate argument.
But really, what are we telling our children and their children when we ahem, commemorate a KKK leader?

Someone made the argument today that "just because he was part of the confederate army doesn't make him a bad person". Fair enough. I buy into the argument that individuals actually fighting on the field are not a part of the larger agenda of the war*. But KukluxKlan, woman! Those pointy hatted people of whom, in a different life, I would have to be afraid.

To borrow a.b.'s wisdom (about an entirely unrelated topic), Things don't exist in a vacuum. These are public figures. They come with associations. They have to be held responsible for all that they do in public standing. So,saying it is okay to pick up some aspects of Nathan Bedford and ignore the others cannot a feasible option.

And, this is also the reason I despise arguments about Narendra Modi. (*shudder*)

*(I have family in the army, people. I understand that soldiers are people. And that not all soldiers are fighting with some large agenda. They're just doing the best they can. And, as Australopithecus once said, "When they're in battle, they're fighting first and foremost for their life.") 

On the Politicising of Ficciones

From a conversation with a friend, having entered a discussion (about comments on a recent SF anthology) sideways:

me: I understand being uncomfortable about "politicising" genre fiction. Which is not to say I think it is justified

(the singer): the thing is, for me. that it's always already politicised... There's a much stronger sense that things as basic as who gets published are inherently political and so not wanting to politicise it doesn't mean not politicising it.It means allowing it to continue to be politicised in a way that is simply not working for a huge number of peopel

me: hmm.. .yes

(the singer): which...I don't think anyone has the energy to politicise everything all the time. But not acknowledging that it's there and at least being supportive of people who are fixing it stinks to me of collaboration.

And yes, I agree.