Week 5

Learning Journal Activity -- Critical or Creative

You have a choice of two different activities for this week's journal entry, one of which is more critically oriented, the other more creatively oriented.

Critical -- Everyday Poetry

Identify and discuss an example of poetry in everyday life. Although it is easy to think of poetry as something that exists only as lines of text in books, poems and poetic language are quite literally everywhere. Your task is to find this everyday poetry, which is sometimes hiding in plain sight, and tell us why you think your selection is an example of poetry. Your entry does not need to be more than a few paragraphs, but if possible you should either link or somehow include a sample (or a few samples if it makes sense) of the "poetry" you are working with. As we have already completed an activity on songs, you should try to think of an example other than this; however, your particular example may contain music or other elements common to songs.

Creative -- Spatial Poetry

This Wednesday we will be looking at poems by bp Nichol, a Canadian poet who is perhaps best known for the way "space on the page" is significant to his poetry. Following in Nichol's footsteps, this creative option for this week's journal activity asks you to craft a spatial poem of your own.

Spatial poetry (often also called concrete poetry) relies on shape and typographical space to add a new dimension to language. Rather than a poem being "read" in a traditional sense, spatial poems are in many ways "viewed", as one would view a painting or a photograph. Working with digital technology (such as blogs, photoshop, paint, or word processors) allows for an increased range of possibilities when formatting text. However, these poems can also be made (often quite impressively) using paper and a pen, then taking a photo and posting it to your blog.

Below are a few samples of spatial poems I've made, which will hopefully help get the creative energies flowing:


I Sail

i

sailsail
i
sailsailsailsail
i
sailsailsailsailsailsialsail
i
sailsailsailsailssailsailsailssailsailsail
i
sailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsail
i
sailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailsailssailssasilsailsailsailsailsailsalii
i
i
as the ship was heading into a storm the captain said
sometimes you can do everything right and still lose
and though it may seem that the race is finite
it's only one lap around the track
only an agon

Words

wordsword
..sword
...swo
...rds
...wor
...dsw
...ord
...swo
...rds
...wor
..dswor
dswordswor
.dswodsw
.ordswor
.dswrdor
.dswords
.wordswo
.rdsword
.swordsw
.ordswor
.dswords
.wordswo
.rdsword
.swordsw
.ordswor
.dswords
.wordswo
.rdsword
.swordsw
.ordswor
.dswords
.wordswo
.rdsword
.swordsw
.ordswor
.dswords
.wordswo
.rdsword
.swordsw
.ordswor
.dswords
.wordswo
.rdsword
.swordsw
..ordsw
..ordsw
..ordsw
...ord
...swo
...rd
....s


Balance a Diamond on a Blade of Grass

d
iam
ondia
mondiam
diamondiam
ondiamon
diamon
daim
on
d
b,,,,
l,,,,,,,
a,,,,,,,,,
d,,,,
e,

o
,f

,,,g
,,,,,r
,,,,,,,a
,,,s
,s

b
,,,,e
,,,,,n
d
s,,

Assigned Readings and Overview for Week 5

In Monday's class, we will be looking at two free verse poems, Lorna Crozier's "Poem About Nothing" and Lawrence Ferlinghetti's "Constantly Risking Absurdity". Wednesday's class, as mentioned above, focuses on bp Nichol and spatial poetry. On Friday we will be looking at spoken word poetry. As always, if you have questions about this week's activities, or any questions about our course more generally, leave a comment here or send an email to my mun.ca address.

Week 4

Learning Journal Activity -- Reviews

For this week's activity you are asked to write a review, be it of a book, movie, restaurant, art work, band, product, etc. Writing a good review is a craft all its own and there is no single, steadfast formula. However, there are some fairly obvious conventions for any kind of review. It makes sense to tell the name, title, or designation of whatever you are reviewing and to describe it in detail. It's a good idea to name the writer, chef, artist, director, or otherwise important people involved. Most reviews will offer an evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of the particular subject and compare it to similar things in its particular field. However, the most important element of a good review is to say what you think, what you like or dislike, and if you would recommend this to others. After all, it's your opinion that the reader is interested in here. What follows are some links to sites that may be of interest as examples of reviews. I have linked some commercial sites and some independent reviewers for each category.

Restaurant Review Links

Restaurant Thing -- Offers thousands of reviews, but only from English speaking countries. Unfortunately this means that restaurants in France are off the list!

Burrito Blog -- Yeah, you guessed it... this blog reviews only burritos and places that sell burritos. It is not a coincidence that I put this next to the reviews of the Michelin restaurants.

7-West Cafe -- This is an unconventional review of a restaurant I worked at in Toronto.


Book Review Links

allreaders.com -- allreaders.com has a searchable index of thousands of book reviews.

GoodReads -- GoodReads is a site where individuals offer their thoughts on most any book you can name.

Kristin's Book Blog -- Kristin has been reviewing books on her blog since 2005. She has a fascinating project underway to review the Modern Library top 100 books of the 20th century. She is over half way there. New reviews appear on her site weekly.


Movie and TV Review Links

Internet Movie Database -- No explanation needed. This is likely the biggest movie review and information site on the internet.

Rotten Tomatoes -- Offers new movie reviews and previews

Tassoula's Movie Review Blog -- A blog maintained by an independent film critic from Seattle.

Tv-series and videos -- A site kept up by Julius, a blogger from Sweden.


Music Review Links

Pitchfork -- In-depth music reviews from a credible online source.

Metacritic -- Metacritic reviews new releases of music, as well as films, games, and television.

Rolling Stone -- Sometimes there seems to be more advertisements than reviews, but Rolling Stone is one of the industry pillars for music reviews.

MW Music Review Blog -- An independent music reviewer from Ottawa, mostly interested in Indie.


Product Reviews

DC Rainmaker -- A site maintained by a triathlete who reviews technology and products for high-performance athletes.

Car and Driver -- Reviews for most any automobiles on the road.


Of course there are many other kinds of reviews you might choose to do as well. The links above are only meant to provide some idea of the possibilities. If you have trouble coming up with a topic or have any questions about this activity, send me an email or leave a comment on this post.

Assigned Readings and Overview for Week 4

There are no assigned readings this week, as we are doing our essay writing workshops and will write essay #1 on Friday in class. That said, you are encouraged to review part I of our course text (page 1-54), which focuses specifically on the essay writing process. Some of these sections will be discussed during the workshops, but please take some time to read about any particular aspects of essay writing you may find difficult.

Week 3

Learning Journal Activity -- Image Expressive

The instructions for this activity are quite brief: post two photos you've taken (or two images you like) and tell us about them. You might want to say where the image is from, what it means to you, or why you wanted to share it. The write-ups do not have to be exhaustive (a paragraph or two will do, though you are welcome to write as much as you like). I have provided an example below to give some sense of how your post might look, but please do not feel limited by this -- feel free to get creative. If you have questions about this activity, send me an email at my mun.ca account or leave a comment on this post.

Photo 1: Be Young B

This is a photo from a walking trail in Niagara Falls. The path leads to (or comes from, depending on your point of view) the Whirlpool, a place few travelers seem to go. It's a bit of a hike from the more touristy parts of the Falls, and even on the busiest days of the summer there's usually no more than a few other people. There's lots of different birds and interesting driftwood and stones along the beach.

The piece of brick you see in the photo above seemed to have been quite purposely planted in the trail by someone, and seemed to have been quite purposely engraved by someone too. I kept my eyes open for others like it, but found only this one. Go figure...

Photo 2: Phoenix 

This is a picture of me spinning fire. It's a kind of performance art or juggling known as poi. There are large wraps of Kevlar soaked in kerosene on the end of chains (about as long as a dog leash) that can be spun in various patterns for different effects. I've been practicing for about a decade now, but still I sometimes whack myself in the back of the head!

It's something I like doing because I find it takes my mind off things. I don't really like to go dancing, but for some reason find the footwork and rhythmic movement of spinning fire to be excellent fun. Some fire spinners who are much braver than me do what is called "sparkle poi" -- check this link if you're interested.

Assigned readings and overview for week 3

On Monday we will be looking at different kinds of sonnets, specifically Shakespearean, Italian, and irregular sonnets, in relation to Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare thee to a Summer's Day," Wordsworth's "The World is too Much with Us" and Shelley's "Ozymandias". The reading for Wednesday is Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn". On Friday we will be discussing Blake's "The Tyger" and Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers". This week we will also be gearing up for our first essay.

Week 2

Learning Journal Activity

Some  of the best known poetry in modern culture is expressed in song. Songs  have the power to move us, to entertain, to stir memories of friends and  fond days. This week's writing activity asks you to choose a  song and analyze the lyrics in terms of concepts we are discussing in the course. The choice of song is entirely up to you. Write your analysis in paragraph form using complete sentences. This activity should be posted on your blog by Friday at 11:59pm. Below, please find specific instructions for completing this activity.

1.  Choose a song. Include the lyrics of the song somewhere in your post.  You can either transcribe the lyrics, get them from an album cover, or  find a copy of the song lyrics online. You may also want to embed a video of the song in your blog post.  YouTube videos, for example, can be easily embedded in blog posts by  clicking the "insert video" button in the post creation window. Likewise, you can take the embed code from beneath the video on YouTube and drop it in the body of your post.

2. Write a  paragraph in which you discuss the form of the lyrics, just as you would  analyze the form of a poem. You may want to mention the stanza  organization, refrains, rhyme scheme, meter (syllable count), and poetic  syntax. For definitions of these and other terms that may be of use in  your analysis, check pages 388-395 of Literature and the Writing Process.

3.  Write a paragraph in which you discuss stylistic elements of the  song. Who is the speaker or the addressee? What is the tone of the  lyrics? Are there any examples of poetic language such as symbolism,  imagery, metaphor, simile, personification, paradox, etc.? For  definitions of various kinds of poetic language, please see pages  370-373 of Literature and the Writing Process.

4.  Write a paragraph in which you discuss the content of the song.  You may want to consider cultural, social, or political implications of  the song. What does the song "say" to you? Why do you like it? If other groups or artists have covered this same song, does the message seem to change in different versions?


Overview and Readings for Week 3

On Monday we will be discussing two poems, Roethke's "My Papa's Waltz" and Parker's "One Perfect Rose" with reference to persona, tone, and irony. On Wednesday we will discuss concepts of poetic language, through examination of our only Shakespeare poem for the semester, "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day?" On Friday we will be reading Dylan Thomas' “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night” in relation, once again, to the concept of poetic form. Questions or comments about this week's activity or readings, drop by my office hours, send me a note through my mun.ca email address, or leave a comment on this post.

Week 1

Welcome to English 1080. This blog is an online teaching and learning resource for our course. A new post will appear every Monday with a brief overview of the material we will cover that week, important concepts and literary terms, as well as the writing activity or prompt for your learning journal entries (you can find the first blog activity below in this post).

Once you have set up your own blog, send me an email with the URL and your name (also include the screen name you will use if different from your given name). I will then add a link to your page in the "English 1080 Bloggers" link list. In the toolbar on the right you will also find a link to the course outline, the website for the course text, links to poetry and prose related sites, and some links to useful online writing tools.

Please try to pick up the course text as soon as possible and begin reading (you can find the schedule for readings in the course outline). There is lots to cover and it is never a bad idea to get a head start on a course.

Learning Journal Activity -- Introductions

For your first post, please write an introduction in which you tell your readers a bit about yourself. This might include where you are from, what kinds of music you like, what sorts of books you like to read, movies you love (or hate), favorite foods, your thoughts on politics and the pressing issues of the day, any hobbies you have, sports you like to play or watch, or any other such topics you want to write about. You might also write about what program you are interested in pursuing at university, or what you hope to learn in English 1080. Basically, you should aim to provide your readers with some background so they can know something about you beyond just your screen name.

Once you have written your post, take a few minutes to visit some of your classmate's blogs (see the "English 1080 Bloggers" link list). As the semester progresses, you might also consider creating a link list on your blog to acknowledge your most frequent readers or those blogs you most enjoy visiting. In all your online writing for our course, whether your own posts or comments you leave for others, strive to write well constructed, grammatically sound sentences, and always make sure to be respectful and polite.

If you have questions about this activity, about blogging, or about any aspects of our course, please feel free to send me an email at my mun.ca address, leave a comment on this post, or visit during office hours. Once again, welcome to English 1080.