MEC 10/31

Prompt from last week (due this week): What did Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings mean when she said the Corss Creek and the landscape were part of her? How was that different, and why, from her relationship to New York?

LoP 10/24

Hi everyone--

There is another cold front moving in on Wednesday, so it will be windy tomorrow (people who have taken the intro fieldcraft course will know why...). So we'll meet in the classroom tomorrow. We will be discussing Sarah Vowell's essay and plans for the star party.

MEC 10/24

I am getting behind in my blog updates, for which I apologize!

Remember that we are meeting to finish the movie tomorrow. The prompt draft that is due this week is a comparison of your home landscape to the of the movie, "Cross Creek." (the Monday tutorial group is, as always, one week behind).

The finished draft due this week will be your backstory to the short story.
The edited draft will be the short story.

Cheers!

LoP

Please read the next five chapters of Goodbye to a River. 


Anyone have suggestions for where to meet? I have an idea for an experiment. Let's meet again at the Ranching Heritage Center. Bring something comfortable for sitting on the grass, and any water you might need. I will be leaving from the Honors College at 2:05 if anyone wants to ride bikes over there with me.

MEC 10/2

Prompt: Dream up a short story and provide a short, one paragraph synopsis, then create a backstory for the main character. The backstory is the main focus of this prompt.

Reading: "For Bo," and "A Blizzard Under Blue Sky," in Cowboys Are My Weakness.

MEC 9/26

Questions to ponder for this week's reading:

"How to Talk to a Hunter"

• How did Houston choose to "narrate" the story, and why did she choose to do it this way? What effect does it have?
• How does Houston develop other characters (besides the narrator)? How does she develop the narrator's character? What do you know about the narrator? About the hunter? How do you know these things?
• What is the conflict in this narrative? The plot?
• Why does the narrator do the things she does?
• What is this short story about?
• How did Houston end the story? What do you think has happened or will happen? What has been resolved?

"Selway"

• What do we know abotu the narrator and Jack? What kind of people are they? What do they like? Dislike?How do we know these things?
• Does the narrator love Jack? Does he love her?
• What do they learn about themselves and each other while going down the Sleway?
• How does the Rier play a part in the story? Is it a "character" as well? If so, is it a major or minor one?
• How did Houston end the story and what effect did it have on you?
• What has been resolved?

"Highwater"

• In the two previous stories, there were primarily two main characters, a man and a woman. In this story, there are two main female characters, and two minor characters. How are the minor characters important to the story?
• What do we know about each of the characters and how does Houston tell us these things?
• What is the conflict in this story?
• Why did Houston choose to tell the story of this conflict through the story of the two female characters? Why not a male and female?
• What is or is not resolved in this story?

These questions are simply starting points for discussion of the stories. As you read, think of your own questions. Use them to make note of Houston's technique for telling a story.

LoP 9/26

Some questions to ponder for the reading:

Chapter One:

• What is the difference, if any, between "landscape" and "geography?"
• Why is Graves motivated to canoe the Brazos? Have you ever been motivated in the same way to do something similar?
• What does Graves mean when he says that you can comphrehend a piece of a river? What are some elements of that piece that you can comprehend?
• How many ways does Graves know this river? What does that tell us about the many ways we know a landscape (i.e., how many ways can you know a landscape)?

Chapter Two:

• How is the year/time in which Graves traveling similar/not similar to this year?
• What is Graves's mood as he is starting out? Is he excited? Mournful? Complacent?
• How old is Graves, and how do you know this? That is, what things gives you a sense of his age?
• What does Graves say about "aloneness?" Do you agree?

Chapter Three:

• The Brazos River's full Spanish name is "El Rio de los Brazos de Dios." Who named it, what does this mean, and why do you suppose it got that name?
• According to Graves, what changed the Commanche and gave them power?
• What cultures collide along the Brazos, how, and why?
• How does Graves weave the history of the Brazos into his own story?

Chapter Four:

• River people talk about "river time." Based on what Graves says about impatience and cities, what do you think this might be?
• Graves spends a lot of time describin the people who used and settled the river throughout its history. Do you see influences of these in the cultures and attitudes of contemporary Texans?
• How does Graves describe the river?
• What details does he give us to set the mood of this chapter, and what is that mood?
• Who is the "passenger," and why is he along on this trip? What role does he play in Graves's telling of the story. Does he "stand in" for Graves in some way?
• How does Graves's war experience color his experience on the river?
•  

Chapter Five:

• What does Graves mean, and to what was he referring when he wote "you do not, for instance, conquer and Aztec empire with 400 men and a set of developed humanistic impulses"?
• What Graves have to say about hunting?

Use these questions as a guide to your reading. Think aobut them and the story as you go along, and come up with questions and musing of your own to discuss when we get together.

MEC 9/21

lease read the frist three short stories in Pam Houston's Cowboys Are My Weakness.

Writing assignment: Wrtie a poem about transformation imitating Mary Oliver's poem, "In Blackwater Woods" Five stanzas.

LoP 9/21

Read Chapters 1-7 in Goodby to A River for class next week.

Remember that class will be meeting at The Ranching Heritage Center next week. If you want to ride over with me, meet me in front of the Honors College. Be sure to let me know you are coming, so that we can wait on you if you are going to be a little bit late.

MEC 9/13

Today's writing prompt: Develop an extended metaphor, using nture, and tell us any story about your life.

Literature of Place (LoP) 9/6

Please read Chapters 1 and 3 in A Field Guide to Getting Lost and prepare to discuss them in class. As you read (particularly the first chapter), consider how it relates to our dual task of field research and writing about place. Also keep in mind the essay I read in class today and how it relates to the new chapters.

Also, Dr. Fritz has approved paying the majority of the cost for the canoe trip we are taking in association with Goodbye to a River. If there is additional cost to you, it will be on the order of $20-$25 dollars. I'll keep you posted on that. The cost of the field trip is paid for with grant money.

MEC 9/6

Please read the next three chapters in the novel (7-9).

Here is the prompt from the end of class; Find something about which you do not already know and "go there" to describe it. Try to create a scene with verisimillitude. The first draft of this prompt will be due at the start of next week's tutorial.

MEC 8/31

Sorry, y'all, but I forgot to give you your next reading assignment: Please read the next three chapters in the novel.

Also, please note that the tutorial groups/times have been posted, along with the first writing assignment and when it is due. Hand in the assignments at the start of each tutorial.

Mother Earth Chronicles (MEC) 8/25

Greetings all, and welcome to class. We have a new room: ENGL 150. It is much better for our purposes.

I have run into a hitch on the Tuesday tutorial group (Zachary, Travis, and Amanda) and so will need the students in that group to move to a different time/day. The server is currently down, but as soon as it comes back up, I'll send an email out and give you options for different groups. As soon as it all gets worked out, I'll post the tutorials group days and times on the sidebar.

Intro Fieldcraft 5/2

Hi everyone--

The final project is due before 4:30 PM on Monday, May 9th.

Cheers,

Dr T

Comm Sust 4.26

Remember, we meet at Roscoe Wilson Elementary school today to start our reports on the semester projects.

Fieldcraft 4/18

Meet at LLL on Wednesday. Please bring your wildflower field guide by Zoe Kirkpatrick and your sketch book.

Fieldcraft 4/13

Get ready for the trip to the Lesser Prairie Chicken Festival!

Bring:
Sunscreen
headlamp/flashlight
work gloves
closed toed shoes or boots
long pants for Saturday
long underwear
warm socks/shoes
insulated jacket
gloves
hat to cover your ears
sweater
binoculars
field journal/art kit
toiletries
meds
snacks for the van
water bottle
pillow

You may also plan to wear shorts on Friday, as well as Saturday after the service project.

Homework: download some photos of male prairie chickens from the internet and practice making thumbnail sketches of them and their behavior. Create at least two pages of these in your journal.

Print off 2-3 pictures of the chickens and bring them with you for a class exercise on Friday.

Be at the OPC at 1:30 (unless you have class until 2). We will try to leave as close to 2 PM as possible. There really won't be any place to park a car, so have someone drop you off with your gear.

We will return sometime before 5 PM on Saturday.

If you missed class on wednesday, you need to go to the OPC tomorrow or Friday morning and fill out a trip sheet.