Added a whole buch of new stuff in all the categories so far so come and check it out and tell me how I am doing.

how blog?

Frankly, I have never really been a fan of blogs. Most of the blogs I have seen are so full of opinionated garbage about some topic that is presented as truth. The problem with the internet is that any idiot with a keyboard and a connection can post whatever they want without consequences. Because of this I have never really been into the blogosphere. I had a myspace but it only lasted a few months and that is the closest I ever got. However, after the experiences in this class I would have to say I see now how this can be a useful tool.

I would use blogging in the same context as we used it here except a bit more specific and a bit more often. I could see using blogging as a way to have reader responses to readings and then you could encourage discussion of the responses using the response system the blog offers. Then once the reading is over you can have them post their thoughts on the entire reading if it is long. Blogging would work nicely here because it would save paper over turning in written responses everyday. Plus it would encourage discussion outside of class to save on class time and you could have the students personalize the blog extensively which would help you get to know the students in a way you couldn't otherwise. Blogging can be quite useful as long as it is somewhat regulated and the students can be held accountable for what they write.

Funny Stuff

Bro Rape: A Common Problem that Needs Attention

and now fictional stories

To me writing fictional stories is very different from writing about fiction. Like myths though they do reinforce each other. Basically all of us have spent our time in college learning about the fictional canon or the techniques these people used so writing about fiction should be second nature to us. Like I said in my myth blog they complement each other and knowing one makes you stronger in another.

Looking at this particular assignment I had much more fun writing a story than writing about someone elses story. Again it allows me to be creative and outside of the standard norms we have to write our academic papers in. I don't actually think my writing about fiction enforced my writing as much as the numerous books I have read over the years has influenced the story I wrote though the short story I wrote about did influence the style somewhat.

In a way you could see my story as a kind of pastiche of the authors and stories I have read over the years. I added echoes of Palahnuik and his references to real life trivia, I tried to emulate Salinger's stream of conscious style from Catcher in the Rye though a bit looser. I tried to create an insane characterization I have seen before in Richard Matheson novels. Almost everything in my story is influenced by what I love in what has come before.

In teaching this is better suited to students who read less than me. Like the myth exercise you can use the two to reinforce each other. Have the students write about a story to see the elements and then use the learned elements to create something they identify with or cn be proud of. Same kind of learning just a diferent genre of literature.

myths or not

Writing a myth and learning about myths was obviously very different but in a way they complement each other. I can learn all I want about the myth and putting it into practice reinforces those ideas. That is probably the best way to retain the knowledge is to put it into practice after you learn it. Obviously though they are going to be different to a degree because these myths evolved over time into what they are now as opposed to the evolution of my myth in my head over the time writing it. But we are learning the elements of myth in general. The elements that all myths, no matter the origin, share and through this we can understand the myths better and create a convincing myth showing we know these elements.

This basically showed the core of teaching. We learn the elements of what we are supposed to learn and put them into practice. This would be a good strategy to implement in the classroom. Have one assignment relate to the study of myth and the elements that make it a myth then implement those myths into something that is creative and see how close the two can get. I would frankly just ape this assignment wholesale because I see it as a valuable teaching tool that could be changed to fit any kind of literature type, myth, modern, horror, classical, anything really. So I basically learned to steal from this assignment. Or it could evolve even further into something more complex, its an open book really. The End.

poetry eh?

Writing poetry or writing about poetry? I am going to have to guess most people would say creating poetry is more fun and more interesting than writing about published poetry. I would tend to agree with them.

It is a pretty close race in my mind but I have good reasons for liking to write than to write about, mostly the creativity. When you write about poetry it seems like you are just writing about someone else's ideas. You can make new ideas about what a poem means but you are never really sure it is true or not because really the only true authority of meaning is the author them self and most of the time they aren't talking for one reason or another. At least this is my belief. When you create yourself, on the other hand, you can make it mean whatever you want. Ironic, mean spirited, happy, sad, whatever; it is you and nothing else. Creation is also much more satisfying than regurgitation.

The one advantage to writing about is that it is safe. You write what you think something means and if you are wrong, oh well, I misinterpreted but it isn't a big deal because sometimes it is trial and error. You may not be familiar with some of the experience the poem contains in its ideas and you could hardly be accountable for something like that, at least in the context of being a student in a classroom. But when you create a poem you are putting yourself out there for everyone to see. People are basically getting a flash of your soul and that can be scary. The anxiety of not being good enough or interesting enough creates a lot of pressure as well. You can find meaning in someone else's work if you look long enough and in the right places, but your creativity is all you and only you.

In the end for me the satisfaction outweighs the anxiety just enough for me to put myself out there for all to see.