Thoughts from class...

What is an American?

*inhabitant of North American, patriotic to this land
What is culture?
*customs that define who wer are, way of life
What is nature?
*trees, birds, wind, rain, sun, grass beneath our feet
What is wilderness?
*outdoors, woods, wild
What is wild? What defines it?
*untamed, undomesticated - ?
Can a body be wild?
*yes - free, uninhibited, non-conformity
Can a culture be wild?
*yes - untamed, unristricted, no rules, outlaw, no social structure
What do we mean by modern?
*breaking of old ways of doing things and using new ideas or techniques or equipment, etc.
What do we mean by the term regional?
*pertaining to the vicinity your currently residing in
Are these terms more than social constructions?
*maybe - there might be some freedom there
What distinguishes the border between pre-modern and modern?
*the period before the newest edition or latest advances
How do we distinguish from past and present?
*anything happening in this second is the present, everything prior to that is the past
How does the term modern influence what we read?
*I think it influences people to want to read newer and more modern texts because they want things they identify with and or it can also influence someone who does not like moving beyond the past to go back and revisit the older material
Is Langston Hughes a modernist?
*I would say that he is, only in that way that he was more advanced and forward thinking - he expounds on the unfairness of treating black Americans as outsiders in America, “I, too, am American.” He clearly writes his feelings to make you feel it and think it over. Poetry with a social consciousness that sums up the culture of the Harlem Renaissance and what it stood for, freedom to speak out against injustice - for his time this was modern thinking
What is literature?
*words that are written, spoken, sung
What defines that term?
*books, articles, oral stories, songs, magazines, poetry, etc.
Who should read it?
*literature if for everyone if they will only let it in
Who should write it?
*anyone who feels compelled to do so
What are its cultural purposes?
*to connect with others in the culture, to raise awareness of your culture, to educate
What are the borders of the US?
*geographically the borders of the US run on the East from Maine all the way down to the tip of Florida and then run along the top of Mexico and go West from California up to Washington and along the border to Canada. There are also a few little land masses unconnected from the largest portion, Alaska and Hawaii...can't remember if Porto Rico has their independance from US yet but that is a whole other story
Where are they?
*see questions above
Who is an Asian?
*people traditionally from the far East or from people of that descent
What does it mean to be All-American
*patriotic, upstanding, clean cut, law abiding, represents all the values that American's hold dear like patriotism, etc.
Where does this All-American live?
*typically you would think in the US somewhere but you can be All-American and live anywehere
What images do we associate with the typical or All-American town or place?
*like Mayberry on the Andy Griffith Show, peaceful, orderly, everyone in the town are good citizens who look out for each other
What do we mean by the immigrant experience?
*not originally from the country of their own particular heritage and moved to a new location separate from it
What is cultural assimilation?
*taking on the prevalant culture and inserting yourself into it
What is cultural resistance?
*not allowing yourself to be immersed in the prevalane culture and maintaining your own personal cultural identity
What images of the depression do you carry with you from your experiences with your family?
*The Grapes of Wraith, the poor farmers, the small little farm houses trying to survive on very little, being resourceful with anything you can get your hands on
What images of immigration do you carry with you?

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PHOBIA

What am I afraid of?

*falling, being nothing to myself, being nothing to those I love, letting people down including myself, not living up to my expectations, failing, confinement, being unhappy, student teaching and hating it

What makes me happy?

*my son when he's happy, being with my family, going on vacation, Christmas, sitting in front of a raging fire and sipping cocoa, rainy days and a quiet house where all that can be heard is the rain outside the window, curled up in my chair with a really good book, walking outside on a warm day, walking my dogs

Why do we exist?

*I don't know, to learn lessons to go on to another existence beyond this one, to learn and teach and show kindness and love, to be loved, to heal ourselves and others in the process of life, to make this world the best place it can be, appreciate the beauty in nature

What is poetry?

*words strung together that bring meaning to some, that convey thoughts, feelings, opinions, attitudes, artistic expression, they are mini-stories or lyrics to a song, ideas that we either reject or identify with or just find lovely to read, it lives forever

What is its form?

*nothing, to some they may want meter, rhythm or something that makes it easier to read or that moves it along in a sing-song fashion - but I like the free-for-all style of just putting down your feelings and thoughts on paper for yourself

Where is poetry?

*it is everywhere, in the trees, in the sights and the scents and the sounds, you could say it comes from the senses because so much of it is based on feelings and perceptions of the human experience

Where does poetry come from?

*it comes from everything, it can be written on scraps of paper, painted on the overpass of a highway, heard in the lyrics of a song, or spoken aloud

How is poetry useful?

*for letting the soul speak, for getting out the happiness, sadness, emptiness, whatever from within and placing it outside of yourself to share or to keep secret and/or locked up inside the pages of your diary

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Describe this Era - Stream of Consciousness

technology - faster, faster, faster - speeding by - going - don't look back - run - go for it - do it - make it happen - make something of yourself - don't stop - you can't wait, just go - take a minute, don't ever have a minute - run here, go there - my mind is always racing - thoughts, thoughts - nothing makes sense - good ideas come and are gone and forgotten - age or Ritalin - diagnosing problems where there are none - nobody listening to each other or paying attention - need more, need more - never satisfied - never pleased or fulfilled - always wanting more - keep going - don't stop to think - just write but original thoughts are hard to get when I can't stop to think - just go and originality goes out the window - good thoughts - freedom - want to slow down and appreciate - everything is unreal - shallow and focused on looks - not on being real or being pure - no authenticity