Author: Jean S Kahler

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In Which I Fangirl Out Over Natalie Diaz

Read this and watch the videos before you read the essays, is my advice. I’m not forcing a comment on this one — though commenting makes class more fun for everyone! — but I think you will get more out of the essays if you do this part.

Natalie Diaz. What’s not to love?

She’s a poet. She’s a warrior for language preservation. She’s a basketball star. She has the coolest insta, full of pictures of Mojave land and cool cocktails and thoughts about poetry I don’t see other places. Like this one, for instance:

…which I can’t get to embed properly. Here’s a link:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Natalie Diaz (@ndinn)

This week, we are looking at two short essays of hers about language. But boy howdy, is her poetry also worth your time. I’m a particular fan of:

“Abecedarian Requiring Further Examination of Anglikan Seraphym Subjugation of a Wild Indian Rezervation”

“As A Consequence of My Brother Stealing All The Lightbulbs”

“I Watch Her Eat The Apple”

“They Don’t Love You Like I Love You”

“These Hands, If Not God’s”

…I could go on. You don’t have to read any of those poems. But you should! She’s spectacular, and she is also still alive and writing! Get your life.

Here are a couple of videos to watch before class.

This video was made by the MacArthur Foundation, after Diaz won the award popularly known as the Genius Grant.

…And here’s me carrying on about her:

Now go read those essays!

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Losing Farther, Losing Faster.

Click here to read Natalie Diaz’s essay “Losing Farther, Losing Faster.”

https://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2014/03/natalie-diaz-losing-farther-losing-faster-reading-elizabeth-bishops-one-art-while-trying-to-save-my-.html

Please also read the Elizabeth Bishop poem she is writing back to, “One Art”

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47536/one-art

After you read this essay, post a reply using the “terms and ideas” model. Watch the Terms and Ideas” video and read more about that model here.

A reminder on the form:

  1. Read the article (or essay or poem) first. Take note of things you need to look up. Look them up. Check that you are using a definition that makes sense.
  2. Mark sections of the text that introduce interesting ideas. This is much easier to do if you are reading on paper! If you are reading on-screen, write notes in a notebook. I know, it’s easier not to, but you will really, really wish you had done this when it is time to write a paper on this topic. Plus it makes you smarter.
  3. In you reply, list at least 3 terms you looked up. This can mean just looking a word up in the dictionary — such as “tabernacle,” in the James Baldwin — or looking up a broader concept — such as “Congo Square” in wikipedia or similar. (Yes, wikipedia is fine for this purpose.)
  4. PROVIDE A SOURCE FOR YOUR DEFINITION. If you copy it word for word — which is fine for this assignment — PUT IT IN QUOTATION MARKS. You don’t need to use full MLA format for this assignment, though you are welcome to. A URL in parentheses or a link is fine. But get in the habit of giving credit to your sources.
  5. Next, write 1-3 paragraphs about an idea in the text you think is worth further examination.
  6. After making your reply, return to the post and comment on 2-3 of your classmates’ replies. You may learn something! There are a lot of smart people around here.

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Argument/Analysis Video

Please watch this video — count the “ums” if you like! Aren’t you glad I’m not your speech teacher?

Afterwards:

  1. post an example in the comments of an argument and an example of a statement. But don’t say which is which!
  2. Comment on someone else’s post, identifying the argument versus the statement that they have made.
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Terms & Ideas Video

I made this video to explain the Terms & Ideas assignment to a previous semester’s class (which is why I keep saying “discussion forum” instead of “blog post.”) I’d like to work with you this semester to develop a more collaborative version of this assignment, for example building a glossary and guide to each reading together, creating one document that is useful to the whole class. And we will do that! This week, you will do a more traditionally version of the assignment, but you will submit your work as comments on the posts for the two essays you are reading, so that the group as a whole benefits from your work. If you are doing this assignment later in the week, take a look at what your classmates have already posted! Ask what you can do to add to the project — in other words, rather than defining a word that has already been defined, choose a different one.

Guidelines for this kind of response:

Guidelines for this kind of response:

  • Read the article (or essay or poem) first. Take note of things you need to look up. Look them up. Check that you are using a definition that makes sense.

  • Mark sections of the text that introduce interesting ideas. This is much easier to do if you are reading on paper! If you are reading on-screen, write notes in a notebook. I know, it’s easier not to, but you will really, really wish you had done this when it is time to write a paper on this topic. Plus it makes you smarter.

  • In you reply, list at least 3 terms you looked up. This can mean just looking a word up in the dictionary — such as “tabernacle,” in the James Baldwin — or looking up a broader concept — such as “Congo Square” in wikipedia or similar. (Yes, wikipedia is fine for this purpose.) PROVIDE A SOURCE FOR YOUR DEFINITION. If you copy it word for word — which is fine for this assignment — PUT IT IN QUOTATION MARKS. You don’t need to use full MLA format for this assignment, though you are welcome to. A URL in parentheses or a link is fine. But get in the habit of giving credit to your sources.

  • Next, write 1-3 paragraphs about an idea in the text you think is worth further examination.

    • PS, you can read the bell hooks essay I mentioned here.

    After you read this essay, post a reply using the “terms and ideas” model. Watch the Terms and Ideas” video and read more about that model here.

    A reminder on the form:

    1. Read the article (or essay or poem) first. Take note of things you need to look up. Look them up. Check that you are using a definition that makes sense.
    2. Mark sections of the text that introduce interesting ideas. This is much easier to do if you are reading on paper! If you are reading on-screen, write notes in a notebook. I know, it’s easier not to, but you will really, really wish you had done this when it is time to write a paper on this topic. Plus it makes you smarter.
    3. In you reply, list at least 3 terms you looked up. This can mean just looking a word up in the dictionary — such as “tabernacle,” in the James Baldwin — or looking up a broader concept — such as “Congo Square” in wikipedia or similar. (Yes, wikipedia is fine for this purpose.)
    4. PROVIDE A SOURCE FOR YOUR DEFINITION. If you copy it word for word — which is fine for this assignment — PUT IT IN QUOTATION MARKS. You don’t need to use full MLA format for this assignment, though you are welcome to. A URL in parentheses or a link is fine. But get in the habit of giving credit to your sources.
    5. Next, write 1-3 paragraphs about an idea in the text you think is worth further examination.
    6. After making your reply, return to the post and comment on 2-3 of your classmates’ replies. You may learn something! There are a lot of smart people around here.
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    “If What I Mean Is Hummingbird”

    Click here to read Natalie Diaz’s essay “If What I Mean Is Hummingbird, If What I Mean Is Fall Into My Mouth”

    After you read this essay, post a reply using the “terms and ideas” model. Watch the Terms and Ideas” video and read more about that model here.

    A reminder on the form:

    1. Read the article (or essay or poem) first. Take note of things you need to look up. Look them up. Check that you are using a definition that makes sense.
    2. Mark sections of the text that introduce interesting ideas. This is much easier to do if you are reading on paper! If you are reading on-screen, write notes in a notebook. I know, it’s easier not to, but you will really, really wish you had done this when it is time to write a paper on this topic. Plus it makes you smarter.
    3. In you reply, list at least 3 terms you looked up. This can mean just looking a word up in the dictionary — such as “tabernacle,” in the James Baldwin — or looking up a broader concept — such as “Congo Square” in wikipedia or similar. (Yes, wikipedia is fine for this purpose.)
    4. PROVIDE A SOURCE FOR YOUR DEFINITION. If you copy it word for word — which is fine for this assignment — PUT IT IN QUOTATION MARKS. You don’t need to use full MLA format for this assignment, though you are welcome to. A URL in parentheses or a link is fine. But get in the habit of giving credit to your sources.
    5. Next, write 1-3 paragraphs about an idea in the text you think is worth further examination.
    6. After making your reply, return to the post and comment on 2-3 of your classmates’ replies. You may learn something! There are a lot of smart people around here.
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    Fire

    Fire, by Judy Brown

    Fire

    What makes a fire burn

    is space between the logs,

    a breathing space.

    Too much of a good thing,

    too many logs

    packed in too tight

    can douse the flames

    almost as surely

    as a pail of water would.

    So building fires

    requires attention

    to the spaces in between,

    as much as to the wood.

    When we are able to build

    open spaces

    in the same way

    we have learned

    to pile on the logs,

    then we can come to see how

    it is fuel, and absence of the fuel

    together, that make fire possible

    We only need to lay a log

    lightly from time to time.

    A fire

    grows

    simply because the space is there,

    with openings

    in which the flame

    that knows just how it wants to burn

    can find its way.

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    “If Black English Isn’t A Language […]”

    Here is a link to James Baldwin’s essay, “If Black English Isn’t A Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?” as originally published in the New York Times.

    “If Black English Isn’t A Language, Then Tell Me, What Is?”

    Please note! There are some typos in this version. (Thanks, scanners.) The language of southern France he mentions should be “Provencal,” for instance.

    After you read this essay, post a reply using the “terms and ideas” model. Watch the Terms and Ideas” video and read more about that model here.

    A reminder on the form:

    1. Read the article (or essay or poem) first. Take note of things you need to look up. Look them up. Check that you are using a definition that makes sense.
    2. Mark sections of the text that introduce interesting ideas. This is much easier to do if you are reading on paper! If you are reading on-screen, write notes in a notebook. I know, it’s easier not to, but you will really, really wish you had done this when it is time to write a paper on this topic. Plus it makes you smarter.
    3. In you reply, list at least 3 terms you looked up. This can mean just looking a word up in the dictionary — such as “tabernacle,” in the James Baldwin — or looking up a broader concept — such as “Congo Square” in wikipedia or similar. (Yes, wikipedia is fine for this purpose.)
    4. PROVIDE A SOURCE FOR YOUR DEFINITION. If you copy it word for word — which is fine for this assignment — PUT IT IN QUOTATION MARKS. You don’t need to use full MLA format for this assignment, though you are welcome to. A URL in parentheses or a link is fine. But get in the habit of giving credit to your sources.
    5. Next, write 1-3 paragraphs about an idea in the text you think is worth further examination.
    6. After making your reply, return to the post and comment on 2-3 of your classmates’ replies. You may learn something! There are a lot of smart people around here.
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    On Plagiarism

    I HATE IT. DON’T DO IT.

    Ahem. Sometimes students plagiarize by accident, though.

    Watch these videos and comment below that you have watched them and understand. Or, if you don’t understand, please post a question! Everyone will benefit.

    To show me that you’ve read this whole post, please also suggest a punishment for people who just straight-up copy — that is to say, steal — other people’s writing. Is it too much to hope that we can put good old fashioned stocks out in front of the main building? Kidding, sort of.