reflections | Pam Webb

Archive for the category “reflections”

18 Jul 2013

Willa You Let Me Read Your Letters?

intr.v. snooped, snoop·ing, snoops

To pry into the private affairs of others, especially by prowling about.

Looking where we shouldn’t seems to becoming more and more acceptable or at least it’s becoming more prevalent. I don’t know about you, but I got in BiG trouble if I got caught snooping. Parents, siblings, friends, even strangers don’t appreciate having their hidden stuff exposed. And face it, we all have stuff we want to remain hidden.

This is why I am having such difficulty with my latest selected tome of erudition.

image: Oprah.com

Right there. It says it right there. Willa Cather’s letters were hidden. She didn’t want them hanging out in the public eye. In fact, it’s taken about seventy years after her death to get these letters out. Why? Cather expressly stated in her will that she did not want her correspondence bandied about. Aren’t last wishes significant? Apparently not. If the agenda and credentials are proper enough it is deemed in everyone’s best interest to snoop and reveal.* No shame attached. In fact, no contrite apologies. Furthermore, the editors, Andrew Jewell and Janis Stout, justify their snooping in the book’s introduction:

Before Willa Cather died, she did what she could to prevent this book from ever existing. She made a will that clearly forbade all publication of her letters, in full or in part. And now we flagrantly defy Cather’s will in the belief that her decision, made in the last, dark years of her life and honored for more than half a century, is outweighed by the value of making these letters available to readers all over the world. [highlights are mine]

Hmm, “forbade” means to me “don’t do that.” What about “flagrantly defy”? Do I hear a little self-righteousness bragging, as in “I know it’s wrong, but I’m going to be proud out loud anyway”? Tsk.

As interested as I am in Willa Cather, I feel it’s wrong to snoop her letters. Just because they are published by a reputable and respected publisher doesn’t mean it’s ethical. Literary vultures waited until the will expired in 2011 and swooped down for the feast. Here is a paradox: if these two editors so respect Willa Cather, why aren’t they respecting her last wishes? Don’t get me started about trotting out King Tut’s burial goods for the paying public. I guess celebrities are open season dead or alive.

Granted, the letters represent only 20% of the entire collection, and none are present that might tarnish or stain Cather, (says the editors). I still feel mighty uncomfortable reading her private correspondence. There are family matters, personal matters, circumstances and situations that reveal too much of a peek behind the privacy curtain.

As much I appreciate learning about Cather’s background, which helps provide more depth to enjoying and understanding her prairie trilogy (Song of the Lark, O Pioneers, My Antonia), I have shut the book after about 200 pages, right about the third section, about when she left her editor position at McClure’s to pursue writing full time. The best is yet to come, yet sorry, I’m gonna pass. I respect Willa as an author too much to rummage around in her personal life.

Maybe, it’s me. Snooping for the cause of erudition is still snooping.

What do you think, readers? Should Willa Cather’s wishes been respected? Should her letters have been left alone, should they not have been dusted off and printed up, even if it’s in the quest harkening the light of “literary illumination”?

Willa is not amused.

*This could easily segway into a Snowden blog,, couldn’t it?

Willa Cather’s Letters Released For Publication Against Her Wishes (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
Prairie Love (cricketmuse.wordpress.com)
“The fact that I was a girl never damaged my ambitions to be a pope or an emperor” (vtpanther.typepad.com)

Posted in America, Reading, reflections, reviews, Uncategorized, writers and tagged famous authors, letters, My Ántonia, O Pioneer, snooping, Song of The Lark, Willa Cather

13 Jul 2013

13 Comments

From SparkNotes to Sparky Sweet, PhD

Read the Sparknotes (Photo credit: kevin dooley)

There are two basic reasons for reading classics:

1. Pressure

2. Enjoyment

Reason One:

Pressure comes from teachers assigning novels that no one wants to read, but students must read in order to complete the course. Mark Twain hit that one spot on:

Classic–a book which people praise and don’t read- Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New
Calendar

I am THAT teacher who literally pressures students into reading. Granted, I get my own pressure from the curriculum powers that be. Certain novels must be taught, which means I must find ways to entice students to read them. Over the years I have gathered up sources I point out to students so that they may better understand the stories, poems, and novels I toss out to them. Some teachers promote the erroneous idea that to utilize a resource like Sparknotes is cheating. Huh? That’s like me handing out To Kill a Mockingbird to my ninth graders, instructing them to sit down in a closet, and I shut the door. They might as well read in the dark if they don’t understand what they are reading. I know some students who never read assigned books and only Sparknote them (an AP student admitted this to his teacher, tsk 2 honesty 1). My thoughts on this are: a)it’s not like Sparknotes are contraband or are damaging to young minds b)at least he is familiar with the novel now. Some reading, even if it’s through summary, is better than no reading.

The other kind of pressure comes after we have left school and feel the need to fill in the holes of our education by reading all those classics we weren’t assigned or assigned and didn’t read. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Crime and Punishment, Robinson Crusoe, the list goes on. Just because we are in college or are college graduated, older, smarter, more aware, yada yada, that doesn’t mean we understand Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, any better. We can also get by with a little help from our friends, those marvelous lit aide sites:

Sparknotes.com–the go-to site for understanding a novel. It covers content, facts, chapter summary, characters, theme, major quotes, all the biggies. There are even quizzes to test comprehension plus videos (major spoilers though).

PinkMonkey.com–never mind the name, it delivers the same sort of information in a somewhat different style.

Cliffnotes.com–if you are as old as me then you remember those wonderful little yellow and black booklets (anyone else think they resembled bees?–and if a teacher caught you with them you got stung?) that helped shed light on Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, etc. They are now adding videos to their venue. Mmm, I’d say the videos are at about middle school level in approach, although most of my ninth graders liked the silly humor.

Novelguide.com–I used to rely on this site for my insights when preparing a unit, but then I discovered…

Shmoop.com–a most excellent and diverse site for pulling in understanding for both contemporary (mainly prevalent bestsellers) and classics. Prepared by smartypants PhD students (so they say) there is a break down of overview, analysis, theme, essay questions, characters, and a roundup of the best of the net. Videos are often a part of the lineup which are designed to evoke discussion (great for Socratic seminars) and are crafted with cunning.

Cummingsstudyguide.net–another site when needing deeper analysis needs. While basic, it nevertheless provides great insights.

Thugnotes.com–new to the scene, it’s difficult to know what to do with this venue. Sparky Sweets, PhD, is an erudite street talking armchair lit critic. The paradox of foul-mouthed summary offset with finely constructed analysis makes this video series a conundrum. I know the students would appreciate how he brings literature to an understandable level, yet there is need for more beeps or I would be answering to the admin. For a bit of entertainment and enlightenment I present as a choice with caution to those who prefer to not have their classics fouled.

There are more sites out there, and I would appreciate hearing your faves.

Reason Two

If you read the classics for pleasure then you will still appreciate the above-mentioned sites as they add to the reading experience.

Read the classics, no matter if you have to or want to, for they are the foundation of all we read today!

“To be successful at reading comprehension, students need to …” (Photo credit: Ken Whytock)

Don’t Hate Boo Radley, Hate the Game (anniecardi.com)
The Book vs. SparkNotes (slough1145.wordpress.com)
The Best Video on the Internet Today: Thug Notes Reviews “1984” (complex.com)
23 Books You Didn’t Read In High School But Actually Should (buzzfeed.com)

Posted in celebrations, education, Literature, reflections, Teachers, technology and tagged education, Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain, Sparknote, students, study aides

08 Jul 2013

2 Comments

A Woolf in Read’s Clothing

photo: imdb.com

My first vague acquaintance with Virginia Woolf is associated with Elizabeth Taylor. Both are pivotal influences in their chosen professions. As a last wave baby boomer cI recall a bit of a fuss when the movie Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? came out. Not being a Disney-generated flick my parents did not take me to see it. In my childhood bliss of perceptual naiveté I believed Elizabeth Taylor to be Virginia Woolf and from the TV trailers she appeared to be a daunting person. I could see why some might be afraid of her.

image: aroom.org

My second encounter with Virginia Woolf came way later when I began teaching high school English. Woolf’s essay “A Room of Her Own” was part of the senior lit curriculum, a prelude to a brief study in feminist writing. Still getting my bearings about Shakespeare, I discovered through Woolf’s essay Shakespeare had a sister! I thought him to be like Atlantis, known but unknown, shrouded in mystery, waiting to be actually proven. A sister? It sent me scurrying to dedicated research and though Woolf got it all wrong about Willie’s sis, I now know much more about the Bard.

image: etsy.com

The third encounter came way of Meryl Streep. She’s a fave, so I couldn’t resist picking up The Hours at the library. Fascinating film (I admit some parts tweaked my comfort zone and my daughter squeaked, “you watched The Hours!”–my prudery is too well-pegged by family members). What truly fascinated me was Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf. No wonder she received the Academy Award for her performance. A tortured artist always leaves me wondering the why/what behind the reason of taking his or her life instead of living it.

image: notreciinema.com

Finding Virginia a bit overwhelming I didn’t do my usual research and read on her. To be honest, although she intrigued me,she also made me nervous, much like James Joyce. So much, almost too much in their writing for me to comprehend and absorb. I felt unprepared to read her works.

At present I am a tiny bit more confident having an AP Institute training and one year of AP Senior Lit and Comp seated firmly on the resume. I thought, “Okay, Ginny, let’s give it a whirl.” I pulled down Orlando off the shelf and settled in for my summer chaise in the shade read.

Sigh.

I wonder if her writing would have been published if her husband had not set up Hogarth Press expressly for that purpose? Her writing is amazing, this is true. It’s rich, masterful, and paradigm pushing. Deemed ahead of its time, both Virginia and her writing nevertheless appeared to be respected and applauded. Overall, I will have to pass on Virginia Woolf and her modernist approach to literature. She and James Joyce are just enough of a different cup of tea to not be on my reread list.

I followed through on my research since I did not do my read on her. I will definitely include her in my overviews on modernists. Virginia Woolf may not be among my chosen authors; however, I do acknowledge her place in the literary hall of fame.

image: standrewsrarebooks.wordpress.com

‘To The Lighthouse’ by Virginia Woolf (culturefromthecheapseats.wordpress.com)
I don’t think two people could have been happier (quagliojenn.wordpress.com)
The only known recording of Virginia Woolf’s voice (artsjournal.com)
Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? (myoldaddiction2.wordpress.com)
My Non-Academic Thoughts on Woolf’s The Voyage Out (anniepaige.wordpress.com)

Posted in education, Literature, Reading, reflections, reviews, Uncategorized, writers, Writing and tagged AP Literature, Elizabeth Taylor, inspiration, Literature, Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, reading, reviews, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf

05 Jul 2013

Summer Read n Eat Poetry

Food and summer. Yup.

Besides barbecue, picnics, reunions, vacation binges, craft fair nibbling, beach concession splurges and the like, there is also food found in our reading. Take poems, for example.

This is just to say by William Carlos Williams

Watermelons by Charles Simic

Peach Blossoms by Carl Sandburg

A Ballad of Nursery Rhyme by Robert Graves

Orchard by Hilda Doolittle

Plums, watermelons, berries, peaches, oh my. Time to browse the Farmer’s Market!

For more summer foodie poems try this delightful site: TasteArt

What is a poem? (oup.com)
Charles Simic: “The Dictionary.” (newyorker.com)

Posted in food, Poetry, Reading, reflections, summer, Uncategorized, writers and tagged Carl Sandburg, food, Poetry, summer, William Carlos Williams | Leave a comment

02 Jul 2013

5 Comments

Summer Sensory

Summer from my backyard…

comforting drone of the neighbor’s lawnmower

thrum of rising heat

tantalizing waffs of barbeque

smiling inducing laughter and squeals of the VBS children at play

drone of ovehead planes taking in the view

piercing horn blasts of the A-line trains traveling north and south

conversation snatches of runners and bikers passing by

bass thrum of teens cruising around

crescendo of motorcycles out for a spin

the dip and dives of swallows catching supper bugs

robin chirrup, chickadee beckon, crow squawk, dove wing chrill, chipmunk scold

sprinkler tick, tick, ticky, tock

aspen leaf lift and swish and sway in the cooling gift of breeze

Ahhhhhh, mmmmm, summmer…..

Posted in Poetry, reflections, summer and tagged Birds, Children, lawnmower, planes, Poetry, relaxing, summer

29 Jun 2013

4 Comments

Prairie Love

image: oceanliteracy.org

Growing up with the ocean ever present in my life, I couldn’t fathom living without it. The salty tang of the air, the lullaby rhythm of the waves, the restoring sandy walks–I couldn’t imagine or even desire living apart from its presence.

And yet, for the past twenty years I have done so. I traded the ocean for trees and mountains. The ocean is still a part of me, though we are now parted. There are aspects of my adopted environment that have also become woven into my person. I call this the sense of setting.

image: wallstickeroutlet.com

Because of my familiarity and connection with the ocean, forests, and mountains, I find myself drawn to reading about unfamiliar landscapes, and for some reason my list of setting interests includes an abundance of stories about the prairie.

Initially, I don’t think I could bear the flatness, the unyielding run to the horizon from end to end, nor bear the extremes of seasons and the monotony of view. This is where the marksmanship and craft of writing happens. Writers, poets, authors portray the prairie in such a way I find myself surrounded by the grass, the wind, and witness vicariously the openness and beauty through another’s eyes. The sense of place.

Recently two writers have presented their sense of place, their love of the prairie so profoundly, my paradigm has shifted. I now understand the fullness of this unique setting, and respect it and perhaps even admire it, which replaces my former disdain. True writing, the skill of a wordsmith can do this.

While I have read many prairie pioneer books in my life, Laura Ingalls Wilder being the first, my most recent read is Willa Cather. She provided readers with a portrait of the midwest through her trilogy Oh Pioneers, My Antonia, and Song of the Lark. A memorable passage from My Antonia:

Presently we saw a curious thing: There were no clouds, the sun was going down in a limpid, gold-washed sky. Just as the lower edge of the red disc rested on the high fields against the horizon, a great black figure suddenly appeared on the face of the sun. We sprang to our feet, straining our eyes toward it. In a moment we realized what it was. On some upland farm, a plough had been left standing in the field. The sun was sinking just behind it. Magnified across the distance by the horizontal light, it stood out against the sun, was exactly contained within the circle of the disk; the handles, the tongue, the share—black against the molten red. There it was, heroic in size, a picture writing on the sun.
Even while we whispered about it, our vision disappeared; the ball dropped and dropped until the red tip went beneath the earth. The fields below us were dark, the sky was growing pale, and that forgotten plough had sunk back to its own littleness somewhere on the prairie.

Cover of My Ántonia (Dover Thrift Editions)

Cather presents both the starkness of the prairie and the greatness. The plough represents the solitary efforts of those who tried to tame the vastness of that flat, grassy expanse, and while the abandoned plough could have been viewed as sad or even tragic in its loneliness, Cather displays it as heroic. And this is the view I now have of the prairie. It is like the ocean in its vastness, its grasses the tide upon the land. Those who worked it by tilling the land, navigating its immensity with their ploughs, horses, and tractors are much like those who navigated the ocean with their own crafts of boat, steamers, and ships. Both land and sea represent the need to explore the unknown and forge a living from it.

Another view comes from today’s Poem-a-Day offering:

Poppies on the Wheat

by Helen Hunt Jackson

Along Ancona’s hills the shimmering heat,

A tropic tide of air with ebb and flow

Bathes all the fields of wheat until they glow

Like flashing seas of green, which toss and beat

Around the vines. The poppies lithe and fleet

Seem running, fiery torchmen, to and fro

To mark the shore.

The farmer does not know

That they are there. He walks with heavy feet,

Counting the bread and wine by autumn’s gain,

But I,–I smile to think that days remain

Perhaps to me in which, though bread be sweet

No more, and red wine warm my blood in vain,

I shall be glad remembering how the fleet,

Lithe poppies ran like torchmen with the wheat.

English: , located on west side of just north of the Nebraska-Kansas border in southern . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I smile, too, grasping the juxtaposition of frivolity of the simple flower merged the purpose of the land.

I may never go to Kansas or Nebraska, but I can say I have traveled to their prairies.

Willa Cather: A Hidden Voice (nybooks.com)
Poppies… on a sunny day (loiselden.com)
Cather makes NYT front page (nebraskapress.typepad.com)
“She was a rich mine of life, like the founders of early races.” (vtpanther.typepad.com)

Posted in America, Books, Literature, Reading, reflections, reviews, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged Kansas, Literature, My Ántonia, Nebraska, ocean, place, prairie, reading, setting, style, Willa Cather, writing

26 Jun 2013

2 Comments

The Guilt-Free Read

One of the first items of my “I’m-finally-on-summer-vacation” list is to trot down to the local library and leisurely select a few novels to enjoy without guilt. During the year I am either guilty of sneaking my reading in between grading essays or I feel guilt because I am not reading. With no papers in sight for the next couple of months I shall enjoy reading at all hours of the day guilt free.

I tend to mix up my reading, and although I don’t like to make lists, here are a few goals I plan on to accomplish while lounging in the hammock this summer:

1. Room with a View (a reread, the first time I read it too fast determining if I would teach it for AP–the verdict? A resounding “Yes!” The subtle humor and digs at Brits and their habits are delightful–the film caught the spirit well, also.)

2. A really good mystery series–I haven’t found one since I finished my Inspector Evans series by Rhys Bowens. I’m picky though–no bedding, no swearing, no gratuitous violence–limiting, isn’t it? Take it up as a challenge 🙂

3. Classics yet to read: The Sound and the Fury; Middlemarch; Faust (really, I never have); some Dickens, more Shakespeare, and perhaps a Hemingway, and of course a revisit with Austen.

4. Look up current YA–I discovered Hunger Games before the masses did, and hope to find a new trend-setter.

5. Kid Lit: what’s going on in picture books these days, and it never hurts to look up old friends for an afternoon of revisiting.

I’m open to suggestions. Got a good read to recommend? My schedule is wide open until end of August.

image from guardian.co.uk

Billy Collins captures the guilt-free read so very well in his poem “Reading in a Hammock”. An excerpt:

Around the edges of the book
is the larger sky,
dotted with clouds,
and some overhanging branches
that appear to be slowly swaying
back and forth,
as if I were the one lying motionless…

Breathe Easy. Keep Reading. (readability.com)

Posted in Books, Reading, reflections, summer, Uncategorized and tagged Billy Collins, classics, hammocks, reading, vacation

22 Jun 2013

Why We Say: #3

Why We Say #3 looks at

Going against the grain or being rubbed the wrong way?

History: As long as there has been wood or furry animals there has been the need to go with the smooth side of things

Story:
A carpenter working with wood runs his hand along the board and immediately picks up a sliver or two because he has gone against the grain, likewise petting animals against the fur gets immediate snips, snaps, and scratches.

Application:
The saying “go with the flow” absolutely has solid connection. If we rub something or someone the wrong way we end up causing injury to both parties.

My Thoughts:
I have been guilty of not looking first and have often gone against the grain or sometimes out of ornerniness have gone ahead knowing the consequences. Be it splinters, growls, or causing friction with other people it is always wise to go with the grain to keep things going smoothlyin life.

Posted in reflections, Uncategorized, Writing and tagged cats, quotes, relationships | Leave a comment

09 Jun 2013

2 Comments

Sigh FiE

Science Fiction served as a mainstay of my reading through most of my college years. I stuck mainly to Ray Bradbury, tried a bit of Asimov, dabbled in other authors of that genre and then pounced on science fantasy such as Roger Zelazny.Yet, I can’t say I enjoyed SF as much in novel form as I did in film.

What I really fastened onto was cheesy low budget sci- fi films, you know, the Buck Rogers variety, where everyone is seriously acting as if bounding about in shiny costumes, waving plastic gadgets and battling fakey creatures is going to build their resume and cause the Academy to perk up for Oscar recommends. I left cheesy SF films behind, along with a penchant for snacking on Top Ramen, when I graduated from college. However, as we all know flashbacks are a part of life.

The MEPA picked up a few movies at the library the other night and amidst the usual travel logs was (I kid you not) The Angry Red Planet. So bad it’s good. Cheese rating: 9/10–making it a major cheddar.

Micro-Precis:
The missing rocket to Mars returns minus a couple of crew members and the leader has a nasty green growth on his arm, but can the lovely traumatized Iris recall what really happened while on the angry red planet?

I can’t say I have totally graduated from my penchant for Sci Fi (I do not, however, ever eat Top Ramen anymore). I have, instead, developed a taste for the art of the science fiction film. A friend introduced me to Alien when it first came to the screen(I couldn’t have been the only who screamed at the baby alien’s untimely entrance at the breakfast table) and I decided scary Sci Fi is not for me. I have since gravitated to artsy Sci Fi, such as Gattaca, The Matrix, and Inception. Novel science fiction goes more towards dystopian like Hunger Games and Divergent. Nevertheless,I will always have a soft spot for Sci FiE films. How many have you suffered through–feel free to tack on your nominees:

1. All those terrible Godzilla films where the plastic dinosaur is rampaging Tokyo.

2. Those movies that have such bad titles you know that they reek of cheese.

Book Jacket for: Attack of the 50 ft. woman ; 3. Or have such laughable cover art, you check them out just because.

Book Jacket for: Forbidden planet ;

4. Unfortunate adaptations of favorite authors. Ray, did you know about this one?

Book Jacket for: It came from outer space ;

5. Then again, some of them become cult hits, such as Gunsmoke’s James Arness as a monster and Steve McQueen saving the day.

Book Jacket for: The thing ;

Oh, there are so many truly terribly wonderfully really bad science fiction movies out there that cause one to Sigh (and say) FiE.

What are your loathsome favorites?

Angry Red Planet (merryfrolics.wordpress.com)
“Classic” or “Modern”, SciFi is a Good Read (katerauner.wordpress.com)

Posted in Literature, Movies, reflections, Uncategorized and tagged Angry Red Planet, Godzilla, Ray Bradbury, Science fiction film

02 Jun 2013

3 Comments

Book Boostering

I haven’t Book Boostered for a while, and our newest add on, Munchinwrites, prompted me to remind folk to sign up if they haven’t. And to also remind me if I promised to add you and haven’t done so. *Ahem, my apologies, with additional lame excuses attachments*

What is Book Boosters?

Here’s the pitch from my Book Boosters page conveniently placed in my banner

Do you love books?

Do you have favorites you read, recommend, and even re-read?

Are you a frequent flyer at the local library?

Are you an on-line regular of book sites, be they promoting to buy, review, or boast books?

Perchance you operate on a need to read basis–you have to have a book in hand, by the bed, stashed in the car, or have one nestled in the backpack.

You then, my friend, are a Book Booster. And you are in good company. Add your name to the list and welcome to the shelf of those who appreciate and advance the cause of books.

Wondering who is on the roster or if you are? Take a scroll, and by all means, do enjoy checking out the various sites (of course, some sites may not be up and running anymore–such is the state of blogdom):

1. www.BookWrites.wordpress.com

2. www.eatsleeptelevision.wordpress.com (adambellotto)

3. www.homeschoolhappymess.com

4. www.carolinareti.wordpress.com

5. www.opinionatedmama.wordpress.com

6. www.jessileapringle.wordpress.com

7. www.wcs53.wordpress.com

8. www.spookymrsgreen.wordpress.com

9. www.cecileswriters.wordpress.com (Samir)

10. www.HannahBurke.wordpress.com

11. www.thecoevas.wordpress.com

12. www.Jayati.wordpress.com