I know that today isn't the last day of school; it's just the last day for this class. 

I want to thank all of you for an engaging and fun semester. Take a few minutes to scroll through our class blog and remember all of the ground we covered. You learned a lot, and there's always more.

Keep reading, making zines, and using language creatively. If you have any assignments that you haven't turned in, the deadline is this Friday, December 9, at 5pm. Write me at csmith@dcad.edu if you have questions or concerns. 

Have a relaxing break. See you in January! Remember: I'll always be your former professor. If I can help with a rec letter or editing your transfer packages or job letters, please let me know.  

 

Is the College Essay Dead or Dying?

 

This is a disconcerting article if you're an English professor like me, especially on the final day of a class called "Writing about Modern Literature." I wonder if it's just hype, or if there is some truth to it.

Give it a read and let me know what you think. I wonder if an AI program could have written your final essay? I'm certain that it couldn't have performed your presentation. 

Maybe teachers and professors need to rethink the role of the formal college essay. I've been doing this for a number of years, but not in radical or transformative ways.  

Presentation Tips and Advice

1. Remind yourself that you know the material and that your presentation doesn't have to be "perfect".

2. Look up to your audience every so often. Smile if you can, or at least try not to look miserable.

3. Speak at a slightly higher volume than your normal speaking voice.

4. If you "mess something up," just move forward. Don't apologize. (See number 1 above.)

5. Have fun. Ask the audience a question or two in the conclusion (optional).

6. Remember to return your book to the library after class ends.

7. Anything else? Class?

Comics in the Classroom

 

This TED talk by Gene Yang deals directly with the issue of teaching comics and graphic novels in K-12 schools. After watching his short talk, let's have a discussion about whether his arguments are valid for college classrooms. Are there any differences? What are they? Why? 

Also, let's think about the popularity of comics and graphic novels in historically marginalized communities. Is it just a coincidence that comics are so popular in BIPOC and LGBTQ spaces? What about the comic format lends itself to giving voice and visibility to these communities? 

See also this webpage of the ten best comics by Asian-Americans. Yang's American Born Chinese (2007) won all of the awards. 

 

Presentation Schedule

9:30 Section

Monday, Dec. 5

1. Sabina on Birdseye Bristoe 

2. Abel on Tank Girl 

3. Claire on The Alcoholic

4. Kayla-Rose on Lost at Sea

5. Tanya on On a Sunbeam

6. Coll on This One Summer

7. Lo on Psychiatric Tales

8. Jasmine on Bones

9. Paige on Bigfoot, I not Dead

10. Alyssa on  Anya's Ghost 

Wednesday, Dec. 7

11. Jacob on Zed, a Cosmic Tale

12. Kaylee on Prince and the Dressmaker

13. Chase on Seconds

14. LJ on Boondocks

15. Kayla Cruz on Contract with God

16. Katelyn on Gender Queer

17. Ana on Ichiro

18. Josiah on The Watchmen

19.

20.

11:00 Section

Monday, Dec. 5

1. Aiden on Nimona

2. Rodney on Scrapbook

3. Hannah on Blankets

4. Haley-Rose on R Crumb

5. Jabez on The Underwater Welder

Wednesday, Dec. 7

6. Delayne on Maus

7. Brad on The Sculptor

8. Miette on Jimmy Corrigan

9. Kacie on Fun Home

10. Simon on Uzumaki

Presentation Details

 Each student will have about 5-7 minutes for their brief presentation. Think of it as an opportunity to share with your classmates your knowledge about the particular graphic novel you're focusing on for your essay. 

While there is no "correct" way to go about preparing your presentation, the following scheme might work for most students.

First slide: The cover of your graphic novel with a title that expresses your main "take-away" or thesis. 

Second slide: Headshot of your author/artist

Third and Fourth slides: Examples of text/image

Fifth slide: Main points summarized (bullet list)

Upload your presentation (Powerpoint or multi-page PDF) to Populi no later than Dec 5 at 9:00 am.

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

Conceptual Comics: Huh?

 

Ubu.com has a special section dedicated to Conceptual Comics. Robert Sikoryak's "Terms and Conditions" (2017, Drawn & Quarterly) announces itself on its cover as a graphic novel, but it doesn't tell a conventional story. It takes an existing text that would never be considered "literary" and makes art out of it. Many of the conceptual comics on ubu.com are not in English, but it's fun all the same to see what they're up to. Be patient: the files are large and take a minute to load.

Final Essay & Presentation: Important Information

 Your final assignment in Writing about Modern Literature is a paired essay & presentation on the graphic novel that you have chosen.

Upload a draft (required) no later than 9:00 am on November 30. Final due on December 5.

We are collectively making a "Reader's Guide to Selected Graphic Novels in the DCAD Library Collection." This project will be an actual finding aid for future DCAD students interested in learning more about graphic novels. 

Here is a website from the UK that features reviews of graphic novels. Your review will be more in-depth than these examples.

Think of your essay as an extended critical review. The length should be between 750 and 1,000 words. I emphasize the word "critical" above, because your essay shouldn't be pure boosterism. It needs to assess the strengths and weaknesses of your chosen graphic novel. 

Each review will follow the same basic structure:

First paragraph: Biography of Artist/Writer

Second paragraph: Brief Plot Summary

Third paragraph: Significant Characters & Setting

Fourth paragraph: Art Style

Fifth paragraph: Text/Image Relationship

Sixth paragraph: Other Reviewers' Opinions

Seventh, Eighth, & Ninth paragraphs: Your Critical Assessment

Tenth paragraph: Further Reading (not really a paragraph, more like a bibliography).

You'll need at least three images (think screengrab or scan): One of the book cover and two that show the book's art style. 

We will work on formatting in class on Monday, November 28. 

Questions?  csmith@dcad.edu

Reading assignment for Monday's class: Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics" and Kathyn Strong Hansen's "In Defense of Graphic Novels"

 

Scott McCloud published his famous book, Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (1993), almost thirty years ago. Despite its age, it remains the go-to book for doing what its title promises. McCloud explains the history of comics and graphic novels, and he describes how the language of comics works. It is an indispensable and invaluable resource.

Reading assignment for Monday, November 21. There will be a quiz if it seems that students haven't done the reading. Do the reading. OK?

1) The first chapter of Understanding Comics.

2) Kathryn Strong Hansen's essay, "In Defense of Graphic Novels". Link below.

Hansen, Kathryn Strong. “In Defense of Graphic Novels.” The English Journal, vol. 102, no. 2, 2012, pp. 57–63. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23365398. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022.

Graphic Novels: Links on Links

 Pernille Ripp (great name) is an education blogger who wrote "In Defence of Graphic Novels, Again" in 2021. Scroll down to find dozens of useful links. 

Final Unit: Graphic Novels

 Our final three weeks (six class sessions) will be devoted to learning about graphic novels. Students will read, write, debate, and make a presentation about a specific graphic novel in the collection of DCAD's Thronson Library. 

Essay due: December 5

Presentations: December 5 & 7

Details to follow.

This ten-minute video from PBS does a great job of summarizing the history of the genre and it also weighs in on the debate about whether or not it's legitimate literature. Spoiler alert: It is. 

In 2022, graphic novels are no longer a novelty. They are everywhere. Check out this link from Goodreads. 

Even the US government is getting into the graphic novel game. In 2020 the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency published two graphic novels: Real Fake and Bug Bytes. 

There are so many free resources to learn about graphic novels: websites, blogs, podcasts, videos, scholarly essays, and so on. Exercise your curiosity. Learn new things to share with your classmates. 

Do you have something cool to share with the class? Maybe it's a website or some other digital resource. Maybe it's a physical object like a book. In any case, please let me know. 

Further Notes on Your Fluxus Paper (Due Monday morning, Nov. 14)

 

Now that you all know how MLA citation works, it's easy for you to incorporate it in your writing. Feel free to search/surf/scour the internet for other resources. Secondary sources aren't required, but they might be a big help. 

There is no "laundry list" of questions that you must address. Your job is to give a critique of Fluxus literature. Of course, it's nearly impossible to separate Fluxus literature from performance because performance is an integral component of it.

How does Fluxus literature "work" compared to other more typical forms of literature: fiction, poetry, screenwriting, etc. ? Does it work for you? Why or why not? Give examples. Have fun. Try not to be obvious. Provide your classmates with a fresh perspective(s). 

Proofread assiduously before uploading. 

It's OK to be skeptical, just don't be dismissive. 

Here's a link to a great Fluxus resource, Aspen no. 8. Also see this review of Yoko Ono's One Woman Show at MoMA. Ben Patterson is also worth a long look. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu 

Event Score for Chocolate Chip Cookie

 Event Score for Chocolate Chip Cookie (CCC)

1) Choose one CCC

2) With one hand, hold CCC at eye-level and arms-length away with the flat side toward you

3) Keep the CCC in this position for approximately 30 seconds

4) Think hard about your feelings and experiences with CCCs

5) Remember the time you bit into a cookie thinking it was a CCC, but it turned out to be a raisin oatmeal cookie 

6) Remember how disappointed you were

7) Place the CCC on a paper towel

8) Methodically separate the chocolate chips from the cookie, forming two piles: one with chocolate chips and one without

9) When finished, contribute your chocolate chips to the communal pile of chocolate chips

10) Eat or dispose the remaining bits of cookie

Casey Smith

Writing About Modern Lit

DCAD, 10 November 2022

John Cage's Empty Words: Fluxus Riot in Milan

This audio recording of John Cage's performance of Empty Words Part 3 captures the spirit of Fluxus perfectly. The audience quite literally becomes an active (and perhaps unwitting) participant in the construction of the concert.  

The audience was quiet and respectful when Cage started. Someone shouts what sounds like "WTF" around the fifth minute, but it's not until the ninth minute that things begin to get rowdy and out of control. Cage continued reading through the whole thing. Even when audience members stormed the stage and someone took his reading glasses off his face, Cage kept reading. He continued for about an hour and a half without intermission.  

Documentary evidence of this event can be found on this website.

By Popular Demand: Extension on Fluxus Paper Until Monday, November 14

 What's not to like?

Your full page (or more) single-spaced paper is due on Monday, November 14 no later than 9:00 am.

Remember to include a "Fluxus-inspired image" in the top left corner. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

FLUXUS: John Cage & Sound (Music?)

 

Let's remember that Fluxus artists wanted to break down barriers that separated one art from others, and more importantly they wanted to destroy the notion that art and life were two different things. Even though we're focusing on Fluxus texts that are primarily (though not exclusively) literary, we really need to understand the role of John Cage and what he called "chance operations." What happens when the artist/person gives up all control (or nearly so) in the making of a work of art. We have a common word for this: randomness. 

Listen to this anthology if you're curious to learn more about the role of sound/music.

John Cage was a towering figure in not only the Fluxus movement; he was everywhere when it came to avant-garde and experimental art making. Perhaps most famous for his silent piano composition 4'33", Cage was to Fluxus as Marcel Duchamp was to Dada. 

Unit Six: Fluxus & Intermedia

 

Watch this first: Art Lesson on Fluxus

Read this second: "Intermedia" by Dick Higgins

For this unit, we're going to focus on two seminal works of the Fluxus movement (anti-movement?): 

Yoko Ono's Grapefruit (a book)

Georges Brecht's Water Yam (a box)

Please be patient; it takes a minute to load

Fluxus Performance Workbook

Alison Knowles

What is a Fluxkit?

Your assignments:

1) Essay (single-spaced, two columns, image in top left). First, read Dick Higgin's famous essay on Intermedia (link above). Next, choose either or both Ono's Grapefruit and Brecht's Water Yam, and write an essay that assesses them as literature. Are they poems? Directions to make poems? Something else? How does a reader (you) approach these works? Are they successful as literature, intermedia, something else? Use secondary sources as much or as little as you please. Due November 9. Upload.

2) Creative Writing: Making your own Fluxus scores. Follow these directions carefully: Using Helvetica (any size or multiple sizes) type ten "event scores" on separate sheets of paper. The slips of paper should be no larger than 6" x 8" and no smaller than 1" square. You are free to add other materials: stickers, drawings, collage, photos, etc. Due November 7. Bring to class! No upload!

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

Baldwin Essay Checklist: Baker's Dozen

If you can confidently answer yes to the following, your essay is probably in fairly good shape.

1. Does my essay have a real title?

2. Does my essay have an identifiable "controlling idea or thesis" clearly stated in the first or second paragraph?

3. Are most of my paragraphs between 5 and 12 sentences long?

4. Does my essay introduce quoted material at the top half of the paragraphs? Do I "unpack" the quotation to tie it to my central idea?

5. Does my essay have smooth transitions between paragraphs?

6. Does my essay keep the "I" or first-person voice in check? (This doesn't mean it needs to be absent, it means that it shouldn't take over.)

7. Does my essay incorporate at least three cited sources? Are they correct? Check Purdue's OWL.

8. Have I thought about cutting paragraphs entirely or adding new paragraphs?

9. Have I carefully proofread my essay?

10. Have I shown my essay to someone else for genuine critique and advice?

11. Do I like my essay? Am I proud to show it to my classmates?

12. Would someone reading my essay want to read more by or about James Baldwin?

13. Have I successfully uploaded my essay to Populi no later than 9:00 am (10:00 am for section 2) on Nov. 2?

The Researcher as Detective: Following a Lead

 

Ok. You have a solid draft of your essay, but you need to take it over the line. You're looking for a "clinching" quotation from James Baldwin, but not one from "Sonny's Blues." So, what do you do? You search the internet of course. There are countless websites that aggregate quotations from famous and non-famous people. Here's one that I found that seemed really good at first. Big Other is a legitimate literary website. I read the "about" tab, and I trust it. The only problem, and it's a big one, is that the quotations have no attribution. We are told that James Baldwin said or wrote these things, but there's no citation. Bummer. So, what do you do? You're a detective, going on clues. One strategy is to take the quotation (or a portion of it) and plug it into Google or some other search engine. This technique might not give you all the information you need (page number, for instance), but it will point you in the right direction. It will often deliver the source: the book, essay, or interview where the quotation first appeared. Keep hunting. Try to find that source. Maybe you can dig out the page number. For instance, I found this site, AZ Quotes that sometimes (but not always) provides sources. 

Further Notes on Your James Baldwin Essay

 Remember: Your finished essay is due at 9:00am next Wednesday, November 2. Upload to Populi.

Bring a draft of your essay to class on Monday, October 31.

MLA Format

4-5 text pages + a "Works Cited" page

A minimum of 3 secondary scholarly sources

Consult the Online Writing Lab (OWL) for particulars.

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu

MLA Essay Basics: James Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues"

 

Your final essay for this unit (4-5 double-spaced "standard" pages plus a separate "Works Cited" page) is due on November 2, at the beginning of class.

For our next class meeting on Monday, October 24, bring to class a finished draft of your opening paragraph. This paragraph should introduce your central or controlling argument. What are you going to say about "Sonny's Blues" that isn't obvious? Bring this with you on a piece of paper. You'll need it for a class activity. 

On Wednesday we're going to work on MLA format. It's not as bad or hard as it seems. 

Your assignment going forward is to continue to research, draft, revise, and edit your essay. Ask for help. Keep learning. 

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu 

James Baldwin!

James Baldwin was a writer, speaker, activist, and many other things. He is also, in my opinion, the most important and greatest American writer of the second half of the twentieth century. As a class, we're going to focus on two of his texts: "Equal in Paris," an essay written in 1955; and "Sonny's Blues," a long short story written in 1957.

Read both of these texts for our next class on Monday, October 17. There will be a reading quiz.

Feel free to explore the many free online resources about Baldwin and his writing. The movie I Am Not Your Negro is available on NetFlix. You'll also find countless interviews, profiles, and reviews of his work.

Your next writing assignment will be on James Baldwin and is due on October 26. Details to follow.

Thousands and Thousands of Zines

 

Check out this video of art college students in California making and sharing zines.

Creative Project: Flash Fiction Zine

Text due on Monday, October 10. Upload to Populi no later than 9:00 am. Group Critique.

Zine making and reading on Wednesday, October 12.

What is "Flash Fiction"? The quick answer is the obvious one. Like a flash, it happens fast and it's over soon. Flash Fiction is hyper-condensed storytelling. There is no absolute rule for how long a flash fiction story can be before it's just a really short short story. On the two links below you can read a vast selection of contemporary flash fiction.

You will be writing your own original flash fiction story, and you'll have to respect these three constraints:

1. Your story must begin with this precise line: "I knew when I opened my eyes that today was not going to be a normal day."

2. Your story must be exactly 500 words. Your first sentence (see above) contains 17 words. This means that your story will consist of an additional 483 words. Please remember what the word "exactly" means.  Your title doesn't count in the 500.

3. Your story must take place in Delaware in the fall of 2022. In other words, here and now. 

Please don't limit yourself to the flash fiction stories on this list. This selection represents a puddle in the sea of flash fiction. Search online. Here is another list that's pretty great. You can also limit your search: "flash fiction 2022", "art flash fiction", etc. You will find more flash fiction than you can humanly read. It's everywhere. 

Here's one of my favorites from the Bookriot list: "War of the Clowns"

✎ EditSign

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Formatting Guidelines and Other News about Your Essay Due on Wednesday

 Good morning, everyone. This is the start of week six, and your second writing assignment is due no later than 9:00 am on Wednesday, October 5. Late papers will be penalized a full point. 

Thesis/Argument/Claim/Central Focus           

Make sure that your essay has a central focus. The words above are synonyms that mean roughly the same thing. What is it precisely that you're arguing? Knowing this will keep your paper from wandering around and just taking up space. You don't have to explicitly state your central argument, but it's usually a good idea to do so toward the beginning of your essay and again toward the end. Don't think that your reader implicitly knows. Readers need to be reminded.

Formatting    

Some of you might remember this method for formatting your paper that is unique to my teaching. Never do this for another instructor; it's highly non-standard.

Single-spaced, two columns, image in the top left. One or more full pages of writing. Let me know if you need help. You can also ask a classmate. Here's an example from last year:

We've already established that you can use hyperlinks to steer your reader to secondary information. There is no MLA Works Cited page required for this essay. We will tackle that later.  

Questions: csmith@dcad.edu