Alice Notely’s “I the People”

You have an explication of Alice Notely’s “I the People” due. It should adhere to MLA formatting guidelines and be posted on your blog by Dec. 20^th @ noon.

Please consult the following post: “democracy at 10th & A (PoemTalk #25)”—and make use of the background info and the audio clip. But when it comes to the explication, I am only interested in how the poem works to create meaning. For this style of paper, disregard anything that can not be proved with what the text provides.

You will be graded on the APE rubric and it will count in the Quizzes and Open-Response category.

Robert Duncan’s “Often I am Permitted”

Painting by Jess (Burgess F. Collins, Robert Duncan's life-long lover): The Enamord Mage, Translation #6, 1965 (the head is Robert Duncan's)

You have an explication of Robert Duncan’s “Often I am Permitted” (scroll to bottom) due. It should adhere to MLA formatting guidelines and be posted on your blog by Dec. 13^th @ noon.

Please consult the following post: “the made place (PoemTalk #27)”—and make use of the background info and the audio clip. But when it comes to the explication, I am only interested in how the poem works to create meaning. For this style of paper, disregard anything that can not be proved with what the text provides.

You will be graded on the APE rubric and it will count in the Quizzes and Open-Response category.

This is a collage (paste-up) from Jess. If you want to see more of his art, go here: Narkissos: The Influential Collage Art of Jess Collins

Robin Blaser lecture, "Where's hell?" (June 19, 1999)

Robin Blaser lecture, "Where's hell?" (June 19, 1999) 65:58

"A Robin Blaser lecture titled Where's hell? Blaser reads and discusses portions of his Great companion piece on Dante Alighieri, a poetic commentary on Dante's ideas and use of language. Blaser discusses the works and ideas of other writers including James Joyce, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Ezra Pound." (Click here for source in the Naropa Archives.)

The text of this is later printed as "Great Companion: Dante Alighiere" in his book The Holy Forest. You can read it here.


This is will be scored as a homework assignment and be graded on the Malden High School Open Response Rubric. Due Tuesday, December 7th @ noon. Since this is a discussion and your voice is important to the communal dialogue, late posts will lose 10 points a day. Budget your time accordingly, especially if you need the school computers to complete assignment.

1. Listen to the lecture and take notes. Write down what you think might be interesting, important, etc. There may be things to which you do not "get" the reference or allusion and there may be things that spur your own thoughts. Write them down. Pay attention to your mind and document it.
2. Prompt A: Post your reaction to something specific and thought provoking in the beginning, middle, and end of the Blaser lecture (though this is not a minimum, your post should be at least a few hundred words.) Feel free to ask questions in this section as well, since everyone will be reading these posts.
3. Prompt B: You should also respond by elaborating on another comment in the stream (about the same length--a few hundred words as a minimum.)

This assignment is mostly to get your philosophic and literary minds in working. Keep this in mind when you post. I hope you enjoy this lecture as much as I do.

And here's a clip of him reading some poetry if you are interested:

Style Assignment: Short Stories

If you would rather write an extended (5 - 7 pages) analysis on either: Laura Chester's "True or Untrue, Grit" or Lavanya Sankaran's "The Red Carpet", then you may do so. You are also welcome two or three of these choices and I will grade you on which one is the best.

Assignments are to be posted on your online portfolio (as a pdf.) by class-time, 11.29.10.

STYLE Assignment Hemingway Faulkner Rewrites