As a pseudo-English major and lover of words, I appreciate and enjoy different genres of literature. Specifically, I enjoy being able to manipulate my voice to suit different tones, venues, audiences, and purposes. There's something powerful about the way a verb tense can draw a reader into a story, or how a style and tone can sell a proposal or article.
An amateur writer who dabbles a variety of genres, I've been realizing lately how voice has been so prevalent in my life. As a child, I was constantly writing stories in my head. I once asked my mother whether she thought of life as a book or a movie, because it varied for me. I was always scripting dialogue and describing scenes of my life to myself, as if my life were a fiction novel that would have a happily-ever-after ending. (I think my mother was moderately concerned when I presented this question. Her answer was, "I think of life as... life?" but she said it with a confused frown on her brow.)
Once, in the summer before fifth grade, I got bored with summer. I wanted to make something, to learn something. I started researching and writing a paper on the invention of Alexander Graham Bell's electric telephone. For fun.
In middle school, I had a pen pal from my grandmother's church. I soon tired of writing generic letters and learned that if I formatted my life's news in a newspaper format, I could circulate the same "letter" to multiple people and therefore perform less work. For about two years, off and on, my adventures, significant and non, were recorded in "The Middle Messenger," a title produced from my middle-child position in the family. I even included advertisements, funny anecdotes and random facts from the Web, and an editorial/opinion/devotional section.
As a college student, I've had much more (recent) practice writing in academic voice than any other. Regrettably, the academic rigor of college studies results in a lack of fun reading and creative writing time, even for English majors (and pseudo-English majors, like myself).
Before this post turns into a long reminiscence of my literary livelihood, I suppose I should clue you into the prompt of this musing.
Years after my middle school newspaper stint, I am again writing in a journalistic voice. A requirement of attendance at a Christian university (which can be taken as a perk or a downfall; I take it as a perk) is a certain number of Bible credits. In a class studying the Minor Prophets, I was instructed to "make a final project demonstrating understanding of course materials." For my creative self, this absence of limits or guidelines is both thrilling and terrifying. After debating my choices and narrowing down my options, I chose to make newspapers from the setting and time period of each prophet.
In the beginning of the class, my professor told us that we would be "meeting the kings and their armies" of a certain time period. With ten of the prophets' newspapers finished and two to go, I am once again struck by the power of voice. My journalistic reports of political balance, social injustice, and prophetic sermons are just such--journalistic. As a voice, the genre is unattached, sometimes distant and cold. It's supposed to be. Newspapers ought not to be biased or personalized.
Yet personal voice contains such power! I'm reminded of a favorite Christian novelist, Lynn Austin, and her Gods and Kings series expounding on the life of Hezekiah. Though I never quite made it through the entire series, the books I did read were captivating and offered fresh perspective on an old, beautiful, heart-gripping story.
That, I think, is the beauty of voice--any voice: the gift of perspective. Journalistic voice, academic research, memoir, poetry, fiction--they all tell stories that will effect people in different ways. One voice is not superior to others; a medium that is insignificant for one person will be earth-shaking for another person.
Whatever your voice is, don't be afraid to use it. It matters. It's powerful. And it's yours.
-Finch
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Why Do We Care?
I was always that annoying kid in middle school who noticed other people's grammar mistakes. By high school, I had turned from a nuisance into a resource, as I was the unofficial proofreader of papers for composition and English classes.
There are reasons I'm going to be an English teacher.
This year, I've been given the immense privilege and opportunity to learn about proofreading and editing papers from a teacher's perspective, a.k.a. grading. I've been working with a high school teacher as a sort of off-campus T.A., grading papers for some of her language and composition classes. In this particular class, students have to construct arguments--whether writing a literary analysis on The Great Gatsby or comparing rhetorical strategies from Mr. Collins' stodgy proposal in Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Headstone's effusive proposal from Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.
High school students are not always very good at constructing arguments.
Over and over, I find myself thinking (and commenting) while reading their papers... So what? Why do we care about this point you're making or detail you're pulling (usually way out of context)? What are we supposed to do with this information?
Like my intensive grammar class freshman year affected the simplest of my writing (it took three tries to complete the family Christmas letter that year), so too this grading persona in my head influences my writing for English classes. Last semester in a class about British literature, I found myself applying my grading techniques to my own paper: Why do we care about Fanny Burney's representation of society and familial structures in Evelina? I mean, really? What's the point? How does it impact my life now, in the 21st century?
With my high school students, the point of asking them to analyze is to teach them to think critically about the world around them and the propaganda they encounter. They've written essays about feminism and slavery, nostalgia and reality. They're learning how to question what they see and how to dig for the answers.
And I'm not sure it's so different in college. I'm not saying that literary analysis is pointless. Quite the opposite, really. There is so much to learn from looking at literature, for very complicated reasons. Words create story. Our lives are story. I think in a lot of ways, we look to literature to learn about ourselves.
But we must include that important caveat: We look to literature to learn. We do more than just point out the presence of elements of foreign disdain in Evelina or the complicated social structure under which young ladies lived. We look to literature, we analyze it and think critically about it, to learn about the world, about society and human interaction. We look to literature to trace our roots from Adam and Eve through millennia of sinful humanity. Ultimately, we look to literature to glimpse our Creator.
And what do we do with our new-found knowledge? As Christians, we look up from our books to the world around us, and we search for ways to love the other sinful humans around us and to impact change, even just a tiny bit, that will bring us a step closer to the world as it was intended to be, a step closer to "Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."
Why do we care? Because God created beauty, and story. And we look to literature to find Him.
-Finch
There are reasons I'm going to be an English teacher.
This year, I've been given the immense privilege and opportunity to learn about proofreading and editing papers from a teacher's perspective, a.k.a. grading. I've been working with a high school teacher as a sort of off-campus T.A., grading papers for some of her language and composition classes. In this particular class, students have to construct arguments--whether writing a literary analysis on The Great Gatsby or comparing rhetorical strategies from Mr. Collins' stodgy proposal in Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Mr. Headstone's effusive proposal from Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.
High school students are not always very good at constructing arguments.
Over and over, I find myself thinking (and commenting) while reading their papers... So what? Why do we care about this point you're making or detail you're pulling (usually way out of context)? What are we supposed to do with this information?
Like my intensive grammar class freshman year affected the simplest of my writing (it took three tries to complete the family Christmas letter that year), so too this grading persona in my head influences my writing for English classes. Last semester in a class about British literature, I found myself applying my grading techniques to my own paper: Why do we care about Fanny Burney's representation of society and familial structures in Evelina? I mean, really? What's the point? How does it impact my life now, in the 21st century?
With my high school students, the point of asking them to analyze is to teach them to think critically about the world around them and the propaganda they encounter. They've written essays about feminism and slavery, nostalgia and reality. They're learning how to question what they see and how to dig for the answers.
And I'm not sure it's so different in college. I'm not saying that literary analysis is pointless. Quite the opposite, really. There is so much to learn from looking at literature, for very complicated reasons. Words create story. Our lives are story. I think in a lot of ways, we look to literature to learn about ourselves.
But we must include that important caveat: We look to literature to learn. We do more than just point out the presence of elements of foreign disdain in Evelina or the complicated social structure under which young ladies lived. We look to literature, we analyze it and think critically about it, to learn about the world, about society and human interaction. We look to literature to trace our roots from Adam and Eve through millennia of sinful humanity. Ultimately, we look to literature to glimpse our Creator.
And what do we do with our new-found knowledge? As Christians, we look up from our books to the world around us, and we search for ways to love the other sinful humans around us and to impact change, even just a tiny bit, that will bring us a step closer to the world as it was intended to be, a step closer to "Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven."
Why do we care? Because God created beauty, and story. And we look to literature to find Him.
-Finch
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Ode to the OED
Warning: This post is about as nerdy as it gets. Read at your own risk.
I've always wondered if this happens to other people, or if it's just me. I write a lot of papers. Hello, college student, right? But on some computers the Microsoft Word synonymns app is sadly lacking. this leads me to a dictionary website (Merriam-Webster, dictionary.com, the Oxford English Dictionary). Here I not only find the definition of the word, but I also get majorly waylaid from writing my paper.
See, dictionary websites sometimes have games. Not just any old games.
Word games.
My productivity has ceased.
Does this happen to anyone else?!
The game that gets me the most often is the one where you have to guess the definition of the word, though Merriam-Webster's top-ten lists are also quite addicting. But one day I was doing homework and got distracted by the crossword puzzle on dictionary.com. My roommate called me a nerd (what else is new?). The thing is, the crossword puzzle was fascinating. I used to be really big on word searches. I still like them a lot. But I haven't done a crossword puzzle for a really long time. It was a nice mental challenge, separate from my homework, to read clues and try to figure out what words solved the clues.
This post really doesn't have a point, aside from the extreme level of nerdiness. But maybe, if you're in need of a brain break, a word game on a dictionary website might just help you out.
-Finch
I've always wondered if this happens to other people, or if it's just me. I write a lot of papers. Hello, college student, right? But on some computers the Microsoft Word synonymns app is sadly lacking. this leads me to a dictionary website (Merriam-Webster, dictionary.com, the Oxford English Dictionary). Here I not only find the definition of the word, but I also get majorly waylaid from writing my paper.
See, dictionary websites sometimes have games. Not just any old games.
Word games.
My productivity has ceased.
Does this happen to anyone else?!
The game that gets me the most often is the one where you have to guess the definition of the word, though Merriam-Webster's top-ten lists are also quite addicting. But one day I was doing homework and got distracted by the crossword puzzle on dictionary.com. My roommate called me a nerd (what else is new?). The thing is, the crossword puzzle was fascinating. I used to be really big on word searches. I still like them a lot. But I haven't done a crossword puzzle for a really long time. It was a nice mental challenge, separate from my homework, to read clues and try to figure out what words solved the clues.
This post really doesn't have a point, aside from the extreme level of nerdiness. But maybe, if you're in need of a brain break, a word game on a dictionary website might just help you out.
-Finch
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Literature and Technology
Computers--laptops and desktops. Tablets. Smart phones. Electronic bilboards. E-readers. Mp3 players. Bluetooth devices. SmartBoards.
Movies. Television. Netflix and Hulu. YouTube.
Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Tumblr.
Welcome to the twenty-first century, a world in which technology reigns supreme. I personally have a love-hate relationship with technology. Some days, my cell phone (a regular one, not an android phone) and I get along just fine; some days I throw it at the couch. But it's been very interesting in the last few years watching literature persevere through the growth and development of technology.
To be honest, I wasn't crazy about the Kindle when it came out. I mean, really? You couldn't just get a real book?
Confession: I have an iBooks app on my iPod touch and a Kindle application on my laptop.
You gain a lot with an electronic reading device--space, weight in your backpack, the ability to take several books with you, everywhere, at all times. But you lose something, too. The ink and paper smell. The feel of the pages in your hand. The imprint of the title on the spine.
I took an intro-level literature class with our good friend Duck last semester. Reading the books is wonderful and beautiful and adventurous. Studying for tests on the books, though, are not so much fun. So, based on a quote from our professor, Duck and I found a way to blend literature and technology for the purpose of studying for our final exam.
Dr. Jones said one day, "A short story is a tweeted novel."
You have to know this particular literature professor. He routinely quotes Shakespeare in every day conversation. He was making a point of the length of novels and short stories, and the limited amount of space. It gave us (Lindsey and me) an idea. What if we turned the literature we'd read for class into a series of tweets?
Every writing professor I have ever had has stressed that good writing will NOT be able to be summarized in a few simple sentences.
This was not a writing class.
So the brilliant Miss Lindsey went through all the works we'd read in the class, and summarized them in 140 characters or less. It's a brilliant way to study (not write, necessarily), and I suggest it.
Introduction to Literary Studies, works of:
#DarkerFace Augustus ends up doing exactly what everyone knew he would do and everyone is still a slave at the end. #howdythereimoedipustex
(The Darker Face of the Earth by Rita Dove)
#WomensShortStories Lady goes crazy for yellow wallpaper, another lady goes crazy for her dead bird, another lady goes crazy and people die.
(Great Short Stories by American Women, edited by Candace Ward)
#Winesburg Curtis likes shoulders, George is a good listener, #everyoneisagrotesquenomatterhowyoulookatit and Kate creeps on her students.
(Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson)
#MuchAdo DonPedro is black, DonJohn wears his B T-shirt, Benedick is a player, Beatrice is a cynic, Claudio is a pansy, Hero is forgiving.
(Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare)
#Frankenstein Rich kid spends too much time alone, becomes irresponsible father to zombie child, child kills everyone and is unhappy #prozac
(Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley)
#RimeOfAMariner Creeper sailor must tell his drug-induced tail of maritime spirits and dead waterfowl to an innocent wedding guest. #opium
(Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
#Gawain&GreenKnight Green dude w/ #GIANTAX shows up. G accepts game and is tricked. Kisses another dude's wife, labeled a coward. #badnews
(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, edited by Marie Borhoff)
#Patience #Jonah doesn't want to go to #Nineveh because they'll kill him. Ends up soggy and still incorrect.
(Patience, edited by Marie Borhoff)
Movies. Television. Netflix and Hulu. YouTube.
Facebook. Twitter. Instagram. Tumblr.
Welcome to the twenty-first century, a world in which technology reigns supreme. I personally have a love-hate relationship with technology. Some days, my cell phone (a regular one, not an android phone) and I get along just fine; some days I throw it at the couch. But it's been very interesting in the last few years watching literature persevere through the growth and development of technology.
To be honest, I wasn't crazy about the Kindle when it came out. I mean, really? You couldn't just get a real book?
Confession: I have an iBooks app on my iPod touch and a Kindle application on my laptop.
You gain a lot with an electronic reading device--space, weight in your backpack, the ability to take several books with you, everywhere, at all times. But you lose something, too. The ink and paper smell. The feel of the pages in your hand. The imprint of the title on the spine.
I took an intro-level literature class with our good friend Duck last semester. Reading the books is wonderful and beautiful and adventurous. Studying for tests on the books, though, are not so much fun. So, based on a quote from our professor, Duck and I found a way to blend literature and technology for the purpose of studying for our final exam.
Dr. Jones said one day, "A short story is a tweeted novel."
You have to know this particular literature professor. He routinely quotes Shakespeare in every day conversation. He was making a point of the length of novels and short stories, and the limited amount of space. It gave us (Lindsey and me) an idea. What if we turned the literature we'd read for class into a series of tweets?
Every writing professor I have ever had has stressed that good writing will NOT be able to be summarized in a few simple sentences.
This was not a writing class.
So the brilliant Miss Lindsey went through all the works we'd read in the class, and summarized them in 140 characters or less. It's a brilliant way to study (not write, necessarily), and I suggest it.
Introduction to Literary Studies, works of:
#DarkerFace Augustus ends up doing exactly what everyone knew he would do and everyone is still a slave at the end. #howdythereimoedipustex
(The Darker Face of the Earth by Rita Dove)
#WomensShortStories Lady goes crazy for yellow wallpaper, another lady goes crazy for her dead bird, another lady goes crazy and people die.
(Great Short Stories by American Women, edited by Candace Ward)
#Winesburg Curtis likes shoulders, George is a good listener, #everyoneisagrotesquenomatterhowyoulookatit and Kate creeps on her students.
(Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson)
#MuchAdo DonPedro is black, DonJohn wears his B T-shirt, Benedick is a player, Beatrice is a cynic, Claudio is a pansy, Hero is forgiving.
(Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare)
#Frankenstein Rich kid spends too much time alone, becomes irresponsible father to zombie child, child kills everyone and is unhappy #prozac
(Frankenstein by Mary W. Shelley)
#RimeOfAMariner Creeper sailor must tell his drug-induced tail of maritime spirits and dead waterfowl to an innocent wedding guest. #opium
(Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
#Gawain&GreenKnight Green dude w/ #GIANTAX shows up. G accepts game and is tricked. Kisses another dude's wife, labeled a coward. #badnews
(Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, edited by Marie Borhoff)
#Patience #Jonah doesn't want to go to #Nineveh because they'll kill him. Ends up soggy and still incorrect.
(Patience, edited by Marie Borhoff)
PostScript, over a year after this was written: I'm not sure why I never published this. I guess I wanted to wrap it up with a nice little moral or take-away. Take from it what you will. Maybe literature and technology really can work together.
-Finch
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Deductive Reasoning
It's been a year--exactly--since that fiction class that Karina and I took with Prof. Hougen and got the idea to start this blog. I haven't written much fiction since then--I guess getting eaten alive and spit out will do that to you. It's not so much that I can't write or don't have time to write as I don't have the time to write well.
I think that's an important distinction to make. I mean, I understand the other side of it, too. I have a writer friend who's always going on about forcing yourself to just write, write crap and worry about it later, but just get your words flowing. Only after you've written a bunch of junky words can you get down to business with the real ones.
That makes perfect sense to me. But I'm not a writer. I'm an ed major. I write for fun, and honestly, I really like doing things well. All the time last year in fiction class I had this gnawing urge to go sit in the student center and just watch people. Observe behaviors. Listen to conversations. I want to portray the world the way it really is, only in words.
I think that whether we, as writers, have time to sit and creep on people or not, whether we're writing our junky words or our beautiful ones, it is still very important to be observant. To see the world, to notice.
Confession: I've watched all six episodes of BBC's Sherlock in about three days. (Thank goodness for MLK day!)
Besides being transfixed by Benedict Cumberpatch's eyes (a different story entirely), I just love Sherlock Holmes. I read "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle a few years back and was hooked. I loved seeing how Sherlock would solve the crime by paying attention to detail. (The TV show was an added, updated, and visual bonus.)
What would happen to our writing if we studied life the way Sherlock Holmes studies crime scenes? What would we notice about our friends, our classmates, our community?
As writers, making observations is important. As Christian writers, we have to be careful not to let these deductions turn into assumptions that could be faulty. But I think being detail oriented with our subjects and with our words would make our writing so much better.
What do you think?
-Finch
I think that's an important distinction to make. I mean, I understand the other side of it, too. I have a writer friend who's always going on about forcing yourself to just write, write crap and worry about it later, but just get your words flowing. Only after you've written a bunch of junky words can you get down to business with the real ones.
That makes perfect sense to me. But I'm not a writer. I'm an ed major. I write for fun, and honestly, I really like doing things well. All the time last year in fiction class I had this gnawing urge to go sit in the student center and just watch people. Observe behaviors. Listen to conversations. I want to portray the world the way it really is, only in words.
I think that whether we, as writers, have time to sit and creep on people or not, whether we're writing our junky words or our beautiful ones, it is still very important to be observant. To see the world, to notice.
Confession: I've watched all six episodes of BBC's Sherlock in about three days. (Thank goodness for MLK day!)
Besides being transfixed by Benedict Cumberpatch's eyes (a different story entirely), I just love Sherlock Holmes. I read "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle a few years back and was hooked. I loved seeing how Sherlock would solve the crime by paying attention to detail. (The TV show was an added, updated, and visual bonus.)
What would happen to our writing if we studied life the way Sherlock Holmes studies crime scenes? What would we notice about our friends, our classmates, our community?
As writers, making observations is important. As Christian writers, we have to be careful not to let these deductions turn into assumptions that could be faulty. But I think being detail oriented with our subjects and with our words would make our writing so much better.
What do you think?
-Finch
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Good Literature
So it's been a while...that is an honest to God falsehood. How could it have been a while if I haven't posted anything yet? Answer=it couldn't have been.
So here it goes...
Today Christal treated me to lunch which was awesome! She's pretty freakin' cool. We got on the subject of publishing and the process, who's involved. I kinda went off on a tangent about how some people just suck and shouldn't have been published. HOW IN THE WORLD DID THEY GET PUBLISHED?
For me education is incredibly important. I take it seriously and I try my hardest. So when I hear a kid saying that Twilight is the "best piece of literature like EVER!!!" I want to beat someone with a stick. Good literature is supposed to transport you to a different world. It's supposed to help you escape from what ever is going on. Whether you're right next to Sherlock Holmes as he catches Moriarty or standing in the crowd with warriors as Henry V gives his speech full of emotion, making you cry in the process. Good literature is written well, full of imagery, and most importantly good grammar. What happened to grammar? Why is it such a rare thing to find people who actually know how to speak or write proper English? (May I take this time to remind you that I am not perfect, this is a blog not a book and I do make mistakes :D)
I want to live in a world full of people who know and appreciate the art of language. I cringe whenever I hear someone at the store say "I seen it over there!"
I say that we rise and fight this grotesque decay of our beautiful language.
So here it goes...
Today Christal treated me to lunch which was awesome! She's pretty freakin' cool. We got on the subject of publishing and the process, who's involved. I kinda went off on a tangent about how some people just suck and shouldn't have been published. HOW IN THE WORLD DID THEY GET PUBLISHED?
For me education is incredibly important. I take it seriously and I try my hardest. So when I hear a kid saying that Twilight is the "best piece of literature like EVER!!!" I want to beat someone with a stick. Good literature is supposed to transport you to a different world. It's supposed to help you escape from what ever is going on. Whether you're right next to Sherlock Holmes as he catches Moriarty or standing in the crowd with warriors as Henry V gives his speech full of emotion, making you cry in the process. Good literature is written well, full of imagery, and most importantly good grammar. What happened to grammar? Why is it such a rare thing to find people who actually know how to speak or write proper English? (May I take this time to remind you that I am not perfect, this is a blog not a book and I do make mistakes :D)
I want to live in a world full of people who know and appreciate the art of language. I cringe whenever I hear someone at the store say "I seen it over there!"
I say that we rise and fight this grotesque decay of our beautiful language.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Goats and Genre
On the normal Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 12:40 pm finds us sitting in the back of a classroom with one yellow wall and vaguely mustard-colored carpet. There are "groovy" grains in the faux wood tables, and the plastic chairs do not rock. The projector screen is too high for the professor's reach. It is lunchtime, yet we are all in class. Welcome to Writing of Fiction, Quad 3, with Professor Hougen.
We--Karina and Christal--met last semester in a generals class and discovered our mutual love of English, which has once again brought us together, this time in a creative writing course. We sit in the back and I--Christal--seem to always find a way to get us into "trouble." Well, okay, we like to laugh. Laughter is good like a medicine, and that's in the Bible, so I don't see the problem with having fun in class. Our professor finds us highly amusing, I believe, and suggested that we have a cable channel where people would just watch us interact with each other.
We figured a blog is the next best thing. :)
So this is our outlet to creative energy. Hi! Welcome! We'll be posting musings about issues we face as English majors and English lovers alike, with perhaps a few videos of random fun thrown in here and there. Feel free to add your comments and feedback, because we want this to be a connecting place for Englishy people! Please just watch your language--not referring to a sudden outbreak of Spanish. ;)
We--Karina and Christal--met last semester in a generals class and discovered our mutual love of English, which has once again brought us together, this time in a creative writing course. We sit in the back and I--Christal--seem to always find a way to get us into "trouble." Well, okay, we like to laugh. Laughter is good like a medicine, and that's in the Bible, so I don't see the problem with having fun in class. Our professor finds us highly amusing, I believe, and suggested that we have a cable channel where people would just watch us interact with each other.
We figured a blog is the next best thing. :)
So this is our outlet to creative energy. Hi! Welcome! We'll be posting musings about issues we face as English majors and English lovers alike, with perhaps a few videos of random fun thrown in here and there. Feel free to add your comments and feedback, because we want this to be a connecting place for Englishy people! Please just watch your language--not referring to a sudden outbreak of Spanish. ;)
Enter the door into the world of the word nerds--and may the force be with you.
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