Parmasad- One Brave Little Cookie and SPN’s for Everyone!

While reading Parmasad, I thought about tone and voice. Many of the students I tutor value what they call "objective writing", and many pride themselves on the ability to write for a nameless audience. I tell these same students that even though it's academic writing, it's still writing, and writing should never be boring (a.k.a. voiceless). Good intentions aside, writing to the god of the nameless usually leads to a nameless tone in the writing, and there's no "there" there.

In writing a scholarly personal narrative (or a SPN), one injects personal experience into a larger academic conversation. Thus, to "signify" in a SPN, a writer need not adhere to an autobiographical format, because focusing on specific moments in time as they relate to bigger issues can be just as impactful, (Nash 30). Parmasad displays the effectiveness of SPNs when writing of the cultural disconnect she experienced while growing up as an Indian in Trinidad. Putting moments of her life under the microscope, Parmasad analyzes the importance of writing: "this remarkable exclusion, this invisibility, this feeling of voicelessness filled me with a maddening need to use my writing not as a shield but as a weapon to contest the historical marginalization of a whole people and the negation of my experiences" (135). From her viewpoint, writing is a tool to challenge the cultural limits and bring others to a higher level of understanding. 

In my estimation, an SPN is essential to academia because a properly executed SPN will delve into the "raw marrow" of the writer's life, while bringing the validity of the experience to the forefront of a larger framework, (Nash 26). Developing confidence in writing often goes hand in hand with constructing a narrative, as writers glean key concepts after a re-telling of their experiences. Writing narratives can never be counterproductive, as I'm of the mindset that every high school student should write an SPN, and then again as an undergrad, and then again times again. Much like Nash's idolization of Kimble, the fugitive who reinvents his story in weekly episodic arcs, all writers should endeavor to find their ever-evolving voice to establish meaning (34-35).

Art can be lost if it cannot be understood. An important aspect in writing involves connections and how they're made. To sustain a connection, the language must be effective, and what better use of language as a learning tool utilizing your own voice? As an undergrad, many students are required to write a narrative essay, with no research or larger connection necessary. In contrast, writing an SPN is similar to cutting out a part of oneself, laying it across a table, and magnifying the meaning to fit a larger context. Both types of writing have a purpose, but at differing points in an academic career, an SPN is more purposeful. In fact, several drafts into either, new voice and meaning can be found..

Works Cited

Nash, J, Robert. "What is scholarly personal narrative writing?" Liberating Scholarly Writing. New York: Teachers College Press, 2004. Web. 

Amateur tips on reading, writing, and teaching composition

A hand holding a pen on the statue of Isaiah
at Piazza Spagna in Rome.
27 October 2008
Flickr: Roma Italy - Creative Commons by gnuckx

Writing is a part of life, used every day, but not always in the correct capacity. Good writing (or proper writing, or both) needs to be taught. What is most important is that people have to care about their writing, and not only care, but re-evaluate their ability to read, write, and teach.

Inspiration is crucial to any type of writing, be it creative or academic. There are times when the line between academic and creative writing can become blurry, but all writing is technically a creative outlet. There are no strict rules on writing, only guidelines set forth by texts like A Writer’s Reference. A writer must find their own voice and style, while adhering to the writing structure necessary for the audience.

Audience is a big thing to consider when writing. If the audience is a fiction fan, then as a writer, it is possible to leave them out of the writing, to keep some secrets and surprises in store for later. An academic audience must be included in the writing process at all times, because they need to fully understand the research and purpose of the paper. A writer can always break some rules to include tone, as long as the writing makes sense. Academic papers deal with structure, surrounding a thesis that requires sources, sort of like a big argument cushioned by a series of smaller supporting arguments. In contrast, creative writing is a showcase for the writer’s story and style. Eric Mast of the Writing Center echoes Flowers & Hayes on the purpose of writing by saying, “writing is a thought process and the reader should identify with that process”.

Mast also has some other tips for writers, specifically writing teachers. He believes that it is not possible to fully learn about teaching until the first day of class. A new teacher may prepare thoroughly, but what Mast suggests is to pretend confidence as a new teacher, even when the outcome is unsure (as it will most often be in the first year of teaching).

A composition teacher’s best friend may always be Hacker & Sommers A Writer’s Reference. It is a textbook filled with easy to follow steps on all types of writing, and included are several examples on how to utilize each writing step. Planning a draft, writing a thesis and introduction, creating body paragraphs, and writing a conclusion are writing steps outlined in A Writer’s Reference, and they are steps all composition teachers should be comfortable with.

Background and real world knowledge are other tools a teacher can apply to their teaching methods. Though, Mast warns that even as professional work environments and teaching environments share similarities, they are definitely not the same thing. Teachers should find their own balance of control to maintain in a classroom, remembering that the students are not employees and there are different rules in a classroom than in a workplace.

Reflecting on learning, writing, and teaching can appear to be a boring exercise. However, once completed, the process is an eye opening one because it expands the writer’s overall knowledge on their competencies and their deficiencies in each area. A writer/learner/teacher can discover things about their own writing and learning curves, and discovery leads to improvement. Self-improvement puts any writer/learner on the right road to becoming an effective teacher. Teachers should be familiar with the learning process from both sides (student and teacher) so that they can recognize their students’ needs at a relatable level. 

William Blake's Poetry Collections

William Blake's triumvirate of collective poems, Songs of Innocence and Experience and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell come together to create the portrait of man and life stages. Throughout each collection, nature is used in different ways to accentuate the images Blake's poems were meant to evoke.

Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are two works that are defined by their names. In Songs of Innocence, the reader is taken back to childhood, where everything was a discovery, full of the beauty of nature. The animals in the collection are friendly and it is natural for the narrator to praise them, or even engage in conversation with them, "Pretty, pretty robin/ under leaves so green/ a happy blossom/ hears you sobbing, sobbing," (Greenblatt et al, 2006). 

Another example of the use of nature in Songs of Innocence would be the poem "The Flute", "Little lamb/ here I am/ come and lick/ my white neck," (Greenblatt et al, 2006). Questions of childhood, such as acceptance and the love of a mother and father are explored in a few of the poems, always circling back to nature as it pertains to a child's outlook. Even the introduction is harmonious with nature, "Piping down the valleys wild [...]/ On a cloud I saw a laughing child," (Greenblatt et al, 2006).

The introduction of the Innocence collection set the tone, just as the introduction of Songs of Experience sets the tone.

From brightness, innocence, and childhood, the reader is taken down darker, more adult avenues in Songs of Experience, "Hear the voice of the Bard! [...]/ whose ears have heard/ The Holy Word/ That walked among the ancient trees," (Greenblatt et al, 2006). Both collections depict nature and God, just in opposing fashions. New ideas are presented in this set of poems, like love, jealousy, misery, and poverty.

While Songs of Innocence and Experience are obviously complements to one another, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell could be considered the final piece of the trilogy. In connection, the two works could be allegories for childhood and adulthood, whereas The Marriage of Heaven and Hell could be the spiritual stage man takes in death and the afterlife; "The man kept his course along/ the vale of death," (Greenblatt et al, 2006).

References:

Greenblatt et al [Eds]. (2006). The Norton Anthology of English Literature: The Romantic Period Through the Twentieth Century [vol. 2].

Parables, Fables, and Tales, Oh my!

There are many types of short stories, but three in particular that share traits and differ in other ways: parables, fables, and tales.

The difference in tone between parables, fables, and tales are the seriousness which is conveyed in each type of short story, starting with a parable. A parable is the most sanctimonious of all short stories, illustrating a religious or spiritual ideal through the story, (Chea, 2010). In the New Testament, the parable "The Prodigal Son" teaches forgiveness and humility because the son leaves to have a life full of fun but is welcomed home again with open arms after he does not find great success.

A fable, while still wishing to impart a moral to its audience, has less of a severe tone than a parable, often full of witticism and talking animals. Another element of the fable is when the moral of the story is easily stated, like in Aesop’s The Wolff and the Mastiff . After reading it, one can understand that freedom of choice is more desirable than being well-fed and cared for. Likewise, the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare" fully demonstrates the cliche 'slow and steady wins the race'.

Tales differ from parables and fables because they do not necessarily focus on a moral, but rather the events of the story and the emotions the events impart on the reader, (Chea, 2010). Petronius’ The Widow of Ephesus is a tale that causes the reader to feel pity for the widow as she loses one man, only to then cause the reader joy as the widow then gains another lover after having gone through such trials and tribulations.

Chea, S. (2010, February 18). "The different types of short fiction". Retrieved on August 24, 2010, from the Associated Content Database: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2700033/the_different_types_of_short_fiction.html?cat=38