Gertrude Stein, The Women's Lit Assignment

I'm sharing my assignment based on my friend, the poet Karren Alenier's, visit to our class next week.  One of the things I'm doing differently from the syllabus is to engage the students in some "creative" writing assignments and reflections.  It's a 200 -level lit class, and not all of my students are English lit majors, and  getting through literary criticism has been a difficult task.  I'm still tinkering with how I teach this course, and think that next time, I'll use a timeline to create with them online, where we can place these writers (including the critics) in historical points in time.  That'll give some context to the mix, and I'm revamping the quizzes to one each week, since we meet weekly.

So, then, without too much fanfare, is next week's assignment:

 Assignment in response to Karren Alenier’s visit: Pick one of the following activities to do for the following week (October 23). 

 

A. Write a two-page reaction to Ms. Alenier’s talk. Pick out a few things that she said that struck you as interesting, confusing, upsetting or fascinating. Explain why you felt as you did, and then relate your feelings back to the idea of women and writing.

 

B. Using any of the works we have read so far this semester, write a two page-plan in which you explain how you would create a music video using the piece. What kind of music would your video use? Hip Hop? Country-Western? Classical? Folk? Who would you have acting in the video? Where would the video be set? Be sure to use examples from the piece to support your plan.

 

 C.  Rewrite any of the works we’ve read so far in imitation of Stein’s style. Think about her use of repetition, her “scat” writing and so forth. Write for two pages, and have fun. If you need a model, don’t forget that there’s an excerpt from “Patriarchal Poetry” in the textbook, and that you can listen to Stein read out loud at Steinopera.com

Regardless of the topic you chose, be sure to double-space your writing and paper clip it together. The paper will be worth 100 points and is due on October 23.

I'll keep you posted.

Comments

[Karren Alenier]

I'm really curious how this assignment went. i did not know about the assignment when I gave my presentation which included recorded music and readings from my work, Gertrude Stein and Janet Malcolm's book on Stein Two Lives: Gertrude and Alice.

[College Research Paper]

I appreciate the work of all people who share information with others.