Readings for this summer include:
- Breathing In, Breathing Out by Ralph Fletcher
- Walden by Henry David Thoreau
- Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
I would advise reading them in the order listed, though it's not entirely necessary. The Fletcher book is great (and very slim!), and it will give you some ideas about keeping your own notebook. I am going to ask that you keep a reading journal this summer (I recommend a composition book -- they're a good size and they're inexpensive -- it's what I use). I would like you to record your thoughts and reactions to the books you read, though what this winds up looking like is up to you. You might record your thoughts by chapter, by whole book, by whatever inspires you (quotes that intrigue you, ideas you hadn't thought of before, questions a passage raises, etc.).
When you have finished a book and you have finished recording your ideas in your notebook/journal, select some of your favorite observations/notions/questions and post them on the Summer Reading Blog. I'd also like you comment on your classmates' posts (I will weigh in on occasion myself) -- this is a way for us to engage in a kind of "classroom discussion," without being at school. If you have any questions about this, please feel free to email me any time. Happy Blogging! You can start by posting a comment below! ~ Ms. R
August is upon us, sports practices begin this coming week, and it is time to think about discussing our summer reading. I'm going to post a comment here to get you started -- feel free to comment on my comment or to post a comment/observation of your own. In Ralph Fletcher's book, he speaks frequently (at least twice!) about threads. In Chapter 5, he describes the writer's notebook as a place to store "string too short to be saved" but too important to throw away. In the previous chapter, he talks about "following" threads rather than "pulling them." I like both of these ideas very much, and I like the idea of combining them. If your notebook is full of odds & ends, bits and pieces, then it follows that some of those short pieces of string might turn into the "threads" that we can follow in interesting directions. It is an adventure to let one of those pieces of string lead one in new directions. Try it! Grab a piece of string ("the leaves of the poplars in the shore clattered together in imitation of the river tumbling over rocks" would be mine), jot it at the top of a fresh page, and let the rest flow from there. Thank you, Mr. Fletcher.
ReplyDeleteHi Ms. Redlon, it's Lindsay, I totally agree with you about the idea of threads. I know that I always tell myself to remember a bigger "thread" to write down later, but I never do. Now I just shorten the idea a little and put it on a sticky note so I can pick it up later. Is it okay if I have "threads" in my notebook from my summer aside from "threads" on my other English books?
ReplyDeleteLindsay -- and everyone else with the same question: any kind of "thread" is great! Your notebooks are meant to be primarily your own, though I will sometimes ask you to write about / think about something particular. I'm curious to know what y'all have to say about Thoreau and Dillard -- be honest!
ReplyDeleteIn the beginning of "Economy", Thoreau writes about "conscious penance." He describes punishments that the Bramins had to go through and then writes, "even these forms of conscious penance are hardly more incredible and astonishing then the scenes which I daily witness." Is he saying that punishments need to be more harsh?
ReplyDeleteHe refers to Mythology a lot in "Where I Live, And What I Live For." Is living a simple life in the woods Thoreau's idea of an adventure or odyssey?
I don't fully understand Thoreau's idea to live in the woods, is he trying to prove a point? Maybe that a simple life is a better life?
Hi Ms. Redlon. It's Audrey. I have a hard time knowing what to write for a "thread." I think that almost everything is too important in books to pick out what is worth writing down to think about later. I like to look at the book as a whole. Especially in Pilgrim at Tinker Creek when Dillard writes something in one chapter, but then brings it up later in another chapter, thus answering the question I had about it in the first place, so then I have no thread to follow.
ReplyDeleteOr maybe I'm thinking of threads wrong. When I was reading Breathing in, Breathing out, I didn't exactly understand the concept. Is it kind of like notes, but with more thought into them? Or are they just something that you want to go back to?
Lindsay, from what I'm reading in Walden, I think that Thoreau is both trying to make a point to the people of his time, but also just to live his ideal life. In our time most people dream about becoming a movie star or becoming a doctor when they get older, but maybe all Thoreau wanted in life is to become closer to nature by living out in the wilderness. But that's just my view on it.
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ReplyDeleteAudrey, I thought of a thread as a short note that I could go back to and think about more later. Kind of like outlining but being more selective so I take note on the ideas that I want to go over later. I hope that helps.
ReplyDeleteI like how you compared your idea of what Thoreau wanted to dreams that some people have today, I never really thought about it that way.
Lindsay, OH! So it's kinda like a bookmark of a quote you liked or something you didn't understand? Wow. Okay I get it now. That makes total sense. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi guys, this is Libby. So, I've been stuck on this one part of Pilgrim At Tinker Creek for a while. It's probably not even a really important part, it has just been bugging me because I have no idea what she is talking about. In my book, it is on pages 107-108 in the chapter Spring. Dillard is writing about what she does in the spring, and then she starts talking about how "another spring I played second base." She goes on about how she had to sit out a season of softball due to an injury, and she keeps coming back to the field. At the end of the little section, she says that she's "better off in the infield." I'm thinking that this is a metaphor for some greater thing, but I honestly can't figure out what she means. What does the field mean? And why does she want to be in the "infield"? Thank you in advance.
ReplyDeleteTalking about the threads, in my notebook I wrote little tidbits from what had/has been going on in my life. I also included in my notebook some interesting facts and quotes from the books as I was reading them. I'm not sure if this is exactly what we are supposed to be doing with our notebooks, though. Thank you!!
Hi Ms. Redlon, it's Taylor. I have a few questions about the journals. Are we supposed to write about "Breathing In, Breathing Out"? Was it just for tips on writing the journal, or do we actually have to journal about it? I've been writing mostly on Walden and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, but I can write about "Breathing In, Breathing Out" too if you want.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've been jotting down little tidbits from my summer that I didn't want to forget (more threads to look back on later, I suppose) and quotes from both my reading and my life. I hope that's okay! Thanks!
Thanks for your questions, Taylor -- I guess it's time for me to address the general fuzziness folks are feeling about the writer's notebook. I assigned Fletcher's book as a sort-of "how-to" manual. I think it has some great advice for keeping notebooks. Yes, you should absolutely be "notebooking" (hey, if "journal" can be a verb, why not notebook?) about Walden and Pilgrim, but I think you should respond to the Fletcher book in some way as well. I actually copied some quotes from that book onto stickies that I transfer from notebook to notebook, from page to page -- just so the advice is always right there for me to see (maybe it's my advancing age, but ideas and thoughts tend to slip by me sometimes!) as I'm writing.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, the notebook is YOURS and though I will occasionally ask you to write specifically about specific things, you should be writing about & keeping track of those bits & pieces that matter to you.
I hope that clarifies things a wee bit. The Blog looks great, Y'all! Keep it coming & pass the message to your cronies to get their fingers in the pie. Ms. R
While I was reading Pilgrim At Tinker Creek, I was also noticing a lot of repetition of words and phrases. Some of the words and phrases that stuck out to me were the fact that she seemed to revisit the "tree falling in the woods", the Alaskan Eskimos, and the word 'translucent'. Dillard used this word 'translucent' multiple times throughout her book, and I'm not sure if it has a special significance.
ReplyDeleteI also had one last question about Pilgrim. In the last chapter, Waters of Seperation, she talks about a 'maple key'. What is the maple key? Thanks!
Hi everyone, this is Natalie! I really like the idea of keeping a writer's notebook. I've been using my notebook as a place to keep little threads (which for me are lines or qutoes that start sparks in my head) for a time when I might need them for a bigger piece of writing- or maybe inspiration for a poem etc. Keeping the notebook has also opened my eyes a bit to the little details in my everyday life. (Like when the sea really does seem to roar when I go to the beach!) See you all Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteHi, Gals. Libby, I think Dillard uses the word "translucent" because she is interested in "seeing" things -- and she's also interested in light. And "maple keys" are the little whirly-gig-helicopter seeds that maples produce. :) Natalie, I think it's great that you collect your threads, keeping in mind that you might use them in longer pieces -- it's like knitting!
ReplyDeleteHi everyone, it's Kaili! There was one quote from Walden that I've been thinking about for a while. In the very beginning of chapter 6, Thoreau begins with, "I think that I love society as much as most, and am ready enough to fasten myself like a bloodsucker for the time to any full-blooded man that comes in my way." What exactly does he mean by this?
ReplyDeleteI've always thought that as a nonconformist he would be ashamed of society? But this quote seems to contradict his beliefs. Is it some kind of sarcasm that I'm not picking up?
Hey everybody, it's Rachel! Ms. Redlon, I wanted to let you know that I actually liked reading Breathing In, Breathing Out! It helped me understand that my notebook doesn't have to perfect and it gave me some great ideas about what to write about. I especially liked the last chapter where he says that you can write about pretty much anything you want to in your notebook. Also, I tried "following" a thread and it turned into two pages of writing that I liked a lot. Thank you for the tips about writing in our notebooks, see you Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteI have just been going over my journal for Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, and I had an unresolved question that seemed to contain an important symbol. What is Shadow Creek? What does it stand for? I read the explanation in the book quite a few times, but I guess it just hasn't clicked. Does anyone know? Thanks for the help!
ReplyDelete