Final Reflections

To begin our final class, I would like you to reflect on what you’ve learned in the last five weeks about yourself as writer. What insight have you gained into your own writing process? What’s been especially rewarding for you as a writer? What’s been especially challenging? What have you learned about doing research as a college student? What will you take away with you as continue on at DU or move into your next phase of life?

Update on your draft for "Mapping Denver"

Take a few minutes to reflect on your mapping project. Give us an overview to what you’ve done so far. Then tell us what you like most about this project. Conclude by letting us know what you think needs the most work.

City I live in

Last monday we went downtown, between Lincoln and Broadway. Many streets in many towns correlate to downtowns across the country. How is the grid-pattern of Denver City like your hometowns? or how does the layout remind you of home (ex. 1st St's across America, Speer Blvd alongside the river)? How has getting out of the class to roam the city of Denver been proactive to your activity in this city? Have you found yourself more interested in the local parks or the daytime bustle of 16th Street Mall?

As we continue to learn at DU, what is our responsibility to the city? Should i get more involved?... I dunno. Du has graciously included bus fares and other RTD transportation in our tuition, so are you taking full advantage of the free transportation around the city?

City I live in

Response to Lopez: Losing Our Sense of Place

Here is Lexie's post for Monday, July 7. Please respond to it before the end of the week.

“It is through the power of observation, the gifts of eye and ear, of tongue and nose and finger, that a place first rises up in our mind; afterward, it is memory that carries the place, that allows it to grow in depth and complexity.”

When reading this article I reflected upon my own ideas about geography. When I thought of particular places, what came to mind? How had I created that image originally? As someone who does a lot of reading, it was hard for me to say that reading hadn’t shaped this image at least partially. Could I really say that this image is inaccurate then? The quote above, struck me the most because when I began to really contemplate its meaning, I began to agree with Lopez more and more. First I thought about my parents home, the house and area in which I grew up. Obviously, after having lived there for the majority of my life, I observed and created a database of images and information. Now after having been away for almost 4 years, living on my own, there is a certain nostalgic connection with it. I have a particular memory of how the place should look, because that is how I remember it. However, I know that my parents are changing certain things; they are remodeling a bathroom for example. This section of the house in my mind looks the same as it always did, but I know if I were to return, I would be surprised by the change, and my image would be shattered. Memory is what makes this place special to me. If I had no memories connected to it I would most certainly not remember it. Do you agree with Lopez’s statement above? Why or why not? Do you agree that you can only understand a place if you have lived there?

Recalling your personal geography

Here is the writing exercise that we competed in class today (July 2):

Choose a spot that brings back a rush of sensory details—sights, sounds, smells, textures, and tastes. It doesn’t need to be an enormous natural wonder like the Grand Canyon. Try describing a private spot—a certain tree in your backyard, a basketball court, a relative’s dining room, the corner of a city lot, the interior of a closet, or a window seat that catches sunlight. As you think about the specifics of this place—its details and sensations—you’ll probably remember a dominant impression, a cluster of images, or a person connected to the place. These are all part of your internal landscape. Write a few short descriptive paragraphs with as many details as you can.

Read your response to your partner. As you listen to his/her description, identify the details that strike you as the most vivid. Find a phrase or an image or a detail that could be elaborated on. What questions do you have for the writer about it? What do you think this description says about the writer’s worldview? When you finish your discussion, post your description to our course blog.

Sex and Nature

Willa Cather felt a very deep connection to nature and felt most comfortable being outside, much like Alexandra in O Pioneers! She chose to have interviews outside and she thought that the air in places where the land was untouched by humans was better than any other air.

While doing some research for my paper, I came across a quote in an article by Melissa Ryan which discusses the image that Alexandra has of being carried away by an unidentified man. “The threat of this figure is linked to his emphatic heterosexuality (in contrast to the lesbian eroticism of Alexandra’s relation to the land). Indeed, he is the land bodied forth in masculine sexual aggression...” I agree that Alexandra has a clear, strong connection to the land, but I was shocked when I read this that it would be viewed as sexual at all, and especially as “lesbian eroticism.” I had been thinking that this fantasy she had was about being lonely and wanting for once in her life to be taken care of instead of always taking care of everyone else.

Sexuality and passion are barely visible in the novel. It is only with Emil and Marie that we see any at all. Ryan says that “Alexandra experiences this desire as traumatic.” What do you think is the connection between sexuality and nature? What do you think about the contrast between “masculine sexual aggression” and “lesbian eroticism” in Alexandra’s life? In Cather’s life?

Reflecting on our blogging

Take a few minutes and reflect on the writing you and your peers have done on this blog. Here are some questions you might want to respond to:

Do you like writing on our blog? Why or why not?

How is writing for the blog different from other writing you've done as a student or from the writing we've done in our class?

What have you noticed in your writing for the blog that's been interesting? What's been interesting from your peers' responses?

Is there anything you don't like about writing for the blog? Are there any changes we could make as a class?

A Shift in Communication

Before the time of internet and emails, letters between a mother and a daughter, for example, living in different states would be sent by postage. The mother’s letter would be written with care, telling the daughter about the last few weeks, a neighbor’s good fortune, the loss of a pet, a shopping trip, and the mother’s feelings. It would be mailed and received by the daughter within two weeks, at which point she would have to find time to reply. After at least another week, the letter detailing the daughter’s reactions and her current story would finally be mailed. The mother would receive her much anticipated letter after it has been in transit for at least a week. Approximately a month would pass between the letter sent and the letter received by the mother. Information in the daughter’s written letter would become details of the past and past reactions to the previous events. In snail mail communication there is only the past, rarely is there present occasions or feelings. With the invention of email, the present can be communicated because of nearly instantaneous transmission. Technology has shaped communication methods of today, not only with email, but instant messaging, blogs, and sites like MySpace or FaceBook.

After reading O Pioneers! especially when Alexandra writes letters to Carl while he is in California and when Alexandra receives Carl’s letter at the end of the novel, I began to wonder: What if an email had said the same thing as the letter? Has technology actually changed communication for the better? Is there something special in handwriting a letter? Then, I thought about how emails are deleted and how people are more likely to save hand written letters: Has this instant communication actually created more value in a hand written letter than there was in Alexandra and Carl’s day? Beside’s society running at a faster pace, what else could possibly have caused this shift?

Generating a thesis statement

Now that we've discussed some of the important passages in the novel, I'd like you to practice generating a thesis statement about your section of the novel. Keeping the quotes you already selected in mind, as well as our discussion, make a claim about what is significant about this section and how the text conveys this importance.


Remember to phrase it as precisely as you can and if it helps, think about answering these questions: What does this section of the text do? What does it say about a particular issue? How does this section of the text do this? Why is this important?

Interpreting key passages from the text

To help us identify key passages from O Pioneers!, I would like you to work in pairs on your assigned section of the novel and identify two or three of the most imporant passages from this section. Type them into your comment and then explain why you think they are significant.

Civilization and Sophistication in the American West

Visiting the art museum, having class discussions and reading Willa Cather’s novel has led me to wonder about how life was like back in the time of the pioneers. What keeps coming up in my thought is wondering about civilization. It is so hard to truly capture what domesticating a foreign land took and how this affected its owners. It seems that these people lived so rurally that they hardly had the capacity to live a comfortable life even though it may have been a fulfilling one.  I don’t know how I could have survived such a time let alone make it an enjoyable one.

Another thought is that of what makes someone sophisticated. I can hardly justify this as being necessary in the time of such imminent danger but there was such abhorrence directed towards the “unsophisticated” ways of the Native Americans that it makes me wonder what prominence sophistication had in the lives of these people. Was it a comfort to them or an ego boost to feel that they could live in a wild setting yet maintain some semblance of being cultured.

These thoughts provoke many questions. What is civilization? What does domestication of the land really mean? Does this connect in any way with sophistication? How does one relate being civilized with to living well? Is civilization necessary for a good life?

The Immigrant Expirence

Western lore promoted the west as a bounty of wealth for those who chose to take it for themselves. It was a promised land of freedom and equality. Yet the reality for many immigrant pioneers was far from that. Most came unprepared for life on the frontier, with skill sets more useful for the big cities of European then for the edges of civilization. Discrimination was rampant by the existing American settlers, who often refused to sell goods or services to the new homesteaders. Even here in Denver, there is a legacy of this past discrimination. Swedish Hospital was started by those Swedish immigrants who came to Colorado during the silver and gold rush era, and whom upon arriving were denied access even to basic medical care. The immigrant community was forced to rally together to provide a hospital in which they were welcome.

Cather’s novel, O’Pioneers still amazes me with the stories that immigrant families went through in the quest to become American. It seems as if these immigrants, much like Bergson family in the novel were expected to undergo a trial by fire in order to be seen as valued in the expanding definition of what constituted being American.
Do you think that those immigrants that braved the frontier and western expiations were respected more quickly then those that worked in town? Is there something inherently American to working and settling a parcel of land that created acceptance of those who chose that way of life? What significance does this play today with the acceptance of immigrants into modern American culture? Does the same or equivalent opportunity exist for newcomers today?

Interpretations of American West Exhibit by Huston Wyeth

While viewing the Western Art exhibit at the museum on Wednesday I began thinking about the importance of the pieces. Although the collection displayed was not huge, I believe it was a great representation of the genre. I have seen American Western Art before and believe that it carries a great deal more than simply a piece of nice artwork. In some cases I believe that it contains a story, an event, a general mood of the times.

Those days were tough; it was all about the unknown and embarking upon great journeys in hopes of discovering a more lucrative life. The danger that these expeditions possessed were constantly present, yet, that didn’t keep people from packing up their lives and heading west. Many of the painting I viewed had glimpses of despair, the sky was dark, the subjects appeared to be worn, and in some cases it showed the out right violence that the pioneers had encountered. Many pictures depicted the initial encounters between the pioneers and the Native Americans, whom had occupied that land for generations.

I left the museum with my own ideas of what they went through during those days. Looking at those paintings was almost like reading a history book, but instead of taking the words I read and drawing my own conclusions, I was given a visual glimpse into the times. I feel that it took a great deal of bravery to attempt such a journey. There were the paintings that depicted the struggles and the journey then there were paintings that explained the sheer natural beauty the American West offers. It was as though those painting were showing the reward, a wide-open vast landscape full of promise.

In what ways did these paintings offer you a enlightened understanding of the American West, what stories did you take from the paintings, after viewing the paintings was there anything that intrigued you, perhaps something that you had never associated with the American West but it was displayed amongst the artwork? What was the general mood you took from the paintings, from what you had always thought of the American West before viewing the exhibit; do you feel as though it was an accurate display of the American West?

Introductions ...

Now that we’ve had a chance to introduce ourselves in person, I’d like you to take a few minutes and expand on your introduction in writing. Tell us more about yourself—anything from the silliest of personal quirks to your most serious aspirations. Keep in mind, you’re writing in a quasi-public space for the rest of your peers and your professor. Here are some questions you might consider:

* Tell us more about where you grew up. What was your hometown like? Describe it as vividly as you can and tell us what was significant about the place and how it impacted you as you grew up.

* What kind of writer are you? Describe your strengths as a writer and tell us about the kinds of writing that you most enjoy. Why do you think you like this kind of writing?

* Tell us more about what you study here at DU and what your major is. Why have you chosen this academic path? How do you think you’ll make use of it in the future? What do you want to be when you grow up? Why does this course of study and/or career interest you?

* What do you do for fun? What’s your ideal way to spend a Saturday when you have nothing to do? Why do you enjoy these activities?

Feel free to tell us anything else about yourself that seems appropriate as you write this introduction. Shoot for at least 250 words (feel free to write more). And try not to answer these questions in a list. Be more creative than that and generate an interesting post to our course blog.

When you are down with this exercise, cut and paste it into our blog as a comment. Flag me down if you have any trouble with this.