4Ws

Tennessee Williams Centennial Week

2011-03-21T21:38:00.000-05:00

This week is noted as Tennessee Williams Centennial Week. Several locations are celebrating Tennessee Williams this week. Here are some links I have found. What other activities do you know about? Please share! Check out old posts on the Tennessee Williams segment of the 4Ws Writing Institute.

What is your favorite Tennessee Williams play? I truly miss my 4Ws Colleagues!

Tennessee Williams - The Clarion Ledger

Tennessee Williams Centennial Celebration

50 Years w/o Richard Wright

2010-12-02T13:32:00.001-06:00

November 28, 2010 marks the fiftieth anniversary of Richard Wright’s death, bringing to closure the celebration of his centennial. November 28, 2010 marks the birth, for those who demand reason and critical thought in a time of crisis, of principled readings and rereadings of Wright’s published works. They read in anticipation that some of his unpublished works will be printed in the coming years. Truly, Wright’s works are equipment for living in the chaotic twenty-first century as much as they were in the troubled twentieth century. The moment of birth and rebirth involves reconfiguring how the voice of a genius from Mississippi continues to bid the world to listen!

But it is not easy to listen to Wright in 2010, especially for people who cling to hope as they desperately seek to confirm the goodness of mankind. They do not hear the soothing platitudes they need for comfort. Skeptics and cynics, however wrongheaded they might be, stand a better chance of hearing Wright’s demands for a truth, for making justice more palpable, and for the purging of guilt. Yet, it is inevitable that all must listen to Wright, or at least overhear what he is saying, because his spirit haunts the world in a quest for peace.

Fifty years ago, Hoyt W. Fuller was able to find a small measure of peace and to mitigate his grief by remembering Wright “has spoken with eloquence and with all the power of his great overburdened heart that which he felt so deeply” (550-51).[1][1] Fuller concluded his meditation on Richard Wright with a modicum of hope: “Richard Wright was an American, tugging at the conscience and the submerged sense of reason of America, and American should be proud to have produced him. Perhaps someday a more mature America will embrace her rejected native son. Perhaps that time will come “(555). Unlike Fuller, we are suspicious of America’s conscience and sense of reason, beholding them as quite remote possibilities. We have greater anxiety about America’s capacity to remember.

Thus, the word perhaps opens cautionary dimensions. Perhaps those for whom Wright is more a living presence than a canonized writer, those who will to learn from Wright’s works the dignity of critical reflection and the great suffering that integrity demands -----well, perhaps they will succeed in persuading others of the unending importance of Wright’s visions, questions, and ideas. Perhaps they will fail. We can take consolation in the fact that they shall not fail and succeed simultaneously in a future of unarticulated designs. Perhaps the sheer force of uncertainty is our best assurance that the most essential qualities of Wright’s intelligence and foresight will not just vanish in the twenty-first century. Even from another world, Mississippi’s native son has audible authority in the world we inhabit.

Jerry W. Ward, Jr.
Dillard University

Making the Wright Connection

2010-02-01T10:26:00.002-06:00

The video is a forecast of some exciting things for the Richard Wright institute in July. Share with K-12 teachers.

Jerry Ward

4Ws Reunion

2009-11-22T07:59:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, participants in the MS 4Ws Writing Institute reunited after a long six months from being a part. We discussed how we transformed the experience into a personal sanctuary of reading, writing, and literary discussion. It's amazing how spending nine months together molded the participants into a wonderful learning committee. Sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council, the 4Ws Writing Institute was formed not only to provide pedagogy for educators, but it was formed to intellectually stimulate educators and make the learning process personal. Being able to take related field trips provided educators with a specific time and place to connect the literature being read.

The institute began at the Mississippi Archives. Dr. Harrison provided a historical overview, which left each participant bubbling with excitement. The tour of the archives and viewing Eudora Welty's handwritten notes made the experience even more exciting. Dr. Ward enlighten the participants in spite of the technologically glitches. The trip to Natchez and the pit stop at The Forks in the Road caused thoughtful personal recognition and influenced the mindset of many of the participants. Dr. Peggy and Dr. Noel discussion on Eudora Welty helped to provide many ideas for teaching students to appreciate Eudora's works. Hearing Eudora actually read her works confirmed many of the participants analysis of several of her works. Dr. Colby helped the participants process Tennessee Williams by including pedagogy and literary analysis of Tennessee's plays. Finally, Dr. Graham ended with Margaret Walker Alexander at Jackson State and the Mississippi Archives.

Each participant left the reunion with a newfound spirit, encouraging them to be an educator and research scholar all over again.

Freedom Rider Returns to Mississippi

2009-07-05T16:56:00.006-05:00

Look at this fresh idealistic face!

"Freedom Rider Returns to Mississippi"

appeared in the Commercial Appeal today,

and I found myself captivated by her Christian mugshot!

Looks like they have arrested Anne of Green Gables!

The article is less about the return

of Joan Trumpauer Mulholland to her reunion at Tougaloo,

and more about a current student's

creative tribute to her through music.

What do you think?

Read article here and Happy Fourth Everyone! ~ Maggie

Maryemma Graham

2009-06-10T15:16:00.004-05:00

Dr. Maryemma Graham did an amazing job as our instructor on Margaret Walker. Dr. Graham, a Professor of English at the University of Kansas, has been a wonderful inspiration for me. Her prolific knowledge of Margaret Walker and her actually experiences with her just blew me away.

Some of her publications include:

How I Wrote Jubilee and Other Essays on Life and Literature by Margaret Walker (1990); Conversations with Ralph Ellison (1995); On Being Female, Black and Free: Essays by Margaret Walker, 1932-1992 (1997); Teaching African American Literature: Theory and Practice (1998). Fields Watered With Blood: Critical Essays on Margaret Walker (2001), Conversations with Margaret Walker (2002), The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker (work in progress).

Check out these following sites that she is affiliated with:

The Project on the History of Black Writing - She is the co-founder.
Langston Hughes National Poetry Project - She is the director.

Digital Storytelling

2009-06-06T08:00:00.005-05:00

Teaching our students to enjoy reading works by Welty, Wright, Williams, and Walker can be a very challenging feat. However, we can find amazing and creative ways to encourage our children to become readers and writers beyond the classroom. I have been really intrigued by digital storytelling. The University of Houston has a wonderful site to teach educators about digital story telling. Try it out in your classroom.

Inspired By Margaret Walker

2009-06-01T19:41:00.002-05:00

After reading Margaret Walker's poetry, I have been inspired to write poetry which transforms actually people and historical events into the subject matter of my poems. Loving how she used prophets to discuss activists, like Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King, Jr., I have been researching several historical events to write about. How will you teach the poetry of Margaret Walker? What historical event will you discuss to entice your students to write historical poetry.

Posted with LifeCast

Margaret Walker Alexander (1915 ~ 1998)

2009-05-28T20:15:00.008-05:00

When I was about eight, I decided that the most wonderful thing, next to a human being, was a book.

~Margaret Walker

FICTION

Jubilee (1966)

NONFICTION

A Poetic Equation: Conversations Between Nikki Giovanni and Margaret Walker (1974)
Richard Wright, Daemonic Genius: A Portrait of the Man, A Critical Look at His Work (1988)

How I Wrote Jubilee and Other Essays on Life and Literature (1990) Editor Maryemma Graham
On Being Female, Black, and Free: Essays by Margaret Walker, 1932-1992 (1997)

POETRY

For My People (1942)
The Ballad of the Free (1966)
Prophets for a New Day (1970)
October Journey (1973)
For Farish Street Green, February 27, 1986 (1986)
This Is My Century: New and Collected Poems (1989)

Note: I pulled this list from the Mississippi Writer's Page. If I left out something please leave a comment and I will add it to the list. Happy Reading ~ Maggie

Unit Lesson on Poetry

2009-05-22T11:01:00.008-05:00

I have completed a unit lesson to accompany the poetry book by Patricia Neely-Dorsey. This unit lesson will be posted on our MS 4Ws ning. Presently, I am working on a unit lesson for Margaret Walker. Have you completed a unit lesson? What are your plans for the next school year? Are you going to teach any of the 4Ws?

STELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

2009-05-20T22:47:00.006-05:00

English actress calls Clarksdale visit ‘invaluable’
Golden Globe nominee to portray Stella in ‘Streetcar Named Desire’

CLARKSDALE – When English actress Ruth Wilson takes center stage as Stella in “Streetcar named Desire” in London this summer, she’ll be remembering Clarksdale’s Cutrer Mansion, Moon Lake, and Mississippi Delta plantation homes.

To immerse herself in the world of Tennessee Williams, this raven-haired beauty and Golden Globe nominee, traveled here to experience the playwright’s childhood home and its influences on his famous plays.

Among the sites she viewed were St. George’s Episcopal Church, the Cutrer Mansion and Clarksdale’s historic district where the spent his childhood, the Stovall and Anderson plantations, Uncle Henry’s Place on Moon Lake, and miles of green Mississippi River levees, farmland, and cypress brakes.

Wilson’s performance in the Masterpiece Theatre television series “Jane Eyre” earned her four Best Actress nominations including a Golden Globe. In a BBC Best Actress viewer poll she was rated second.

The role of Stella’s sister Blanche Dubois is being portrayed by Academy Award winner Rachel Weisz, who won a 2006 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in the movie, “The Constant Gardner.”

“This visit to Clarksdale has been invaluable,” Wilson says. “For me as an actor, it is very important to fill my body and mind with sense memories.”

“So on stage when I talk about Belle Reve (the Cutrer Mansion is generally regarded as the ancestral home of sisters Stella and Blanche in “Streetcar”) or Moon Lake, I have an immediate and natural reaction to those places, those people,” she says.

“It is a way for me to immerse myself in the world of the play; I can literally hear, smell, feel, and see those places, those people,” she continues.

Wilson says Moon Lake was particularly interesting because of its isolation from Clarksdale.

“Being surrounded by a fast flowing river gave it a romanticism and sereneness, but also a deep sense of danger,” she says.

“You could understand why Tennessee depicted it as a place of wild freedom and danger,” she continues.

To learn more about the South, Wilson began her travels in Charleston, South Carolina, and moved on to Savannah through Alabama, and Mississippi to New Orleans.

“What was common about people from the South and what I loved was not only the wonderful generosity, but also incredible humor,” she says.

“You all have such quick minds, but slow mouths; it is the Tennessee (Williams) way of speaking – funny and sharp but rhythmic and languid; it is completely unique and completely beautiful – I hope I can re-create some of that,” she said.

“The more I read of Tennessee’s work, the more poetry I find. He had such a beautiful and rhythmic way with words. I feel very lucky to have been given the opportunity to put voice to them,” Wilson adds.

Wilson says “Streetcar” opens July 28 in London at the Donmar Theatre that is currently producing “Hamlet” with Jude Law.Other actors have spent time in Clarksdale researching Tennessee Williams plays including English actress Frances O'Conner who played Maggie in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" in London and actors from France who performed in "Orpheus Descending."

Clarksdale’s 17th Mississippi Delta Tennessee Williams Festival will be held Oct. 16-17 and will continue its focus on the playwright’s Delta plays including “Spring Storm,” “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” “Summer and Smoke,” “Orpheus Descending,” and others.

A “Stella” shouting contest is a popular component of the festival’s Student Acting Competition. For additional information and updates, view http://www.coahomacc.edu/twilliams.

Photo cutlines: English actress Ruth Wilson, a Best Actress Golden Globe nominee, visits Clarksdale’s historic Cutrer Mansion to experience sites from the world of playwright Tennessee Williams for her portrayal of Stella in the play, ‘Streetcar Named Desire.’ Giving her a tour of the mansion that is generally regarded as Belle Reve, the ancestral home, of Stella and Blanche in ‘Streetcar’ is Lois McMurchy, director of the Coahoma County Higher Education Center.

Perfect Program for Inspiring Young Poets!

2009-05-12T17:08:00.002-05:00

This past Tuesday at 2:30 we had the honor of hearing Patricia Neely-Dorsey read from her new book of poetry titled Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems!

In attendance for the event was her handsome husband and chauffeur, James, who drove the two hours to Senatobia and then back home for Miss Patricia. ;D Others in the audience could tell they were very much in love (and I'm sure - still are) as she stole glances his way while reading her poem, "Mississippi Man".

Pat's visit was my first official program as Public Service Librarian. Regrettably, I still have loads to learn when it comes to scheduling an event on an active campus! I can say, those in attendance were rewarded with an intelligent and witty woman behind the podium and behind the poems we were hearing. Those students that attended left inspired. She is an engaging speaker and I highly recommend her program to all Mississippi librarians and especially to those who read this blog!

I purchased a few signed copies to give away during the Southern Reading Challenge! Yay, Y'all!

~Maggie

Summer Reading List!

2009-05-10T12:09:00.016-05:00

Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow, but I left yesterday with a summer full of reading ideas. Thank you Maryemma for the stimulating session full of new terms for this inspired librarian. For those in attendance and for those who regretfully missed, I made a reading list based on the book titles or authors thrown into the conversation yesterday. If I miss one, please leave a comment and I will add.

No one will forget Vija Lee's moving book talk on Kneebaby by R.S. Cannon! Thank you for having the courage to share with us Vija.

Books entering yesterday's conversation because they are similar in nature to Jubilee include,

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
and slightly over-top, Fairoaks by Frank Yerby.

Too Similar to Jubilee!?!

Roots by Alex Haley

Tragic Mulatto is a new genre I cannot wait to explore this summer. It reminds me of the tragic young adult books of the 60's and 70's. In this genre, someone would die because the main character committed a moral sin such as drinking and driving, having a baby out of wedlock, or experimenting with drugs.

The Wedding by Dorothy West
Passing and Quicksand by Nella Larsen
Comedy, American Style,

Plum Bun: A Novel without a Moral and

There is Confusion by Jessie Redmon Fauset
Short Story The Birthmark by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Want to discover more about Jessie Fauset and Dorothy West? I found this read which carries a bonus author Zora Neale Hurston!

Rereading the Harlem Renaissance: Race, Class, and Gender in the Fiction of Jessie Fauset, Zora Neale Hurston, and Dorothy West by Sharon L. Jones

Hear the melody in this book of sermons,

God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse by James Weldon Johnson.

Modern day slavery is the topic of these two reads:

My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban by Latifa
Slave: My True Story by Mende Nazer

Want to spend your summer analyzing the Uncle Remus and Uncle Julius stories then write a compare/contrast article for Black Magnolias Literary Journal? Here’s two books that will get you started.

Charles W. Chesnutt Stories, Novels and Essays by Charles W. Chesnutt
Brer Rabbit, Uncle Remus, and the 'Cornfield Journalist': The Tale of Joel Chandler Harris by Walter M. Brasch

One book, one curriculum idea called the Cardozo Project and sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Maryemma spoke about, used The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison to inspire teamwork amongst teachers and students for a full year. I love the science classes figuring through DNA the chances of producing blue eyes.

To round out the student/teacher experience someone mentioned 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens by Sean Covey.

~Happy Reading from Maggie!

Our Last Meeting!

2009-05-10T00:36:00.003-05:00

I will SO miss our monthly discussions. :(

Keep in Touch Everyone! ~Maggie

"R" Runaway

2009-05-07T00:03:00.004-05:00

In Jubilee, Lucy runs away. After being captured, her punishment is the branding of the letter "R" on her face. Even after Lucy's torture and humiliation, she manages to escape from the plantation. Did you think that she would try to escape again? What was your reaction to her second escape? How did you feel about her being branded like an animal? Did it make you cringe?

Let's Discuss...

2009-05-06T22:34:00.007-05:00

The following questions were developed by Dr. Jerry Ward for the short story Bright and Morning Star by Richard Wright. ~Maggie

1.) Why does Wright borrow the title from a hymn?

2.) What aspects of Southern life were threatened by cooperation between black and white Communists in the 1930s?

4.) What is the nature of the new faith that Aunt Sue learns from her sons Sug and Johnny-Boy?

“If in the early days of her life the white mountain had driven her back from the earth, then in her last days Reva’s love was drawing her toward it….”

5.) How does the white mountain function as a metaphor? What does the passage reveal about Aunt Sue’s conception of self?

6.) Why does the sheriff not hesitate to brutalize an old black woman? What does his action reveal about racial hatred?

7.) Is Aunt Sue’s reaction to her beating similar to or different from Reverend Taylor’s reaction to his whipping in Fire and Cloud? How does gender function as a determining element in their responses?

8.) What does Aunt Sue’s suffering and ultimate sacrifice for her son Johnny-Boy suggest about a woman’s determination?

New Ning Site

2009-05-06T18:12:00.004-05:00

Since some of you were weary about participating on Facebook, I have created a Ning site, catering specifically to the 4ws Writing Institute. On the Ning site, you can create your own profile, blog post, and submit photos and events. I created this in order for us to keep in contact and share the exciting lessons and classes we will create and teach. I have added photos and hope you do the same. The Ning site is by invite only. Please check your email for the invite! I am excited about our last meeting on Saturday! See you then!!!!!!

Visit Mississippi 4Ws Writing Institute:

Poet to Speak at NWCC!

2009-05-01T19:17:00.007-05:00

Join us Tuesday May 5th at 2:30

in the veiwing room of the

R.C. Pugh Library

on the Senatobia Campus

of Northwest MS Community College!

For more information call Me!

~Maggie 662-562-3268

The 4Ws Spread!

2009-05-01T17:51:00.012-05:00

Beth Bunce, 4Ws participant and Northwest Mississippi Community College (NWCC) English instructor, will provide 1-hour CEU credit for a week-long class discussion on Tennessee Williams for educators!

Look what you have done Colby!

Long Live the 4Ws! ~Maggie

The Black Code

2009-04-23T19:37:00.003-05:00

Walker writes about the importance of the Black Code to regulate the movement of slaves in her book, Jubilee. The Black Code, also known as the slave code, monitored the movement of slaves and helped enforce the laws of slavery in the South. Here are a few resources to refer to when discussing the Black Code. How do you think you would address the topic of Black Codes in the classroom?

Slave Codes of the State of Georgia

The Black Code in Georgia

Black Code

Black Codes of 1865

Mississippi Black Code

Margaret Walker Discussion #1 Video

2009-04-22T22:04:00.005-05:00

View part of the discussion on Margaret Walker's poetry! I hope you enjoy it!

Participating In Writing Institute

2009-04-21T05:59:00.004-05:00

I was amazed yesterday when a coworker asked me about the book I was currently reading. Since participating in the 4Ws Writing Institute I have shared my love for the institute and shared the books and topics we have been covering. Apparently, I have shared so much that my coworkers know I am reading something new each month. Explaining to him that we are studying Margaret Walker, I shared with him her book of poetry. Unfamiliar with her poetry, he read her poetry intently and we even had a discussion about it. I am so happy to be apart of such a phenomenal experience. Being able to read wonderful books by Mississippi authors, along with discussing the books with such wonderful colleagues is priceless.

Haiku Friday!

2009-04-17T17:31:00.012-05:00

#422

My cigarette glows

Without my lips touching it,

—A steady spring breeze.

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright

Guilty Conscience by Jamie Tate won the

2004 Southern Breeze "Lallah Award" for Most Innovative

from the Mississippi Art Colony.

(Psst - I think the art looks like the end of a cigarette.) ~Maggie

Creating Essays Using Margaret's Poetry

2009-04-13T23:20:00.010-05:00

Having students chose one of Margaret's poems and write a literary analysis essay is a great way to incorporate her works in the classroom. I found an essay on Margaret Walker on the Modern American Poetry website. You may find this essay helpful to use in the classroom.

Mystic Years Part Deux

2009-04-13T14:23:00.012-05:00

I'm very excited to see a new book on our shelves titled Capitol Men: The Epic Story of Reconstruction through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen by Philip Dray. Dray was in the running for a Pulitzer Prize for his work, At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America, that won two other awards that year. This book features the the lives of 16 black southerners who tried to change the government; woefully, they were out numbered by corruptible white congressmen during the Mystic Years of Reconstruction.

I have not read it. I gave the library copy to one of our history teachers and she brought it back raving. She said, "It is readable history!" That leads me to believe not all history is readable. ~Maggie ;D

The Margaret Walker Research Center

2009-04-13T06:49:00.010-05:00

Located on the campus of Jackson State University, the Margaret Walker Research Center "houses" records of the past to preserve the African-American culture. The center has an oral history collection database available online. Welcoming records, personal papers, and other important items related to African-American culture, the center also has items belonging to Margaret Walker. We were very privileged to have the opportunity to view Margaret's first journal, given to her by her father, documents written and typed by her, one of her favorite hats, and her typewriter. Dr. Harrison provided us with a tour of the amazing facility. Ironically, Maurine was able to discover that her field trip to Jackson State University with her students has been documented and added to the archives of the Margaret Walker Research Center. The pictures were taken at the center.

How Shall We Celebrate?

2009-04-13T05:47:00.004-05:00

April 13, 1909

Does anyone wish to declare a favorite Welty short story or book?

New Mississippi Poet!

2009-04-09T20:34:00.014-05:00

Help me get the word out, 4Ws! I am currently participating in Celebrate the South Blog Tour honoring poet Patricia Neely-Dorsey of Tupelo, Mississippi. I have her new book of poetry titled, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems, if anyone wants to read it and share with their classroom. I would like the book back afterwards to place in the library collection. Here is my contribution to the tour. ~Maggie

Visit Pat at her blog or purchase her book through Amazon.

The Tennessee Williams Rewrite

2009-04-08T16:15:00.012-05:00

I did it! I did a Tennessee Williams rewrite!

My plan was to write about poetry this week, but then I looked at the calendar and freaked. My column's deadline is Wednesday at 12 p.m. and Welty's birthday is Monday. The newspapers tend to stagger my appearance with The Southern Reporter running the next day, Thursday, and The DeSoto Times-Tribune running two weeks later. The other three papers run Book Talk in the following week's edition.

It was either write it today or skip it all together. I decided to follow in Williams' footsteps and rewrite the post from Monday. I thought of Williams while in my panic. I remember Colby telling us he would rewrite over and over until he got the response he wanted from the audience. I want to provide the 4W readers with information. I want newspaper readers to pick up a book, any book, even if it is to throw at me!

Here is this week's Book Talk...Duck! ~Maggie

David Walker

2009-04-07T23:22:00.011-05:00

Teaching Jubilee in the classroom can also incorporate history as well. After discussing Walker's poetry and realizing that she often refers to real people in her writings, I decided to look up David Walker. Aunt Sally goes to a secret meeting at Rising Glory Baptist Church and describes her interaction with the papers being discussed and her knowledge of David Walker. After doing much research, I learned some interesting things about David Walker. Born in North Carolina, David Walker used his pamphlet, "Appeal," to cause slaves to revolt against their master. A true abolitionist, David use his pamphlet to deliver his message throughout the south.

Teaching David Walker in the secondary classroom maybe somewhat difficult. Using this teacher resource can help you in teaching the history behind David Walker.

*Each link leads to different information on David Walker.

Here are a list of other resources:

Harsh Reality of Slavery

2009-04-06T21:48:00.005-05:00

Reading Jubilee has reignited my pure disgust towards the existence of slavery. It's amazing how Margaret Walker recaptures the persistent cruelty, the menacing hatred, and the harsh reality of Southern Gothic. Walker's ability to recreate such a tragic piece of history demonstrates how truly talented she was.

Chapter one ends with the death of an woman. What was the woman's name? How does her death impact you? What character stands out the most in chapter one?

America's First Serial Killers!

2009-04-06T11:59:00.011-05:00

In Eudora Welty: Some Notes on River Country edited by Hunter Cole, a quote from Welty as told to Dr. Peggy Prenshaw in Conversations with Eudora Welty included in Cole’s afterword, inspired my thoughts. Welty said, “Why, just to write about what might happen along some little road like the Natchez Trace—which reaches so far into the past and has been the trail for so many kinds of people—is enough to keep you busy for life.”

Just as William Faulkner set his novels in fictional Yoknapatawpha County and Tennessee Williams used the Clarksdale area as setting in most of his plays, Welty kept busy with stories set in the River Country between Vicksburg and Natchez. These stories include her book The Robber Bridegroom and short stories: A Worn Path, Asphodel, First Love, A Still Moment, Livvie, and At the Landing.

Cole continues, “It is known that she had read Audubon’s diaries, J.F.H Claiborne’s Mississippi narratives, and Robert M. Coates’s The Outlaw Years: The Land Pirates of the Natchez Trace and wished to verify the history these told."

I, too, wish to verify a sentence mentioned in Welty’s Some Notes on River Country. Welty wrote, “Deep under them both is solid blue clay, embalming the fossil horse and fossil ox and the great mastodon, the same preserving blue clay that was dug up to wrap the head of the Big Harp in bandit days, no less a monstrous thing when carried in for reward.”

What! How disgusting! Is this really true and why haven’t I heard of said Harp, Big or Little?

The Robber Bridegroom and Eudora Welty: Some Notes on River Country are perfect companions to a class on Mississippi history. Yes, I know RB is fictional, but sometimes it takes a story to get students interested. I surely want to know more about the Harps, Mike Fink, Lorenzo Dow, John Murrell, Aaron Burr, Harmon Blennerhassett, and John James Audubon’s search for the ivory-billed woodpecker in Mississippi. ~Maggie

4Ws Facebook Page

2009-04-06T00:42:00.004-05:00

Here is the link to the 4Ws Writing Institute Facebook Page. Please make sure you become a fan, so that we can keep in contact after the writing institute. I have started a discussion topic on Jubilee. Remember that we are reading Jubilee for next month. Make sure you bring a poem you wrote about your life!

Shout Out to Panny Mayfield! Thanks for the article!

2009-04-05T23:36:00.006-05:00

We had an awesome time during our discussion of Tennesse Williams in Clarksdale, MS! Panny Mayfield was an exceptional host. Check out an article in the Clarksdale Press Register about our visit! Hope you enjoy!

Margaret Walker Discussion #1

2009-04-04T13:56:00.012-05:00

Walker extends the oral tradition, emphasizing the folklore in her poetry. In Walker's poetry, she takes actual people, events, and traditions and transform them into her own. She uses traditional ballad forms in her poetry. Her volume of poetry, October Journey, includes several examples of ballads in her poetry. Many of her poems include emphasis on the South as an "ancestral homeland" and juxtaposing the past with the present. However, she does not romanticized previous Southern culture.

Her poetry includes reclamation - an unpleasant experience for some readers. Often not apologetic, Walker's poetry tends to be bold. Humanity and dignity is constantly used through her poetry. She emphasizes the humanity of it all. Typical southern gothicism exists in her poetry. Images of the violent south exists throughout her poetry. She proves to be a "southern gothic writer." Walker's poem, "Delta," provides a unique combination of various elements related to the south.

Elevated rhetoric, literary tools, parallelism, and language beyond normal use is important in Walker's poetry. Biblical cadence, which can be heard in sermons, can be heard in Walker's poetry (e.g. "Delta" and "Hosea"). Walker has a unique connection to visual artists.

Applying Walker in the Classroom:

Teaching literary elements: Take one of Walker's poems and have students identify literary elements.

Writing about your life: Have students read one of Walker's poems and create a poem about their life, referring to the chosen poem.

Comparison: Compare poems "For My People" and "I've Known Rivers" by Langston Hughes. Have students write their comparison, while playing the sound of a river running. Have students applying the literary tool, parallelism.

Teaching Poetry and Establishing Confessional: Use Walker's poetry to identify your own bias and have students identify their own vulnerability and bias.

Poems discusssed in today's discussion:

Ex-Slave

For My People

Delta

Lineage

Today

Yalluh Hammuh

Teacher

Long John Nelson and Sweetie Pie

Whores

Street Demonstration

Girl Held Without Bail

For Andy Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney

Jeremiah

Isaiah

Amos

Amos (Postscript, 1968)

Joel

Hosea

Micah

Ballade of the Hoppy-Toad

October Journey

I Want to Write

For Gwen 1969

Ballad for Phillis Wheatley

Medger Evers

Jackson State

Postage Stamps

2009-03-31T12:18:00.017-05:00

Thanks to our generous Clarksdale hostess, Panny Mayfield, attendees received a somber Tennessee Williams, postage-stamp poster. That got me wondering about other stamps recognizing our 4Ws' authors.

Found this brightly colored Street Car Named Desire stamp while googling Tennessee Williams stamps.

Richard Wright has a stamp in the same style as Mr. Williams indicating a series.

Other stamps of our 4Ws include foreign nations like Ghana and Turkmenistan, and a nice collection of "The History of Theatre" from Gambia.

What does a girl have to write to get a postage stamp?!? I went all through the internet and could NOT find a postage stamp for Margaret Walker Alexander and Eudora Welty. Humpf! ~Maggie

Thomas Lanier Williams (1911 ~ 1983)

2009-03-31T09:40:00.020-05:00

When I stop working the rest of the day is posthumous. I'm only really alive when I'm writing.

~ Tennessee Williams

Plays

27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Other One Act Plays (1945)
The Glass Menagerie (1945)
Battle of Ages (1945)
A Streetcar Named Desire (won Pulitzer Prize 1947)
You Touched Me! (1947)
American Blues (1948)
Summer and Smoke (1948)
The Rose Tattoo (1951)
I Rise a Flame, Cried the Phoenix (1951)
This Property is Condemned (1952)
Camino Real (1953)
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (won Pulitzer Prize 1955)
Baby Doll (screenplay 1956)
Suddenly Last Summer (1958)
Orpheus Descending (revision of Battle of Ages 1958
A Perfect Analysis is Given by a Parrot (1958)
Garden District (1959)
Sweet Bird of Youth (1959)
The Fugitive Kind (1960)
Period of Adjustment (1960)
The Night of the Iguana (1961)
Five Plays (1962)
The Eccentricities of a Nightingale (1964)
Grand (1964)
The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore (1964)
The Mutilated (1967)
Kingdom of the Earth (1968)
In the Bar of a Tokyo Hotel (1969)
Dragon Counting, A Book of Plays (1970)
The Two-Character Play (1971)
Small Craft Warnings (1973)
Outcry (1973)
The Red Devil Battery Sign (1975)
Vieux Carre (1979)
A Lovely Sunday for Creve Coeur (1980)
Steps Must Be Gentle (1980)
A House Not Meant to Stand (1982)
Clothes for a Summer Hotel: A Ghost Play (1983)
Stopped Rocking and Other Screenplays (1984)
The Remarkable Rooming-House of Mme. LeMonde (1984)
Something Cloudy, Something Clear (1995)
Not About Nightingales (1998)

Collections of Short Stories

The Vengeance of Nitocris (1928)
The Field of Blue Children (1939)
The Resemblance Between a Violin Case and a Coffin (1951)
Hard Candy: a Book of Stories (1954)
Three Players of a Summer Game and Other Stories (1960)
The Knightly Quest: a Novella and Four Short Stories (1966)
One Arm and Other Stories (1967)
Eight Mortal Ladies Possessed: a Book of Stories (1974)
Tent Worms (1980)
It Happened the day the Sun Rose, and Other Stories (1981)

~ Happy Reading from Maggie

Trip to Clarksdale

2009-03-25T19:18:00.005-05:00

A coworker, from Clarksdale, mentioned a front cover spread about our trip in the Clarksdale Press Register, their local newspaper. Click on the link to read the article from March 21, 2009.

MPB Education Express

2009-03-16T21:39:00.006-05:00

While visiting Mississippi Public Broadcasting website, I discovered online resources for teachers. There are several resources available for educators. I also discovered Education Express, a great resource teachers can use to assist in planning their daily lessons. Since we are nearing the last few months of school, I thought you would greatly benefit from a little assist to help you! Check it out! Let me know what you think!

Haiku Friday!

2009-03-13T21:23:00.015-05:00

#3

Keep straight down this block,
Then turn right where you will find
A peach tree blooming.

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright (Arcade, 1998)

Mixed media collage titled Coming Together by Mississippian Charles Crossley.

Mr. Crossley's recent works are on exhibit
at
The Lauren Rogers Museum
from
March 15 - May 17, 2009 in the Stairwell Gallery! ~ Maggie

Images

2009-03-10T21:44:00.007-05:00

I have posted new images to our Flickr group. I really hope you will share the images you have taken as well. We had a great time! I really enjoyed seeing everyone. Please remember that we have a Facebook page and a blog on Blogger. Don't forget to participate! See you in a month!

Note: Picture taken by Maggie (l to r) Darein Spann and Sheri Blankenship

The Story is in the Stars

2009-03-06T11:36:00.011-06:00

One of the things I find fascinating about our discussions is the underlying myths associated with the stories. I am caught off guard every time and must face my weak education in the area of mythology. I have no excuse with our next assignment. The play's name, Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams, smacks of myth.

For your convenience, this post includes a few websites featuring the retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice: two from Virginia Commonwealth University and one from Women in Myth.

The Wikipedia article on Orpheus includes this statement, “The lyre was carried to heaven by the Muses, and was placed among the stars.” I thought it might be nice to include a couple of website on the constellation Lyra: one by Ian Ridpath (my hero) and another by Constellations of Words that contains an etymology. ~ Maggie

Benefits of the Writing Institute

2009-02-26T20:52:00.009-06:00

I found a Literature book which I had "borrowed" from my mother's extensive home library. I looked through it and found one of Tennessee Williams’ plays, "The Glass Menagerie." Since it was almost to bedtime for my children, I decided to read it to them. After reading the background information on the characters and the production notes, I began to read scene one. Tom's narration was very interesting. Tom provided important information on the characters. The first part of the scene was very funny. Tom became upset with his mother because she often chastised him about his eating habits. He leaves the dining to smoke as cigarette. Then I read, "No, sister, no, sister - you be the lady this time and I'll be the darky" (Knickerbocker 707). I had to stop. The word, "darky," hit me like a whirlwind. Does Tennessee's Williams avoid using the "N" word to deviate from controversy? If "darky" was deleted, would scene one in the play still have the same meaning? Reading on, I understood the message he was trying to deliver. He wanted the viewer to see the mother's desire to teach Laura how to be waited on instead being the server.

Being a part of the writing institute has transformed my ability to read derogatory words and to see the author’s underlining meaning. It has been a wonderful experience to discuss rather touchy subjects, like racism, in an intellectually stimulating situation. Our monthly discussions have been fundamental in my own ability to interpret what I read and the message the author is trying to portray.

Works Cited

Knickerbocker, K. L. and Reniner, H. Williard. "The Glass Menagerie." Interpreting Literature. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1955.

Facebook and 4Ws

2009-02-21T19:17:00.007-06:00

I have created a page for the 4Ws Writing Institute on Facebook. Please support the Writing Institute Facebook page by becoming a fan! I created the page to provide universal exposure for the program. I have enjoyed being a participant in this program, and I want to share my experience with others. Look forward to seeing you online at Facebook!

Haiku Friday!

2009-02-20T12:21:00.017-06:00

#730

From the cherry tree
To the roof of the red barn,
A cloud of sparrows flew.

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright (Arcade, 1998)

Acrylic by Mississippian Rick Anderson titled Red House. ~Maggie

4Ws Flickr

2009-02-18T10:35:00.007-06:00

I have created a slideshow using the photos from this past week's discussion. Remember to post your photos from previous trips and discussions to our Flickr group. Here is a link to our group.

Exposure to Tennessee Williams

2009-02-18T09:46:00.007-06:00

Our past discussion on Tennessee Williams was informative, entertaining, and intriguing. Dr. Kullman enticed us with humor and managed to keep a very interactive discussion going, even though it was "The Love Holiday." I really enjoyed the handouts. He provided so much information to use in the classroom. From images of important landmarks used in Tennessee Williams to frequent themes in his plays, we left with an abundance of information to create essay assignments and to encourage classroom discussions. I am looking forward to our next meeting in Clarksdale, MS.

I'd Love to Hear...

2009-02-16T06:21:00.005-06:00

During discussion Saturday, I mentioned plays being used as entry points for reluctant readers. My Book Talk column for the previous week talked about that very thing. I am not an educator and wrote the piece from my own experience, but would love feed back from teachers. I would like to know if this is a practical idea or do I need to go back and rethink the article. The article is passed rescission though. Please leave a comment here or click the words Book Talk and leave one there. ~ Maggie

Haiku Friday!

2009-02-13T09:43:00.007-06:00

#97

In the setting sun,
Each tree bud is clinging fast
To drying raindrops.

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright (Arcade, 1998)

Mixed media collage by Texan Cheryl McClure titled The Rain Came. ~ Maggie

Let's discuss...

2009-02-10T14:56:00.005-06:00

The following questions were developed by Dr. Jerry Ward for the short story Down by the Riverside by Richard Wright. ~ Maggie

1. What is the moral conundrum in this story?

2. Does the story seem to have unusual significance if we compare reactions to the Mississippi River flood of 1927 with those evidenced in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and the breaking of the levees in New Orleans in 2005?

3. Why are the military officials so insensitive to Mann's grief over the death of his wife? Why is Mann addressed as “boy”?

4. Why does Mann rescue Mrs. Heartfield and her two children when he knows they will identify him as the person who murdered Mr. Heartfield?

5. Why does Mann decide to die before the agents of justice can kill him? What is the significant difference between his decision and the one Silas makes in Long Black Song?

2009-02-09T12:03:00.008-06:00

20th ANNUAL
NATCHEZ LITERARY & CINEMA CELEBRATION

Natchez, Mississippi
FEBRUARY 19-22, 2009

"Southern Women Writers:
Saluting the Eudora Welty Centennial"

Conference co-sponsors:
Copiah-Lincoln Community College,

Natchez National Historical Park,

Mississippi Department of Archives and History,

and Mississippi Public Broadcasting

Co-chairmen:
Carolyn Vance Smith, Kathleen Jenkins,

Jim Barnett, and Marie Antoon
Director of Proceedings: William F. Winter

ABOUT THE CELEBRATION…

The Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration, winner of an Olympic Award, the Governor’s Award, and the Mississippi Tourism Award, has been called by official evaluators “Mississippi’s most significant annual conference devoted to literature, history, and culture.”

Sponsored by Copiah-Lincoln Community College, Natchez National Historical Park, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, and Mississippi Public Broadcasting, the Celebration annually presents a theme-based lecture series enhanced by films, field trips, workshops, exhibits, book signings, and discussions.

Each year since the NLCC began in 1990, the conference has been made possible in part by the Mississippi Humanities Council under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The conference is also made possible in part by a $100,000 National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant that was successfully matched dollar-for-dollar during a three-year campaign that ended in 2006.

For information about Natchez and where to stay, visit:
Natchez Convention and Visitor Bureau
Other Natchez sites to visit:
http://www.visitnatchez.com/
http://www.rosaliemansion.com/
http://www.natchezchamber.com/

For questions and or ticket orders call

toll-free 1-866-296-NLCC (1-866-296-6522) or e-mail info.

~ Maggie

Let's Discuss...

2009-02-08T14:25:00.008-06:00

The following questions were developed by Dr. Jerry Ward for the short story Big Boy Leaves Home by Richard Wright. ~ Maggie

1.) The story opens with four black boys engaged in the banter known as “the dozens.” Why does Wright begin the story with a ritual involving verbal insults?

2.) How does Wright use a classic taboo regarding contact between blacks and whites to activate tragic events in the plot?

3.) What are the justifications for the soldier’s killing of Lester and Buck? For Big Boy’s killing the soldier? What point does Wright wish to make about justice and inequality? About justice and power?

4.) How does Wright use the themes of innocence and guilt in the story?

5.) Note the pastoral setting in which violence initially occurs. What do other acts of violence in the story lead us to conclude about the nature of violence? About the nature of the community wherein it occurs?

6.) Is Big Boy’s witnessing of the lynching of Bobo a part of his education?

7.) How important are issues of migration and displacement in the story? Why does Big Boy flee to Chicago rather than to another part of the United States?

Pic Disposable Cameras!

2009-02-07T13:38:00.011-06:00

Now through Feb. 16, 2009 people can view the photographic art of Eudora Welty at the Museum of the City of New York! The exhibit is titled Eudora Welty in New York: Photographs of the Early 1930s and includes her pics taken while living in the city. Afterwards the exhibit will be packed up and shipped back to Mississippi for a showing at the Welty House.

Dr. Prenshaw shared an article she found in The New York Times promoting the exhibit titled "Portraits Taken by a Writer as a Young Woman (in Hard Times)" by Karen Rosenberg.

As a fun classroom assignment, purchase disposable cameras in bulk and let students document a week in their lives for an end-of-the-year exhibit. Teachers may want to lead them by showing Eudora Welty's work and introducing a theme before they start clicking such as My Mississippi or A Day in the Life. How about giving them black and white Kodaks for a back-in-the-day feel? ~Maggie

Copyright information - [Untitled. Front Stoops], 1935-1936 Modern gelatin silver print from the original negative (c) Eudora Welty, LLC; Eudora Welty Collection - Mississippi Department of Archives and History. ~ Maggie

Haiku Friday!

2009-02-06T14:37:00.011-06:00

#334
A lakeshore circus:
An elephant trumpeting
Waves on blue water.

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright (Arcade, 1998)

Note: The artwork titled A Fresh Wave is by Mississippi artist Antoinette Badenhorst.

The photograph is taken by Koos Badenhorst. ~ Maggie

The Fifth W!

2009-02-03T11:56:00.008-06:00

Rick Bragg, author, journalist and longtime admirer of Willie Morris, will speak TODAY on "Willie’s Humor" from 5-6:30 at the Willie Morris Library, 4912 Old Canton Road in Jackson. The program is part of a series "Willie Morris: The Man and His Words," sponsored by Jackson Friends of the Library.

For several years Bragg was national correspondent for The New York Times. In 1996, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, which the judges called "elegantly written stories on contemporary America." He has received the American Society of Newspaper Editor’s Distinguished writing award, and over 40 other journalism awards.

Among other books, he has published three family memoirs: All Over But the Shouting (1999), Ava’s Man (2002) and Prince of Frogtown (2008).

He has conducted writing workshops all over the country and currently teaches writing at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call 601-352-1312. ~ Sheila Bonner

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

2009-02-01T20:37:00.005-06:00

Here are a list of resources to discuss Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in the classroom.

Reading Assignment!

2009-01-28T22:19:00.003-06:00

Please read two Delta plays:

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Summer and Smoke
for our next meeting

February 14, 2009

Letter Writing Lesson

2009-01-22T13:07:00.005-06:00

I think you all will love this video!!! The descendants of Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington write to their ancestors on the eve of the inauguration of America's first black president. I think it can be used if students are given an activity to write to a fictional character or real individual. ~Shelia Bonner

March of the Phoenix!

2009-01-21T17:59:00.014-06:00

Listen to the music, and see if you can visualize Phoenix marching back to the house with the pinwheel raised in her hand!

I got this video to showcase the Turner family, but I started crying when Little Man spoke. Drash's grandfather was one of the nicest to me when I first moved to Mississippi. I sat with him and the other Democrats at Rotary every Wednesday for nine years. He died four years ago, and the point that made me emotional was Little Man's voice. I could close my eyes (meaning no disrespect to Little Man or Mr. Taylor) and hear Mr. Taylor's voice. The pauses, the Southern drawl, the chuckles could be Mr. Taylor, and I miss him so. To me it is proof these men coexisted with mutual respect. ~Enjoy Maggie

Oh, Happy Day!

2009-01-19T20:04:00.003-06:00

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

Racial Ambiguity Reading Lesson

2009-01-18T21:36:00.016-06:00

The realization that Welty does not tell readers the racial makeup of “missy” as in, “Please, missy, will you lace up my shoe?” stunned 4W participants in attendance last Saturday. I remember Josephine’s reaction as she thumbed back through A Worn Path to reread the passage. It was true we got hints of missy’s character such as, “gave off perfume like the red roses in hot summer,” and the use of Grandma to address Phoenix; but these clues could suggest any woman or Uncle Rondo.

In an instant, I was back in my Multicultural Books for Young Readers class, and Dr. Joan Atkinson sat leading a book discussion on Make Lemonade by Virginia Euwer Wolff. In this graduate level course we read a discussion book every three weeks and sat through different formats one might use to present them.

Make Lemonade is the story of 14-year-old La Vaughn and her relationship with unwed, teen-mother of two, Jolly, for whom she babysits. Both La Vaughn and Jolly live in the inner-city, but their lives are totally different with La Vaughn having a stable family and supportive mother, but Jolly is living on her own and making numerous bad decisions.

The book is written in free verse, and within the 66 chapters readers will find slang and irregular English. I remember thinking this is a great book for reluctant readers; although, it contains numerous chapters, they are small and easily digestible.

After we discussed characterization, plot, symbolism, and theme, etc. Dr. Atkinson surprised us by asking the race of each character. True to Eudora Welty’s “missy”, we assigned race to all the characters. Unlike Saturday's discussion, we did not agree on the race, for example some assigned an all white cast, some an all black, and some–self included–made La Vaughn’s family black and Jolly’s family white. Dr. Atkinson smiled as she pointed out that Wolff did not describe any characters by race.

In an interview with the author, Roger Sutton asked, “One thing people have talked about with Make Lemonade...is that we aren’t told the race of the people in it. I assumed they were white; colleagues have assured me that they are black.”

Wolff replied, “I was very careful of not having them be any race, any particular ethnicity. I had hoped that the readers of Make Lemonade would have the characters be whatever ethnicity they needed them to be. I have on my wall a drawing, made by an eighth-grader, in which Jolly and LaVaughn are clearly Asian. That was the sort of thing I had hoped for. It’s true that their language is not the language of any ethnic group, and you could call that a virtue or a flaw, depending on how you look at it.”

Could this be the book a teacher uses to enter into a non-threatening discussion on race? The book is best for seventh and eighth grade classes, and might be the perfect precursor to Wright and Welty’s work.

I’ll leave you with a quote from my classroom text Against Borders: Promoting Books for a Multicultural World by Hazel Rochman. “A good story is rich with ambiguity. You sympathize with people of all kinds.” (20) ~ Maggie

Note: The cover above for Make Lemonade was the book most of us held in class. I used the cover to argue Jolly white, but one could argue it is La Vaughn at the window. Dr. Atkinson was afraid we would all use the cover in that capacity, but it turns out to be just as ambiguous as the characters in the story. This cover is no longer printed. It is now a bright slice of lemon dripping from a blue sky. ~Maggie

Richard Wright Trip On Teacher Tube

2009-01-17T14:35:00.003-06:00

Here is the video from our trip. It has been posted on TeacherTube. TeacherTube is a great resource for teachers to use in the classroom. You can sign up for a free account. Enjoy!

Eudora Welty Meeting January 10, 2009

2009-01-17T13:57:00.007-06:00

On January 10, 2009, we concluded our intense discussion on Eudora Welty. It was fun to discuss our thoughts and turn to experts on Eudora Welty. How could I tell we were in the presence of intellectuals? No one stormed out when we referred to the "N" word. Everyone shared their personal and professional experience with handling personal connections to stories. There was even assignments brainstormed on how to handle personal connections, which cause unwanted outbursts in the classroom.

For me, I was concerned with Eudora's usage of the "N" word. I am proud to say that my colleagues explained the paramount meaning Eudora was trying to convey. Her ability to use it in Why I Live at the P.O. further exploits the type of family being depicted during the setting of the short story. Her decision not to use it in A Worn Path is to emphasize more of the journey of life, rather than the time. I was just amazed at how we could have a discussion on race at such a time of racial sensitivity.

After we watched the movie, which Maggie has already posted, race became a big part of the discussion. However, one of the teachers pointed out that in the tale the race of the lady, whom Phoenix asked to tie her shoe, is not mentioned. We are only assuming the lady's race and assume that the movie adaptation is correct. This point lead to a discussion that we must teach our students to rely on the text and not on the movie adaptation.

This list includes other ways to teach Eudora Welty's text.

Discuss the baggage associated with using race-related words, like "black" and "white."
Before beginning a text, which can have a negative impact on the discussion, a teacher should emphasize the power of words.
Focus on the sense of family and compare the types of family Eudora tends to write about.
Look at A Worn Path, remove the aspects of "having a purpose from the story. Have students rewrite the story by creating a parable.
Emphasize the historical background of each text before teaching a specific text.
Identify a character in one of the text, like the nurse in A Worn Path. Using the character sketch created by the author, have students create a new story from that character's point of view.

2009 Presidential Inauguration Lesson Plans

2009-01-16T11:56:00.009-06:00

Thanks goes out to Shelia Bonner for finding these lesson plans and sharing them with our 4Ws group.

The resource website states, "On Jan. 20, 2009, Barack Obama will be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. Teachers across the country can bring this historic event to life in their classrooms using a wide array of free resources and technologies. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) have jointly developed a series of general instructional activities to give teachers lesson ideas to help their students understand the historic significance of this presidential inauguration."

Lesson plans cover grades K-12 and are broken into three sections: Learning History, Making History, and Living History.

Eudora Welty's Snapshots

2009-01-15T11:06:00.022-06:00

Who remembers our informative tour at the Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH) in September? It feels like it was a million years ago. Oh, okay, I exaggerate, but who can forget the use of passwords, the typing of secret codes, the passing through locked steel doors, and an x-ray room. It felt like we were going into the U.S. Treasury vault; instead, we accompanied friendly librarians into the lair of Mississippi treasures. Among these treasures resides the Welty collection of manuscripts, photographs, letters, and first edition books. Once in the lair, we faced a sampling of such materials.

I'm not sure which librarian told the story concerning Welty's snapshot titled "Spank," but I culled the following books (below in the picture) in search of the photo. I found it in Eudora Welty: Photographs as number 38; unfortunately, it is much smaller than the MDAH librarian’s example. As the story goes, an author asked to use "Spank" for a collection on corporal punishment and Miss Welty said no. She said the woman posed showing Welty the size of fish caught that day. It was only after developing the photo that Welty thought it looked like the mother might be spanking her child.

Later in the meeting room, someone suggested a writing assignment using her photography. Students can write fictional stories based on a single work of their choosing and be graded on grammar and content. Looking for an easier assignment? Ask the class to analyze one of Welty’s snapshots. What is going on in the picture? What are the people feeling? Is it a negative or positive situation? Then give them a picture such as on the cover of A Known World and (just for fun) let them shout out titles. Afterwards, let them pick their own photo to title and write a short paragraph explaining the name.

As I gaze through her collection on my desk, it is easy to imagine Miss Welty writing her short stories with these images in mind. Thanks to all the MDAH staff for an enlightening tour and chance to see Welty’s work up close. ~ Maggie

First photo from left to right: Eudora Welty: Photographs with foreword by Reynolds Price, One Time, One Place: Mississippi in the Depression with opening remarks and history on snapshots by Eudora Welty, Welty: an exhibition at the Mississippi State Historical Museum, Jackson, Mississippi (catalog) with introduction by Patti Carr Black, and Country Churchyards with an essay by Hunter Cole and introduction by Elizabeth Spencer. ~ Maggie

2009-01-11T11:36:00.014-06:00

The Jackson State University
Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center
40th Martin Luther King Birthday Convocation

“From King to Obama:

New Challenges for the 21st Century”
Friday, January 16, 2009
10:00 a.m.
Rose E. McCoy Auditorium

Dr. Dolphus Weary,

President of Mission Mississippi
Dr. Mark Henderson and MADDRAMA
The Award Winning Jim Hill Choir

11:45 a.m.
The Isaac Byrd “For My People” Awards
Jackson State University New Student Center, Ballroom A
Luncheon Speaker

Dr. Ronald Mason, Jr.,

President, Jackson State University

Award Recipients
Mr. Fred E. Carl, Jr., Founder of Viking Range Corp.,
Dr. Dolphus Weary, Author of I Ain’t Comin Back,
Mrs. Okolo Rashid, Co-Founder Intl. Museum of Muslim Culture,
Mr. Jimmy Travis, Chairman,

Mississippi Civil Rights Veteran Documentation Project,

IMS Engineers

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Robert G. Clark, Jr. Symposium
Jackson State University New Student Center, Ballroom A

Speaker
The Honorable Robert G. Clark, Jr.,

MS House of Representatives, 1968-2003
“Mississippi Politics:

King’s Dream, Clark’s Reality and Obama’s Fulfillment”

Respondents
Mrs. Elise Winter, Mississippi First Lady, 1980 -1984
Dr. Hilliard Lackey,

Historian & President Jackson State National Alumni Association
Judge Bob Waller, Jackson Municipal Court

~ Shelia Bonner

Not Writer's Block Per Se

2009-01-07T16:33:00.017-06:00

My Book Talk column this week features Eudora Welty! Something so easy to write, but it took all morning. Not writer's block per se, I experienced a case of information overload having read oodles of Welty in two months. My quandary was either write a little about the short stories read, or concentrate on one. I decided to go for the one story concept and did A Worn Path.

While verifying the O. Henry award, I found the movie I talked earlier about in the "NewTube Your Classroom!" post. Unfortunately, I do not have sound on my computer at work. That means my article is off to the presses with a big-old-mistake! I swear! I read she saw the woman while traveling on a train, but you will hear in the following interview this is not the case. I see an erratum in my future.

The movie is broken into two parts of equal time. It takes a little over 20 minutes to watch them both. The last video is an interview with Miss Welty by Beth Henley, a Pulitzer prize playwright, concerning A Worn Path. Enjoy the movie and sorry for the poor sound quality in advance. ~ Maggie

Teaching A Worn Path & Why I Live at the PO

2009-01-03T19:32:00.011-06:00

Reading the first paragraph of A Worn Path I was completely curious to know why Welty chose to describe the woman as a Negro, instead of using the N word. She used the N word twice in Why I Live at the P.O. Having the best opportunity ever to use the word, what do you think her reasoning is to use Negro instead of the most damaging and crude word possible to describe a human being?

This thought about her usage of the N word prompted me to think of how I could incorporate these two stories into an essay assignment for students. I would have my students create a critical analysis on the depiction of African Americans in these two short stories. I think it would be interesting to read what the students discover.

Who is Jack Robinson...

2009-01-02T09:40:00.010-06:00

And what makes him so speedy?

Last night while reading Petrified Man, I ran across this phrase, "and it goes out to his joints and before you can say 'Jack Robinson,' it's stone--pure stone." (27) I remember reading it in Why I Live at the P.O. earlier and went back to find the passage. Sister comments on her Uncle Rondo running for the hammock, "and before you could say 'Jack Robinson' flew out in the yard." (59)

This isn't the first time I've seen a variation on the "before you can say Jack Robinson" line. In one of my favorite juvenile books, Bud, not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, main character Bud says the line. At the time, I thought he meant to say Jackie Robinson and shortened the name as slang. By Welty's usage, I realize the phrase is older than originally thought.

Here is the perfect opportunity to teach idioms to a class. Like my thought of Jackie Robinson, idioms have a time setting and are hard to understand if taken out of context. I correctly assumed (duh) that the saying meant fast, but completely missed the "what or who" makes it fast. Here is a nice explanation provided by Wikipedia. ~ Maggie

2009-01-02T09:19:00.008-06:00

I finally finished reading Welty's short story, Why I Live at the P.O. Trying to catch up on my readings for our meeting next week, I started with this story first. The story of how an entire family "turned against" Sister is vividly told from Sister's point of view, who remembers everything that happened on the Fourth of July and the days following it. Sister elaborately explains what happens with each family member. Welty makes clear how dysfunctional the family is including Uncle Rondo's drinking problem, Stella's failed marriage, Papa Daddy's huge ego, and Mama's naive beliefs.

Stella's and Sister's apparent rivalry escalates into Sister's living at her workplace, which just happens to be a post office. I did some research on this short story. I noticed that many of them commented on the humor. It was hard for me to see the humor. Maybe it's because I tend to be more serious or something. I just didn't get the humor. It was just more chaotic and dysfunctional for me. Did anyone else feel this way?

I Love Book Covers!

2009-01-01T15:05:00.012-06:00

I actually did this! I bought The Ponder Heart because of the book cover in the 1990s. The seersucker gentleman in watercolor screams Southern, and I had to have the paperback!

Have you thought about using book covers to get students thinking about the content; possibly, ask the class to write a 10 word sentence using the cover illustration before reading the story? Might be fun to review the sentences and see if anyone gets close to the plot or a character after the reading. Many authors draw inspiration from art such as the popular Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. She actually studied the portrait and the artist Johannes Vermeer before writing a word of her story.

These illustrations are by artist Barry Moser. A Chattanooga, TN native, he first drew airplanes as a boy then graduated to "nekkid women." Now his bread and butter is the portrait.

From upper right, reading clockwise, covers include The Robber Bridegroom, The Golden Apples, Thirteen Stories, A Curtain of Green, The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty, The Ponder Heart, and The Bride of the Innisfallen. I am missing his Delta Wedding cover that features three southern ladies. ~Maggie

There’s That Word Again!

2008-12-29T13:35:00.010-06:00

I was enjoying Why I Live at the P.O. when out of the blue Sister uses the N word. Not only does she address the little girl with the word, she also tells the girl to do her bidding. Sister did not ask if she could borrow the wagon or if the girl had other errands to run, but said, “Come help me haul these things down the hill.”

Sister’s need to control something has her ordering around a little black girl. I get the concept without the word. The girl took nine trips up and down the hill, and Uncle Ronda is the one to throw her a nickel for her troubles. Does Sister offer her any compensation? No. The child is merely her slave for a day.

Last summer, I spent time reading all of Flannery O’Connor’s work for the Southern Reading Challenge. At first I did not like her. Not one iota! Her benign use of the N word set me off. Just as Welty, I got the point without all the word usage, but then I realized she wasn’t trying to make a point. The N word was just a vocabulary choice and not meant to set my teeth. I went back and reread O’Connor’s work and these are my thoughts at the time, and this is my copy written for the newspapers that following week.

JenClair, a bloggie friend, had the same complaint (scroll down to the Hey Maggie post) upon reading O’Connor. Her source of relief came in the form of O’Connor’s book, Letters of Flannery O'Connor: The Habit of Being. I decided to look in Suzanne Marrs’ Eudora Welty: A Biography for answers.

Editor John Ferrone recalled her request: “Eudora wrote to correct a typo in the story ‘Powerhouse’ and another in ‘Ladies in Spring.’ Then she said there was a third change, not due to a typesetter’s error but a ‘way of speech forty years ago.’ She wanted the word ‘nigger’ to be deleted from ‘Why I Live at the P.O.’ In a later letter, she asked to have it deleted wherever it appeared, explaining that while it cropped up naturally in conversation in the older stories, 1980s readers might find it ‘throbbing with associations not then part of it.’ She decided instead to review the offensive word case by case, because in the end it was dealt with in several ways.” (452)

Marrs continues in the same paragraph: “In Eudora’s stories, narrative voice was seldom unitary, and in the 1930s and 1940s, it at times shifted into voices of white characters for whom nigger was a culturally inherited concept and who unselfconsciously and obtusely used the term without thought of or care for its effect. Given the political climate of 1980, however, Eudora feared that such characters might seem more bullying than benighted and that her stories might be misconstrued.” (453)

Can you as reader guess my question? Miss Welty intentionally left the offending words in Sister’s speech. I saw Sister using them in a bullying fashion, but given the silliness of Sister’s character, I must be wrong. Did I fall into the 1980s reader of which Miss Welty spoke? ~ Maggie

Natchez Trip Photos

2008-12-28T12:01:00.006-06:00

I have just posted photos to our Flickr group: The 4Ws. Don't forget to join and post photos you took on the trip!

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-24T17:33:00.004-06:00

Happy Holidays to all of the participants of the 4Ws Writing Institute and the followers of the 4Ws Writing Institute Blog! May you and your family have a wonderful holiday and a prosperous New Year! I hope you avoid writer's block after the long awaited vacation is over!

*Image obtained from crookedlp.com/news/.

Literary Conversation Series

2008-12-24T17:17:00.007-06:00

The Literary Conversation Series focuses on collecting interviews with notable writers. Check out these collections of interviews from some of my favorite authors and noteworthy authors!

Interviews with Richard Wright

2008-12-24T17:07:00.004-06:00

Keneth Kinnamon’s book, Conversations with Richard Wright (Literary Conversations Series) is a collection of interviews with Richard Wright. Allowing the reader to escape into the mind and thoughts of Richard Wright, it is a must-read. You can purchase it online at Amazon.com. What would you have asked Richard Wright, if you had the opportunity to interview? How would you have prepared for an interview with Richard Wright?

NewTube Your Classroom!

2008-12-23T22:50:00.009-06:00

YouTube is everywhere. Kids watch diet colas spurt into the air after adding one, little candy Mentos. Coworkers sit mesmerized through a ton of pass-along e-mails such as this Christmas favorite. Sheri, our Natchez videographer, is working on placing her work on Teacher Tube for the classroom. Even I—the book person—sat through an hour long lecture on my laptop instead of buying The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

Streaming video is the future, and I am pleased to present a website that provides this service. Films on Demand is a sub-group of the Meridian Films Media Group that provide films on VHS, DVD, DVD and 3-year streaming , or 3-year streaming. It is expensive, $149.95, but the cost includes public performance rights. The librarian or media specialist can pay through the library’s budget, and provide one with a laptop and display monitor. All a teacher needs is a blank wall or screen and the willingness to teach.

On this website I found: Africa to America to Paris: The Migration of Black Writers (53min) that includes Richard Wright for 12th graders or college freshmen, Tennessee Williams and the American South (45min) for grades 11 & 12, and Eudora Welty’s A Worn Path (32min) for grades 9 & 10. An interview with Miss Welty by Beth Henley concludes the short film. ~ Maggie

Note: The photograph is a still from the film. Notice the details like the sunken Natchez Trace, her lack of coat, and the umbrella skeleton. ~ Maggie

The Mystic Years

2008-12-22T09:18:00.002-06:00

Don't you love this term Dr. Harrison introduced in her presentation!

I very much appreciate Dr. Harrison's historical prespective presentation since I grew up in middle Tennessee. It was a refresher which placed things in a timeline that I had missed since my Mississippi history comes piecemeal from books read.

While discussing this brief era of enlightenment after the Civil War, I was reminded of a book I read last summer. The title is Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War by Nicholas Lemann. Author Lemann presents an unbias account of this time period by writing as if he were there watching it unfold. Readers will get both sides of each turning point such as the Easter Sunday Massacre of 1873 in Colfax, Louisiana, where a genteel, white lady writes of her knowledge versus actual interviews conducted with the surviving black families. I consider the book enjoyable narrative nonfiction of heart-wrenching events.

As if you need more to read! *smiles* ~ Maggie

Mississippi Civil Rights Timeline

2008-12-20T16:54:00.007-06:00

The format for Dr. Harrison's timeline was changed in order to fit within this post. Blogger is not a big fan of tables. The dates appear in the left margin with national events centered in red and the Mississippi events in blue on the right margin. Please leave a comment if I need to change something.

1948

April - Gladys Noel Bates files suit for equal pay

1954

Brown vs. Wade

July - White Citizen Council formed
September - Medgar Evers denied into U. of MS Law School
December - Evers becomes NAACP Field Secretary

1955

Montgomery Bus Boycott

May - Rev. George Lee shot and killed
August - Lamar Smith shot in Brookhaven

August - Emmett Till murdered

1956

State Legislative Session establishes and funds MS State Sovereignty Commission

1957

Little Rock Crisis

Clyde Kennard attempts to enroll at the U. of S. MS

1959

April - Mack Charles Parker killed and no one tried
April - Gilbert Mason, Sr. led a wade-in of Biloxi beaches

1960

Civil Rights Act

Sit-ins at Greensboro, NC

Election of JFK

1961

Freedom Rides

March - Arrest of Tougaloo 9
September - Murder of Hubert Lee
October – McComb HS students jailed

1962

Anniston bus bombing

September – University of Mississippi Riot

1963

MLK arrested in Birmingham

March on Washington

Birmingham church bombing

Assassination of JFK

May - Tougaloo students attacked for sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter

June - Assassination of Medgar Evers

1964

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Democratic Ntl Convention

Freedom Summer

June - Neshoba County killings

1965

Assassination of Malcolm X

Bloody Sunday Selma, AL

Voting Rights Act

1966

Black Power Movement

Black Panther Party formed

January - Murder of Vernon Dahmer

June - Meredith March

1967

Thurgood Marshall appointed 1st black Supreme Court Justice

Robert Clark becomes first black to be elected

to the MS House of Representatives since Reconstruction

1968

Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

1969

Meridian church bombing
Integration of Highland Park Pool in Meridian
Desegregation of Public Facilities in multiple communities

1970

School Desegregation

After typing this timeline, I was reminded of my town's embarrassing history. The 1970 desegregation of schools apparently scared community members and a decision to tear down the beautiful school was made. Some of the school's bricks now fill in the foundation of our 1873 home. A building to educate Mississippians now holds up one house; although, I think the recycling is nice I would rather see the school intact. ~ Maggie

Haiku Friday!

2008-12-19T17:24:00.001-06:00

#613

While plucking the goose,
A feather flew wildly off
To look for snowflakes.

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright

Where is This (2008) by Mississippi artist Ellen Langford

Click artist name to see website. ~Maggie

Knowing Eudora Welty

2008-12-15T15:48:00.000-06:00

I Just Read Why I Live At the P.O. again. It is still just as funny as the first time I read it. I can see my family everytime. Who is your Papa Daddy?

To have met and known Ms. Welty must be a treasure. I guess her stories are as close as I will ever get this side, but her stories make me feel as if I do know her.

Thank Y'all!

2008-12-14T11:43:00.001-06:00

I've been having so much fun at our sessions! It's great to be with like-minded people who love to read and to think about what they have read. Having studied autobiography theory, I am particularly intrigued by various concepts of self-construction. I'm also fascinated by writers' uses of different types of perspectives and narration in their fiction and non-fiction. I'm looking forward to our next session. I'm also looking forward to learning more about each of you. I am so grateful for this opportunity to study and to grow with you! ~ Josephine Neill-Browning

Haiku Friday!

2008-12-12T11:19:00.000-06:00

#31

In the falling snow
A laughing boy holds out his palms
Until they are white.

Haiku: This Other World by Richard Wright (Arcade, 1998)

Note: Artwork is from the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.

My Reflections

2008-12-11T14:47:00.003-06:00

After building a fire in my fireplace today, I sat directly in front of it and watched the wood blaze from the continuing consumption of the fire. Immediately, I thought of Jason and Sara Morton, characters from Eudora Welty's short story, The Whistle. Remembering the silence of their understood relationship, I drifted into another world. I understood why Jason would quickly scrimmage to remove wood items from the household and place them in the fireplace, in order to continue the warmth, escaping from the fireplace to swallow the cold air. Understanding how the fire fed Sara's appetite for warmth, I am sympathetic to Sara drawing her legs up to her chest to preserve the memory of the warmth. The fireplace for me is a symbol of removal. As the fire burns, Jason and Sara remover their differences and become enveloped in the resilience of each flame. The burning of the wood swept away their current economic status. Igniting their memories of a flourishing past, the fire amazingly burns a hole into their current gloom and illuminates the prosperity they once held. Being snapped back to my current reality, I am once again aware of the golden image of each flame. As pray for the removal of my current grief and sorrow, I remember Jason and Sara Morton.

Halley Came to Jackson

2008-12-11T09:59:00.001-06:00

During the movie last Saturday, we caught a glimpse of the children's book Halley Came to Jackson by Mary Chapin Carpenter and illustrated by Dan Andreasen. I picked up a copy from the library and have fallen in love with the artwork and Carpenter's rhyming verse!

In the "Author's Note" Carpenter explains her reason for writing the song:

"Almost ten years ago, a friend suggested I read Eudora Welty's One Writer's Beginnings, a collection of Ms. Welty's essays about growing up in Jackson, Mississippi, and the experiences that nurtured her ambition as a young adult to become a writer. Since that first reading, I have returned to the book countless times, for wisdom and inspiration, and for the rewards it offers to anyone who has ever felt the spark of creativity. It was a family story of her father bringing the infant Eudora over to the window to witness the comet Halley's 1910 visit that inspired the song "Halley Came to Jackson." The song thereafter appeared on my 1990 album, Shooting Straight in the Dark."

Click the green arrow on the podbean and enjoy the song sung by Mary Chapin Carpenter!

Miss Welty at 83

2008-12-09T12:31:00.001-06:00

Dr. Harrison asked if someone would post pictures of Eudora Welty as she looked in 1983 when One Writer's Beginnings was published. I found a picture of her taken by Tannen Maury for the Associated Press in 1992 that would be nine years after her autobiography. Does anyone else have a picture they would like to share? A personal one would be grand!

I found this picture at my favorite blog for book news, Shelf Life.

Before She was Famous

2008-12-09T10:47:00.002-06:00

During Dr. Prenshaw’s presentation she mentioned limericks Miss Welty wrote for a friend traveling from Jackson to Chicago then on to New Jersey. That friend was Frank Lyell and she did this little fun exercise for him in 1933. She surprised him with a limerick for each stop such as the one below for Winona, MS.

There was an old girl of Winona
Who lived in a pongee Kimono-
When the Lion’s Club came thru
She politely withdrew,
That delicate gal of Winona.

Here’s an opportunity to teach limericks to a class of youngsters. One could introduce Miss Welty’s work found in Early Escapes, edited by Patti Carr Black (133), and then assign them the task of writing one from a plethora of Mississippi towns.

If anyone sponsors a yearbook or school newspaper club, Early Escapes might again come in handy. Editor Black writes, “…Eudora contributed poetry, short fiction and nonfiction pieces, and pen-and-ink drawings to The Quadruplane, the school annual, and the school paper, Jackson Hi-Life. Her first work published in The Quadruplane appeared in 1922, her freshman year.” (12) The book is filled with everything Black mentions, and if used as an example, might inspire the next great Mississippi writer.

You can read my Book Talk written for this book here and a review by Tracy Carr (pdf 26) for the Mississippi Libraries here.

Websites for Educators on Eudora Welty

2008-12-08T19:45:00.001-06:00

Here is a list of websites available to continue using works of Eudora Welty in the classroom. Obtained from the American Collection website, these websites have actually been reviewed by other teachers throughout the country. Feel free to give your feedback about the information and how helpful it was for you to implement in the classroom. Please remember that the Internet is forever changing, so some of the links may not work. Try Google to obtain the latest hyperlink for the mentioned sites.

NCTE Ideas - Joseph Campbell, Cinderella, and Eudora Welty: Using the Journal of a Hero to Explore "A Worn Path" http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/TETYC/0342-dec06/TE0342Creative
(The Website requires a username and password)

The American Short Story: A Selective Chronology - http://titan.iwu.edu/~jplath/sschron.html

Documenting the American South - http://docsouth.unc.edu/classroom/

Eudora Welty - http://users.ox.ac.uk/~worc0337/authors/eudora.welty.html

Eudora Welty - http://www.hmco.com/college/english/heath/syllabuild/iguide/welty.html

Eudora Welty Newsletter - http://www.gsu.edu/~wwwewn/

"Why I Live at the P.O." -
http://art-bin.com/art/or_weltypostoff.html

A Conversation with Tim Gautreaux - http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/factfict/gautreau/tgautr.htm

Eudora: How a Southern writer came to lend her name to a computer program - http://art-bin.com/art/or_weltypreface.html

The Idea of the South http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97dec/south.htm

Thumbnail Book Review: One Writer's Beginning - http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/~jmcd/book/revs/owrb.html

Thumbnail Book Review: The Ponder Heart - http://sprg.ssl.berkeley.edu/~jmcd/book/revs/ponh.html

Eudora Welty (1909 - 2001)

2008-12-08T06:15:00.000-06:00

Short Story Collections

Death of a Traveling Salesman (pub. as short story, 1936)

A Worn Path (pub. as short story, 1940)

A Curtain of Green (1941)

The Wide Net and Other Stories (1943)

Music from Spain (1948)

The Golden Apples (1949)

Selected Stories (1954)

The Bride of the Innisfallen and Other Stories (1955)

Thirteen Stories (1965)

The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty (1980)

Moon Lake and Other Stories (1980)

Morgana: Two Stories from The Golden Apples (1988)

Novels

The Robber Bridegroom (novella, 1942)

Delta Wedding (1946)

The Ponder Heart, (1954)

The Shoe Bird (1964)

Losing Battles (1970

The Optimist's Daughter (1972)

Literary Criticism and Nonfiction

Three Papers on Fiction (criticism, 1962)

The Eye of the Story (selected essays and reviews, 1978)

One Writer's Beginnings (autobiography, 1983)

The Norton Book of Friendship (editor, with Roland A. Sharp, 1991)

3 Minutes or Less (selected essay, 2001)

Note: The photograph appears in a New York Times piece written August 14, 2005. The caption under the photo says, "Eudora Welty in the 1930's" and appears, "courtesy of James Patterson."

Eudora Welty

2008-12-07T23:48:00.000-06:00

I thoroughly enjoyed the discussion on Saturday. Scholars and participant teachers provided an excellent learning atmosphere.

Could someone post a couple of pictures of Eudora Welty that would show the way she looked when she wrote One Writer's Beginnings, circa (around) 1983, and the period of time about which she narrates in the book? Such picture images could help students to avoid anachronistic thinking.

Hi All -- Another Amazing Meeting!

2008-12-07T19:56:00.001-06:00

I think we were all hanging on Peggy and Noel's every word. In fact, we were still talking at 4:30 and nobody was getting up to leave! I particularly loved the background information on ways to think about autobiographical writing. In my field we also think in terms of the narratives that people use to make sense of the world or even, you might say, to create their own lives. Folklorist Kathleen Stewart uses these background narratives -- the narratives we know -- to understand those moments when "things snap into place" and "suddenly, you get it." Or as songwriter Leonard Cohen says, "Everybody knows." I think many of us are struggling with translating those meanings for students who might not have the same background narratives or shared understandings. But y'all came up with some great classroom applications of Welty's One Writer's Beginnings, including 1) a creative writing project, 2) an essay project based on memory and photographs -- comparing a memory held by two different people, 3) a project exploring imagery and figurative language by trying to listen like Eudora Welty, and 4) making Welty's work more accessible by making her time period more "real" for the students through field trips.

We meet again January 10 at Tougaloo. For that meeting read the following short stories:

1. Why I Live at the P.O.
2. A Worn Path
3. Moon Lake
4. Kin
5. The Demonstrators
6. Lily Daw and the Three Ladies

The discussion of A Worn Path will be held from 11 - 12:30 p.m. We will first view a film of the short story, and then Noel and Peggy will lead a discussion. This film viewing and discussion will be open to the public and advertised. It will be a brown bag, and we'll break out our lunches after the public has gone. (This post was written by Shana not Maggie.)

Note: Eudora Alice Welty (1909 - 2001), oil on canvas, 1988, by Mildred Wolfe, hangs in the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Here is the copyright statement. Do you recognize the chair!

Eudora Welty Session 1

2008-12-06T21:31:00.003-06:00

Viewing "Eudora Welty: Confluence of Memories" then touring Eudora Welty's well-preserved home, we sat eager to listen to Dr. Polk and Dr. Prenshaw lead an interesting literary discussion on Miss Welty's texts today. Dr. Prenshaw gave insightful dialogue on the functions and components of an autobiography in regards to One Writer's Beginnings. Creating a social connection to self-portrait, Dr. Prenshaw identified the three selves: I the writer, I the narrator, and I the protagonist. Dr. Polk highlighted the significance of the title, The Memory, and the nosebleed in the story. Together Dr. Polk and Dr. Prenshaw contributed ideas and teaching applications for the folowing short stories:

The Whistle
The Key
Where is the Voice Coming From
A Memory

To reinforce the discussion, I have included a list of works mentioned today for outside reading.

The Liar's Club by Mary Karr
Agony at Galloway: One Church's Struggle with Social Change by W.J. Cunningham
The Yearling by Marjoire Kinnan Rawlings
Cross Creek by Marjoire Kinnan Rawlings
The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman

Up for discussion at our next meeting are the following texts by Eudora Welty:

Why I live at P. O.
A Worn Path
Moon Lake
A Kin
The Demonstrators
Lily Daw

What is your fondest memory?

2008-12-04T20:49:00.000-06:00

The Memory by Eudora Welty is a wonderful story about the narrator’s first crush, which I have recently finished reading. The vivid description of setting and the characters bring to life the feelings of the narrator. Do you remember your first love or your first crush? Do you have a memory of a boyfriend/girlfriend, which takes you back down memory lane, taking care to remember the exact clothing and smells around you?

I'm Thankful for the 4Ws!

2008-11-27T19:36:00.001-06:00

Take the Turkey quiz!

Eudora Welty Speakers Bureau

2008-11-24T19:28:00.000-06:00

The Eudora Welty Society is pleased to announce the Eudora Welty Centenary Speakers Bureau for 2009. Interested scholars are invited to send a brief bio (100 words or less) and up to three titles, plus contact information to the Mississippi Quarterly at nep27@msstate.edu or missq@missq.msstate.edu. Institutions will contact scholars directly for arrangements.

Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center

2008-11-24T13:57:00.001-06:00

On Thursday, December 4, 2008, the Margaret Walker Alexander National Research Center will hold it's 16th Annual Dinner Theatre. There will be a special appearance by Dorothy Moore. Entertainment will be provided by the Central Mississippi Blues Society Band. "Proceeds from the Dinner Theatre support the Margaret Walker Alexander NEH Endowment that assist in caring for the Alexander papers, sponsoring interpretive programs, hiring graduate students and purchasing archival supplies. For more information, contact Dr. Alferdteen Harrison or call 601-979-2055.

Beginning To Read Welty

2008-11-20T11:45:00.001-06:00

Reading Welty has been a huge transition from Richard Wright's work. Having not been familiar with her texts, I am really enjoying reading them. I love her intense usage of dialogue. Her usage of dialogue allows the reader to feel as if they are apart of the story. What has intrigued you the most about Welty's ability to tell stories?

Southern Literary Trailfest March 2009

2008-11-15T20:20:00.001-06:00

Playing around on the Internet, I found a site about the Southern Literary Trailfest being held next year in March. Covering our four au thors of choice, (Welty, Wright, Williams, and Walker) I thought I would share this wonderful information with you. Being held in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi, it is a great opportunity to further increase our knowledge surrounding the legacies of these four writers, as well as many others. For travel information visit www.southernliterarytrail.org/travel.html. The website contains contact information of the various entities associated with the festival, as well as sponsors!

Trip to Natchez

2008-11-15T19:56:00.001-06:00

I tried to reflect as we rode back from Natchez about my experience. I kept wondering if everyone felt as empowered as I did from the entire experience. Having the opportunity to reflect with colleagues about their take and perception of the entire trip, reinforced the impact everyone felt from being apart of the 4W's Writing Institute.

Traveling down the Richard Wright Memorial Highway and being lead down the trail that Wright himself took was monumental in itself.

Special thanks to Charles Wright! He gave us the greatest tour ever! He was so down to earth and knowledgeable. Yet what intrigued me the most was his passion and desire to continue the legacy of Richard Wright. I felt the screams of his utmost respect for Richard Wright's existence in history and the literary world. I understood the underlying inspiration to continue informing Natchez, Mississippi, and the World of his gifted and talented family member, who felt the tragic beaming of terror, hunger, and cruelty for his race and for himself.

I am unable to process all that I saw - the Forks, the ruins of the Ace Theater, Richard Wright's Home, Rhythm Night Club Monument and Slab.

We made history today, and I just can't grasp hold of what I saw, heard, and discussed. After returning from Natchez, I basically flew to Barnes and Nobles. Unfortunately, I was disappointed to discover that they did not have the book about Prince Ibrahim, entitled Prince Among Slaves. However, I have ordered it from Barnes and Noble's online website.

Being a part of the 4W's Writing Institute is really great! Being a part of this institute is opening a whole new world for me. I learn so much more about the writers, about my colleagues, and about Mississippi. I am forever grateful!

*Please click on all the links. They are linked to wonderful sites, even a letter written by his daughter!

Wrapping up

2008-11-11T18:32:00.000-06:00

Trying to make sure I can contribute during our talks on Saturday, I am wrapping up reading Black Boy for the umpteenth time. I try to read before I go to bed. My oldest son, a first grader, asked me to read it to him, as a bedtime story. Not thinking he would actually get anything out of it, I was shocked when he stopped me and explained that he wanted me to read the rest to him the next day. As I told him good night, I wanted to engage in conversation with him. What did he get out of what I read to him. Could he feel what Richard Wright was trying to illustrate with words?

Drifting off into more complex thinking, I wondered what the future held for him as a young black boy. Will his life be different? Will he feel constricted because of his race? Will he ever desire to escape into an unknown world because of his race? Only time will tell the answers to these questions. I do find comfort in the fact that he does have a promising and different future in comparison to Richard Wright.