Perfect Program for Inspiring Young Poets!

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!

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!

I will SO miss our monthly discussions. :(

Keep in Touch Everyone! ~Maggie

"R" Runaway

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...

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

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!

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!

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

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

Mississippi Black Code

Margaret Walker Discussion #1 Video

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

Participating In Writing Institute

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!

#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

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

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

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?

April 13, 1909

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

Leave a comment! ~Maggie

New Mississippi Poet!

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

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

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:

• http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h2931t.html
• http://www.iath.virginia.edu/utc/abolitn/walkerhp.html
• http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=3237

Harsh Reality of Slavery

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!

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

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!

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

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:

1. Ex-Slave


2. For My People


3. Delta


4. Lineage


5. Today


6. Yalluh Hammuh


7. Teacher


8. Long John Nelson and Sweetie Pie


9. Whores


10. Street Demonstration


11. Girl Held Without Bail


12. For Andy Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney


13. Jeremiah


14. Isaiah


15. Amos


16. Amos (Postscript, 1968)


17. Joel


18. Hosea


19. Micah


20. Ballade of the Hoppy-Toad


21. October Journey


22. I Want to Write


23. For Gwen 1969


24. Ballad for Phillis Wheatley


25. Medger Evers


26. Jackson State

Postage Stamps

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)

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

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

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!

#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

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