My middle school headteacher wrote a little message in a book that I had collected the signatures and banal comments of my classmates before we all headed off to high school. It was the last time I would see most of them, and certainly never saw that kind old coot again, but the words he […]
To Thine Own Self Be True: How To Make A Writer — The Paltry Sum
Perhaps I am afraid of being a writer because I am afraid of being institutionalized.
If you’ve read any of my other Idaho posts, you know that there is much more to Idaho than just potatoes. With beautiful mountain ranges, crystal clear alpine lakes, rolling hills, and winding rivers, Idaho truly has it all. 1,760 more words
10 Spooky Ghost Towns in Idaho — The Traveling Spud
My research leads me to believe that Memoir, Poetry and Music tend to go together.
Great Quote by William Shakespeare
Great Quote by William Shakespeare — Tonya LaLonde
Title: The Name of the WindAuthor: Patrick RothfussSeries: The Kingkiller Chronicle (Book 1 of 3+)Year: 2007Goodreads page: Link SYNOPSISTold in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent […]
Patrick Rothfuss – The Name of the Wind — Raven の Nest
The Master of Arts in History degree takes you on an academic journey exploring the key historical events, people, and cultures that fundamentally shaped the world today. Through research, discussion, and analysis, you will obtain a knowledgeable perspective of how future societies progressed through time. Concentrations in this online graduate program offer you the flexibility of focusing on the most favored eras in history including American, Ancient and Classical, European, Global, and Public History. This master’s degree attracts professional educators, historians, and enthusiasts alike, and is also helpful in developing professional skills that include quality writing and communications, research and analysis, and the ability to present compelling arguments.
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Of course, the only serious solution is the one that is almost universally rejected: the good old Great Books approach, in which a liberal education means reading certain generally recognized classic texts, just reading them, letting them dictate what the questions are and the method of approaching them—not forcing them into categories we make up, not treating them as historical products, but trying to read them as their authors wished them to be read. I am perfectly well aware of, and actually agree with the objections to the Great Books cult. It is amateurish; it encourages an autodidact’s self-assurance without competence; one cannot read all of the Great Books carefully; if one only reads Great Books, one can never know what a great, as opposed to an ordinary, book is; there is no way of determining who is to decide what a Great Book or what the canon is; books are made the ends and not the means; the whole movement has a certain coarse evangelistic tone that is the opposite of good taste; it engenders a spurious intimacy with greatness; and so forth. But, one thing is certain: wherever the Great Books make up a central part of the curriculum, the students are excited and satisfied, feel they are doing something that is independent and fulfilling, getting something from the university they cannot get elsewhere. The very fact of this special experience, which leads nowhere beyond itself, provides them with a new alternative and a respect for study itself. The advantage they get is an awareness of the classic—particularly important for our innocents; an acquaintance with what big questions were when there were still big questions; models, at the very least, of how to go about answering them; and, perhaps most important of all, a fund of shared experiences and thoughts on which to ground their friendships with one another. Programs based upon judicious use of great texts provide the royal road to student’s hearts. Their gratitude at learning of Achilles or the categorical imperative is boundless. Alexander Koyre, the late historian of science, told me that his appreciation for America was great when—in the first course he taught at the University of Chicago, in 1940 at the beginning of his exile—a student spoke in his paper of Mr. Aristotle, unaware that he was not a contemporary. Koyre said that only an American could have the naïve profundity to take Aristotle as living thought, unthinkable for most scholars. A good program of liberal education feeds the student’s love of truth and passion to live a good life. It is the easiest thing in the world to devise courses of study, adapted to the particular conditions of each university, which thrill those who take them. The difficulty is in getting them accepted by the faculty.
Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987), 344-345.
I would like to thank the several writing teachers that I have learned from.
The Great Courses:
James Hynes. Writing Great Fiction: Storytelling Tips and Techniques.
Tilar J. Mazzeo. Writing Creative Nonfiction.
The University of Washington Professional and Continuing Education:
Theo Pauline Nestor. Specializes in Memoir.
Scott Driscoll: Specializes in Fiction.
Classes:
Terry Persun. Wrote Cathedral of Dreams and many others.
William Kenower. Wrote Fearless Writing.
I suppose I should just go ahead and write a book.
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