| Author | Message | ||
     Yvettep AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 3777 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
..."The MLA annual convention is the central gathering place to exchange ideas on language and literature study and learning," said MLA Executive Director Rosemary Feal. More than a dozen convention speakers focused their talks on Obama, delving into topics from his impact on Black literary history to how his campaign's use of digital media impacted how the nation experienced his historic inauguration. During the session on Obama's rhetorical strategies, arranged by the Council of Writing Program Administrators, speakers explained how writing instructors could embrace digital media, in ways similar to the president, as a teaching tool. Swift, of Brigham Young University, encouraged educators to incorporate the micro-blogging website Twitter into writing class as a tool to link students to their professor, their peers, and outside experts. "Just as President Obama has taken advantage of Twitter as a medium to create connections between followers and a cause," he said, "teachers can use Twitter to create connections between students and a subject." ...In an earlier session called "Poetry and Hip-Hop in the Age of Obama," Dr. David Caplan, an English professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, examined how poets and hip-hop artists, with varying degrees of success, documented Obama's ascendance. Though Obama's inauguration "seemed a poetic occasion," Caplan argued that the nation's most admired poets, many of whom teach creative writing, were plagued by challenges as they tried to write, on deadline, works about Obama. Many poets, Caplan said, seemed overwhelmed by the gravity of the moment. On the other hand, Caplan said hip-hop songs inspired by Obama, especially "My President" by Young Jeezy, "seemed effortless." "Reading Race in the Obama Era" and "Changing Black Literary History after Obama" were among the additional sessions related to the president. The convention also delved into diversity-related topics ranging from "Travel Literature, Race, and Ethnicity" to "Religion and Religiosity in the Hispanic World" to "Placing Korean American Literature in American Literary History"... Full article: http://diverseeducation.com/article/13290/obama-s-presidential-campaign-explored -by-language-scholars.html | ||
| Carey AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Carey Post Number: 2544 Registered: 05-2004 Rating: N/A |
Yvettep, the following was very interesting. Well, the whole article was interesting, but this caught my eye. "Though Obama's inauguration "seemed a poetic occasion," Caplan argued that the nation's most admired poets, many of whom teach creative writing, were plagued by challenges as they tried to write, on deadline, works about Obama. Many poets, Caplan said, seemed overwhelmed by the gravity of the moment. On the other hand, Caplan said hip-hop songs inspired by Obama, especially "My President" by Young Jeezy, "seemed effortless." That doesn't surprise me in the least. I believe many "admired poets" are admired because the in crowd admires them. I mean, popular opinion is a powerful tool. Hip-Hop artist and rappers write from the heart, and I believe that's the core of good poetry. Proper form and structure aside - for me - poetry is a feeling. |
