I wrote these short little pieces from various failure perspectives. There’s such an intriguing and wide variety of ways to fail. Maybe we gain a little bit of insight by reaching into these mindsets–even for a moment–provided we’re not cynical or simply poking fun. There’s nothing funny about it. Each represents an underlying problem thatContinue reading “#37: On Failure”
Tag Archives: poetry
#36: On Teaching Vietnam
On Teaching Vietnam We have read Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War and now we’re watching a film called Regret To Inform, a documentary inspired by Barbara Sonneborn’s personal quest, twenty years after the fact, to come to terms with her husband’s death in Vietnam, to go there to that country, to try to understand where,Continue reading “#36: On Teaching Vietnam”
#35: Sax and Violins
The title stolen from the Talking Heads tune; the subject stolen from real life. Censorship, or the urge to censor, is still alive and well. Sax and Violins The parent of the high school junior objects to all the sax and violins in the literature studied in English classes. She objects, in the case ofContinue reading “#35: Sax and Violins”
#34: How Discussion of The Great Gatsby Gets Totally Derailed by a Big Spider
How Discussion of The Great Gatsby Gets Totally Derailed by a Big Spider It’s happened before: bug gets into the room and distracts the students, rightfully so, because it’s like, you know, a bug. Today it’s a spider, a really big one, as the teacher tries to tease out this delicious bit in the novelContinue reading “#34: How Discussion of The Great Gatsby Gets Totally Derailed by a Big Spider”
#33: After Teacher Appreciation Week
After Teacher Appreciation Week On Monday, several dozens of cookies were placed in the staff lounge, a gift from our secretaries and support staff. On Friday morning, the administrators served us hot coffee and fruit and pastries. We were still trying to polish off the cookies in the staff lounge, some of which are stillContinue reading “#33: After Teacher Appreciation Week”
#32: Gatsby? What Gatsby?
Gatsby? What Gatsby? is what Daisy says when she hears Jordan Baker mention the name to Nick, and it’s what teenagers used to say before they knew Leonardo DiCaprio was starring in the new Baz Luhrmann film. Suddenly, now, they want to read this novel because they recognize the name and because Leonardo is starring inContinue reading “#32: Gatsby? What Gatsby?”
#31: The American English Teacher Critiques His Own Poetry
Either he’s a Stat Blip Junky or he just can’t give up the poetry, one or the other. In the following blog entry, the American English Teacher decides to keep writing poetry even though National Poetry Writing Month is over. The American English Teacher Critiques His Own Poetry I’m no T.S. Eliot, he says, pouringContinue reading “#31: The American English Teacher Critiques His Own Poetry”
Forced Creativity Experiences (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)
April concludes and the new month begins with my successful participation in the National Poetry Month challenge of writing a poem a day for 30 days. I’m happy to say that I missed not a single day and that all 30 poems are posted here at michaeljarmer.com for your reading pleasure. I thought I wouldContinue reading “Forced Creativity Experiences (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly)”
#30: The Last Poem of April
The Last Poem of April April was only cruel in that it exacted from me 31 poems, whether I liked it or not, but mostly, truth be told, I liked it, and I moved freely and by choice through the month, writing a poem every day until today, the day on which I write the lastContinue reading “#30: The Last Poem of April”
#29: After Teaching the Ancient Chinese Masters, the American English Teacher Considers Buddhism Through an Exploration of the Four Noble Truths
After Teaching the Ancient Chinese Masters, the American English Teacher Considers Buddhism Through an Exploration of The Four Noble Truths Life is suffering. Not the physical pain of suffering, a burnt hand, a broken limb, an illness, but an uneasiness, a dissatisfaction, a desire that comes not from a dream or a goal but fromContinue reading “#29: After Teaching the Ancient Chinese Masters, the American English Teacher Considers Buddhism Through an Exploration of the Four Noble Truths”
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