Dear Lovely Students,

HELLLOOOOOOOOOOO OUT THERE. I am here! HOW ARE YOU? LET ME KNOW.  For real.

I look forward to corresponding with you online, on the phone, through video chat.

1.  See my last post about Staceyann Chin (CLICK ON RECENT POSTS); you can respond to my questions or you can respond to your classmates’ astute comments! Aim to do your own post (hit the comment button under an already-existent post) by this Sunday. Sunday night or Monday morning I’ll be posting new content about the next texts (poems) on our syllabus (see new syllabus at top of our page).

2. As you’ll hear in my video, I encourage all of us to post non-academic content as well. Have a good meme? Pet photo? Good recipe? Hit us up! (Note: to share a video, you’ll have to post it on an external site and then link it for us)

For my contribution to our class “How to Cope with COVID” Bulletin Board, I am sharing a photograph of my living room. My apartment is 2×3 feet on a good day, but I try to keep it calm and peaceful. You’ll see some candlesticks and a painting from my grandparents,  a glass hurricane lamp from my brother and his wife, some paperwhites I grew, and some citrus. Apparently the very few people frequenting/occupying my apartment these days have some serious orange eating ahead. Or maybe I’ll make juice…

Also, I made a welcome back video for you. It only took me about 4 hours to get it right and the final version looks dark on here. But we do the best we can! This is not the time for redoing lighting (she tells herself repeatedly); the next video will be super bright. Check it out!!!!!!!

https://vimeo.com/398703167

Hi Everyone,

So here is our kickoff post– asking for responses to Staceyann Chin’s work. Aim to post by 3/22. Remember that you are welcome to respond to my questions, or the response of a classmate, or both! Write whatever you feel–try to support your ideas with quotes and references to particular poems and lines. A post can be a paragraph; it doesn’t have to be super long. Feel free to link relevant articles/multimedia.

When we last gathered, we viewed Staceyann Chin’s performance of “If Only Out of Vanity.” Those who didn’t get to speak last class, we are most interested in your thoughts about her delivery and the poem itself! Please share.

I also invite everyone’s feedback regarding the poems I asked for us all to read.

• What are some themes that she explores? Where (in which poem(s) )  do you find them?
• What was your favorite poem? Why? Are there particular lines you appreciate? Let us know about those.
• Does her work resonate with something you or someone you know has experienced, or perhaps the issues she speaks to are related to a film, television show, or text with which you are familiar?