Vietnam

homework due on 5/8: Read Bobbie Ann Mason's "Shiloh." You ca find the short story here. Below I have attached background and bullet points ("OV - Shiloh").

5/6: We looked at George Segal's sculpture memorializing Kent State. You can find a picture of the sculpture attached below. Look at it and reflect in your blue book about what you see (and about the title - it is the same biblical story that Bob Dylan's song used). Then, listen to the reaction of Kent State officials and George Segal's intention. Finally, use what you've seen and heard (Filo's photograph, the two songs and the sculpture) to complete the notecard:After we have seen/heard all four, I’ll ask you to give me some final thoughts on the notecard: on the front of the notecard: write about the piece that either challenged your thinking the most OR that appealed to you the most and tell me WHY. Be specific about what you see/heard in the piece, how thinking about it and its purpose either challenged/appealed to you, how the discussions we had helped shape, etc. On the back of the card: synthesize what we saw/heard today with the purpose – how do you see artists responding to their culture, what form does that response take, what effect does it have, what value to the culture then and now, what problems, etc? Write about at least 2 pieces and be specific. Fill the card.

5/5: We are looking at art created in the wake of Kent State and Vietnam. For each of the following - John Filo's Pulitzer prize winning photograph, Neil Young's "Ohio" and Bob Dylan's "Highway 61 Revisited" - look at or listen to the art, then write for a few minutes in your blue book exploring how the art reacts, responds to and comments on culture. The lyrics and the photograph are attached below.

This weekend, please watch the short film about the incident at Kent State on May 4,1970. On YouTube, search for “Kent State May4.flv” If You cannot access the video, I have also posted an article “What Really Happened at Kent State” on the “Vietnam “ page of the website. On a piece of notebook paper, bullet note about what happened, then after you are done watching, please write a reflection about what happened. What strikes you, what surprises you, how does this event fit with the reading we’ve done, the discussions we’ve had about the war, about American culture, etc. Fill the page.

I have all put up a link to a terrific Independent Lens documentary about Muhammad Ali and his trial for refusing the draft in the 1960s. It’s a wonderful film, so if you have time, watch the whole thing, but if you don’t, watch from 36:22 – 46:22 and from 55:45 – 1:15 (you can skip right over the terrible musical he was in). The ability to stream this will end on Monday, so please make sure you see it this weekend.

4/30: Today in class: start by reflecting (on one side of a sheet of notebook paper) in Martha Gellhorn’s article. React first to what you read and to the view of the war that Gellhorn shapes. Choose two quotes that you find compelling – copy each down (with the page number) and tell me what you are thinking about it and why it matters. Then, read Larry Heinemann’s oral history reflection about his time in Vietnam. When you are finished, on the other side of the paper make connections between his experience, what we saw/heard in the Maya Lin documentary, what you read and wrote about yesterday in response to Tim O’Brien’s quote, the essay about the draft, and Martha Gellhorn’s war reporting. Fill at least 2/3 of a notebook size page.

for homework: I am going to post (on the website) an excerpt from an essay Tim O’Brien wrote in 1994 called “The Vietnam in Me.” In this excerpt from the essay, O’Brien writes about the massacre at My Lai and the subsequent trials and effect of the massacre. On the front of the card: make a list of ideas he presents, facts about My Lai, his own commentary, etc. Strive for at least 10 bullets.

Then, read “Nature of the Beast” by Tim O’Brien. As you read, mark up the text for images that explore the pain, brutality and fear that O’Brien talked about (and the disregard for duty, which continues to offend him). On the back of the notecard: reflect on O’Brien’s short story, on its style, on the images, on the pain, brutality, and fear and how he is able to communicate those things in the story. Make connections to what you read in the excerpt from his essay. Fill the card.

4/29 Tonight read Martha Gelhorn's reporting from Vietnam. Mark up the reading and in the half page at the end, bullet notes, images you want to talk about, ideas from the piece, connections and contrasts to what we've been doing.

Here's a link to Yusef Komanyakaa reading "Facing It"