Ms. Kia Groom - ENGL 1157 @1157kia - Tumblr Blog

Today is the Transgender Day of Remembrance. Please take the time today to remember those we’ve lost to anti-trans hatred and violence, and reflect on how these losses affect all our communities. For a service, vigil or other event in your area, check here. Trans lives matter, and they’re taken from us every day. Today and all year round, we remember.

mythandrists

1. Anyone who says “write what you know” either doesn’t know what they’re talking about or doesn’t know how to form a sentence. Know what you write. Do your research, but don’t think that just because you haven’t done your research yet doesn’t mean you’re not qualified to write about whatever you want. Don’t pigeonhole yourself. Pigeonholing sounds like a bad sex position, anyway.

2. Write badly. Write terribly, obnoxiously, fearlessly, write complete garbage, write melodrama, write too many details and extra scenes you’re going to have to cut later. Here’s a secret: Everyone’s first draft is shit. Yes, even Kerouac - have you read On the Road? Give yourself permission to suck. Write badly on purpose, but write badly in the way only you can write badly. Revision is for final drafts, not first drafts.

3. Semicolons are beautiful, but only if you actually know how to use them. Learn how to use them. Then use them. Don’t let your creative writing professor tell your that your poetry looks like an essay when you use actual punctuation; your creative writing professor is not you. Your creative writing professor doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

4. Except that your creative writing professor does know what he’s talking about. Listen to him. Learn from him. Write down all his advice in your notebook, but when it comes time to start writing - close the notebook.

5. Write every day.

6. But if you don’t write every day, don’t beat yourself up about it. Don’t beat yourself up, period. Self-loathing is antithetical to writing, unless you’re Gerard Manley Hopkins, but trust me, you don’t want to live the way Hopkins lived.

7. Stop thinking so damn much. Blare the music when you write; sit in a crowded coffee shop; drink; let yourself go. The first draft doesn’t want to be constrained; the first draft wants to be put on the page. The first draft wants a word count, not a rubric.

8. You’re always allowed to slam the door on someone who’s distracting you from your writing. Unless that person is a tax collector or your mother. Never slam a door on your mother unless she’s a drunk.

9. Everything has been done before. Get over it.

10. Love what you do. If you burn out, if you don’t love it anymore, either quit or find a way to love it again. Don’t do it for anyone else - no one’s paying you to be a writer. Pay yourself. Pay yourself in interesting characters and immersive plots and worlds you wish you could play around in. Give your writing to yourself. Treat it like a gift from you to you, because if you don’t love your final draft, no one else will, either.

Feminism: a few thoughts

First, thanks to my 8am class for the surprisingly spirited conversation about feminism today.

During class, a student brought up an article he had read about "one of the feminist leaders" (I didn't realize we had any! I am thrilled!) making a comment about "fart rape".

This seemed rather unlikely to me, and I suggested that the article might be satire (more than once I've fallen for satirical blog posts over on sites like The Onion, so I really can't blame this student for buying into the joke). After class, the student forwarded the article to me.

Here is a link to the article: Can a Fart be Misogynist? (http://thewaterpipe.wordpress.com/2013/12/22/can-a-fart-be-misogynist/)

A Little Lesson on Journalism, Credibility, Satire, and Slander

Let's look at the source: is it credible? "The Waerpipe" seems to be someone's blog (rather than a news outlet, or a site with folks who practice any kind of legitimate journalism--i.e. folks who are paid to do a job, or who answer to some kind of editor with credentials, experience, and qualifications). This site also seems to have articles with titles like "Is a chimp smarter than a feminist?" which would lead me to believe that they're, if nothing else, a little bit biased.

On further examination (I googled), while Ashley Ingle is a real person (and yes, a feminist), the only references to this "fart" situation are posted on:

Reddit - Needless to say, Reddit is not a peer reviewed news source. It's a bunch of people (predominantly men) getting together to talk about shit. Very rarely is anything on Reddit sourced or cited, therefore very rarely is it reliable.

Dissembling.org - Again, this is someone else's blog. The blog appears to be anti just about everything...anti feminism, anti global warming/climate change, anti immigration, etc...--are we seeing a political bias? Maybe a bit?

A Voice For Men - AVFM is a MRA website. Traditionally, MRAs kind of hate feminists.

What I'm trying to say here is, none of these sites are reputable, and every single one of them has a bias towards really, really hating women feminists. Kinda starts to seem like the story about the farts might be made up, right?

If you go and take a look at the youtube video of Ashley's speech (which the screencaptured picture in the article is taken from) you'll see she mentions nothing about farts, or "fart rape". She's talking about the anarchist agenda, which certainly a lot of people find silly and don't agree with, but bodily functions are not once mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjzDKlH8xRU

It's extremely important as both a student of English and as a person in the world, to be critical of the media we consume. Be critical of feminism, if you wish. Be critical of people like Ashley Ingle. But you also need to be critical of un-sourced, un-checked articles that vaguely attempt to character assassinate political activists with hyperbolic articles that are, essentially, poorly executed fart jokes.

Getting off my soap box now, peace

~Ms. K

#feminism #social justice #composition #class time with kia #ashley ingle #ashleigh ingle #fart rape #fart rape is not a thing #fact checking #journalism #bias

queerintersectional

Oppressed groups are frequently placed in the situation of being listened to only if we frame our ideas in the language that is familiar to and comfortable for a dominant group. This requirement often changes the meaning of our ideas and works to elevate the ideas of dominant groups.

Patricia Hill Collins (via queerintersectional)

sadneopet-deactivated20181229

Transgender hate crime statistics presented in Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word. Watch here or here.

Additional sources:

U.S.A. transgender suicide statistics (see KEY FINDINGS, page 8) General United States suicide statistics (see “Nonfatal Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior,” page 1) LGBTQ and HIV-affected hate violence in 2012 (see “HATE VIOLENCE HOMICIDES,” page 7)

yellhuntley

Close reading poster for students

Close reading poster for teachers

from We are Teachers

literary-ethnography-deactivate

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Pablo Picasso (via literary-ethnography)

writingquotes-deactivated201509

Sophisticated readers understand that writers work out their anger, their conflicts, their endless grief and rolling list of loss, through their stories. That however mean-spirited or diabolical, it’s only a story. That the darkness in the soul is shaped into type and lies there, brooding and inert, black on the page, and active, dangerous, only in the reader’s mind. Actually, harmless. I am not harmless.

Amy Bloom (via writingquotes)

thatscifiguy

This is my favorite thing.ever.

#we are watching this one first #just fyi #ahahaha

hannigraham

When Louis Met...

When Louis Met…Jimmy || When Louis Met…Paul and Debbie || When Louis Met…The Hamiltons || When Louis Met…Ann Widdecombe || When Louis Met…Chris Eubank || When Louis Met…Keith Harris & Orville in Panto || When Louis Met…Max Clifford || Living with Louis

Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends

Born Again Christians || UFOs || Porn || Survivalists || Weird Christmas || Infomercials || Swingers || Black Nationalism || Demolition Derby || Off-Off Broadway || Wrestling || Self-Fulfilment || Indian Gurus || South Africa || Body Building || Thai Brides || Gangsta Rap

BBC Two specials

Louis and the Brothel || Louis, Martin & Michael || Louis and the Nazis || Louis Theroux: Gambling in Las Vegas || The Most Hated Family in America || Louis Theroux: Under the Knife || Louis Behind Bars || African Hunting Holiday || Law and Disorder in Philadelphia || Law and Disorder in Johannesburg || A Place for Paedophiles || The City Addicted to Crystal Meth || America’s Medicated Kids || Law and Disorder in Lagos || The Ultra Zionists || America’s Most Hated Family in Crisis || Miami Mega Jail Part 1 || Miami Mega Jail Part 2 || America’s Most Dangerous Pets || Extreme Love: Autism || Extreme Love: Dementia || Twilight of the Porn Stars || Los Angeles - In the City of Dogs || Los Angeles - In Life & Death || Los Angeles - In Sex Offenders

#oh yes class #we will be watching these

anthmusings

Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.

Chinese Proverb.

Our lecturer for ‘Writing Ethnography’ used this quote to emphasise the difference between ‘telling’ and ‘showing’ in ethnographic writing. The more you want from your reader, the more you need to put in and involve them in your experiences.

(via anthmusings)

fionagoddess

#relevant to our interests

englishpracticenow

Farther and Further, of course they’re different. For more English proficiency (grammar) training, please visit http://www.jroozreview.com/jrooz-english-proficiency-programs/.

#grammar

ee82f378fb86

SCP-354: The Red Pool

SCP-354 is a pool of red liquid located in northern Canada. The liquid is similar in consistency to human blood but is non-biological in nature. The density of the liquid increases proportionally with depth. Periodically, entities emerge from the pool and attempt to escape from the enclosure. Thusfar, nearly all creatures emerging from SCP-354 have been extremely hostile and highly dangerous. A log of entities which have emerged from SCP-354 can be found on the main article. One attempt at exploring the pool has been made. A log of the exploration can be found here.

jolys

READ THE LOG OF THE CREATURES THAT CAME OUT OF IT HOLY SHIT

prettyarb

You guys know about the SCP? It’s one of the great examples of communal creativity the internet has made possible.

Also it’s an awesome read (especially if you’re into Night Vale or X-Files), and a really fantastic resource if you’re writing sci-fi or creepies or horror.

#scp #creepy pasta #collaboration