Austin Woerner's Memory Palace
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WOC190 Spring 2021 Session 3

Day 8

Tues. Feb. 2

  • Looking ahead; how grading works

  • Intro to Character essay

  • Start reading Uncle Pat

  • Aphorisms & The Proverbs of Hell

Homework

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Essay 2: Essay on an Object
Essay 2: Essay on an Object

due Monday Apr. 10

Write a brief essay, either memoir or journalism, about an object related to your home or home culture, however you choose to define it.

➤ Finish Object Essay

If you haven’t finished your Object essay yet, please have it completed before class on Thursday.

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Essay 3: Character in Context
Essay 3: Character in Context

due before class on Mon. Apr. 24

Write a short essay, either memoir or journalism, about a character with a significant relationship to a place.

➤ Read Instructions for Character essay

This essay will be due after you get back from vacation.

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Rick Bragg, "In a Louisiana Bayou Town, Uncle Pat is the Law"
Rick Bragg, "In a Louisiana Bayou Town, Uncle Pat is the Law"

Journalist Rick Bragg paints a vivid picture of the life of a small-town policemen in the rural South.

➤ Read “Uncle Pat“

Read “In a Louisiana Bayou Town, Uncle Pat Is the Law.” (Note that this one has annotations so you can click on words and phrases you don’t know and see my notes and pictures.)

Come to class read to share:

  • Your favorite detail that characterizes Uncle Pat (shows what kind of person he is)

  • Your favorite detail that characterizes the town

  • Your answer to the question: Where does the tension in this story come from? What makes it interesting and keeps you engaged, as the reader?

➤ Begin reading “Mazie” or “The Man Who Eats”

Decide which of these two long essays about a character most interests you. Read as much of that essay as possible.

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Joseph Mitchell, “Mazie"
Joseph Mitchell, “Mazie"

Joseph Mitchell’s classic profile of a famous denizen of the 1930s Bowery.

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Yiyun Li, "The Man Who Eats"
Yiyun Li, "The Man Who Eats"

Novelist Yiyun Li writes about her grandfather, his times, and his relationship with food.

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William Blake, "The Proverbs of Hell" (excerpts)
William Blake, "The Proverbs of Hell" (excerpts)

English Romantic poet William Blake imagines: What if Hell were not a place of evil and punishment, but a country like any other? These proverbs, collected by an imaginary traveler journeying through the land of Hell, are imagined to reflect the culture and values of the people of Hell — though their meaning is cryptic and ambiguous.

➤ Read “The Proverbs of Hell,” write new proverbs

Read these proverbs and pick a few (3-4) that most interest you. For each of those 3-4 proverbs, write three new proverbs that convey the same kernel of wisdom or worldview as the original proverb.

Austin Woerner