Happy New Year,…

Happy New Year, EMU members!

I hope you’re having a relaxing and well deserved break. I would like to take the time to tell you all about our organization, EMU (English at MU), and the things that we have coming up for this semester. Hopefully some of these tidbits will strike your interest and we’ll get to see more of you! (Because for real, we love people who love books the way we love books. It makes our little hearts go pitter-patter.)

Who we are: a group of undergrads who enjoy all kinds of text (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama), who gather to talk about these literary forms (in various settings), and who publish an Epic literary magazine at the end of the year. 

Things coming down the pipeline: 

1) First meeting of the semester! (January 30th at 7 pm in A&S 104) — We’re going to gear up to read for Epic! This will be your chance to ask questions about reading, Epic, EMU, and get to know some of our executive members better. 

2) Not one, but TWO Spoken Word Nights (Feb. 9th and March 22nd) — Spoken Word Nights are  evening events at coffee shops close to campus where we take the time to showcase undergrad work (read: poetry, short fiction and nonfiction). Think beat poetry night, except some of it is neither beat nor poetry. 

3) Semi-annual trip to Cooper’s Landing (TBD) — Cooper’s Landing is a camping site/general resting place located where the Missouri River meets the Katy Trail with inexplicable beauty. This event is purely for fun. We go, we sing along with the locals, we pet parrots (not a joke), we eat thai food, and we make memories. 

4) Epic Literary Magazine Launch Party (late April) — Our hard work of the semester comes to fruition with this most-beloved event. Authors being published in the magazine will be showcased, we get to see the stories bound and printed for the first time, and either Trey or I will probably have to make a speech (shiver in anticipation).

 Ways that you can get INVOLVED:

1) Submit to Epic by Janurary 17th, 2012! Send electronic copies of your fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, graphic short stories, and 2D art to epic@missouri.edu.

2) Become a reader for Epic! Readers are essential for the selection and publication process of a literary magazine. As a reader, you will read and discuss submissions for a genre. Essentially you will be deciding what gets published in our beloved magazine. Interested? E-mail our Editor-in-Chief, Trey Harris at tjhtx5@mail.missouri.edu!

3) Volunteer to help organize events! E-mail me, Katelyn, at kmmpnb@mail.missouri.edu!

Thanks for your time! I hope to see everyone at the upcoming meeting! And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming. 

Best,

Katelyn

Intercession Class in need!

Hey English lovers:

A friend of mine is teaching this class and needs a couple more students to enroll! It looks pretty fun(ny)!

Want a good laugh and 2 humanities credits—FAST?

Enroll today!

January 3-January 13

English 2000: Laughter and Literature

M-F 1-3:30 PM  •   110 Tate Hall

#26542 on Myzou

And, here’s a brief course description:
English 2000: Studies in British Literature, Laughter and Literature  Claire Schmidt
Section 4

MTWTF 1:00PM – 3:30PM (2 credit hours)
Can literature be both funny and serious? This course explores the form and function of humor and comedy in British literature from Geoffrey Chaucer to Zadie Smith. We will read a variety of genres of British literature from a variety of literary periods and will practice close reading and critical analysis in two short (2-page) papers. As we discuss what makes a text funny, for whom, and why, we will wrestle with questions of canonicity, censorship, gender, vocabulary and literariness.

Pizza with the Profs!

Hey EMUs!

Just a reminder that Pizza with the Profs is this Wednesday night from 5-7pm at the always delicious Shakespeare’s Pizza. If you’re selling raffle tickets you need to have that money ready and there to help pay for the food! If you aren’t selling raffle tickets, you should be! Or you should at least buy one from someone who is. Please remember to invite all of your English professors to this event!

Book Recommendation from Cary Stough!

The Dog of the South

          To the very few people who know me particularly well, it would come to no surprise that if an opportunity ever arose for me to recommend a book I would choose, and over-enthusiastically, Charles Portis’ novel, The Dog of the South. I just can’t shake it or deny it—this is my favorite book; and in my mind, it’s a modern classic. Written with a similar comedic touch of American master Mark Twain, and the rugged, unstoppable, and sometimes transcendent prose of his contemporary Cormac McCarthy,  Portis lines up the characters of his story like a last minute dodgeball game before the world implodes, a furious, warm-cold, dust-choked blur of every human triumph and sinful tragedy.

All things said, it’s not a long novel. Neither is it a very descriptive novel. Like much great American writing these days, plot must rest to some extent upon association. The technique is a polarizing one—it’s what separates the Wharton’s from the Fitzgerald’s—sometimes more easily grasped by certain readers and not others. In Portis’ country-fried hands, jokes and references have the risk of falling flat due to their non-universality, but, nevertheless, I have a tendency not to attribute any sort of consciousness outside of my affable Midwest. Maybe someone in Los Angeles would in fact view middle-aged diarrhea with the same humorous slant as I would, and maybe not. I’m only saying any of this, mind you, because, it being such a beloved book of mine, I would be absolutely crushed to learn that it was not enjoyed by someone I previously knew, and would therefore be forced to pass judgments upon them I did not anticipate.

I refuse, then, to reveal really anything concerning the plot of this novel. If the words “Mexico”, “highway”, “God”, “deception”, “confusion”, or “sugar diabetes” do not, when combined, create a sentence full of comfort and hamburger grease, well, then I say this book is not meant for you. You would be better off reading something a little safer. If those words did touch you in some way, please do not hesitate to allow Portis to drag you from Arkansas all the way down to Mexico, only to leave you penniless, wife-less, and rolling down the coast in a broken-down Oldsmobile with a man who claims to have been a doctor. It’s an unforgettable ride.

I love the south. There’s never much I can ever say when asked why, or when asked to explain the merits of southern literature. Humor for life despite the presence of death. Love despite many years of racism and hatred. Pride despite many years of stigmatism and misunderstanding. And comfort despite a hot, humid, and sometimes dangerous environment. It’s all true, and it’s all a lie. It’s all just so damned unexplainable. Maybe I’m being short-sighted, but I have faith that there are people out there who understand from where I am coming. For the same reason I love the pink and purple sun setting behind the hills, I love this book. I love The Dog of the South.

Book Recommendation from Kelly Bohan!

Hey all you letterholics. Here’s a new book recommendation from Freshman EMU member Kelly Bohan! Check it out.

____________________________________________________________________

          So to blog about a book worth blogging about I’m going to declare Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand as my subject. This will likely come as no surprise to anyone that was at the first EMU meeting. When I checked out Atlas Shrugged from the library at my high school last year my librarian said, “Good luck. It sucks to read Ayn Rand.” I had checked it out by a recommendation from a friend so after hearing my librarian say that you could say I had some mixed feelings about what I was about to read. But my librarian was certainly wrong-at least in my opinion. Because once I started reading I couldn’t stop.

          The thing I like about this book is that it is so well-rounded, political and philosophical but without sacrificing entertainment. The book includes business, ethics, economics, science, philosophy, romance, mystery, intrigue, action, suspense and so many more aspects I am sure I’m not mentioning. A book packed with all of those surely must be either boring or just a plain mess one could think but that is certainly not the case. That book was so entertaining and so interesting I could not stop reading it. I would at the edge of my seat at work muttering the words under my breath during intense parts and I got so emotionally wrapped up in the book. The length gives the reader the ability to really grow attatched to the characters and the conflict and I certainly did. There were times I threw the book across my bedroom in frustration and anger but there were also times that I felt so joyous at what was happening in the book that I couldn’t help but talk to myself about it excitedly and do a little dance…alone of course. At work though… I really hope no one saw that.

          The point I’m trying to get at by explaining my weird reactions to the book is that it will definitely captivate you and make you feel something. If that’s not enough reason to read the book another would be not just how much it made me feel but how much it made me think. This book stretches your mind intellectually and presents the case of capitalism versus socialism in a way that is accessible to someone not usually too informed about politics. I know what both are, of course, but the book showed me the causes and effects of both of them. Not only does it open your mind about these subjects but it also introduces you to Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism which you can agree or disagree with completely, or choose to agree or disagree with to a certain extent and then have your own differences. And it doesn’t stop there! If you weren’t learning enough about politics, bureaucracies, capitalism, socialism, philosophy, etc. the book also makes you learn a lot about yourself. This book gives me motivation to be the best, most successful person that I can be. It certainly makes me want to reach for higher goals and gives me the push to go for them!

          I would highly recommend this phenomenal novel to anyone and everyone because I am so grateful to have had it recommended to me last year!

Another Meeting!

 

 

Capstone Input Needed!

Hey EMU members:

So in the meetings for the Undergrad Studies Committee, we’ve ben trying to hash out what the new Capstone system will look like. Associate Dean Ted Tarkow gave a November deadline for deciding this, and we highly doubt we’ll meet that deadline, so chances are things will remain the same this year and the changes will go into effect next year.

Anyway, we want your input. I’ve listed some of the options we’ve discussed below, and I’d greatly appreciate any input. You can comment on one option or more, or all if you’re really ambitious. You can even borrow my “hell yes, yes, meh, no, hell no” grading system if you’d like, and rate the options accordingly.

What the Capstone may look like options:

• English keeps the capstone as it is (where students sign up for one of a few designated capstone courses on specific topics)
• Any 4000 course counts as a capstone whatever its content
• A larger number of 4000 courses count as capstones, each with research component
• Students can designate a “capstone by contract” (like honors by contract)
• making the 4000-level creative writing workshops (1 in each genre) capstones

Also some questions to consider:

1. If you were taking a course as a capstone, would it make a difference to
   your learning experience if most of the members of the course were not
   taking it as a capstone (thus not a group experience of the same kind)?
2. What matters more, the quality/intensity of the capstone experience, or the
   convenience of being able to choose from a wider variety of capstone
   options?
3. Do you think it is important for all English majors to write a research
   paper before they graduate?
4. If we were to broaden the capstone options, what type of courses do you think would work best as capstones:

• period or movement studies (i.e. Romanticism, Modernism, etc)
• major author studies
• genre studies
• ethnic literature
• women’s literature
• or some other kind

Your input is much appreciated! You can either comment on here or email me, Jaclyn Herr, at jmh8xf@mail.missouri.edu. Thanks!

Hey there ladies and gentlemen of letters:

The EMU exec staff thinks it’d be cool for people to regularly post books that they love/are interested in to the blog, and I–Jaclyn Herr–am the first to share, WOO!

I decided to take the “book I’m currently interested in” route, so I’m going to talk about Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy. I first heard about this book in my Lit Theory class while discussing Marxist criticism, and I really want to read it. I’m already pretty miserly as it stands, but I’m very intrigued by consumerism in America and the dependency we have on material items. It is a phenomena that I find equally fascinating and terrifying.

Here’s a link to the Amazon page where you can see more about the book, and maybe order a copy. (I don’t have one yet, so if you want to order two, you know, wink wink, Christmas is right around the corner).

But really, check it: http://www.amazon.com/Brandwashed-Tricks-Companies-Manipulate-Persuade/dp/0385531737

10/10 EMU Meeting!

Hey all you letter lovers:

It’s time for another meeting! Note that it will be on Monday October 10th at 7pm in Tate 111 (the usual). Since it’s on 10/10, we’ll do out best to be as perfect as possible.

At the meeting, we’ll be talking about the club’s plans for Community Service opportunities, T-shirt designs, Pizza with Profs, and next semester courses. Obviously it’s going to be a lot of fun, so you should must come. =)

First EMU Meeting!

Hello everyone! We all hope your semesters are getting off to a great start. If they aren’t, a good way to make things better would be coming to THE FIRST EMU MEETING WOOOOOOOO!!! It’s in Tate Hall room 111, September 12th at 7pm. Aka tomorrow night at 7pm. Be there or been non-literary and therefore not awesome.