Encounter with the Wise-Ones

How do I 'shape' an essay? 

*It’s not a great question and it’s definitely been asked before, but it’s a start.

The "palimpsest" is a scroll that is scraped clean and used again, and again, and again. Can you imagine rough draft after rough draft being written on the same piece of paper (actually it was vellum, the skin of a calf). The remains of past writings are faded and difficult to decipher, but still there buried amidst the present band of words.  The Wise-ones, M. Norton Wise and Elaine M. Wise, use this object to develop their understanding for the shape of their essay, "Staging an Empire," Things that Talk: Object Lessons from Art and Science. They begin with:

"History unrolls the palimpsest of mental evolution," says the Oxford English Dictionary. Although the metaphor derives from the canonical palimpsest of a parchment subjected to writing and writing over, it is appropriate for other objects whose form and meaning result from a history of shaping and reshaping..."

History is shaped and reshaped just as writing is; but what shape does it take? Remember Carolyn Steel and her spoken essay, "How Food Shapes Our Cities." She used the landscape of her topic to shape the essay, literally mapping the literature with subject of her essay. The Wise-ones utilized the historical application of the palimpsest, an object, to linguistically construct meaningful history through shape and form. Phrased that way, it sounds mystical - a process that only a chosen few hold the secret to. However, I believe their formula can be decoded. 

Their writings are not solely the assemblage of academic facts: the object was made in 'x' year, by 'y' person, of 'z' materials equaling 'the thing'. That's a formula more often seen in an art gallery or museum exhibit. Also, their writings are not solely interpretations of the facts like you hear from museum docents or stories in historical novels. There's something more. Their writing is a combination of the facts and the stories... and another elusive element constructed in the literature. Rather than write within established formulas, the Wise-ones included an additional variable, the variable of shape and form. Specifically, the shape of an island. 

The island is Pfaueninsel or Peacock Island which has an architectural landscape shaped by forty years of human history. Just as the island is shaped, so do the Wise-ones shape their writing to provide connections, intersections and transitions between, within, and amongst their facts and narratives.  Thus, objects or materials are not characters or subjects in the writings, they provide the pattern in which the writing takes form and can be deciphered by a good reader.

"It becomes an eloquent thing when it is seen to carry multiple layers of meaning, meanings that have been built into it and that can still speak to those who reflect on its history." - Wise-ones

Word Count: 478

Total Edits: 2

Ready, Steady, Charge!

"Ready, aim, fire" is fraught with fatalities and holes which is why I prefer "ready, steady, charge." The charging quill has fewer pitfalls and a much happier ending, usually the completion of a written works without holes. I'm readying my charge by carefully constructing my engagement... and you're invited. 

Jennifer's Doctoral Research Engagement Invitation 

Date: 18th & 19th Century 

Time: 30 Months

Location: the areas of North America known presently as the United States of America

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Help celebrate the journey, as Jennifer ready's herself to explore the culture of America through literature and history between the 18th and 19th century. The engagement will (hopefully) culminate in a final ceremonial procession. 

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*Notice: Though all attendees are invited to provide 'constructive' criticism, toast and flames are prohibited. This means you must say more than, "I like it" or "It could be better." 

Word Count: 147
Total Edits: 1

Personal Recipe Note - Fear of Failure

A stone had dropped in my stomach and like an oyster with sand, it was getting bigger and bigger. I've been blowing off the stress headaches for the past two weeks and last night I broke. I boohooed on my best friend's shoulder without a clue why. 

I spent today among the stacks at the library reviewing more books and trudged home with the backbreaking sack. I spread the texts out and thought about hanging a countdown calendar for the next 18 months. I sat ready to start organizing and my brain went numb. I went to sleep instead. When I woke up, I couldn't decide what to eat or what to watch or what to read, so I decided to write. After reviewing Friday's post, I opened a new page and realized, I'm afraid. I'm afraid to fail. 

I'm not afraid of failing in the sense of a bad grade or not completing the doctoral program. No, that I'm confident I will do. I'm afraid that I'll fail myself. That I'll compromise on my own dreams and desires. That I won't meet my own set of expectations and goals. So, what can I do? 

I must not fear.

Fear is the mind-killer.

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

I will face my fear.

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.

Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.

Only I will remain.

- Dune, Frank Herbert

I've decided to face my fear and write about it. Now I can decided what to eat, what to watch and what to read. I will not let my fear of failure hinder me.

Word Count: 294
Edits: 0

Ingredient - Write AND Publish

To be a writer, one must write! We've all heard it - write in the morning, write every day, or write once a week. It doesn't have to be good, just write!

It's not the writing part I have issues with. It's the "doesn't have to be good" part. By Golly, I want it to be GOOD! Good enough to publish. So I write, then revise, then edit, then reread, then revise, then edit... and the cycle continues. Basically, the writing cooks too long and by the time I see the smoke my writing is burnt, suitable only for disposal. I'm a cook who's burnt the soufflé once too often. It makes it hard to get back in the kitchen and try something new. 

Like any good child, I blame my mother. She drilled into me, "Do your absolute best!" (I can actually hear her.). When something matters, like writing does, I strive to 'perfect' it, expending enormous mental angst trying to make the thing better. However, with the Grand Champion of Soufflés on the horizon (a.k.a. doctoral exams & dissertation)  I must learn to accept my writing even though it's not perfect. 

This is me stepping back into the kitchen to write AND publish, the second ingredient to the "Writing History Recipe." The blog will help me establish a writing pattern, not a style, at least not yet. First I need a pattern. The plan is for me to develop a writing theme, write a short article (300 words), save the draft, and edit only once before publishing on Fridays. I need to let the writing cook without constantly opening the oven door; thus, causing the soufflé to collapse. I’ll write, turn on the oven light once to check its progress and then reveal for consumption.

Word Count: 297
Total Edits: 2

Ingredient - A Good Reader

Being hearing impaired, I read a lot. I read the TV and movies. I read books. I read the news. I pretty much read everything. I also have a smattering of various degrees, so I always thought I was a good reader - that I understood the way words were communicated and the ideas they formed. Then I realized after 10 years of college courses and 3 degrees, "I'm not a good reader."

I wasn't a good reader because I didn't appreciate the words and how authors constructed ideas for readers. Good writers very deliberately choose their words and good readers are able to recognize the author's construction of ideas. Roland Barthes is a good writer and his text Mythologies is an excellent exploration of the meaning of words in things. My epiphany, that I need to become a good reader, occurred when I read this line:

“Glazing, in Elle, serves a background for unbridled beautification chiseled mushrooms, punctuation  of cherries, motifs of carved lemon, shavings  of truffle, silver pastilles, arabesques of glace fruit: the underlying coat  (and this is why I call it a sediment , since the food itself becomes no more than an indeterminate bed-rock) is intended to be the page on which can be read a whole rococo cookery (there is a partiality for a pinkish colour)."

Okay, you may be thinking the whole doctoral exams preparation have fried my synapses and I need to take a vacation. That's not the case. Look closely at the words. 

unbridled = equine term

chiseled = sculpture term

punctuation = grammar term

motifs =design term

shavings = carpentry term

silver = metallurgic term

arabesques = ethnic term

coat = clothing term

sediment = geology term

bed-rock = geology term

page = bibliophile term

read = cognitive term

rococo = design term

Rolling the words together in the above phrase creates an enticingly descriptive thing, which is the result of careful construction - an architectural creation of language. Barthes uses language or words which belong to different classes of academics or professions unrelated to cookery in unexpected pairings while able to communicate an engaging concept. Barthes is a good writer and if I want to be a good writer, I need to be a good reader. I need to identify other good writer's and develop a better understanding of how they construct their ideas.

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