Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry. Email her at dr.freeride@gmail.com.
The times in question being, in this case, the last days of October.
Once upon a Tuesday morning, while I wandered, cold and yawning,
Up the grimy stair steps winding skyward toward my office door,
On the wall's bile-greenish surface, noticed I a note whose purpose
Took more consciousness to process than I'd had the step before.
"English majors strike," I murmured, "with tactics I've not seen before,
Reciting Poe and nothing more."
Folks on campus today may find themselves caught in the middle of insurgent Poe recitations. It's likely that "The Raven" will claim the most victims, but I'll also be on the lookout for "Annabel Lee".
The ringleaders have called on the Poe reciters not to disrupt classes, but we all know that poetry sometimes gets out of hand.
We'll see if the poetic guerrillas are in evidence when I go out on my quest for another concomitant of late October on this campus -- sugar skulls.
Humanities & Social Science
Comments
What an awesome idea! Random impromptu poetry slams. Oh the possibilities!
Posted by: jennifer Ouellette | October 27, 2009 3:15 PM
When I was a freshman in high school, a most formidable English teacher by the name of Fr. McFadden used to terrorize his students quite thoroughly.
One of his punishments for failure to grasp basic grammar (repeatedly) or misbehavior was to recite, by memory, various works of poetry or prose. If you couldn't get it right, you had to try again tomorrow.
Repeated exposure has rendered "The Raven" as a permanent member of my long term memory banks.
Posted by: Pat Cahalan | October 27, 2009 3:51 PM
Awesome!
Posted by: tcmJOE | October 27, 2009 4:20 PM
the tintinnabulation that so musically wells. From the bells, bells, bells.
much more fun.
Posted by: David | October 27, 2009 8:54 PM
I think some Mary Oliver would be a little less in-your-face... (but I do love "The Raven")
Posted by: ARJ | October 29, 2009 5:08 PM
I would probably go for The Conqueror Worm, myself, but to each his own.
Posted by: Eric | November 6, 2009 1:25 AM