Reflecting on the Semester with Lucille Clifton

surely i am able to write poems
celebrating grass and how the blue
in the sky can flow green or red
and the waters lean against the
chesapeake shore like a familiar
poems about nature and landscape
surely     but whenever i begin
“the trees wave their knotted branches
and…”     why
is there under that poem always
an other poem?

— Lucille Clifton

I will be honest. My relationship with the Toni Morrison quote given to Bonnie Angelo, though complex and enriching, has been a tough one. And I am moving away from it for this reflective essay. I do not want it to seem as if I am evading this difficulty, but I have decided to work through Lucille Clifton’s poem at this time as a way of understanding this course. I will return to Morrison in my reflection later on, even as I use a new epigraph as my main focus. It was interesting to me that, as Dr. McCoy pointed out, this particular epigraph received no mention in the first round of blog posts at the beginning of the semester. However, as I write this now in May, it seems to me that this poem is much more meaningful after having worked through the “amazingly varied literature we’ve engaged this semester” (McCoy 2019). Indeed, making sense of things, ideas, concepts, and stories in retrospect seems to be fundamental to recursive learning and a classroom dedicated to looking back while moving forward. Therefore, this epigraph works well with the GLOBE mission of reflection because of its recursive nature. Additionally, it connects both the texts we have engaged with and the practices we have developed throughout the semester from the fugitive slave narrative to contemporary drama to Big Machine to jazz music, quilting, and beyond. Continue reading “Reflecting on the Semester with Lucille Clifton”

Looking Back to Notice More: Part 2

When I was first asked to consider the main epigraphs for this course, one quote quickly stood out to me due to its repetitive nature. Dionne Brand’s quote, “My job is to notice…and to notice that you can notice” repeats the word “notice” three times in order to emphasize its main message. The repetition of the word “notice” creates a small-scale recursion, or as author Ron Eglash would explain in his book African Fractals, “a sort of feedback loop, with the end result of one stage brought back as the starting point for the next” (Eglash, 8). Through repeating the word “notice,” Brand conveys that human beings are capable of understanding so much, but in order to understand, we must be more aware of our surroundings.    Continue reading “Looking Back to Notice More: Part 2”

Having Faith in Doubt; Having Doubt in Faith

“Doubt is the big machine.  It grinds up the delusions of women and men.” — Victor Lavalle

As I begin writing my final reflection essay, I remind myself that at the same time, the act of writing this reflection marks not only the symbolic closing of a chapter — English 337: African American Literature, but the closing of a book: my college career.

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Through-Lines, Journeys, Poetry, Reflection

surely i am able to write poems
celebrating grass and how the blue
in the sky can flow green or red
and the waters lean against the
chesapeake shore like a familiar
poems about nature and landscape
surely but whenever I begin
“the trees wave their knotted branches
and…            why
is there under that poem always
an other poem?
–Lucille Clifton

I have so many things that I want to say in this post. For those of you who do read, I thank you. I understand that there are a ton of these going up in this moment, which creates an interesting dynamic for a blog.

I want to take this opportunity to reflect on this semester through the course epigraph by Lucille Clifton. I see many different things in this poem that bring the course into view for me; almost like a reflecting pool where I can see myself at various stages of the semester. I’ll move through the poem as I move through the semester, traveling week by week and line by line simultaneously, unpacking my time in this course as I do so. Additionally, I’ll attempt to discuss the prevalence of a through line (which I believe is present in this poem) and, in closing, discuss GLOBE, or Geneseo Learning Outcomes for Baccalaureate Education,  and their discussion about the reflective process as it pertains to this assignment in particular.

Ready? Set? Go! Continue reading “Through-Lines, Journeys, Poetry, Reflection”

“My job is to notice…”

Most recently I have felt internally challenged by some of the events that have taken place on campus this year and in the three previous years that I have attended this institution. I have also been concerned and confused by the ways in which these events have been “handled.” I mention this again, as I did in one of my earlier blog posts, not to beat a dead horse, but maybe to save a live one. On the first page of the syllabus Dr. McCoy lists the values of the campus as being learning, creativity, inclusivity, civic responsibility and sustainability. These are values that she emphasizes in all of her classes and tries to instill in her students, however a question that often comes to mind is what she wrote about in her personal blog post today. The question of whether or not the small impact of her classroom and a few other professors, actually reflects the values of the campus overall. I want to draw your attention to the epigraph by Dionne Brand, “my job is to notice…and to notice that you can notice.” I intend to demonstrate the validity of this statement through many examples that may seem unrelated at first, but ultimately explain the root of my everlasting internal challenge that I have faced at Geneseo. Continue reading ““My job is to notice…””

A Seat at the Table is Necessary

What I hoped to learn from this class is the importance of equality within an academic setting. To me, taking a course like “African-American Literature” seemed like an answer to dealing with a lack of representative classes one can take at Geneseo. Geneseo’s Learning Outcome for Baccalaureate Education (GLOBE) promises its students will develop broad and specialized knowledge, intellectual and practical skills, and integrative and applied learning appreciation. What stood out to me was the learning outcomes of each of these skill sets, more specifically, the learning outcomes for intellectual and practical skills. The seventh out of eight learning outcomes is ‘diversity and pluralism’; it reads, “to work effectively in a pluralistic society, recognizing and respecting diverse identities, beliefs, backgrounds, and life choices; to practice effective communication and collaboration across diverse communities and organizations; to critically reflect on the reasoning and impact of one’s personal beliefs and actions.” While it is great to see our college dedicated to incorporate these goals for students to take away after leaving Geneseo, I will admit that I’m still reluctant towards how much information and cultural understanding students take away from elective classes like this one. Continue reading “A Seat at the Table is Necessary”

Use Your Voice…It Matters

This semester, I truly feel as though I have grown as a student and an overall member of society. Professor McCoy’s class is more than what the course description says. We read the incredible works of African-American Literature and by using these works McCoy teaches us how to be better and humane citizens, urging us to use our voice, be activists and stand up for what we think is right. By having us write blog posts, McCoy has given us the opportunity to have a voice, spread awareness, call out issues in society, and demonstrate our thought processes and respond to each other’s deeper questions. This class has lit a spark inside me and set me on a new path, a path where my voice and language is the most powerful tool I have.

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Trusting the Process

“Doubt is the big machine. It grinds up the delusions of women and men.” –Victor LaValle, Big Machine.

Reflecting on where I was in February, I see that I started this semester with a lot of doubt. In my first blog post, I wrote about my lack of confidence and my goal to improve my skills as an English major through repetition and practice. In class, Dr. McCoy encouraged us to ask questions and admit when we didn’t know something. Through this, I learned that while self-doubt can be inhibiting, it can also provoke amazing conversations which will ultimately challenge you to produce stronger arguments. I was always a perfectionist and I refused to admit that I did not have all of the correct answers, which caused great hesitation when I wasn’t sure of my argument. In my last blog post, “What’s in a name?” I was significantly more confident in my claims and admitted my lack of knowledge on the Bible. I confessed to my readers that I did not know the significance of Solomon’s name. Then I received a very helpful comment by Sarah Holsberg filling in the gaps in my argument. This experience (and this class) has taught me that by simultaneously trusting and doubting myself, others, and institutions, I will gain the most out of my experiences. Continue reading “Trusting the Process”

Recognition in Accomplishment

“The Americans are a brave, industrious, and acute people; but they have hitherto given no indications of genius, and made no approaches to the heroic, either in their morality or character….Where are their Foxes, their Burkes, their Sheridans, their Windhams, their Horners, their Wilberforces?—where their Arkwrights, their Watts, their Davys?—their Robertsons, Blairs, Smiths, Stewarts, Paleys and Malthuses?—their Porsons, Parts, Burneys, or Blomfields?—their Scotts, Campbells, Byrons, Moores, or Crabbes?—their Siddonses, Kembles, Keans, or ONeils—their Wilkies, Laurences, Chantrys?—or their parallels to the hundred other names that have spread themselves over the world from our little island in the course of’ the last thirty years, and blest or delighted mankind by their works, inventions, or examples?”–Sydney Smith, “Who Reads an American Book?” 1820

 

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Growing Pains

Canadian poet, Dionne Brand, delicately states, “My job is to notice… and to notice that you can notice.” When I first read the syllabus at the beginning of the semester, I glanced over this quote without giving it too much thought.  Now, at the end of the semester, I think that this quote perfectly sums up my experiences as a second semester junior at SUNY Geneseo. I have come to the realization that the concept of noticing has come up many times both in my academic career and personal life, often creating an overlap.  I have noticed things throughout this course both about the literature read and my growth as a student, all while my peers were noticing things about themselves. It was not always easy to grasp the teachings of this course and the messages through the literature, but for that, I am so grateful as the challenge of this course has implemented my growth immensely.   Continue reading “Growing Pains”