Education in the Margins 2018

We often see professors as experts in their field, but they are often also full of sage life advice, recommendations, and silly quotes. Below is a collection of Winter 2018's little thoughts and comments: education in the margins. 

Sci-fi (lit and film):

The written word=you can know thoughts vs. film=you can see and hear

Book-to-film adaptation is a surgical art.

Almost anything that happens in a film is potentially meaningful.

That man is playing Pokémon. He didn’t think we’d notice. But we did.

Hey David Een, you’re taller than the guy who played Vader.

Most meta moment of my life: watching The Day the Earth Stood Still and the time shown is the same time on the clock in our classroom.

Bernard Herman (created sci-fi music).

Guillermo del Toro was obsessed with Creature from the Black Lagoon and wanted there to be a version where the fish-man gets the girl. I give you Shape of Water.  

Editing:

“Just Give me a Reason”: explaining why you want to keep it, understanding why you should change it.

Authors appropriate wisdom to their characters.

Brit lit:

The issue is that sometimes myths are just other people’s truths.

Dylan Thomas poems: death is always in the subtext. Vernon Watkins: Wales is always in the subtext—ancient, beautiful, and haunted.

The ocean is a symbol for continuity and chaos.

Robert Frost and R.S. Thomas: Seem ordinary, but if you mine the simple phrases, you’ll hit profound meaning.

Steeped vs. layered in symbolism

Wales: A people warming their hands on the ashes of the past.

In some mining towns, the master owned the only clock, controlling even the minutes in the worker’s lives.

Steel=first blush of industrialism

Drinking deep from the authorial fallacy.

Icebergs are the hallmark of a great writer, rewarding those who explore the depths.

I don’t even know if my fingers will remember the keys…

The choice of narrator is always important

Eloquence in stubbornness (Border Country)

Publishing is so subjective.

Pursue the things that people care about.

SPOPL:

A lot of times, people just want to be heard.

Introversion was my secret and my strength

Don’t condemn your feelings

“You’re technically always motivated toward something, it just doesn’t always align with what needs to be done.”

“Idea debt” is wearing yourself down thinking about the action before you even take it.

Family Virtue Passion Humor Beauty

Creative Writing:

Everything is on the page for a reason

Art is theft: Everything’s a remix

Conveying information is boring in art.

We sacrifice convention for invention. –Manning poems

Ultimately, you still need to serve the project.

Free from the pressure of paying attention

Only about 20 lines of our 3,000 lines of daily conversation are worth writing.

“I am a convert to the character”

There’s a lot of work, but no lost work. It all means something somehow

Actors speak beyond who they really are all the time. So do writers.

You can’t really escape setting, no matter what you do.

All plots are a death march

Find the wisdom in front of you

You might be tempted to say “I can’t remember anything from my childhood, there’s nothing there.” No. Just try.

Advice:

“If you want to leave your worries behind you, try it” -Professor Perry on reading the Book of Mormon for stress-management.

Writers need to know that it’s going to be a rough go.

You can make your career, but it’s the work you come back to that must be what matters.

Giving the context of the other arguments is already halfway to a “so what.”

Don’t go crazy telling people how novel your idea is; let your insight speak for itself.

Don’t burn bridges. Don’t be afraid to ask questions (they can lead to great things). Keep your priorities and try.

Work to develop an openness to possibilities.

Quotes:

“It’s so bad, but it’s made with so much love and care, and somehow that makes it better.” Professor Perry

“One of the few ways to get fired from BYU is to break copyright laws.”—Professor Eastley

“Fiction feeds our desires to be really, really special.”—Professor Eastley

“I read the words and the words were nice.”—Professor Eastley on trying to understand Dylan Thomas

“If you can’t play Quidditch, you’re nobody.”—Professor Eastley

“First of all, are all Lemuels evil?”—class member

“He ran out of time: he died.”—Professor Eastley, explaining why Raymond Williams’ book is unfinished.

“It’s beautiful how eloquent plain speech in a paper can be.”—Professor Eastley

“People aren’t disposable.” –Becca. It’s not fair to erase contact just because you were offended.

“If I have another daughter, my comma life changes” –Professor Baker (no longer being able to use appositives). And then… he had another daughter.

“I have daffodils poking out on my porch , so that’s pretty awesome.” –Professor Baker.

“I love preparing people for their careers. Guys. Go forth and be awesome.” –Professor Baker.

“Two-year-olds say ‘no’. You just want to say, don’t you know I have a PhD? You should call me Dr. Dad!”

“I’ve had many comments of admiration and surprise regarding my attire.” –Professor Belnap

“I think you should aim high” –Professor Mason

When you’re talking about errors, you inevitably start making them.

“I can make my bread and win it, too” –Eliza, talking about Women in Business

“Money spent on books doesn’t count” –Publisher’s mom

“Read. Write. Be Kind.” –J. Adams

I used to feel this way and now I feel this way. “What unites us all is the struggle in between.” –Professor Tidwell

“Everyone’s got stuff. Everyone. When the weather changes in your internal world, acknowledge it and make the necessary adjustments.” –Dallas Jensen

“College is the last think in the clearly-defined script for your life. From here on out, it’s a choose-your-own-adventure novel.” –Dallas Jensen

“This source is in crayon. I’m not sure how credible it is.” –Professor Mason on footnoting citations

“Have I told you what I do when I go home at five? Whatever I want!” –Dallas Jensen, how life in a career is easier than life in college

“I like to write polished drafts and then finesse them.” –Professor Eastley

Ego is the anesthesia for stupidity

I’d rather have you aim high and miss than aim low and hit.

My musings:

A poet never retires because the images never let you go.

Rey could be from a Welsh poem—wanting awesome parents.

People don’t turn down the golden ticket.

Marvel characters are slowly losing the looks/objects that defined them and discovering a different kind of raw, unaided self.

“The sea was not wide then” –a time of old tales

I add my ink to everything

Can you really have that many fingers on a single pulse?

Sometimes we speak through omission; sometimes we place with empty space.

Nibblings=siblings kids (a cross between siblings and nieces/nephews)

We don’t write thankful notes anymore

Recommendations/Favorites:

E. M Forster’s “Howard’s End”

“His Girl Friday”

“Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night” Dylan Thomas poem

“Autumn Elegy” Leslie Norris poem. Storing up summer and all it brings.

Marilyn Roberts: best prose writer of today (psychology of people)

“I am a Warrior Goddess”—Child empowerment book

“Tonight Dough” Ben and Jerry’s ice cream flavor

Wirecutters/sweethomes: website for maximizers

Grad school and associate professorship

Brandon Sanderson: “Steelheart”

Start reading the British news, "The Guardian"
"The Atonement" and "The Queen" (British Films)