Embracing Literature
Connect with me at:
  • Poetry
  • Nonfict
  • Story
  • Memoir
  • Novel
  • Essay
  • Media
  • MFA
  • Ideate
  • Buy Poetry

Progress Second Quarter of My MFA Program at Ashland University

3/21/2015

0 Comments

 
I've been pretty busy this semester. My activities had ranged from volunteerism, my usual golf schedule, reading and writing poetry, and research on my memoir and brainstorming for a collection of essays. So here it is in summary form:

Volunteerism

I finished up my work as a reader for The Firecracker Award and it helped me gain new perspective on the quality, range of style, coherence, and organization of contemporary prize winning poetry books.

I'm working as a reader at River Teeth Magazine which is teaching me some good lessons about essay writing. What I have like is well-polished essays--if sentence clarity lacks, or the focus is weak, or the essay incomplete, I find them less appealing. The writing styles have varied as has topics. It makes essay writing an interesting aspect of writing.

I continue on with work with the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association for the tenth or twelfth or something like that year in a row. One of the benefits of PNWA membership is the Author Magazine, which recently offered up an interview with Science Fiction writer, Nancy Kress, which I found very interesting and finally encouraged me to buy one of her books, although I have read some of her short stories. 

This is one of the two main craters at Volcan Masaya, see project work description below:

Picture
With my concentration on poetry and memoir, it leaves me very little time to read in my primary area of novel writing. But since this concentration builds areas of personal weakness, I find it a useful thing to do.

I continue my participation with Zooniverse, which is a site that allows volunteers to help process scientific data. Typically, volunteers view photos and click on objects inside the photo and identify them. So far this quarter, I've helped identify animals in the Serengeti, wind flow patterns on Mars, egg-laying behavior of worms, and potential supernova's. I'm up to almost 2000 identifications of various types.

My husband and I took my niece to Nicaragua this spring to help out on an Earthwatch Project Exploring a Volcano in the town of Masaya. My niece is a pre-medical undergraduate with a BS in Biology who hopes to become a doctor. We took her as a graduation present to help encourage her into exploration of the world, the needs of people, and the various ways science impacts our understanding. The project took us inside various craters at Volcan Masaya taking microgravity readings, collecting GPS data and witnessing a project to collect comparative level data (from data 20 years previous). 





Picture
We were led on hikes where we collected butterflies


Picture
and grass samples :


and sulfur emissions to help scientists understand the impact of volcanic emissions on the surrounding community. We also climbed into a lava tube, spotted bats, and got to see three dimensional renderings of photographs taken during measurement work. I got a bad dose of the flu so I wasn't very inclined to go hopping over rocks in the darkness but I thought the work fascinating.

In line with my usual practice of learning about a country before I go, I collected and started reading some of the literary works from Nicaragua.

I still continue on as a 5th Grade Catholic Religious PREP school teacher, the classes meet every other week and teach children about the seven sacraments of the Catholic faith--Baptism, Eucharist, Penance, Confirmation, Marriage, Priesthood, Healing, while explaining the Catholic calendar (special seasons) and about what it means to be a Catholic.

Poetry Reading and Writing

So far I've completed three packets of material that I have sent in to my mentor, Ruth L. Schwartz, along with an emulation poem for each of the books of poetry we've read so far (see the poetry page, I've started putting out some of my essays about the books) and written an essay about what we can learn in terms of poetry book construction, types of poetry and styles and basic techniques. I've also read several essay books where the author also writes poetry and contrasted the work in the two books. 

Essay Writing

One of the things I mentioned in my application to Ashland University's MFA program is that I hoped to move my writing of book reviews to a higher level by writing essays about reading material I'm using to help build my list of memoir read during the program (50 memoirs suggested) and for my own purposes (50 poetry books). So I've been reading a lot, and doing the same with my nonfiction resources, taking quotes, or poems and sorting them against a proposed essay book outline. I'm hoping to produce a mixed format, poetry and prose book on completion. I find it is very tedious work to collect source material.

Memoir Writing

For my memoir, I've focused on taking the "situational" material (from Vivian Gornick's The "Situation and the Story" where I portray how a family event over the course of thirty years helps explain our family's experience with drug and alcohol addiction and its impact, and sorted these out into chapters. Within the chapters, I'm sorting my research data; basically taking quotes that I can use from source material I'm reading and placing them in context. I'm also brainstorming about how my overall concept of what was going on has changed as well as how historical events in those years affected us. This raw data helps me build the "frame" or context for the memoir. I'm hoping that I can connect some of the improvements in science, knowledge, medicine, and social organizations are affecting those who are impacted by addiction as a resource for others who may share these problems.

After I use the basic texts about different problem areas where our family came into contact with various organizations, I plan to look for recent publications, and entered into ResearchGate as a tool for finding source material.

Social Media and Participation and Submissions

I'm trying to maintain my presence on Facebook, Empire Avenue, Quora, PoetrySoup, and other social media but have slowed down. I tend to socialize online when I am very tired and not able to think about my writing projects. I've started participation on some quorums in LinkedIn, and on a new site called The Prose where a community offers challenges to writers. I've also have been working on Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, and Archives.com to find out about my family history. 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About Sheri Fresonke Harper
    Follow Sheri Fresonke Harper on Quora

    Archives

    August 2016
    May 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    October 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    757 Baggage Compartment
    A Broader View Volunteers
    Accents
    Accommodations
    Addiction
    Advisor
    A Gather Of Shadows
    Alcohol
    Alec G. Hargreaves
    Alternate Universe
    American Express
    Ancestry.com
    Anne Enright
    Anne Of Green Gables
    Annual Physical
    AP Style Guide
    Art Jonak
    Ashland
    Ashland Eagle
    Ashland University
    Asian
    Assignment
    Atlanta
    Atrium
    Audience
    Authorial Intrusion
    Baby
    Bibliography
    Bilingual
    Biology
    Birds Of America: Stories
    Bloomsday
    Boarding Pass
    Bob Carr Performing Arts Center
    Bonnie Rough
    Book List
    Bookmark
    Books
    Botany Bay
    Brian Leyden
    Broken Glass
    Broken Mark
    Bruce Gilley
    Business
    Calls For Submission
    Canada
    Carlo Gebler
    Carlow University
    Catholic
    Central Florida Golf Club
    Centre For Teaching Chinese A A Foriegn Language
    C. Frederick Farrell
    Chapter Names
    Character Names
    Character Purpose
    Charles Sowerwine
    China
    China Articles
    China Factory
    China's Democratic Future
    Chinese Dictionary
    Chinese English
    Chinese-English
    Chinese Intelligence Operations
    Chinese Literature
    Chris Arthur
    Civil Rights Movement
    Civil War
    Cixin Liu
    Claire Keegan
    Class Curriculum
    Classical Poetry
    Classictic.com
    Classrooms
    Cleveland
    Colors Of The Mountain
    Confederate Troops
    Contemporary
    Contract
    Copper Canyon Press
    Copyright
    Count Of Pages
    Craft Session
    Creative NonFiction
    Critical Paper
    Crow Laws
    Culture
    CulturewCamy
    Culture With Camoluscious Gally
    Da Chen
    Data And Process Analyst
    David Butler
    DC
    Death And The Fishbowl Pontoon
    Delta
    Delta Airlines
    Derek Mahon
    Different Tones
    Doctor
    Dorm Room
    Draft
    Draft Thesis
    Dublin
    Earthwatch.org
    East Coast
    East Wind West Wind
    Economist
    Edit
    Editing
    Editing Scenes
    Editing Tasks
    Editor
    EgogitatePrecogitateSocogitate
    Ellie Wymard
    EmbracingLiterature
    Emigrant Experience
    Emotion
    Empire Avenue
    Enormous Changes At The Last Minute
    EscapetheDisease
    Essay
    Evelyn Conlon
    Even So And Selected Poems
    Excerpt
    Exercise
    Facebook
    Facilities
    Family
    Family Members Who Emigrated
    Femininity
    Feminist
    Feminist Science Fiction
    Feng Hsi Lui
    Feng-hsi Lui
    Fiction
    Firecracker Awards
    Fl
    Florida
    For A Song And A Hundred Songs
    Formatting For Submission
    Fourth Genre
    Frame
    France
    Freelance Articles
    Freelance Work
    French
    Front Gate
    Full Body Burden
    Gao Xingjian
    Genre
    Geological Sites
    Geology
    Georgia
    Germany
    Going By Water
    Golf
    Golf Book
    Golf Coordinator
    Good News
    Goodreads
    Grace Paley
    Graduation
    Grammar Check
    Gretel Erlich
    Guest Speaker
    Guest Speakers
    High School
    Historical View
    Hogwarts
    Home Owner's Association
    Homonym
    Humanitarian
    Humble Essayist
    Hurry Down Sunshine
    Husband
    Ievirgin And The Boy
    Illustrations
    Illustrator
    Impressionist Art
    Impressionist Artist
    Index
    Integrative Essay
    Introduction
    Ireland
    Irish Writer's Center
    Irish Writer's Centre
    Jail
    Janet Sternberg
    Jet Lag
    Jfk Airport
    Jobs
    Joe Mackall
    Jonathan Spence
    Jonathan Swift
    Judas Kiss
    Kate Hopper
    Kindle
    Kitchen
    Kristen Iversen
    Lake Jesup Park
    Language
    Last Street Before Cleveland
    Laurie Moore
    Lawyer
    Leslie Jamison
    Lessons Learned
    Liao Yiwu
    Liminality
    Lindbergh Eagle
    Linkedin Groups
    List Of Scenes
    Literary Journals
    Locale
    Locked Down
    Locked Out
    Loconeal Publishing
    Lucy Maud Montgomery
    Lu Xun
    Macgraw Hill
    MacGraw-Hill
    Mama Mia!
    Manuscript
    Mao Zedong
    Marketing
    Marketing Case
    Marketing Plan
    Marketing Resource
    Mark Roper
    Marthaville
    Martin Luther King
    Mary Costello
    Mary O'donnell
    Mary O'Donnell
    Mature Market
    Maturity Of Voice
    Maya Schenwar
    Melanie Hoffert
    Memoir
    Mentor
    Merriam Webster Dictionary
    MFA Program
    Mfa Program Residency
    Michael Coadi
    Michael Coady
    Michael Greenberg
    Michael Steinberg
    Michelin
    Mindset
    Moody Business
    Mother
    Mo Yan
    Multigenre
    Multimedia
    Nancy Kress
    Narrative
    Narrator
    National Geograohic
    Needs As A Person
    Nephew
    Nicaragua
    Nicholas Eftimiades
    Niece
    Nonfiction
    Notre Dame Cathedral
    Not That You Asked
    Novel
    Object-oriented
    Ohio
    One Thousand Years Of Prayers
    Outline
    Pacific Northwest Writers Association
    Packet Of Scenes
    Packets
    Paris
    Past Tense
    Patent
    Pearl S. Buck
    Penguin Book Of Contemporary Irish Poetry
    Pen Pal
    Perspective
    Peru
    Peter Fallon
    Photograph Of China
    Pinyin Pronunciation Guide
    Pirate Anthology
    PNWA
    Poetry
    Poetry Editing
    Poetry Review
    Point Of View
    Political
    Political Science
    Potential Markets
    Potential Readers
    Pov
    Prairie Silence
    Presentation
    Present Tense
    Printer
    Process-oriented
    Projects
    Prose
    Publisher
    Publishing House
    Push Open The Window
    Push Open The Window Contemporary Poetry From China
    Qing Dynasty
    Qingping Wang
    Quanyu Huang
    Questions
    Quote
    Rachel Pruchno
    Reader
    Reader Knows Who Is Speaking
    Reading
    Reading List
    Ready For Submission
    Red Sorghum
    Research
    ResearchGate
    Residency
    Residency Schedule
    Revising
    Richard E. Nesbitt
    Richard Hine
    Rights As A Citizen
    River Teeth
    Riverteeth Magazine
    Robert L. Root Jr.
    Robert Root
    Rock And Roll Star
    Rongrong Liao
    Ruth L. Schwartz
    Ruth Schwartz
    Scene
    Schedule
    Science Fiction
    Scientist
    Security Check
    Semester
    Shandong Province
    Side By Side Chinese And English Grammar
    Sinead Morrissey
    Situation
    Situation And The Story
    Skin Of Dreams
    Slavery
    Solace Of Open Spaces
    Soul Mountain
    South
    Spanish
    SpanishDict.com
    Spell Check
    State Of The Prisons
    Stephen Haven
    Steve Almond
    Steven Harvey
    Stories
    Subconscious
    Submissions
    Submit
    Subplot
    Sue William Silverman
    Sun Magazine
    Surrounded By Madness
    Swim
    Table Of Contents
    Talking Steel Towns
    Tgi Fridays
    The Complete Fiction Of Lu Xun
    The Empathy Exams
    The Geography Of Thought
    The Granta Book Of The Irish Short Story
    The Home Place
    The Little Disturbances Of Man
    The Past And The Punishments
    The Pat Boone Fan Club
    The Prose
    The Real Ah-Q
    The Search For Modern China
    Thesis
    Thesis Defense
    Thesis Project
    The Situation And The Story
    The State Of The Prisons
    The Wandering Earth
    The Writer On Her Work
    Thinker
    Thriller Plot
    ThrivingHabitat
    Through The Square Window
    Time Machine
    Tom Larson
    Trademark
    Translation
    Travel Blog
    Travel Outside The Country
    Trinity College
    Trinity Collge
    Tuttle Editors
    Tuttle Mini Chinese Dictionary
    Twitter
    United States
    Universities
    Us Copyright
    Us Patent And Trademark
    Vaccinations
    Value Success
    Verb Tense
    Vivian Gornick
    Vivian Gornick
    Voice
    Voice In Contemporary Chinese Literature
    Voice In Fiction
    Voice In Memoir
    Volcan Masaya
    Volunteer
    Volunteer Work
    Walk
    Walk The Blue Fields
    Washington
    Webpage
    West Coast
    Western
    Western Washington University
    Words
    Workshop
    Writer
    Writing
    Writing An Essay
    Xiaozhou Wu
    Yiyun Li
    Yu Hua
    Zooniverse
    Zoouniverse

    RSS Feed

Search Engine Submission - AddMe
Proudly powered by Weebly