From the field to the factory to the help desk

How have men dealt with changing identity expectations associated with the growth of the service economy?

A Literary Response to The Mark On The Wall

By Dillon Darnell

It caught my eye

walked by - dead set on forward motion

threw a wrench in my engine and now I’m in this moment

frozen in time...

now unthawed by my young thoughts watch as I

open my mind

this picture taken had been in a place that isn’t safe

on the refrigerator this magnet had in the pages of many statements

bills, the mortgage payment, it sort of made it

over shadowed by life’s hassles which correlates with

a reality heavy enough to pull you under

hits you in the present and doesn’t take a number

this picture landed face down

nearly six feet below my gaze upon the safe ground

of this house, so secure thank God I’m alive

but paralyzed on what could be on the opposite side

of this photograph

it could bring grief like an epitaph or peace that I never had.

A flood of feelings awaits

behind the dam of delay-I stand in its way

this captured moment wants to have a word with me

it hit the ground with the sound of emergency.

I was afraid

this picture could be from the fourth grade

with that silicone smile

plastered on my face

as a mask to hide the pain

because my parents went away, hadn’t seen them in a while.

no one knows but me, they said “cheese”

but all that I could see

was my mother O.D’ed 

maybe it’s not that photo

and it’s the one of my son

dressed like a Spider Man promo

I would crack a grin, but what happens then

is the pain of how life passes when you have to bend

and give and take

clock in and out

would strike a chord in my heart with the harmony of 

doubt

that paper work could’ve waited

my boy is growing faster than anticipated

maybe the other side is...simply blank

reminding me of the pictures that I didn’t take

A flood of feelings awaits

behind the dam of delay-I stand in its way

this captured moment wants to have a word with me

it hit the ground with the sound of emergency.

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words

it must come close to a million thoughts 

this developed dream of astounding worth

could show me what I missed getting what I got

this could be December 3rd, 2005

when I felt alive, became one with my bride

But no memories left untainted

because she gave me her heart, but didn’t know that I could take it

and damage love

Here I am still standing up

I don’t want to see 

what this camera once saw with a lens

more forgiving than a human eye

wanted to walk away then felt a touch to my side

“Dad, do you want me to get that?”

interpreted my silence as a yes, what a mishap

zoned out with the sounds of

Dad....Dad

Do you want me to throw away this ad.

An ad?

Consumer driven image of a T.V. that is bigger

then my entertainment center

Wow.....that’s it!?

So I say thank you for this time of reflection

redeem my regrets, refine my direction

Thank You

For this time of reflection

redeem my regrets

refine my direction.

A flood of feelings awaits

behind the dam of delay-I stand in its way

White Flight is a Real Thing

Click here and here to learn more.

Literature can make you more compassionate!

According to David Comer Kidd and Emanuele Castano of The New School for Social Research :  yes.

Click here to get the New York Times's take on these findings.

Here's a summary of Kidd and Castano's article “Reading Literary Fiction Improves Theory of Mind” (published online October 3, 2013; in print:  18 October 2013: Vol 342 no 6156, pp. 377-380) written by the editor of Science, the journal in which it was published:

"Theory of Mind is the human capacity to comprehend that other people hold beliefs and desires and that these may differ from one's own beliefs and desires. The currently predominant view is that literary fiction—often described as narratives that focus on in-depth portrayals of subjects' inner feelings and thoughts—can be linked to theory of mind processes, especially those that are involved in the understanding or simulation of the affective characteristics of the subjects. Kidd and Castano (p. 377, published online 3 October) provide experimental evidence that reading passages of literary fiction, in comparison to nonfiction or popular fiction, does indeed enhance the reader's performance on theory of mind tasks."

Submission Guidelines

Unless I notify you otherwise, each major writing assignment in this class should be submitted in two forms:

a) in e-mail form (pasted in to the body of an e-mail--not included as an attachment) sent to the  instructor’s e-mail address (sbenton@ecok.edu) before class on the due date; and
b)  in hard-copy form—given to the instructor at the start of class.

Any assignments that miss these deadlines will be considered late.

Papers cannot be turned in via e-mail alone.

No papers will be graded until they have been submitted both in e-mail and in printed form.

Format Guidelines for Printed Papers

Printed Papers

1.                   Each paper must be typed and double-spaced.

2.                  Each paper must have at least a one-inch margin on every side.

3.                  Each paper should have at least an 11-point standard font.

4.                  Each paper should have a heading in the top left hand corner that includes:

YOUR NAME:  Wilhelmina Shakespeare

THE CLASS:  Responding to Literature

ASSIGNMENT TITLE:  Aesthetic Analysis

THE DATE of COMPLETION:  February 18, 2016

THE INSTRUCTOR'S NAME:  Dr. Benton

5.                  Put your name on each page

6.                  Put a number on each page except the first.

7.                  Include a word count in parentheses at the end of your paper.

8.                  Give your paper an original title.  Center it below the heading.

9.                  Use only one side of the paper.

10.               Do not attach a title page.

11.                Do not use larger fonts for the title.

12.               Do not use bold fonts.

13.               Staple your pages together.

Format Guidelines for E-mailed Papers

1.          Include your name, the assignment title in the subject line of each e-mail.
For example:
Subject:  [Your Name]’s Aesthetic Analysis
Subject:  [Your Name]’s Aesthetic Analysis—Second Draft
2.         Do not send attachments.  I won’t open them.

3.         Don’t worry about other formatting issues on e-mailed papers.