Yuxin Xuan Blog 5

Thanksgiving gave me a lot of fun. Although I don't really like the taste of turkey and I hate walking on the street without seeing any people or cars, I tried and enjoyed many things with my friends who also stayed at school: eating Cantonese brunch and watching movie in Ypsilanti, playing Dominion till midnight, going shopping in Somerset, Troy, and baking cakes together. More importantly, I took the chance to express gratitude to my parents and friends who in normal days, I feel awkward to say thank you to. Some friends in Canada complained that many people don't know Canadian thanksgiving isn't the same as American's. It's kind of a joke but isn't good to have another chance to express or receive gratitude and love?
Of course, we couldn't resist the temptation of black Friday sales. In China we also have big sales every November 11 when people go crazy for the shopping spree. When people cool down, they realize how crazy they were buying so many things online and claim that they'll cut their hands off in case they go crazy again. So a new term "hands-chopping people" appears and we use it to self-mockingly say that we regret buying too much online. Undoubtedly, I became part of the "hands-chopping people" this holiday...

Hope all of you have spent a nice holiday and are ready for the upcoming finals. 

Excerpt from Citizen

Although it was towards the end of English class, I thought the best conversation occurred when there was an argument about whether the final piece of writing that we read was considered to be racist. I was intrigued by this part because during the class, we were discussing social identity and the way that some people are constantly looked at in a negative connotation just because of their attributes. Due to this conversation, the last couple of paragraphs that we read were very interesting. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about, I am discussing the story of the therapist that specializes in trauma counseling who yelled uncontrollably when her new patient arrived at her front door. In class, some people immediately got the sense that she was being racist. Although I do agree in a sense, there is no proof. There is no way to tell if she was being racist by this small piece of writing since the two characters were not described in detail. Maybe the therapist was just really scared about a stranger coming up to her door. I know that I would be quite frightened if a stranger came up to my door in the middle of the day! Although I know that the author was probably trying to convey the idea of racism, I think that people should not be so quick to judge something or someone. Rather, they should instead look at the facts that will in turn, lead them to their conclusions.

What do you think?

Thanksgiving in regards to social identities

Over break, I was thinking about the essay assignment we're doing for this week.  That topic influenced my thought process over break, especially on Thanksgiving.  I know the holiday is supposed to be focused on the things we're grateful for that we might take for granted - for instance, our families, friends, etc. - but I found myself thinking about even more obscure things.  I thought about things like my physical ability, mental health, even privileges I might have because of my race, sexuality, and religion.  It was a new perspective!

Imperfect language

Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue" story sparked a storm of emotions in my soul. I know how it feels to live in the country where you are not a native speaker. Yes, I have an accent, which in people`s opinions ranges from funny and sexy to terrible. Yes, I do not pronounce words perfectly, which at first made me want to hide from public speaking forever, despite me absolutely being in love with giving speeches back in Russia. I did not get a leading role in my boarding school play no matter how much people loved my acting skills because I still had an accent which American character couldn`t have. I have to repeat my name like ten times before people actually get it, but I do not want to adopt an easier American version because my name is part of my cultural heritage. I know sophisticated scientific words but sometimes I cannot name the simplest household things.
But why my "imperfect language" have to be a disadvantage when I can make it to be something that can make people remember me among other wolverines? I stopped being offended when people laugh at my pronunciation, instead, I laugh with them, which melts an ice wall of the communication barrier. Because it is actually funny and I can admit that. I am not afraid of public speaking anymore, because confidence, not perfection is the key to attention. I love improvisations, even though sometimes I have to use my body language, if I do not know words. And I actually got another role in the play which no one else could be good at because it was written in Esperanto language and my Russian roaring R sound made the words much more emotional and impressive. If people judge me by my accent or by my ethnic background connected to it...it is their choice and I can do nothing much with that. But I am not going to close myself from people just because I do not have perfect grammar or pronunciation. I am not going to close myself from writing because I cannot really put the articles in the right place, which my peer reviewers probably noticed. But I'm definitely getting better at it with practice though.
I wouldn't be the same without my imperfect language, because I would never got through all the difficulties of trying, making mistakes, being embarrassed, overcoming that feeling and trying one more time. I wouldn`t be here, in Michigan, if I have stopped. And I`m glad I haven`t.

Thanksgiving..let's try it.

No matter how you are culturally prepared to live in the U.S. as an international student, there will always be things that surprise you. One of them was Thanksgiving this year. The real Thanksgiving. I mean, I already celebrated Thanksgiving last year in the boarding school, but you know, a dry turkey and tasteless pumpkin pie in the dining hall with a couple of other international students who couldn't go home for the break....not the best experience in my life. So when I was looking at all American students craving to come home for Thanksgiving I couldn't really relate to them.
However, I didn`t have to stay on campus this year watching Thanksgiving episodes of Friends all night because my friend from Traverse city in Northern Michigan kindly invited me and our Turkish friend to celebrate Thanksgiving with her family.
And what can I say? I loved this holiday. Not even liked, but truly fell in love with it, deeply regretting that we do not have it in Russia. Just seeing all the family coming together and say thanks for all the little happy moments, enjoying delicious food and talking about everything from everyday life to historical roots of the Thanksgiving traditions made me realize how much sometimes we need to take a break and think about joy we have in life despite our difficulties. Yes, we are stressed in school, the finals are coming, but it is all manageable until we have things and people we can be grateful about.
It was just amazing to feel like home despite being 6000 miles from mine: watching Friends and eating left-overs, staying in pajamas until 3 pm, baking ginger cookies, playing board games and riding a car listening to our favorite songs. Just doing things you do not really do on campus. It made me actually realize that no matter how much independence runs through my veins, I still miss my home, my friends, my other life.
So it was a little bit strange feeling to come back Umich and dive into school work again. But one more push and I`m going to see my family and see my favorite little monster - my sister.
Hope, everyone had great Thanksgiving too.

P.S I have never seen such a GIANT turkey in my life!

Personal Response to Amy Tan's "Mother Tongue"

    Like Tan, I grew up with parents who spoke English as a second language. Well technically I cannot call English my parents' second language because for my father, who speaks 9 languages, it was his fifth language, and for my mother, who speaks 4 languages, it was her fourth language. They learned English at early ages in their lives because of the residual effect on language British colonization had on Pakistan. Learning English gave them a level of prestige in society because it noted that they came from families that were wealthy enough to educate their children in Westernized schools. I think with this in mind, the transition to living in America, where everyone speaks English and my parents end up speaking not-so-perfect English, affected their self-esteem and insecurity levels.

  As a kid, my mom would tease that I didn't want her to chaperone on school field trips because I was embarrassed of her accent. Quite honestly, I was usually indifferent to how my mother spoke because what ever she said invoked cheery smiles and giggles from almost anyone she talked to; my mom's a crowd pleaser no matter what language she speaks in. But of course, I had my bouts of insecurity relating to my parents, but they were in the parameter of insecurity and self-consciousness and sheer embarrassment that any other kid has some point in his or her adolescence. My parents always found ways to negate my being self-conscience with their intelligent and fluent, whimsical style of speaking in other languages that they acquired throughout the years. For example, it's not possible to ask my dad an innocent, child-like question such as "where does chocolate milk come from?" without receiving a  Shakespeare-esque soliloquy in Farsi about how cows have four stomachs and that lactose is not digestible by all human beings and other scientific yakety yak that I, as a kid, did not care to interpret or philosophize on.  I wanted simple answers. Instead, I was left to theorize about what the hell my parents were talking about and fill in many blanks to construct answers that I could comprehend.

  The dramatic complexity expressed through many languages, other than English, by my parents, led me to discover at a relatively young age a sense of recognition of their profound understanding of many different realties. They may stutter and add an extra -ed at the end of verbs in the past tense, but they brush this off, knowing it is a simple pothole in their complex, integrated language highway system that permeates through their personalities and daily interactions with me. Without their potholes, I could not have developed my own complex and ever-changing highways in life.

Sarah Blog Post #5

Just this weekend, it snowed for the first time on campus this semester. For me, being from Boston, this is just a regular occurrence. However, for some on campus, this might be a brand new experience. Though it isn't brand new for me, I think in some way experiencing snow in Michigan is still new. I always loved when there was snow on the ground back home, and I am loving it here at Michigan too. The added beauty of snow is making me appreciate our campus even more. Though there will come a point at which I will be too cold to enjoy it any longer, for now I am looking forward to the holiday spirit that is in our near future.

Bruce Conforth Blog Post

Overall, I was really impressed with Bruce Conforth’s talk, and him as a person. Somehow, he manages to be a musician, author, and professor all at the same time. Plus, he used to study fine arts. As Conforth mentioned, no one before him has written a biography of Robert Johnson, so I admire how he has taken on such a daunting talk. He also discussed how writers before him thought there wasn’t enough information to write one, but he ended up digging and finding enough. One topic he talked about that piqued my interest was how the line between academic and fiction writing is blurring. At one point, Conforth said, “Writing is about who you are, we are all stories,” which I thought was both through-provoking and accurate. He stated, also accurately in my opinion, “You can’t write if you don’t read.” When he was describing the literature he liked himself, I though Conforth did a great job, and actually made me want to read it. For Conforth, music and writing are not just two things he does. For him, they are related. Like Conforth, I also believe in a deep link between music and writing. From a very basic point of view, both are manipulations of words to get a desired effect. However, I don't think there's a place where music ends and works of literature begin. Some books are lyrical, and some albums tell a story. For instance, the Illiad, which I would probably consider my favorite book, is widely considered poetry. Historically, though, the text was sung. Another example is the idea of a concept album, when musical artist crafts lyrics according to a plot, story, or theme, and sets them to music. Music and literature have both sprouted from the same source, they've just branched off into different directions. The stories that musicians tell about their lives, or other, fictional lives in their music can, for me, be just as interesting as works of literature.

Bruce Conforth

Back in September, when I was doing my self-description as a writer, I had to admit that my biggest trouble were academic papers where I had to manipulate scientific facts without embodying my sharp  voice as a writer. I firmly believed that putting a piece of my personality would inevitably lead to decrease in objectivity and get me in a big trouble. Luckily, I was wrong. Listening to Bruce Conforth talking about the growing importance of "creating culture" and stating reasons why a topic matters to an author in the academic writing, helped me realize that a good balance between my voice and pure facts would enrich my paper rather than destroy it to ashes. Conforth does an amazing job in stating his voice in the introduction of his book, so I caught myself thinking that I would love to read more, even though I was not invested into the topic in the first place. Conforth created a world that I would love to dive into, and it is really important for any writer, including myself, to follow this path.

Also, wow, I was so excited to hear him talking about Robert Johnson, one of the most mysterious figures in the blues music history. My grandfather, who used to play in the jazz band, always put on jazz and blues for me, and told me enthrilling stories about musicians, including the legend about Robert Johnson. It is so interesting how music relates people from different continents, creating a special world that everyone can find place in. Jazz and blues artists with their fascinating songs became my inspiration to join a jazz band myself when I was in 10th grade, and my love for blues has been only growing since then.

I also totally agree that the word "clear" is one of the worst words that one can use in writing. What can be clear in our world if we see things in an absolute different way, depending on our perspective? From the beginning of the course, I remember the quote that for someone a tree is a beautiful living thing, while for someone its just an obstacle on their way. Or it is probably "clear" for closed-minded people that the sky is blue. Well, look at the breathtaking paintings of the impressionists and you can see the sky is red, orange, black, whatever, not just blue. There will always be people who disagree with our opinions, so using the word clear is just..well, wrong, because there is nothing absolutely clear for us.

What I really loved about the author is him being respectful and friendly to the interviewer and the audience. I mean, he could be very arrogant because of all of his astounding accomplishments in the academic and music field, but he chose not to be, which really helped me to relate to his ideas about writing and accept them as a model for my future reference. I wish I could feel his energy in person, because he seems to be a very open-minded person with enormous positive energy, who gives 100% of himself to his work. And that is the way to be for me too, if I want to make my own "performances."

After listening to the professor talking about importance for students to write their our own story, I realized that this LHSP blog is a unique opportunity to write our stories. And I actually enjoy that, because here we can choose the subject, which we are passionate about, and relate it back to the topics discussed in class. I totally agree that our stories is what matters after we are gone, so we should do everything to make our story a fascinating intelligent novel rather than a thin shallow newspaper.

Bruce Conforth Extra Credit

Bruce Conforth Extra Credit

Danny Ziegelman

November 22, 2015

Last week, I attended a Q and A with Bruce Conforth, a Professor of the Blues who  teaches American Culture with an emphasis on folklore, blues and popular culture at the University of Michigan.  During the Q and A he was asked a range of questions about his writing and his writing style.  He was asked what his earliest memory of writing was and he responded with a  very distinct answer.  He would write in little address books as advertisement campaigns during the holiday time and would write novels in them (7-8 years old) writing stories in them.  Having a Ethnomusicology degree, he discussed the connection between music and writing and “When they’re working, they're both performances.  When I’m playing my best guitar, I forget that I’m playing and it is like the guitar is playing me.  The same goes for writing.”  That is extremely impressive.  He also discussed his process for writing.  He starts off as a mess with pages everywhere.   Needs to feel physically involved, needs to feel consumed and exhausted from the energy and tension that is created in the process of that performance.  He claims that he tends to work better early in the morning or late at night, but doesn't have a ritual exactly.  When asked about how he feels writing is, he said, “Writing should be about telling your story.  This is your chance to tell someone who you are.”  When he reads a students paper he said, “They should make me forget that Im reading.  Somehow they must absorb me into the now existing world they have created for me.

Winter mood

Sparkling bubbles of happiness rushed to my head, when I looked put of the window this morning. Palmer field was covered with a layer of luminous snow - the sign that stubborn Michigan fall has given in, letting winter come into full power.
I have loved winter all my life, since I was a little girl big naïve eyes, catching fragile snowflakes with my fuzzy red glove to make a wish before it melts. Good times. Winter holds so many traditions and precious experiences that my inner child can`t wait every year for winter season to start. I absolutely love snow fights, adrenaline rush lets you not feel the cold. These snow fights get so competitive and they are amazing for bonding with people trying to bury them into soft snow. Cannot wait to take part in one in U of M, adding one more beautiful pearl to the neckless of unforgettable Michigan experiences.
I also love winter because I can get to the top of the mountain and ski all the way down on the speed close to flying. All the troubles go away at that moment, and I just feel unbelievable freedom. Especially amazing is skiing in the lights in the evening, after having a cup of salty caramel mocha on the top of the mountain. I wish I could do tricks, but I am not as brave as my masculine friends, so I prefer to admire from the side. Maybe, one day I will try it too, who knows.
And, of course, I love winter because of the New Year celebration. I say New Year, not Christmas, because in Russia we celebrate New Year much more than Christmas. There is unbelievable atmosphere that the miracle might happen, and they do happen. Maybe because people are more open-minded and less stressed during holiday season? Seeing happiness of people getting and giving presents gives inspiration for the rest of the year. It is not even about present. it is about love that people give to each other. That is why I put so much time into finding a right present for each person, because I want to show that I care. And also, every New Year is a time to see what you have accomplished and set new goals. One step closer to the dream every year, big or small, but I want to make it.
Winter with snow have always been in my life, but not everyone can say that about themselves. So I am privileged, right? But I have never thought about that before. But I do know now, and this understanding makes me feel deeper every beautiful moment of the winter season.
Happy winter everyone! Cold is nothing compared to all the wonderful things winter brings.

Privilege in the Broadway Musical

Privilege. Can we even count how many meanings this word has? I doubt that, since the idea of privilege depends on an individual perspective. One of my favorite satirical comedy musicals from 2001 "Urinetown: The Musical" explores the idea of the most ridiculous type of privilege you can think of...the privilege of using the bathroom. Why such a trivial thing becomes a privilege? In the plot, a twenty-year drought has caused a terrible water shortage, making private toilets unthinkable. All restroom activities are done in public toilets controlled by a megacorporation called "Urine Good Company." To control water consumption, people have to pay to use the amenities, and there are harsh laws ensuring that people pay to pee, and if they are broken, the offender is sent to a penal colony called "Urinetown", never to return.
People are killed if they cannot pay for amenities. How terrible is that? Of course, the uprising against the corporation is inevitable, which leads to the crush of the tyranny and free bathrooms for the public. What is interesting, the revolution is led by the evil corporation`s director`s daughter, who was able to see her privileged position and extend a friendly hand to those in need. The trigger for her change became her love for an impoverished young men, who introduced her to his world, made her see that those underprivileged people are were no worse than herself.
This example of interference of the privileged person shows the most effective strategy for eliminating a huge gap between people with privileges and those behind them. The increase in cultural and social awareness is the key to success, and I really hope that this awareness
is carefully incorporated into school and college courses.
I wish I could say that the musical had happy end, but I can`t. I won`t give spoilers because I highly recommend watching this musical and knowing the end usually diminishes interest.
This musical also made me think how much we are taking for granted. Even clean water, which is a precious resource in some African regions. So why do we complain all the time? Life is precious and all of us have privileges, but it is not a reason to be arrogant about it. But it`s a reason to help those, who do not have our benefits. We cannot help everyone, but everyone can help someone. We always have a choice to act respectfully and helpfully. So why not to make it?

Bruce Conforth

Growing up, one of my fondest memories is following my dad around as a young kid and helping him with all sorts of odd jobs. He's a printer by trade, but he's an engineer and handyman at heart. He loves fixing things. Anyway, we would go downstairs to his workshop and before anything else, he would dust off the record player and put a record on. We would work to the raw voices of BB King and Muddy Waters. Sometimes, once we finished gluing this or hammering that, he would pull out his old guitar and strum along to the wailing on the records. Blues are deeply embedded into my past, so listening to Bruce Conforth discuss and read excerpts from one of the greats of country blues was not only interesting, but a little nostalgic. I really enjoyed hearing Conforth talk about the relationship between his writing and his music. I think it's beautiful to imagine writing compared to making music. The idea of creation intertwined with each practice fosters an admiration because you have to put yourself into it. Good art offers a view into the artists soul. It made me smile when he mentioned the disconnected, rigid writing associated with scholarly works and how that affects the writing negatively. Within my engineering class, I sometimes feel that the ambiguous voice in the text makes it harder to interact with. Writing I am most proud of is the works I feel are most honest about who I am as a person. It was refreshing to hear a highly regarded professor say, "In the end, we're all stories". It encouraged me to write what I think. Conforth was insightful and warmed me by bringing me back to my youth.  

Eva's Post on Bruce Conforth and How His Process Relates to My Own

In response to the interviewer’s question about the connection between Bruce Conforth’s writing and his music, Consforth describes the connection between when he does his best work in both. He says that this happens when he forgets the action of writing or playing music and it flows out of him. I think that the way Conforth describes writing being what is writing him instead of the opposite is his way of describing the unconscious process. Discussing being a fine artist and painter and the idea of the process being a performance Conforth explains that he needs to feel physically involved and consumed by that art making process. He talks about this all-consuming aspect of it leading to him working on basically one project at a time. I really connect to both of these concepts because that’s how it is for me when I paint. I get totally lost in it.

His perspective is that writing is important because ultimately we are all made up of stories and that is our only lasting imprint on the world. He addresses the idea that writing about culture isn’t ever just writing about culture but creating culture. Art and writing aren’t just a commentary on what is going on in the world, but they intervene into a cultural moment and alter it. I found this particularly amusing because it is directly related to the basis of a class on 19^th century French art that I am taking right now.

In the classroom he teaches the process of refining and working general to specific in writing. Its funny because of how this is how I’ve often been told to paint, but I have never listened. If I had to break it down I’d say I usually work specific to specific in a different way. He also talks about his belief that the only way to be a good writer is by being a good reader. For me the way I learn to branch out and try new techniques in my painting is by looking at others works. When I go to art museums I take pictures not of whole paintings, but of bits and pieces of paintings. I photograph snippets of small powerful painterly marks that I connect to.

Bruce Conforth Extra credit

Bruce Conforth changed the way I look at writing and culture. He made it very clear to me that culture would not exist in the way it does if not for writing. We understand culture to be a representation of ones gender and or race, we never actually take the time to realize that we as individuals have written the customs that make up our culture. Conforth made me understand that we create our own culture and and as individuals we have our own.

Throughout the lecture Bruce mentions the task that some people take in writing. He goes on to mention that when he writes it is not actually him that is writing, it is the writing that is writing him. Conforth says “The writing just kind of flows out of me.” This quote amazed me. He is telling us that he gets lost in his writing and that it overpowers him. The feeling he gets when he writes individualizes him and allows him to “create culture”. I relate very well with this idea. When I dance I become lost in my movement. The energy that has been created in my mind grows with emotion and explodes through my body. I let the feeling flow into movement not realizing that I too am creating culture. I don’t see my dancing as task, but as an opportunity to add and re-write culture with my body.  My movement gives me a chance to add culture to my life and the artistic world.

Bruce Conforth (extra credit opportunity?)

 One of the first quotes that was interesting to me about this conversation was the question: "What is your earliest memory of writing?"  To which Conforth responded with something along the lines of he had his "own little library."  That idea was something I used to enjoy as a kid -- collecting things or writing down snippets of the beginnings of stories had always been fun for me.  Being able to relate to Conforth in the first couple minutes of the audio stream was really cool.

Another quote I found interesting was said by Conforth: "When I'm playing my best guitar, I forget that I'm playing, and it's like the guitar is playing me...  I forget that I'm writing, and the pencil or pen does the writing for me."  Conforth speaks of writing as a performance and links it to the performance within the genre of fine arts.  These parallels are fascinating for me because I am really enjoying the artsy atmosphere at U of M.  The fact that such an academic pastime, like writing, can be referred to as something akin to painting is intriguing.  In academic writing, I sometimes don't enjoy the process as much as I would if I were able to write about a topic of my own choosing.  Conforth had a different take on the issue.

Conforth also mentioned the ability to "create culture" with academic writing.  He said in order to do this, one needs to place themselves in the writing, otherwise it's not a culture, just an observation of one.  This made me think of the discussion we had in class about doing the same thing in our third essay assignment.  After hearing an except of Conforth's book I began to see what he meant.  His tone while reading carried flawlessly over to his normal conversation.  This suggests that he is writing his academic piece as himself, not as a scholar or a third party observer.  His powerful tone and voice in his writing is really moving, and makes me want to try something like it in the future.

Blog Post 6- Privilege

Today in class, we talked a great deal about privilege. My classmates were bringing up some really insightful points when it comes to privilege. I think it’s confusing because often people who are privileged, are not aware that they are so privileged. I feel incredibly blessed to have been given the chances I have received in my life, from attending great schools like the University of Michigan, to having three awesome siblings and two supportive parents. Since this was in some ways given to me, I want to constantly remind myself that I should be grateful. I also think that because of my “privileges,” I am obligated to reach out a helping hand to others. 

Another part of discussion that really hit me were the stories and examples of African Americans having the cops called on them for entering their own home. My high school teacher’s friend was entering his backyard door once, when his neighbor called the cops because he thought he was an intruder. I was so astounded and appalled at this news. I find it sad to say I am privileged because I don’t suspect that I will have the cops called on me for entering my own home.

Bruce Conforth Extra Credit Lecture - Allison Taylor

Bruce Conforth is an expert on iconic blues legend Robert Johnson's life. He spent 40 years of his life researching him, discovering things about him, and writing about him - his co-author even found Johnson's death certificate, which opened up a wealth of information about him. For me, the most interesting aspect of his lecture was when he began comparing and discussing the relationship between writing and music. "They are both performances", he says. When he is writing his best, and when he is playing his best, the words and the music just flows out of him and he forgets what he is doing. "Performance", he says, "is an important concept because you are writing a story and creating a culture".
Although Conforth writes great scholarly text, he originally struggled with the idea of doing so because he questioned whether he had the authority to write with expertise. It wasn't until he read a book called 'Writing and Culture' by Clifford and Marcus that made him realize that academic writing could be literature, too. His academic writing is unconventional.
He felt very strongly that as a writer, you are not doing your job if you do not put yourself in your writing and acknowledge your presence as the author.
His advice to students is to write what they think and what they feel - other people's opinions don't matter. When they write, their goal should be to make him forget that he's even reading, and that he is truly existing in whatever world they've given him. He encourages his students to read and read and read; he has extensive reading lists for his students, and believes that the only way to be a good writer is to be a good reader.
One thing from this lecture that really stuck out to me was when he said: "Ultimately, we're all stories. We can define ourselves in all sorts of ways, but we're all stories". This inspires me to not only write - but to live.

Bruce Conforth

During the Sweetland Writer to Writer conversation, a typical student was able to get a rare glimpse into the writing that Michigan’s very own professors do outside the classroom and how they overcome challenges that we, as students, tend to struggle with ourselves. This week, the Sweetland Writing Center interviewed Bruce Conforth. Bruce is famous for writing about the story of Robert Johnson’s life since he spent the last forty years researching him. Although this was intriguing to hear, what was most inspiring was what Bruce stated later on in the interview about his writing techniques. He talked about how he thought there was a relationship between writing and music. He believes that these two ideas are both performances since when you are writing/playing at your best, you tend to forget what you are doing – It just flows out of the body and the soul. I also thought that it was interesting that academic writing for him was extremely tough. It was hard for him because he struggled with the idea of “whether or not he had the authority to write what he was writing about.” It wasn’t until he read a book that opened up his eyes to the thought that academic writing could be literature. He figured out, as most of us are figuring this out now, that you need to put yourself in the writing because if you do not acknowledge your presence, your writing lacks a sense of audience engagement.

            The other part that I found fascinating was that during the beginning of his writing process, his room is a mess. He said that at this writing stage, his room is filled with random papers. I found this amusing because this is exactly what my room looks like. He also doesn’t have a writing ritual even though he stated that he does most of his writing during the early morning and late night, while taking the afternoon to rest.

By listening, I noticed that I had similar challenges that I faced during the writing process and I was also able to learn how a professional overcomes these challenges. Bruce believes that the most important tool for students when they are writing is not to think what other people’s opinions are. He also hopes that other people’s writings will make him forget that he is reading. By attending this interview, I was able to listen to great advice that I could use when I am beginning my writing process for my next essay.

Bruce Conforth Extra Credit

Tuesday night I was very happy that I attended Bruce Conforth's interview with one of the Sweetland Writing Center tutors, as he shared his words of wisdom about life and writing. Conforth discussed the importance of being able read in order to write. He said that the two just go together, which I believe is true as well. You can’t be a good writer, if you can’t read other people’s work. Through developing a love of reading, we see how other writers are able to share their message. Bruce went on to talk about the importance of being able to tell your story. He said that you can do this through several artistic means-drawing, writing, etc. Those words hit me because I often forget that I should try to tell my story in life.

He was so sincere and caring, reminding us of the words Robin Williams once spoke in Dead Poet’s Society, “Carpe Diem.” He then proceeded to look at each of us and remind us how important we are as individuals in the world. This meant a lot to me. I think with everything going on around us, we can sometimes forget to just pause and focus on us as individuals. If we did focus more on us as individuals we might be able focus more on our story. Bruce mentioned how pleased he was that writing is starting to become more and more personalized,which is truly amazing. Writing is an individual, personal process that has a lot of meaning, emotions,and feelings. We all should get the chance to tell our story, but that will include hard work and self-worth. 

Bruce Conforth's Talk

Bruce Conforth is a specialist in American traditional music and a faculty member of UM. Tonight, I listened to his talk about music and writing. Although I am not familiar with blue music and Robert Johnson, I got something inspiring from him.

I love the way he thinks of the relationship between music and writing. He said that they are both performances, which means we put ourselves into the process as if the guitar is playing you or the pen is flowing on you. When he talked about academic writing, he admitted that he used to have many concerns like whether he has the authority to discuss a certain thing or the right to write about another culture. But he realized that academic writing could be literature. In fact, when writing, he was creating culture.

He told us that in the writing class he is teaching, he assigned journaling, reaction papers and of course, a lot of readings. Journaling is important because it shows who you are. ‘Ultimately we are all stories,’ he said. For reaction papers, he asks students to pick up prompts they are interested in and make them narrower and narrower to precise points. He hopes that the students’ works can make him forget he is reading but feel like existing in a world the students create for him.

I think he is an optimistic and encouraging person. He said that everyone is a miracle and we need to be reminded of this truth every day. To waste our talents or to do something, it depends on our choice.