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July/August,2007
Dear Great Books Supporter,
In this issue, be sure not to miss the Leader Workshop Recap. There are a number of good tips for those unable to attend the workshop. Also, we have the poetry reading list for this year's Annual Poetry Weekend.
We are continuing the Great Books discussions founded by Robert Hutchins and Mortimer Adler of the University of Chicago in 1947. GBSF (serving Northern California) is a volunteer organization of motivated readers. We coordinate over 40 existing groups, provide leader training and sponsor literary events in scenic locations.
If you know someone who might be interested in receiving this E-Newsletter, just click on the "Forward email" link at the bottom of this page. Enter your friend's name and email address and we will send him or her a copy.
There are a number of links (click here) available for more information. You may have to double click where it says click here depending on your email program. You can reach our website by clicking on "More about us" in the Quick Links box or by clicking on the GBSF logo at the top of this page.
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Long Novel Weekend
August 25 & 26, 2007, Walker Creek Ranch, Near Petaluma, CA
Time is running out! You still have the opportunity of spending a Great Books Weekend at Walker Creek Ranch, but you need to sign up soon. Very soon. Besides, you'll need some time for reading this year's long novel, The Sound aan the Fury, Vintage International Edition (ISBN 0-679-73224-1) by William Faulkner. This, although quite a challenging book, is one of the great classics of American literature. So don't miss it.
Did you ever come to the end of a Great Books discussion knowing there was more in the book worth talking about? Were you wishing the discussion could go on for another hour or two? Novelists don't always package their work so that their books can either be read over a few sittings or discussed in two hours.
At the Long Novel Weekend we recognize that and give our novels the time they deserve. We too, of course, have our limits - six hours of discussion, but that's usually adequate without taking it too far in the other direction and beating the book to death.
True, we must devote more of our time before the weekend to reading the novel and preparing for the discussions. That is not necessarily a bad thing. Those who come to Walker Creek Ranch are as well prepared as any participants or leaders you will ever encounter in Great Books. We take the novels seriously and that makes for good discussions.
Throughout its history, the Long Novel Weekend has been the scene for discussions of some of the greatest of all novels - War and Peace, The Brothers Karamazov, Ulysses, Moby Dick, The Magic Mountain and Middlemarch are a few that, in past years, we have read and discussed. This year's novel, The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner continues our commitment to great literature. It's shorter than other novels we have discussed, but don't let fewer pages fool you. This is a complex novel that can neither be read nor discussed hurriedly. We've set aside six hours for the discussions and you'll need to set aside some time for reading Faulkner's classic. And like each of the other novels mentioned above, this is a highly rewarding piece of literature.
The cost is $140 per person. For more information and a registration form, double click here or contact Chuck Scarcliff, ckdxs@sbcglobal.net or 916-428-4672 with your questions.
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22nd Annual Poetry Weekend
November 10-11, 2007, Westminster Retreat in Alamo
Reluctant poetry-weekender now hooked.
When Roger Ellman attended the poetry weekend in 2006 he had to be lured with the promise of the bucolic setting and the friendly people he'd met at the Tilden Park events. Poetry had never been a top priority and in fact even after reading the selections he felt cool about the experience. However to please Santa Rosa Great Books discussion participant Max, his wife, he "went along". But he brought along alternate reading matter as insurance.
As it turned out Roger didn't open those books because he became so involved in the poetry discussions. "I had not realized how much there was to be gotten out of good poetry via free interaction with others. The group meetings gave me new insights and, after all, how could one not enjoy intelligent discussion with intelligent people?"
"Besides," he adds, "the food was great and the companionship of my new poetry friends outstanding."
(Editor's note: Roger is a poet-composer-physicist and Max is a writer-artist. To view Roger's website double click here.)
Here are the poems that the Poetry Committee has selected for The Poetry Weekend in November 2007: One session devoted to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Session theme: The Observed Self
Faint Music Robert Hass
Each Bird Walking Tess Gallagher
Man and Wife Robert Lowell
On Looking in the Looking Glass Isabella Gardner
Poem Frank O'Hara
Still the Mind Smiles Robinson Jeffers
Potpourri:
The Flight of Swans Robinson Jeffers
Wise Men In Their Bad Hours Robinson Jeffers
Snake D.H. Lawrence (AS95)
Blossom Mary Oliver
Men at Forty Donald Justice
Taking Off Emily Dickinson's
Clothes Billy Collins
Sonnet CXXX William Shakespeare
The cost for the weekend is $150. For more information click here. Previous participants will automatically receive applications. If you have NOT been to the Poetry Weekend before, please contact us for an application. We will send out all applications starting mid-August, 2007. Contact: Theda or Oscar Firschein at 650-854-3980, or email oscarf1@earthlink.net.
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Leader Workshop Recap
Leaders Take to the Woods
In a room nestled between emerald lawn bowling greens and an oak forest, on Saturday, July 21, at Rossmoor in Walnut Creek, sixteen motivated Great Bookies exchanged ideas, questions, and answers about leading Great Books discussions. Outside, teams of lawn bowlers, dressed in their whites, played with quiet intensity.
Resource leaders Barbara McConnell, Mary Wood, Brent Browning, and Rick and Kay White welcomed Catherine Sugrue, Thelma Benjamin, Jan White, Sheri Kindsvater, Tracy Oliver, Karen Schneider, Susana Conde, Rob Calvert, Pam Loucks, and Polly Amrein with training tips and exercises. The do's and the don'ts of forming questions about a reading were the first order of business. Fact questions allowed only under special circumstances, evaluative questions only at the end of a discussion, interpretive questions throughout, frequent reference to pages and lines within the text. The core of the Shared Inquiry syllabus jumped right into our conversation about interpretive questions, the central point for leading discussions. Catherine brought her years of leading both junior and adult Great Books to the group.
Brent described how he prepares to lead a discussion. In advance, he reads the selection at least twice, writes down page numbers and quotations. He sorts and
discards questions until he settles on several that will provoke interpretive discussion of key issues in the reading about which he is genuinely uncertain of his own understanding. He selects one to ask first that is designed to set the tone for a productive discussion, often an intriguing situation toward the beginning of the book, seldom a global concept that early in the period. Then he listens as the group tackles the issue and asks occasional followup questions based on genuine curiosity about the ideas that he hears. His control is minimal, keeping participation on topic and open to everyone.
Barbara led us in a discussion of "Evil" and "Good" from Robinson Crusoe's viewpoint. She coped pleasantly and artfully with disruptions that had been planned for the sake of learning -- interrupting, dominating, side-whispering, making outside references, etc. It became clear that not only the leader but the participants can and should help to maintain the Great Books rules of Shared Inquiry.
We headed for lunch at picnic tables in the shade of the oaks. After a relaxing hour, we divided into groups of five for individual leading practice, with a review after each discussion. Most participants said the practice and feedback were the most helpful part of the training.
By four in the afternoon, each person had led, and we came together to debrief. Were there surprises? Yes! What was discovered?
Everyone was supportive.
Be an amiable leader.
Read body language in the group.
Don't call on someone who is not ready.
A prepared leader is obvious to the group. Preparation
helps the group and the discussion.
Silence is okay after a question - brains are in gear.
Allow thinking time.
When a discussion is free flowing, the leader best get
out of the way.
The day was completed by issuing each participant a wallet-size laminated card with the four Rules of Shared Inquiry and 10 Effective Practices for Leaders. Happy hour followed. Mary Wood, our Council's Leader Trainer, will follow up the meeting with opportunities for the participants to lead Great Books discussions.
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Gift Certificates
are available all year to fully or partially cover any GBSF event. For more information contact Lou Alanko at ilovetoread@sbcglobal.net and put Great Books in the subject line.
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Asilomar '08
Help! Help! Help! Next year, 2008, is the 50th Anniversary Asilomar Great Books Weekend. Brian Mahoney is attempting to create a complete list of Asilomar readings 1959-2008. We have the reading lists for the first 25 years. He is missing the following years: 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963 1991, 1992, 1993, l994, 1995, and 1996. If anyone has the reading list(s) for any of these years send your responses directly to Brian Mahoney (510) 317-0523 or brianmahoney55@comcast.net
Also, we are looking for ideas for Asilomar 2008. Was there a particular feature of past Asilomar weekends for which you have fond memories? Is there something you have not seen at Asilomar, but would like to? We could especially use ideas for Saturday night. We would like to know who was at the earliest weekends. Just reply to this email newsletter and we will be sure the information gets to the right people.
Be sure not to miss next year's 50th Anniversary Asilomar '08!
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Thank you for your interest in Great Books. Is there something you would like to know that we can add? This is your e-newsletter, so let us know.
Be sure to forward this email to your friends who might be interested in Great Books. Just click on Forward email at the bottom left.
Sincerely,
Jim Hall
Great Books Council of San Francisco |
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