Douglas Haynes was a wonderful man. His personality was lively and refreshing. His enthusiasm for teaching was evident all throughout his talking with us. I feel guilty that I did not take more of an advantage of the chance to ask Douglas questions.
Our class as a whole seemed terse and lethargic that day; I am just glad Douglas had energy and patience. He knew that students need time to think and then prodding after the professor asks a question. His way of making sure we continued to talk forced us to make this opportunity interactive.
Personally, I could not stop looking at his forehead, then back down at his facial expressions.
One could tell that literary wisdom was spurting out in bits and pieces ready for us to gobble up. I am glad that the tension/conflict angle is now going to be used in the reviewing of others workshops; I personally was fascinated by his angle on that idea. His insistence that stories need forward motion was reasonable.
When he asked the question of what makes a story, I rolled my eyes and was going to answer \"plot.\" Theresa had a different idea, narrative voice, which I think is just as valid. One can't even have a plot if there is not a narrative voice.
I was thrilled when Douglas said that he also uses the Tell it Slant book. I was afraid that this book was obscure and nobody would know what I was talking about if I mentioned a 'braided' essay.
The grand finale of Douglas' reading about corn was well worth the wait. The powerful words brought various corn memories to my own mind, from growing it as a kid to running through it as a teenager, to many summers of eating that sweet, yellow sugar with gobs of butter. Douglas was just a bit corny, in more ways that one, but that was what made him endearing.
Our class as a whole seemed terse and lethargic that day; I am just glad Douglas had energy and patience. He knew that students need time to think and then prodding after the professor asks a question. His way of making sure we continued to talk forced us to make this opportunity interactive.
Personally, I could not stop looking at his forehead, then back down at his facial expressions.
One could tell that literary wisdom was spurting out in bits and pieces ready for us to gobble up. I am glad that the tension/conflict angle is now going to be used in the reviewing of others workshops; I personally was fascinated by his angle on that idea. His insistence that stories need forward motion was reasonable.
When he asked the question of what makes a story, I rolled my eyes and was going to answer \"plot.\" Theresa had a different idea, narrative voice, which I think is just as valid. One can't even have a plot if there is not a narrative voice.
I was thrilled when Douglas said that he also uses the Tell it Slant book. I was afraid that this book was obscure and nobody would know what I was talking about if I mentioned a 'braided' essay.
The grand finale of Douglas' reading about corn was well worth the wait. The powerful words brought various corn memories to my own mind, from growing it as a kid to running through it as a teenager, to many summers of eating that sweet, yellow sugar with gobs of butter. Douglas was just a bit corny, in more ways that one, but that was what made him endearing.
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