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Blog #10

1 May 2022

I know that we had more time to complete this but I wanted to make sure that I got it finished so I did not forget to do it.

Writing the contribution notes or biography was fairly simple since I did not have any previous publications to highlight. I did mention being an English teacher, my degree, and the city I live in. After writing it, I was able to better consider which journals I wanted to submit to an if any restrictions such as geographical would limit my ability to get published.

I am currently considering Assisi, Barnstorm, and The Blue Nib I will be continuing to do research to see if there are other journals that I would be able to submit this work to or publish some of my other work.

I choose these publications due to the fact they allow simultaneous submissions, have no fees, are currently accepting, and most importantly will fit my story.

Writing the cover letter was not particularly difficult as I had done it previously when trying to submit for other journals. I was a little rusty so to speak but, the actual submission is the part that really matters.

I have really enjoyed this course and seeing everyone's work. Best of luck!

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Blog #9 Reflection

30 April 2022

The revision and editing process was fairly simple. It helped having both the letter and form from Kaitlyn. We did have the opportunity to have a Teams meeting as a group with Lizzie which was amazing and very beneficial.

I think that it helped having someone who is not an English major reading my story. While Kaitlyn is incredibly well read, she could give use the insight of her spouse as a screenwriter too and how I could add details in my story.

My biggest weakness was character descriptions and elaborating on the paintings that I mentioned. I think that this will make it easier to visualize and relate to the narrative.

It also was useful having been through this inexperience before. I could draw on it to consider the larger impacts of my changes. Even though the changes I made were minimal they did have a noticeable effect on the story.

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Blog #8 What Happens Exactly?

28 March 2022

Plot

So as I have mentioned previously my story is centered around the tenure status of the aging art professor Dr. Dimitry (whose name I have changed the spelling of several times). My story starts in media res with Dr. Dimitry having a meeting with his department chair Dr. Conrad.

Dr. Conrad emphasizes the struggles that he believes Dr. Dimitry has been facing including not connecting to his students. Dr. Conrad brings up the idea of retiring which they have discussed before but, Dr. Dimitry still does not want to hear him.

Dr. Dimitry leaves the meeting clearly frustrated as he goes to teach one of his undergraduate intermediate drawing courses. He begins his lesson on the importance of water as a symbol and object. He models several different methods to a disinterested crowd.

Dr. Dimitry ridicules his students and demonstrates his forgetfulness as he repeats multiple points over. Dr. Dimitry concludes the lecture early exasperated and enraged.

Dr. Conrad has a meeting with the university lawyer Alex Cabot before contacting the university president, dean of the college of Liberal Arts, and the university provost to initiate the hearing.

Climax

The climax will be the calling of the due process hearing. The falling action and resolution will be very quick. Just before the hearing takes place Dr. Dimitry will call Dr. Iman, his physician to serve as a principal witness for his defense. The meeting will have the testimony of all of the characters including two students, one graduate and one undergraduate. Then the part everyone anticipates the decision is made (spoiler I am planning that his tenure will be revoked).

Conflict

The reader should be able to clearly be able to identify that the conflict is based around Dr. Dimitry but he should not be an entirely sympathetic character. Although he is obviously tragic he has huge flaws. The other characters are more minor and supporting so they may not be the best to identify with. It should leave the reader questioning whether the right decision was made, hopefully.

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Blog #7 Neuro Research

21 March, 2022

When discussing the mental capacity of Dr. Dimitry it is best that I have a better understanding of the brain aside from my precursory knowledge from the introductory psychology class I took six years ago.

Similar to other parts of the body the brain ages. Unfortunately for people it is also one of the fast organs to age as evidenced in a 2015 study titled Integrated Transcriptome and Proteome Analyses Reveal Organ-Specific Proteome Deterioration in Old Rats. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2015.08.012)

However as with the rest of the body with proper care a person can live a healthy life. As noted by R. Peters in their article on ageing and the brain "Biological ageing is not tied absolutely to chronological ageing and it may be possible to slow biological ageing and even reduce the possibility of suffering from age related diseases such as dementia." (10.1136/pgmj.2005.036665).

This is of little consequence for my character as he has already been in severe cognitive decline. I hesitate to give any official diagnosis or prognosis as I did not want to limit myself or my character in the story. Although the character's decline is consequently being the reason that their tenure is revoked, I did not want to have to write them in a certain way.

For example, although hearing is linked to aging and mental decline I did not write my character as hard of hearing. I think that it would have impacted the likeability of the character to constantly having them ask questions and have others repeat themselves. It would not be very entertaining. Additionally, I have to consider that my story is not the most relatable to begin with and so any attempts to isolate my character could alienate my reader.

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/hearing-loss-linked-to-mental-decline-in-elderly/?msclkid=8f5d6b9ca97d11ecab7137d2ab6209c8

Obviously with my character being older (81 to be exact) I will have to distinguish between the normal effects of aging and the more severe components that are keeping him from performing his duties as a professor.

It was particularly insightful to read more about Subjective Cognitive Decline. It is typically a self-reported documentation of increased confusion and memory loss. Although I will not have my character using the language, I will have his physician and his department chair use the term.

https://www.cdc.gov/aging/data/subjective-cognitive-decline-brief.html?msclkid=63426646a97d11ec9abfcf0cdcd9de5f

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Blog 6 Point of View

Similar to Tandolfo the Great I plan to write my story in third person perspective. However, I am trying to have it be more omniscient than the short story by Bausch.

I want to examine the psychology of my characters a little more and get more at what they are thinking. While Dr. Dmitri is the main focus of the story and his thoughts will be the most prevalent, I did not want to write it in his perspective so as to create a bias. Furthermore, since the narrative is about Dr. Dmitri's mental decline it would create an unreliability in the narrative that I did not want to introduce. I think it would be an interesting exercise to swap the point of view, but it would drastically change the story.

I would also add that I disdain second person. While it can be a fun gimmick, I do not think is worth trying to make a short story out of.

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Part 2

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Possible Paintings

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Blog 5 Setting

Describing the setting should be one of the easier tasks when writing this story.

Since the University at Albany is a real place it will be simple to reference pictures of the outside of the buildings.

As far as the inside of the classrooms I will just draw on my experiences from Mercer and Clayton.

The tenure review board will be a generic conference room. I am thinking about modelling it on one of the various board of education rooms I have been in. Most of the setups have a panel and seating for guests or witnesses. It can be very similar to a court room. One could also think on the recent UN Security Council meeting.

I do not think that I will need to have the characters go to the doctor's office as I am planning on having Dr. Iman show up to the review board.

I will not be describing much if anything off the university since it would not be a meaningful contribution.

I do not think I am going to have any season changes as I am planning on only have it take place in a short time period. Possibly only the spring semester.

I will be referring to India and Russia so I will have to keep that in mind when addressing the setting. These references will large be as a means of comparison and contrast to juxtapose the current setting in the United States.

Since the action is in New York I do want to include the stereotypical sounds of pigeons cooing, cars honking, and people bustling around.

The majority of the action will be indoors in classrooms and offices however, I will be selective as to when and where certain sounds such as typing or writing on chalkboards are amplified for the sake of character analysis and development.

My first scene is Dr. Dmitry walking into his department chair's Dr. Conrad's office. I am thinking of having a painting included in each of my scenes to capture the emotions and attitudes of the respective characters.

I did not include a painting on my first page because I did not have room. However for Dr. Conrad it would be an abstract painting such as this one below.

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Blog 4 Art History Research

At first I was not sure what I wanted to focus my research on since there are many aspects which I need to learn more about so that I can better develop it in my story. However, one of the most critical would be about art. It would seem rather foolish to write about an art professor and not be able to mention art in some capacity.

For the sake of simplicity and my own sanity I decided to narrow my frame to the realist period since my main character is based on a realist artist.

Similar to many other artistic and cultural movements the realist genre springs from France. Although it is typically documented as starting in the 18th century it does not become globally popular or significant until the 19th century. Given the prior romantic sensibilities the values of the artists were very reactionary and depicting things as they were rather than how they should be or how we perceive them through bias. The French Realists especially used the genre to make social commentary and critique.

This ideology was continued internationally. One of the most common features across cultures were illustrations of working or common people. This is much a continuation of the romantic period however, the people are more likely to be suffering or in pain. The lessons on class and socioeconomic status were often emphasized by contrasting natural imagery which had been previously seen as all good.

Both the setting and the characters shown have varying degrees of power. Movement is another critical element. In the Russian tradition the first iteration of realist were called the The Peredvizhniki (Wanderers). This name was due to many factors most notably the need for the artists to travel extensively in order to have a life and successful career. Additionally, movement is communicated and simulated in the art which can make the audience question the nature of progress and where society is heading.

The artist Dmitry Levin, whom Dr. Dmitry is based on is also viewed as a realist in his style despite being a more modern or contemporary artist. He is still making paintings to this day though he is not as popular as he was in his early career in the 2000s and 2010s.

The image above is one of his paintings entitled Waves. Water is a common feature of his paintings and many other realists. Water is a difficult object to capture since being stagnant or moving can drastically change how it is captured. Furthermore, the emotions of the piece can shift considerably.

Unlike his predecessors Dmitry does not usually depict people. He has a greater catalog of nature based work. The titles of his pieces clue the viewer into the deeper meaning and political stance. For example Hunting is worse than slavery.

Here are some of the sources I analyzed when looking for material.

https://musings-on-art.org/institute-of-russian-realist-art

https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rlsm/hd_rlsm.htm

https://impressionist1877.tripod.com/realism.htm

http://estrand.bol.ucla.edu/

http://artrussia.ru/en/Dmitry_Levin/works/7#artworks

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Blog 3 Main Character Syndrome

As I mentioned in my previous entry I will be writing about Dr. Dmitry Evegeni Fillip an old male art professor at University at Albany in New York. Born in 1941, Dr. Dmitry was able to witness many atrocities in Soviet Russia. After fleeing Russia in 1991 after the collapse of the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) Dr. Dmitry was able to immigrate to the New York and establish a better life in the United States. After securing tenure quickly only four years later due to his prior experience, in 1995 Dr. Dmitry remained committed to the university and his pupils. Now at the age of 81 and having taught for the past 31 years (26 of which he was tenured) his capabilities are being brought into question. Dr. Dmitry desperately wants to retain his status and position at the school as they are the only things he has left in life.

I do not know why but I picture Dr. Dmitry looking like Tchaikovsky.

Before I get into my story I wanted to disclose some other information about my characters. Of course this information would come up eventually, it is more just about me getting my thoughts documented.

Dr. Gatik Hasham Iman was born in 1971. After completing medical school and his residency at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in 1983 he found a position at St. Peter's Surgery Physicians in Albany. Unfortunately, he was unable to secure visas for his wife and parents. After becoming a citizen in 2000 he still could not get his family proper documentation. After the wake of 9/11 he stopped trying and goes to visit his family back in the Puducherry Union Territory of India.

I picture Dr. Iman as Nirmalya Kumar.

Alec Benjamin Cabot was born in Buffalo, NY in 1984. After completing his law degree from Syracuse in 2009 he worked for a variety of firms before landing a position at the university.

I picture Alec as Chris Hargreaves (a lawyer/youtuber).

I picture Dr. Darcell Conrad the department chair like the image below.

https://www.jipmer.edu.in/contact-us

https://www.sphp.com/find-a-doctor/

Now the good part the beginning.

Walking can be an arduous task especially when all of your life you have had to run. However, walking towards the blast is one of the dumbest things you can do. Of course most people would not compare walking into a meeting with your department chair to the nuclear fallout of Chernobyl. Dr. Dmitry Evegeni Fillip would not normally either, especially since he had been in the former USSR on that tragic day. Today was a deeper disaster. Apparently, he was just like that fateful reactor falling apart at the seams about to explode.

Then again it is hard to confront two events was how inconceivable it was. Once they had been powerhouses, symbols of might and glory now, Dr. Dmitry hoped he would not be deemed so decrepit and delipidated as to be condemned.

Dr. Darcell Conrad, who was the department chair of the arts program at the University at Albany, could not possibly relate to Dr. Dmitry. For starters Dr. Conrad was American. Despite the fact that the cold war had ended in 1991 with the collapse of the Soviet Union four years before he had even been born in '95 he still distrusted the Russians. An art prodigy who had completed his undergraduate at Julliard at the age of 18 and his doctorates from Yale at the age of 22 he was tenured at 24 and department chair at 27. Dr. Dmitry could not help but hate this pompous douche. It had taken him four years to get tenured and he had been the Dean of the Russian Academy of Arts. He had been teaching at the University at Albany for 31 years and received tenure the same year Dr. Conrad was born. Aside from that he could not complain much. Things in Russia were much worse and overall Dr. Conrad had not bothered him too often.

Then again it is hard to confront crazy old Russian man who is a foot taller than you, and a hundred pounds heavier. Embracing millennial fashion such as a manbun and faux glasses did not exactly give you much credibility to the man who had Stalin and Lenin as deities to worship.

That was the problem though. Dr. Dmitry did not think that state figures should receive exaltation and endless praise. Dr. Dmitry hated the communists even more than some Americans. There was a reason why he had came to this country in the first place. The only thing that the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics had given him was fear and death. All he had in his home town of Kulga was the graves of his family.

As Dr. Dmitry hobbled closer to the door he thought about his own death. At 81 years old he could kick the bucket at anytime as the English speakers would say. The Russians did have one superiority in their language. He whispered to himself "Дву́м смертя́м не быва́ть, одно́й не минова́ть". It roughly meant that one can’t have two deaths, but you can’t avoid one. He chuckled slowly to himself as he knocked on the door to Dr. Conrad's office. Maybe the Bolsheviks were wrong, after all look at the Mensheviks he thought. Does the paint I leave behind mean that I am still here?

"Come in Comrade" cried Dr. Conrad.

What a cruel joke. Dr. Dmitry pondered to himself, if my paintings are my survivors may their death be swift.

"Мно́го бу́дешь знать, ско́ро соста́ришься" replied Dr. Dmitry coldly.

"You know I have no idea what you're saying."

"Сила есть, ума не надо "

"Alright enough I get the point you are making. I apologize for my joke."

"Very well. You know I could report you to Sara in HR."

"I do not think it is wise for you to be making threats at this point."

"What threat? I am merely reminding a colleague to consider their actions and language. Perhaps you would do irreparable harm."

"I am too tired for this."

"Am I not tired? Fleeing from an oppressive country, to another which hates everyone who is not from here. Despised for things that are not my makings. Learning a new language and culture that differs greatly from my own. Teaching to talentless youth who care not for process but merely want wealth and fame... It is because your coffee is too weak. You put in way too much creamer and sugar."

"I am not the barista at Starbucks, I just get coffee there. Just because I am department chair does not mean I do any less work than you. In fact it is ten times more. If you hate the students that much maybe you should consider retiring as we talked about before."

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Blog 2

I want to write on and old male art professor his personal physician and the university's lawyer.

I am debating about where exactly I would start but I am still contemplating in media res as the text suggests.

Currently, I am thinking about having my main character, Dr. Dmitry (Dmitri) Evegeni Fillip (Phillip) go to his department chair Dr. Darcell Conrad (Comrade) {an unimportant figure who should not be reoccurring} regarding his status as a tenured professor at the University at Albany in New York.

The reason I have their names is parenthesis is because I plan to have that be an exploration of my story and the significance of names. The spellings in the parenthesis are misspellings and the pun Conrad and Comrade. I further want to integrate this as part of their respective characters as this will illustrate how people are ignorant of Russian culture (although I am by no means an expert) and the expectations we place on people due to our preconceived notions.

Dr. Dmitry is named after the Russian realist painter Dmitry Levin that I did a project on for my Interdisciplinary Studies class on Understanding Russian Culture through its literature.

While going into a meeting is not a "break from routine" one does not often think about a professor having their tenure revoked. This is also can serve as the central conflict.

Alec Benjamin (Ben) Cabot is the university lawyer who is advocating for the school to get Dr. Dmitry to leave and the primary antagonist.

Dr. Gatik Hisham Iman is the personal physician to Dr. Dmitry he tries to convince the review board that Dr. Dmitry is still in good health and capable of teaching. Dr. Iman is a main character but largely a supporting one.

Slowly, I plan to reveal more information about each main character and how their experiences have informed who they are and the place they are at when we are seeing them in the narrative.

For instance, I want Dr. Dmitry to come from before the Soviet Union collapsed but I am trying to figure how far back I want to go and what age he will be. Anywhere from 70-90. However, I am trying to think about global events so I can examine Russian, American, and Indian history.

Aside from the conflict surrounding tenure I want to see the characters struggle in their daily lives as well however, I want it to largely be professional and not incorporate some sort of family drama.

I have not thought about how specifically the families will be structured but at this point I think that Alec will be the only one who has contact with his family. For Dr. Dmitry I am thinking that all his relatives will be dead and for Dr. Iman I am thinking that all of his relatives will still be in India.

The point of view will primarily be in third person omniscient so the audience has all the information but I am thinking that certain sections will have Dr. Dmitry's first person view.

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Blog 1 Introduction

Hello!

For those of you who do not know already my name is Anthony.

Welcome to the new edition of my blog. In my final semester of the M.A.T program I have the opportunity to refine my blogging skills and writing capabilities in my fiction class. Needless to say, the tone will greatly differ from the previous iteration with my nonfiction work.

In my original first post I explained the imposter syndrome I have surrounding creative writing. While this will take a while to overcome, I think that it has improved to a certain extent.

This year as part of my requirements I will be the lead/primary teacher in my mentor's classroom. I am teaching eleventh grade American Literature and co-teaching an Advanced Placement (AP) Literature and an AP Language & Composition course. So, I guess it goes without saying that I love English and writing. Although as I told my mentor and my students I am definitely more comfortable with academic style writing. However, I am a big nerd who has aspirations of studying postmodernism through a deconstructionist lens if I am admitted to one of the Ph.D. programs I applied to. (Boston University, University of Tennessee Knoxville, and Emory University).

When I do write fiction I tend to lean into philosophical and psychological themes. I have been influenced in part by the dystopian works of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Yevgeny Zamyatin. One of my favorite pieces I wrote during my short fiction class in undergraduate was entitled Hunger Speaks, about a woman who suffered from the trauma of her husband's gruesome suicide (burned alive in their house). She decides to make a fresh start as an actress in New York with her infant son (as cliche as that is). On their way they get in a collision on the highway with a tractor trailer in Greensboro North Carolina (only an hour away from their house in Biscoe North Carolina). She suffers a psychotic break after realizing her son is dead. Still determined she begins starving to death as she continues on her journey. Finally she arrives in a hair salon in New York and utters her last words "J'ai la dalle" {I am starving in French} as Hunger says to her "Feed Me!"

I was inspired by my professor to be as sadistic to my characters to maximize their pain and the connection to the audience. I thought it was interesting to see how people reading the story got distinct things from it and how they all read it so differently. While I do not plan to become a novelist, I am eager to go through the publishing process.

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Blog 10

Starved for Attention.

This fragment marks the conclusion of my essay and of the class. It has been a fabulous experience to see everyone's journey. I hope that my final product is as entertaining to watch as it was to produce.

Without further ado, I present my recantation of my experience.

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Blog 9 Reflections

I made the corrections my peers mentioned in my draft. I also tried to stay aware of the general comments for the class about unnecessary dialogues. I took out the quotes from the beginning since they did not serve any purpose and I think that definitely helped the introduction. The other major issue was transitions. I think that I have mostly resolved them but I could improve on them further. It will all depend on any information that I choose to add. I added an image at the end of my paper but, I am not sure if I want to put it earlier in the piece. Lastly, I reread my paper and caught a few mistakes that I did not notice the first time. Hopefully, when I read it again I will be able to fine tune it more. I am currently debating on which section of my paper I would like to focus on for my video essay. Given the feedback I received the ending was the strongest part but, I am not sold on the idea yet. I think the imagery is the strongest here so it would be the easiest to produce however, I like a good challenge occasionally so I will have to consider all of my options.

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Blog #8 Research

18 October 2021

“If we can find the money to kill people we can find the money to help people.” - Tony Benn

I found out that the organization also partners with the school I am doing my student teaching at. In addition to serving as a source of food, Atlanta Community Food Bank offers training on food handling and preparation. One of the trainings they offer helps individuals/ organizations obtain ServSafe certification giving them more opportunities. Not only does it allow the individual/organization to promote better practices, but it allows them to help the food bank's mission. When people are aware of food safety they significantly decrease the number of and likelihood of spreading food-borne illnesses.

Of course the resources provided through the ACFB take financial backing. I was surprised to see how impactful small donations could be. According to the organization $1 could provide up to four meals.

However, the biggest resource that the ACFB needs is volunteers. The impacts of Covid have greatly reduced the number of active volunteers. Furthermore restrictions limit how many people can volunteer at events. The best way to get involved currently is through the local level and partner organizations. Knowing now that my school partners I hope to increase my own involvement.

https://www.acfb.org/partner-resources/

https://engage.acfb.org/site/Donation2?df_id=8747&8747.donation=form1

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Blog # 7

4 October 2021

“My soul is in the sky.” — William Shakespeare

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1r3JHWpZaog7kRKUuGrnnQ-xkMDi5BHXz&usp=sharing.

Here it is over a decade later since my first flight and I have not flown since. As you already know there are a lot of circumstances that have played into this scenario.

All I can say is...

"What is the deal with airplane food?"

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Blog #6 Collage

I started designing my collage and found that I was not entirely satisfied with my first one so I wanted to adjust so things so that way it did not have as many memes. I also wanted to see if I could simplify things and make it more polished. I used a platform called poster my wall which you may see the watermark for. I have used the program before for my graduate assistantship to make promotional flyers so, I was already familiar with it.