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Copyright © 2009 by Donald Gerz |
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Links to Works
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Over 40 Works in 6 Areas of Literature, Academics, and Teaching
On this 6-part site, you will find a collection of over 40 works that can be accessed by double-clicking the links on the left-hand side of this page under the heading, "Links to Works.”
The works are from the following areas: 1.) fiction, 2.) poetry, 3.) general academic writings, 4.) critical theory, philosophy, pratical philosophy (philosophies of life), and spirituality , 5.) works on or about English secondary education, and 6.) a brief summation of my teaching and business experience, as well as the highlights of my formal education.
I hope you will enjoy and profit from reading these literary and academic efforts as much as I learned from composing them.
Yours, Don Gerz
The Continuing Adventures of Shorthand Ed
I hope you will find these bewildering adventures to be comical (yes, the plentiful malapropisms are intentional) and perhaps even amusing. I mean Shorthand Ed to be an idealistic and impractical tall tale hero resembling Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and the rest of that genre’s pantheon, yet in a self-deprecating way. However, because he is thoroughly postmodern, Ed must nimbly negotiate the fractured and dissociative realities of our disjointed times. As with other legendary heroes, he throws in his lot with “the common folk.” As such, he is hopelessly egalitarian and an incorrigible populist. However, unlike traditional tall tale heroes, Ed has inadequacies (though none of character).
"Mr. Obvious"
In this short piece, the "hero" spends the day doing ordinary stuff. At first inspection, he does not seem to derive insight from what is happening around him. However, Mr. Obvious turns out to have some insight because he has a natural appreciation for ordinary beauty happening around him and especially for how to adapt to what is undesirable. (The bed and the great room were inspired by Alice and Wonderland). "Mr. Obvious is a parable that reflects a fascination with the mystery of the ordinary...untapped sources of sublime perceptions.
The poems in this second section are listed in chronological order from 1968 to the present. Since I was only twenty-two when I wrote the first ones in the late Sixties, the reader may find it profitable to begin at the end of this document with the poems written this year. (In thirty-nine years of writing poetry, I believe the later poems are, for the most part, superior to my earlier efforts...at least, I hope so!)
In this third section, you will discover a proposal for a thesis paper on a Shakespearean topic, two thesis papers (one on film and literature and another on a Shakespearean topic), an I-Search paper proposal, an I-Search paper, and a research paper on a topic in African-American literature.
In this fourth section of the site, works on or about critical theory and philosophy are featured. Theory, as it is currently understood..."no longer confines itself to the study of literature: its discourses now extend well beyond literature to intersect with anthropology, philosophy, psychology, linguistics, political science, and much else" (Michael Groden, ed. “Preface.” 2005. The Johns Hopkins Online Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism). Figures and systems of thought include Structuralism-Poststructuralism, Hegel, Marx and Classical Marxism, Gramsci, Althusser, Benjamin, Formalism, Eichenbaum, Shklovsky, Tomashevsky, Propp, Jakobson, Saussure, Semiology, Semiotics, Culler, Kristeva, Kant, Husserl, Phenomenology, Foucault, Psychoanalysis, Freud, Lacan, Deconstruction, Nietzsche, Heidegger, and Derrida, among others.
In this fifth section, you will find papers on teaching grammar within the writing process and language-based language development for the learning-disabled, as well as two websites (“College Prep Assistance for the Humanities” and “Writers’ Workshop: 2001-2007”). Also featured are notes on the nature of myth, a position paper entitled, "Why Johnny and Suzie Cannot Write Well," a thesis paper with highlighted topic sentences, and a teaching handout on a novel (Big Fish). Finally, you will find my remarks for a panel discussion on teaching, my philosophy of education, suggestions on how to understand literature, and the infamous "White Elephant Assignment." Of all the writing assignments I have ever given, "The White Elephant" elicited the greatest amount of fascination, academic performance, and considered thought among my students!
6th Area - Qualifications and Credentials
FORMAL EDUCATION: High School Degree (Honors Program) at Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas, Texas (1961-1965) / Bachelor of Arts Degree in English and Philosophy at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas (1965-1970) / Postgraduate Studies in Philosophy at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas (1971-1972) / Earned 21 Semester Hours (7 Courses) in Psychology at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia with a 3.86 GPA (1990-1992), as well as 39 Semester Hours (13 Courses) in English and English Secondary Education at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia with a 4.00 GPA (1998-2004)
TEACHING EXPERIENCE: 22 Years in Private Secondary Education / Awards: 1.) Star Teacher of the Year (April 2002) from Georgia Perimeter College, 2.) The Lewis Award (June 2003) as Mill Springs Academy’s “Teacher of the Year,” 3.) Voted by Mill Springs Academy’s Upper School students as “The Teacher from Whom I Learned the Most,” and 4.) Mill Springs Academy's Yearbook Dedication: 2006-'07
MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS: "Language-Based Learning Disorders and Language Development: Surmounting the 'Insurmountable'" (Paper). Connections. The Georgia Council of Teachers of English: Columbus, Georgia. 2005. / “Guido’s Gift” (Poem). Shout Them from the Mountain Tops: Georgia Poems. 2003.
MOST RECENT LECTURE: "Critical Theory and the Boy in the Sycamore Tree: An Informal Lecture in Search of a Story in Search of an Informal Lecture.” Kennesaw State University. February 26, 2007.
BUSINESS EXPERIENCE: For 13 years (1976-1989), served as the southeastern U.S. territory sales and marketing manager for Miles Scientific Corporation (pathology: histology, cytology, and cell culture), Cobe Laboratories (hematology: RBCs and apheresis), Vick Chemical Corporation (general dentistry and oral surgery), and other companies that designed and manufactured medical, research, and hospital laboratory equipment and systems. / Award: Alabama Society for Histotechnology’s Outstanding Corporate Representative
