The Falcon’s Hearth

W. H. Auden (1907-1973). A poet, playwright, translator, librettist, critic, and editor, Wystan Hugh Auden was born in York, England, son of a medical officer and a nurse. He attended Oxford from 1925 to 1928, then taught, traveled, and moved from faculty to faculty of several universities in the United States (where he became a naturalized citizen in 1946).

He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 for his collection The Age of Anxiety, an expression he coined to describe the 1930s. ,While his early writing exhibited Marxist sympathies and reflected the excitement of new Freudian psychoanalytic thought, he later embraced Christianity and produced sharply honed verse in the rhyme and meter of traditional forms.

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Does ``free verse`` mean that only ``doubters`` have this mindset?
Has harmony anything to do with a contented spiritual mind?

Romair,

I dont know what you did, but this is what I do:

English Composition and Literature Adjunct

Teach combined Principles of Effective Writing and Literature courses to college
students as part of the Freshman Year Initiative Program.

Construct curricula that draws on various literary genres and movements so that
student readers and writers are exposed to poetic and analytic interrogations of
scholarly and cultural themes.

Encourage student writers to engage in critical thinking, reflection and evaluation
of various genres and practices such as journal writing, analytical exercises, presentations,
creative responses, multiple drafted essays, peer feedback, work shopping and discourse
communities so that students learn and practice several writing practices during
the semester.

Instruct student writers in the protocol of essay and research paper writing using
Modern Language Association format to ensure familiarity with formal academic formats.

Begin online interactive course activities that help student writers further computer
literacy and achieve student initiated dialogue of the course material.

Enhance the study and application of literary theory to texts being studied to further
increase student comprehension and exploration of course material.

Compile and teach a diverse collection of course texts that reflect contemporary
literary and aesthetic representations of the various communities that comprise
New York City, (such as CUNY writers, immigrant narratives, artistic movements,
scholarly essays and newspaper and journal articles) to ensure student achievement
of literary themes and writers.

Co-compile interdisciplinary material to ensure that students received relevant
course materials.

Adopt an appropriate allocation of material resources.

Collaborate with colleagues on CUNY academic conferences in which students can either
attend or to which students may submit papers in order to be exposed to contemporary
scholarly explications of themes being studied in their courses.

Incorporate Freshman Year Initiative drama and dance performances into course work
so that students may begin to learn how to ``read``, interpret and write
about dramatic, kinetic and visual arts and use them as additional course text.

Facilitate meetings between professors in FYI blocks; collaborated on assignments
that would underscore the relationship of writing to learning significant concepts;
collaborated on assignments that realized the interdisciplinary goals of composition,
history, psychology, law, biology, literature and social science.

Write and submit reports for the FYI annual instructors guide outlining the coursework
for each semester; discuss innovative ideas used to enliven and deepen student comprehensionand written response to course work.

Meet informally with Composition and Literature faculty on a bi monthly basis to
brainstorm creative assignments, troubleshoot and discuss pedagogical approaches
to course development.

Hold a variety of writing workshops that assign students to review peer work through
guided response sheets; review responses, clarify writing issues and questions that
students have towards their writing and textual composition genres as they have
historically evolved; assign genre writing exercises in which students can practice,
in example, the focus, voice and language appropriate for a social science, peer
or literary journal.

Document and review the efficacy of the methodologies used in my courses during
and at the end of each semester to plan how they may in the future reflect FYI goals.



If I were one of your students, I`d want my money back...

Bill truly must have been a great guy!!! My condolences...
If you are looking for a replacement critic....there is a guy a block over from 1301 who will be more than happy to parley his wisdom upon you for a cigi....

Hamidm #99: “......... close, but no cigar ........... “

I think I deserve, at least, half a cigar. Perhaps even two-thirds of a cigar. I got most of it right. I got the Consultant part correct. And I did mention business/management. So that is kind of correct. I didn’t get the automotive part, but I did mention petro-chemical, which is pretty closely related to automotive, in a way…..

As for Bill, Inna Lillah-e wa innah ilaihee rajeoon…..

There is a great up-and-coming poet, on whose words I will rely for this occasion. You may have heard of him. He is slowly becoming the talk of the town. He has made a unique place for himself in the circle of literary intellectuals. His name slips my mind, but his work is being debated and studied in the Ph.D. programs in the USA. He seems to have developed a strong following amongst the female students pursuing higher education. His words seem appropriate for this occasion:

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust``
Return to our Lord, someday, we must; But,
To the day of your death, from the day of your birth
``Live like a falcon, in the mountain`s hearth``

P.S. I am assuming Bill isn’t a real person. Or if he is, then he is really not dead……..

romair mian,

......... close, but no cigar ........... i am a mangement consultant with a focus on product development and manufacturing, primarily automotive .......... know just enough about it to be dangerous .........

.........but with deep regret and sorrow, i wish to inform you that bill passed away this morning - he froze to death on the corner of 5th and main ......... he was a great man, a connoisseur of fine wines and a critic par excellence who set an example for all those who seek the truth ......... he is the man who put mad dog 20/20, ripple and thunderbird on the wine lists of five star restaurants inspite of people like fareed zakaria and other mindless oenophiles .......... a man who defied cirrhosis in the world of lily-livered critics ............

So, you are a consultant with a large company in the petro-chemical/energy sector, or in the accounting/auditing area………..Correct or incorrect or close??

Hamidm #93: “........ you are right pwc (consulting) was bought out by ibm, but pwc (tax and audit) is still doing it audits and hiring it consultants under the sarbanes oxley cover !........ i am still trying to figure it out !”

Just out of curiousity, and in an attempt to further my success record in the field, I am going to take a shot at what you do for a profession. So far, I have been correct on everyone, other than Ijaz Gul, whom I thought to be a retired Army officer. It turned out his dad was, but he wasn’t.

I was able to judge Samina’s profession, as well. She was either a very senior student or a very junior teacher, was my guess.. Though I waited for her to tell me, herself. It turned out she was both.

You have mentioned consulting companies and flying a lot. This would imply you are a consultant either in a consulting company or in the consulting arm of a product company. In addition, you have mentioned oil companies in Texas, And your daughter is studying Chemistry. This would imply something related to Petro-chemical Engineering.

You have also mentioned accounts and auditing etc. This would imply chartered account or business/management consulting. However, very few desis get into this side of consulting. Nine out of ten go into the technical side. Then again, you drink and speak good English – the two qualities along with golf, required to be good on the business consulting side. So you could be the one out of ten. Then again, it is difficult to get work visas for desis on the business side, which would point back to engineering. But, you arrived in the USA a while back, when it was easy to get visas.

So, you are a consultant with a large company in the petro-chemical/energy

Hamidm # 92: “.......... but isn`t teaching kind of like coaching ?........ if vince and tom landry and lou holtz can teach football players to block, tackle and throw without having done it themselves,”

I have taught part-time at universities. It is probably the easiest job in the world. You have a group of clueless students, who want good grades, and don’t know much. Every now and then the Indian or Chinese student, in the last row, asks the odd difficult question. But other than that, there isn’t much to it. Especially if most of your students are goras, who, barring the two or three geeks, will always be more interested in getting drunk or getting laid than getting educated. Give the Chinese student an, “A,” recommend the Indian student for a, “teaching assistantship, and give the gora students a, “C” and no homework over Spring Break, and everyone will love you……….

I have never really been an, “official” coach. However, coaching would be quite a bit more difficult than teaching, in my opinion, Since coaching would require leadership. While teaching does not. Secondly, coaching needs to produce results. You have to win games. While in teaching, there is no such criteria.

One cannot compare coaching with playing, either. They are too different professions. One need not be a good player to be a good coach. But one most definitely needs to have worked through the ranks of coaching, to be considered a, “coach.” Lou Holtz, Tom Landry and Lombardi didn’t just one day get the job of coaching Notre Dame, Dallas or Green Bay.

They worked through the ranks. They were assistant coaches in high schools and dingy college teams. Then special teams coaches for years and years on professional teams. They had to produce a track record of success there, before they got the head coaching job. And even there, they had to win and win, before their, “critiques” started getting taken seriously.

“then why can`t samina teach you a thing or two about writing even if she hasn`t written a best seller ???? .. no?..............”

Saminashah can, possibly, teach me a million things about writing. I am all ears. But she, first, has to develop her own track record of success. She has to first prove she is a, “winner” in her own field. I don’t know of any equivalent of, “coaching” in the literary field. I suppose one could consider it the equivalent of the, “ustads” in arts. Guys who can’t put out successful songs, but produce student after student, who does (like Suhail Rana).

But one thing I am sure of, is that it is dangerous to start following the advice of people who do not have a track record, as of yet. And it is even more dangerous for people, who do not have a track record, to start giving advice, beyond their own track record.

So I am looking forward to the day when Saminashah writer her first best-seller. Or if she cannot do that, then the day when her, “coached” pupils win the Pulitzer. At that point, she can, “critique” to her heart’s content, and I will blindly follow. However, until then, I will be cautious.

And, on her side, she would be well-advised to first develop a track record, either as a player or as a coach, and then get into the detailed critiquing business………..

“and what about my friend bill and fareed “

Do keep in mind that you are only listening to Bill, because he has a track record of success. Not because he has fancy degrees like Fareed. This is exactly my point. Fancy mumbo-jumbo is less important than a practical track record of success……..Unfortunately, there are too many Fareeds and not enough Bills, i..e too many people who throw around fancy terms, and not enough who actually do something……..

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Hamid Mian,

No, teaching is nothing like coaching. Teaching is an performance that is completely useless and irrelevant for the student. Teachers are charalatans who get paid to teach something they cannot do. Therefore math teachers who dont know how to complete math sums teach algebra. History teachers get their information from those children`s coloring mats at HoJo`s. Teachers sit around reading Danielle Steele novels when they are not propositioning their students-dont you watch Boston Public?

Coaching on the other hand requires that you stand up at a board and devise strategies for players to be most successful at their position and team member. You know their strengths and weaknesses and you train the player to deal with their weaknesses through a score of exercises, practices, etc. You hope they become better. You give them gatorade.

I dont know how you could ever confuse the two...

Jaahil ko agar jehl kaa In`aam diyaa jaa-ey
Iss hadsaa e vqt ko kya naam diyaa jaa-ey

MaikhaanoaN kee tauheen hai, rindoan kee hthk hai
kUm zrf kay haathoaN mein agar jaam diyaa jaa-ey.

romair,

.......... but isn`t teaching kind of like coaching ?........ if vince and tom landry and lou holtz can teach football players to block, tackle and throw without having done it themselves, then why can`t samina teach you a thing or two about writing even if she hasn`t written a best seller ???? .. no?..............remember grad school? ........... some of the worst teachers were those who had all the patents, the research grants and the publications ...........

......... and what about my friend bill and fareed ........ obviously bill has more ``experience`` but fareed is the acclaimed critic even though he is not a professional wino ............. enough said !

romair mian,

........ you are right pwc (consulting) was bought out by ibm, but pwc (tax and audit) is still doing it audits and hiring it consultants under the sarbanes oxley cover !........ i am still trying to figure it out !

........... but i do hope you get the point i was trying to make by comparing bill to fareed .......

Hamidm #85: ``..........seriously, i don`t know what a software critc is``

There is no such thing. It was a mere analogy to relate software to literature.

``but i do know that you can train a monkey to become a itil certified manager in three weeks, give him a pwc or e&y id business card and send him out to do an it audit and charge some``

First of all, I though PWC got bought by IBM (perhaps only their IT wing). This is exactly my point. If one puts fancy names around one`s self, one can get away with murder. IBM, PWC etc. charge a fortune for their consultants, who don`t know anything. What they do have is the PWC logo on their long-sleeve shirt. And they go and make a fool out of everyone, who pays them big money. I run across them on every coutract.

These are the crtics and consultants who can`t walk the walk. They can just talk the talk, and get away with it. This tends to be common in literature also. They are fluff with no substance. They are like highly priced abstract art.

Ask that same PWC consultant to quit his job, get rid of his IBM logo, and start a mom `n pop firm, and then you will know whether he/she is worth anything. That is where he/she will not be able to rely on fancy terminology, to fool others.....

``...........and there are many great football coaches who never proved themselves as players ............. vince lombardi ``played`` defense at fordham (where !) and taught latin and chemistry in new jersey ! ......... go figure!`

Yes. Once again, the same point. Until one is in the arena, as a coach, qualifications don`t matter much. Lombardi worked his way up through the coaching ranks. He earned his wings. He showed he could do the job by winning games. Not by throwing out names of famous coaches, or by pointing others to famous books. And he turned out to be a better coach than all the coaches who though they had the, ``right`` credentials.

Just like Siskel & Ebert earned their wings, as critics, through the ranks. They started off from some dinkly little position, somewhere (probably).

Hamid,

Better the whino than the sommelier, better the bud than the micro beer. And these new ``cult wine``, you know these experimentations of roses and herbs, have nothing to do with them....better Tony on the corner in 20 degree weather with nothing but a baseball cap on than some uppity garcon with high falutin terminology like ``bouquet`` and `` body``...(i know this by reading about it of course-dont want anyone to not mistake me for anything but Pakistani)

why i drink thunderbird with beef and ripple with poultry................

........ so every time i need to get an expert opinion on what to serve for dinner, i drive downtown and talk to the guy who lives on the corner of 5th and main - he used to live on 8th and park before the cops chased him away after the fire at the crack house ........... he knows his wine, after all he has been drinking for the last thirty years - you see, he doesn`t really do much else .........he just hangs around all day drinking out of a brown paper bag and then goes to sleep on the pavement to start his wine tasting the next morning .........

..............and he, unlike farid zakaria does not wear brooks brothers underwear as e sits around pontificating on flavour, bouquet and texture - subjects he obviously doesn`t know anything about ........... c`mon, would you take advice on wine from fareed - the man doesn`t look like he has ever had a drink, much less stomped grapes with his feet ...........fareed is an imposter and a charlatan who knows nothing about wine ........so when i need advice i go to bill, the man who knows his wines .......... now this man is a professional ..........

......... and he recommends thunderbird with beef : ``nice fruity style with good weight, plenty of citrus and a ripe fruit spectrum with good tartness to the finish``

....... he wouldn`t recommend ripple which, according to him, is `` lightly floral, citrussy aromas and sweet citrussy flavours with some toastiness coming through that builds up the richness in the palate`` ......... but he did say that `` the backbone is quite steely with a touch of stonefruit to flesh it up, a long finish that is developing some zestiness, and juicy tropical fruit flavours lingering``

............. what does fareed know !! ????