Kicking Back After the English Department Cookout

English Department Cookout chez Dr. Francis (or, more accurately, her backyard):



A fun time was had by all who got to come to the English Department Cookout at Dr. Francis’s house yesterday. Everyone who came got to meet up with friends and professors, meet some new people, eat some good food and pet some good dogs.

We took pictures and interviewed some of the people who were there:

Alexis Mucci:



What’s your major?
Creative writing, with a minor in ASL interpreting.
What inspired you to do this as a major?
Well, I had to write stories for third grade English, and they did contests every week. As the year went on, I found that I was winning all of them. And then I was like, “Huh.” And I just went with it.
How are you liking the cookout?
 . . . a lot? It’s really fun.

Madison Fick:



What’s your major?
English, secondary Ed.
What inspired you to choose this as a major?
My family, they were always pounding it in, “Get your education, get your education.” I want to make it a priority for people who don’t have that.
How are you liking the cookout?
I’m enjoying it. It’s very relaxed, and a lot less stressful than I thought it would be.

Prof Jerry Wemple



What do you teach this semester?
Lit and Society, English 101 and English 316
What inspires you to teach every day?
Teaching is fun. I like helping people, and always changing up the class. The 101 I taught 2 years ago is nothing like the one I’m teaching now. I’m always thinking about different approaches, it makes things interesting for me and the students.

Picture time!

Fraggle, being adorable 

Finn and Dr. Francis

The late end-of-the-party crowd

Can't Find an Internship?

Can’t Find an Internship? (don’t forget to look in your own area!)

Internships are great resume boosters and ways to practice your skills and explore what you want to do with your life and career. But most English majors look at internships and think, I can’t do that, or they couldn’t want someone like me. English internships are at schools or

Any local newspaper or journal.

Lots of people think these kinds of internships are for communications majors, but who would be better to grammar check a column on the spot than an English student?

Libraries.

What better place to intern at than a building that focuses on the written word? Even if they’re not looking for an internship, see if you can volunteer just for the experience.

Online.

Social media accounts are booming, but someone has to create and edit that content (who do you think writes these posts?). Look at businesses in your local area and ask around. Maybe you could volunteer, get an internship or even a summer job.

Finally:

Anywhere that involves writing.

Consider what an English degree teaches you: analytical thinking, peer review skills, research skills, solitary AND group work. What are places that can help you apply and hone those skills? Every job requires the written language, which means every job requires people to write, to edit, to revise, to research, to think critically. These are skills that every English student practices in class, every day.

When looking for your winter/spring semester internship, open your mind to the possibilities. They may surprise you.

Tyler Mills Poetry Reading Cover

Featured as the guest reader for the 20th season of the Big Dog Reading Series, Tyler Mills read for us all yesterday in Monty's assembly room.



Mills read a selection of poetry from her book, Hawk Parable, covering themes about nuclear bomb testing in the Pacific and exploring her family's mystery of her grandfather's involvement in the bombing of Nagasaki.



Her poems were varied in tone and perspective, jumping from the point of view of a soldier to searching for bomb testing sites that were wiped out on Google Maps, but each work held a deep respect for their subjects and themes.

During the Q & A at the end of the session, Mills said that she started researching these topics for her poems before 2009, some of her poems taking as long as 3 years to write, and some only taking a few hours. She especially became invested in digging through old videos of released footage of bomb testings. "[At times] I found myself pausing these videos and wishing I could stop the bombing," she told the audience.



The evening was a powerful, instructive, and enjoyable one for all of her audience members, full of poignant and moving poems. Tyler Mills' presence at Bloomsburg and her poetic insights were greatly appreciated by all attending. In hearing her poetry, we all agreed with her statement, "To me, poetry has a power to create a voice that's eternal."

English Department Fall Cookout!

The English Department is having a Fall Cookout at Dr. Francis's backyard September 26th! Dr. Francis's house is an easy walk down the hill from main campus, and is sure to have lots of great (free!) food to eat, great people to meet, and cute dogs to pet.



Hope to see you there!

Big Dog Reading Series: Tyler Mills, Poet

Check out this event!