Sustainable Authority

Dear Colleagues Across the Curriculum,

Everything David Moore says notwithstanding,

the Good Stuff not to be denied—turn it up:

all is well and all is well and all manner of things

is well. Or as Snoop and Alexander Pope say:

it’s all good.

Given our blessings: may the converse action

be sustained and sustain us, sustainable?

.......AUTHORITY

ex officio.... genuine

Consider the difference & the

relationship between these 2

faces of author-ness authorizing

authority authoritatively. .

I am surrounded by scholars in

my classes in Fiction and various

aspects of American Literature with

people who can converse currently

in the terms of mathematics, physics,

chemistry, biology, anthropology,

sociology, history, psychology,

philosophy, religion and sometimes

a stray English major or two who can

talk Close-Reading-Textual-Harrassment

like anything if you don't watch out,

taking a walk on the mild side to

supplement the rigor of period courses,

major writers & required advanced

schoolroom grammar

All of them: students proficient in

several of our disciplinary ways-of-

talking—polyglot really, squeaking

in tongues of fire, individually and

collectively—a consummation

devoted to making me perspire.

Talk NBL—I insist: Nothing But

Literary for a semester, me throwing

black plastic with holes over the

strawberry patch, so to speak:

weedy burdock, morning glory,

bull thistle, bur cucumber, common

chickweed, ragweed, dock, &

broom...need not apply

Each one a laptop dancer,

wirelessly accessing the

shared intelligence of the

species & all my assigned texts

are actually download -able with

commentary, interpretation,

opinion, off-the-shelf pre-

written term & semester

papers on every aspect

imaginable to English

teachers across the universe:

character,

plot,

setting,

tone,

historical

considerations,

contemporary impact,

theme, hidden meanings,

& symbolism..

“Was Young Goodman Brown a Good Man?”

I might ask as provocation and

tap tap tap: anyone can down

load answers right be here now

on their I phones brilliant with

data, fact and the comparison &

contrast of critical thinking.

(They have do what I say or they don't

get a good grade, that's source of my

ex officious authority. )

.Of course, if I'm somewhat charismatic

I may be able to entertain them for 80

minutes of required contact time—my

song & jiggle dance (see pic) while they

sit, feet extended under desks, arms

across over their chests, laptop

momentarily on the floor:

media and massage. .

“Why aren't you writing this down?”

I say;

“what I'm saying!”

“Why?” they might ask.

“It'll be on the test; I'm not kidding,”

I say—with authority.

xxxooo, Sam