CROSSVILLE —
Our Plateau is blessed with talented folks. Jym Mitchell, a writer of poetry and prose, is one of those people. His second book “Simple Dreams” is now available at Shanks Center For the Arts.
Jym is a life long resident of this area and he began writing poetry and prose during his years in junior high school. Unfortunately all those pieces were destroyed when his family home was destroyed by fire in 2000.
Expressing his thoughts through writing continued and he was encouraged by several knowledgeable poets to publish a book. In 2011 “Dilemmas” was published. This second book, “Simple Dreams,” continues with stories about family and places familiar to people in this area — Pleasant Hill, Ozone, Falls Creek, Crab Orchard and Grassy Cove.
Mitchell also takes the reader into the mind of many who have lived through bad experiences such as the Holocaust. He was asked to read his poem on that “Ghastly Dream” at the annual Days of Remembrance ceremony held in Cookeville in May 1911 by the Tennessee Holocaust Commission.
This second book is worthy of being added to your collection of books. It stirs memories as well as addressing a number of injustices many face silently.
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Once there was a time called the age of innocence. Its decline began when Edith Wharton’s novel by that name was published in 1920. The actions of characters in that book showed the fallacies of such a belief.
During that age of innocence, educators in late 18th century England called for a return to traditional speaking and listening methods in the schools. Changes were made and after they had been used for some years a study was done in 1911 on the results.
It concluded the greater the expectation placed on people, often students, the better they will perform and described it as the Pygmalion effect. In mythology that was the name of an early Cypriot sculptor who carved an ivory female statue and fell in love with her. She became human because of his wishes.
In 1912 George Bernard Shaw wrote a play called Pygmalion. It was a tale of a professor of phonetics transforming a young woman who spoke with a cockney accent into a lady speaking excellent English. In 1956 Pygmalion became My Fair Lady and the scenes of Henry Higgins teaching Eliza Doolittle proper English continues to delight audiences world-wide.
In the late 1770s English actors were giving lectures and publishing information on speech. Those youngsters taught privately learned the importance of speech but those of the lower class were neglected. Not only did the call for a return to traditional speaking methods in schools have an effect on entertainment but on the general public. Interest in speaking the Queen’s English became important and elocution entered the scene.
Elocution is defined as one of five core disciplines of pronunciation and soon both private and public classes in the art of public speaking were offered. By the early 19th century elocution became a staple of American public school’s curriculum.
McGuffey published several books on the subject. They included chapters on articulation, accent and emphasis, inflections, the voice, gestures and instructions on reading verse. That period of enlightenment didn’t last long.
Today the masses communicate by texting, tweeting or twittering Could this be the century there should be a call for the return to traditional speaking?
Opinion
RANDOM THOUGHTS: Plateau blessed with talent
- Opinion
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TIDBITS: Be wary of home improvement shows
Sometimes I think home improvement stores need a screening tool of some sort, perhaps some kind of licensing or reference check. For example, before one can walk in and buy that handy dandy table saw, they need three people to vouch that they aren’t likely to cut off a bodily appendage.
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STUMPTALK: Obama’s Benghazi betrayal
“Betrayal” is an ugly word. “To fail or desert especially in a time of need.” Those who pay attention to the actions of Obama are justified in saying we have been betrayed. Think about the IRS and DOJ debacles. Clearly our ambassador and his staff at the Benghazi consulate were betrayed, deserted in their time of mortal need. Obama allowed them to be murdered.
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Lion and the Lamb: When schools go beyond the three Rs
The three Rs, reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic, have always been at the foundation of education in Cumberland County. Recently, however, a fourth R has been added — religion. In permission was granted representatives of The Gideons International to distribute Bibles to fifth-graders in the Brown Elementary School in Crossville, and this took place April 11.
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We the People: Your vote — use it or lose it
A powerful faction within the Republican Party is determined to downsize our federal government. They want to reshape programs that originated to protect common folks like us.
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Stumptalk: The elephant in the room
I recently saw video footage of the president surrounded by the heads of all the services; they had assembled to address the continuing and scandalous problem of sexual harassment in the armed forces. The elephant in the room, of course, was young women in the military serving in close quarters with young men.
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We the People: Reality check, anyone?
Harry Truman had a birthday anniversary in early May. Harry was proud of being from the “show me” state. Republicans who aspire to stop all progress and set the clock back should take a lesson from Truman. He did something besides complain and obstruct progress.
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The Lion and the Lamb: The devil and the IRS
National news these past several weeks has focused on a scandal in the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been targeting Tea Party and other conservative groups for additional scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status. As this story developed over the past several weeks, however, it has become apparent that the IRS problem is much greater than the complaints raised by the Tea Party.
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Tidbits: What's in a name?
Being born in the time before routine ultrasounds, my parents thought I was going to be a boy. I'm not sure if mom was carrying high or low, or if the wedding ring on a string went one way or the other, or what other old wives tale was used to determine I would be a he rather than a she, but that's what they thought and that's how they prepared.
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Stumptalk: The destruction of our schools
Anyone who is paying attention recognizes that America has many problems. Politicians who have forgotten our American history are causing most of these problems.
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GARY'S WORLD: Beards of a feather flock together
Mom always warned me about joining a gang or a club in my youth and said, “Birds of a feather flock together. If you hang around with someone and they do something — everyone will assume you will behave the same way.”
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