Opening talk at California Writing Project (CWP) Spring 2017

1. M A K I N G M E A N I N G B Y
M A K I N G C O N N E C T I O N S
K I M J A X O N ( A N D P E T E R K I T T L E I N S P I R I T )
N O R T H E R N C A L I F O R N I A W R I T I N G P R O J E C T
H T T P : / / K I M J A X O N . C O M
@ D R J A X O N
@ P K I T T L E
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2. T L ; D R
• Writing
• Making As…
• Teaching & Making
• Making
@ D R J A X O N
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3. P O Ï E S I S ( A N C I E N T G R E E K : Π Ο Ί Η Σ Ι Σ )
I S E T Y M O L O G I C A L L Y D E R I V E D F R O M T H E A N C I E N T G R E E K
T E R M Π Ο Ι Έ Ω , W H I C H M E A N S " T O M A K E . ” T H I S W O R D , T H E
R O O T O F O U R M O D E R N “ P O E T R Y , " W A S F I R S T A V E R B , A N
A C T I O N T H A T T R A N S F O R M S A N D C O N T I N U E S T H E W O R L D .
— W I K I P E D I A
@ D R J A X O N
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5. Y O U K N O W T H A T ‘ M A K I N G ’ ( P O I E S I S ) H A S A
W I D E R A N G E ; F O R , Y O U S E E , E V E R Y K I N D O F M A K I N G I S
R E S P O N S I B L E
F O R
A N Y T H I N G W H A T S O E V E R T H A T I S O N T H E W A Y F R O M
W H A T I S N O T T O
W H A T
I S . A N D T H U S A L L T H E P R O D U C T I O N S T H A T A R E
D E P E N D E N T O N T H E
A R T S A R E
M A K I N G S , A N D A L L T H E C R A F T S M E N E N G A G E D I N T H E M
A R E M A K E R S ( P O I E T A I ) .
— P L A T O ’ S S Y M P O S I U M
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6. W H A T K E Y W O R D S D O Y O U A S S O C I A T E W I T H M A K I N G
O R M A K E R ?
J O T D O W N W O R D S T H A T C O M E T O M I N D …
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7. W H A T D O E S A S P A C E L O O K L I K E T H A T I S D E S I G N E D
F O R M A K I N G A N D M A K E R S ?
D R A W T H E S P A C E O R J O T D O W N D E S C R I P T O R S O F T H E
S P A C E
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8. W H A T K E Y W O R D S D O Y O U A S S O C I A T E
W I T H C O M P O S I N G , W R I T I N G , O R
W R I T E R ?
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9. W H A T D O E S A S P A C E L O O K L I K E T H A T I S
D E S I G N E D F O R C O M P O S I N G A N D
W R I T E R S ?
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10. C O M P A R E Y O U R K E Y W O R D S A N D Y O U R I D E A S
A B O U T M A K I N G A N D W R I T I N G S P A C E S : W H A T
S I M I L A R I T I E S D O Y O U S E E B E T W E E N M A K I N G A N D
W R I T I N G ?
W H A T D I F F E R E N C E S T O Y O U S E E I N Y O U R W O R D
L I S T S A N D I D E A S A B O U T S P A C E S ?
O N C E Y O U ’ V E C O M P A R E D Y O U R O W N L I S T S , S H A R E
W I T H O T H E R S : W H A T D O Y O U H A V E I N C O M M O N ?
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11. Making As…
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12. I . M A K I N G A S D I S P O S I T I O N …
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13. “The vicious cycle starts: if
you fail at something, you
think it is your fault.
Therefore you think you can’t
do that task. As a result, next
time you have to do the task,
you believe you can’t, so you
don’t even try. The result is
that you can’t, just as you
thought.”
― Donald A. Norman, The
Design of Everyday Things
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15. 15

16. 16

17. I I . M A K I N G A S C O N T E N T …
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18. C O M P O S I N G
S C I E N C E
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19. “Design is really an act of
communication, which
means having a deep
understanding of the person
with whom the designer is
communicating.”
― Donald A. Norman, The
Design of Everyday Things
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21. I I I M A K I N G A S R E P A I R …
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22. P O Ï E S I S = " T O M A K E "
T H I S W O R D , T H E R O O T O F O U R M O D E R N “ P O E T R Y , ” W A S
F I R S T A V E R B , A N A C T I O N T H A T T R A N S F O R M S A N D
C O N T I N U E S T H E W O R L D .
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23. “ P A I N U N M A K E S T H E W O R L D . ”
– D R . L A U R A S P A R K S
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24. “Scarry argues that while the
world, like the self, is
‘unmade’ in instances of war
or torture, it is ‘made’ through
imagining and creating
artifacts. If extreme pain
unmakes the world, if pain is
indeed language-destroying,
what possibilities exist out of
that for rhetoric to create,
remake, or bring forth?”
–Dr. Laura Sparks
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25. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f66b2UE9lk0
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26. “ I F W E A R E C O M M I T T E D T O P R O V I D I N G S T U D E N T S
W I T H O P P O R T U N I T I E S T O F O R G E N E W
C O N N E C T I O N S , T O W O R K I N N E W W A Y S , T O
P R O D U C E N E W K I N D S O F T E X T S . . . I T I S C R U C I A L
T H A T W E T A K E C A R E N O T T O L I M I T T H E T E X T S ,
T O O L S , A N D C O M P O S I N G S T R A T E G I E S S T U D E N T S
M I G H T E M P L O Y A N D A L T E R I N C O M P E L L I N G W A Y S . ”
— J O D Y S H I P K A “ N E G O T I A T I N G R H E T O R I C A L ,
M A T E R I A L , M E T H O D O L O G I C A L , A N D
T E C H N O L O G I C A L D I F F E R E N C E : E V A L U A T I N G
M U L T I M O D A L D E S I G N S ”
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27. T E A M S M A K E :
C R E A T E A R E P R E S E N T A T I O N F O R M A K I N G
O R M A K E R C U L T U R E : A D R A W I N G O F T H E
S P A C E , A C O N C E P T M A P O F K E Y T E R M S , O R
S O M E C O M B I N A T I O N ?
P E R H A P S A L S O P O S E Q U E S T I O N S A B O U T
T H E C O N N E C T I O N S B E T W E E N
M A K I N G / C O M P O S I N G T H A T W E C O U L D
C O N S I D E R A S W E M O V E T H R O U G H T H E D A Y .
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