Monday, January 6 The Anarchist Cookbook

WELCOME BACK

Words of wisdom for the New Year

Moving on

In class:  We are finishing up the close reading of the Vietnam theme as exemplified in Louise Erdrich's short story "The Red Convertible" and Tim O'Brien's "On the Rainy River" with a recent article written by William Powell, the author of The Anarchist Cookbook.  Class handout / copy below. 

Our goal is to look at how the text is organized and how the author's word choice allows us as readers to look deeper into the text, to see under the surface of the words. This will culminate with a critique of what is written.

We are trying a new type of close reading exercise. Here's how it works: 

1. Silently read the short article.

2. Now we are going to look at how the article is organized. For each of the five paragraphs, write a sentence that explains the main idea the author is making, that is the same as his thesis statement or controlling idea. These should be succinct (brief and to the point)

3. Now with a pen or pencil, reread the text, underlining the four words that you think best express the author's main idea in the article. Yours will unlikely look like your neighbors'.

4. As a class, we'll review these. Be prepared to explain why you chose these. (application)

4. Finally, incorporate those four words in a couple or three well-written sentences that describes how Powell builds his argument that supports the theme / main idea / controlling idea of the article. (standard grammar / punctuation / spelling)  class participation grade. (evaluation)

. 

William Powell

theguardian.com

Forty-four years ago this month, in December 1969, I quit my job as a manager of a bookstore in New York City's Greenwich Village and began to write the Anarchist Cookbook. My motivation at the time was simple; I was being actively pursued by the US military, who seemed single-mindedly determined to send me to fight, and possibly die, in Vietnam.

I wanted to publish something that would express my anger. It seems that I succeeded in ways that far exceeded what I imagined possible at the time. The Cookbook is still in print 40 years after publication, and I am told it has sold in excess of 2 million  copies.

I have never held the copyright, and so the decision to continue publishing it has been in the hands of the publisher.

I now find myself arguing for it to be quickly and quietly taken out of print taken out of print.  What has changed?

Unfortunately, the source of my anger in the late 60's and early 70's – unnecessary government-sanctioned violence – is still very much a feature of our world. The debacle of the US invasion of Iraq is yet another classic example. It still makes me very angry. So my change of heart has had less to do with external events than it does with an internal change.

Over the years, I have come to understand that the basic premise behind the Cookbook is profoundly flawed. The anger that motivated the writing of the Cookbook blinded me to the illogical notion that violence can be used to prevent violence. I had fallen for the same irrational pattern of thought that led to US military involvement in both Vietnam and Iraq. The irony is not lost on me.

To paraphrase Aristotle: it is easy to be angry. But to be angry with the right person, at the right time and to the right degree that is hard – that is the hallmark of a civilized person. I continue to work hard, in an Aristotelian sense, to be more civilized.