Chicago Lit Tour

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City on the Make

1. Chicago City on the Make – Chapter presentations
   
   Chicago, City on the Make is Algren’s love poem to Chicago; and as any love poem, it begs to be performed. So, in groups of three, you will perform, explain and annotate a chapter of Algren’s book. For each chapter you must:
   
   Create a digital / on-line, illustrated, footnoted copy of your chapter. Your on-line version of the text should:
   Reproduce your chapter exactly – word for word.
   Include photos and or images (hopefully from our field trip) which capture the mood of certain phrases – Algren’s unique descriptions. These are not literal images or Wikipedia entries about people or places – these should be like a picture book – simply to enhance the mood. Include at least one picture per page of your chapter.
   Use hyperlinks to create visual footnotes – footnotes which explain obscure words or references by linking those words to a picture and text. For example, Chicago’s wheel. Some slang words will not have pictures, obviously, but people, places and historical events will.
   Perform a reading for the class on your scheduled day. Your reading
   Must pronounce all names and words correctly, be fluent and bring out the irony in Algren’s prose. Make sure all the members of your group participate equally.
   Must be accompanied by a presentation of your text and visuals – sho all of us the work you’ve been doing.
   Must be accompanied by music that enhances the mood of your chapter.
   Explain your chapter to the class.
   Discuss Algren’s purpose – why does he write this chapter – what message is he trying to get across?
   Point out and discuss examples of poetic description – just what make the description so appropriate and so beautiful?
   
   
   We will work on the projects in the lab and in class before we leave for the field trip (we will also view a bit more of Chicago: City of the Century). By the time we go on our trip Wednesday, you should have a very strong idea of what your chapter is. When we go on our trip, you will need to find photos to illustrate your chapter.
   
   
   Performance dates
   
   

A Minnesota Poem

Homecoming -

October moon - fat and low -
stealing through the trees
is
watching,
always with us
as we walk.

My hand in your jacket pocket
warms yours as
leaves float with our feelings
and crackle underfoot.

All too soon, we are home.
Inside the garage
away from the moon's prying eyes
we stand
on cold cement
waiting
watching
wondering

Can I kiss you?

Can I kiss you Caren,
with sapphire eyes
and soft cotton skin,
who brought the Clash
to our small town
then left
when we laughed.
Moved away from small town boys
and homecoming dances,
evenings at the Dairy Queen
and nights under stars
with rough handed boys
who loved football and Budweiser
and then you.
Stole into the shadows of city
with an unlisted phone number.

Was it to stop
boys like me from calling?
Did she want to forget?
Had she forgotten what she once said:
"Can I kiss you, Caren?"
"Yes."

David Hessert

For Robert Hayden (and my mother)

Paper Route

Sundays, too, my mother,
Weary-eyed woke
Before the sun’s thin rise
Over the icy plain
To start the furnace
And warm the oven,
Baking stones
In that silent house

She would wrap them gently
In faded tea towels -
As I struggled into separate socks -
And nestle them under the flap
Of my newsboy’s canvas bag

Under the crisp moon,
Cutting through the canyoned sidewalks
Moving house to house
Through rising hills of white,
I would plunge my frigid hands
Into their nested warmth,
Unwrapping these messages of love.

A sonnet for the snow

Snowstorm

It’s making settled homes seem farmhouse pure,
and frosting neighbors’ panes a distant blue,
So all enclosed takes on an oily hue.
We sit alone. Without, the frigid world
swirls punishing astringent falsities;
its softened lines and blustry, dancing curves,
and Christmas lights in misty-colored blurs
hide all forgotten ‘neath it’s creeping freeze.

Ah love, let us live forever in tonight,
While mistletoe kisses and eggnog smiles
Vaseline all in filter-focus white –

Cuddled in illusion, we’re tucked up tight.
We lie within our world of post card guiles,
blanketed ‘gainst the tempest-teeming night.


Dave Hessert