User:Stevenarntson/group spaces/Archive/English Composition/group 3

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Contents 1 Garden Gnome 1.1 Group Members 2 overview 2.1 summary 2.2 reflective assessment 3 research 4 fiction 5 poetry 5.1 Tracy's poem 5.2 Amber's Poem 5.3 Helena H's poem 5.4 Bryn's poem 5.5 renga #1 5.6 renga #2 6 Notes

[edit] Garden Gnome

[edit] Group Members

AmberBumpus 19:43, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Helena H 17:51, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

BrynWatnoski 08:38, 19 January 2009 (UTC)

TracyBarnes 18:41, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

[edit] overview

[edit] summary

Overall, we were able to utilize various resources and research garden gnomes to the best of our ability. Although we originally thought it was a cute and intriguing topic, we were surprised to learn just how readily available information is being made to us today. Each of us seemed to discover and learn different facts about garden gnomes (and other things too, of course) as we researched on our own. Our final project consists of 6 poems (4 individuals and 2 rengas), a fictional story, a these format research paper on our topic, 5 zines and several reflective and self assessing responses. We all feel happy with the effort we have exerted over the past 11 weeks and are excited to share what we have learned with the class. (those who come to class thursday, that is :] ).

[edit] reflective assessment

1.good
Overall, the garden gnome family feels that this project has gone smoothly. Aside from all of our demanding schedules and overcoming the initial difficulty of trying to meet up as a group, we consider our time to have been productive and enjoyable. The concept of choosing any noun to study, was intriguing to us and we are happy with word that we chose. We have been able to gather a large amount of information on garden gnomes, and have discovered their recent emergence into pop culture (which is lame....but oh well). We felt that we as a group functioned well together and have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know eachother, as we are from various programs and are in different quarters here at AI.

2.bad
As we discussed in class, we felt that 11 weeks is a bit long to complete an assignment that was originally a 5 week completion deadline. However, we have been pleased to learn many interesting things outside of this project each week in class. Although at times it has seemed frustrating and it has appeared that equal effort is not being exerted from the various groups we don't consider any part of our English Composition class to be "bad".

3.future strategies
In the future, we think that although it may be difficult to enfornce, more accountability between teacher and students, and group members to eachother would be helpful in achieving enhanced and consistent work quality. For example, as Helena mentioned previously we think that each group should be held accountable to complete atleast a portion of their assigned work during class hours. Often when students are released to do "group work" they immediately leave, thinking it is unimportant. To help curb this habit we think it would be helpful to release the students to work in their groups for atleast 30 minutes and then should be called back to the classroom for a conclusion prior to be dismissed. Also, we thoroughly enjoyed the various forms of poetry that we were taught in class and would love to see those implemented in future group projects.

[edit] research

Garden Gnome

In today’s world when you see a garden gnome in someone’s yard either they have a good sense of humor or are a little crazy. Sometimes both, but sometimes neither. Understanding the history of this miniature man helps to open the door to appreciating modern gnomes and the pranks that come with them.

This small garden statue sprouted into the world around the mid 1800’s in Germany. The first garden gnomes were made of terracotta clay and produced by the potter, Phillip Griebel in Graeferoda, Thuringia, Germany. (1) Griebel’s gnomes were specifically created for decorative purposes, but they also became popular among the superstitious. The little statues were thought by some to ward off thieves from stores of grains and vegetables in barns.(2) Around the mid 1860’s Sir Charles Isham, an English aristocrat, introduced the first Garden Gnome to the garden. Isham brought the gnomes to his Northamptonshire estate where they were first manufactured and called der Gartenzwerg. Isham was a spiritualist of sorts. He placed his gnomes in various places. Isham would place his gnomes in his rock garden, around trees, and in caves. Maybe he did this to protect his property. Isham did believe that gnomes were real, living things. (3)

The Griebel family manufactured lawn gnomes up until the start of World War Two when production was halted temporarily for the German war effort. The war could not keep people away from these little lawn men, and production efforts started back up again in the mid 1940’s. (4) The Communist police were initially concerned that the gnomes may be found to be culverts for smugglers.(5) However, this did not last. Garden Gnomes became the leading export of Eastern Germany shortly thereafter.

Early European folklore documents Gnomes as being magnanimous creatures who rewarded the good behavior of farmers, merchants, and housewives with assistance in fields, shops, and their gardens at night. (6) Many people have used the Garden Gnome to be a protector of their yard, setting it out to watch over and protect their garden while they sleep at night. The gnomes are known to be protectors of nature, and are often most active at night. Gnomes are most often depicted as usually peaceful creatures, and can be found in homes, on the farm or in the forest.(7)

The original gnomes were made from terra-cotta clay. Modern day gnomes are made from a variety of different materials. These materials range from plastic, concrete, cement, and ceramic gnomes. (8) One of the surviving terracotta gnomes from an 1847 purchase is now valued at Two Million Pounds Sterling. That translates to roughly $2.9 million dollars! (9) Modern day gnomes come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and attitudes to suit their owners delight. If you are a motorcycle lover, then why not try out the gnome riding a Harley. How about the big football fan of the house, why not get them a varsity gnome? With so many options for gnomes, one may find it difficult to choose which gnome suits them best. Garden Gnome statues can be purchased at a variety of different places such as traditional garden stores as well as websites. Many of the specialty styles are found online.

The modern gnome isn’t portrayed so much as a “guardian of the garden” anymore. Today’s gnome is an adventurer. Often associated with traveling and site seeing. The “Traveling Gnome” originated in the 1980’s, but it is hard to determine a specific time when this came to be a tradition. Some say that there is a classic book about a photographer who travels the world with a penguin, taking pictures of their adventures.(10) Maybe the book inspired the tradition of taking a gnome along for your traveling adventures, it’s not quite clear exactly how it all began. If you search anywhere online you can find a numerous collection of different gnomes that travel all over the globe. Documenting their journeys as they go. Many people have photographed their travels with the garden gnome statue. You can even find online communities to share your gnome experiences through pictures and stories.

Travelocity has chosen to use the gnome as its mascot. By going to the Travelocity website, one can book a flight, find a hotel room, rent a car, as well as see the Travelocity Roaming Gnome and its adventures. The gnome, whom Travelocity claims to be 300 years old, resides in North Carolina. He has its own personal website and Myspace account, and blogs his travels which include swimming with dolphins and hanging out with the Blue Man Group.(11)

Today’s generation has a far more serious outlook on the Garden Gnome. Some people take Garden Gnomes to a whole new level. There are some who believe that the Garden Gnomes has been “enslaved” by humans. This group feels that the gnomes should be rescued and released. These radical groups believe that the money produced by “Garden Gnome Slave Trading” provides funding for revel movements to purchase weapons illicitly and supports rebel armies, prolonging Civil Wars that have terrorized societies and destroyed communities. This organization is known as the “Garden Gnome Liberation Movement.” They even believe that gnomes have been traded in support of Terrorist Groups. (12) The slogan for freethegnomes.com states “We advocate an end to oppressive gardening and freedom for garden gnomes everywhere.” (13.) This group advocates that if you find a gnome in “captivity” to report it to them immediately and fill out a form and either mail or email it into them.

Nowadays it isn’t hard to find someone who has had an experience with a gnome or knows of someone who has. It is almost becoming tradition in western culture to practice the taking of the gnomes. A peer has had such an experience. He and some friends had attended a party the night prior. The next morning he awakened to find that he had a visitor on his front porch. It was a garden gnome of all things. Naturally, he was curious and confused. Not wanting to disturb the Gnome, he left it be on the front porch. A few nights later he had another visitor to his porch. He yet again awakened to find that there was now a Winnie the Pooh Gnome accompanying his original gnome. The most odd thing about it was they were facing each other, as if in a Gnome stand off of sorts. He didn’t know what to think. Again, he left both the gnomes as they were in their natural positions. All remained the same until about 2 nights later when both the gnome and Winnie the Pooh gnome disappeared again altogether. The whole experience was described as “weird.”

RESOURCES:

1.:"History of the Magical Garden Gnome." The Artisic Garden . 24 Mar 2009 <http://www.the-artistic-garden.com/garden-gnome.html>.

2.Nadler, Andrew. "The History Of Garden Gnomes." hubpages. 24 Mar 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/The-History-Of-Garden-Gnomes>.

3.Krochmal, Connie. "Garden Gnomes." suite101.com. 04,jul,2004. 24 Mar 2009 <suite101.com/article.cfm/fruit_garden/109030 >.

4.Nadler, Andrew. "The History Of Garden Gnomes." hubpages. 24 Mar 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/The-History-Of-Garden-Gnomes>.

5.Nadler, Andrew. "The History Of Garden Gnomes." hubpages. 24 Mar 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/The-History-Of-Garden-Gnomes>.

6.Nadler, Andrew. "The History Of Garden Gnomes." hubpages. 24 Mar 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/The-History-Of-Garden-Gnomes>.

7."History of the Magical Garden Gnome." The Artisic Garden . 24 Mar 2009 http://www.the-artistic-garden.com/garden-gnome.html.

8.Nadler, Andrew. "The History Of Garden Gnomes." hubpages. 24 Mar 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/The-History-Of-Garden-Gnomes>.

9.Nadler, Andrew. "The History Of Garden Gnomes." hubpages. 24 Mar 2009 <http://hubpages.com/hub/The-History-Of-Garden-Gnomes>.

10.Aldtt, Darren. "The Traveling Gnome Prank." TheMuseum of Hoaxes . 28 JUN 2008. 24 Mar 2009 <http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/comments/3859/>.

11."Gnome Home." travelocity.com. 24 Mar 2009 <http://leisure.travelocity.com/Promotions/0,,TRAVELOCITY|1751|mkt_main|,00.html>.

12.Elliott, Martin J.. "U.S. Government Role in Fighting Garden Gnome Slavery ." freethegnomes.com. 13, Feb 2002. 4 Feb 2009 <http://www.freethegnomes.com/incongress.html

13.“Stop Oppressive Gardening!." freethegnomes.com. 2006. 4 Feb 2009 <http://www.freethegnomes.com/>.

[edit] fiction

It was March the fifth, not unlike March the fourth, or third for that matter The wind seemed to be protesting the rain’s reign causing it to fall what appeared to be Horizontally. I had stopped attempting to breathe in something new and fresh due to the fact that ones lungs become immune to stagnant air after a while. No, no, that’s a bit dramatic. What I mean is, March the fifth felt like any other day, exactly the same in fact, and as always I felt lethargic. Lately I had seemed to be daydreaming a lot about flying off to new places and never coming back. Whoa dream big, I’d never even been close to a plane. What made matters worse was that after 5 hours of learning about how to dress mannequins properly I had to brave the rain and ride my bike to my Grandfather’s house. Now, its not that I don’t love the man, but sometimes I think I let guilt play my soul like a safari resonator mandolin. The truth is, I had watched Amelie a few days before, therefore I had to go. Let me explain: In the movie, Amelie has a terrible dream that she dies young and doesn’t accomplish anything, as if she had been chasing after the air. She wonders what people would say about her, if anything at all. So from that point on she dedicates her existence to “the good.” I was feeling chivalrous so…to Grandfather’s house I went, after all the smell of brandy and toothless right-winged conversation wasn’t typically all that painful…most days. Back to my bike (Francois Thunders II). Francois Thunders was two days old on March the fifth. He was blue and had a basket. It was buy a $19.00 bike get a garden gnome free day at the bike shop. Now, call me superstitious but I think that two things that come together shouldn’t be separated (not unlike a peapod), so I wasn’t moving the thing.
“ok, ok just don’t fall, that’s all you have to do. Just…ya know peddle fast”, I told myself as i climbed on. And peddle fast I did, but the rain really had something against me that day. It seemed that the harder I peddled the slower I went. I was gaining no distance at all, if that is even possible. That’s when I saw IT. I had heard stories about IT and about THEM. I had only heard of one other person crossing through IT(the Olympic sculpture Park) on their bike before. The day couldn’t get any worse, so I knew that it was time. I blinked the rain off of my eyelashes, my mind moving as fast as the peddles of Francois. I was doing it! “Just don’t stop, even if THEY come after you”, I told myself. I felt as if i was floating on clouds, and saw everything in slow motion, pollution billowing out of vehicles like dust off an old attic box, Visions of cold breath lingering in the air. 3...2...1. I had done it. With no difficulty whatsoever. Perhaps the impressive Sculpture park team doesn't discriminate against female bicyclists. Pigs. A warm smile began to spread across my lips as I realized my entire day of habitual activities was now new and exciting, an accomplishment, like making something out of nothing. Perhaps I was meant to go to my Grandad's today, make it was- <CRASH!> My body mimicked the leaning tower of Pisa, for a half of a second at most. I could do nothing to stop it! Blinking back a few tears I sat, knees skinned on the cold cement ground. "pour Francois", I thought. "Pour gnome, pour me. There I sat, soaking it all in. I was never riding a bike again I thought to myself, among other things, mainly explitives. With two aching knees, mascara cheeks and a racing mind, something was brought to my attention that I had failed to notice. Protruding from the shattered innards of the gnome was a white envelope. Naturally, I grabbed it and tore it open without hesitation. (Granted, I did consider the possibility of it being the world's smallest terrorist bomb, but that just seemed highly unlikely.)
Inside the envelope, that was inside the gnome, that was in the basket on my bike, that I had ridden and crashed was a plane ticket to Paris, France.
I don't believe in fate, but I suppose I do believe in magical gnomes. Thinking back on it now, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that the gnome was magical, and in fact i believe that all gnomes are magical. This is because when I showed up to my Grandfather's house, soaking wet, envelope safely in my coat pocket, and arms full of its broken pieces, he told me a story.
He told me about a dream he once had, about a garden gnome in the arm of a sleeping babe- and that it changed his life forever, a single dream. if I could tell you I would, but he's just so much better at it. The understudy moral of the story is this: Ride a bike! You never know what you might roll over.

P.S. I now live in France.

[edit] poetry

[edit] Tracy's poem

[edit] Amber's Poem

AmberBumpus 09:10, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

[edit] Helena H's poem

[edit] Bryn's poem

Old Ms. Murphy

Lives alone

No man

No children

No cats

The house… in shambles

Her lawn… a spectacle

Dozens, row by row

She’s tending

Little statue men

The old country, so far away

Neighbors never say hello

A boy taunts her

Committing a kidnapping

She’s cursing and throwing sticks

Then, she’s not there

Who are these guys

Removing everything?

Her life loaded onto a flatbed

Dead grass spots

[edit] renga #1

She's fixing her hair

It's time to blow off some steam

All set, off she goes

Tonight will be the night, yes

Lots of reasons for revenge

Look in the mirror, perfect

This will be more than I thought

Faces, haven't ever seen

Weird guy from school is staring

He's holding a garden gnome

Dressed to kill, she thinks...

A whirlwind of fake lashes

Cloud of cheap perfume

She has mixed gold with silver

Let's hope no one notices

There is nothing new

Something special about this

Faces in the crowd

One person wearing red shoes

And red socks, and a red hat;

A funny little statue

Actually a garden gnome is only one who has something to say

Overall, it will be on a same line than the others

Except Garden Gnome is only who is an innocent

A funny little statue

I'm standing middle of the dancing with the stars

or what ever

But it seems like that

Shake, Shake, Shake, go the red shoes

I turned around and the red hat left

[edit] renga #2

I went by myself

Thought I wore someone else face

I was there with her

The best thing about masqueredes

Dancing comes easy when masked

Individual

Every mask is so lovely

I can dance alone

Elaborate gowns and svits

Secrecy is the nights mood

I feel on my game on board

Like a goldfish in the middle of sharks.

I would be a good catch

I'm dancing with myself-elf

Dancing with somebody else

Dim lights and dark eyes

I wonder what's under there

Please let it be good

Flying with the wind

No any quarantee to go back

A Smoke came deeper

It is hard to breathe

I can't see clear

I will faint

In the middle of sharks

[edit] Notes