Sunday, September 29, 2013

The English Program Welcomes Professor Nick Mohlmann

By Libby Spencer, junior English major at Silver Lake College

Last Spring, the English Department here at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family went on a hunt to find an additional English professor.  In the search, they came upon Professor Nick Mohlmann, a Virginian native.  Impressed by his intelligent demeanor and appealing personality they offered him a position to join their team.  Professor Mohlmann has not fallen short of astonishing both the staff and students at Silver Lake.  He currently teaches a variety of English classes including Public Speaking and Communication, Composition, and American Literature. 
Professor Mohlmann's interest in English started while he was an undergraduate at George Mason University in Fairfax County, Virginia.  At that time, he had a professor in an American Literature Survey that made the subject compelling to him so when it came time to declare a major, he chose English.  After Professor Mohlmann received his B.A. in English from George Mason University, he furthered his education by receiving his M.A. from the University of Maine.  His education does not stop there for he is currently completely his Ph.D. at Purdue University. 
As Professor Mohlmann’s interest in English grew, he chose to study an emphasis in Early Americanist Literature.  His current project reads the literature of early modern Virginia through the lens of corporate personhood, examining the Virginia Company’s strategies of authorship and self-fashioning.  He had originally went to graduate school to study post-1970s American experimental poetry, but ended up taking a class on Colonial American Lit Writ Large at the beginning of his Ph.D. coursework and wrote a paper on Thomas Harriot.  He realized, after writing that paper, that really the texts in both fields were not as different as one might imagine, especially in the things he is interested in/enjoys—both have a troubled relationship with genre and an investment in language as a means to effect action.  
 One may wonder—what led Professor Mohlmann here to Silver Lake?  Well, being a native of Virginia he was looking for a small community to call home.  So far, at Silver Lake College, he has enjoyed the small class sizes and how friendly most folks have been.  As for the town of Manitowoc, he enjoys where he lives out in the country which is only about a two minute drive from the beautiful Lake Michigan.  In his backyard lays a large hay field that is teeming with wildlife, cranes, deer, and geese.  He enjoys being so close to the lake and near to the countryside. 
Professor Mohlmann has already contributed to our English Staff here at Silver Lake College of the Holy Family.  His new and innovative ideas of teaching are creating a positive atmosphere in the classrooms of Silver Lake. We, the English Program of Silver Lake College, would like to give Professor Mohlmann a warm welcome!




Libby Spencer is a junior at Silver Lake College.  She is majoring in English (with an emphasis in Writing) and minoring in Spanish.  She enjoys spending time with her family, coaching and participating in sports, and of course, writing.


Sunday, September 22, 2013

Banned Books and the Freedom to Read

By Elizabeth Fritsch, senior English major at Silver Lake College

I’ve seen a brave new world.  I have heard the perks of being a wallflower.  I have gone looking for Alaska, and I have partied with Jay Gatsby.  I have sat in the Maycomb courtroom balcony with Scout Finch.  I have walked the streets of New York City with Holden Caulfield and have traveled westward with the Joads.  I’ve been to Hogwarts, District 12, and have crossed the bridge to Terabithia.  I have witnessed a chocolate war.  I have spoken with the Tralfamadorians and I have twisted my tongue with Nadsat.  I have held the conch and have evaded the Thought Police.  I have read (and enjoyed) banned books.

There is no shortage of banned and challenged books.  From beloved literary classics to dystopian science fiction, it is difficult to find a book that is completely inoffensive to all members of a given learning community.  While there are a myriad of reasons behind why a particular book might be challenged, some of the top reasons (as gathered by the American Library Association) include sexually explicit content, offensive language, and violence.  (Though, I would have to say that some of the best books that I’ve read contain all three.).  Unsurprisingly, pressures to ban certain books come overwhelmingly from parents.


While it is understandable that parents would want to be cautious about their child’s exposure to violence, sexually explicit content, and other more “adult” issues in books (and there are certainly books that are not suitable for all ages), as students, educators, and members of a literary community we must be aware the censorship is, by its nature, threatening..  In an 2012 article published in Huffington Post, Bill Moyers explains the danger of censorship by stating, “Censorship is the enemy of truth -- even more than a lie. A lie can be exposed; censorship can prevent us knowing the difference.”  A society in which thoughts and ideas are repressed, erased, or inaccessible is a society in which knowledge becomes distorted and dialogue ceases to exist.  The driving force behind education (whether you are a third grader, a college student, or an adult lifelong learner) is not mindless absorption of information, but rather an active process of questioning, debating, discussing, and sometimes even doubting.  The best learned lessons are the ones where individuals are free to think outside generally accepted social parameters and confront ideas that are not within their social, religious, or moral world view.  When we come across ideas that are contrary, distorted, or even damaging to reason, our response should not be to erase and eradicate, but instead to speak truth.  The engaging experience of reading literature does not stop when the pages of the book stop speaking, but rather after we have spoken to the book (and our fellow readers) in return.


Elizabeth Fritsch is a senior at Silver Lake College.
She is majoring in English (with an emphasis on teaching)
and minoring in History and Theology.
Her favorite 'banned book' is 
The Catcher in the Rye.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Noah's Ark & the Hunger Games: My Unique Summer Reading Experience


By Frankie Derfus, senior English major at Silver Lake College

            This may categorize me as a nerd, but I typically read a lot in the summer. One summer I read the first twenty books in the One for the Money series by Janet Evanovich in six weeks. When I ran out of those I borrowed a few Debbie Macomber books from my grandma. My newest favorite is The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins (last summer's readings). This summer, however, was my first summer as a mom, and I didn't have the leisure time to read just any book I wanted. No, this summer my son and I read together.
            The first book my son Evan and I read together was a picture Bible my grandma (his great-grandma) got for him as a baptism gift. It includes ten Bible stories told in simple language with full-page pictures. The first time I read this picture Bible to my son he was about four months old (maybe minus a few days), and he was completely mesmerized. It was like a blind man seeing a sunset for the first time. He looked at the pages and looked at me, then back at the pages. Evan really liked Noah's Ark; I think he enjoyed hearing about all the different animals. He would touch the pages (well, slapped them, but that's beside the point), and he would giggle, and he liked to hold onto my hand when I turned the page. He liked to be involved.

         My adviser here at Silver Lake was kind enough to give Evan the gift of five books. So far his favorite has been Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?; he's six months old now and wanting to hold the book himself, and he tries to turn the pages himself as well. I personally enjoy this book because I remember reading a similar one (Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) when I was young. Again, he couldn't take his eyes off the colorful animals on each of the pages.
            I found my love for books in high school, and I am proud that my son is finding his love early. I can't even do my homework around him because he crawls into my lap and tries to “read” the book as well. When it comes to naptime, Evan sinks into my arms and listens to me read The Hunger Games and falls into a deep, peaceful sleep. Now that he's getting older, I like to set out four or five books, and the first one he crawls to is the book I read to him. Even though my summer reading experience was not one that I had ever had before, I thoroughly enjoyed bringing books into my son's life. I used to work at a daycare, and the kids wanted me to read to them all the time. For some reason, I didn't like it, but it's different when it's your own kid.
            Did you do any summer reading? Was it the same reading you've always done? Maybe you didn't have an experience like I did, but maybe you decided to try reading a  genre you don't typically care for? What were your experiences with your summer reading?

Frankie Derfus is from Wabeno, Wisconsin.  She is a Silver Lake College student majoring in English (writing) and minoring in Psychology.  She lived on campus for two and a half years (five semesters), but will be completing her remaining semesters online after the birth of her son.  Evan was born March 2, 2013.