Aristotle renews his SCA membership

Falcon's Gate, the college subsidiary of Falcon's Keep, invited me to chat about persona. We had a lively discussion, partly because of the delicious brownies that provided a sugar high. Aristotle provided what structure we had, but as we chatted about aspects of medieval "thought" we detoured into bits of my class on period maps. Garb questions also abounded. Thank you, Falcon's Gate, for a delightful evening of geekdom.

Falcon's Gate to persona

Aristotle's Poetics was reviewed again on Thursday, October 11 (10/11/12) as Falcon's Gate invited me to UW Stevens Point to talk about persona. (We should have done class about navigation, right, Keepers?)  We also had a few side trips on the rainbow, numbers, and Terry Pratchett.

Novices, Neophytes & Knaves III

NNK is an event for newcomers, but this year it was also put on by newcomers.  Students from University of Wisconsin Green Bay did a fine job of hosting the event, with mentoring by old-timers. The selection of classes was excellent, with martial arts, fiber arts, calligraphy, and SCA culture represented.

My own contribution included Aristotle's take on persona, which you've seen here many times. I also presented "A Source is a Source, of course, of course..." which introduced some of the pitfalls of SCA research. I tried this class at Warriors & Warlords, but for this incarnation I was able to use PowerPoint to show more clearly the differences between "good enough" sources and "really awful" sources. The purpose for the research determines the level and the direction of research for a project. What's adequate for first garb is not adequate for entering an A&S Competition. (And woe betide the one who criticizes a newcomer for not having garb as classy as the Laurel next door.) 

Once more into the garden

Cross & Compass was a Northshield event held in Calontir this weekend. (Those familiar with the heraldry of both kingdoms will realize what a clever event title that is.)  I had not yet invoked the aid of Calontiri in organizing my herbal, so I shared my struggle with them. At first only one gentle came to my aid, but eventually six good gentles were in attendance. I still am uncertain about the best organization.  Worse, I added some new herbs to the mix, making the struggle even more difficult (but more interesting).

A source is a source, of course, of course

Warriors and Warlords takes place in a huge city park in Boscobel, Wisconsin. The supply of electricity is limited, so I can't use my favorite period medium - PowerPoint. Still, I scored a few points for Wikipedia in a class on evaluating sources for SCA research. The most important question to be asked is, how much research is necessary for the task? For some questions, one source is sufficient. For other quests, the world is not enough.

Also, what, really, is the task? If I were researching appliqué to teach a class, for example -- "How to Spiff up a Campsite" and "Fifteenth-Century Needlework Techniques" would have very different requirements.

I hope I made it clear that a variety of independent sources were useful to bring one as close to the object of one's research as possible.

Persona again

Falcon's Gate invited me to reprise "Meeting your persona". This is a college group, so there are always new people coming in. What a delight to meet such enthusiastic kids, ready to learn all kinds of new stuff.

Research Day

The Shire of Rokeclif enjoys occasional trips to the library for research. We met at Murphy Library at UW LaCrosse on Monday, October 4 for some persona research. The question was, "How do you choose a persona?" I provided a sheet of suggestions and some library reference service. Is this a class? Sure.

Aristotle Joins the SCA

Novices, Neophytes and Knaves was an excellent introduction to the SCA intended for... well... novices. There were lots of classes, an excellent period feast, and a court-with-commentary. I revamped the presentation that I did in April 2009 into a PowerPoint presentation. (This is the class that uses Aristotle's Poetics to explore SCA persona development. )

Digging it up...

Warriors and Warlords XVII provided the venue for yet another take on persona, though any SCA research might benefit from it. On July 10, I presented "Digging it up, Dusting it off, and Putting it away." The purpose was to provide hints and tips for SCA research, from a quick look-up (Turkey is unsuitable for my 14th-century feast. I'd better serve peacock.) to an issue of Compleat Anachronist.
DIGGING IT UP --
The main resources for research are to ask an expert, check the library, or search the internet. All have advantages and disadvantages, and there are strategies to make the most of each source.
DUSTING IT OFF --
There's a bit of risk in each of those sources. How can you minimize the risk, to assure that your information is accurate and up-to-date?
PUTTING IT AWAY --
Once you've found good information, how can you retrieve it? More importantly, how can you remember where it came from in the first place? (Hint: "the blue book on the third shelf" is not a solid bibliographic citation.)

Aristotle at Darkstone

I was asked to teach a class on persona at an event created to introduce and encourage the bardic arts in the Shire of Darkstone. I should mention that Northshield interprets the word "bardic" very loosely, including all performance arts, but particularly those that recall and bring to life "the Dream".
I used Aristotle's Poetics to structure the class. I thought this fitting, since our word "persona" was lifted directly from ancient Greek/Roman theatre. Aristotle lists six elements of present in any tragedy: plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody. I suggested ways in which each of these elements could be used to enhance the drama that we create as we enact the drama of our modern middle ages.
Spectacle is the only part of the drama. Participants are required to wear garb, though we use other visual means to "dress the set" such as banners, tools, and the hiding of modernity. Diction includes the words we speak, both the subjects and the words themselves. (I warned of the dangers of immersing oneself in Norse poetics and then going to work.) Under the melody rubric I encouraged the use of medieval music, but allowed that even in period drama the time barrier was crossed. Plot is crucual for Aristotle. For us, plot might come up in a war scenario or a coronation, but our "action" tends to be the creation of A&S projects, and perhaps our learning a skill. Character is the soul of persona. I encouraged immersion in a particular time/place as similar to an academic major; as an opportunity to specialize. I also encouraged backstory as a way to round out a persona. Unfortunately, I ended up making my real-life persona, who actually does the work of sewing, spading and cooking, into the servant of my period persona, who has People to do that. That was a scary thought. Digging into character more deeply reveals thought, Aristotle's last category. I challenged folks to think as their persona; to interpret the world in medieval categories.
In short, I suggested that persona development was a way to enter into our medieval drama more fully, and to bring the drama alive for others.

Meet your persona

Interlibrary Loan librarians, batten down your hatches and warm up your computers. Persona researchers are comin’ to town!
The class on “Meet your persona” at Warriors & Warlords drew about 17 people – some brand new and some with quite a bit of Society experience. That may not sound like many compared to a Pennsic class, but the enthusiasm level made up for the numbers. I’m so glad I made a handout, because people really wanted the books I recommended.

Have you explored Library Thing? It’s an online cataloging tool that’s been doing the public interface/community thing longer than WorldCat has. The books on my handout are tagged 'persona' in LibraryThing.
I started putting up only SCA-type books because I wanted to be able to access my catalog from any computer and maybe quit buying duplicates. (hah!) When I put up the first batch I discovered that I had books in common with a friend in Milwaukee (Hi, Merouda!) and one in LA. Some of the books have reviews (by SCA folk, not by people trying to sell you the book). I’ve tagged the ones I recommended for the class “persona”.

Of course I talked up the A&S 50 challenge. It’s just the sort of thing some were looking for – an opportunity to grow their persona.

A little one-on-one

There's a new blog in town. Amata and I consulted about her A&S 50 project. She plans to read 50 books that will illuminate her persona's life and times. She'll be sharing the books and reviews at AmataCromwell.blogspot.com. Another Rokeclif participant has been doing some great persona research, but it hasn't resulted in a name yet. I also helped Pierre de Champagne find a name.
All this is good preparation for my next class, on July 12 at Warriors and Warlords. I plan to offer tips on finding and/or developing a persona. What happens there will depend on who takes the class, but I'll have lots of great questions to consider... including a few that I haven't answered for myself yet. There have been some wonderful ideas on the Yahoo listserv. Thank you for contributing.