TACTics Journal

A Publication for and by TOC for Education Practitioners

March 19, 2004

In this week’s issue:

Correction Please!

(1) Last Week’s TACTics, Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

Elementary/Secondary TACTics

(2) Poetry and the Theory of Constraints, Mike Round

Connections

(3) 8th Annual TOCFE Conference

Editors’ Notes

(4) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

CORRECTION PLEASE!

(1) Last Week’s TACTics

From Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

We would like to make a correction to the article entitled “TOC is Fun,”

which was published in last week’s edition of TACTics. The credit to that

article goes to Francois Moll (instead of Knoll) from South Africa, who has

been with TOCFE for many years. Our sincere apologies go to Francois Moll

and anyone in which we unintentionally may have offended.

ELEMENTARY/SECONDARY TACTICS

(2) Poetry and the Theory of Constraints

From Michael Round, TOCFE Director, USA

MY AMBITIOUS TARGET

I’m already updating my prior statement about “poetry being hard to

understand,” poetry is VERY EASY to understand. I was just never taught

how to understand it.

My Ambitious Target 2003-2004 Poetry Goal remains to learn 20 of the

“great” poems.

What is the poem about?

Are the poet’s words meant literally, metaphorically, or a combination?

Why has the poet written this poem?

What is the significance of this poem?

How can I use this poem in my daily life?

And how can the logical steps, the evaporating cloud, and the ambitious

target be used in this learning process?

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

By Walt Whitman

O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills;

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;

For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead

THE CONTEXT

The United States has endured a Civil War (1861-1865), which pitted

seceding southern states against the remaining northern states of the

United States of America.

Immediately after the conclusion of the war, President Abraham Lincoln was

assassinated.

WHITMAN’S AMBITIOUS TARGET

IF: The United States has endured a Civil War, and President Abraham

Lincoln has just been assassinated;

AND IF: As a poet, I often describe events metaphorically;

THEN: I will write a metaphorical poem about the war, the President, and

my reaction to the President’s sudden death.

IF: I have in my mind a sea-going vessel returning from war, with the

President as Ship Captain, to a shore lined with cheering citizens;

AND IF: I will write a metaphorical poem about the war, the President, and

my reaction to the President’s sudden death;

THEN: I will write a sea-going metaphorical poem about the Civil War, the

assassination of the President, and my reaction to the President’s sudden

death.

NECESSARY CONDITIONS

My Ambitious Target: I will write a sea-going metaphorical poem about the Civil

War, the assassination of the President, and my reaction to the President’s

sudden death.

A necessary condition to meet my Ambitious Target is:

I must write about the Civil War and the reuniting of the Union and

Confederate States.

Another necessary condition to meet my Ambitious Target is:

I must write about the celebration of war’s conclusion.

The final necessary condition I must meet is:

I must write about my reactions to the death of the President—ranging

from denial to acceptance.

All three of these conditions must be met for me to reach my goal.

THE TRANSITION

Necessary Condition #1-

IF: I must write about the Civil War and the reuniting of the Union and

Confederate States

Ambitious Target:

AND IF: I will write a sea-going metaphorical poem about the Civil War, the

assassination of the President, and my reaction to the President’s sudden

death;

THEN: The Civil War is analogous to a FEARFUL TRIP, the reuniting of the

Union and Confederate States the PRIZE, the USA the SHIP, and the

President the CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP.

O CAPTAIN! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;

The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;

The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done;

From fearful trip, the victor ship, comes in with object won;

Necessary Condition #2-

IF: I must write about the celebration of war’s conclusion;

Ambitious Target:

AND IF: I will write a sea-going metaphorical poem about the Civil War, the

assassination of the President, and my reaction to the President’s sudden

death;

THEN: Crowds of people display immense enthusiasm at the conclusion (and

victory) of a hard-fought battle.

The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,

While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

Rise up (Captain)—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills

For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding;

Exult, O shores, and ring, O bells!

Necessary Condition #3-

IF: I must write about my reactions to the death of the President – ranging

from Denial to Acceptance;

Ambitious Target:

AND IF: I will write a sea-going metaphorical poem about the Civil War, the

assassination of the President, and my reaction to the President’s sudden

death;

THEN: Many people, myself included, first sink into a state of “Denial”

about the death of a loved one.

But O heart! heart! heart!

O the bleeding drops of red,

Where on the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;

Here Captain! dear father!

This arm beneath your head;

It is some dream that on the deck,

You’ve fallen cold and dead.

Necessary Condition #4-

IF: I must write about my reactions to the death of the President – ranging

from Denial to Acceptance;

Ambitious Target:

AND IF: I will write a sea-going metaphorical poem about the Civil War, the

assassination of the President, and my reaction to the President’s sudden

death;

THEN: After first denying death, we come to accept the death of our lost

one.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still;

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will;

But I, with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead

POETIC CREATION

Since the “necessary conditions” are not independent events, but events

occurring simultaneously, I intermix the prose to arrive at the final product.

CONNECTIONS

(3) 8th Annual TOCFE Conference

Location: Belgrade, Serbia

Dates: Thursday, May 20 - Sunday, May 23, 2004

Conference: Intercontinental Hotel in New Belgrade

Conference Fees: $50 (covers cost: 8 coffee breaks, 4 sandwich lunches)

Accommodations: Jugoslavija Hotel

• Single room: $42 to $62

• Double room: $60 to $90

• Breakfast included

• Room rates depend on how recently rooms have been renovated

All prices are in USA dollars– subject to slight conversion changes.

If you would like to book rooms at the Jugoslavija Hotel, you can do that

through the Miross Travel Agency. The person to contact is:

Ms. Dobrila Puzic

dobrila@miross.co.yu

Miross Travel Agency

Svetogorska 4, Beograd 11000

Serbia

Tel/Fax: +381 11 33 44 945

+381 11 33 44 510

+381 11 33 44 529

EDITORS’ NOTES

(4) Kay Buckner-Seal, Cheryl A. Edwards

We would like to thank Mike Round for sharing a most creative application of

the tools; he proves that the tools are only limited by our imaginations.

Mike’s article was originally done as a PowerPoint presentation, which we

have attached along with our weekly pdf version of TACTics this week. We

appreciate Mike’s generosity and hope this will be of benefit to you.

Remember, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader to open the pdf file. It is

freely available for download from:

www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

If you have the Reader installed but still can't open the file, drag it from

this e-mail to your desktop, launch the Reader, and open from the FILE menu.

You may also view TACTics in its intended formatting, by visiting our web

site at www.tocforeducation.com. Click on “What’s New.”

Feel free to share with us. Send your responses, applications of the thinking

processes, lessons, announcements, and etc. by mail to: Cheryl A. Edwards,

2253 S. Hill Island Rd., Cedarville, Michigan 49719, USA. Or send hyperlink

to cedwards@cedarville.net or kayseal@comcast.net.