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Pen Circle N°31, Oct-Dec. 2012
Pen Circle N°31, Oct-Dec. 2012
like rowing
upstream. Once
you stop, you
drift back.
Chinese Proverb
Sermo in circulis
est liberior.
Issue N 31 October-December 2012
Journal of the Department of English
Sultan Moulay Slimane University, Faculty of Letters, Beni Mellal, Morocco.
Editor: Khalid Chaouch.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Editorial: One, two, three... fingerprint! 02
Pedagogical Page: Bibliography Presentation 04
Pen Circle Prize (2012/2013) 06
The Poets Corner: Slough by Sir John Betjeman 07
Recuerdo by Edna St. Vincent Millay 08
The Schoolboy Man by Hamid Masfour, SLCE Master (2011-2013) 09
Call for Articles: Border Crossing 10
The Making of a Novelist by Somerset Maugham 12
English Department Activities 14
My Pungent Quotations: Thus Spoke Robert Frost 16
Proverbs of the Moment: Action and Deeds 17
My Enigmatic Pen Circles 18
20 Clues 19
Crosswords N 31... 20
Pen Circle
Sultan Moulay Slimane University
Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Department of English
BP. 524, Beni Mellal, Morocco. Fax: 212 (0) 5 23 48 17 69
Email: pencircle@gmail.com
Pen Circle is also available at www.flshbm.ma Dpartements L. L. Anglaises
Editorial Board
Mly. Lmustapha MAMAOUI, Mohamed RAKII, Redouan SADI.
Pen Circle n 31 -2-
EDITORIAL
One, Two, Three, Fingerprint!
Not marble nor the gilded monuments
Of princes shall outlive this powerful rhyme,
But you shall shine more bright in these contents
Than upswept stone besmeared with sluttish time.
Shakespeare, Sonnet 55
Well said, indeed! Things will forever and ever stand to the
test of time if and only if they are powerful. But powerful
deeds are not given only to Shakespeare, Averroes, or Einstein.
They are the lot of anyone who CAN at any time produce a
work of a lasting effect: a book, a poem, a monument, a work of
art, a treatise, a law, a rule, a map, a software, an invention, or a
technical device.
A simple scribble on a besmeared tombstone reveals a wealth
of information on an empire that crumbled in the night of time. A
small rock, in a forlorn desert, inscribed by an idle shepherd, may
eternize a no-longer-existing world of lush flora and varied fauna.
A set of rickety runes or baffling hieroglyphs breathe long life into
underground palaces and buried courts. A single 'suspended' epic
( )of old Arab poetry tells and retells the entire anthropology
and sociology of a whole nation. A wrinkled stone engraved by a
weary hunter in the cavernous depth of a desolate cave might
equally revive the lost lore of prehistoric eons. And so does a work
that leaves an enduring trace.
Any careful work carried out at an intense moment of deep
insight would certainly join the endless string of great works that
defy time and oblivion. The more the work is beautiful and
appealing to humanity, the greater will be its chances to live and its
claims to eternity. Granted, things have changed and humanity has
gone a long way. People are no longer inscribing or engraving
sketches on 'stone besmeared with sluttish time.' But opportunities
Pen Circle n 31 -3-
are greater with each new breakthrough in technology and in
thinking modes.
In the realm of academia, both students and researchers have
the opportunity to try their chances to 'eternity'. A simple click on
the mouse might very well be the beginning of a wonderful
beginning of success and fame. The opening succession of clinks
on a keyboard might equally set the right notes of a great work.
The rickety rough draft on a blueprint might be the prelude to an
original treatise in a particular discipline. The first brushes of a
tactful pencil might be the sketch of a great masterpiece of art to
come. And a short poem, scribbled on a torn paper by an astute
mind or a sincere heart at a crucial moment of insight, might very
well be the right claimant to genius.
Man (male or female) has been claiming for eternity since the
dawn of time. Though the nature of Man denies him/her the right
to live forever, physically speaking, it is his/her duty to leave deeds
that would stand the test of time as long as they serve humanity
and, at the same time, represent a living record of the artist.
However, the field of work is not as writable and inscribable
as the dunes of the Sahara or the wet sand of a desolate shore.
Genius is something that comes with hard work, iron perseverance,
a smart sense of time management, and an unfailing stamina. The
world is so organized and so complex that one cannot hit at the
right tone of genius with a simple wish or a random opportunity.
Yet, this is not asking for the impossible. Once we gather the sum
of conditions for success, everyone of us can always leave a mark
and claim for a place among the great. The blue sky, the shining
sun, the full moon and the firmament stars are still the lot of all
humans, aren't they? So just set to work, use both mind and heart
and you will leave a footprint that would say loud and clear: "I was
here!"
Khalid Chaouch
Pen Circle n 31 -4-
Pedagogical Page
Bibliography Presentation
Source:
Research Methodology. SLCE Master Course home page. Oct. 2012-Dec.
2012. Dept. of English, Sultan Moulay Slimane Univ. 05 Nov. 2012
http://usms.ma/usms_moodle/course/view.php?id=87
Pen Circle n 31 -6-
Slough
Come, friendly bombs, and fall on Slough!
It isn't fit for humans now,
There isn't grass to graze a cow.
Swarm over, Death!
Come, bombs and blow to smithereens
Those air -conditioned, bright canteens,
Tinned fruit, tinned meat, tinned milk, tinned beans,
Tinned minds, tinned breath.
Mess up the mess they call a town-
A house for ninety-seven down
And once a week a half a crown
For twenty years.
And get that man with double chin
Who'll always cheat and always win,
Who washes his repulsive skin
In women's tears:
And smash his desk of polished oak
And smash his hands so used to stroke
And stop his boring dirty joke
And make him yell.
But spare the bald young clerks who add
The profits of the stinking cad;
It's not their fault that they are mad,
They've tasted Hell.
It's not their fault they do not know
The birdsong from the radio,
It's not their fault they often go
To Maidenhead
And talk of sport and makes of cars
In various bogus-Tudor bars
And daren't look up and see the stars
Pen Circle n 31 -8-
Hamid MASFOUR
SLCE Master Unit (2011-2013)
This poem is taken from Hamid Masfours collection of poems,
Never Dare Kill the Sun (Rabat: Top Press, 2008.) He is also
the author of ( Lunacy and Pictures), 2004.
Pen Circle n 31 - 10 -
Astronomy Talk
A talk on Astronomy was given in English by Fritz
Gerd Koring, director of Sahara Sky observatory
(Tinfou, Zagora), on Tuesday 20 November 2012 at the
Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Beni Mellal.
The event was organized by the Club of Amateur
Astronomy of the FLSH, Beni Mellal (AstroBM).
http://www.saharasky.com/saharasky/
Pen Circle n 31 - 16 -
Pungent Quotations
In this column, we present a selection of quotations by prominent figures of art,
literature, politics, history, philosophy, science, etc.
N A O M C H O M S K Y
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
B C A B M S A S M A B N
R E F R O O B T A S L E
A N T O N C H E K H O V
K T E O T K O A E E O E
E S R K H S R M R N D R
Pen Circle n 31 - 19 -
20 Clues, n 31 .
CROSSWORDS (N 31)
1- Person supposedly endowed with the ability to remove evils from a
person or a place American news channel. 2- To officially pass a law
or bill so that it becomes legal When closed, it is covered by an eyelid.
3- Plants that you collect in harvest time French monosyllabic answer.
4- European city supposedly built by Romulus Street Informal word
for a very young child. 5- Find it in AXE Large snake that kills its
victims by squeezing them to death Radio wavelength. 6- Extremely
small Great Californian city. 7- The protecting covering on top of a
building A sudden military attack. 8- Outer part of the body between
the leg and the waist Preposition indicating movement Not drunk. 9-
All right! Laboratory. 10- Humble, modest Load of something. 11-
The system according to which the money, industry and trade of a
country are organized. 12- A cleaning and washing substance Earth.
A B C D E F G H I J K L
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