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Novelist Says Literature Gi
By Jan Travers
A great novel is a specific kind
of creation which explores the insides of
social classes, according to Dr. Chaim
Potok.
Potok, substituting at the last
moment for the ailing 1.8. Singer in the
Provost's Lecture Series, held a second
session Friday, April 9, in the Gallery
Lounge for student and faculty.
"The novel is a voyeuristic
instrument par excellence," said Potok.
"It brings you inside a world you
wouldn't go, inside people's rooms and
inside people's minds who are inside the
room."
Potok, author of the best seller
"The Chosen," said that before he
finished the first 50 pages of the novel,
he had thrown out at least 1100 pages
until he felt the voice was right. "When
in doubt, leave it out," said Potok,
quoting Mark Twain. "If you are not
sure of what you wrote, get rid of it and
do it better," he added.
Potok, speaking in a deep,
resonant voice which sounded like it was
reproduced from a compact disc player,
COMMENCEMENT NOTES
Commencement is Saturday, May 16,1981 at 9:30 am in Founders Hall
of the Milton Hershey School in Hershey. Featured speaker will be James H.
Guerin, executive chairman of the ISC Group in Lancaster and a member of the
college's board of advisers. _
Graduating students are to be gowned and in Founders Hall by 8:30 am to
receive instructions and be lined up for the procession. You will be walking down
a brick walkway wearing a long commencement gown--high heels might not be
appropriate. Please leave personal items in your car because PSU is not
responsible for items left in the gowning room.
Students or guests with disabilities who may need assistance or reserved
parking can contact the Community Relations Office at 948-6272 immediately.
If you are not planning to attend the ceremony, remember to complete a
"Graduation in Absentia" form in the Records Office, W-101 or call 948-6020.
t Capital Times
Editor-in-Chief Jan Travers
Managing Editor ...Vicki Koon
Photography Editor Sylvia Johnson
Graphic Artist Joe Kupec
Advertising Mgr Kris Hansen
Contributors
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John Albano
Alan Foster
C.W. Heiser
Advisor: Joanne Smith
assured the audience that writing . is the
only profession he could imagine
himself in. "It is hard work but it is
also exciting. Sure, there is a lot of
drudgery involved, but the real
satisfaction comes from having written.
Capital Times
yes Us Insight In
Enjoyment is not there all the time, but
it is part of the process somewhere," said
Potok.
Literature has awesome power,
according to Potok. "It is very
important to read literature from across
PSU Student to Run in
Dauphin County Primary
Jeanette L. Brinker, student
government president at Penn State,
Harrisburg, has announced she will wage
a write-in campaign for Dauphin County
register of wills in the Democratic
primary.
Brinker, who had received the
endorsement of the county Democratic
Committee, arrived to file her petition
on March 10, the last filing day, less
than one minute after the doors to the
o Ourselves
the spectrum. It opens up an awareness
of the enormous possibilities of
literature. It takes the human experience
and shapes it, making sense of it
through your imagination. Our lives
aren't coherent, they don't make sense.
Life is a, shapeless amorphous thing.
Literature helps us make sense of it,"
said Potok.
By reading different things,
Potok said we see how different
members of our species live, gaining
insight into ourselves.
Potok admitted that he, like
most other writers, draws on his own
life experiences in his work. "The heart
of great literature of the western world
always resonates life lived and truths
touched by individuals. " Some writers
work closely with autobiographical
material while others use it to spark
images. "You must be aware of the
world to write fiction."
Potok says writers take an
experience and put it in a setting rather
than replicate it in its original setting.
"Every novelist explores his own
particular world with the hope that if
successful he bridges the world between
himself and his readers," said Potok.
Bureau of Registration and Elections had
been locked.
After protesting the decision,
her case was review by the county
commissioners in an emergency
meeting. However they voted 2-to-1 to
deny her request to be placed on the
ballot.
Rather than petition the court
to have the commissioners' decision
reversed, Brinker has decided to run as a
write-in candidate.
April 27, 1987