Video
Eleanor Barbour and Vignettes
Transcript
[Ranger Tera Lynn] Oh, hi! Ranger Tera Lynn here. I'm doing a little light reading on a break. Fascinating article titled: “Preliminary Notice of a Newly Discovered Bed of Miocene Diatoms.” If you've ever used diatomaceous earth in your garden, you've seen these tiny fossils. Living diatoms are a type of algae that float in bodies of water. Someone pretty smart had to have written this article back in 1911 published in the Nebraska Geological Survey.
And yep, SHE was pretty smart.
She's Eleanor Barbour Cook. I'm standing next to a picture of Eleanor here at a place called The Bone Cabin in East Agate. She's standing next to her then husband, Harold Cook, and her brother-in-law John Cook. Many Agate histories focus on the many male paleontologists who worked in the fossil quarries here or maybe traveled far and wide across the West to look for new specimens. I mean, that was the time period. But Eleanor wasn't held down by the ideas of what women were supposed to do, or be, in the early 1900s. Her dad was a paleontologist. Her husband was a paleontologist. Their colleagues were paleontologists. Why not her too? In fact, one could argue Eleanor was the smartest and strongest of them all. After all, in addition to her studies and research, she still had to fulfill the duties of a married woman of that time.
In 1910, her mother-in-law became seriously ill. So she became the head of the household of the Agate Springs Ranch. She had to care for her grandmother-in-law, her father-in-law, her uncle-in-law, her brother-in-law, and her husband. All while playing gracious hostess to all the scientists they welcomed at the ranch. And she homeschooled all four of her kids. I'm tired just thinking about all that work.
After her divorce from Harold Cook, she had to pay all the bills for her and her kids new home in Chadron Nebraska. So single mom, scientist extraordinaire, Eleanor also taught Geology, English, and Paleontology at a local college. She also gave flute lessons in town during her ample spare time.
Let's listen to Gretchen Mead talk about her grandmother and the funny way she could hold her own in a man's world in the early 1900s.
[Gretchen Meade] When she was probably in late high school or early University, she went to her classroom and observed a couple of young men loitering oddly just outside the door. And alerted that something might be up. She enters the classroom, proceeds to her desk, and opens her desk. Coiled up inside is a huge bull snake. And the boys are looking around the corner and observing. Well they didn't know Eleanor, and they didn't know that she had been raised with snakes. And had snakes as pets all her life. (clears voice) So she just scoops it up and says what a beautiful snake and turns around with delight to these boys. And I'm sure maybe putting it on a little bit. And they, being absolutely terrified of the thing, fled. (audience laughter) I have no idea how they got it in there in the first place.
Oh my grandmother could do anything. Yeah I don't think there was anything she couldn't do. And do really, really well. And ,uh if I, if I were to say I had a hero I think it'd be her. And I knew her. She was amazing.
[Diana Weis] Hello everyone! I'm Diana from the Nebraska Writing Project and I'm here today to talk to you about vignettes. A lot of people think that a vignette is basically a short story, but actually a vignette is more like a small description of a specific account. So let's think about this. A vignette, vignette is a small slice of life. A momentary pause in the action that allows you as the writer to create an atmosphere around that moment.
Now if you've never written a vignette before, I'm sure that description is as clear as muddy water. But fortunately, Gretchen Mead has given us a great example when she told her story about her grandmother. And it's from this vignette that we can get a sense of who her grandmother Eleanor was as a person and what she was all about. And in that specific case we can even figure out what she was able to handle. What we don't know from the vignette, or any vignette, could really, literally fill a book. So one way to look at a vignette is kind of like an ancedote. It, it's kind of like um where sometimes you can tell more in a few short sentences than you can in a whole book because it zeros in on the character or the moment in a way that you just can't do without getting frozen in time. So in a moment, we're going to write one, but let's take a closer look at what a vignette is by looking at Gretchen's story.
Gretchen picked a moment in her grandmother Eleanor's life. And even though it had a mini plot and a beginning, middle, and end to the story, it really doesn't um show a passing of time. She picked one small moment and brought out something in her grandmother that just wasn't visible in anything we had read or learned about before. So in a moment, I'm going to have you listen again to Gretchen's story. And as you can see on the slide, there are four key points to what a vignette is that I would like you to listen for as you hear her story the second time. The first one is: Where has she highlighted a defining emotional moment? Second: How does she give insight to how the
character sees the world? Third: How does she create a vivid picture or visual emotion in the story? And four: How does she zoom in and become specific on Eleanor's thoughts, emotions, and actions? Take note as you watch the video. Your teacher may decide to stop the video at the end so you can discuss this as a class.
[Gretchen Meade] When she was probably in late high school or early University, she went to her classroom and observed a couple of young men loitering oddly just outside the door. And alerted that something might be up, she enters the classroom, proceeds to her desk, and opens her desk. Coiled up inside is a huge bull snake. And the boys are looking around the corner and observing. Well they didn't know Eleanor, and they didn't know that she had been raised with snakes. And had snakes as pets all her life.
(clears voice) So she just scoops it up and says what a beautiful snake and turns around with delight to these boys. And I'm sure maybe putting it on a little bit. And they, being absolutely terrified of the thing, fled. (audience laughter) I have no idea how they got it in there in the first place.
[Diana Weis] Now that you've experienced the vignette, it's time to take pen to page, and try one of your own. If you're looking for an idea, you can always grab a moment from a current story you're writing. Or, you can think of a topic. It can be one that has crossed your mind lately. it could be something that is your favorite, or something that's not your favorite. it could even be from a story that had been passed down to you. Whatever it is, you're going to employ the four main aspects of a vignette while writing the story. And I'll place them back up on the screen for you to see.
Number one: Highlight in your event a defining emotional moment, then give Insight on how the character sees the world through this moment. Create a vivid picture or a visual emotion. Zoom in, be specific. Let us know the thoughts, the emotions, and the actions that are happening all in the short snippet of time. But most of all, and this is a new one,
worry about the structure. A vignette doesn't have to follow the typical story paradigm.
Whatever you do, I do want to take a moment to tell you-- thank you for spending time
with us today, and writing. These guidelines will remain on the board as long as you or your teacher sees that you need them.
We look forward to reading your writing.
Description
This is the final of four videos created for the 2023 Agate Writing Festival. The theme was Hidden Stories. This video uses the amazing story of Eleanor Barbour to teach about vignettes. Eleanor was the daughter of one of the original paleontologists at Agate, the first wife of Harold Cook from Agate Springs Ranch, and so much more. A park ranger and her granddaughter share stories of her. Then, a teacher helps students write their own vignettes.
Duration
11 minutes, 51 seconds
Credit
Nebraska Writing Project
Date Created
10/26/2023
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