Witch Hazel Advent, The Story of an Ozark Poet

91 Pages·2016·0.49 MB·English

by  Sarah Moore Chyrchel

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Graduate Theses and Dissertations
12-2012
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Sarah Moore Chyrchel
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
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Part of the American Film Studies Commons, and the Poetry Commons
CCiittaattiioonn
Chyrchel, S. M. (2012). Witch Hazel Advent, The Story of an Ozark Poet. Graduate Theses and
Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/601
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WITCH
 HAZEL
 ADVENT

THE
 STORY
 OF
 AN
 OZARK
 POET
WITCH
 HAZEL
 ADVENT,

THE
 STORY
 OF
 AN
 OZARK
 POET

A
 thesis
 submitted
 in
 partial
 fulfillment

of
 the
 requirements
 for
 the
 degree
 of

Master
 of
 Arts
 in
 Journalism

By

Sarah
 Moore
 Chyrchel

University
 of
 Arkansas

Bachelor
 of
 Arts
 in
 Anthropology,
 1996

December
 2012

University
 of
 Arkansas
ABSTRACT

The
 goal
 of
 this
 Master’s
 thesis
 project
 was
 to
 document
 the
 life
 of
 my
 maternal

step-­‐grandfather,
 John
 Ross
 Rule,
 in
 a
 visually
 compelling
 manner.

 Using
 equipment

provided
 by
 the
 Lemke
 Department
 of
 Journalism
 at
 the
 University
 of
 Arkansas,
 I
 shot
 and

edited
 a
 half
 hour
 long
 documentary
 film
 comprised
 of
 interviews
 and
 footage
 of
 John
 at
 his

home
 near
 Winslow,
 Arkansas.
 John
 is
 a
 talented
 poet,
 and
 segments
 of
 his
 poetry
 are

woven
 throughout
 the
 film.

The
 inspiration
 for
 this
 project
 is
 deeply
 rooted
 in
 place:
 the
 remote
 farmstead
 in

the
 Boston
 Mountains
 of
 northwestern
 Arkansas
 that
 my
 grandparents
 called
 home,
 Frog

Bayou.
 I
 spent
 many
 summers
 and
 holidays
 there
 as
 a
 child
 and
 I
 developed
 a
 deep
 love
 for

the
 land
 and
 for
 my
 grandparents’
 rugged
 way
 of
 life.
 Tied
 to
 this
 love
 of
 place
 is
 my
 love

for
 John.
 John
 and
 I
 have
 always
 had
 a
 special
 bond.
 Likely
 it
 started
 out
 as
 a
 mutual
 love

for
 the
 land
 when
 I
 was
 a
 child
 and
 later
 blossomed
 as
 I
 came
 to
 see
 John
 as
 both
 a

philosophical
 and
 creative
 mentor
 in
 my
 adulthood.

I
 have
 wanted
 to
 tell
 this
 story
 for
 a
 long
 time.
 In
 fact,
 this
 may
 very
 well
 be
 the

reason
 I
 got
 into
 the
 field
 of
 documentary
 filmmaking
 in
 the
 first
 place.
 It
 has
 taken
 me
 over

a
 decade
 to
 get
 to
 the
 point
 where
 I
 felt
 that
 my
 skill
 and
 talent
 as
 a
 filmmaker
 were
 equal

to
 the
 beauty
 of
 Frog
 Bayou
 and
 the
 talent
 and
 intellect
 of
 John
 Rule.
 It
 is
 my
 hope
 that
 by

showcasing
 John’s
 poetry
 in
 the
 film,
 it
 will
 be
 introduced
 to
 a
 wider
 audience
 and
 will

receive
 the
 kind
 of
 attention
 it
 so
 justly
 deserves.
This
 thesis
 is
 approved
 for
 recommendation

to
 the
 Graduate
 Council.

Thesis
 Director:

___________________________________________________

Prof.
 Larry
 Foley

Thesis
 Committee:

___________________________________________________

Prof.
 Dale
 Carpenter

___________________________________________________

Prof.
 Robert
 Cochran
THESIS
 DUPLICATON
 RELEASE

  I
 hereby
 authorize
 the
 University
 of
 Arkansas
 Libraries
 to
 duplicate
 this
 thesis
 when

needed
 for
 research
 and/or
 scholarship.

Agreed
 _____________________________________________________

 Sarah
 Moore
 Chyrchel

Refused
 _____________________________________________________

 Sarah
 Moore
 Chyrchel
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I
 would
 like
 to
 thank
 my
 thesis
 advisors,
 Larry
 Foley,
 Dale
 Carpenter,
 and
 Robert

Cochran,
 for
 being
 so
 patient
 with
 me
 during
 the
 long
 process
 of
 completing
 this
 project,

and
 for
 providing
 valuable
 feedback
 and
 support
 as
 well.

  Thank
 you
 to
 my
 husband,
 Ryan
 Chyrchel,
 for
 supporting
 me
 on
 this
 project
 from

the
 beginning,
 and
 especially
 for
 babysitting
 while
 I
 was
 away
 on
 shoots.

  And
 a
 special
 thank
 you
 to
 John
 R.
 Rule
 for
 indulging
 me
 on
 this
 project
 and
 for

being
 willing
 to
 be
 followed
 around
 with
 a
 camera.
DEDICATION

 This
 thesis
 is
 dedicated
 to
 the
 memory
 of
 Margaret
 LaHay
 Wynngate
 Rule,
 my

maternal
 grandmother,
 whose
 academic
 achievements
 served
 to
 shape
 my
 own
 academic

aspirations.
TABLE
 OF
 CONTENTS

I.

  INTRODUCTION

  1

II.

  RESEARCH

  4

  A.
  Childhood

  6

  B.
  College
 Years

  10

  1.
  Army

  10

  2.
  Return
 to
 College

  11

  3.
  Meeting
 Margaret

  12

  4.
  Graduate
 School

  13

  5.
  Marriage

  13

  C.
  Frog
 Bayou

  15

  1.
  History

  15

  2.
  Early
 Days
 at
 Frog
 Bayou

  16

  D.
  Teaching
 Career

  19

  E.
  Retirement

  21

  1.

  Homesteading

  23

  2.

  Visitors
 to
 Frog
 Bayou

  24

  3.

  Alone
 at
 Frog
 Bayou

  25

  F.
  Margaret’s
 Alzheimer’s

  26

  G.

  Life
 in
 Town

  28

  H.

  Margaret’s
 Death

  30

  I.
  Life
 Without
 Margaret

  31

III.
  PRODUCTION
 NARRATIVE

  34

  A.
 Take
 One

  34

  1.
  Pre
 Production

  34

  2.
  Production

  35

  3.

  Post
 Production

  40

  B.
 Take
 Two

  42

  1.

  Pre
 Production

  42

  2.
  Production

  43

  3.
  Post
 Production

  44

IV.
  SUMMARY

  47

IV.
  FILM
 SCRIPT

  48

V.
  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  68

APPENDIX
 A

  69

APPENDIX
 B

  70

APPENDIX
 C

  71

APPENDIX
 D

  72

APPENDIX
 E

  73

APPENDIX
 F

  74

APPENDIX
 G

  78

APPENDIX
 H

  80