A Different Version of T.S. Eliot's "The Wasteland."

I came across this interpretation of "The Wasteland" a couple weeks ago. I don't know if anyone is aware of the internet phenomenon known as LOLcats, but someone was inspired to rewrite the poem using the typical LOLcats jargon. Anyway, I thought I'd share it with any of you who might be going over "The Wasteland" for finals and would like to see a very simplified version of it, or maybe just a few laughs. Even if you're not aware of LOLcats, it is still quite silly and ridiculous to read.

Enjoy!
http://www.corprew.org/content/lolcat-wasteland/

--Jessica J.

341 Years Later ...

... England has its first female Poet Laureate. Aurora Leigh and the Lady of Shalott would be proud to see today's overdue news that Carol Ann Duffy is the first woman to assume a post held by Wordsworth, Tennyson, and a parade of men dating back to the seventeenth century.

Rage, Rage Against the Dying of the Light

"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night" and even includes a quote from the poem.

Other poetry

I have talked quite a bit about my writing in the afternoon class and I would really like feedback since no one, except my wife, has looked at it. here is the address, http://myheartmytales.blogspot.com. Enjoy.

Travis

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You: ENLT 219?

Greetings everyone (notice that Travis, in the previous posting, has invited some reflective/evaluative responses to To the Lighthouse, now that we've finished the novel (or nearly finished it, since I still want to devote another 10-15 minutes to it tomorrow)). Additionally, I wanted to let you know that I've posted three examples of effective responses from previous iterations of this "literary awards" paper; you can find them on the announcements section of the course website, along with some questions and contextual/biographical information for the Auden and Smith poems for Monday's discussion.

Now, a question for you ... or a kind of informal survey, I guess. Part of our departmental discussions about these survey classes involves wondering whether we might experiment by making it more of a large lecture class: i.e., opening it up to more students (e.g, 50 or more), which (unless we could arrange it so that there are small break-out discussion groups, the equivalent of labs in science courses perhaps) would involve reducing its current status as a pseudo-discussion course. There are economic reasons for such a consideration, of course, but part of the pedagogical rationale would be that the course only unsteadily works as a discussion class at the moment anyway -- given that it typically is populated with 30 students and has to cover such a wide swath of material. I, myself, do the best I can to make it a discussion class, but as you know there are times when the relentless demands of the schedule cause me to have to take control more than I might otherwise wish. At its worst, the lecture-based model would be based on a faulty principle of education: i.e., that the teacher dispenses knowledge and the students receive it (the so-called "banking method"). On the other hand, at its best, I suppose the survey class governed by this model might be a tighter, more efficient ship of state, with fewer chances for getting behind, and might allow those who are still getting used to poetry (and the like) to feel less pressured by the oral participation expectations and thereby get more comfortable before the upper division electives. Then again, one could argue (and one of my colleagues does, very persuasively) that students would be more inclined to benefit from a large lecture class later in the curriculum rather than earlier. Ah, what to think ...

Nevertheless, I know how I grateful I am for all of your comments and responses to these texts in class, and every class period finds me learning more about the texts as a result of our discussions -- so I'd be loath to give up the course's current orientation as a kind of discussion/lecture hybrid. But I suppose I could also imagine the course still being effective and desirable as a large lecture class if it could be conducted in a really nice, theater-like media room, and if the technology aspects (PowerPoint, music, video clips, etc.) could be made even more regular and dramatic. What do you all think? You are important stakeholders in this issue, of course, so your voices should be heard!

Virginia Woolf

Now that we are done with Virginia Woolf and To the Lighthouse, I wanted to take a moment to see what people had to think about the story and Woolf as a writer. For me, I both loved and hated the book. As an aspiring novelist, the only reason I can see to have so many phrases and choppy sentences is to show how good of a writer someone is. I understand she was simulating the thought process, but the difficulty of understanding and following the narrative are difficult. Another complaint I have is the lack of context for the text. She gave just enough, which was her intention, but that doesn't make following the thoughts any easier. It would be hard for any writer today to get away with so little context for what is going on in a character's mind.

In praise of her and her book, I haven't read a book where I have had so much in common with the characters before. She succeeded in making them come alive and so much so, I found myself sympathizing with almost all the characters on many levels. Something I really liked was she seemed to keep her personal sympathies out of the story. She didn't, in what little narration there was, giver her opinion of who should be felt sorry for and who we should despise. I guess that is possible since the narration took place in people's thoughts and we see the characters from different perspectives instead of from the perspective of the omniscient narrator.

In the end I enjoyed the novel. It was very well written, and as Eric pointed out on the handout for class, there are little things, such as the fountain, that make the novel interesting to read. I will surely read this novel again, but next time, since I know the story, I will hopefully be able to find more of the nuances that seem to make this book extraordinary.

Travis

Woolf's Scintillating Similes

Regardless of what you end up thinking of To the Lighthouse overall, I can't imagine that there aren't individual lines, images, passages, etc., that don't nearly take your breath away (you know, in the vein of "if I could just write one sentence like that in my lifetime, I would die happy!"). There has to be at least one pearl on every page. I don't know, for example, if I've ever encountered a better writer of similes.

How about that moment when Mr. Ramsay, in an endearing if ultimately unsuccessful way, tries to make amends with his son. The passage then moves into a positively stunning example of descriptive writing (amateur nature photographers like myself will appreciate the concluding image):

"Already ashamed of that petulance, of that gesticulation of the hands when charging at the head of his troops, Mr. Ramsay rather sheepishly prodded his son's bare legs once more, and then, as if he had her leave for it, with a movement which oddly reminded his wife of the great sea lion at the Zoo tumbling backwards after swallowing his fish and walloping off so that the water in the tank washes from side to side, he dived into the evening air which, already thinner, was taking the substance from leaves and hedges but, as if in return, restoring to roses and pinks a lustre which they had not had by day" (32-33)

Then there's the bee simile, which in many respects distills a major component of the thematic interests of this novel. We're essentially alone as individuals, it seems to say, and can only ever have access to the outer shells of others:

"How then, she had asked herself, did one know one thing or another thing about people, sealed as they were? Only like a bee, drawn by some sweetness or sharpness in the air intangible to touch or taste, one haunted the dome-shaped hive, ranged the wastes of the air over the countries of the world alone, and then haunted the hives with their murmurs and their stirrings; the hives, which were people" (51).

I'll be asking you to find and write about (in a paragraph to be turned in next Wednesday) a short passage/moment from the novel that speaks to you in some way: something you can relate to in some way, something you admire stylistically as notable writing, etc. But maybe we can catch and compile more such highlights and ruminations here ...