Coming to an end

So, this class starts to come to an end. We ended the readings with Mrs. Dalloway. This was actually a pretty good read. I remember buying my books before the semester started and thinking to myself "Mrs Dalloway? Oh no, this is gonna be a rough class". Well, I was wrong. The book is actually pretty good. So to close this class was really fun. My favorite readings were Frankenstein by Shelley, "Garden of Love" by Blake, and "The Forsaken Merman" by Arnold. Honorable mention, though, to 'My Last Duchess" by Browning.

The Week in Lit 11-30-07

We read a poem entitled The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot. You have to read this thing like 300 times to really understand it. I understand it is a very influential poem. However, it also a very stress inducing poem. God bless those who can interpret the poem with ease. I would say of all the readings we have done so far The Waste Land was my least favorite. However, I can at least say i have read it. After all, as i mentioned, the poem is considered one the most influential poems of all time. I think everybody should have to read it at least once. Oh and have some Tylenol or Ibuprofen on hand when you do. Just kidding.

The week in Lit for 11-23-07

Well, this week is/was Thanksgiving. Our reading assignments were shorter. We read some poems dealing with unrequited love, art and immortality, and a guy who loves a woman maybe just a little too much. I thought they were all pretty good poems.
We have to do a web page assignment this week. I have never built a web page. This should be interesting. I think I am going to build my page around William Blake's "The Garden of Love". This poem is probably my favorite that we have read this semester. For me, it is a really dark poem with an intense underlying religious theme. This is definitely the kind of stuff I enjoy.

The week in literature

So, this week we read Great Expectations. This book is long. I think it has around 136,000 pages. Ok, maybe not that many. We also read a poem "Goblin Market". I thought it was a pretty good poem. I had a little trouble in my interpretation of it, though. That is the thing with poems. Maybe it is just me, but they all seem to be open to different interpretations. Maybe, that is why poetry could be compared to lyrical content in song. You hear a song and you can interpret it to fit whatever you want it to say to you. However, the song writer may have had a different meaning when writing the song. Oh well, I have definitely learned a lot more about poetry and authors by taking this class.

Literature

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of old literature works. Maybe this is because most of the stories I have read from old literature, I read when I was a lot younger. That being said, I have really enjoyed the stories/poems that i have been assigned to read. I mean there is some good stuff in these writings. A possible murder, in The Last Duchess. A monster which goes on a killing rampage, Frankenstein. A dark poem about Religion and youth, The Garden of Love. I wish I would have taken the time and read some of these older works when I was younger instead of just throwing the book away because the names Stephen King or Dean Koontz were not associated with them.

Frankenstein

This week we read Frankenstein. This is such a good book. It is amazing how books written so long ago parallel our society the way it is today. For instance, Frankenstein (the monster) is created and abandoned. He receives no love from anybody. In fact, everyone he comes into contact with rejects him or beats him. Ultimately, Frankenstein ends up murdering people.
We see that today. Clildren being born into families that do not care for them. They reject the kids and these kids grow up with no sense of belonging or having some structure to their life. What happens? Most end up in jail. Some even commit murder with no remorse. Good story, which really makes you think.
On a side note, the Frankenstein in the novel is actually pretty intelligent as far as vocabulary and speaking is concerned. He is no blabbering fool, like he is often portrayed in movies. Anyone see Young Frankenstein? Recall the Putting on the Ritz skit? Frankenstein with his funny "Puttinngg on the Riiiitzzz" Most movies I have seen have him usually nodding or looking like he is trying to figure out what people are saying. By the end of the film he is able to speak those one or two words. Oh well, thats the movies for you.

A new Blog for week 2

Well, this week we dealt with the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. I have to admit, I like the stories or poems that deal with supernatural activity. They are seldom dry(boring) and captivate those who read them. Besides, any story which can be made into an Iron Maiden song is cool in my book. I think next week we get to start reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This should be pretty cool. I read this book a long time ago and enjoyed the story.
We also read Ode to a Nightingale By Keats. This is kind of a trippy poem. There is such a massive doom and gloom feel to the poem.