End of the Term

Yesterday in class our literary research essays were due and we had "poetry day".  The literary research essay went as well as any essay could go and I was greatly relieved to finally just turn it in.  What I was not expecting was how poetry day went.  For poetry day we had to bring in a piece of poetry.  It could have been something that we wrote ourselves or something that we enjoyed that was written by someone else.  I chose to bring in "If" by Rudyard Kipling.  This is a poem that has always had a special place for me because it was one that my mother always read to me while I was growing up.  I have a copy of this poem framed and hanging on the wall in my bedroom at home.   I chose this poem because it was special to me growing up and it continues to have a special spot within me.  What I did not expect was to be completely blown away by some of the poetry that was written by my classmates.  I know that as a strictly English majors and minors class everyone in the class has some literary abilities, but I was not expecting there to be actual great poetry being written by these kids that I sit next to every other day of the week.  Some of these people are really talented and I did not have the slightest idea.  Reflecting on the class as a whole, even though I do not think I will pursue an English major, I believe that this was one of the most beneficial classes I have taken this year.  I not only learned a lot, but I greatly enjoyed the experience and the way that the class worked.  There is nothing I love more, especially in literature classes, that class discussion heavy courses. My favorite way to learn is through class discussions and this class was almost purely that.

"Snow Country" Part 2

Today we had to complete our reading of "Snow Country".  Much to my dismay, but falling right into my expectations, the second half of this piece was just as boring if not more so than the first half.  It dragged on for what felt like forever and it was very much the same content as the first half.  The back and forth between the man and the geisha.  The constant mood swings and drunken tendencies of the geisha.  There were random other events that took place throughout this half but none of them were really relevant, they just kind of happened.  The man took a day trip. The geisha got obsessed and possessive and increasingly more annoying.  It took everything in me just to finish the second half.  Fortunately, some excitement was thrown in at the very, very end of the story.  The movie theater burned down and the woman that the man was crushing on died falling from the building.  How that fits into the story is completely beyond me, but it was there and added a few seconds of interesting reading right at the end.  Overall, this piece was borderline interesting with a whole lot of boring.

"Snow Country" Part 1

Yesterday, the reading of the first half of Kawabata's "Snow Country" was due for class.  The whole plot of the first half included a man who was staying at the hot springs in the "snow country" of Japan and he had an encounter with a geisha.  When he was here the last time, he interacted with the same geisha but he left the next morning and thought he would never see her again.  This time, he met with her again and now that she was older he got to know her a little better.  The relationship between the pair is very strange and the geisha is very fickle with the man.  The one day they're friendly and getting along the next she tells him that she never wants to see him again and that she's going home.  They go back and forth in this way for what seems like the entire first half of the work.  I do not know how Kawabata expected the reader to react to the constant back and forth banter of the two characters, but for me it just turned very boring very quickly. The geisha came off as annoying with her constant mood swings and drunken tendencies.  Upon completion of part one, the man and the geisha have slept together (finally!) and then he leaves in the morning. The geisha sees him off at the train station.

Magical Realism

Yesterday we were assigned the second half of Rulfo's "Pedro Paramo".  This story had an overpowering element of magical realism and for that reason it was one that was really difficult for me to enjoy.  For me, the plot was too all over the place bouncing around from one time to another.  The layout of the piece made it more difficult for me to follow and therefore it was in no way enjoyable.  I had to make a strong effort to completely follow where the action was happening and who was alive and who was dead and who was doing what with whom.   I understand why this is a piece that is a "world classic".  The way it shows the distinction between class and commodification with the way the upper class has free reign over everything and everyone is an essential idea with these non-Western works that we have read for class, but it is not an idea that I would be interested to pursue further in my free time.  All in all, this is not the type of literature that I would choose to read ever.

Finalizing "Things Fall Apart"

After finishing all of "Things Fall Apart" I have fortunately found that I hate it much less than I had upon reading it in high school .  When I read it first in high school, I was not willing to believe that the people of Umofia were actually civilized people.  My teacher had insisted that they are not barbaric and that they are full of culture and even have organized government, but I just was not feeling it.  I hated everything about Okonkwo, he killed his son and drank wine from a human skull.  Nothing about his character was appealing to me and I could in no way relate to the story.  As I said previously, I was dreading reading this story for a second time.  This time, after having more education in literature and just general education, I discovered that this story was much more tolerable.  I would not go as far as to say I loved or even liked the novel, but I definitely understood it more and better recognized the point.  Unlike my experience in high school, I realized that the villagers in this novel were in fact civilized and had complex structures of developed peoples. The traditions and customs were proof enough of that the people were not barbaric and with the trial processes and the systems of government, these were actually a very developed people.  I think I had such a problem caring about it in high school because Achebe was very realistic about it, which I now recognize as the most powerful aspect of the piece.  Achebe took an approach that was very believable and there were no fantastic or extraordinary elements.  He did not paint the villagers as saints, he showed them as they truly would have existed. That on its own makes the novel more effective in portraying the commodification of the Western missionaries over the villagers of Nigeria. 

Reading "The Second Coming" then out of nowhere "...things fall apart..."

I love when literature connects to other literature. So clever.

Achebe

Yesterday for class we had to read the first half of Achebe's "Things Fall Apart".  I first encountered this story when I was a sophomore in high school and to be honest I hated everything about it.  When I saw this title on the syllabus I was tempted to drop the class then and there (not really).  I did not have any interest in reading this again.  This time around though I discovered that I did not hate it.  We have only read the first half at this point, but it is all coming back to me and for some reason it does not seem nearly as awful as it was in tenth grade. I almost look forward to reading the second half.     

Tagore

Yesterday for class we had to read Tagore's "Punishment".  This was basically a story about a man who was upset when his wife didn't have dinner ready for him so he killed her.  This story did not really do much for me.  In class it was discussed that possibly the piece was supposed to be comedic, but I didn't see it. At all.  For me, it was a rather boring read and all around pointless.  There was a brief amount of background introducing the setting and the characters then all of a sudden a man is stabbing a woman in the head.  Not much content here or much point.  Stories such as this one are reasons why I do not really get much literary satisfaction from non-Western literature.  As always we had a fair amount of solid class discussion on the work which was enlightening, but it did not change my feelings for the story.

Amichai

Yesterday for class we had to read Amichai.  Of the pieces that we had to read, I had taken the most liking to "God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children".  Amichai is a mostly religious writer which is something I don't really take a strong liking to ever.  Once again, I discovered that this class goes by unbelievably fast and it seems as though we can never have enough discussion.  I greatly enjoyed discussing the meaning of "God Has Pity on Kindergarten Children".  The idea that as people get older they receive less assistance and protection from God is an idea that I have never put much thought into but it is a very interesting idea.  The concept is very true to me.  It is clear that as people get older they are more likely to lose favor in the eyes of God while they know more and they sin more.

Neruda

Yesterday for class we had to read Pablo Neruda.  This class will be my first in depth experience studying non-Western writers and as of now I am not exactly sure how I feel about it.  Western literature has always been what I had chosen to read and I don't love going outside of my comfort zone when it comes to literary works.  The Neruda writings did not really do much for me when I read them.  I did not find much value or meaning to them and I was not looking forward to the class discussion about them.  Again, I found that this class was able to produce great discussion about works that I did not enjoy reading.  Dr. Reed was able to get us all to see more within the reading than I had initially seen.  Going through the works line by line and asking the right questions in class really helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the works I did not really appreciate during the first reading.

Day One

Today was the first day of the English majors/minors only class that I am taking.  Going into the course I wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it.  I was excited for it because I have always found my academic strengths to be in English, but at the same time, I was very nervous for the course because I am not an English major and I knew it would be a heavy work load.  I am pleasantly surprised upon the conclusion of my first day of class that I fell in love with the class.  Even though it has only been one day, I can already tell that things are looking good for this term.  The other two classes that I sat through today were painfully boring and seemed to go on and on forever.  With this class, two hours and ten minutes did not even seem like enough time.  The time went by so quickly and I felt as though we could continue class discussion for a much longer time.  I look forward to what is still to come.