After 2nd HOD lecture

I hope everyone wasn't lost today during lecture and that everyone was taking down notes as Ms Chua went through the first two-three pages or so of Heart of Darkness. Things might not make sense at this point, but the pieces will eventually fit together in an 'aha' moment somewhere halfway to three-quarters into the text (as I had experienced when I first read it), so persevere with it.

The novel is not easy. It's short, but the language of the novel is dense and for good reason, to create a contemplative ambivalent mood, perhaps. It might actually help to create a short chronology of the text as you read it. After all, exploration is an idea in the text, and like the narrator of the story who is our guide, our pilot, leading us through this journey, we are making sense of what we encounter amidst disorientation.

Ms Chua will be finishing up the last page of the section or so, and I will be taking over with the next few pages. Please get another copy of the text so you can annotate.

All Quiet On the Western Front

These were some of the clips I wanted to show during lecture but couldn't due to the uncooperative computer:

The Nature of Modern Irony

We were covering "The Calls" (Owen) today (the Lit A class) and I mentioned the flippant quality of the last line which contributes to the irony in the poem -- the effect is created through the trivial presentation of what is essentially serious and grave, bringing across a sense of tragedy.

One thing about the modern century is that it was truly tragic in that whatever that was essentially significant and profound (experienced by the subject, by the nation, etc.) was often reduced to silence by banality, or lost due to the subject's inability to communicate or express the depth of it; the greatness of the experience might even be such that the only response to that is to laugh or make it seem frivolous.

When you read Heart of Darkness, this is seen when Marlowe realises profound truth and the only expression of that immense terror and understanding comes in the form the words uttered by Kurtz, "the horror, the horror!", and when he, upon facing the deceased's intended, finds himself unable to express the horrible truth that he has brought back with him and he lies, perpetuating the glory of the system that he has come to despise.

The smartass ironic stance that we know being adopted today isn't necessarily the irony of the early 20th century writers, depending on their intention or their subject of commentary. The irony of the early 20th C writers was a sort of serious irony that brought out the weight of the evils of its time through its apparent lightness; these writers were ironic "not because (they) did not care but because (they) cared too much." (You can check out this article on the web commenting on the irony found in pop culture today here. The second page is pretty good.)

To end on a more frivolous note, another lit teacher and I had a discussion recently and we came to the consensus that Alanis Morissette's Ironic didn't feature scenarios that were really ironic, they were just...suay.

Tag this at the back of your HOD notes

Dig out your HOD lecture notes from last week and add this paragraph at the back:

19th Novel -- social critique but unlike the modern novel, did not fundamentally question society's order and organization in the way a novel like HOD does, e.g., is the white man really the most capable of bringing progress to the world and is he capable of upholding heroic or noble principles once he is out of the structure of his society at home? It was time of uncertainty as a result of new theories and political events. The finality of existence and the stability of old beliefs and structures were questioned.

These ideas are also conveyed by the form of the novel. (Section V of the Introduction)

Next week's tutorial

There's still a bit left of Ms Chua's lecture that needs to be filled in, so bring your lecture notes to tutorial class. I'll be wrapping up Owen (looking at lists, seeing anything you guys left out) for good. If anyone needs to go through any of the untouched poems, we could look at those in depth. For Lit B, there's still the few of you guys to go for essay review.

Just a note, in case I haven't mentioned it: for questions that don't mention any specific requirement to discuss two or three poems in detail, you need to bring in 8 - 9 poems to discuss generally. Either way, it still means knowing your poems inside out.

Be also prepared for a PC assignment (either take home or to be done in class) in the next two or three weeks or so.

You guys should also be thinking of common test prep. Prepare for a PC question, a possible comparison essay on two texts and a single text question. You'll definitely need to revise Murder in the Cathedral.

The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham

There's a film out there in the cinemas which is based on a W. Somerset Maugham's novel set in the 1920s, The Painted Veil.W. Somerset Maugham is someone you would consider as a modern writer (he was born in 1874, died in 1965) whose fame was based on his works which looked at the colonised life in the Far East (he travelled a lot in the last days of Empire).

Speaking of colonialism, Cheryl asked me a question on the difference between imperialism and colonialism last week. Definition-wise in the dictionary, there is little difference: both refer to a country maintaining or extending its authority and control over a foreign country, either through territorial claims and/or political/economic/ideological claims. I think colonialism refers to a more specific set of practices or beliefs that establishes the authority of the country over that of the foreign country, usually through the institution of administrative practices ruling over the indigenous people or the original people of the country (i.e. processes of colonialisation), while the term 'imperialism' is more broadly used to refer to policy of controlling other countries for the purposes of building empire, so that could include formal and informal influence (the United States is sometimes seen as a 'cultural imperialist' these days). Both terms are often used interchangeably, but the term 'imperialists' often specifically refer to the European expansionist countries in the 19th/20th century (e.g. Britain, France, Germany, etc.) -- that was the 'Age of Imperialism'.

Something to appreciate

A quotation on writing to share:

If style is the power to move freely in the length and breadth of linguistic thinking without falling into banality, it is attained chiefly by the cardiac strength of great thoughts, which drives the blood of language through the capillaries of syntax into the remotest limbs.

(From Walter Benjamin's essay on Karl Kraus)

The operative word here is CHOICE

You guys should be getting back your essays this week during tutorial. Here are the main points of criticism:

1) You guys need to compare the poems to answer the question. Which means that before you even compare the poems, you need to choose two or three poems that will have something in common that will answer your question and which will have differences that will add something insightful to your discussion/argument.

This means that the choice of your poems is IMPORTANT. Choose wisely.

This applies to any question that requires you to compare two or three texts. Look for the similarities then the differences. If the two texts that you initially pick look so different from each other such that there's nothing much to discuss, then ditch the two texts, even if you can find stuff from each text to answer the question separately.

2) Organization of the essay. This follows from the first point. Answer the question with your argument that will pull both texts together in discussion. Then state off each point in relation to both texts.

3) Bring in historical/literary context whenever you can. If you remember aspects of WWI that you see are evident in the text, then go ahead, plug in the information that you've learnt to impress the socks off the examiner. Of course, this historical/literary information must be relevant to the argument/question.

The UCLES (the board which marks your papers) examiner guy said that 'a little context goes a long way'.

We will be moving onto Heart of Darkness for lecture on Wed. I hope you have all bought your texts. Remember to get another copy for annotation.

Are we all confident enough to leave Owen alone or do you guys need extra lessons in March?

That is all. (For now.)

p.s. By the way James, I Know Where You Were During Lit Class.

Definitions

Essay deadline is now CLOSED. I'm not going to mark any other Wilfred Owen essays coming in from now.

Some confusion about definitions --

assonance, also known as "vocalic rhyme" -- where many similar vowel sounds occur together to create euphonic effect.

para rhyme where the rest of the consonants are the same but the vowel sounds are slightly different. you can categorize it under consonance as well. (e.g. hall/hell)

(For example of para rhyme to create assonance, look at the opening tercet of "Strange Meeting")

Half rhyme occurs when the last few consonants are similar but not necessarily the vowel and the opening consonants.

Transferred epithet (hypallage) -- when adjective not usually related to noun is placed next to noun. (e.g. "sleepless night", "forgetful snow", "sad shires" -- it doesn't have to be an emotion)

(from J.A. Cuddon)

RE: Owen Essay

One (or two) more word(s) regarding your discussion of style in Owen essays -- "SUBVERT" ("SUBVERSION").

Dante's Nose Job

Now, for more random stuff, Dante Alighieri of The Divine Comedy fame gets a nose job.

Initial comments on Owen essay

I've marked two essays from the lot that you guys have handed in. Here are some initial observations:

1) Argument not particularly clear. It's there in the intro, but it gets lost in the subsequent paragraphs. Also, you guys don't explain what you understand of the terms. By breaking down the parts of the question and explaining what they mean to me, you are effectively giving me the boundaries of your argument.

Put in more care into writing your topic sentences, which should state clearly each step of your argument. Do NOT craft your argument by assuming that I know what you mean by saying "Owen's poetry reflects on, and passionately protest against the tragedy of the loss of a generation to WWI". What makes this reflective quality? What is the "tragedy"? What is the "loss of a generation"? What kind of loss is it?

2) Giving me two poems and discussing them one after another. You are using the two poems to illustrate your argument. They should be cross-compared to make your point. (i.e. don't give me complete analysis on one poem, then move on to complete analysis of the other.)

For tutorial next week (15/1/07 and 17/1/07)

Two things I want you guys to do before class:

1) Read through all Owen poems before class, if possible, annotate
2) start thinking of common themes/features between the poems

I will be handing out a worksheet for all of us to fill in to help us sort out Owen's poetry as a whole. Please, let's have a constructive tutorial.

Owen Essay blacklist

These people owe me essays!

Lit A
James
Rachel
Saumya (Wednesday, she says)

In my letter tray!

This is Important ('A' level exam requirements)

Questions from Lit A class have prompted me to condense the requirements of your A level exam:

For your H2 paper

You have done: 1) Murder in the Cathedral, 2) Wilfred Owen's poetry, and you will soon cover 3) Heart of Darkness

Three essays
1) PC (either prose/poetry/drama from 20th Century) -- comment critically on piece with respect to theme and style characteristic of the period. The question might ask you to focus on a particular literary feature.
2) Comparison question: Use 2 of your 3 texts to answer a question which requires you to compare the texts in relation to theme and/or style of the 20th century period
3) One essay on the remaining text that you did not use in the comparison question.

Prep work in this case would require you to be very familiar with the thematic and stylistic features of twentieth-century writing, which can be applied/derived from the three texts that you have studied in depth. You will also need to cross-examine the three texts to find connections/comparisons/contrasts between the texts to answer your comparison question.

Link to WWI poetry context resources

Hi everyone,

here's a link to some of the letters that Owen posted to his mother. From this link, you can assess some of the other resources on the WWI war poets on the site.

As I have said, I will be lecturing and looking at some of Owen's poetry in class for the next two weeks. After this, we move on to Heart of Darkness. What we all need to do now (and mostly likely, we will during the third week tutorial) is to mentally place Owen's individual poems into categories according to thematic and stylistic features. This will allow easier recall for comparison between poems.

Also, what kind of thematic and stylistic similarities can you draw between Owen's poetry and Murder in the Cathedral?