W.H. Auden

Dear all,

Next session will be devoted to study of one of W.H.Auden´s most famous poems "September 1, 1939" . You´ll find it in the following link

http://www.poemdujour.com/Sept1.1939.html

After reading it discuss the following questions:
1. What do you think the last two lines of the second stanza refer to?
2. What political and historical events does the poems address?
3. What attitudes towards patriotism does the poem take?
4. What do you think the poet means by

"The strength of Collective Man"
"Out of the mirror they state, Imperialism´s face. And the international wrong".
"There is no such thing as the State"

5. What is the relevance of this poem to our times?

Also, remember to post a comment about "The Waste Land" by Eliot. Deadline Sunday15.

See you,
Claudia

T.S. Eliot

Dear all,

T.S. Eliot was born in the USA but at the the age of 25 went to live in London, and at 35 became a British citizen. He worked as a bank clerk and later became an editor for the publishing house Faber. During World War II, he served as an air-raid warden. His influence on the next generations of English poets was enormous. One of his most well known poems is "The Waste land" written in 1922, in which he complains about the lack of meaning of contemporary city life. In one of his essays about poetry "The music of poetry" 1942, he wrote: "It is not necessary in order to enjoy the poem, to know what the dream means; but human beings have an unshakeable belief that dreams mean something..."

You´ll find the poem in the following link

http://www.bartleby.com/201/1.html

Read it, think of the title, sub-titles, images, characters, date in which it was written....

Also, please remember to write your post about "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and "Odour of Chrysanthemums" by D.H. Lawrence. Deadline Sunday 8.

Claudia

Friday session

Dear all,

This Friday will be devoted to finishing the last 3 presentations, and to the analysis and discussion of "The Rocking-horse winner".

Attached you´ll find a link to the "Odour of Chrysanthemums" which you should read for Friday too as we will try and draw comparisons between the two stories.

http://shortstoryclassics.50megs.com/lawrencechrysanthemums.html

See you next class,

Claudia

Dear all,

We will read two stories by D.H. Lawrence. The first one "The Rocking-Horse Winner" can be found in the following link. You should read for Monday 26.

http://www.literature.org/authors/lawrence-david-herbert/the-woman-who-rode-away-and-other-stories/part-12/index.html


1. What do you think is the main conflict in the story?
2. Describe the characters
3. Discuss the opposition between being lucky and rich
4. What does the rocking-horse represent?
5. Discuss the ending of the story.

See you,
Claudia

About Virginia Woolf

Dear all,

Please remember to post your entry about Virginia Woolf´s "A room of one´s own". Deadline Tuesday 13 at midnight.

You may decide to focus your reflections on the main issues, or on one of them:

1. Gender issues

2. The need to have a space, both real and metaphorical to write

3. The importance of money to have that space

4. The art of writing and the impact of "interruptions" when writing

5. The stream of consciousness

6. Leisure and time to think, etc.

Also, if you wish to refer to the story "The mark on the wall" you are very welcome to do so.

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

Best,

Claudia

Oliver Twist

Hello everybody,

Please remember to post your entry on "Oliver Twist". Deadline tonight!!

You may decide to focus on the metaphors found in Dickens´s writing or on the keystones of the Victorian times. How are they represented in Oliver Twist?

About Virginia Woolf, please listen to the following interview to Norma Clarke (author of The Rise and Fall of the Woman of Letters), and Amanda Craig who is a modern woman writer.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/2004_30_mon_03.shtml

What´s Amanda´s view of having a room of one´s own to write?

What does she think about women writers today?

What does Norma think about the idea of the room? Has it been harmful or not?

Claudia

The signal-man

Dear all,

As I mentioned on our last session, deadline to write the post about the signal-man is tonight!!

Please remember to do so.

See you tomorrow,
Claudia