Pam Webb

a writer's journey as a reader

Archive for the tag “Literature”

04 Jun 2013
10 Comments

Seafaring Tales


 

Robinson crusoe rescues friday-1868

Robinson crusoe rescues friday-1868 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One thing about recovering from walking pneumonia is the down time I need to rest and recuperate.  I can’t complain too much about having to take it slow these days since it means I’m getting caught up on my classics list.

 

I’m not sure why, but I seem to be on a sea theme binge.

 

First I read Captains Courageous, and then I moved on to Life of Pi, and finally finished up Billy Budd. I’m slogging through an abridged version of Robinson Crusoe. Maybe someone out there has a clue why I am so drawn to the ocean.  Maybe having a fever made me want to be cool and refreshed by ocean breezes and be buoyed in my troubled time? Since I am on a roll, I am up for any ocean going suggestions for reads.

 

I teach my AP students the art of micro-precis, which means they have to summarize the plot in one sentence.  Let’s see if I can practice what I teach:

 

Captains Courageous: rich brat gets fished out of the ocean and learns how to be a decent human being by hook and not crook via a Troop of fine men sailing on the We’re Here.

 

Life of Pi: A boy finds himself a reluctant Noah as he endeavors to survive an epic journey with a tiger.

 

LIFE OF PI | Ang Lee | 35th Mill Valley Film F...

LIFE OF PI | Ang Lee | 35th Mill Valley Film Festival (Photo credit: diginmag)

Billy Budd: Handsome sailor “Baby” Budd hits upon the wrong way to get promoted and leaves the readers hanging as to the unfairness of the justice system.

 

English: Book Jacket for the novel Billy Budd

English: Book Jacket for the novel Billy Budd (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Robinson Crusoe: TGIF takes on a whole new meaning as one man figures out Dad might have been right about remaining at home and not be so anxious about seeing the sea

 

Okay, they’re bad, but then I didn’t plan on turning these in for a grade.

 

Oh, and please don’t suggest Moby Dick. Once is more than enough for that whale of  a tale.

 

 

 

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29 Apr 2013

500 Poems on the Wall…


Nope. A month is simply not enough. Thirty days hath April, but it would take a lifetime to truly discover the all and all of poetry.

There are at least a bazillion sites dedicated to poetry. I tend to gravitate towards http://www.poets.org, since they celebrate poetry in a BiG way. There is also http://www.poemhunter.com, which has this massive list of 500 poems.  Click and feast.

500 Poems

POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD

POETRY SOCIETY POSTCARD (Photo credit: summonedbyfells)

Happy Poetry Month!!

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20 Apr 2013
11 Comments

Shaping Up Poetry: Found Poems


Found Poetry is another one of those amazing forms that tweak our known ideas of what poetry should look like or what it should be. So, today let’s look at finding poetry in unexpected places.

What is Found Poetry? (thanks Wikianswers)

A found poem is one in which words and phrases are taken from various sources and then strung together to make sense.

It is named because the elements which compose the poem are “found”. The words or phrases “found”, although they were written in totally different contexts and not meant to be used together, all have some kind of common theme. When placed together, they make a poem that makes sense.

Directions:

1. Grab any prose source (newspaper or magazine articles, ad flyers, instructions, directions, even textbook passages) and select a passage of 100 words or less.

2. Go through and find words and short phrases that have a “poetical” sound or are unusual or simply seem unique or interesting.

3.  If possible cut these out from the source, and if this is not feasible (some schools and libraries are picky about cutting up their books and magazines) write them down.

4.  Collect about 50 words and set them aside (roughly “find” about half of the original count 100=50).

5. Begin moving them around until the poem finds its way on the page.  One idea is to create the basic idea of the original piece. Found Poems can be typed out or formed into a collage.

Of course, these are basic guidelines and there is lots of flexibility to finding your own poem.  Here are a few examples demonstrating the creativity of this form:

First of all, go to Poets.orgto read a “legit” Found Poem.

Now, for some collage styles:

 

This is an example of  blocking out the words in the source (be source it’s okay to do so!):

One other example is taking prose, in this case an excerpt of a short story,  and finding a poem within it: (my rendered interpretation)

From “the Osage Orange Tree” by William Stafford
On that first day of high school in the prairie town where the tree was, I stood in the sun by the flagpole and watched, but pretended not watch, the others.  They stood in groups and talked and knew each other, and standing near the corner looking everywhere but at the crowd.

First Day
She stood lonely
as the tree
in the school courtyard.
Everyone busily
moving
and
greeting
one another
bridging summer into fall.

She stood alone,
like the tree.
I saw her.
She didn’t see me.
As you can read I didn’t follow my own directions of cutting the words down to half.  That’s the loveliest aspect of poetry–it’s aching to have its own rules broken.

Hoping you will find your own poetry in whatever prose you come across.  Finding a poem hiding within the everyday stuff words are made up of is a bonus.

Happy Poetry Month!

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15 Mar 2013
7 Comments

Romeo and Juliet Stories


Mass-produced colour photolithography on paper...

Mass-produced colour photolithography on paper for Toy Theatre; Romeo and Juliet (background and surroundings removed) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Soon I will be introducing my students to Shakespeare through Romeo and Juliet.  It’s a timeless story repeated throughout literature and film.  Two lovers not meant to be together yet drawn to love one another regardless of their circumstances.  I didn’t realize how strong that story line ran until I watched Lorna Doone the other night.  And there it was right before me–John Ridd and his pure love for Lorna Doone.  Such a gorgeous love story.  I then began to think about all about the other Romeo and Juliet stories I’ve come across without realizing it.  Some end happily and others do not.  It’s the telling of the two hearts intertwined that makes the story so memorable. I do believe the world has been made a bit lovelier for the joy that comes from the sorrow that happens when two hearts are kept apart because it is so wonderful when those hearts do find their way to be together after all.

A handful of Romeo and Juliet themes:

Lorna Doone

 

The Summer of My German Soldier

 

Tristan and Isolde

 

Pyramus and Thisbe

 

West Side Story

I am looking forward to the upcoming release of Romeo and Juliet starring the lovely Hailee Steinfeld, nominated for her role in True Grit. There are many  Romeo and Juliet versions, yet I am hopeful this new version will be a standout. The depth Ms. Steinfeld brought to the role as Mattie Ross, she will, I hope, bring as Juliet, for a Romeo does need his inspiration.

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01 Mar 2013

Reading Between the Lines


image: Walmart.com

I had no idea how wrong I was really reading until I read Thomas Foster’s book.  Okay, not so much as wrong, but unenlightened.  The catchy title hook of “a lively and entertaining guide to reading between the lines” is truly that.

Professor of English at the University of Michigan, Foster showcases his deep and wide literary knowledge through his delightful instructive on how to really read literature.  His style is as if you are sitting in on lecture due to its friendly, conversant tone. And yes–it is quite entertaining. If there were more literature professors like Foster we might have an overrun of English teachers in the population, then again, maybe the population would become more knowledgable about literature after taking his class.  However, if traveling to Michigan  is inconvenient, I suggest picking up this book.

Reading like a professor simply means gaining an understanding of  all those hidden nuances of that suddenly pop out in 3D once you know they are there.  Kind of like finding the Waldos in the picture once you know what he looks like.

Here is a smattering of chapters:

  • Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It’s Not)
  • Nice To Eat With You: Acts of Communion
  • If It’s Square, It’s a Sonnet
  • When in Doubt, It’s from Shakespeare…
  • ….Or from the Bible
  • It’s Greek to Me

Foster provides the literary basics (themes and motifs; models; and narrative devices)and utilizes a tremendous variety of examples of genres ranging from Homer to Shakespeare to Toni Morrison (Foster has an absolute thing for Beloved). Succinctly stated, Foster literally reduces the intimidation of reading literature.

You can even test your newly acquired knowledge on the included short story “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield.

For those of you who prefer novels to literature you can check out his companion book:

This is one of those books I wished had been available when I was struggling with Melville and the like in college.  Future AP students be forewarned: expect Foster’s book on the summer reading list. A much better choice than Moby Dick (which you will be able to read once having read Foster).

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23 Feb 2013
18 Comments

Gently Persuaded


Raise your hand if you prefer Pride and Prejudice.

All right, now raise your hand for Emma.

How about Sense and Sensibility?

Mansfield Park? Okay.

Northhanger Abbey? Just asking.

And the rest of you? It’s got to be for Persuasion–right?

Well, Jane only wrote six novels; it’s got to be for one of them.

Hmm, I shall gently try to persuade you to cast your Austen vote for Persuasion.

Reason 1:

  • Pride and Prejudice gets much too much attention.  Jane has six literary children and P&P will become unbearably too spoiled with so much fuss. Look at all the celebratory brouhaha over the publishing of the novel! Goodness…

Reason 2:

  • Anne and Frederick don’t have to go through that messy “love me, love me not” business found in JA’s other plots; they already love each other.  Getting to the point where they re-realize it makes it so much more satisfying than the on/off dilemma.

Reason 3:

  • Persuasion has THE best love letter.  Here is a partial:

“I must go, uncertain of my fate; but I shall return hither, or follow your party, as soon as possible. A word, a look, will be enough to decide whether I enter your father’s house this evening or never.” 

Who could not met upon receiving this as an encouragement?

Reason 4:

  • Anne and Frederick are older and have been knocked around a bit in life and more truly represent the reality that love’s course is not perfect. In other words: their love is more relatable than the fairy-talish idea of sitting around and waiting for Mr or Ms Right to pop along when least expected (okay–Emma had a bit of that going on).

Reason 5:

  • the 1995 version with Ciaran Hinds and Amanda Root captures well the complicated tango of emotions these two separated lovers endure as they find their way back into each other’s hearts and arms.  Amanda Root’s transformation from wilted and worn down spinister-in-the-making to resolute refreshed woman is transfixing.

True love lingers and is not forgotten

So, five amazing reasons why Persuasion should become THE Jane Austen first mentioned in her stable of renowned novels.

Have I persuaded you?

English: Persuasion(ch. 9) Jane Austen: In ano...

English: Persuasion(ch. 9) Jane Austen: In another moment … someone was taking him from her. Français : Persuasion(ch. 9) Frederick libère Anne de son jeune neveu, qui l’étouffe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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The Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge 2013

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20 Feb 2013
11 Comments

Egads, Those Cads of Literature


You know who they are.  Those bad boys who jilt the girl, cheat the honest friend, and play havoc with the plot.  They are the cads of literature.  Having finished Jane Austen’s Persuasion I have added Mr. Elliot to the list.  His subterfuge was most deplorable.  Then again, I do adore how she swiftly cast him aside for someone much more worthy of her devotion.  My favorite heroines have done just that–put those cads in their place.  Since I am on a Jane Austen revisiting read here are some cads that live in her books:

Henry Crawford (Mansfield Park)–I detected cad from the very start

Frank Churchill (Emma)–what a naughty game you played with so many hearts

Oh, Willoughby (Sense and Sensibility)–we wanted so much to like you

Elliot (Persuasion)–did you really think you could turn Anne’s head or her heart away from Wentworth?

Tsk tsk, Wickham (Pride and Prejudice)–your charm could not cover your secret faults

 

As to Northhanger Abbey, I haven’t decided who the cad truly is.  It’s up on my list to review.  As to other literary cads–any nominees?  Rhett Butler comes to mind, but then was he a cad or simply a foil for Scarlett?

Happy reading!

English: Engraving of Steventon rectory, home ...

English: Engraving of Steventon rectory, home of the Austen family during much of Jane Austen’s lifetime (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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09 Feb 2013
3 Comments

The Library Times Are Changing


Bob Dylan could very well be singing the theme song for today’s library.

image: travelgoat.com

Are you old enough to remember when libraries only contained books?  I can’t remember back exactly when I noticed that the library went into BB  [beyond books] mode, and I am not sure if it’s a problem or not.

Long time ago when I worked in a middling sized library we held off on offering VHS movies for check out.  Yes, that was a long time ago, wasn’t it?  Our director deliberated for nearly six months whether or not we would incorporate them into our collection because, after all, the library is all about reading, isn’t it?

Counter arguments included: Well then, what about the cassettes we offer?  Not all are  audio books, many are music.

Hmm, that is a good point.

Long story short is VHS movies moved in on the shelves and *Surprise!*–people kept checking out books. People aren’t going to stop reading books.  Even when given options. Yes, I do believe this

As much as I would like to be a purist and spout: Books Only! I realized today’s libraries, like any smart enterprise, has learned to diversify in order to serve the changing public needs and tastes.

Go into any library today and you will find computer labs, video games, DVD collections, and other options among the shelves.  It hasn’t gone so far as this one cartoon portrays though:

I admittedly check out DVDs, audio books, music, magazines, and even video games (for others I know).  Of course, I rarely leave without at least one book in my bag.

Are the times a-changing too drastically? I figure the library is a reflection of current society.  Right now we are currently into media which translates into both entertainment and information. The library folk are savvy enough to know it’s best to provide in order to survive.

So, Bob D–sing through those lyrics one more time, wouldja?

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07 Feb 2013
5 Comments

Jane’s First Novel Makes Much Sense


Mention Jane Austen and people go “Pride and Prejudice.“Why don’t they go, “Sense and Sensibility?”  It was, after all, her first novel, and it has much going for it.  Okay, okay, Edward isn’t exactly Darcy, but all the other elements are there:

  • close sisters (Marianne and Elinor meet Elizabeth and Jane)
  • an annoying mother (not Mrs Dashwood–Mrs Jennings)
  • an insufferable matriarch (boo Mrs Ferrars)
  • mixed up romances (just hang in there, Marianne/Elinor/Lizzie/Jane)
  • a charming cad (yo whazzup, Willoughby–yah, itz good, Wickham)
  • wealth (30,000 a year!)
  • poverty (250 a year!)
  • sex without marriage (tsk tsk Kitty, poor Eliza)
  • catty women (meow Fanny)
  • happy endings after waiting and waiting for things to get sorted out
English: "I saw him cut it off" - Ma...

English: “I saw him cut it off” – Margaret tells Elinor that she saw Willoughby cut a lock of Marianne’s hair off. Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility. London: George Allen, 1899. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So, why doesn’t Sense and Sensibility make the connection with JA word association?  It might be because we relate to “pride” and “prejudice” more than we do “sense” and “sensibility.”  What the snuffbox is “sensibility” anyhow?

According to the old Wikipedster it relates to sentimentality or the emotional response, which JA wasn’t too keen on, and hoped her novel would point out the need to have rationalism rather than emotionalism. I think we moderns can respond and relate to the emotional response idea but we don’t necessarily live there.  Instead I think we counter react by not not reacting and create characters known for not having emotions, like House or  siccing out zombies as a means of coping with sensory overload.  Hysterics are in vogue right now it seems; on the other hand we do recognize everybody or every creature isn’t all bad. Maybe that’s why monsters these days have feelings.  Unlike the original Barnabas Collins modern vampires twinkle or is that sparkle? Perhaps that explains the odd coupling of monsters with Regency mavens such as Elizabeth and Elinor. Could it be Regency meets Modernism?  An odd ying yang match? Give me the old-fashioned classic sans monsters, please.

Another theory about the second novel surpassing the first is Jane’s choice of title. I’ve been trying them out:

1. Practical and Passion–still has that alliteration and ideology
2. Sedate and Sensitive–nope, sounds like a Saturday Night Live skit
3. Reason and Raison d’être–or is that the same thing?
4. Sensible and Silly–that’s being rather harsh on Marianne, I suppose
5. No-nonsense and Neurotic–maybe too modern

Pride and Prejudice is definitely a great read, after all it’s a classic; personally I believe it makes for better films than a novel.  Of all the JA novels I’ve been revisiting, Sense and Sensibility is the only one I’ve snuck to school in hopes of reading on my lunch break (two pages before students found me).  Maybe it’s because I “watched” while I read since I had just come off a three film S&S film fest (1981, 1995, 2008) and had each major scene indelibly imprinted in my mind as I scoured the chapters comparing and assessing the plot.

So far in my rediscovering reading of JA Sense and Sensibility leads.  I’m off to reread Persuasion. I’ll let you know the score after I turn the last page.

REad ThiS                                                                                                   NOT ThiS

 

  • Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters

    image: Barnes and Noble

 

Sense And Sensibility, Large-Print Edition
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29 Jan 2013
18 Comments

Those Tough Lit Chicks


I can’t resist those tough chicks of our favorite classic lit reads.

What are the qualifications for a tough chick of lit? Well, how about capable, quick of wit, common sense, a set of skills, determination, fudging the lines of feminine acceptability for the time period, and not necessarily physically a beauty contestant in looks but going for lots of personality?

Here is a grocery list of chicks of lit likables: (all images from GoodReads)

Pippi Longstocking

Scout Finch

To Kill a Mockingbird

Jo March

Little Women

Laura Ingalls

Little House on the Prairie (Little House, #2)

Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre

Elizabeth Bennett

Pride and Prejudice

Janie Crawford

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Shakespeare’s Beatrice and Kate

Much Ado About NothingThe Taming of the Shrew

Lucy Honeychurch

A Room with a View / Howards End

Thursday Next

The Eyre Affair (Thursday Next #1)

Katniss Everdeen

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1)

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

Mick Kelly

Francie Nolan

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

That’s just a start. I’m working on round two. Any nominations? Who is on your list for literature’s tough chicks?

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