There is literally a flower reference on every other page in this book, as I'm sure you've all noticed. I began to turn down all the pages on which flowers or plant-life was mentioned, but soon realized I had every page turned down!
Regent's Park was mentioned numerous times, and I included those examples with my flower references because I felt that they encompassed flowers and gardens and plant-life as a whole, a theme Woolf really delves into in the text. Regent's Park becomes a place where all the characters mentioned wander, either physically or mentally, and have some memory or experience there.
ROSE is mentioned perhaps more than any other flower. This is used to describe women of beauty, particularly Sally and Elizabeth, in the eyes of Mrs. Dalloway and her husband, in terms of his daughter. The word "rose" is also played with when used as a verb rather than describing a literal flower, as is the word "flower" used to also describe the emergence of people and ideas, such as, "It has flowered; flowered from vanity, ambition, idealism, passion, loneliness, courage, laziness, the usual seeds..." (page 84). When discussing time passing, weeds is mentioned (along with waves!).
"But she deared time itself, and read on Lady Bruton's face, as if it had been a dial cut in impassive stone, the dwindling of life; how year by year her share was sliced; how little the margin that remained was capable any longer of stretching, of absorbing, asin the youthful years, the colours, salts, tones of existence, so that she filled the room she entered, and felt often as she stood hesitating one moment on the threshold of her drawing-room, an exqisite suspense, such as might stay a digver before plunging while the sea darkens and brightens beneath him, and the wabes which threaten to break, but only gently split their surface roll and conceal and encrust as they just turn over the weeds with pearl." (page 30, DEFINITELY a PERIOD SENTENCE).
I thought it important to mention this along with the observance of flowers, because when people are compared with flowers in Mrs. Dalloway, they are always youthful and beautiful (Elizabeth and Sally in Clarissa's memory of her as a girl), and the view on time and age is played with throughout the novel. Growing older is generally unfavored among the different characters, and I think the inclusion of "weeds" within the sadness and helplessness of time really acknowledges this. I also thought it interesting that Clarissa remarks at one point that at fifty-two, she did not feel old yet, while Peter thought that made her quite old.
I also noted the mention of Mrs. Dalloway's "green dress" seemed to pop up quite often as well, and there were a fair share Shakespeare references. Religion played a part in the novel as well, and it was interesting to see the division between instituionalized religion and God, Nature verus Divinity, and human nature. Clarissa seems to revel in the concept of God, by shy away from what others consider to be sins, and also deeply analyzes her memories and feelings for Sally and the difference to her between a love for a man and love for a woman.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Birds, birds, birds
Jessy did a great job of pulling out all of the important bird references. I just wanted to add an observation that relates to that.
At the start of the book, Clarissa is described as bird-like and beak-faced. She is also described, as Megan pointed out, as cutting people into pieces. The beak-face and the sharpness seem to go hand in hand, to me (I'm imagining a bird pecking things to bits). I think that perhaps this sharpness, and coldness, may be a form of defense for Clarissa. She thinks, in the novel, about how dangerous it is to live for even just one day (and Septimus is proof of this thought), which suggests to me that there is a good deal of fear inside Clarissa. Perhaps her sharpness and her quickness and her coldness are her methods for protecting herself from this danger.
At the end of the novel, when Septimus jumps from his window to escape the doctor, Lucrezia blocks the stairwell in order not to let the doctor pass. Septimus imagines her as hen-like, with arms out at her sides like wings to block the way. She protects him, defends him, as a bird. This seems like a parallel between Septimus and Clarissa (shock and surprise) who both appear to use birds and bird-like behavior as methods to defend themselves from the intrusive outside world.
At the start of the book, Clarissa is described as bird-like and beak-faced. She is also described, as Megan pointed out, as cutting people into pieces. The beak-face and the sharpness seem to go hand in hand, to me (I'm imagining a bird pecking things to bits). I think that perhaps this sharpness, and coldness, may be a form of defense for Clarissa. She thinks, in the novel, about how dangerous it is to live for even just one day (and Septimus is proof of this thought), which suggests to me that there is a good deal of fear inside Clarissa. Perhaps her sharpness and her quickness and her coldness are her methods for protecting herself from this danger.
At the end of the novel, when Septimus jumps from his window to escape the doctor, Lucrezia blocks the stairwell in order not to let the doctor pass. Septimus imagines her as hen-like, with arms out at her sides like wings to block the way. She protects him, defends him, as a bird. This seems like a parallel between Septimus and Clarissa (shock and surprise) who both appear to use birds and bird-like behavior as methods to defend themselves from the intrusive outside world.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Birds in Mrs. Dalloway
It seems that the thread of avian metaphors in Mrs. Dalloway is almost as pervasive as the appearance and description of flowers.
Because there were so many references to birds, I decided to only note the passages in which birds were deliberately mentioned or a character was described as bird-like.
Page 4 - Clarissa as a jay
Page 10- Clarissa's face being described as "beaked"
Page 14 - Septimus is "beak-nosed"
Page 35 - Sally as a flying bird
Page 43 - Clarissa as a "fluttering" bird
Page 56 -Peter sinking into the "plumes and feathers of sleep"
Page 82 - Septimus watching Lucrezia "as one watches a bird"
Page 102 - Sir William as a bird of prey
Page 145 - The screen in Septimus' room with birds on it
Page 146 - Septimus being described as a young hawk
Page 147 - Lucrezia's mind falling from branch to branch, like a bird
Page 148 - I'm a little confused - is Lucrezia referring to Septimus or Sir William Bradshaw?
Page 149 - Lucrezia as a "little hen"
Page 153 - Sally as a goose....a silly goose?
Page 162 - Miss Parry as a bird frozen to it's perch
Page 164 - Peter with hawk-like eyes
Page 168 - Clarissa's curtain with the birds of Paradise on it
Page 170 - Clarissa's curtain, again
There's so much that can be deducted from Woolf's constant bird-like descriptions of the various characters. While I still stick by my original idea of Clarissa and Septimus (and Lucrezia) being trapped in "bird cages" by their lives and society, I've also become more interested in how Woolf differentiates between males and females by using bird-like descriptions.
Many of the males, especially Septimus, are described as hawk-like or having qualities similar to those of a raptor.
The women, on the other hand, are described in a more delicate fashion. They are jays, hens, and fluttering birds.
I have seen this theme of men as raptors and females as delicate songbirds in other pieces of literature, and was interested to see that Woolf used this symbolism so deliberately in Mrs. Dalloway.
Because there were so many references to birds, I decided to only note the passages in which birds were deliberately mentioned or a character was described as bird-like.
Page 4 - Clarissa as a jay
Page 10- Clarissa's face being described as "beaked"
Page 14 - Septimus is "beak-nosed"
Page 35 - Sally as a flying bird
Page 43 - Clarissa as a "fluttering" bird
Page 56 -Peter sinking into the "plumes and feathers of sleep"
Page 82 - Septimus watching Lucrezia "as one watches a bird"
Page 102 - Sir William as a bird of prey
Page 145 - The screen in Septimus' room with birds on it
Page 146 - Septimus being described as a young hawk
Page 147 - Lucrezia's mind falling from branch to branch, like a bird
Page 148 - I'm a little confused - is Lucrezia referring to Septimus or Sir William Bradshaw?
Page 149 - Lucrezia as a "little hen"
Page 153 - Sally as a goose....a silly goose?
Page 162 - Miss Parry as a bird frozen to it's perch
Page 164 - Peter with hawk-like eyes
Page 168 - Clarissa's curtain with the birds of Paradise on it
Page 170 - Clarissa's curtain, again
There's so much that can be deducted from Woolf's constant bird-like descriptions of the various characters. While I still stick by my original idea of Clarissa and Septimus (and Lucrezia) being trapped in "bird cages" by their lives and society, I've also become more interested in how Woolf differentiates between males and females by using bird-like descriptions.
Many of the males, especially Septimus, are described as hawk-like or having qualities similar to those of a raptor.
The women, on the other hand, are described in a more delicate fashion. They are jays, hens, and fluttering birds.
I have seen this theme of men as raptors and females as delicate songbirds in other pieces of literature, and was interested to see that Woolf used this symbolism so deliberately in Mrs. Dalloway.
" Buds on the Tree of Life"
Throughout Mrs. Dalloway I noticed two threads that are metaphorically as well as literally connected, those being roots and trees. Although the appearance of trees was more prevalent in the beginning of the book, it still appeared in some way through the entirety of the story. The root and tree references sometimes referred to them as part of the landscape, but more often than not they were referred to in a bigger sense. Often they are brought up when talking about Septimus and his disgust in cutting down trees and ending life, this being a large obsession with him due to the fact that he was responsible for watching lives being taken away, some of those lives, being his closest friends. In other passages we see it through the thoughts of a tree and roots as a symbol of life.
“It was her life, and bending her head over the hall table, she bowed beneath the influence, felt blessed and purified, saying to herself, as she took the pad with the telephone message on it, how many moments like this are buds on the tree of life, flowers of darkness they are, she thought (as if some lovely rose had blossomed for her eyes only)….” (pg. 29)
Also seen (12, 15,22, 23, 29, 76, 83, 98, 121, 134, 154)
“It was her life, and bending her head over the hall table, she bowed beneath the influence, felt blessed and purified, saying to herself, as she took the pad with the telephone message on it, how many moments like this are buds on the tree of life, flowers of darkness they are, she thought (as if some lovely rose had blossomed for her eyes only)….” (pg. 29)
Also seen (12, 15,22, 23, 29, 76, 83, 98, 121, 134, 154)
An Escape
The first half of Mrs. Dalloway often had more references to windows as a way to look out; to witness the world without actually being a part of it. The second half, however, had more instances of windows being the way to an escape. Though I cannot provide accurate page numbers to your newer versions, I want to share the passage when Septimus throws himself out of the window.
"Getting up rather unsteadily, hopping indeed from foot to foot, [Septimus] considered Mrs. Filmer's nice clean bread-knife with 'Bread' carved on the handle. Ah, but one mustn't spoil that. The gas fire? But it was too late now. Holmes was coming. Razors he might have got, but Rezia, who always did that sort of thing, had packed them. There remained only the window, the large Bloomsbury lodging-house window; the tiresome, the troublesome, and rather melodramatic business of opening the window and throwing himself out. It was their idea of tragedy, not his or Rezia's (for she was with him). But he would wait till the very last moment. He did not want to die. Life was good. The sun hot. Only human beings? Coming down the staircase opposite an old man stopped and stared at him. Holmes was at the door. 'I'll give it you!' he cried, and flung himself vigorously, violently down on to Mrs. Filmer's area railings." (108, some page much later in the newer editions)
Though not to that extremity, Clarissa uses a window as a way of escape from her party after hearing about Septimus, and shares the moment with observing the outside world and others as he did in his last moments.
"[Clarissa] walked to the window. It held, foolish as the idea was, something of her own in it, this country sky, this sky above Westminster. She parted the curtains, she looked. Oh, but how surprising! -- in the room opposite the old lady stared straight at her! She was going to bed. And the sky. It will be a solemn sky, she had thought, it will be a dusky sky, turning away its cheek in beauty... She was going to bed, in the room opposite. It was fascinating to watch her, moving about, that old lady, crossing the room, coming to the window. Could she see her? It was fascinating, with people still laughing and shouting in the drawing-room, to watch that old woman, quite quietly, going to bed alone. She pulled the blind now. The clock began striking. The young man had killed himself; but she did not pity him; with the clock striking the hour, one, two, three, she did not pity him, with all this going on. There! the old lady had put out her light! the whole house was dark now with this going on... She must go back to them. But what an extraordinary night! She felt somehow very like him -- the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away while they went on living. The clock was striking. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. But she must go back. She must assemble. She must find Sally and Peter. And she came in from the little room." (134-5, fairly close to the end)
"Getting up rather unsteadily, hopping indeed from foot to foot, [Septimus] considered Mrs. Filmer's nice clean bread-knife with 'Bread' carved on the handle. Ah, but one mustn't spoil that. The gas fire? But it was too late now. Holmes was coming. Razors he might have got, but Rezia, who always did that sort of thing, had packed them. There remained only the window, the large Bloomsbury lodging-house window; the tiresome, the troublesome, and rather melodramatic business of opening the window and throwing himself out. It was their idea of tragedy, not his or Rezia's (for she was with him). But he would wait till the very last moment. He did not want to die. Life was good. The sun hot. Only human beings? Coming down the staircase opposite an old man stopped and stared at him. Holmes was at the door. 'I'll give it you!' he cried, and flung himself vigorously, violently down on to Mrs. Filmer's area railings." (108, some page much later in the newer editions)
Though not to that extremity, Clarissa uses a window as a way of escape from her party after hearing about Septimus, and shares the moment with observing the outside world and others as he did in his last moments.
"[Clarissa] walked to the window. It held, foolish as the idea was, something of her own in it, this country sky, this sky above Westminster. She parted the curtains, she looked. Oh, but how surprising! -- in the room opposite the old lady stared straight at her! She was going to bed. And the sky. It will be a solemn sky, she had thought, it will be a dusky sky, turning away its cheek in beauty... She was going to bed, in the room opposite. It was fascinating to watch her, moving about, that old lady, crossing the room, coming to the window. Could she see her? It was fascinating, with people still laughing and shouting in the drawing-room, to watch that old woman, quite quietly, going to bed alone. She pulled the blind now. The clock began striking. The young man had killed himself; but she did not pity him; with the clock striking the hour, one, two, three, she did not pity him, with all this going on. There! the old lady had put out her light! the whole house was dark now with this going on... She must go back to them. But what an extraordinary night! She felt somehow very like him -- the young man who had killed himself. She felt glad that he had done it; thrown it away while they went on living. The clock was striking. The leaden circles dissolved in the air. But she must go back. She must assemble. She must find Sally and Peter. And she came in from the little room." (134-5, fairly close to the end)
Saturday, February 21, 2009
The Pocketknife and Other References to Knives
Not only is Peter's pocketknife mentioned in the text on multiple occasions, but I also noticed that there are few references to other types of knives as well, including many in reference to Clarissa.
pg.8 ("She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on...)
pg. 40 (Peter opens the pocket knife halfway)
pg. 41 (Clarissa takes notice of his fidgeting with the knife)
pg. 44 (The knife makes Clarissa feel self-conscious)
pg. 46 (Clarissa gets annoyed with Peter for continuing to toy with the knife)
pg. 71 ("Every woman, even the most respectable, had roses blooming under glass; lips cut with a knife..."
pg. 80 (Peter pulls out his pocketknife again as he thinks about Daisy meeting with Major Orde, and his jealousy is apparent)
pg. 92 ("Food was pleasant; the sun hot; and his killing oneself, how does one set about it, with a table knife...")
pg. 104 ("She had never seen the sense of cutting people up, as Clarissa Dalloway did, cutting them up and sticking them together again..."
pg. 119 (Clarissa recalls an image of Peter playing with the knife "just like he always does")
pg. 147 (Rezia thinks of knives and forks when she is bringing Septimus his letters)
pg. 149 ("Getting up rather unsteadily, hopping indeed from foot to foot, he considered Mrs. Filmer's nice clean bread knife with 'Bread' carved on the handle")
pg. 157 (Peter empties his pockets at the hotel and his pocketknife is removed)
pg. 159 (Peter is sure to grab his pocketknife before he departs for the party)
pg. 165 (Peter opens the blade before entering Clarissa's house)
pg. 187 (Sally takes notice of Peter's "old trick" of fidgeting with the pocketknife when he gets excited and anxious)
pg. 192 (Peter continues to fidget with the device as he thinks about Clarissa)
I am still under the opinion that the pocketknife is symbolic of Peter's pain regarding Clarissa's rejection. Clarissa is described as being able to "slice like a knife through every thing," and this implies that she does not necessarily take people's feelings into account. She moves and makes decisions without caution at times. Lady Bruton also describes Clarissa as someone who cuts people up and tries to put them back together. The knife cannot simply be a device that Peter uses when he needs to fidget. It could have been any object. A marble? A pocket watch?
-Megan R.
pg.8 ("She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on...)
pg. 40 (Peter opens the pocket knife halfway)
pg. 41 (Clarissa takes notice of his fidgeting with the knife)
pg. 44 (The knife makes Clarissa feel self-conscious)
pg. 46 (Clarissa gets annoyed with Peter for continuing to toy with the knife)
pg. 71 ("Every woman, even the most respectable, had roses blooming under glass; lips cut with a knife..."
pg. 80 (Peter pulls out his pocketknife again as he thinks about Daisy meeting with Major Orde, and his jealousy is apparent)
pg. 92 ("Food was pleasant; the sun hot; and his killing oneself, how does one set about it, with a table knife...")
pg. 104 ("She had never seen the sense of cutting people up, as Clarissa Dalloway did, cutting them up and sticking them together again..."
pg. 119 (Clarissa recalls an image of Peter playing with the knife "just like he always does")
pg. 147 (Rezia thinks of knives and forks when she is bringing Septimus his letters)
pg. 149 ("Getting up rather unsteadily, hopping indeed from foot to foot, he considered Mrs. Filmer's nice clean bread knife with 'Bread' carved on the handle")
pg. 157 (Peter empties his pockets at the hotel and his pocketknife is removed)
pg. 159 (Peter is sure to grab his pocketknife before he departs for the party)
pg. 165 (Peter opens the blade before entering Clarissa's house)
pg. 187 (Sally takes notice of Peter's "old trick" of fidgeting with the pocketknife when he gets excited and anxious)
pg. 192 (Peter continues to fidget with the device as he thinks about Clarissa)
I am still under the opinion that the pocketknife is symbolic of Peter's pain regarding Clarissa's rejection. Clarissa is described as being able to "slice like a knife through every thing," and this implies that she does not necessarily take people's feelings into account. She moves and makes decisions without caution at times. Lady Bruton also describes Clarissa as someone who cuts people up and tries to put them back together. The knife cannot simply be a device that Peter uses when he needs to fidget. It could have been any object. A marble? A pocket watch?
-Megan R.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Periodic sentence in Mrs. Dalloway?
"For Hugh always made her feel, as he bustled on, raising his hat rather extravagantly and assuring her that she might be a girl of eighteen, and of course he was coming to her part tonight, Evelyn absolutely insisted, only a little late he might be after the party at the Palace to which he had to take one of Jim's boys, -she always felt a little skimpy beside Hugh; schoolgirlish; but attached to him, partly from having known him always, but she did think him a good sort in his own way, though Richard was nearly driven mad by him, and as for Peter Walsh, he had never to this day forgiven her for liking him."
page 6
page 6
Septimus & Clarissa - Birds in a cage?
We were told in class on Monday to closely watch the manner in which Septimus Warren Smith and Clarissa Dalloway's lives parallel each other.
I had decided to follow the theme of birds in the text, and found that the first hints at the relation between Clarissa and Septimus is subtly pointed out in their physical descriptions; both characters are described as bird-like.
When Clarissa is heading out to buy flowers, Scrope Purvis notes that she is "perched" on the side of the road, and has "a touch of the bird about her, of the jay, blue-green, light, vivacious," (4).
Septimus is not described as a bird in such detail as Clarissa, but his brief physical description on page 14 notes that he is "beak-nosed."
The reader slowly begins to discover that these characters feel unhappy with and trapped in their everyday lives (Septimus more obviously so). Perhaps their bird-like descriptions metaphorically represent their desire to fly away? Or maybe these descriptions are meant to hint that Septimus and Clarissa are trapped, like pet birds, in the cage of society?
I have no doubts that Woolf described these characters as bird-like on purpose, and am interested to see how if the theme continues through the rest of the novel.
I had decided to follow the theme of birds in the text, and found that the first hints at the relation between Clarissa and Septimus is subtly pointed out in their physical descriptions; both characters are described as bird-like.
When Clarissa is heading out to buy flowers, Scrope Purvis notes that she is "perched" on the side of the road, and has "a touch of the bird about her, of the jay, blue-green, light, vivacious," (4).
Septimus is not described as a bird in such detail as Clarissa, but his brief physical description on page 14 notes that he is "beak-nosed."
The reader slowly begins to discover that these characters feel unhappy with and trapped in their everyday lives (Septimus more obviously so). Perhaps their bird-like descriptions metaphorically represent their desire to fly away? Or maybe these descriptions are meant to hint that Septimus and Clarissa are trapped, like pet birds, in the cage of society?
I have no doubts that Woolf described these characters as bird-like on purpose, and am interested to see how if the theme continues through the rest of the novel.
In The Ashes of a Cigarette
Throughout reading Mrs. Dalloway I found the mention of a cigarette quite often. It appears when Clarissa is thinking about life and the decisions she has made. When analyzing this I could not help but think of the metaphor that can be so strongly linked to it. It is my belief that most of our lives are like a cigarette, you find whatever it is that sparks the flame, and then we must cherish it until the embers run out. We watch pieces of our lives fall away in the ashes, which Clarissa has seen with Sally and Peter. Also it is towards the end of the novel where we are going to see the cigarette of Septimus’s life burn out completely.
Looking Through the Glass
The one word I chose to follow during Mrs. Dalloway was the word "window." I chose this word because windows are a way of viewing the world without actually being a part of it; someone who watches life through a window is very detached. I noticed throughout the first 80 or so pages that the windows mentioned were either decorated in some way, or being looked out rather than in. In London, the shopkeepers windows are filled with goods, but it is never actually said that Mrs. Dalloway or any of the characters looked into these stores. Rather, while inside, they go to the windows to look out. Primarily it is the women of the book who seem to go to windows, but Peter Walsh is also seen looking out at some point. To me, it seems that all of these characters are detached from life in some way. Many of them dwell on the past and reconsider their decisions, but there is also the case of Miss Pym who watches the car accident from the window of her shop without getting involved.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I'm Not Afraid of Virginia Woolf, but I Might Be Afraid of Peter's Pocketknife
Peter Walsh's pocketknife is a repeated image that occurs frequently throughout the text of Mrs. Dalloway. The most poignant scene in which the pocketknife is present occurs when Peter Walsh approaches Clarissa in her home before her party. He takes the knife out and begins to play with it in his hands as if it's a mere toy. Clarissa strongly dislikes the habit but has probably never got around to telling Peter. Peter's manipulation of the knife makes her feel "frivolous and empty-minded" and makes him appear so important and stately (44). Clarissa later likens this habit to his inability to read people's feelings. "...It was his silly unconventionality, his weakness; his lack of the ghost of a notion what any one else was feeling that annoyed her" (46). The irony here is that Peter is actually being completely empathetic. He knows what Clarissa is feeling, and he continues to run his finger along the blade of the knife. This is not the only occasion in which Peter toys with his knife.
So what is this reoccurring image all about?
I think that the knife has a few different purposes in the text. First and foremost, it represents Clarissa stabbing Peter in the back, so to speak. She chose to marry Mr. Dalloway, who seems to be an awful match for her instead of Peter. When Clarissa sees the knife, she is reminded of her mistake. That is why the combination of the knife and Peter's tears create a surge of emotion in Clarissa who ends up kissing him. The knife is also Peter's reminder that he is up against some tough weapons in cracking Clarissa, including Clarissa herself. He is still in love with her and must work toward her love as well. The knife, of course, is a symbol of masculinity as well. Peter's toying with the knife gives Clarissa a trivial reason to dislike Peter, and that's what Clarissa needs is a multitude of reasons to convince herself that she made the right choice with Mr. Dalloway.
-Megan R.
So what is this reoccurring image all about?
I think that the knife has a few different purposes in the text. First and foremost, it represents Clarissa stabbing Peter in the back, so to speak. She chose to marry Mr. Dalloway, who seems to be an awful match for her instead of Peter. When Clarissa sees the knife, she is reminded of her mistake. That is why the combination of the knife and Peter's tears create a surge of emotion in Clarissa who ends up kissing him. The knife is also Peter's reminder that he is up against some tough weapons in cracking Clarissa, including Clarissa herself. He is still in love with her and must work toward her love as well. The knife, of course, is a symbol of masculinity as well. Peter's toying with the knife gives Clarissa a trivial reason to dislike Peter, and that's what Clarissa needs is a multitude of reasons to convince herself that she made the right choice with Mr. Dalloway.
-Megan R.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
is this metaphor too much?
if ever viginia woolfs writing were manifested in building form, i think this might be similiar to its physical appearance. why do i make such a strange claim?
its entirely possible that one could erect some sort of 'scaffolding' on the side of this modernist interpretation of 'building', but there's no way it would work in the conventional scaffolding way. someone would undoubtedly have to design a custom-scaffolding for it.
get it?
maybe, its too early.
or late.
......
some backdated stuff . . . sorry i'm playing a bit of catch up
Paulo Freire, author of The “Banking” Concept of Education, claimed “Education is suffering from narration sickness” (Freire 68). He accuses teachers of turning their students into “receptacles” and “depositories” (Freire 69), explaining that students fail to “develop the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the world as transformers of that world” (Freire 70). Freire offers a counter-style of teaching; problem-posing education, where “they come to see the world not as a static reality, but as a reality in process, in transformation” (Freire 76).
Like-minded teacher, Gloria Watkins expresses similar views with a feminist twist in her essay, Toward a Revolutionary Feminist Pedagogy. She suggests, in order to create more transformative education experiences, our professors “should engage students in a learning process that makes the world ‘more rather than less real’” (Watkins 81). In order to achieve this subjective knowledge through teaching, “We must be willing to deconstruct this power dimension, to challenge, change, and create new approaches” (Watkins 84).
150 word comparison of freire and hooks
and it totally is . . . without the in-text citations. because then its 162 words.
if we're counting. and we most certainly are.
Like-minded teacher, Gloria Watkins expresses similar views with a feminist twist in her essay, Toward a Revolutionary Feminist Pedagogy. She suggests, in order to create more transformative education experiences, our professors “should engage students in a learning process that makes the world ‘more rather than less real’” (Watkins 81). In order to achieve this subjective knowledge through teaching, “We must be willing to deconstruct this power dimension, to challenge, change, and create new approaches” (Watkins 84).
150 word comparison of freire and hooks
and it totally is . . . without the in-text citations. because then its 162 words.
if we're counting. and we most certainly are.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Mrs. Dalloway!!
"If ever there was a work conceived in response to the state of the novel, a consciously "modern" novel, it is Mrs. Dalloway. Virginia Woolf was beset by the inadequacies of the old designs but well aware that a display of method could appear shallow and heartless and that mere technical innovation made nothing new." - viii, Maureen Howard's introduction
"Make it new!" - the mantra of Ezra Pound, and a slogan that serves as a decent representation of Modernist ideals.
"Make it new!" - the mantra of Ezra Pound, and a slogan that serves as a decent representation of Modernist ideals.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Viswanathan's Idea of Mind Control Through Literature
"The history of education in British India shows that certain humanistic functions traditionally associated with literature, for example, the shaping of character or development of the aesthetic sense or the disciplines of ethical thinking, were considered essential to the processes of sociopolitical control by the guardians of the same tradition" (62).
"The English literary text, functioning as a surrogate Englishman in his highest and most perfect state, becomes a mask of economic exploitation, so successfully camouflaging the material activities of the colonizer..." (67).
I found Gauri Viswanathan's theory on the development of English studies as a discipline extremely thought-provoking, especially because America was obviously once a colony of Britain, the same country that exploited India by use of literature for ages. I have always viewed reading as an action that symbolizes freedom. I have a choice regarding what I read, who I read, and how I read a given text. Viswanathan, who was born in Calcutta, India, believes that studying English literature is a symbol of control, the exact opposite of my own thinking. I completely understand where she is coming from on the topic seeing as she is Indian-born, and has witnessed her own reasoning in her day-to-day life.
The Indian people read English literature to make themselves feel as if they were assimilating into a culture that was superior to their own. They read to gain dignity in the eyes of their colonizers who viewed them as incomplete, inferior, and imperfect human beings. In reading what the English threw in front of them, the Indian people were allowing colonization of the mind to occur.
Viswanathan points out that English programs in American schools sprouted up after colonization had been ended in the states, following the Revolutionary War. Why do you think American schools would establish these programs after the English had already liberated the colonies? The programs were clearly not a means of control and colonization, so why did English become such a vital course of study in American classrooms?
-Megan R.
"The English literary text, functioning as a surrogate Englishman in his highest and most perfect state, becomes a mask of economic exploitation, so successfully camouflaging the material activities of the colonizer..." (67).
I found Gauri Viswanathan's theory on the development of English studies as a discipline extremely thought-provoking, especially because America was obviously once a colony of Britain, the same country that exploited India by use of literature for ages. I have always viewed reading as an action that symbolizes freedom. I have a choice regarding what I read, who I read, and how I read a given text. Viswanathan, who was born in Calcutta, India, believes that studying English literature is a symbol of control, the exact opposite of my own thinking. I completely understand where she is coming from on the topic seeing as she is Indian-born, and has witnessed her own reasoning in her day-to-day life.
The Indian people read English literature to make themselves feel as if they were assimilating into a culture that was superior to their own. They read to gain dignity in the eyes of their colonizers who viewed them as incomplete, inferior, and imperfect human beings. In reading what the English threw in front of them, the Indian people were allowing colonization of the mind to occur.
Viswanathan points out that English programs in American schools sprouted up after colonization had been ended in the states, following the Revolutionary War. Why do you think American schools would establish these programs after the English had already liberated the colonies? The programs were clearly not a means of control and colonization, so why did English become such a vital course of study in American classrooms?
-Megan R.
A paper-writing tool...
I suspect that most of you have seen and/or used this website before... but I thought I'd throw it up here for you just in case.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
This is a guide for paper formatting (including citations and reference lists) for MLA and APA styles. The site for MLA is here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/.
It's a fantastic site that has just about everything you could possibly need to properly cite sources and properly format your papers. I use it every time I write a paper, literally. It's wonderful.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
This is a guide for paper formatting (including citations and reference lists) for MLA and APA styles. The site for MLA is here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/.
It's a fantastic site that has just about everything you could possibly need to properly cite sources and properly format your papers. I use it every time I write a paper, literally. It's wonderful.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
From Jackie!!
So, this is the author about whom Jackie said "he was NOT kidding." You may have heard that story...
ANYWAY, she just asked me to post this for you all to look at:
http://www.theroot.com/views/was-lincoln-racist?GT1=38002
It's by Henry Louis Gates Jr., a theorist you'll be reading this semester, and it's about Lincoln and his views on race.
Thanks, Jackie!
ANYWAY, she just asked me to post this for you all to look at:
http://www.theroot.com/views/was-lincoln-racist?GT1=38002
It's by Henry Louis Gates Jr., a theorist you'll be reading this semester, and it's about Lincoln and his views on race.
Thanks, Jackie!
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