Dear all,

This term we have analysed, discussed and interpreted an array of literary pieces of work: poems, short stories, essays, novels, plays...from the early romantic British writers of the 1850s to the very existentialist play "Waiting for Godot" by Beckett.

To me, this has been a trip from the past to the present, and back to the past. Our memories and experiences have inhabited our conversations during the course. Trips and literature, I believe, are the greatest way to learn...to experience...to grow. No need to say that your interpretations and participation have been a great contribution to make this course a lively literary and teaching-learning experience.

Before finishing, please send a comment to evaluate the course (or else send me a message via webmail):

1. What aspects do you think were positive, negative?

2. How did the course help you relate literature with EFL teaching?

3. Was the use of blogs a contribution, why, why not?

4. What do you feel needs to be improved?

5. Other issues....

Bye bye, have a great summer, great trips, great dreams.....

Claudia

Dear all,

As we study the famous play "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett (Paris 1953, England 1955, Nobel Prize for Literature 1969) think of: the characters, the setting, the plot, the dialogues-monologues, the act of "waiting", the name Godot, the definition of Absurdist drama as "theatre that presents the world as unknowable, random and unpredictable" (Smart, J. 2001. Twentieth Century British Drama. Cambridge University Press).

Look at the following picture: Describe Vladimir and Estragon, Pozzo and Lucky

Read the following excerpt which comes after Lucky is given the order to THINK....What do you think?:

LUCKY: Given the existence as uttered forth in the public works of Puncher and Wattman of a personal God quaquaquaqua with white beard quaquaquaqua outside time without extension who from the heights of divine apathia divine athambia divine aphasia loves us dearly with some exceptions for reasons unknown but time will tell and suffers like the divine Miranda with those who for reasons unknown but time will tell are plunged in torment plunged in fire whose fire flames if that continues and who can doubt it will fire the firmament that is to say blast hell to heaven so blue still and calm so calm with a calm which even though intermittent is better than nothing but not so fast and considering what is more that as a result of the labors left unfinished crowned by the Acacacacademy of Anthropopopometry of Essy-in-Possy of Testew and Cunard it is established beyond all doubt all other doubt than that which clings to the labors of men that as a result of the labors unfinished of Testew and Cunard it is established as hereinafter but not so fast for reasons unknown that as a result of the public works of Puncher and Wattman it is established beyond all doubt that in view of the labors of Fartov and Belcher left unfinished for reasons unknown of Testew and Cunard left unfinished it is established what many deny that man in Possy of Testew and Cunard that man in Essy that man in short that man in brief in spite of the strides of alimentation and defecation wastes and pines wastes and pines and concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown in spite of the strides of physical culture the practice of sports such as tennis football running cycling swimming flying floating riding gliding conating camogie skating tennis of all kinds dying flying sports of all sorts autumn summer winter winter tennis of all kinds hockey of all sorts penicilline and succedanea in a word I resume flying gliding golf over nine and eighteen holes tennis of all sorts in a word for reasons unknown in Feckham Peckham Fulham Clapham namely concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown but time will tell fades away I resume Fullham Clapham in a word the dead loss per head since the death of Bishop Berkeley being to the tune of one inch four ounce per head approximately by and large more or less to the nearest decimal good measure round figures stark naked in the stockinged feet in Connemara in a word for reasons unknown no matter what matter the facts are there and considering what is more much more grave that in the light of the labors lost of Steinweg and Peterman it appears what is more much more grave that in the light the light the light of the labors lost of Steinweg and Peterman that in the plains in the mountains by the seas by the rivers running water running fire the air is the same and then the earth namely the air and then the earth in the great cold the great dark the air and the earth abode of stones in the great cold alas alas in the year of their Lord six hundred and something the air the earth the sea the earth abode of stones in the great deeps the great cold on sea on land and in the air I resume for reasons unknown in spite of the tennis the facts are there but time will tell I resume alas alas on on in short in fine on on abode of stones who can doubt it I resume but not so fast I resume the skull fading fading fading and concurrently simultaneously what is more for reasons unknown in spite of the tennis on on the beard the flames the tears the stones so blue so calm alas alas on on the skull the skull the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis the labors abandoned left unfinished graver still abode of stones in a word I resume alas alas abandoned unfinished the skull the skull in Connemara in spite of the tennis the skull alas the stones Cunard (mêlée, final vociferations) tennis . . . the stones . . . so calm . . . Cunard . . . unfinished . . .

See you tomorrow

Claudia

Dear all,

Here is the list of students who should make their presentation on Monday 3:

Sebastián
Sergio
Bárbara
Patricia
Pablo
Jorge

and on Wednesday 5:

Claudia
María José GH
Cristina
María José A.
Javiera
Wladimir
Paulina

Tomorrow I will bring two articles which deal with the use of literature in the EFL class. I hope you find them useful.

Below you will find a link to the famous play "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Becket. We will read it and discuss it in class tomorrow.

http://samuel-beckett.net/Waiting_for_Godot_Part1.html

Claudia

Dear all,

Tomorrow´s session will be devoted to discuss the poem by Auden that we started reading last class. I will also introduce you to Stephen Spender´s poetry.

The presentions will take place on the week of November 3, Monday and Wednesday, so you´ll have another week to prepare. The idea is that in about ten minutes you make a presentation based on one of the authors that we have studied this term. You may decide to choose one particular poem, chapter, book, article, etc.

Some recommendations:

1. Use pictures, quotations, references to other authors if necessary

2. Provide contextual factors

3. The presentation should be made having in mind how you would use literature in an English language class

4. Explain what strategies you would use to teach the piece of work you are presenting

I will upload the marking criteria and further recommendations on Tuesday.

Finally, I want to congratulate you all for the presentations on Virginia Woolf (some of you have already uploaded very interesting posts too!!). You should be very proud of yourselves. Just remember to correct the language when you upload the presentations to the virtual campus, ok?
Well done!!

See you tomorrow,
Claudia

Dear all,

This session and next will be devoted to study of one of W.H.Auden´s most famous poems "September 1, 1939" . You´ll find the poem 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?

See you,
Claudia

Dear all,

For your presentation on Virginia Woolf´s famous essay "A room of one´s own" I have uploaded an article to the virtual that can help you understand the context and the political events that were taking place at the end of the the 1920s when Virginia wrote the essay.

Read the article and relate it to your presentation. Why is the picture I have chosen relevant?. Your presentations should discuss the main issue/thesis of the chapter you are going to present. Support it with relevant citations and pictures if you wish. Provide your own interpretation and conclusions.

Also, remember to choose two of your previous posts and correct them, taking care not to erase the original version!!

Good luck!!

Claudia

Dear all,

As a reminder, please write your post on "The Waste Land" by T.S. Eliot before tomorrow´s class. You may choose to use this picture, which was used in class on Monday, in your analysis. Or else, read the following review
http://www.arionpress.com/catalog/more/079essay.htm

and discuss the poem in relation with the picture found in the link. Those of you who have already posted, well done!!

See you tomorrow,

Claudia

Dear all,

I have just uploaded an article about the concept of the "objective correlative" by T. S. Eliot to the virtual campus. We will discuss it along with "The Wasteland" on Monday.

Also, in the following link you´ll find the famous essay "A room of one´s own" by Virginia Woolf.
http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/w/woolf/virginia/w91r/index.html.

Please read it for Wednesday.

Jorge, here is a link to a timeline of British literature that might be helpful
http://www.studyguide.org/brit_lit_timeline.htm, take a look.

See you soon,
Claudia

Dear all,

Today´s class will be devoted to the reading of the "The Wasteland" by T.S. Eliot. You will find the poem in the follow the link

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

Read it, think of the title, sub-titles, images, characters, date in which it was written....
Let´s now discuss it.
Claudia

Dear all,

Read the poem "Virginia" by T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) written in 1934.

Red river, red river,
Slow heat is silence
No will is it still a river
Still. Will heat move
Only through the mocking-bird
Heard once? Still hills
Wait. Gates wait. Purple trees,
White trees, wait, wait,
Delay, decay. Living, living,
Never moving. Ever moving
Iron thughts came with me
And go with me:
Red river, river, river





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..."

What do you think?
Claudia

Dear all,


First, apologies for not having been able to come today as I´m ill. I hope you were informed in due time. We will discuss possible dates for recuperation on Monday.

Monday´s class will be also devoted to discuss "The Odour of Chrysanthemums" whose link was provided in the previous post. Think of the many symbols present in the story. What do the Chrysanthemums represent? Think of the opposition between light and darkness, life and death, etc.

I will also introduce you to T.S. Eliot so check the blog again before Monday because I will upload a poem and some introductory facts about him. His most well known poems is "The waste land" written in 1922 if you wish to read it.

About your essays, I have finished correcting them. I will discuss the final mark with each of you individually on Monday. In general, I wish to congratulate you all for your interesting viewpoints and arguments. Well done!!


See you on Monday,
Claudia

Hi everybody,

Watch the following video, what aspect of "The Rocking-Horse Winner" does it show?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeNFthOzr7A

Write a short commentary about the story. Discuss the opposition between being rich and lucky.

For next session, please read the following short story by D. H. Lawrence

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

Claudia

Hi everybody,

I hope you have a nice long weekend (18). Some reminders:

1. If for some reason you didn´t upload your essay and sent it to me via email, please upload it for me to correct it.

2. Remember to write your post (150-250 words) about "The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen". Questions are provided in my previous post. Think of the word "observation", the girl, the narrator, the meta-narration within the narration, being a writer, etc.

3. Read the short story "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D. H. Lawrence.

See you on Monday 22nd,
Cheers,
Claudia

Dear all,

In the following link you will find a short story by Graham Greene called "The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen". We will read it and discuss it in class on Monday, September 15.

http://www.ksh.edu/fileadmin/user_upload/Fachschaften/Englisch/Anita_Kuhn/E-Matura_05_Text_1_.pdf

1. Describe the characters.

2. What do you think about the comments made by the narrator in the story?

3. What role does the narrator play in the story? How do the observations made by him influence the story? the reader? the characters?

4. What role do the Japanese Gentlemen play in the story?

5. Discuss the title of the story.

For Monday 22, please read the following short story by D.H. Lawrence

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 in the story.

4. What does the rocking-horse represent?

5. Discuss the ending of the story.

Now, compare the two stories. What elements of realism, modernism do you find in them?

Claudia

Dear all,

This is a short summary that will help you write your post about "The signal man" by Dickens. Remember that the deadline is tomorrow, Wednesday 10 at 8.00 am. Including this post, you should have written four thus far. Tomorrow´s session will be devoted to:

1. Discuss "The signal man" (see questions at the end of this post).














2. Start writing your essay on any of the four topics discussed so far including "The Signal man" (see previous post). Deadline, Sunday 14.

3. Monday 15 will be devoted to discuss an overview of 20th century prose and poetry. I will present you with some of the main writers of the time. I will also leave two short stories by D.H. Lawrence (at the photocopying centre in Agustinas) that you are expected to read for Monday 22nd.

4. Monday 22nd. Analysis and discussion of D.H.Lawrence´s stories.

About Dickens and the Victorian age, as discussed in class, here is some contextual background:

• Keynotes of the Victorian age: progress, expansion, power and mobility (See Poplawski, P. (2008). English Literature in Context. CUP)


• 1830 Opening of railway lines in Britain: advancement, growth and difussion, awareness of interconnectedness, invention.


• Print culture proliferated and literacy rates increased


• Influence of the Romantic era on Victorian writers: ideas of liberty, individualism, the nature of subjectivity, emphasis on the self, emotion, imagination, relationship between man and the natural world.


• Social responsibility of the artist.


• The Victorian age witnessed the boom of economic expansion, transformation and hope in the first period, while in the second, it witnessed uncertainty and doubt.

Dickens´s fiction central metaphors: Fog, contagion, the prison. These three metaphors were best embodied in the word disease, both literal and figurative (cholera was a common disease at the time and it hit working-class communities very hard in the years 1831, 1848, 1853 and 1866). In Dickens´s writings one finds the idea of disease that spread through modern society and it immobilised it. His desire to represent the social realities of urban life are found in most of his writings. In "Oliver Twist" (1837-1838), the author depicts his own suffering during his childhood. At the age of 12 he starts working in a blacking factory. His family is sent to prison due to debt. He isn´t but this traumatic experience would influence his writing very much. At the age of 15 Dickens starts working as a free-lance writer.

"The Signal Man" was written after a railway accident which took place in 1865 that had a great impact on Dickens´s life.

When you write your post think of the following:

• What does the train represent?


• Think of the opposition between isolation and community.


• Think of the issue of social responsibility


• How is modernity depicted in this ghost story?

See you in class,

Claudia

Dear all,

Take a look at the following picture, then read the short story "The signal-man" provided in the following link

Enjoy!

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext98/3ghst10h.htm

Compare this short story with the film "Oliver Twist".

See you in class,

Claudia

Dear all,
Today´s class was devoted to the analysis of Frankenstein, based on several articles that touch upon themes such as: Knowledge, the birth of a monster and man as a creator/God. Now, please post an entry on your interpretation of the novel and the article that you read.

Also, next session we will watch a film (probably only half of it due to time limitations) about the Victorian age (references to Charles Dickens will be made). The second half of the film will have to be watched on the following session. After watching it, you will be asked to write an essay (30% of the final mark) based on any of the following topics:

1. Romantic Poetry
2. Frankenstein
3. Charles Dickens and the Victorian Age

You will find the marking criteria and the instructions on how to write an academic essay in the following links. The essay should be between 700 and 1000 words long.

http://www.siue.edu/~deder/grrub.html

http://www.siue.edu/~deder/grstand.html

http://www.nd.edu.au/downloads/colleges/arts/res_essayguide.pdf

I´ll be looking forward to reading your essays!!

Claudia

Dear all,
For the class about Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, please read the article provided in the following link.

http://www.kimwoodbridge.com/maryshel/knowledge.shtml

What aspects of Mary Shelley´s novel does the author of the article want to emphasise?
Claudia

Dear all,

I´m happy to see that most of you have managed to create their blogs. Those of you who didn´t attend the session on Wednesday, please create your blog and send the link to me. As a reminder, please read the poem by Coleridge provided in the link http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/coleridge.html. You are also expected to read the article about Keats http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/07/07/080707crbo_books_kirsch?currentPage=all, google one of the poems mentioned in the article and be ready to discuss it on Monday. Remember to take a look a the characteristics of Romanticism. Which of the characteristics do you think are present in Coleridge´s and Keats's poems?
See you on Monday,
Claudia

Dear students,
As we study the so called "Romantic Poets" let´s first consider what Romanticism means (From English Literature in Context by Paul Poplawski (Ed.), 2008).

• The Romantic period covers the period between the 1780s and 1830s although some authors argue that the period starts in the 1760s and it finishes in the 1850s.
• Romantic refers to a kind of writing in opposition to neo-classicism in which "reason" dominated.
• It marked a profound change in sensibility as a violent reaction to 18th century "reason".
• The most representative British Romantic poets are William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Percy B. Shelley, John Keats and Lord Byron.
• Romanticism was apparently inspired by te political revolutions of America in 1776 and France in 1789, and therefore the products of Romanticism were often radical.

Characteristics:

• Romantic poets affirm the creative powers of the imagination.
• They introduce us to a new way of looking at nature which becomes the main subject of their work. The "Unity of being" or transcendence can be achieved through communion with nature: mountains, glaciars, storms, strange and exotic settings.
• Romantic poets often write about the nature of the individual self and the nature of individual experience. They also show high regard for the figure of the artists.

Coleridge was one of the so called "the Lake School Poets". They were attacked by liberal and radical writers, including Byron. It was felt that they had turned their backs on their radical youth and had abandoned progressive politics preferring instead to advocate a quasi-mystical relationship with nature instead of an active engagement with politics.

After reading the poem by Coleridge provided in the link, which of the former characteristics do you find? Do you agree with the criticism made in the previous paragraph?

About Keats, please read the following article in the link provided http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/07/07/080707crbo_books_kirsch?currentPage=all

Do you think that his working class origin impacted his lack of acknowledgement in his time?

Now choose one of the poems mentioned in the article, google it, read it and compare it against the characteristics above described. You will be asked to tell us about the poem you have chosen in the next session.

First class

Dear students,
Welcome to the course! This semester, we will study the most representative 19th and 20th century British writers, and their social and cultural context. One of the main aims of the course is to foster your critical thinking and autonomy in reading and reflecting upon the content and context of creation of these literary works of art. For the first class, please take a look at the following link http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/coleridge.html. Read the poem by Coleridge, we will discuss it in the first class along with the course programme. Think of the context of the poem, when and why did Coleridge write it? What do you associate the poem with? Etc.

Also, you will be asked to create your own blog as a way to keep a log of what you do in this course. This will be done together in the first class so don't worry. Some of you may have created a blog for other courses already, or for personal reasons. Whatever is the case, this is going to be a shared blog so that we learn from one another. Therefore your blog will be linked to mine so that everybody in the class has access to everybody's blog. I hope you find this collaborative way of learning useful.
See you soon,
Claudia