Lit. Talk

Addendum

2007-04-12T10:27:00.000-07:00

The questions are to be answered in your own blogs. Just making sure you know. However comments on other things you might wish to make, on the poem and the prose piece, are more than welcome.

Assignment 3

2007-04-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

Oscar Wilde's nightingale...
1. Would you call her naive?Give me your reasons.
2. Does Wilde's nightingale appeal to you? Reasons again please.
3. Given a choice who do you think you resemble the most and why? The shrewd frog, the gullible nightingale, the selfish professor's daughter, the idealistic nightingale or the lover whose dreams die a quick death...you could give me an explanation or an anecdote to highlight your point.

The Frog and the Nightingale

2007-04-07T23:14:00.000-07:00

In school I was a short, fat(that has not changed), darkish human with hair that ranged from short to almost monkish.
This happened when I was in Class VIII. I happened to be selected for a recitation competition and on a whim chose a prose piece. Wasn't the done thing then. The day of the competition saw me with a chest congestion, a hoarse throat and a pretty bad cough.
My english teacher, who hated me, did me a favour - she heard me recite, said i was doing an awful job and then she recited it the way she said it should be. She was terrific.
When my turn came on the stage I stepped up and I felt short, fat, ill and incapable. And began reciting. Something happened.
Since then I have been on stage countless times, have done lots of crazy things - but that hot, humid afternoon(Kolkata weather in the summers) I was a star.
I won the best speaker award, the judges told me I had a lot of talent and tonnes(sp?) of other blah!
That night I cried my heart out ...why? because I was a star? because i still couldn't be like "sunetra" my best friend, rival and the greatest looker in the class or was i just being hormonally challenged at that point? Remember I was thirteen!
I recited an excerpt from "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde.
Happy reading - http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/NigRos.shtml

The assignment will come on Friday the 13th.
PS - Any guesses on the excerpt?

Inspired!

2007-04-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

10A and 10F...well done. Very inspiring for an English teacher. Guys you have outdone yourselves.
And for those who are not posting...make a start. It's not that bad.

We are all animals...

2007-04-02T10:49:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed reading the 'animal encounters' a lot. I think it gives a very interesting twist to what we call class dynamics in educational psychology. Of course it's a lot of mumbo jumbo, but there are some home truths as well.
And it was great to see a bunch of 15 - 16year olds enjoying The Singing Ass. Let me just edit that, at least I could see some of you enjoying it. I had a lot of fun reading it.
And rivenscry it's okay to make a few spelling mistakes, thank god actually you make some. I magine how difficult it would get to teach geniuses like you if you never make mistakes.
And threepwood gaybrush(did i get that right?) the comment about Lawrence and his tv deserves an award... i loved it.
HP7 (i am learning the art of shortform from you guys) theories are very interesting. Courtsey Neelesh i read that half baked manuscript and gut feel says Ron's going to die a big, heroic death and quoting saurabhi - 'don't ask me why?' about that. The Neville angle has its merits. Knowing Rowling's devious plotting she will make connections we haven't even thought of.
And going back to animal encounters I thought Chameleon was a very interesting choice for Kabir. Whoever wrote that (and i do know who that was) did a great job.
Question, if you care to comment - Are we humans who tend to be animalistic or are we animals who pretend to be human?

Other Things and Assignment 2

2007-03-26T08:46:00.001-07:00

Before I go on to discussing the assignment, I think I want to write on some random stuff. Rememeber how I talked about being a fan of James Bond movies. Getting my share of the vicarious experience of being in the fast car, with a handsome man to boot. Well, I just read a book, "Double or Die" by Charlie Higson. It's third in the series of 'Young James Bond'...anyone ever heard of it? Anyway coming back to the point, in "Double or Die"(let me say that it's no literary masterpiece, but it does have its points) James Bond has his 'almost' first crush. Why would falling in love be called a crush?I've always wondered... Why not call it something else...any ideas?
About the book, it's a racy read, you could buy a copy or borrow it from me. However, if you do, it should come back unscathed.

One more reminder about no obscenities, not even short forms or with asterik marks doing the fill in the blank trick. It's a strict no no.

Also two more random thoughts...what's your take on Shakira and her whole concert in Mumbai? Why doesn't a concert by Shubha Mudgal(I hope you know who she is...)generate so much heat and hype?
And who could have killed Bob Woolmer?No random comments on this please. It's more of a rhetorical question.

The assignment, without further ado.

http://www.beyond-the-pale.co.uk/LawrenceSnake.htm

1. Follow the link and read the poem "The Snake" by D.H. Lawrence. It's a powerful poem and parallels can be drawn between "The Snake" and "The Night of the Scorpion"

Your task - The snake is a symbol of evil(just like the scorpion) yet we notice the conflicting attitude the poet displays towards the reptile. So the questions you need to address are - why? why does he do it? what do you think the snake stands for?does it stand for anything at all?(you can e mail me in case you need to clarify something)
Addendum - This is to be a post in your own blogs, just making it clear.

2. I am a postponing the date by which you can post - 31st of March, Saturday evening, 8p.m. - give or take a few hours. (on re reading this line - it's a terribly constructed sentence, but it does get the point across)

Your comments, if any, to my random thoughts are welcome. And for those who are doing this only for the marks - points will not be deducted if you do not leave any comments!

One more random question (has nothing to do with the assignment) - Is Snape going to be Harry's true saviour in the last book? I think he's going to die...
Till next time...
PS - Try to keep the language plain, undiluted English. Amen.

The Bet - A short story by Anton Chekov.

2007-03-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

Follow this link to Chekov's story. Read it. And then make your first blog entry based on what you felt, read...
http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/ac/bet.html
Please no summaries and there's no word limit.

Let's start

2007-03-19T07:45:00.000-07:00

Something new that I am doing, hopefully it’s going to alleviate some of the boredom that we face in the classroom.
So you ask, why are we here? No, sorry dumb rhetorical question. We are here to blog. Obviously. I think I just heard Prashast say that.
Anyways let’s get a bit serious. We have a literature reader to cover. We will be discussing it in class but we are also going online to talk about the lessons. And you can say what ever you want(no obscenitites please), I really want to know what’s going on inside those ticking grey cells of yours. An aside (it means I am going off topic) - why are they called grey cells? I had an MRI of the brain last year(two actually - I thought I was dying of brain tumor) and the pics made the brain look white. so why grey? and please no scientific explanations. Leave your comments on this question at the end of this post.
Right let’s get back on track - we are all going to have our own blogs so follow the steps given in the handout and create your own blogs. Read the story (overnight), follow the link in my second post and then write 'your first post' on the story - basically your comments.
Ahem, now the most important thing. This is part of your internal assessment for the boards. So keep up with the blogging, no extra time will be given and you will have your full 10 marks. Don’t look at this as another piece of junk, if you make it fun it will be fun.
Till next time then, look at the handout (save it in your folders). It tells when the next time is going to be. Not the best of exit lines, but that’s it for today.
Sarcar.