Hi Michael,

Here are my two best entries; Wk2: Voices from WWI and Wk7: The Mark on the Wall.

Week 2 - 1/8/07

Voices from World War I

Looking at the war poems, I wasn’t so much struck by one particular poem, rather the alternate views expressed by various poets.  Most poems were split into two extreme views.  If you look at Dulce Et Decorum Est, by ( Read more... )

a)      Imagining you are a theatre critic attending the opening night of the play, write a review of either Under Milk Wood or Arcadia.

Arcadia - Tom Stoppard

Arcadia is a mountainous district in Greece known for its quiet rural simplicity.  This is far from the noisy and chaotic setting of Stoppard’s Arcadia.  Here we see two periods of time come ( Read more... )

b) What for you is the most essential insight of the novel 1984?

I think fear is one of the most essential insights of Orwell’s 1984.  He was clearly very influenced by the politics of the 20s, 30s and 40s as his life story shows when he joined the war effort in Spain against General Franco.  His beliefs are plainly expressed in Shooting an Elephant ( Read more... )

Hi Carmel,

I too felt for the wife and I think Lawrence’s aim was for the reader to empathise with her.  His mother’s experience certainly had an impact on him.  But I think we are looking at this story purely through the eyes of the mother.  What about the father?  I think Lawrence would also want us to look at the life his father had led.  He had ( Read more... )

b)      Describe the impact on you of your favourite piece of writing from either Woolf, Mansfield or Lawrence.

The Mark on the Wall - Virginia Woolf

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this small piece of literature.  It reminded me so much of me doing exactly the same thing!  In fact, I’ve been doing exactly what Virginia Woolf was doing in the The Mark ( Read more... )

a)      Do you think Conrad and Coppola are identifying one of the root causes of continuing violence in the world today?

I believe that both Conrad and Coppola are identifying one of the root causes of continuing violence in the world today.  That is, that so long as man passes judgment on another, there will be justification for violence and the ( Read more... )

Voices from World War I

Looking at the war poems, I wasn’t so much struck by one particular poem, rather the alternate views expressed by various poets.  Most poems were split into two extreme views.  If you look at Dulce Et Decorum Est, by Wilfred Owen, you would say that this was the reality and that men who enlisted in that war would face these ( Read more... )

Moving right along.

Now that we have finished a tiny part of nineteenth century literature, it’s time to move on to the twentieth century.  I’ve always thought that I’d never really gotten into the literature of this century, but after looking at the course outline I was pretty amazed at how involved I’ve been with it.  For example, I’m a huge ( Read more... )

5/5/07 (wk 9), 18/5/07 (wk 11), 25/5/07 (wk 12)

Week 9 - 5/5/07

The Kreutzer Sonata - Leo Tolstoy

Well, I finally read The Kreutzer Sonata, and it was quite intense, but such eye opener.  Tolstoy was so ahead of his time.  He psychoanalysed all his characters and gave them 21st Century significance, which would have been quite unheard of in those ( Read more... )

In keeping with my theme about artificial beauty and shallowness and horrible Hollywood, I thought I’d write this poem.  I am sure there are many young girls out there who are killing themselves for nothing.  I’ve seen some of these girls wasting away.  The unfortunate thing is they do not know it.

Wasting away

I wish I was a super model, they look ( Read more... )