Friday, January 29, 2010
B Bell Owen Meany- Grace and Emily Posted 1/29 due 2/5
A Prayer for Owen Meany is a classic example of a post modernism novel. Several characteristics of post modernism literature includes one's search for identity and truth, and the lack of a timeline which follows chronological order. Please give specific examples of how Owen Meany displays these aspects typical to post modernism.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Postmodernism by John and Tripp
The following poem was written by the postmodern poet John Wieners. Explore the conflicting parallelism presented by Wieners. What poetic devices (if any) are used? What makes the broken prose of Wieners' poem effective? Also explore the effectiveness of the poet's direct address to an unknown party.
"You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase"
(A series of Repetitions)
I will be an old man sometime
And will live in a dark room somewhere.
I will think of this night someplace
the rain falling on stone.
There will be no one near
no whisper on the street
only this song of old yearning
and the longing to be young
with you together on some street.
Now is the time for retreat,
This is the last chance.
This is not the last chance.
Why only yesterday I lay drugged
on the dark bed while they came
and went as the wind
and they shall come again
to bear me down into that pit
there is no returning from.
Old age, disaster, doom.
It shall be as this room.
With you by the sink, pinching your face
in the mirror.
Time is as a river
and I shall forget this night,
its joy.
"You Talk of Going But Don't Even Have a Suitcase"
(A series of Repetitions)
I will be an old man sometime
And will live in a dark room somewhere.
I will think of this night someplace
the rain falling on stone.
There will be no one near
no whisper on the street
only this song of old yearning
and the longing to be young
with you together on some street.
Now is the time for retreat,
This is the last chance.
This is not the last chance.
Why only yesterday I lay drugged
on the dark bed while they came
and went as the wind
and they shall come again
to bear me down into that pit
there is no returning from.
Old age, disaster, doom.
It shall be as this room.
With you by the sink, pinching your face
in the mirror.
Time is as a river
and I shall forget this night,
its joy.
Friday, January 22, 2010
B Bell- Owen Meany Blog, Posted on Jan. 22nd, due on Jan 29th
"God has taken your mother. My hands were the instrument. God has taken my hands. I am God's instrument." (87)
Owen claims that he is an extension of God Himself. This is an unusually profound and insightful thing for a child to say. It must be a heavy burden for Owen to bear as well, if he truly believes that God has sent him for a mission. Give examples of what affect Owen's belief has had on his childhood. Does he still retain youthful qualities, or is he more prone to adult-like tendencies? Use specific examples.
Moderated by Yousra and Diana
Owen claims that he is an extension of God Himself. This is an unusually profound and insightful thing for a child to say. It must be a heavy burden for Owen to bear as well, if he truly believes that God has sent him for a mission. Give examples of what affect Owen's belief has had on his childhood. Does he still retain youthful qualities, or is he more prone to adult-like tendencies? Use specific examples.
Moderated by Yousra and Diana
Thursday, January 21, 2010
F bell modern poetry blog
P OR NOT P by Eugene Ostashevsky
1.Excuse me, is this P or ¬P, the sky or not the sky, the building or not the building?Does the building imply the sky, does the sky imply the building,what does the not-building imply?
There are waves to one side of the building and a boat.We stepped down into the boat and sailed away.
We sailed past an island where Dave Cameron stood reading his poetry.We sailed past an island where Brandon Downing stood reading his poetry.We sailed past an island where Macgregor Card stood reading his poetry.
So much poetry for one day!
2.SOME QUESTIONS:Are there books in the building? Is there a book on fire in the building?Is there a book on fire in a book on fire in the building?Is this the beginning of number?
SOME ANSWERS:The beginning of number is song. The song is not about anything. It gave birth to the world.The world is not about anything.
SOME COMMENTS:Animals gather around the song. They listen, tilting their heads.They have large eyes. We can count the animals.
3."What do we do when the song ends for somebody what do we doDo we say, Don't go what will I do if you doDo we run to the doctor and cry, Give me an MRI, doctor! What he hasI might have it too Do we lie around despondent and blueO why do you go, why do you go There's so little time left
"Let us sit down, me and you Let me help you sit downbecause I am now a man and for you it's hard even to sit downWhat do we do now, what do we do Let us speak, me and youWe never learned to speak, me and you Let us start, ma-ma da-daYou say The Metamorphosis is about dyingLet us sit on this rock, me and you I say, ma-ma da-daWe live in Brooklyn We have a dog"
This is the song as heard / unheard by the animals. By some of the animals. By none of the animals. There are no animals.
There are only points, each at the convergence of an infinity of structures. The structures appear to be of metal. They oscillate. They make noise.
4.What is mathematics to animals? Is P or ¬P truefor all animals? Does 1+1=2for all animals? Is there a me and youfor all animals? What is
mathematics to animals? What are animalsto mathematics? Take away mathematicsand there are no animals. Take away animalsand there is no mathematics.
The animals gather for a concert of mathematics. We sail past them.They are capable of love. We sail past them.
5.We sail and we repeat. What do we repeat? Words.What are these words? There is a word for skyand there is a word for building.
What do they mean? They mean skyand building. The sky is blue.The building is pink and white.
Eugen Ostashevsky teaches English at New York University. He moved to the United States from Russia to the United States with his family when he was a child. He holds a Phd in Comparative Literature from Standford University. During his time there, he delved into the complex world of early twentieth century Russian poetry. In addition to translating works, which he still continues to do today, he particularly focused on Russian absurdist poets of the 1920s and 1930s.
There are certain reappearing traits in Ostashevsky's poetry, much like there are for most poets. Some of the more complex ones deal with verbal relationships to mathematical proofs and allusions to philosophers and mythical creatures. Ostashevsky is also immensely humorous and a very satirical, witty writer. This poem is from his book The Last DJ Spinoza. The real Baruch Spinoza, if we all tap into our AP MEH knowledge, was a Dutch philosopher from that special period in time called the Enlightenment. Remember his book Ethics? In it, he asks and reasons through such simple questions as what are emotions? (He actually single handedly defined all his emotions in this book). Spinoza is a very complex person and his philosophy, however fascinating, is very hard to explain.
The reason you should know these things about Spinoza is that the speaker of this poem is Ostashevsky's voive alter-ego, DJ Spinoza. In this book, DJ Spinoza is a sort of Monty Python inspired epic hero, who is based on a lot of the reasonings of the real Baruch Spinoza. He mingles with other fictional/mythical/popular characters, including Flipper the dolphin, a Griffon(begriffon), and a creature inspired by his toddler nephew called the Peepeesauraus. Of course, it wouldn't be an Ostashevsky work if DJ Spinoza didn't run into other poets and philosophers in some of his adventures.
This is a fascinating poem. Don't read too into the faulty reasoning however; remember what was said earlier about Ostashevsky's wittiness.
Find a phrase, line, or stanza in the poem where Ostashevsky uses repitition, sarcasm,extended syntax, logic,false reasoning, or sectioning (or a combination of all of them) to create poetry and not philosophy, even though some could consider it philosophy in poetry. How are these effective ways in which to assert the overall constricting, trapped yet imaginative mood of the poem? Would it make a difference if he had used a rhyme scheme or an acrostic instead?
I encourage you, if you want to, to click on this link for entertainment. Eugene Ostashevsky reads this poem in a set of poems he delivered at the UC Berkley lunch poems series. P or not P is read precisely at the time 30:53.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIcO6JnZUkU
1.Excuse me, is this P or ¬P, the sky or not the sky, the building or not the building?Does the building imply the sky, does the sky imply the building,what does the not-building imply?
There are waves to one side of the building and a boat.We stepped down into the boat and sailed away.
We sailed past an island where Dave Cameron stood reading his poetry.We sailed past an island where Brandon Downing stood reading his poetry.We sailed past an island where Macgregor Card stood reading his poetry.
So much poetry for one day!
2.SOME QUESTIONS:Are there books in the building? Is there a book on fire in the building?Is there a book on fire in a book on fire in the building?Is this the beginning of number?
SOME ANSWERS:The beginning of number is song. The song is not about anything. It gave birth to the world.The world is not about anything.
SOME COMMENTS:Animals gather around the song. They listen, tilting their heads.They have large eyes. We can count the animals.
3."What do we do when the song ends for somebody what do we doDo we say, Don't go what will I do if you doDo we run to the doctor and cry, Give me an MRI, doctor! What he hasI might have it too Do we lie around despondent and blueO why do you go, why do you go There's so little time left
"Let us sit down, me and you Let me help you sit downbecause I am now a man and for you it's hard even to sit downWhat do we do now, what do we do Let us speak, me and youWe never learned to speak, me and you Let us start, ma-ma da-daYou say The Metamorphosis is about dyingLet us sit on this rock, me and you I say, ma-ma da-daWe live in Brooklyn We have a dog"
This is the song as heard / unheard by the animals. By some of the animals. By none of the animals. There are no animals.
There are only points, each at the convergence of an infinity of structures. The structures appear to be of metal. They oscillate. They make noise.
4.What is mathematics to animals? Is P or ¬P truefor all animals? Does 1+1=2for all animals? Is there a me and youfor all animals? What is
mathematics to animals? What are animalsto mathematics? Take away mathematicsand there are no animals. Take away animalsand there is no mathematics.
The animals gather for a concert of mathematics. We sail past them.They are capable of love. We sail past them.
5.We sail and we repeat. What do we repeat? Words.What are these words? There is a word for skyand there is a word for building.
What do they mean? They mean skyand building. The sky is blue.The building is pink and white.
Eugen Ostashevsky teaches English at New York University. He moved to the United States from Russia to the United States with his family when he was a child. He holds a Phd in Comparative Literature from Standford University. During his time there, he delved into the complex world of early twentieth century Russian poetry. In addition to translating works, which he still continues to do today, he particularly focused on Russian absurdist poets of the 1920s and 1930s.
There are certain reappearing traits in Ostashevsky's poetry, much like there are for most poets. Some of the more complex ones deal with verbal relationships to mathematical proofs and allusions to philosophers and mythical creatures. Ostashevsky is also immensely humorous and a very satirical, witty writer. This poem is from his book The Last DJ Spinoza. The real Baruch Spinoza, if we all tap into our AP MEH knowledge, was a Dutch philosopher from that special period in time called the Enlightenment. Remember his book Ethics? In it, he asks and reasons through such simple questions as what are emotions? (He actually single handedly defined all his emotions in this book). Spinoza is a very complex person and his philosophy, however fascinating, is very hard to explain.
The reason you should know these things about Spinoza is that the speaker of this poem is Ostashevsky's voive alter-ego, DJ Spinoza. In this book, DJ Spinoza is a sort of Monty Python inspired epic hero, who is based on a lot of the reasonings of the real Baruch Spinoza. He mingles with other fictional/mythical/popular characters, including Flipper the dolphin, a Griffon(begriffon), and a creature inspired by his toddler nephew called the Peepeesauraus. Of course, it wouldn't be an Ostashevsky work if DJ Spinoza didn't run into other poets and philosophers in some of his adventures.
This is a fascinating poem. Don't read too into the faulty reasoning however; remember what was said earlier about Ostashevsky's wittiness.
Find a phrase, line, or stanza in the poem where Ostashevsky uses repitition, sarcasm,extended syntax, logic,false reasoning, or sectioning (or a combination of all of them) to create poetry and not philosophy, even though some could consider it philosophy in poetry. How are these effective ways in which to assert the overall constricting, trapped yet imaginative mood of the poem? Would it make a difference if he had used a rhyme scheme or an acrostic instead?
I encourage you, if you want to, to click on this link for entertainment. Eugene Ostashevsky reads this poem in a set of poems he delivered at the UC Berkley lunch poems series. P or not P is read precisely at the time 30:53.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIcO6JnZUkU
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