Importance of Being Earnest the movie

After reading the the play and seeing the movie, I really enjoyed the movie. All of the visible sarcasm I actually understood! Usually in print, I miss cues and very important parts of stories. Thank you for letting us watch the movie version and thank you for a great class !!

Caribbean Region Information

After thinking about the Caribbean, I have decided to look up information of Jamaica. Because I am a dancer, I am fascinated by their culture; and of course their dance. The way they move and relate to the rhythm is very different and makes me wonder if I will ever relate to music the way they do. The more videos I watch, the more Ive decided I need to go somewhere tropical!!

Here is my video of Jamacian dancing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGVmLJ8CbZY

And of course, pictures :)

Mill vs Darwin

Both men have very different views about nature and the human race. Mill believes that the natural order can be changed. You have to overcome nature to survive. He also believes that man can try to create an equal society. Darwin believes the complete opposite. Darwin believes that culture is a big no no. There is a natural order and everything arises to just material conditions. If you are weak; you get squished. Yes, that is sad, but its the way of life. I am torn in between the two thoughts. I believe that any person can overcome their troubles and stand up for themselves to survive, but on the other hand I believe if you really have no way of survival or no way to strive for yourself, you are really "stuck in the mud." I have never had to discuss these two men before, but after thinking about it I guess anybody can have different thoughts.

* The first picture is of Darwin, the second is Mill.

Negative Capability

When I first heard the term Negative Capability, I was confused. After going over the term in both of my English classes, I am starting to understand the meaning. Keats defined it as "When a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason." I interpreted that as the capability of the artist to take his or her personality out of the text. Keats believed that Byron and Wordsworth were to personal, egotistical, and an autobiographical because it heightens subjectivity and the view of things in poetry. The perspective of the piece is ruined. I sort of agree with Keats but autobiographical works are not a useless piece of information. I believe autobiographical information is very useful. Not all pieces of writing have to be autobiographical but sometimes its necessary.

Poetry for class on wed

The poem I picked was “The Indian Serenade” by Shelley. (http://www.poetry-archive.com/s/the_indian_serenade.html) This poem appeals to me because of the name. Was Shelley in love with an Indian and is trying to serenade her? I have no idea, im a little confused but I liked the title. I would like to learn more about this poem. I found this information on this poem ...

"his charming short lyric is one of Shelley’s finest, simplest, and most exemplary love poems. It tells a simple story of a speaker who wakes, walks through the beautiful Indian night to his beloved’s window, then falls to the ground, fainting and overcome with emotion. The lush sensual language of the poem evokes an atmosphere of nineteenth-century exoticism and Orientalism, with the “Champak odours” failing as “The wandering airs they faint / On the dark, the silent stream,” as “the winds are breathing low, / And the stars are shining bright.” The poet employs a subtle tension between the speaker’s world of inner feeling and the beautiful outside world; this tension serves to motivate the poem, as the inner dream gives way to the journey, imbuing “a spirit in my feet”; then the outer world becomes a mold or model for the speaker’s inner feeling (“The nightingale’s complaint / It dies upon her heart, / As I must die on thine...”), and at that moment the speaker is overwhelmed by his powerful emotions, which overcome his body: “My cheek is cold and white, alas! / My heart beats loud and fast...”

In this sense “The Indian Serenade” mixes the sensuous, rapturous aestheticism of a certain kind of Romantic love poem (of Keats, for example) with the transcendental emotionalism of another kind of Romantic love poem (often represented by Coleridge). The beautiful landscape of fainting airs and low-breathing winds acts upon the poet’s agitated, dreamy emotions to overwhelm him in both the aesthetic and emotional realm—both the physical, outer world and the spiritual, inner world—and his body is helpless to resist the resultant thunderclap: “I die! I faint! I fail!”"

Romanticism and Fascism

romanticism is created by the authors feelings where fascism is created by the author scaring "sense" into their readers. Although they're not the same topic its easy to see how romanticism can be mistaken for fascism.

The definition of fascism is "believe that a nation is an organic community that requires strong leadership, singular collective identity, and the will and ability to commit violence and wage war in order to keep the nation strong".

Romanticism is defined as "The movement validated strong emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on such emotions as trepidation, horror and terror and awe—especially that which is experienced in confronting the sublimity of untamed nature and its picturesque qualities, both new aesthetic categories".

Romanticism doesn't use force and war to get its point across but it does use some type of horror and terror to state its feelings; they can also be called emotions. Fascists are very emotional but their outlet is not always the most just.

With Fascism I automatically think of Hitler. If Hitler ever wrote any real poetry I wonder what he would have created. I wonder if he would have created his own genre or if he would have followed Romanticism.




* Just for thought, what do you guys think this picture actually is?

Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey

My first reaction to this poem was HOLY CRAP THIS IS LONG!! And I know as an English major that shouldn't be my first reaction but, it was.. so I dealt with the length and started to read through. Half way through this poem I was so confused!! Was I the only one? I think I read this about 4 times total and still after the 3rd was completely confused so I decided to "Google it", which probably wasn't the best idea (SORRY MULMAN :) !! ) I came across the SparkNotes for this particular poem. After reading the SparkNotes it became a little more clear to me. The speaker had not been back to that spot for five years. I guess five years is a long time and that gives you a chance to miss your favorite place. The speaker then goes on to explain everything he is seeing. After reading all of the SparkNotes, I realized that this poem is about longing to be somewhere else in the world/ longing to fit into a place in this world. I can really relate to this poem. If I could be anywhere in the world right now I would be with my fiance in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Although I have not been there in almost two months and not two years I can still relate to the speaker. The beautiful mountain air is so crisp and perfect. The houses that are set in the mountains look like they're painted into the scenery and not actually built there. Everything about my Colorado and the speakers favorite place are sort of the same. The peace and quiet, everything I read I took to heart. The feeling of being stuck in one place and not belonging here anymore really hit home; so did the wanting to be where you really fit in. Overall I believe this was a great poem.


* I posted a picture I took on my last visit in Feb of the mountains in Colorado just to show everyone how peaceful and beautiful they are *
* And I posted a picture of Tintern Abbey just because I felt like it :) *