Hemingway’s Prose Style:
Most critics agree that Hemingway’s fame depends as much on his prose style as on his content and subjects. His early style is lean, laconic, and devoid of strings of adjectives and adverbs. Lacking excessive modifiers, his sentences tend to be simple or compound declarative clauses; conjunctions are coordinating, rarely subordinating, so that items are arranged spatially or sequentially (not by cause or logic—Hemingway’s world is ruled more by fate and luck than by cause and effect and logic). The prose depends on nouns (many monosyllabic) for concrete imagery. There is a poetic use of repetition (learned in part from the Bible and in part from Gertrude Stein) and a concentration on surface detail, on suggesting character through things said and done rather than through authorial asides and psychological analysis. Like his Imagist contemporaries, especially Ezra Pound, Hemingway sought the concrete detail that would capture the essence of the moment and convey its emotional content to readers. His bare-bones style is in part a reaction to the over-ornate Victorian prose and to the political rhetoric surrounding World War I. Obviously influenced by the techniques of journalism, it is also an attempt to strip away all that is false, misleading, and unessential. Among the elements that Hemingway shares with other Modernist writers are alienated characters and their rejection of conventional moral standards, a manner of presentation that, in its incomplete and fragmented manner, echoes the sense of a pervasive social disintegration. Often cited is Hemingway’s “iceberg” technique, where vital elements of a story are left out in order to force greater reader engagement (even rereading). The actual text read by readers is only the tip of the “iceberg”: readers are left to ponder what lies beneath.
Hemingway on his iceberg technique:
If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows, and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have the feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer has stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.
I always try to write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows. Anything you know you can eliminate and it only strengthens your iceberg.
The Myth of Antaeus:
Antaeus was the son of Poseidon and Ge (mother earth). He was a giant who wrestled Hercules. Whenever he was thrown to the ground, he arose stronger than before from the contact with his mother. Perceiving this, Hercules finally lifted Antaeus into the air and crushed him to death. The myth of Antaeus simply refers to anyone who is replenished, and restored by returning to nature. As a romantic notion, the myth is used to refer to a process of revitalization whereby an individual, once oppressed and overwhelmed by society, seeks solace in nature. Hemingway’s characters often seek such restoration in nature through the simple rituals of hunting, fishing, and camping.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Engl 20923, Literature and Civilization II, sec. 655
TTR, 2:00-3:20 PM, Reed 421
Literature and Civilization II is a course intended to explore the role of literary, rhetorical, and dramatic expression in the development of cultural ideas, institutions, and roles. As it is vetted for global awareness credit (GA), the course is intended to help students develop a critical awareness of global perspectives. As it is also vetted for Humanities credit (Hum), the course is intended to help students analyze texts, examine the nature and value of human life, and construct relevant arguments. Since literature and civilization are rather broad, ambiguous terms, and since Lit and Civ II covers 300 years of human activity, we will primarily focus on the Modernism’s revolt against the past and its effect on the present and future.
Required Texts:
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, The Finca Vigia Edition (EH)
Modernism: A Very Short Introduction (Mod)
Sailing Around the Room: New And Selected Poems (Sailing)
01/11, T
introduction
01/13, TR
What is literature? What is civilization?
01/18, T
“A Clean, Well-Lighted, 288-291 [EH]; Yeats, “The Second Coming” [internet]; Longfellow, “The Psalm of Life” [internet]; “The Modernist Work,” 1-13 (Mod)
01/20, TR
T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” [internet]; “Modernism,” class handout
01/25, T
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,”; W. B. Yeats “The Wild Swans at Coole,” “Sailing to Byzantium,” “Leda and the Swan,” Wallace Stevens, “The Emperor of Ice Cream” [internet]
01/27, TR
Pound, “In the Station of the Metro,” 43; The River Merchant’s Wife,” [internet]
02/01, T
unintentional winter break
02/03, TR
unintentional winter break
02/08, T
James Joyce, “Araby,” [internet]
02/10, TR
Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” [internet]
02/15, T
Wright, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” [internet]
02/17, TR
Fitzgerald, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” [internet]
02/22, T
class cancelled--Required viewing of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [film]
02/24, TR
class cancelled--Required visit to Museum of Modern Art
03/01, T
“Up in Michigan,” 59-62 (EH)
03/03, TR
class cancelled--Required: Library Research
03/08, T
“Indian Camp” and “The Doctor and The Doctor’s Wife,” 65-82 (EH)
03/10, TR
“The End of Something” and “The Three-Day Blow,” 79-93 (EH)
03/15, T
intentional Spring Break
03/17, TR
intentional Spring Break
03/22
“Cross-Country Snow,” 143-147; “Ten Indians,” 253-257 (EH)
03/24, TR
“Father and Sons,” 369-377 (EH)
03/29, T
Billy Collins, Sailing Around the Room (Selections)
03/31, TR
Billy Collins, Sailing Around The Room (Selections)
Required: Billy Collins Reading, Moudy 141N, 7 PM
04/05, T
“Hills Like White Elephants,” 211-214 (EH)
04/07, TR
“Cat in the Rain,” 129-131; “A Sea Change,” 302-305 (EH)
04/12, T
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” 5-28 (EH)
04/14, Th
“Under the Ridge,” 460-469; “Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog,” 487-491 (EH)
04/19, T
Modernism, final discussion (must have completed Modernism: A Very Short Introduction)
04/21, TR
final presentations
04/26, T
final presentations
Requirements:
1) Service Learning: Service learning is one of the primary course components and is required of all students. The basic assumption behind service learning is that, by performing some type of community-engaged service, students can gain significant experience in their specific subject areas—and into their own lives. Together we will take on a class project tutoring international ESL students. At the beginning of the semester you will be paired with an ESL student as a conversation partner. You will be required to meet with you conversation partner a minimum of 8 times during the semester.
2) Blogging: To document your service-learning experiences, and as well to comment on your reading, you are required to keep an online journal or weblog. With the help of technology at Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), you will build your own web log, or “blog,” and keep an electronic journal of your experiences as a tutor, as a reader, and more generally as an individual living in a complex world. You will be expected to write 8 one- to two-page reflections of your meetings with your conversation partner. These reflections should not only describe what you did but also your thoughts and reactions. Since tutoring is always a two-way street, you will learn a lot about your partners as they learn from you, and you are asked to write about this learning and sharing process in your blogs. Also, since one of the best ways to learn about a subject is to have to teach it, you will—hopefully—gain insight and sensitivity into English rhetorical practices, and you will be expected to comment on these insights. You are also asked to write 4 one- to two-page reflections commenting on your reading experiences. Obviously, you do not have to comment on each of the assigned poems or stories, but by the end of the semester you should have responded to a minimum of 4 stories out of the 22 that we will be reading. I encourage you to choose the stories that somehow moved you. What you write is up to you. You do not have to write a literary analysis, critically analyzing the relationships of plot, character, and setting. I would prefer that you examine your reading experience. What happened when you read the story? How—and why--did you respond to what you read? You are also welcome to use your blog to reflect on your experiences throughout the semester, commenting on whatever moves you to write. But please remember that a blog is not a personal—and private—diary.
Blogging is a less formal form of writing than an essay, and thus blogs are a good forum to reflect, analyze, vent, explore, and consider. But blogs are also a more public form of writing and, because of the technology, an excellent way of sharing, collaborating, and responding. In addition to posting your own blog entries, you will also be required to post brief responses of around 50 to 75 words to a minimum of 8 other course blogs throughout the semester. You are welcome to comment on any of the other course blogs, but please vary the blogs you respond to. Please do not respond to the same blog (and person).
Please keep in mind that blogs are a public forum, accessible to anyone who has internet access, so please do not post anything that you would not share with the classroom and internet communities.
We will use our course blogs as an open dialogue to reflect on our experiences in Literature and Civilization.
3) Midterm and Final Exams: There will be both midterm and final essay exams, and both exams will have two parts, a take-home essay and an in-class short answer exam. These exams will not simply test for familiarity with course content, but will also be used to reflect on your learning experiences. My intention is not to assess your specific knowledge of texts and authors, but to encourage you to examine your experiences as a student, both in my course and in all your courses.
4) Quizzes. In most classes there will be short quizzes. The questions will serve as a reading check, but they will also be used to generate discussion. The quizzes will be graded on a point scale, with 3 for excellent, 2 for good, and 1 for acceptable. At the end of the semester you will receive a cumulative score for your quizzes. Quizzes will be collected and returned.
5) Lead Respondent Assignment: Throughout the semester students will be asked to help lead our discussions, and these discussion-leader assignments may be undertaken individually or in small groups (maximum of 3). Each individual or group will choose a specific class day and will be expected to make a presentation on the primary texts assigned for that. These presentations may include biographical or historical information about author, the composition and structure of the texts, summaries of significant material, and analysis of themes and issues. More importantly, these presentations should also include a brief discussion of what the individual (or group) thinks is relevant in the text and a list of questions for discussion. These presentations should be informative and provocative. Yet at the same time they should also be enjoyable! I encourage you to consider creative suggestions for stimulating interest and arousing attention. Dramatizations may be videotaped, parts of texts acted out, and character roles performed. Multimedia presentations are always welcome. You should think about how you can make these presentations engaging.
A brief handout summarizing key points, pertinent information, and listing the questions
for discussion is required.
6) Library Research: To replace the cancelled class on March 3, you will be asked to conduct original research in the library by reading and commenting upon an early twentieth-century magazine (such as Life, Vogue, Time, Saturday Evening Post). I ask that you find a specific issue of an original magazine from the 20s or 30s, and I would like you to write a 2- to 3-page response about what this particular issue was like. What were the articles and advertisements like? What kind of world did they depict? What were your responses to this magazine? Your response will be due the following class (March 8). Late responses will not be accepted.
7) Modernism, A Final Discussion: on 04/19 we will hold a final discussion of the subject of Modernism. For this class you must have completed reading Modernism: A Very Short Introduction. To document your reading, and to aid our discussion, you are required to submit eight quotations from the Modernism text that you think helped you understand the movement (in one way or another). Please choose two quotations from each of the four chapters include in the book. Choose passages that you thought were insightful, helpful, or useful—passages that helped you understand the concepts, issues, and relevance of Modernism as an intellectual and artistic movement. Please copy or scan the passages so that they can be shared in class.
8) Final Presentations: For your final assignment, I would like you to put together a multimodal project that presents a reflection of your thoughts, observations, and experiences throughout the semester. Consider what you have learned that was interesting, striking, or memorable. These projects may include photographs, videos, sketches, recordings, music, prose, and poetry. You may use Power Point or present a video, or use other forms of multimodal presentation. Please be as creative as you like. As with the lead respondent assignments, please consider how to engage your audience’s attention. Along with your presentation, you must submit a 2 to 4 page explanation and justification of your presentation. These projects may be done individually or in small groups (maximum of 3). If done as a group project, each person's individual contributions must be apparent.
What you do in your final presentations is up to you, and part of the assignment is figuring out what to do. You can focus on a specific story or poem, or on a combination of stories and poems, or even on an entire series or theme that you found informative and interesting. This should be an opportunity to assess what you have learned.
9) Participation and Attendance: I am not formally setting an attendance policy, and you are responsible for your own attendance. I caution you, however, to keep in mind that the blog entries and quizzes cannot be made up or turned in late. Also, please keep in mind that active participation is a course requirement and weak participation will lower your final grade. Both written and verbal contributions will count towards participation.
10) Sense of Humor and An Appreciation of Irony: I also ask for your patience, understanding, and good humor. I sincerely wish that all of us enjoy our work together this semester, and I ask for your help in making this course a success.
Grading Scale:
Midterm and Final Exams: 30% (15% each)
Service Learning and Blogging: 20%
Lead Respondent Assignment 15%
Final Presentations 15%
Quizzes 10%
Library Research 5%
Modernism Final Discussion 5%
Dan Williams
Reed 414D and TCU Press (3000 Sandage)
817-257-6250, 817-257-7822
Office Hours: Friday, 10 to 12 AM, and by appointment
d.e.williams@tcu.edu
Course Outcomes:
--Students will analyze representative texts of significance and practice critical analysis of these texts
--Students will explore texts in terms of multiple cultural heritages, aesthetic approaches, and ideological perspectives
--Students will demonstrate critical awareness that problem solving in the global community requires the integration of a variety of perspectives
--Students will learn how to evaluate sources from a variety of perspectives and to use those sources
--Students will demonstrate through reading responses, informal writing, and class discussion a critical engagement with intellectually challenging texts
--Students will incorporate additional media into the composing products produced
--Students will demonstrate strategies of literary analysis through writing about the assigned texts in class
--Students will identify representative authors and works in a particular literary tradition
--Students will gain an appreciation of the development of the short story in a global perspective
--Students will gain pedagogical experience, and develop greater sensitivity to significant cultural issues, by working closely with a Latino/a Physical Plant employee
Academic Conduct: An academic community requires the highest standards of honor and integrity in all of its participants if it is to fulfill its missions. In such a community faculty, students, and staff are expected to maintain high standards of academic conduct. The purpose of this policy is to make all aware of these expectations. Additionally, the policy outlines some, but not all, of the situations which can arise that violate these standards. Further, the policy sets forth a set of procedures, characterized by a "sense of fair play," which will be used when these standards are violated. In this spirit, definitions of academic misconduct are listed below. These are not meant to be exhaustive. I. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT Any act that violates the spirit of the academic conduct policy is considered academic misconduct. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: A. Cheating. Includes, but is not limited to: 1. Copying from another student's test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings. 2. Using in any academic exercise or academic setting, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test. 3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during an academic exercise without the permission of the person in charge of the exercise. 4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release. 5. Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, in a manner that leads to misrepresentation of either or both students work. B. Plagiarism. The appropriation, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any means another's work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one's own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another's work without giving credit therefore. C. Collusion. The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit. D. Abuse of resource materials. Mutilating, destroying, concealing, or stealing such materials. E. Computer misuse. Unauthorized or illegal use of computer software or hardware through the TCU Computer Center or through any programs, terminals, or freestanding computers owned, leased, or operated by TCU or any of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student. F. Fabrication and falsification. Unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise. G. Multiple submission. The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work (including oral reports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization. H. Complicity in academic misconduct. Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct. I. Bearing false witness. Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.
Disabilities Statement:
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at http://www.acs.tcu.edu/DISABILITY.HTM.
Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a building must be evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as soon as possible.
TTR, 2:00-3:20 PM, Reed 421
Literature and Civilization II is a course intended to explore the role of literary, rhetorical, and dramatic expression in the development of cultural ideas, institutions, and roles. As it is vetted for global awareness credit (GA), the course is intended to help students develop a critical awareness of global perspectives. As it is also vetted for Humanities credit (Hum), the course is intended to help students analyze texts, examine the nature and value of human life, and construct relevant arguments. Since literature and civilization are rather broad, ambiguous terms, and since Lit and Civ II covers 300 years of human activity, we will primarily focus on the Modernism’s revolt against the past and its effect on the present and future.
Required Texts:
The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway, The Finca Vigia Edition (EH)
Modernism: A Very Short Introduction (Mod)
Sailing Around the Room: New And Selected Poems (Sailing)
01/11, T
introduction
01/13, TR
What is literature? What is civilization?
01/18, T
“A Clean, Well-Lighted, 288-291 [EH]; Yeats, “The Second Coming” [internet]; Longfellow, “The Psalm of Life” [internet]; “The Modernist Work,” 1-13 (Mod)
01/20, TR
T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” [internet]; “Modernism,” class handout
01/25, T
“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,”; W. B. Yeats “The Wild Swans at Coole,” “Sailing to Byzantium,” “Leda and the Swan,” Wallace Stevens, “The Emperor of Ice Cream” [internet]
01/27, TR
Pound, “In the Station of the Metro,” 43; The River Merchant’s Wife,” [internet]
02/01, T
unintentional winter break
02/03, TR
unintentional winter break
02/08, T
James Joyce, “Araby,” [internet]
02/10, TR
Gilman, “The Yellow Wall-Paper,” [internet]
02/15, T
Wright, “The Man Who Was Almost a Man,” [internet]
02/17, TR
Fitzgerald, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” [internet]
02/22, T
class cancelled--Required viewing of “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button [film]
02/24, TR
class cancelled--Required visit to Museum of Modern Art
03/01, T
“Up in Michigan,” 59-62 (EH)
03/03, TR
class cancelled--Required: Library Research
03/08, T
“Indian Camp” and “The Doctor and The Doctor’s Wife,” 65-82 (EH)
03/10, TR
“The End of Something” and “The Three-Day Blow,” 79-93 (EH)
03/15, T
intentional Spring Break
03/17, TR
intentional Spring Break
03/22
“Cross-Country Snow,” 143-147; “Ten Indians,” 253-257 (EH)
03/24, TR
“Father and Sons,” 369-377 (EH)
03/29, T
Billy Collins, Sailing Around the Room (Selections)
03/31, TR
Billy Collins, Sailing Around The Room (Selections)
Required: Billy Collins Reading, Moudy 141N, 7 PM
04/05, T
“Hills Like White Elephants,” 211-214 (EH)
04/07, TR
“Cat in the Rain,” 129-131; “A Sea Change,” 302-305 (EH)
04/12, T
“The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber,” 5-28 (EH)
04/14, Th
“Under the Ridge,” 460-469; “Get a Seeing-Eyed Dog,” 487-491 (EH)
04/19, T
Modernism, final discussion (must have completed Modernism: A Very Short Introduction)
04/21, TR
final presentations
04/26, T
final presentations
Requirements:
1) Service Learning: Service learning is one of the primary course components and is required of all students. The basic assumption behind service learning is that, by performing some type of community-engaged service, students can gain significant experience in their specific subject areas—and into their own lives. Together we will take on a class project tutoring international ESL students. At the beginning of the semester you will be paired with an ESL student as a conversation partner. You will be required to meet with you conversation partner a minimum of 8 times during the semester.
2) Blogging: To document your service-learning experiences, and as well to comment on your reading, you are required to keep an online journal or weblog. With the help of technology at Blogger (http://www.blogger.com), you will build your own web log, or “blog,” and keep an electronic journal of your experiences as a tutor, as a reader, and more generally as an individual living in a complex world. You will be expected to write 8 one- to two-page reflections of your meetings with your conversation partner. These reflections should not only describe what you did but also your thoughts and reactions. Since tutoring is always a two-way street, you will learn a lot about your partners as they learn from you, and you are asked to write about this learning and sharing process in your blogs. Also, since one of the best ways to learn about a subject is to have to teach it, you will—hopefully—gain insight and sensitivity into English rhetorical practices, and you will be expected to comment on these insights. You are also asked to write 4 one- to two-page reflections commenting on your reading experiences. Obviously, you do not have to comment on each of the assigned poems or stories, but by the end of the semester you should have responded to a minimum of 4 stories out of the 22 that we will be reading. I encourage you to choose the stories that somehow moved you. What you write is up to you. You do not have to write a literary analysis, critically analyzing the relationships of plot, character, and setting. I would prefer that you examine your reading experience. What happened when you read the story? How—and why--did you respond to what you read? You are also welcome to use your blog to reflect on your experiences throughout the semester, commenting on whatever moves you to write. But please remember that a blog is not a personal—and private—diary.
Blogging is a less formal form of writing than an essay, and thus blogs are a good forum to reflect, analyze, vent, explore, and consider. But blogs are also a more public form of writing and, because of the technology, an excellent way of sharing, collaborating, and responding. In addition to posting your own blog entries, you will also be required to post brief responses of around 50 to 75 words to a minimum of 8 other course blogs throughout the semester. You are welcome to comment on any of the other course blogs, but please vary the blogs you respond to. Please do not respond to the same blog (and person).
Please keep in mind that blogs are a public forum, accessible to anyone who has internet access, so please do not post anything that you would not share with the classroom and internet communities.
We will use our course blogs as an open dialogue to reflect on our experiences in Literature and Civilization.
3) Midterm and Final Exams: There will be both midterm and final essay exams, and both exams will have two parts, a take-home essay and an in-class short answer exam. These exams will not simply test for familiarity with course content, but will also be used to reflect on your learning experiences. My intention is not to assess your specific knowledge of texts and authors, but to encourage you to examine your experiences as a student, both in my course and in all your courses.
4) Quizzes. In most classes there will be short quizzes. The questions will serve as a reading check, but they will also be used to generate discussion. The quizzes will be graded on a point scale, with 3 for excellent, 2 for good, and 1 for acceptable. At the end of the semester you will receive a cumulative score for your quizzes. Quizzes will be collected and returned.
5) Lead Respondent Assignment: Throughout the semester students will be asked to help lead our discussions, and these discussion-leader assignments may be undertaken individually or in small groups (maximum of 3). Each individual or group will choose a specific class day and will be expected to make a presentation on the primary texts assigned for that. These presentations may include biographical or historical information about author, the composition and structure of the texts, summaries of significant material, and analysis of themes and issues. More importantly, these presentations should also include a brief discussion of what the individual (or group) thinks is relevant in the text and a list of questions for discussion. These presentations should be informative and provocative. Yet at the same time they should also be enjoyable! I encourage you to consider creative suggestions for stimulating interest and arousing attention. Dramatizations may be videotaped, parts of texts acted out, and character roles performed. Multimedia presentations are always welcome. You should think about how you can make these presentations engaging.
A brief handout summarizing key points, pertinent information, and listing the questions
for discussion is required.
6) Library Research: To replace the cancelled class on March 3, you will be asked to conduct original research in the library by reading and commenting upon an early twentieth-century magazine (such as Life, Vogue, Time, Saturday Evening Post). I ask that you find a specific issue of an original magazine from the 20s or 30s, and I would like you to write a 2- to 3-page response about what this particular issue was like. What were the articles and advertisements like? What kind of world did they depict? What were your responses to this magazine? Your response will be due the following class (March 8). Late responses will not be accepted.
7) Modernism, A Final Discussion: on 04/19 we will hold a final discussion of the subject of Modernism. For this class you must have completed reading Modernism: A Very Short Introduction. To document your reading, and to aid our discussion, you are required to submit eight quotations from the Modernism text that you think helped you understand the movement (in one way or another). Please choose two quotations from each of the four chapters include in the book. Choose passages that you thought were insightful, helpful, or useful—passages that helped you understand the concepts, issues, and relevance of Modernism as an intellectual and artistic movement. Please copy or scan the passages so that they can be shared in class.
8) Final Presentations: For your final assignment, I would like you to put together a multimodal project that presents a reflection of your thoughts, observations, and experiences throughout the semester. Consider what you have learned that was interesting, striking, or memorable. These projects may include photographs, videos, sketches, recordings, music, prose, and poetry. You may use Power Point or present a video, or use other forms of multimodal presentation. Please be as creative as you like. As with the lead respondent assignments, please consider how to engage your audience’s attention. Along with your presentation, you must submit a 2 to 4 page explanation and justification of your presentation. These projects may be done individually or in small groups (maximum of 3). If done as a group project, each person's individual contributions must be apparent.
What you do in your final presentations is up to you, and part of the assignment is figuring out what to do. You can focus on a specific story or poem, or on a combination of stories and poems, or even on an entire series or theme that you found informative and interesting. This should be an opportunity to assess what you have learned.
9) Participation and Attendance: I am not formally setting an attendance policy, and you are responsible for your own attendance. I caution you, however, to keep in mind that the blog entries and quizzes cannot be made up or turned in late. Also, please keep in mind that active participation is a course requirement and weak participation will lower your final grade. Both written and verbal contributions will count towards participation.
10) Sense of Humor and An Appreciation of Irony: I also ask for your patience, understanding, and good humor. I sincerely wish that all of us enjoy our work together this semester, and I ask for your help in making this course a success.
Grading Scale:
Midterm and Final Exams: 30% (15% each)
Service Learning and Blogging: 20%
Lead Respondent Assignment 15%
Final Presentations 15%
Quizzes 10%
Library Research 5%
Modernism Final Discussion 5%
Dan Williams
Reed 414D and TCU Press (3000 Sandage)
817-257-6250, 817-257-7822
Office Hours: Friday, 10 to 12 AM, and by appointment
d.e.williams@tcu.edu
Course Outcomes:
--Students will analyze representative texts of significance and practice critical analysis of these texts
--Students will explore texts in terms of multiple cultural heritages, aesthetic approaches, and ideological perspectives
--Students will demonstrate critical awareness that problem solving in the global community requires the integration of a variety of perspectives
--Students will learn how to evaluate sources from a variety of perspectives and to use those sources
--Students will demonstrate through reading responses, informal writing, and class discussion a critical engagement with intellectually challenging texts
--Students will incorporate additional media into the composing products produced
--Students will demonstrate strategies of literary analysis through writing about the assigned texts in class
--Students will identify representative authors and works in a particular literary tradition
--Students will gain an appreciation of the development of the short story in a global perspective
--Students will gain pedagogical experience, and develop greater sensitivity to significant cultural issues, by working closely with a Latino/a Physical Plant employee
Academic Conduct: An academic community requires the highest standards of honor and integrity in all of its participants if it is to fulfill its missions. In such a community faculty, students, and staff are expected to maintain high standards of academic conduct. The purpose of this policy is to make all aware of these expectations. Additionally, the policy outlines some, but not all, of the situations which can arise that violate these standards. Further, the policy sets forth a set of procedures, characterized by a "sense of fair play," which will be used when these standards are violated. In this spirit, definitions of academic misconduct are listed below. These are not meant to be exhaustive. I. ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT Any act that violates the spirit of the academic conduct policy is considered academic misconduct. Specific examples include, but are not limited to: A. Cheating. Includes, but is not limited to: 1. Copying from another student's test paper, laboratory report, other report, or computer files and listings. 2. Using in any academic exercise or academic setting, material and/or devices not authorized by the person in charge of the test. 3. Collaborating with or seeking aid from another student during an academic exercise without the permission of the person in charge of the exercise. 4. Knowingly using, buying, selling, stealing, transporting, or soliciting in its entirety or in part, the contents of a test or other assignment unauthorized for release. 5. Substituting for another student, or permitting another student to substitute for oneself, in a manner that leads to misrepresentation of either or both students work. B. Plagiarism. The appropriation, theft, purchase, or obtaining by any means another's work, and the unacknowledged submission or incorporation of that work as one's own offered for credit. Appropriation includes the quoting or paraphrasing of another's work without giving credit therefore. C. Collusion. The unauthorized collaboration with another in preparing work offered for credit. D. Abuse of resource materials. Mutilating, destroying, concealing, or stealing such materials. E. Computer misuse. Unauthorized or illegal use of computer software or hardware through the TCU Computer Center or through any programs, terminals, or freestanding computers owned, leased, or operated by TCU or any of its academic units for the purpose of affecting the academic standing of a student. F. Fabrication and falsification. Unauthorized alteration or invention of any information or citation in an academic exercise. Falsification involves altering information for use in any academic exercise. Fabrication involves inventing or counterfeiting information for use in any academic exercise. G. Multiple submission. The submission by the same individual of substantial portions of the same academic work (including oral reports) for credit more than once in the same or another class without authorization. H. Complicity in academic misconduct. Helping another to commit an act of academic misconduct. I. Bearing false witness. Knowingly and falsely accusing another student of academic misconduct.
Disabilities Statement:
Texas Christian University complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 regarding students with disabilities. Eligible students seeking accommodations should contact the Coordinator of Services for Students with Disabilities in the Center for Academic Services located in Sadler Hall, 11. Accommodations are not retroactive, therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the term for which they are seeking accommodations. Further information can be obtained from the Center for Academic Services, TCU Box 297710, Fort Worth, TX 76129, or at (817) 257-7486.
Adequate time must be allowed to arrange accommodations and accommodations are not retroactive; therefore, students should contact the Coordinator as soon as possible in the academic term for which they are seeking accommodations. Each eligible student is responsible for presenting relevant, verifiable, professional documentation and/or assessment reports to the Coordinator. Guidelines for documentation may be found at http://www.acs.tcu.edu/DISABILITY.HTM.
Students with emergency medical information or needing special arrangements in case a building must be evacuated should discuss this information with their instructor/professor as soon as possible.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
How Do I Read a Poem?
First, you must realize that there is never just one way to read a poem. Poetry is often written to evoke personal feelings, and your personal responses—your feelings about a poem—are not necessarily incorrect just because they seem off the wall. All poetry combines sound and sense; thus you should always be aware of the lyric elements in a poem—how the poem sounds to your ear.
Also, always be aware of connotation as well as denotation; all words have echoes and references beyond their immediate meaning, and quite often poets are not only cognizant of these echoes but are also employing them to help convey their meaning. Consider, for instance, “blue sky.” This denotes a weather condition, but it also connotes the possibility of someone or something being beautiful, serene, or heavenly.
Always identify the poem’s situation. What is said is always conditioned by where and when it is being said, and by who is saying it. Identifying the speaker and his or her context places his or her utterances in perspective. I have always found it helpful to imagine making a video of the poem. Imagine that you are going to make a film of a poem—what would you place in front of the camera. See the poem imaginatively through this lens.
Always read the syntax literally. What the words say literally in normal sentences is only a starting point, but it is the best place to start. Not all poems use normal syntax and grammar, but you should start reading the poem by paraphrasing (in plain syntax, rephrasing what the poem literally says).
Always consider what the title, subject, and situation make you expect or assume. Often poets will offer a title, subject, or situation as a clue to reading their poems. Although poets will often surprise readers by reversing expectations (the nature of irony), you should be conscious of where you are expected to begin. Take what the poet gives you.
Also, always be willing to be surprised. Like fiction writers, poets will often defy conventions and traditions. What is first suggested can possibly contradict itself by the end of the poem, or at least offer significant qualification or variation. Be aware that, instead of serenity and bliss, “blue sky” might ironically indicate emotional turbulence.
Always consider what is implied by the literary and cultural traditions behind the poem. Verse forms, poetic structures, and metrical patterns all have frames of reference, traditions of the way they have usually been used and for what reasons. Poets are especially close readers of other poets. Thus, when a poet writes an elegy or a sonnet, you can be sure that he or she is fully aware of the elegy or sonnet tradition. Quite possibly he or she is not only aware of Milton or Shakespeare, but that he or she is writing in response to their poems.
Always consider the poet’s cultural and historical context. As cultural artifacts, a poem is constructed in a particular time and place—and your time and place of reading of the poem occurs in a completely different time and place. Obviously, times change. Not only the meaning of words, but whole ways of looking at the universe vary in different ages and cultural perspectives. You should always be aware of your time and place and the poet’s time and place. A word he or she used might have had different denotations and connotations than its current and more familiar uses.
Always assume that there is a reason for everything. Poetry relies on an extremely careful use of words, and you should always assume that poets have not made mistakes in constructing their poems, that poets have verbal control of their texts. Since words are carefully chosen, always consider why a word choice seems unusual, surprising, or curious. Try to discern a pattern in the poet’s choices.
Always look up anything you don’t understand—unfamiliar words, or familiar words used in unfamiliar ways, references to places, people, events, or myths, anything that the poem makes use of.
Also, always use discussion as a tool for clarification. One of the best ways to read a poem is to read it with other people (especially reading it aloud). Sharing responses and interpretations always helps to clarify a poem’s meaning (or meanings). In some ways, even the most private, personal poems are public events, and you should not feel that you have to rely solely on your own assumptions and reactions.
First, you must realize that there is never just one way to read a poem. Poetry is often written to evoke personal feelings, and your personal responses—your feelings about a poem—are not necessarily incorrect just because they seem off the wall. All poetry combines sound and sense; thus you should always be aware of the lyric elements in a poem—how the poem sounds to your ear.
Also, always be aware of connotation as well as denotation; all words have echoes and references beyond their immediate meaning, and quite often poets are not only cognizant of these echoes but are also employing them to help convey their meaning. Consider, for instance, “blue sky.” This denotes a weather condition, but it also connotes the possibility of someone or something being beautiful, serene, or heavenly.
Always identify the poem’s situation. What is said is always conditioned by where and when it is being said, and by who is saying it. Identifying the speaker and his or her context places his or her utterances in perspective. I have always found it helpful to imagine making a video of the poem. Imagine that you are going to make a film of a poem—what would you place in front of the camera. See the poem imaginatively through this lens.
Always read the syntax literally. What the words say literally in normal sentences is only a starting point, but it is the best place to start. Not all poems use normal syntax and grammar, but you should start reading the poem by paraphrasing (in plain syntax, rephrasing what the poem literally says).
Always consider what the title, subject, and situation make you expect or assume. Often poets will offer a title, subject, or situation as a clue to reading their poems. Although poets will often surprise readers by reversing expectations (the nature of irony), you should be conscious of where you are expected to begin. Take what the poet gives you.
Also, always be willing to be surprised. Like fiction writers, poets will often defy conventions and traditions. What is first suggested can possibly contradict itself by the end of the poem, or at least offer significant qualification or variation. Be aware that, instead of serenity and bliss, “blue sky” might ironically indicate emotional turbulence.
Always consider what is implied by the literary and cultural traditions behind the poem. Verse forms, poetic structures, and metrical patterns all have frames of reference, traditions of the way they have usually been used and for what reasons. Poets are especially close readers of other poets. Thus, when a poet writes an elegy or a sonnet, you can be sure that he or she is fully aware of the elegy or sonnet tradition. Quite possibly he or she is not only aware of Milton or Shakespeare, but that he or she is writing in response to their poems.
Always consider the poet’s cultural and historical context. As cultural artifacts, a poem is constructed in a particular time and place—and your time and place of reading of the poem occurs in a completely different time and place. Obviously, times change. Not only the meaning of words, but whole ways of looking at the universe vary in different ages and cultural perspectives. You should always be aware of your time and place and the poet’s time and place. A word he or she used might have had different denotations and connotations than its current and more familiar uses.
Always assume that there is a reason for everything. Poetry relies on an extremely careful use of words, and you should always assume that poets have not made mistakes in constructing their poems, that poets have verbal control of their texts. Since words are carefully chosen, always consider why a word choice seems unusual, surprising, or curious. Try to discern a pattern in the poet’s choices.
Always look up anything you don’t understand—unfamiliar words, or familiar words used in unfamiliar ways, references to places, people, events, or myths, anything that the poem makes use of.
Also, always use discussion as a tool for clarification. One of the best ways to read a poem is to read it with other people (especially reading it aloud). Sharing responses and interpretations always helps to clarify a poem’s meaning (or meanings). In some ways, even the most private, personal poems are public events, and you should not feel that you have to rely solely on your own assumptions and reactions.
Engl 20923, Lit and Civ II
Williams, Spring 2011
Images and Imagism
Imagery is a term used to refer to figurative language. An image is understood to be a reproduction of a form (a something or some one). Imagery refers to vivid language that creates mental pictures or impressions.
During the early part of the twentieth century certain modernist poets decided to focus on the imagery of their poems as an act of rebellion against the overwrought and exaggerated poetic language of the nineteenth century. These poets tended to condense their poems to specific sets of images and generally became known as Imagists (and their poetry imagism).
Thus Imagism is a doctrine and poetic practice of a small but influential group of American and British poets (who called themselves Imagists). Writing in the early decades of the twentieth century, the Imagists were led by Ezra Pound, HD, and Amy Lowell, and generally the Imagists rejected most of nineteenth-century poetry as being over written, overly sentimental, and overly conventional. The Imagists intended to create a new kind of poetry that developed a new clarity and exactness in the short lyric. Influenced by Japanese haiku, the Imagists cultivated concision and directness. Images—rather than asides or explanations—were intended to convey meaning. Imagists also preferred the looser cadences and rhythms of free verse rather than traditional meter. The typical imagist poem attempts to render as exactly and tersely as possible, without comment or generalization, the poet’s response to a visual object or scene. Often the impression is rendered by means of metaphor, or by juxtaposing a description of one object with that of a second or diverse object.
Consider Pound’s famous imagist poem:
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd,
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Or William Carlos Williams’ famous imagist poem:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside white
chickens.
Williams, Spring 2011
Images and Imagism
Imagery is a term used to refer to figurative language. An image is understood to be a reproduction of a form (a something or some one). Imagery refers to vivid language that creates mental pictures or impressions.
During the early part of the twentieth century certain modernist poets decided to focus on the imagery of their poems as an act of rebellion against the overwrought and exaggerated poetic language of the nineteenth century. These poets tended to condense their poems to specific sets of images and generally became known as Imagists (and their poetry imagism).
Thus Imagism is a doctrine and poetic practice of a small but influential group of American and British poets (who called themselves Imagists). Writing in the early decades of the twentieth century, the Imagists were led by Ezra Pound, HD, and Amy Lowell, and generally the Imagists rejected most of nineteenth-century poetry as being over written, overly sentimental, and overly conventional. The Imagists intended to create a new kind of poetry that developed a new clarity and exactness in the short lyric. Influenced by Japanese haiku, the Imagists cultivated concision and directness. Images—rather than asides or explanations—were intended to convey meaning. Imagists also preferred the looser cadences and rhythms of free verse rather than traditional meter. The typical imagist poem attempts to render as exactly and tersely as possible, without comment or generalization, the poet’s response to a visual object or scene. Often the impression is rendered by means of metaphor, or by juxtaposing a description of one object with that of a second or diverse object.
Consider Pound’s famous imagist poem:
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd,
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Or William Carlos Williams’ famous imagist poem:
The Red Wheelbarrow
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
glazed with rain
water
beside white
chickens.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Emperor of Ice-Cream
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
--Wallace Stevens
Call the roller of big cigars,
The muscular one, and bid him whip
In kitchen cups concupiscent curds.
Let the wenches dawdle in such dress
As they are used to wear, and let the boys
Bring flowers in last month's newspapers.
Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
Take from the dresser of deal,
Lacking the three glass knobs, that sheet
On which she embroidered fantails once
And spread it so as to cover her face.
If her horny feet protrude, they come
To show how cold she is, and dumb.
Let the lamp affix its beam.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream.
--Wallace Stevens
Danse Russe
William Carlos Williams
If when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees,--
if I in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
"I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!"
If I admire my arms, my face,
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades,--
Who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?
William Carlos Williams
If when my wife is sleeping
and the baby and Kathleen
are sleeping
and the sun is a flame-white disc
in silken mists
above shining trees,--
if I in my north room
dance naked, grotesquely
before my mirror
waving my shirt round my head
and singing softly to myself:
"I am lonely, lonely.
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!"
If I admire my arms, my face,
my shoulders, flanks, buttocks
against the yellow drawn shades,--
Who shall say I am not
the happy genius of my household?
Words, Thoughts, and Eliot Quotes
Nihilism: a belief that life is essentially meaningless and without purpose or value, accompanied by a rejection of all religious and moral principles.
Solipsism: philosophic view that the self is all that can be known to exist., that only one’s mind is sure to exist, and that the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist.
Existentialism: a philosophical movement that developed during the early part of the twentieth century but became influential and active during the decades following WWII. In response to the chaos and destruction caused by two successive world wars, and as an extension of modernism’s rejection of traditional values and conventions, existentialist philosophers and writers rejected the optimistic rationalist and empiricist doctrines that assume the universe is a determined, rational, and orderly system that is intelligible to contemplative observers who can use their reason to discover that its natural law and as a guide for human activity. Existentialists did not believe that the universe was reasonable or understandable. Existentialists generally believed that the general state of all individuals was one of alienation, disorientation, and confusion resulting from the confrontation with an absurd and meaningless world.
Existentialists believed that physical, material being took precedence over philosophical idealism or contemplation. Existence is basic, and an individual’s knowledge or self-awareness is developed through his or her actual experience, which is at best partial and fleeting. Existence cannot be viewed objectively or in abstraction; it can only be seen in terms of the impact that specific experiences make on an individual. No individual has a predetermined place or function within a rational, orderly system, and everyone is compelled to assume responsibility for making the choices in his or her life, although there are no guides for making these choices. Thus individuals are always in a state of anxiety (often referred to as angst) arising from the realization of their freedom of choice, of their ignorance of the future, of their awareness of its manifold possibilities, and the ultimate finiteness and meaninglessness of existence. Nothingness both precedes and follows existence.
Quotes from T. S. Eliot:
Objective correlative: “The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an ‘objective correlative,’ in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked.” “Hamlet and His Problems”
“It appears likely that poets in our civilization, as it exists at present, must be difficult. Our civilization comprehends great variety and complexity, and this variety and complexity, playing upon a refined sensibility, must produce various and complex results. The poet must become more and more comprehensive, more allusive, more indirect, in order to force, to dislocate if necessary, language into his meaning.” “The Metaphysical Poets”
A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and understand it the first time, then I know it can't be much good.
A toothache, or a violent passion, is not necessarily diminished by our knowledge of its causes, its character, its importance or insignificance.
All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the public character; or at worst, catchwords.
And they write innumerable books; being too vain and distracted for silence: seeking every one after his own elevation, and dodging his emptiness.
Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity.
Any poet, if he is to survive beyond his 25th year, must alter; he must seek new literary influences; he will have different emotions to express.
April is the cruellest month.
As things are, and as fundamentally they must always be, poetry is not a career, but a mug's game. No honest poet can ever feel quite sure of the permanent value of what he has written: He may have wasted his time and messed up his life for nothing. [mug:a stupid or gullible person]
Every experience is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative; in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself.
Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.
Home is where one starts from.
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates.
I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different.
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
Nihilism: a belief that life is essentially meaningless and without purpose or value, accompanied by a rejection of all religious and moral principles.
Solipsism: philosophic view that the self is all that can be known to exist., that only one’s mind is sure to exist, and that the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist.
Existentialism: a philosophical movement that developed during the early part of the twentieth century but became influential and active during the decades following WWII. In response to the chaos and destruction caused by two successive world wars, and as an extension of modernism’s rejection of traditional values and conventions, existentialist philosophers and writers rejected the optimistic rationalist and empiricist doctrines that assume the universe is a determined, rational, and orderly system that is intelligible to contemplative observers who can use their reason to discover that its natural law and as a guide for human activity. Existentialists did not believe that the universe was reasonable or understandable. Existentialists generally believed that the general state of all individuals was one of alienation, disorientation, and confusion resulting from the confrontation with an absurd and meaningless world.
Existentialists believed that physical, material being took precedence over philosophical idealism or contemplation. Existence is basic, and an individual’s knowledge or self-awareness is developed through his or her actual experience, which is at best partial and fleeting. Existence cannot be viewed objectively or in abstraction; it can only be seen in terms of the impact that specific experiences make on an individual. No individual has a predetermined place or function within a rational, orderly system, and everyone is compelled to assume responsibility for making the choices in his or her life, although there are no guides for making these choices. Thus individuals are always in a state of anxiety (often referred to as angst) arising from the realization of their freedom of choice, of their ignorance of the future, of their awareness of its manifold possibilities, and the ultimate finiteness and meaninglessness of existence. Nothingness both precedes and follows existence.
Quotes from T. S. Eliot:
Objective correlative: “The only way of expressing emotion in the form of art is by finding an ‘objective correlative,’ in other words, a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion; such that when the external facts, which must terminate in sensory experience, are given, the emotion is immediately evoked.” “Hamlet and His Problems”
“It appears likely that poets in our civilization, as it exists at present, must be difficult. Our civilization comprehends great variety and complexity, and this variety and complexity, playing upon a refined sensibility, must produce various and complex results. The poet must become more and more comprehensive, more allusive, more indirect, in order to force, to dislocate if necessary, language into his meaning.” “The Metaphysical Poets”
A play should give you something to think about. When I see a play and understand it the first time, then I know it can't be much good.
A toothache, or a violent passion, is not necessarily diminished by our knowledge of its causes, its character, its importance or insignificance.
All significant truths are private truths. As they become public they cease to become truths; they become facts, or at best, part of the public character; or at worst, catchwords.
And they write innumerable books; being too vain and distracted for silence: seeking every one after his own elevation, and dodging his emptiness.
Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity.
Any poet, if he is to survive beyond his 25th year, must alter; he must seek new literary influences; he will have different emotions to express.
April is the cruellest month.
As things are, and as fundamentally they must always be, poetry is not a career, but a mug's game. No honest poet can ever feel quite sure of the permanent value of what he has written: He may have wasted his time and messed up his life for nothing. [mug:a stupid or gullible person]
Every experience is a paradox in that it means to be absolute, and yet is relative; in that it somehow always goes beyond itself and yet never escapes itself.
Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.
Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm. But the harm does not interest them.
Home is where one starts from.
Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates.
I had seen birth and death but had thought they were different.
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.
I will show you fear in a handful of dust.
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