| October 2006 | ||||||||
It's happening. I'm getting too busy to update my website. That is outrageous!!! Oh well. A woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. English 211X Academic Writing for World Literature Bear with me for a minute here. The year is 1802. The city is London. The time is dawn. William Wordsworth is on Westminster Bridge in London, England. Now, William writes a poem, but his sister Dorothy describes this scene in her journal. As she and her brother were leaving London ... are you ready? "It was a beautiful morning. The city, St. Paul's, with the river, and a multitude of little boats, made a most beautiful sight as we crossed Westminster Bridge. The houses were not overhung by their cloud of smoke, and they were spread out endlessly, yet the sun shone so brightly, with such a fierce light\; that there was something like the purity of one of nature's own grand spectacles." Okay? London is USUALLY smoky. And it WAS usually smoky. So, a not-smoky morning was remarkable. http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/perspect/london.htm Coal smoke in London caused problems from 1272 until the 1950's. 1802 falls in that timeline. Maybe another problem I had was that I didn't cite sources because the instructions read something like, "If you're using a poem from the packet, don't worry about it." If I cared, I would re-write the paper and cite sources out the wahzoo to support my thesis that "The same buildings, sky and river that view dawn every day may be overlooked entirely, or their beauty may be witnessed as poignantly provocative. and my conclusion stating, "Countless dawns go unnoticed, forgotten or deliberately ignored." I suppose my point should have been, "Take time to stop, see and appreciate, for tomorrow will be foggy." (sigh) Whatever. I contend that William Wordsworth's poem, "Composed Upon Westminster Bridge" is a parallel between the scene of the Thames from the bridge at dawn, and waking up next to one's lover in the twilight of morning. I'm wrong? I don't think so. The first time I read the poem, I could see the pretty scene and the sunrise and it was nice. Very sweet, kind of bland and not a bit suggestive. Open your eyes and see the beauty around you blah, blah, blah, you walk around and fail to see it every day. Yet there is not anything on earth so fair as a clear, peaceful sunrise. Okay. Now. I'm a morning person, zip-pi-di-doo-dah. We already knew I'm not normal but I'm sure not Superwoman. How many people do YOU know who wake up every morning and go from zero to hero? So every morning you open your eyes next to the person you love most in all the whole world, roll out of bed and scratching where it itches, shuffle off to the toilet for morning ablutions. Meh. The days when you take a few heartbeats to pre-appreciate (aka "Give Thanks") usually turn out best. If you're gonna stop on the bridge and appreciate the view, think for a minute. Slowly open your eyes and feast your eyes on your lover as the sparkling sunlight flows over her (or him). I'm not gonna go into detail here about how ships, towers, domes, theatres and temples correspond to intimate body parts, and how the light steeps beautifully over her (or his) valley, rock and hill. Sheesh. Okay. Done. If you can't see it two ways, (or at least from any other point of view than the one...) too bad. Blah. Have a cluster of sour grapes, I've got plenty. History 101X World Civilization Does anyone know where the last month went? I think I blinked. We covered even more material in the second section that we did in the first one and it was a confusing collection of "icians" and "ians" and I completely LOST it. I have done okay grade-wise, but am not satisfied at all with my results from a personal view. I studied and STILL drew blanks on the exam, although I apparently remembered enough to make a respectable grade. Of course the results aren't public or anything, but I am personally disgusted with my lack of stellar performance in one of my favorite subjects. Lame. Limping. Flat on my face in the dirt. Kind of dead in the water, except that I am treading as hard and fast as I can to stay afloat. I'm not hysterical or anything, but I just don't seem to have it pegged and that irritates me. Oh well, as Mama always said, "Get glad in the same pants you got mad in."
English 211X Academic Writing for World Literature Okay, I re-wrote the paper. I didn't change my angle, but I did rephrase the thesis as: Wordsworth’s poem may be taken at face value; about the loveliness of the morning with buildings and river under the open sky, or in a more sensual manner; noting overtones of intimacy in his imagery. Heck. I doubt the guy wrote it to be sexy -- The view from Westminster Bridge can be breathtaking, I've seen it at dusk on a clear evening and it was inspiring. My point is, the imagery is THERE if you choose to read it that way. I decided not to post my work this semester, since it is all crappy anyway. (sigh) | ||||||||
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