fandomhigh | Is A Cigar Just A Cigar, Tuesday, Period 3

"It's the fourth week of classes and time to deviate slightly from our syllabus," Cindy announced as the bell rang. She held a stack of papers out to Jaime ~~if he was there~~ for him to pass around. "One of the problems with discussing symbolism in literature is that it's very culturally subjective. We discussed that in the first class. Another problem is that the discussion of literature comes with its own unique vocabulary. Today, we're taking a break from our discussion of symbolism to make certain that everyone has the necessary vocabulary to continue our discussion."

At least they weren't diagramming sentences.

"Your TA is passing out a list of common literary terms. It's far more extensive than anything we need for this class, but keeping a reference sheet nearby might come in handy in your future. Feel free to look it over at you leisure, but I'll be going over the most important terms today in class."

"In case anyone missed it, this class is about symbolism, the practice of having one thing standing for both itself and another, deeper meaning. Last week, for example, we talked about travel as a symbol for a quest. In literature then, travel stands both for itself--the literal movement from one place to another--and something else--the quest for self-knowledge and understanding. In many cases, symbolism works by way of allusion, which is a brief reference to a person, place, or event, either real or fictitious. The title of this class is an allusion to a comment made by famous psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, who we'll be discussing in a few weeks. The reason that symbolism and allusion are so closely entwined is because of intertextuality, where the meaning of one text you read is shaped by other texts."

Cindy thought for a moment, looking for an example. With students coming from so many different worlds, there was no shared canon that could reach all of them. "Those of you who have read Shakespeare's Star-Crossed, or have seen one of the movie versions, that play informs how you read other stories about teenagers in love. Because you know what happens in Star-Crossed, consciously or unconsciously, you compare that play to other stories with similar plots and themes. That is intertextuality. If the story you are comparing makes a deliberate reference to Star-Crossed, that's an allusion. With me so far?"

"Simile and metaphor are two types of symbolic or figurative language. They both compare two unlike things together; the difference is that simile uses 'like' or 'as' in it's comparison, and metaphor does not. 'Her lips were like rose petals' is a simile, while 'Her rose petal lips' is a metaphor. Lips and rose petals have very little in common with one another and no one is suggestion that this poor woman, whoever she is, has flowers instead of a mouth. Instead, 'rose petals' become a symbol of softness or the color pink. Allegory, is an entire story made up of one long metaphor. It is both a literal story, in that it is a narrative of linked events, and a symbolic story, in that every event and character has another, greater meaning. Spenser's epic poem Gloriana, is an allegory several times over, in that its story examines the Christian virtues and Elizabethan politics at the same time."

Cindy gave everyone a rueful smile. "I know that's a lot of vocabulary to take in. Any questions?"

[OCD ~~coming~~ up]

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Colorfully

Jonothon Starsmore

Elphaba Thropp

Delirium of the Endless

Chloe Saunders

Dana Scully

Gabrielle

Sookie Stackhouse

Jonas

George Lass

Emma Frost

Ellie Bartowski

Jenny Sparks

Jaime Reyes

Taking notes is encouraged. As is asking questions.

Oooooh symbols! Like the sigils, but...something else. To say Delirium's attention was completely devoted to Cindy would have been something of a cheap lie, but she was listening.

Jonas took a few scrawled notes but mostly just tried to listen since he thought he'd retain the information better that way.

There were more papers to passed out. "Pilgrim's Progress (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pilgrim%27s_Progress#Plot) is another famous allegory. The novel Small Females makes frequent allusions to it. It is a very blatant allegory, so you don't have to work very hard to notice the underlying Christian symbolism of the work, assuming you know anything about Protestant Christianity. Some of its views may offend you, but it is a product of the time and place in which is was written," Cindy explained. "Read through it, then team up to discuss the symbols that Bunyan used while writing. For example, he names his main main character 'Christian.' This means that the main character is supposed to represent all members of the Christian faith. Again, Bunyan wasn't trying to be subtle or clever, so many of these symbols are hopefully easy for you to find."

"Very obvious symbols. Pliable, Obstinate for his friends. Helpful getting him out of the Slough of Despond... The slough itself. It's almost -- I don't want to say cartoonish, but it's very simple," Scully noted. "Not unlike the Divine Comedy, in some ways. Although Dante used more politics and other literary references too."

"If you don't feel like discussing the allegory, you can choose to come up with some well-known similes and metaphors in your culture, share them with others, and explain where the symbolism comes in."

If you can catch him in between all the handouts.

HE WAS THERE THE WHOLE TIME, TOO!

She'd love to answer questions!

I geek out way too hard over stuff like this.

I am ashamed to admit how many times I've actually read Pilgrim's Progress.

Is A Cigar Just A Cigar, Tuesday, Period 3

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During the Lecture...

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Class Activity: Pilgrim's Progress

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Class Activity: Simile and Metaphor

Talk to the TA

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Talk to "Professor Perrault"

OOC

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