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fandomhigh2012-01-11 01:07 pm
steel-not-glass.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2012-01-11 01:07 pm
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Is A Cigar Just A Cigar, Wednesday, Period 3
In retrospect, Cindy should have realized this week's class was a bad idea. After bursting into song while ordering her coffee at the Perk today, she should have just come to class and popped in a DVD.
Unfortunately, she'd decided to just power through today's lecture. Which meant she had no one to blame but herself for what happened. "One of the problems we touched upon last week with discussing symbolism in literature is that it's very culturally subjective. Another problem is that the discussion of literature comes with its own unique vocabulary. I wish--"
She paused and cleared her throat. "Today, we'll be going over a few of the more common words and phrases that we will come across in this class. I wish--." Again she paused and took a deep sip of her coffee. "Natalie,if you are here would you be so kind as to pass out these handouts?" she asked, when she was certain she wasn't about to sing again.
"These are common literary terms--I wish----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. We're going to go...into the words!"
"Into the words!" There was no helping it. Cindy could feel the overwhelming urge to sing and this time she would not be able to avoid it by drinking. Well, not coffee anyway.
"Into the words! Into the words!
Into the words, the metaphors, the synonyms, the perfect scans.
Into the words, the detail and tricky little phrases.
Into the words, the what, the where, the when, the why, the plot began.
Into the words, the work, the craft, that garners all the praises!"
Okay, then... Cindy stopped singing and, pretending absolutely nothing was amiss, continued with her lecture. "So, our 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 the white flag as a symbol for peace. In literature then, flag stands both for itself--the literal piece of white fabric placed on a pole--and something else--the desire for peace or surrender. Into the words, your words always comes before your form and style..."
Fine. She was just going to plow ahead and try to get this done as quickly as possible. "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:
Into the words. Into the words! They always teach.
Into the words! Into the words! To hear me preach
The thoughts are clear, if understood,
I have no peer 'cause I'm so good."
"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." With students coming from so many different worlds, there was no shared canon that could reach all of them, but she'd used an example last year--and, no, that example was not a Sondheim parody. "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.
Into the words that drip your lip,
Then fry your brain and strain your tongue.
Into the words a cave so dark
You better bring a torch in.
Into the words that fly and try
To make you choke that joke you sung.
Into the words more letters than
They sell on 'Wheel of Fortune'."
This had moved past ridiculous and into something else entirely. Cindy began speaking rapidly, hoping that she could get through the rest of the lecture without a break for a song. "Very good. You all graduate, now lets do it up to tempo. Ready? 1, 2, 12/8. 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. Into the words that trip your lip and fry your brain and sprain your tongue. Into the words, a cave so dark, you better bring a torch in. Lips and rose petals have very little in common with one another and no one is suggesting 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. Into the words, a cave so dark, you better bring a torch in. Into the words that fly and try to make you choke the joke you've sung 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. We're...into the syllables, into the antonyms, into the metaphors, into the synonyms..."
She gave up. Just gave up, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation. "Care for your diction, Care for your diction, Care for your diction. Careful of...the words!"
Unfortunately, she'd decided to just power through today's lecture. Which meant she had no one to blame but herself for what happened. "One of the problems we touched upon last week with discussing symbolism in literature is that it's very culturally subjective. Another problem is that the discussion of literature comes with its own unique vocabulary. I wish--"
She paused and cleared her throat. "Today, we'll be going over a few of the more common words and phrases that we will come across in this class. I wish--." Again she paused and took a deep sip of her coffee. "Natalie,
"These are common literary terms--I wish----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. We're going to go...into the words!"
"Into the words!" There was no helping it. Cindy could feel the overwhelming urge to sing and this time she would not be able to avoid it by drinking. Well, not coffee anyway.
"Into the words! Into the words!
Into the words, the metaphors, the synonyms, the perfect scans.
Into the words, the detail and tricky little phrases.
Into the words, the what, the where, the when, the why, the plot began.
Into the words, the work, the craft, that garners all the praises!"
Okay, then... Cindy stopped singing and, pretending absolutely nothing was amiss, continued with her lecture. "So, our 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 the white flag as a symbol for peace. In literature then, flag stands both for itself--the literal piece of white fabric placed on a pole--and something else--the desire for peace or surrender. Into the words, your words always comes before your form and style..."
Fine. She was just going to plow ahead and try to get this done as quickly as possible. "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:
Into the words. Into the words! They always teach.
Into the words! Into the words! To hear me preach
The thoughts are clear, if understood,
I have no peer 'cause I'm so good."
"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." With students coming from so many different worlds, there was no shared canon that could reach all of them, but she'd used an example last year--and, no, that example was not a Sondheim parody. "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.
Into the words that drip your lip,
Then fry your brain and strain your tongue.
Into the words a cave so dark
You better bring a torch in.
Into the words that fly and try
To make you choke that joke you sung.
Into the words more letters than
They sell on 'Wheel of Fortune'."
This had moved past ridiculous and into something else entirely. Cindy began speaking rapidly, hoping that she could get through the rest of the lecture without a break for a song. "Very good. You all graduate, now lets do it up to tempo. Ready? 1, 2, 12/8. 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. Into the words that trip your lip and fry your brain and sprain your tongue. Into the words, a cave so dark, you better bring a torch in. Lips and rose petals have very little in common with one another and no one is suggesting 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. Into the words, a cave so dark, you better bring a torch in. Into the words that fly and try to make you choke the joke you've sung 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. We're...into the syllables, into the antonyms, into the metaphors, into the synonyms..."
She gave up. Just gave up, throwing her hands up into the air in exasperation. "Care for your diction, Care for your diction, Care for your diction. Careful of...the words!"
Sign in (Week 2)
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Re: Sign in (Week 2)
Re: Sign in (Week 2)
Re: Sign in (Week 2)
Listen to the Lecture
Class Activities
The song Cindy had been intending to sing was abruptly replaced (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sSA1gIGuZs). "I suppose that when you come into the ballroom and the room itself is floating on the air. If you're suddenly confronted by His Highness, you are frozen like a statue on the stair. You're afraid he'll hear the way your heart is beating and you know you musn't make the first advance. You are seriously thinking of retreating then you seem to hear him asking you to dance..."
UGH. THAT MOVIE.
"We can either discuss that song, or you can choose your own." From Cindy's expression, she'd really prefer the latter.
Talk to Cindy
Talk to the TA
Re: Talk to the TA
So, she was doing just fine, thank you.
OOC