Professor Chaucer's Office Hours, Tuesday

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

Again, Professor Chaucer is in his office. It might seem strange that he's nursing a hangover this late in the day. But that should give you some idea of how much drinking he did last night.

Still, he's functioning if you need to talk.

Comments

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

Geoff grins. "Did reading it aloud give you any different insight, or alter your reaction, compared to when you'd read it silently?"

He's trying to hold in his own laughter, because it really is a brilliant piece of satire, and because Kiki's earnest reading especially highlighted the ridiculous nature Austen was trying to portray.

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

Wiping her eyes, Kiki answers, "It's certainly even funnier when read out loud in the way that Mr. Collins would have delivered it. Which serves to highlight what a pompous nitwit her really is, too. He actually believes everything he's saying, and on the othe side, Lizzie can't at all believe what she's hearing. Reading it silently, I interpreted it just in Austen's tone of making fun of Mr. Collins - or his type - but out loud as Mr. Collins would have delivered it makes him all the more silly."

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

"And there you see the power of oral presentation. Eddas, plays, ballads...were all intended to performed aloud, not read on paper. A good writer can bring across their meaning and the power of their words on paper, but a skilled presentation can push that power a step further for the listeners."

Geoff grins. "Then all that leaves is the written assignment. And the reading, of course. But those are both due next week." He gives Kiki a copy of the lecture notes. "Did you have any questions about the reading for this week?"

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Reading the Inferno? I think I'm all set on that. Do you have a preferred translation?" Kiki asks.


[ooc: Only because in HS, the mun argued with a fellow classics geek debating the merits of the John Ciardi vs. the Allen Mendelbaum (which I still maintain is the better). Oh yes, we were lit-dorks. Hee!]

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

"There's a translation available in the book closet, but you're welcome to read any one you like. We'll actually be discussing translations in poetry class, so you may even find it interesting to read a passage or two from different translations and see what you think of them."

[kikidelivers.livejournal.com]

"Great," Kiki answers with a nod. "I think that's about everything, unless you have anything else-?"

[geoff-chaucer.livejournal.com]

"No, nothing at all. I'll see you this afternoon in class!"