The Final Chapter

As I reflected on the classes I took this semester, I came to the realization that English 372 is the last undergraduate English literature course I will take. Actually, it’s the last English course in general I will have taken. This realization caused me to feel two things: excited yet scared. Excited in the sense that I’m that much closer to getting my English Language Arts teaching certificate and degree, but scared knowing I’m that much closer to stepping into the real world. Thankfully, though, this class has prepared me for teaching English to my future high school students due to my observations of how you, Dr. Campbell, taught us. 

There were a few different things I noticed about the course that I really liked. In the College of Education’s courses, we are told to have a few different forms of assessment. The purpose of having a variety of assignment types is to allow students with different strengths excel in one of the assignment types. This goes back to Dr. Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences, which states that students learn in different ways. Gardner said that students are a combination of the following types of learners—linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal intelligence. Providing presentations, written exams, group presentations, online discussions, and in-class quizzes appeals to a few of these types of learners.

When presenting the information, you (Dr. Campbell), always made sure to use a visual. This visual was either using a Power Point presentation or writing on the board. The fact that there was stuff written down made it easy for me—and other students—to follow along in lecture. The mini-group presentations are also a good method to use when quickly assessing what the students understand about the reading, novel, and/or poem. This also reverses the teacher-student role in that the students become the teacher. In a high school classroom, it is important to reverse the teacher role in order to empower students and feel like they have a say in what happens in the class. 

Something that happened only once that I found extremely beneficial was visiting the Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC) in the library. I thought this field trip was nice because it got us outside of the classroom and made classroom content tangible. In the College of Education courses, we talk about how we can incorporate realia into the classroom. Realia is another word for “real” objects in the classroom. For example, for a poetry or creative writing unit, realia could consist of leaves, rocks, pencils, etc. A field trip that works really nicely with English classrooms is visiting a play, especially a Shakespeare play. In 371, we read The Tempest and that summer, I was doing a teaching practicum in which the teacher took her students to this play. Not only was the play very well done, but the students absolutely loved it. 

Finally, showing clips in class and having extra credit movies provides students with another way to connect with classroom content. It’s also a great way for the teacher to get to know his/her students outside of the classroom.

Caution: Hot

In the preface of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde lays out, point-blank, his feelings on the subject of art, so that his readers will know exactly what to expect and cannot blame him for the contents of his book. This preface is a bit like the “Caution: Hot” warnings on cups of coffee. McDonald’s just has to say it so that they can be sure they won’t be sued. Wilde states that “there is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.  Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.”

Wilde actually wrote the preface, as well as six additional chapters, after he re-released the novel. When it was first released, the unsavory contents of Dorian Gray caused it to be criticized as scandalous, and poorly received. He edited it and added the preface before he released it again. The scandalous nature of the book, and its immorality, had not changed much, but Wilde put a disclaimer on it this time. He defended himself by saying that “no artist has ethical sympathies. An ethical sympathy in an artist is an unpardonable mannerism of style.” In essence, he was requesting that he be excused from the typical standards of society because he was an artist, and art had no business being moral. By extension, an artist had no business being moral either.

In the novel, this principle came into play when Dorian exclaimed that his “picture will always remain young...If it were only the other way!” He promises his soul in exchange for the opportunity to change places with his painting. He will forever stay young and beautiful, and his portrait will age and wither. In this way, he becomes the work of art, and art has no business being moral. Soon after this, Dorian Gray caved to Lord Henry’s influence, and the book became scandalous enough to be criticized. Wilde’s principles apply to The Picture of Dorian Gray in two layers: first, the book itself cannot be considered immoral, thanks to Wilde’s preface, or disclaimer; and second, to Dorian Gray, who becomes art and is thus incapable of immorality as well. The ideas expressed in the preface excuse both the book and its main character.

Wilde’s principles excuse him as well. He indulged in acts that were considered immoral at the time, such as a homosexual relationship. Unfortunately, the rest of society did not see Wilde’s rights as an artist the same way he did, and he was sentenced to two years of hard labor for acts of “gross indecency” under English sodomy laws. Interestingly, Oscar Wilde converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed. Many people have used this as a “safety net” tactic, where they can live their lives in any manner they wish, so long as they convert and repent in time to be escorted to the Pearly Gates. If this was Oscar Wilde’s thought process, I wonder if he was as true to his tenets of morality as the novel leads us to believe.

Sources: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and “Context of The Picture of Dorian Gray,” hosted by SparkNotes.

Kate Chopin's The Awakening

The Awakening by Kate Chopin represents how women were treated in the Victorian era. Women were expected to have the same view and opinions that the society had rather than having their own opinions and beliefs. Never were women asked to voice how they felt about a particular topic. Essentially, women were confined by society. This idea is represented through a metaphor of two women and birds. But before this is explained, understanding the context in which these women “live” is important.

In the first chapter, readers are introduced to Léonce Pontellier—a wealthy businessman. As he’s sitting outside, we are told of two birds making a lot of noise. These two birds are a mockingbird and parrot. Shortly thereafter, Edna—Léonce’s wife—approaches him and he notices that she’s sunburnt. As a result, he scolds her. Since this is the first interaction we see between a man and a woman in the novel, we notice it’s a negative one; therefore, we can assume that women will be treated negatively throughout the novel. While I have not finished the novel, I am guess this is how women are perceived in the novel—not as individuals. We are only introduced to Edna after her husband notices her. 

In the late 1800s, women were expected to perform domestic duties rather than becoming independent from society. The first line of the novel is “Go away! Go away! For God’s sake.” This quote sets the mood of the novel, which is that of negativity or tragedy. This line, however, captivates readers’ attention in that we’re encouraged to read more. This line could also reference the attitude toward women in the novel. More so than the novel’s first line, the important part of the first few chapters is understanding two women—Edna Pontellier and Mademoiselle Reisz. 

As the novel’s protagonist, Edna experiences what the novel refers to as an “awakening.” Realizing that she in not content with her marriage, Edna then explores her self-identity throughout the novel. The best guess I can make thus far is that Edna becomes an independent woman, but is struck by some tragedy. I do not know what this tragedy could be, but judging by the first line of the novel, I can tell it’s not good. The other woman is Reisz who cares deeply about music, piano playing in particular. Edna listens to Reisz play and her music evokes her thought. I believe it is in chapter eight that Edna and Reisz become companions. 

There is a unique metaphor that exists between Edna and Reisz as well as the birds from the first chapter. Like the birds, these women are in society’s cage in that they aren’t asked for their opinions; they’re expected to repeat society’s ideas. Edna, especially, is put in this metaphorical cage by her husband because he expects her to run the household. Edna, like that of the parrot, is valued for her appearance and Reisz is like the mockingbird in that people admire her for her musical talent.

Kubla Khan and Orientalism

Reaching back to Tuesday's discussion, we dissected the stoner driven poem Kubla Khan. I feel as though we were cut short on the intrinsic value buried within this piece, and this work in particular can aid our understanding of the Oriental aesthetic. But, in order to adequately analyze this work by Coleridge, we must first establish the context by which the author created the piece, and understand the significance of his creative process. Coleridge was widely known for having an "addiction" to opium. Yes, he spent much of his time floating in the clouds, however his "addiction" is not to be confused with the way in which we use the term today. I believe in motivations, purpose, and reason. Applying these terms to Coleridge, in regards to his drug usage, delivers a much different picture than your average junkie. For Coleridge; the motivations, purposes, and reasons behind the opium was to create writing, but not just biographies of the mundane; rather, spontaneous and outrageous, unworldly creations that expand our cognitive ability past planar limitations. In a way, opium was his pen. An idea not medieval in any sense, actually this type of exploration was highly popular amongst American authors of the 1960's. A group called the Merry Pranksters paved a rainbow road in the world of literature. The most celebrated of the group was Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The government actually funded the experimentation of these psychedelic drugs, offering them up to a selected bunch of volunteers, mainly graduates of esteemed universities such as Stanford. It wasn't illegal until they found the highly addictive qualities of the drugs, but was otherwise deemed as a mind-altering substance among alcohol and tobacco. How does this tie in to Kubla Khan and Coleridge? This piece was actually the product of one of Coleridge's opium episodes. He fell asleep while under the influence, entering a very vivid and extravagant dream/vision while simultaneously recording a few hundred lines of poetry as images that just popped in to his head. WOAH! When he awoke, he began to write his dream down on paper. Coleridge had written three stanzas before he was interrupted by "a man on business from Porlock." An hour later, after the man had left, Coleridge was unable to access the rest of the vision or the poetry he had composed while sleeping. Mysterious? I think so. This is why the poem seems to be disjointed, broken in to two segments; the first three stanzas, followed by a final stanza that appears disconnected. I will not delve in to the analysis of specific lines, we can debate over that later. I want to focus on the creation process. Coleridge, Kesey, among many other writers use these types of substances for writing. I believe the motivation behind their usage was to let the mind do the writing, not the writer. This differs vastly from the motivation of using drugs to get high and feel high. Sure, being high may feel great, but the focal point of the drug was to inspire writing, that is the nail I'm trying to drive home here. It is because of these fantasies and augmentation of the imagination that we are allowed to depict the Oriental realm. The gap between western and eastern culture is bridged by our ability to imagine them separately, as two distant worlds.