Oh, My...Brave New World?!?

According to Aldous Huxley, his novel Brave New World was meant to be a satire. As satires go, they often try to point out social or personal weaknesses by poking fun of them in some exaggerated sort of way. For Huxley, he was obviously trying to point to systems that were attempting to make people more uniform, to not think for themselves, etc. In doing that, he created a society that seems absurd to us.

Tess was also a book that critiqued society, in the ways they judged others, including women. Obviously though, Tess of the D'Urbervilles is NOT a satire, but was a tragedy. Rather than poking fun of Tess's life, Thomas Hardy allowed us to see what Tess felt and thought.

Here is what I'd like you to consider and discuss here:

• How are these two types of social criticism different, and what effect do you think they have on people? In other words, what do you suppose is the difference in the reaction to both pieces?
• Which technique do you find most interesting, or that speaks to you? (It could be both, but for different reasons.)
  
• Share one exaggerated moment from Brave New World that most stood out to you as a satire (funny).

Please post your comments by Sunday, May 2nd before midnight. You will get 10 points for your initial post and 5 points for responding to one person (or you could comment to several people in a secondary comment.

Good luck!

Tess Movie Response

Hi! For those of you who came to see the film, I'd like to have a little conversation about what you thought! It's kind of fun to watch a film that you've read the book for, and also to share it with others, so I hope you enjoyed watching it together. :)

Post a comment below by Sunday, April 18th. Stop back by and respond to one other student for a full ten points extra credit!

• Did you come to watch the film with the class, and how long did you stay? (If you participated in the dance concert, just let me know.)
• How did the film compare with the book? What differences did you notice?
  
• What was your favorite part of the film? In other words, what scene(s) most stood out to you?
  
• What would you say to those who have not seen the film? Do you think they missed out by not watching it with us?
  
• (Optional): Do you think we should aim for another movie night to watch any other film adaptations?

*Quick tip on posting: You don't have to have a blogger account. You can select to be anonymous, but either way, you MUST include your name at the bottom of the post so I know who to give points to.

Poetry

As we've been discussing poetry in class, and my experience with students in the past, I often hear it said that poetry doesn't have meaning, that we're just "reading into it." It's a given that poetry is more obscure than most prose, as the language itself is set up to hint at and symbolize an emotion, thought, or purpose. By its very nature, it often takes a closer reading to understand.

Here's my question then. Why is poetry such an important part of our study of literature? Do you think that because it is difficult at times, that it is too much for an AP literature course? How do you feel about poetry?

(Respond to the question in 4-5 sentences for 5 points, and another 5 points for responding to one other student. This post will close for points Sunday, 1/31 at midnight!)

On to The Awakening!--Post to the Blog

Hi guys! I'm hurrying to type this before A4 finishes class today. We'll see if my typing speed can race past the time! :) I won't say my brain is working though, so there's nothing I can do about that.

Over the next weeks, we will be reading/studying Kate Chopin's famous novel The Awakening. Just to get you started, I wanted to give you some links to look at and consider.

• The Awakening is considered a novel that falls into the literary Realism period. Realism was supposed to be a "slice of life," and ask the reader to question how true a situation was to what real people might experience.
• Kate Chopin was a strong woman of her time. Her life led her down a path of seeming independence. See this VCU biography of her life.

Okay, so what are we going to talk about, you ask? Well, I'd like to get you talking about some ideas that are thrown around in the novel. Consider some of my meanderings below and post a response to "What do you think..." in a comment post. You don't have to respond to all of these meandering questions, but I'd like you respond in a good length paragraph or two (or longer) about one or more of these questions. Don't forget to come back and reply to one other student though! I'll be peeking in to join the conversation, or just to see what you're all talking about!

• Where is one's greater allegiance to the upholding of society or to the happiness of oneself? In other words, how important is society's approval on what you do in life?
• In this novel, women were seen as a direct reflection of the men they married or were associated with. In fact, the main character of The Awakening was, to some degree, considered the property of her husband. We know that things are different today, and yet have some things stayed the same? Honestly, I'm just curious! Do you think that a woman's role has changed a lot? How?
• Do you ever think we're just too emotional about life and need to just "get real," put our heads down, and get a job done? Do you ever think people should just "deal" and move on, or is there value in evaluating why people feel so strongly about certain situations?
  

Tess of the D'Urbervilles Viewing

Hi! For those of you who came to see the film on Friday night, I'd like to get some idea of what you thought.

Post a comment below by Friday, March 13th. Stop back by and respond to one other student for a full ten points extra credit!

• What did you think of the movie version of Tess
• How did it compare to the book? Where there differences in their characterization of any of the characters that really bothered you, or do you think they did a good job of connecting back to the book?
• What would you say to those who have not seen the film? Recommend it, or no?
• (Optional): Did anything stand out to you as poignant, or anything that you really liked?

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

We simply won't have enough time to really cover all the questions and ideas posted by Thomas Hardy's famous novel. To get us started though, I'd really like for you to read a bit more about the Victorian Era, as well about Thomas Hardy. Please check out the links below for more background reading on the novel!

Victorian Era

Thomas Hardy & Information

Good luck in your study of Thomas Hardy, and I'll be returning with a question for your consider! For now, feel free to post comments or questions to the group.

Welcome!

So the "sites" account won't allow you to post unless I enroll you all as administrators. That's okay, I've worked around it and will have you post comments through this blog account.

Here are the directions from the website:

It is obvious that Hamlet is under great duress in the play over many things. (You might consider what these situations are...) Looking back at Act III, Scene I we see Hamlet's famous soliloquy, which is one of the most famous speeches in all English literature. Re-read this speech and post a comment that 1) summarizes in a line or two what Hamlet is speaking about here, and 2) whether you think Hamlet has lost his sanity or not.

Please make your initial post by Wednesday, and return to comment on another student's idea by Friday, 1/16.

***Also, because you are posting as anonymous posters, please remember to put your name on your posts!