Dear students,
I have been terribly busy for the last 4 weeks -needless to say-. Yesterday I went to bed late just trying to post the instructions for your homework. A few minutes ago I went to the Brit Lit blog to read your answers and... guess what? The post was not there! I DID post it but ON THE WRONG BLOG!!! If you go to ca-seminar.blogspot.com you will see it and you will see the date and time it was posted. Anyways, I am posting it here, again; and just answer if you feel like. After this mistake I cannot command you to carry out the activity. Excuse me, again.
Drama!
Dear Students,Sorry for the delay!!! I hope you got familiar with The Hour Glass (W B Yeats). Despite not being contemporary, the play sounds quite applicable to present day life.Let us have some sort of a forum, if you feel like sharing your opinion!Post your answer to the following questions:How is this effect achieved? How would you classify/describe this kind of play? Why?Now we can say the term is over. Thanks for your sensible company, see you any time, enjoy yourselves and... READ!D Duran
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Monday, July 06, 2009
Drama Session
Click on the following title so as to redirect you to The Hour Glass (single act theatre play) by Yeats. Download, print (if necessary) and read it carefully; then prepare for class discussion.
Thanks for your attention.
Thanks for your attention.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
2009-I: 2nd Test
Dear students,
For our second test (due on Thurs 25th) we will have the same strategies we had in a similar test last term. That is...
1.- Define and exemplify literary concepts through a text (provided on a separate page).
2.- Discussion/analysis questions about prose, short stories, text/s in our research paper.
3.- Excerpts from the short stories we read and analysed in the course, for you to identify some relevant features in each.
I hope none of this will get you by surprise, since all of this we have studied and practise not only in this course, but in the previous courses, too!
Thank you for your participation, see you on Thursday, enjoy yourselves and... READ!!!
D Durán
For our second test (due on Thurs 25th) we will have the same strategies we had in a similar test last term. That is...
1.- Define and exemplify literary concepts through a text (provided on a separate page).
2.- Discussion/analysis questions about prose, short stories, text/s in our research paper.
3.- Excerpts from the short stories we read and analysed in the course, for you to identify some relevant features in each.
I hope none of this will get you by surprise, since all of this we have studied and practise not only in this course, but in the previous courses, too!
Thank you for your participation, see you on Thursday, enjoy yourselves and... READ!!!
D Durán
Friday, May 29, 2009
Next Monday…
For next Monday, do not forget we made some minor changes in the sequence of texts in the schedule. Then, we will be analising “Six Feet of the Country” (by N Gordimer) on Mr. R Piñero’s request. Besides, you are expected to hand in a piece of homework:
In one page, state clearly what makes “The Other Garden” (by Doris Lessing) an unusual story. You can attempt to answer a few questions which somehow would complement the goal above.
- How does the story exemplify a modern short story?
- What possible message can we find as we read between the lines?
- Which features are manipulated to guarantee the reader’s participation?
- Which feature would you point to in order to support the affirmation that the “story stands out as a move towards a new concept of story”?
In one page, state clearly what makes “The Other Garden” (by Doris Lessing) an unusual story. You can attempt to answer a few questions which somehow would complement the goal above.
- How does the story exemplify a modern short story?
- What possible message can we find as we read between the lines?
- Which features are manipulated to guarantee the reader’s participation?
- Which feature would you point to in order to support the affirmation that the “story stands out as a move towards a new concept of story”?
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Test postponed!
Dear students,
Since not one of you has sent an email or a mobile msg to confirm his/her attendance to the make-up test intended for tomorrow morning, it will definitely be held on Thursday this week. In consequence we will have our regular class from 9 to 11.
No more comments.
DDurán
Since not one of you has sent an email or a mobile msg to confirm his/her attendance to the make-up test intended for tomorrow morning, it will definitely be held on Thursday this week. In consequence we will have our regular class from 9 to 11.
No more comments.
DDurán
Monday, May 11, 2009
Questions for papers!
Dear students,
So far you must all have read both stories more than once and you must have gathered information on the stories and their context as well as notes on the most relevant aspects you have found in them. Now set out to write your analysis, which you must hand in in a month from now.
For all questions: answer, argue, explain, support, and conclude.
“The stone cipher”- Tony Pi / ”By the waters of the Ganga”- Stephen Gaskell
1.- Taking into account the definition of “Reality” handled and discussed in our literature courses, how do both stories manage to represent reality? Which reality does the story show? How does the author (in each case) deal with such reality? How do reality IN the story and reality OUTSIDE the story relate to one another? Does he simply describe or does he make a statement? Is there any criticism involved? If so, which?
2.- These stories can be placed in the realms of Fantasy and/or Science Fiction for obvious reasons (future events, technological advance, unbelievable/unusual characters, settings, etc). How is language used to set the tone and making the plot “acceptable” to the reader?
3.- Consider the way each character is presented in each story. Could we see them as stereotypes/archetypes? To what extent are the main characters in the stories similar/different in their attitudes towards their lives? How do both characters manage to reflect their ways of life through their ways of living, relationship between personality, attitude and behaviour? How universal/Venezuelan can they be? How do these different representations of modern ordinary men created by both authors apply to current Venezuelan citizens?
So far you must all have read both stories more than once and you must have gathered information on the stories and their context as well as notes on the most relevant aspects you have found in them. Now set out to write your analysis, which you must hand in in a month from now.
For all questions: answer, argue, explain, support, and conclude.
“The stone cipher”- Tony Pi / ”By the waters of the Ganga”- Stephen Gaskell
1.- Taking into account the definition of “Reality” handled and discussed in our literature courses, how do both stories manage to represent reality? Which reality does the story show? How does the author (in each case) deal with such reality? How do reality IN the story and reality OUTSIDE the story relate to one another? Does he simply describe or does he make a statement? Is there any criticism involved? If so, which?
2.- These stories can be placed in the realms of Fantasy and/or Science Fiction for obvious reasons (future events, technological advance, unbelievable/unusual characters, settings, etc). How is language used to set the tone and making the plot “acceptable” to the reader?
3.- Consider the way each character is presented in each story. Could we see them as stereotypes/archetypes? To what extent are the main characters in the stories similar/different in their attitudes towards their lives? How do both characters manage to reflect their ways of life through their ways of living, relationship between personality, attitude and behaviour? How universal/Venezuelan can they be? How do these different representations of modern ordinary men created by both authors apply to current Venezuelan citizens?
Friday, April 17, 2009
Drama Session with Prof. Carlson, Mon 20th.
Yesterday, we had a chance to see The Importance of Being Earnest -the film featuring Rupert Jones, Ms Whitherspoon and a wonderful cast-. On Monday, Prof. Victor Carlson will honour us by conducting a session to further study and analise Wilde's work. Please, be prepared for participating actively. You can download and print the following file as a general guide. Hope you are enjoying these activities and learning something from them. Thanks for your attention.
Click here to open/download/print ---> V Carlson's Notes on Drama
Click here to open/download/print ---> V Carlson's Notes on Drama
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Anglo-Saxon Humour
In our last session we spoke about Cultural/Literary competence. We stated that humour was a good example of how this competence functions. Within that matter I promised to post a "Letter from the Queen of England to the people of the USA". Click on the next hiper-link and you'll be able to read/download the file. Notice how culture plays a crucial role in understanding and enjoying the text.
Click here ---> Letter from Queen Elizabeth II to the People of the USA, on the Financial Crisis
Click here ---> Letter from Queen Elizabeth II to the People of the USA, on the Financial Crisis
Friday, April 10, 2009
Research Paper (introductory information)
As you were told in the first week of the term, we will be researching on and analysing a couple of novellas (i.e., long short stories or short novels): "The Stone Cipher" by Tony Pi and "By the Waters of the Ganga" by Stephen Gaskel. Both stories were published in 2007 and their authors are almost unknown, therefore the WWW (a.k.a., the internet) won't be of much help, I am afraid.
Start reading/researching as soon as possible and get ready to write your papers. Please, take into consideration all corrections in previous papers and homework, and specially those pieces of advice (available to download) we shared with you on this matter in the past.
The best of lucks to you in this new task.
DD
Start reading/researching as soon as possible and get ready to write your papers. Please, take into consideration all corrections in previous papers and homework, and specially those pieces of advice (available to download) we shared with you on this matter in the past.
The best of lucks to you in this new task.
DD
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
First Activity!
Just before we start a new blog... let us work on our first activity.
In just one paragraph, give a personal definition of POETRY. You can make it as short/long as you want inasmuch as you keep it as ONE paragraph. Pay close attention to the use of language and try to make your text as effective as possible. Remember the deadline is Saturday (April 4th) by midnight. Let us the rest of Easter to check the blog and give some feed back to our mates (as a group or to separate individuals, or both!), AT LEAST ONCE.
Thanks for participating, see you after Easter, enjoy yourselves and... READ!
In just one paragraph, give a personal definition of POETRY. You can make it as short/long as you want inasmuch as you keep it as ONE paragraph. Pay close attention to the use of language and try to make your text as effective as possible. Remember the deadline is Saturday (April 4th) by midnight. Let us the rest of Easter to check the blog and give some feed back to our mates (as a group or to separate individuals, or both!), AT LEAST ONCE.
Thanks for participating, see you after Easter, enjoy yourselves and... READ!
New Class! 2009-I
Despite not being scheduled officially, we have opened a new class this term! You might have felt quite disappointed at failing last semester, but try to take it as a negative experience which led to learning. If you did learn the lesson, you must make well now. At the beginning of new term we are all in the highest spirits. Let us keep them high all through the course and hope for the best results. Please, if you notice there are obstacles you find particularly difficult to manage, let us know as soon as possible. Your success is YOURS, but your failure is OURS.
Best wishes!
Best wishes!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Test II (description)
Dear Sirs & Madammes,
It seems we are finally having our second test on Friday 20th, that is, in a week's time. We have discussed about its format and agreed to structure 4 parts as follows:
I.- Literary Terms - Prose. You will be asked to provide the definition of a few terms and then you'll have to exemplify those terms by taking extracts from a given text by a British author.
II.- Answer questions about the contents we have studied in this second part of the term. Your answers must be brief but analytical and you must provide examples, where possible, referring to the texts we have studied in class.
III.- Short Stories. You will be given extracts from some of the short stories we have read and analysed in the course. You will be expected to remember and provide some basic elements of the story.
IV.- You will be expected to discuss briefly on the relevance of one of the excerpts in part III. This excerpt will be selected by your teachers.
As you can see, nothing you can't deal with. Tests and their results are never a matter of luck so: get ready. See you on Friday!
It seems we are finally having our second test on Friday 20th, that is, in a week's time. We have discussed about its format and agreed to structure 4 parts as follows:
I.- Literary Terms - Prose. You will be asked to provide the definition of a few terms and then you'll have to exemplify those terms by taking extracts from a given text by a British author.
II.- Answer questions about the contents we have studied in this second part of the term. Your answers must be brief but analytical and you must provide examples, where possible, referring to the texts we have studied in class.
III.- Short Stories. You will be given extracts from some of the short stories we have read and analysed in the course. You will be expected to remember and provide some basic elements of the story.
IV.- You will be expected to discuss briefly on the relevance of one of the excerpts in part III. This excerpt will be selected by your teachers.
As you can see, nothing you can't deal with. Tests and their results are never a matter of luck so: get ready. See you on Friday!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Homework: Short Stories.
Before Friday Jan 30th... participate in this virtual forum and prepare for class discussion...
Class 001
We just read, studied and analised D.H. Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter", R. Kipling's "Cupid's Arrows" and J. Joyce's "The Boarding House". They are very different certainly, but you are expected to determine ONE crucial, relevant similarity shared by the three of them and briefly state why it is specially important from your personal viewpoint.
Class 002 A/B
We just read, studied and analised D.H. Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter", R. Kipling's "Cupid's Arrows" and D. Lessing's "The Other Garden". even though it is evident that they are all quite different, you are asked to determine a crucial, relevant similarity shared by the three of them and briefly state why it is particularly important from your perspective.
Class 001
We just read, studied and analised D.H. Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter", R. Kipling's "Cupid's Arrows" and J. Joyce's "The Boarding House". They are very different certainly, but you are expected to determine ONE crucial, relevant similarity shared by the three of them and briefly state why it is specially important from your personal viewpoint.
Class 002 A/B
We just read, studied and analised D.H. Lawrence's "The Horse Dealer's Daughter", R. Kipling's "Cupid's Arrows" and D. Lessing's "The Other Garden". even though it is evident that they are all quite different, you are asked to determine a crucial, relevant similarity shared by the three of them and briefly state why it is particularly important from your perspective.
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