English 123 Notes (6/30/2008)

English 123: Introduction to Literature

06/30/2008 Notes

LESSON

Every store is a retelling of another story. For example, Mister Pip could not and would not have ever been written without the novel Great Expectations by Mr. Dickens.

VOCAB

1. Tradition- to know who you are and what God expects you to do. (derived from the play Fiddler on the Roof )

2. Quotidian- the dreariness of the everyday process.

3. Canon- the list of authorized texts that have stood the test of time, example- Great Expectations.

COMPARISONS

1. Sarcasm vs. Facetiousness

Sarcasm seems to be mean spirited most of the time while facetiousness is done with an arrogant attitude.

2. Parity vs. Satire

Parity is equality, as in amount, status, or character while satire is the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.

ASSIGNMENTS DUE ON WEDNESDAY

1. Create Blog Account and blog about first class period along with what book has caused you as an individual to become so absorbed in the story that your surrounding environment became completely oblivious to you.

2. Begin reading Great Expectations, Arabian Nights, and Ex Libris

English 123: Day One

The class began today with one of the most unusual and captivating introductions that I have seen from a teacher in quite a long time. The teacher walked in, asked for the time, and immediately began reading the first chapter of Great Expectations by Mr. Dickens. As many of the students began to catch on and bring out their copies of the book, there were other students that were pondering the idea that this class they had just signed up for would consist of being read to for six weeks. In which case they would be ecstatic to be read to as long as there were no tests covering the material. After the first chapter was over Mr. Sexson began his introduction. I was impressed and greatly appreciated his approach to the standard introduction. I was curious as to what the rest of the 6 weeks would be like, and wondered if it would out of the ordinary English class; I was hoping it would not be another typical English class. Then he began finding out names of students and handing out jobs. The guy in the front seemed prepared for anything and everything...pretty impressive for the first day. Professor Sexson began memorizing names of not only students but mothers as well. It seemed that every name had a story that related back to literature just as one student had mentioned. I never really thought about all the stories that co-exist in simple matters of everyday life. It was fascinating to learn how someone got their name or why they were in Bozeman, MT to begin with. I am excited to read Great Expectations again; I read it freshman year of high school but I do not believe that I appreciated it as much as I will the second time around. We talked about books and their ability to grab ahold of a person and create an atmosphere that is immune to outside distractions. I have rarely had a book do this to me but there has been several occasions where it has happened.

The Harry Potter books have always been able to grab my attention and cause me to feel as if I am apart of the magic at Hogwarts. As nerdy and little kiddish as those books are to some people I find the story, characters, and overall plot fascinating. Maybe it is because I often become so caught up in the stresses of school and the boring, everyday life that I forget about "magic" and fantasy. It is hard nowadays to explore your imagination if you are over the age of ten. The Harry Potter books have always allowed to me explore a whole other side of my brain and thinking that I rarely get to explore being a pre-med major. For this reason alone I am always caught up in the books no matter how many times I have read them.

This is the end of my blog; I am glad I was able to create one of these. It was not as hard as I imagined which I greatly appreciate. I am excited to read Great Expectations, Arabian Nights, and Ex Libris but it will be a lot of reading in a short amount of time but I am excited to be able to actually read again. That sounded disgustingly nerdy, but its true! :)