English 123: Introduction to Literature: English 123 Notes 7/25/2008

Homework

Read Oedipus Rex and The Importance of Being Ernest over the weekend
Create a rough draft of term paper for Monday, it should be about a page long and include the main ideas that will be mentioned in the term paper.

The idea of being at a crossroads in your life is an important theme for Oedipus Rex and the Importance of Being Ernest. Keep the theme in mind!

Sonnet (cont.)

Steve- Ricky

about a dog who lives by his friends that he cannot have
Shakespearean form
dog lays under the tires
he can only talk to the dog because his allergies prevent him from touching the dog.

INTENTIONAL FALLACY- an assertion that the intended meaning of the author is not the only or most important meaning; a fallacy involving an assessment of a literary work based on the author's intended meaning rather than on actual response to the work.

MISTER PIP PASSAGES

PAGE 63- Lychee, Agnes teaches us about the fruit and how it has a hard outer shell and a soft, sweet inside. The structure is similiar to Matilda's mother in the fact that she is a hard woman and very strict but you learn when she sacrifices her life for not only her daughter but Mr. Watts as well that she is sweet and kind on the inside.
PAGE 155- change, This passage talks about how Great Expectations entranced and enchanted Mr. Watts. "You can't fake reading" and how the book did not do the same for Grace. She did not share the same love of Mr. Dickens and Mr. Watts did and that was hard for him to grasp.
PAGE 64-65- Fear; it is ok to be stupid and not know everything. Many people let the fear of being stupid prevent them from going on with something and thus preventing themselves from letting go of the fear of humiliation.
PAGE 24- Curiosity, we all experience a curiosity of the unknown items that are presented in our lives.
PAGE 71- Choices, humans make both good and bad choices and we always will make mistakes. However, we cannot let the fear of making mistakes and choosing the wrong option prevent us from living our lives.We are free to make bad choices because we are not perfect, we are human.
PAGE 192- May Fly Story, grace is similar to the mayfly and the story, Mr. Watts is the mayfly in the first relationship with the suburban wife in the idea that he enjoys the theater because it provides him a chance to live a new life and dream. In the relationship with Grace he turns into the practical one and tries to force Grace from her dreamer world. It creates the battle between dream vs. practicality
PAGE 204- Daniel's grandma is the only dreamer among the various women who come and speak to the class about practical lessons. Mr. Watts created a more interesting self thus leaving a reputation behind when he was killed because of his outrageous and outlandish life. It creates the question, what is possible in the realm of imagination?
PAGE 210- leaving a legacy of a life less interesting. This passage reminds of the common saying that people who follow the rules rarely make history. Mr. Watts lived an exciting life by wearing a clown nose and pushing his wife around in a trolley and thus lived the way no one expected; he lived his life the way he desired.
PAGE 123- Imagination; no one can take away your imagination, you say your name and view the world as you want to view it.
PAGE 187- dream; dreams are only yours they are personal and you chose whether you want to share them with people or keep them to yourself.
PAGE 216- Savior, Mr. Jagger's, the log, is Matilda's savior and ironically Mr. Jaggers saved her similiar to how he saved Pip by bringing her to a new life.
PAGE 69- gain/ lose, you gain and you lose and that cycle goes throughout life, when you become aware of that cycle is when you realized that what you have gained is also what you have lost.
PAGE 23 - Als ob (as If), escape, you can find a book to escape into and find a friend through, the books take you to another world that you can experience by yourself but also with the characters.
PAGE 143- Details; the details about a person is what makes them unique. The details are specific, tangible, and tactful. Details are necessary throughout life and they are what gives life interest.
PAGE 92- Mystery, curiosity is what makes life interesting, we use the language of problem solving to describe our lives.