Why High School English Sucks

And why studying literature can suck in general

Symbols are things that, because of their placement, gain meaning through the story. Not random, superfluous insertions.

Themes arise from stories. They can't substitute for the stories.

A story is not a mystery to be solved for its meaning. It's not a maths equation to be 'figured out'. 

A story is an experience to be appreciated. The author is sharing something with you. 

Bertha Mason (Jane Eyre; Brontë, C.)

, the first wife of Mr. Rochester.

I seriously don't think she was insane when Rochester married her. She may have become insane since, but only as a consequence of being locked up.

DISRESPECTING Jules Verne

I recently remarked to a friend that Jules Verne's "adventures" tend to be rather anticlimatic.

I have, of course, only three of their number to reference. Around the World in Eighty Days (henceforth 80 Days), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (henceforth 20000), and Journey to the Centre of the Earth (henceforth Journey).

A submarine and subtextual adventure.

First impressions of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. (Verne, J., 1870. Translated by Allen P.S., 1922)

In my first reading, I went in without any preliminary research, and had no idea what to expect.

As I traversed the chapters, it seemed to me much more of a travel log than something with substantial plot. Often, when the narration went for large stretches describing the local wildlife instead of furthering the plot, I grew impatient. Verne's attention to scientific and technical detail was impressive, but uninteresting.

Ned Land needs land

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Verne, Jules)

Part II, Chapter VIII, Vigo Bay

Comments:

Ned Land needs land. Intentional pun, surely.

Looking deeper into the allusions in _A Streetcar Named Desire_

The many allusions Tennessee Williams uses in (Streetcar) are incredibly meaningful. In particular, I want to explore the following three in more detail: "My Rosenkavalier!", "la Dame aux Camellias!" and "Wien, nur du allein."

Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival

Mirrors with Memories yet again. We were invited to speak at the "Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival". So there were 7 of us ESF kids.
There's really nothing to say.
Some pictures:

Flash Fiction

6-word stories:

It's a nice day, sir. (zzz...)

Creativity steers clear of the writing students.

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Nanofiction (55-word stories):

Based on real events that happened the day they were written (yesterday).

The character Stanley in _A Streetcar Named Desire_. Not so inhuman?

Just a little follow-up to my previous post about the _Streetcar_ characters. (http://literatureeh.blogspot.com/2012/01/thoughts-on-characters-of-tennessee.html)

At the end of scene 11, right after Blanche has been taken away, this happens:

Stella: Blanche! Blanche! Blanche!

…
[… Eunice descends to Stella and places the child in her arms. … Stella accepts the child, sobbingly. … Stanley has gone out on the porch and stands at the foot of the steps looking at Stella.]

Creativity at SIS

I was asked by my Chinese teacher to give her some quotes about "creativity" for the Languages department in an Art department project called 'Creativity at SIS'.

So I just drew this up off the top of my head:

"To create is to bring something into existence where before there was nothing. Creativity raises us above mortality."

"Creativity is how we violate the laws of the universe. It is our greatest power."

"The first thing to exist was God. The second was creativity, so God could create the world."
- maybe this one isn't really suitable... but I included it anyway because it's cool. I'm not even religious...

 ---
Got a reply saying she wants quotes related to language, Chinese if possible.

I could only think, 'What... languages aren't creative...'

I gave her this: "Languages by themselves are not creative. Speaking and writing languages? Now that's creativity in action."