How To Read Literature Part 1
Explanation and expansion of Foster’s How To Read Literature Like a Professor introductory chapters.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
A lecture on the history and development of the German language and culture. Part of the Languages and Literatures series delivered at Peninsula College by W…
Thank you for post misterwomack-
It might be an allusion to original sin or forbidden fruit, but there are
inconsistencies. Is the God of Abraham a recovering alcoholic? Is
alcoholism in God’s “genes”? It might have worked better had the father of
the girl in the story been a teetotaler, perhaps a priest or minister, who
warns his daughter of the evils of drink, admonishing her and her husband
never to partake of it.
Additionally, it has been my experience that one addict or alcoholic cannot
easily make an addict or alcoholic out of someone who is not that way
inclined. It might have been more believable and typical had the husband
not become an alcoholic, but only watched helplessly as his wife’s drinking
spun out of control. Avoiding something as a matter of health and sanity is
one thing, avoiding something simply because you have been commanded to do
so is quite another. Either make the allusion clear, or drop it
altogether. That is just my take.
As you suggest, this is the kind of thing that makes allusions, symbols and
archetypes problematic. They are frequently equivocal and ambiguous. The
best you can do most of the time is to be aware of the possibility of
allusions, symbols and archetypes in literature or drama and to keep your
eye out for them, but never to be convinced of a particular interpretation.
Sometimes East Egg, West Egg and Long Island are just geographical
locations. Most men do not have Manhasset Bay between their testicles.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. I think the bay between East Egg and
West Egg is possibly more important as a symbol of the social barriers that
separate Gatsby from his beloved Daisy.
Women historically have it easy as characters in literature when it comes
to representing their schemes and plots. There is always knitting to be
done or a cake to bake (requiring eggs to be broken and beaten). Cakes
also seem to be a rich source of figurative text: “icing on the cake”,
“having one’s cake and eating it too”, “that really takes the cake.”, “it
was a piece of cake” or a “cakewalk” are examples.
Makes me hungry for cake and less desirous of reading.
I think a small error was made. Frederick Douglass, an American slave, was
not educated in Germany. He had no formal education. I think Wesley Cecil
may have had in mind the Black American scholar and man of letters, W.E.B.
Du Bois. By the way, I read Doctor Faustus many years ago. It was a superb
work of literature.
Great lecture! How do spell the name of the old German story with the
invisible cloak and Rheingeld and whatnot? I can’t seem to find it with my
guesses.
I wonder how current changes in Germany will influence its cultural
continuum in the future. I am thinking of the cultural perceptions and
changes with the youth in Germany and also immigration from countries with
cultures that are also averse to assimilate – Omar Fourie
I think in introducing the subject, I would have first began, first, with a
mention of philology, and the evolving inter-relationships European
languages, cultures, have had on one another, their nuances.
Good lecture, and that left leg is way to long.
Thank you !
The next Languages and Literatures is posted. The topic is German. I hope
you enjoy this lecture and thanks for subscribing.
Brilliant lecture. Just what I was looking for. Cheers.
wonderful lecture
Your lectures are very informative and enjoyable. Thanks for posting them.
I think they will be better if you post the visuals that are referenced to
go along with the audio i.e maps, charts etc . We, the audience, are
missing out on them.
The best way to present would be to insert the maps, charts etc in your
visuals at the appropriate time. If you are using an apple computer, it is
easily done in imovie. Also, on your description (About), you should put
the info that you hand out to your live audience. Your lectures are great
but doing these two things will make it better for the youtube audience.
Interesting lecture. Minor correction: at the end you mixed up Parzival and
Siegfried. The guy in the Nibelungenlied was Siegfried.
I’ve been listening to your lectures throughout my semester this year
(philosophy undergrad). I’ve enjoyed them and found they frame some of the
material for my classes very well. If you could do a lecture on Kant i
would very much like to hear it.
My suggestion is to actually get a decent HD camera and tape your self
giving lectures and insert the charts, maps as well. This will put a human
face ( your’s ) to your voice which will be more interesting for the
audience. You have a knack for making hard topics such as philosophy fun
and accessible to the general populace. I am pretty certain that you could
actually “go professional” in that direction ie. producing videos/dvds of
your lectures. I know of a former college teacher who did that.
Thanks!
excellent idea. I’ll see if I can figure out how to that.
Also, you should start handing out cough drops and making people turn off
their cellphones before the lecture starts. Coughs make it hard to hear
what you are saying and cell phones ringing are extremely distracting
whereby interrupting the flow of your lectures. I am utterly flabbergasted
that grown people that sit on your lectures don’t have the sense to turn
off cell phones ! How inconsiderate, stupid and rude !