El Fin

Today marks the last day of my English Literature since 1800 class. I have to admit this class wasn't as grueling as I quite expected it would be. I was basing most of bias on English Literature to 1800. I have actually come to appreciate British Literature more than I had 8 weeks ago. I enjoyed most of the poems and I have always enjoyed "Frankenstein" and "Great Expectations." I think at the beginning of this class I was asked to write about what I hoped I would get out of this class. My hope was that I larded to appreciate English Literature. I can truly say that my hope came true. I'm glad that I was removed from some of my ignorance. More so that I had the opportunity to be removed from some of my ignorance. This is why I'm grateful to be able to go to college. I feel that I have learned so much from my time here. It has left me cultured and aware. It has removed my prejudices and I have gained much appreciation for other cultures.

Mrs. Dalloway

I'm closing in on the last week of my 8 week course of English Lit. Since 1800. I have to say I've been pleasantly surprised with the course. I had small expectations that I would like the literature based on the literature I read in English Lit to 1800. This read my assignment was Mrs Dalloway. It was a story focused on character development that takes place in a day. One of the characters really stuck out to me and he was Septimus. Septimus was in the war and developed "shellshock." We know shellshock today as PTSD. Septimus tries to get help but ultimately takes his own life. I had to ponder about this character a bit. I felt sorry for him. Probably because I have known soldiers with PTSD and it is a very real disorder. Fortunately (if you could call it that), more is known about the disorder today and there is medicine and therapy available today. At the time Mrs Dalloway was written, although fictional, obviously not as much was known then as it was today. My heart goes out to anyone suffering from the disorder.

Website and Poetry

This week for class I created a website based on The Garden of Love by William Blake. Please check out Seth's Website for The Garden of Love. I also read The Waste Land and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. I would have to say that I enjoyed Prufrock more. I felt that the poem could easily be tweaked into a song. The first stanza of the poem reminds me of a song. I think this is why the poem is still popular today. I also read W. B. Yeats' When you are Old and James Joyces' The Dead. The poems and Joyces' short story had very much in common. The common theme to me was that life is too short. Whether it was procrastination or being an unhappy person life is too short to not be happy. I think my favorite out of the 4 works was When you are Old. The poem is about loving someone unconditional. We are all growing to grow old and our looks will fade. Beauty is truly only skin deep. Find someone you connect with that you love spending time with. Find someone who you can work with and truly be a partner with. Who says you can't learn from literature?