'All the arts aspire to the art of music'
joyce explains that we should pay attention to the epiphanies in literature.... but pay attention to the MUSIC in the literature rather than the philosophical things that can be found in literature.
i hwould have to agree obviously, but sometimes it seems that the epiphanies may be very important yet, the moment they happen almost passes you by before knowing what just happened. As joyce wants, this way of reading , makes a reader so much more focused on the text rather then just 'passing' everything good by. So when reading 'The Dead', i will have to be looking for anything and everything that is trivial i guess.
Diamonds that we are looking for in 'The Dead' are trivial, is what Dr Sexson has told us. Pay attention to the conversations, the paintings on the wall, the trivial conversations.... which most are not only in the story but in life...
if i think about it, i have spent almost my entire life having conversations with trival topics.... but that changed once i came to college and actually met people that i wanted to have conversations with, that were more than just trivial BS.... and since becoming an english lit major, i have met my favorite people to talk to about REAL things.. hmm i would say thats a little 'oooh'... one more reason why i became an english major...
Friday, January 29, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
the negative epiphanies.....
When we spoke about the epiphany and the negative together i thought to myself, there is no way that an epiphany could be negative. mainly because i was thinking stricktly about feeling rather than knowledge that one gets while having an epiphany. then i started to think, of course epiphanies can be negative.... and for me i think that main reason they can be, is because sometimes those eurphoric moments also bring harsh realities. overall one of the hardest things to deal with in life are things that you dont want to admit to yourself. and when it comes time to admit these things (and there always comes a time) that moment of realization not only hurts horribly, but its as if that something has just lifted and you can breathe just a little bit better than before.
the most recent 'oooh' moment i had was durring christmas break. family was all around for my great aunts birthday and it was a very important time for all of us. just a few months ago my great grandfather died, and my great grandmother is still kickin' it, but this time has been very hard for her because its the first time in over 80 years since she has been without Papa Tony. and i have noticed that since his death she has been much more understanding, much more loving, and far more humble before... i guess it has taken his death to make her realize she doesnt want to miss out on anything else while she is still with her family. while we were all sitting around towards the end of the night, grandma looked at all the grand daughters that were there and said , ' Dont sit and just dream, Just LIVE'. at that moment i realized that so much of peoples time is spent THINKING about what they want to do and not actually doing it, because it SCARES people to really get out there and admit they want to try something new, move somehwere new, get out of their comfort zones.
i guess i tied this moment to the negative epiphanies because when there is a negative reasoning for an epiphany there is still wonder that can come from it. because if what my grandma said, i know that i wont spend the years of my life thinking about what i would like to do, or dream to do...... i just have to go out there and make those dreams happen, and if they dont happen , at least now that i tried for it.
the most recent 'oooh' moment i had was durring christmas break. family was all around for my great aunts birthday and it was a very important time for all of us. just a few months ago my great grandfather died, and my great grandmother is still kickin' it, but this time has been very hard for her because its the first time in over 80 years since she has been without Papa Tony. and i have noticed that since his death she has been much more understanding, much more loving, and far more humble before... i guess it has taken his death to make her realize she doesnt want to miss out on anything else while she is still with her family. while we were all sitting around towards the end of the night, grandma looked at all the grand daughters that were there and said , ' Dont sit and just dream, Just LIVE'. at that moment i realized that so much of peoples time is spent THINKING about what they want to do and not actually doing it, because it SCARES people to really get out there and admit they want to try something new, move somehwere new, get out of their comfort zones.
i guess i tied this moment to the negative epiphanies because when there is a negative reasoning for an epiphany there is still wonder that can come from it. because if what my grandma said, i know that i wont spend the years of my life thinking about what i would like to do, or dream to do...... i just have to go out there and make those dreams happen, and if they dont happen , at least now that i tried for it.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Should we forget or remember epiphanies?
While in class Doug discussed his blog comment one why or why we shouldn't remember epiphanies. right from the start i have to say that i really agree with Doug. The moment of an epiphany is unlike anything else. If you could have that euphoric moment all of the time it wouldn't actually feel to mean anything when you do actually have am epiphany. so for me, i think i would rather 'forget' the moment. by 'forgetting' the moment i guess i mean more on the lines of forgetting the FULL experience. if you could look back and feel and see all that you do when you have an epiphany, that initial euphoric feeling wouldn't ever be there.
we also spoke about the first book that we read and couldn't put it down. I'm rather embarrassed to admit to this, but the first book that i read in just little over a day was 'Summer Sisters' i cant even remember who wrote it. but the story and the characters are still vivid in my mind when i think back to that Saturday i read it. I guess you could say it was my first 'big girl' book to read because of what it dealt with, love, sex, growing up in general. because that was the first book i read all the way through with dreading the idea to stop, it opened my eyes to much more in depth literature. because of that book i wanted to read more and discover books that really interested me.
we also spoke about the first book that we read and couldn't put it down. I'm rather embarrassed to admit to this, but the first book that i read in just little over a day was 'Summer Sisters' i cant even remember who wrote it. but the story and the characters are still vivid in my mind when i think back to that Saturday i read it. I guess you could say it was my first 'big girl' book to read because of what it dealt with, love, sex, growing up in general. because that was the first book i read all the way through with dreading the idea to stop, it opened my eyes to much more in depth literature. because of that book i wanted to read more and discover books that really interested me.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Piper at The Gates of Dawn
First off I have to say that I was so pleastly surprised by the Van Morrison song that we listened to in class. I have always been a fan of him, and am sure that I have heard the song before, but obviously never picked up on its link to literature. When hearing that song play, I couldnt help but think back to when I was reading that chapter. I felt that the music of the song fits the moment so well. And I think that if I were to sit and read that chapter while listening to that song, that I would feel like I was actually in the moment with Rat and Mole. I just thought that was soo cool!
So... Sexson wants us to have a defintion of Epiphany from chapter 7, Piper at The Gates of Dawn. I have never really been one to be able to put into words what it feels like to have such an Epiphany, or really any Epiphany at all. But isnt that kind of the point? When one has an Epiphany, it has to do with that one person. That one person seeing something new for the first time and having a complete understanding of something that they didnt before. I have read over the chapter time and time again and am trying to come up with a good enough definition, but I really cant seem to come to an idea that makes sense once I write it down. When reading the moment of Epiphany I get it... whatever 'IT' is.... but i just cant put into words what it really is.
Sexson said in class today, that you have to 'let go of the experience to understand the meaning'. I think that is where you have to start to even understand an Epiphany. I know that on the first day of class, i walked out of the class room and thought to myself, crap.... I have never actually had an Epiphany, but know I realize that I was putting to much thought into it, and not 'letting go of the experience'. And besides that before talking so much about the Epiphany I was putting far too much weight on the idea of the Epiphany. Whatever an Epiphany really is, all I know is that when I experience one the feeling the rushes through your body is what makes me want to have them everyday!
So... Sexson wants us to have a defintion of Epiphany from chapter 7, Piper at The Gates of Dawn. I have never really been one to be able to put into words what it feels like to have such an Epiphany, or really any Epiphany at all. But isnt that kind of the point? When one has an Epiphany, it has to do with that one person. That one person seeing something new for the first time and having a complete understanding of something that they didnt before. I have read over the chapter time and time again and am trying to come up with a good enough definition, but I really cant seem to come to an idea that makes sense once I write it down. When reading the moment of Epiphany I get it... whatever 'IT' is.... but i just cant put into words what it really is.
Sexson said in class today, that you have to 'let go of the experience to understand the meaning'. I think that is where you have to start to even understand an Epiphany. I know that on the first day of class, i walked out of the class room and thought to myself, crap.... I have never actually had an Epiphany, but know I realize that I was putting to much thought into it, and not 'letting go of the experience'. And besides that before talking so much about the Epiphany I was putting far too much weight on the idea of the Epiphany. Whatever an Epiphany really is, all I know is that when I experience one the feeling the rushes through your body is what makes me want to have them everyday!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The 'Ooh' and the 'Ahhh'
In class we have discussed the difference between the small epiphany's and the big epiphany's. I sat back and started to realize that most of my epiphany's are small ones. And I keep trying to look back at when I decided I wanted to be an english major and in that moment I did have an epiphany, but it was a rather small one. So I have been thinking about when I first really fell in love with books, and reading.
When speaking about show and tell today, it brought me back to a memory of my first show and tell (well at least my earliest memory of show and tell). I was in 2nd or 3rd grade I believe. I brought in my copy of Shel Silversteins 'Where the Sidewalk Ends'. My grandparents had sent me the book for a Valentines Day. Which now just seems really ironic,but in side of the first page my grandparents wrote me a small note saying that they knew I would love all the poems in the book. I remember feeling like a 'big girl' because it wasnt one of those large printed books you get at school. It was something that spoke to me and that I truly enjoyed. I know that was the first book that i absolutely fell in love with. I think alot of it had to do with that fact that the poems where ones that I could read myself, and there were pictures, but most of all, I could fully understand the poems. So with this memory I am gonna say that when i was just a youngster, in the early stages of my schooling career, I had my first Epiphany dealing with books.
While reading the 7th chapter in 'Willows', I knew right at that moment that what I was reading was the 'Ahhh' type of Epiphany. When I was reading through it my heart was picking up beat, I was reading even faster, and as silly as it may sound, it felt that I too could hear the music that was leading the Rat and Mole to their moment of Epiphany. I found it so intreseting that 1. Pink Floyd actually named an album after this chapter, and 2. that Van Morrison has a song about this chapter. I think that I may have had just a 'oooh' Epiphany in class. Because with all the talk about music, I realized that either my Epiphany's have dealt with literature, or music, and mostly music.
When speaking about show and tell today, it brought me back to a memory of my first show and tell (well at least my earliest memory of show and tell). I was in 2nd or 3rd grade I believe. I brought in my copy of Shel Silversteins 'Where the Sidewalk Ends'. My grandparents had sent me the book for a Valentines Day. Which now just seems really ironic,but in side of the first page my grandparents wrote me a small note saying that they knew I would love all the poems in the book. I remember feeling like a 'big girl' because it wasnt one of those large printed books you get at school. It was something that spoke to me and that I truly enjoyed. I know that was the first book that i absolutely fell in love with. I think alot of it had to do with that fact that the poems where ones that I could read myself, and there were pictures, but most of all, I could fully understand the poems. So with this memory I am gonna say that when i was just a youngster, in the early stages of my schooling career, I had my first Epiphany dealing with books.
While reading the 7th chapter in 'Willows', I knew right at that moment that what I was reading was the 'Ahhh' type of Epiphany. When I was reading through it my heart was picking up beat, I was reading even faster, and as silly as it may sound, it felt that I too could hear the music that was leading the Rat and Mole to their moment of Epiphany. I found it so intreseting that 1. Pink Floyd actually named an album after this chapter, and 2. that Van Morrison has a song about this chapter. I think that I may have had just a 'oooh' Epiphany in class. Because with all the talk about music, I realized that either my Epiphany's have dealt with literature, or music, and mostly music.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
What I've done at MSU....
Well, Sexson wants us to all look back and think about our classes we have taken here at MSU....
This is my sixth... and hopefully final year here... So there are many many classes to look back on. Here is the somewhat brief ( but still very informative) blog about my past here at MSU.
Before i was an Eng Lit major i had a couple others ...... when i first came to MSU i wanted to study something that was interesting for me, and something that i truly enjoyed. So my first semester i applied to the Art program. i have always enjoyed art - and always loved painting, so as soon as i could i took a painting class. Once the semester got into full swing, i started to absolutely loathe picking up a paint brush and creating something that i knew once finished, wouldn't be my best work. I then realized that i needed to try some other classes in the Art dept, and not just focus on the painting. But once i started taking other Art History classes and studio classes, i hated school even more. Art, painting especially had always been my main hobby, it was the one thing that i always had for an outlet. I felt that i was using up all of my creative juices, and nothing i was doing was worth it. So i decided to switch my major to a much more .... should i say.... reliable major.
Business classes were by far THE WORST classes i have ever taken. Yes i know that they aren't that challenging and not difficult to get through. But whoa were the boring, my attention span in those classes were about a minute and then i would totally zone out. And besides the silly business classes, i had to take math classes...... and that was even worse! Calculus.... really!? so after surprisingly passing through my accounting classes, algebra, and calculus.... i started for the really fun ones.... Stats... ha, after trying to get through that class twice i decided i needed a new major if i wanted to get a degree.....
So i started to talk to friends that had different majors, i talked with a couple advisers and had narrowed it down to a couple things, it was gonna be either philosophy or just a liberal arts degree. But with both of those i was a bit behind in all the classes that i would needed... so one day i came home feeling quite defeated and sat down in my room to think about what i was going to do......As i looked around my room, there i realized what i should study! Books, books everywhere! Through out school my favorite classes were always English. My favorite teachers were always my English teachers. So there you go... the rest is history... i called my mother to tell her that her daughter was going to graduate with and English Lit degree... no i wasn't going to take the teaching option... and i signed up for my classes that next day.
I had never really thought about my decision of becoming an English lit major as an Epiphany... but if the epiphany is something that is seen.... then right when i saw those books sprawled through my room and flashbacks of favorite classes and teachers... i knew what i was supposed to study....
This is my sixth... and hopefully final year here... So there are many many classes to look back on. Here is the somewhat brief ( but still very informative) blog about my past here at MSU.
Before i was an Eng Lit major i had a couple others ...... when i first came to MSU i wanted to study something that was interesting for me, and something that i truly enjoyed. So my first semester i applied to the Art program. i have always enjoyed art - and always loved painting, so as soon as i could i took a painting class. Once the semester got into full swing, i started to absolutely loathe picking up a paint brush and creating something that i knew once finished, wouldn't be my best work. I then realized that i needed to try some other classes in the Art dept, and not just focus on the painting. But once i started taking other Art History classes and studio classes, i hated school even more. Art, painting especially had always been my main hobby, it was the one thing that i always had for an outlet. I felt that i was using up all of my creative juices, and nothing i was doing was worth it. So i decided to switch my major to a much more .... should i say.... reliable major.
Business classes were by far THE WORST classes i have ever taken. Yes i know that they aren't that challenging and not difficult to get through. But whoa were the boring, my attention span in those classes were about a minute and then i would totally zone out. And besides the silly business classes, i had to take math classes...... and that was even worse! Calculus.... really!? so after surprisingly passing through my accounting classes, algebra, and calculus.... i started for the really fun ones.... Stats... ha, after trying to get through that class twice i decided i needed a new major if i wanted to get a degree.....
So i started to talk to friends that had different majors, i talked with a couple advisers and had narrowed it down to a couple things, it was gonna be either philosophy or just a liberal arts degree. But with both of those i was a bit behind in all the classes that i would needed... so one day i came home feeling quite defeated and sat down in my room to think about what i was going to do......As i looked around my room, there i realized what i should study! Books, books everywhere! Through out school my favorite classes were always English. My favorite teachers were always my English teachers. So there you go... the rest is history... i called my mother to tell her that her daughter was going to graduate with and English Lit degree... no i wasn't going to take the teaching option... and i signed up for my classes that next day.
I had never really thought about my decision of becoming an English lit major as an Epiphany... but if the epiphany is something that is seen.... then right when i saw those books sprawled through my room and flashbacks of favorite classes and teachers... i knew what i was supposed to study....
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
1st day of my LAST semester!
The Epiphany..... at this point i dont have much to say about it .... but! i do love the moment of an Epiphany. Even those small little things you figure out... that second of realization and understanding is wonderful. I really hope that this semester and this class get me to a point of a larger Epiphany than i ever experienced. This being my last semester of college... for some reason i feel more ready for what is a head of me then i have every felt, most people say it can be the hardest, but i am ready for whatever comes my way! First task at hand is to read The Wind in the Willows and have already started that... and think that i will truly enjoy the story.... but ready to see what kind of Epiphany Sexson has for class!
Second, is to start memorizing 30 lines of T.S. Eliot's 'Four Quartets'. We have our groups already picked out for the semester, and i am in group 1, The Nortons who focus on the 1st Quartet. and quite surprisingly i have gotten a little head start on memorizing .... maybe ill have at least 5 lines memorized for class on Friday! :)
I am so ready for this class to really begin! Cant wait!
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