tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60886311727439544592024-03-13T15:17:24.920-05:00A Different Kind of InkA hoard of thoughts on language, literature, life, and the art of making...
A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-410229505946604322017-10-27T23:27:00.001-05:002017-11-18T18:32:20.008-06:00Nerdy Stuff! Bookwyrms, the Real “Bookworms”<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: center;">
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A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-88983561375580602772015-12-30T20:45:00.001-06:002015-12-30T20:46:10.074-06:00How Does Creativity Work in the Brain?Is this cheating? It's probably cheating, especially since I posted it to another blog. But anyway, I keep noticing patterns in the articles and ideas I keep seeing on how creativity works or how to become more creative. These patterns all relate back to some research I once used in examining writers and creativity. And it's scientific! Or mostly. As much as brain science can be, anwyay. ([insert zombie voice] Brainssss! Brrraaaaaiiiiinnnnssss!!!!)<br />
<br />
So here's the short version for finding out just how the creative process happens--and it's no longer quite so mysterious!<br />
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<h2>
<a href="http://connect.capstonepub.com/2015/12/books-with-tea-creative-christmas-edition.html" target="_blank">Books with Tea: Creative Christmas Edition</a></h2>
(or<br />
<a href="http://connect.capstonepub.com/2015/12/books-with-tea-creative-christmas-edition.html" target="_blank">http://connect.capstonepub.com/2015/12/books-with-tea-creative-christmas-edition.html</a> )A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-25001806635070077132015-12-02T23:01:00.005-06:002015-12-04T16:46:45.917-06:00The INTJ and Vicarious Experience: Empathy through Fiction versus Reality<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9fPbkUT2vxU/VmIXydOpsSI/AAAAAAAAAcw/I0ZdOVD1ZK8/s1600/BinksTopMonoweb.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9fPbkUT2vxU/VmIXydOpsSI/AAAAAAAAAcw/I0ZdOVD1ZK8/s320/BinksTopMonoweb.gif" width="320" /></a></div>
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INTJs don’t like to express emotion. This is true—it messes with the control complex. Repression is more likely, though emotional expression can break through. Emotion, with the tertiary introverted Feeling function (Fi) is very private. However, as numerous <a href="http://soycrates.tumblr.com/post/92180595163/emotionless-rationalists-and-the-intj-myth-the">articles have also attempted to correct</a>, INTJs are certainly not emotionless. In fact, perhaps the opposite is true. INTJ emotion is just much more internal, and possibly inward-focused. With a dominant introverted intuitive function (Ni) combined with an inferior extraverted Sensing function (Se), INTJ emotions are very intense. It has just taken a while to figure that out when so many of those articles stop at the “oh, yeah, INTJs definitely feel emotion, they just repress it since it it’s riskier to allow than logical control” line. In effect, emotion is still downplayed for this MBTI personality type. <br />
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I’ve also read several articles and posts that suggest INTJs are also <a href="http://mbtifiction.com/2015/11/10/crying-in-movies/#more-3645">less likely to cry during a movie</a> (or express emotion at any other art form) than other types. However, I know this certainly cannot be true—at least not in all, and maybe not even most cases. I might attribute this belief to the fact that I’m a female INTJ while most of these posts are authored by males. But I also know I’m not alone in being deeply affected emotionally by movies, literature, and sometimes other works of art as an INTJ. I have seen this same catalyst for expressed emotion <a href="http://intjforum.com/archive/index.php/t-86551.html">self-reported in other discussions</a> and by another female INTJ I know. Actually, the general consensus among these people is that we all feel significantly <i>more</i> for characters in works of fiction than for people in reality. What is harder to pin down is how and why the empathy works differently in each situation—or why outward empathy for an INTJ is possible at all, much less for something that doesn’t even exist. But through a deeper study of the personality types (<a href="http://personalityjunkie.com/the-intj/">MBTI</a> as well as others and how they match up) and a connection to some of my old cognitive science and creativity research for my master’s thesis (there’s probably newer stuff, but <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cognitive-Science-Literature-Arts-Humanists/dp/0415942454">Patrick Colm Hogan’s 2003 book</a> is, in my opinion, the best resource for this topic), I have concluded that the phenomenon in caring more for fictional characters than real people is not only neurologically possible but also more likely to occur in INTJs.<br />
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Here’s how this works, with a little crash course in the cognitive psychology of the reader from Hogan’s <i>Cognitive Science, Literature, and the Arts: A Guide for Humanists</i>. Hogan looks at theories of how literature provides room for associations with its “suggestiveness” (156). In cognitive science, the idea is that while reading fiction, areas in the brain are activated through this mental process. This could include many different parts, but altogether they are the “set of all activated nodes connected to the work of art in any given reader’s or viewer’s mind” (156). And it might be assumed that memories are a significant part of what creates emotion in the first place along with “appraisal” or the reaction to degrees of selfish goal fulfillment (168). Then, universal emotional triggers create a sort of innate, and usually immediate, response (186-7). But I am still simplifying the concept of emotion and all the cognitivist disagreements about it for purposes here. It is more than “feelings,” but here I lump it all together as one and the same. <br />
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The process then, proceeds as follows. First, “all experiences leave traces in our memory” –or anything activated in the brain during those experiences, and therefore also the emotions we felt at those times (156). These accumulate over time, providing context for new experiences (156). In a new experience, links are created to past, related experiences, but sometimes the links don’t recall a full memory, but only the emotion of that memory, and that emotion may not always relate appropriately to the current circumstance (156). Also note that memory is “fragmentary” and “decays,” and therefore memories are not usually fully reconstructed as complete memories when reading (161). So even if a memory is activated and not just <i>primed</i> (Definition: “An item in memory is primed when it is activated to a high degree, but just below access” [158]), it may still only be a fragment, and the attention to the work of art or fiction is still intact (rather than getting sidetracked down memory lane), not alerting us to the fact that all those things are happening on a personal level in the brain (161).<br />
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The emotional reaction comes in when the remembered emotion becomes more than just a memory. As the memory is activated, the associated feelings can actually be activated again (157). As we read (or otherwise consume some art form [“high” or “low”]), “[r]elevant memories are continually primed in our experience of literature” (158). This prolonged priming is not how we usually experience reality, though.<br />
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The main difference between fiction and reality, then, is the way in which we process and engage with the experience, to an extent. Hogan states that “in literature the memory triggers are fairly consistent and continuous for particular primed items” when normally, in real life experiences, the effects of priming do not last long (158). In reality, a memory may be “primed once,” quickly “replaced” by another, making the emotional effect small (158). This idea may help to explain the small amount of empathy INTJs can show for real life emotional situations. But fiction is longer-term for the mental activity: “In contrast, the suggestions of literary works keep the emotion-laden memories primed for long stretches of time. Thus their cumulative effect may be very strong” (158). Simply, stories prime memories for extended periods of time, creating a stronger emotional reaction. Maybe even strong enough for an INTJ? (Although I won’t get into it here, there are thresholds of emotion, which help determine when, essentially it boils over into outward expression, and finally, a total takeover, eliminating control. So, fiction might at times push into the upper two thresholds for INTJs.)<br />
<br />
So, we return to the problem of caring about something that’s not even real. But Hogan has determined that in reading literature, we misattribute our emotions—also a common phenomenon in everyday life—to feeling for the characters in the book, but the target of the emotion is really oneself (159). In other words, we’ve connected with the protagonist, and have drawn, mostly subconsciously, on emotional memory from our personal experiences to engage with the story—creating the vicarious experience anyone might have when reading fiction. And then, the fiction (not real) part is “irrelevan[t] to the reader’s egocentric goals,” and the empathy still works (160). We have hypothetical goals and invested interest in the character because of our own imagined or vicarious experience through the character. <br />
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Furthermore, basically, how our brains deal with emotional responses has nothing to do with how we judge whether or not something is real, according to Hogan (185). However, perceiving emotion in others can also have a role in triggering that emotion in us, which seems to hold true for fictional representations of people exhibiting a certain emotion (177). Hogan does conclude that really, there are no egocentric limits on emotion triggers—there are certain emotions that seem to have a universal bearing on people. In such experiences, or at the stimulation for one of those emotional triggers, we feel certain innate emotion ourselves regardless of whether or not the situation directly applies to us. <br />
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But, these triggers can be “too distant” without imagination in some situations (186-7). As in fiction, we need to imagine ourselves in the character’s place to some extent in order to express a reaction to one of those universal emotional triggers. Plus, we use personal memories to more fully realize, or imagine, the world and details of the story that text cannot cover (160). And, as it turns out according to findings in cognitive science, vivid imagination equals reality when it comes to the brain’s reactions (181). <br />
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Therefore, it would seem to follow that intuitive types would have an advantage in a higher level of creating that fictional reality to a very full extent. From there, then, there would also be more emotional memories being primed, felt a second time, and providing even more to react to. Hogan illustrates a full circle of this process: <br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Emotional response of a work from primed personal memorie--></li>
<li>Those personal memories help to fully imagine the work--></li>
<li>The memories are “reprimed,” creating emotional response—like at beginning of cycle. (161)</li>
</ul>
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From pairing these ideas together with personality type, it seems clear that the INTJ (and probably other Ni types) would experience an even higher level of emotional stimuli from fiction than others.<br />
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Hogan also discusses a possible, though less scientific, correlation in moving between abstract and more particular thought to empathy (or emotion and moral evaluation) when considering a work of fiction. When moving from abstract analysis to specifics, Hogan noted a lack of emotion. But in the reverse, moving from specific to abstract thought, emotional response was much more likely (190). This, too, when connected to the idea of personality types, would explain why INTJs have a hard time empathizing in reality. Other types, when relating some emotional event, convey the specifics. But an INTJ’s mind is wired for the abstract. Therefore, the INTJ will perceive the event in the abstract—using a global or moral evaluation to analyze the situation as the first priority. Then, when the INTJ tries to move to the particulars of the experience, following Hogan’s observation, this would result in a lack of emotion toward it. The problem-solving side kicks in instead. As INTJs are preoccupied with ideas and more abstract patterns and judgments, it is not likely they would perceive the situation the other way around, which might result in some more emotional reaction.<br />
<br />
But of course, INTJs still repress all emotion—right? Well, my theory here is mostly conjecture, but I would state that it is more necessary to an INTJ to repress emotion in public because of the perceived risk that may involve. Hence the awkward and purely logical reactions to what, for other people, should be a highly emotional experience or relation of such an experience in real life. (Or, if the INTJ’s own emotion pushes over some threshold to result in its expression when in public, the result is generally uncomfortable embarrassment—feeling the lack of control.) The idea that emotions in real life are primed much less continuously also furthers that idea of empathy lack from a cognitive perspective. On the other hand, in fiction, the emotion experienced can be both personal and private. Not only does the emotional experience needed to imagine a story come from internal memory, primed over and over, but the act of reading itself can be a private activity—a safe place providing an outlet to the deep introverted emotion of an INTJ. Showing emotion in such a situation would hold a relatively low risk in an INTJ’s analysis. The outlet of emotion in that case may then even be a purposeful pursuit, a catharsis that the INTJ intentionally seeks possibly even for the very controlled outcome of feeling the benefits of such a purging.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
References for Cognitive Science and the Arts</div>
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Hogan, Patrick Colm. <i>Cognitive Science, Literature, and the Arts: A Guide for Humanists</i>. London: Routledge, 2003. Print.<br />
<br />
Martindale, Colin. “Biological Bases of Creativity.” <i>Handbook of Creativity</i>. Ed. Robert J. Sternberg. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1999. 137-152. Print.<br />
<br />
---. “Creativity and Connectionism.” <i>The Creative Cognition Approach</i>. Ed. Steven M. Smith, Thomas Ward, and Ronald A. Finke. Cambridge: MIT P, 1995. 249-68. Print.<br />
<br />
Turner, Mark. “Double-Scope Stories.” <i>Narrative Theory and the Cognitive Sciences</i>. Ed. David Herman. Stanford: CSLI, 2003. Print.A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-55555030079521541202015-09-16T20:27:00.000-05:002017-11-18T19:50:45.779-06:00The Life of an Oil Painting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Spring 2010 on the Arno</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">2' x 4' oil on canvas</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Session 1: Sky background complete, some layout of colors</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v2p4dqGKz34/VfoP_E5-xZI/AAAAAAAAAbA/NGsHpYaS1kU/s1600/1039890_10200277133672658_1707861424_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-v2p4dqGKz34/VfoP_E5-xZI/AAAAAAAAAbA/NGsHpYaS1kU/s640/1039890_10200277133672658_1707861424_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Session 2: More blocking in of colors</span></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gmGMtaAMvNE/VfoQC_M8J-I/AAAAAAAAAbw/caPRG1fKNK8/s1600/860330_10200277140792836_608227879_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gmGMtaAMvNE/VfoQC_M8J-I/AAAAAAAAAbw/caPRG1fKNK8/s640/860330_10200277140792836_608227879_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Session 3: Detail work on left side</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-udiCnLPX9GQ/VfoP-3NAfmI/AAAAAAAAAa4/Oda__U7cpZk/s1600/1009032_10200451124942331_1686770980_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-udiCnLPX9GQ/VfoP-3NAfmI/AAAAAAAAAa4/Oda__U7cpZk/s640/1009032_10200451124942331_1686770980_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Session 4: Some detail work moving to the right side</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ujB4vnytNWk/VfoP_EV8wQI/AAAAAAAAAa8/I5KpnsFgEao/s1600/1097114_10200467928162401_906936224_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ujB4vnytNWk/VfoP_EV8wQI/AAAAAAAAAa8/I5KpnsFgEao/s640/1097114_10200467928162401_906936224_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Session 5: Some corrections to the original buildings sketch, plus work on trees</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3pJJeYgplkQ/VfoQAZY7anI/AAAAAAAAAbM/Dbj4HmMzDyw/s1600/11754920_10204916106004067_2266793308801437308_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3pJJeYgplkQ/VfoQAZY7anI/AAAAAAAAAbM/Dbj4HmMzDyw/s640/11754920_10204916106004067_2266793308801437308_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Session 6: Completed bridge</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nlTFujNf0J8/VfoQAqOx-FI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/Bx-BPqM4sdk/s1600/11834827_10204998443502453_7170159500714430085_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nlTFujNf0J8/VfoQAqOx-FI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/Bx-BPqM4sdk/s640/11834827_10204998443502453_7170159500714430085_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Session 7: Completed river</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Tt_D9OeWO0/VfoP_zBBS7I/AAAAAAAAAbI/KIxlpqqq-n4/s1600/11225188_10205002378560827_256291863837498003_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0Tt_D9OeWO0/VfoP_zBBS7I/AAAAAAAAAbI/KIxlpqqq-n4/s640/11225188_10205002378560827_256291863837498003_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Session 8: Finished glazing for shadows, depth, and color</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W2PeYOYkZVo/VfoTcl0bU-I/AAAAAAAAAb4/DrLCAu4yvFo/s1600/11888545_10205040367790534_343096838666009858_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W2PeYOYkZVo/VfoTcl0bU-I/AAAAAAAAAb4/DrLCAu4yvFo/s640/11888545_10205040367790534_343096838666009858_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, finished and framed! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Framed by Hobby Lobby)</span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DhxainOiE2c/VfoQBzpMVlI/AAAAAAAAAbo/1sQv-ixN1Ew/s1600/11958048_10205145219531762_5263565638169592846_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DhxainOiE2c/VfoQBzpMVlI/AAAAAAAAAbo/1sQv-ixN1Ew/s640/11958048_10205145219531762_5263565638169592846_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And now for sale for a little travel escapism!</div><br />
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><i>A close reading examining the concept of education in the forest of Arden...</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="line-height: 200%;">William Shakespeare’s </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">As You Like It </i><span style="line-height: 200%;">begins with Orlando
bemoaning his elder brother’s neglect for Orlando’s education. Orlando, as
nobly born as his brother Oliver, feels he needs the formal education his other
brother Jaques is receiving as he believes there is no advancement in living
“rustically” (1.1.7). However, the rustic country people met later in the play,
and the natural ways of the forest seem to offer a more honorable and even
Christian knowledge and sense of the world than formal university training
imparts. The forest of Arden in </span><i style="line-height: 200%;">As You
Like It</i><span style="line-height: 200%;"> provides the characters with an education they need to live within
the parameters of fallen human nature.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
At court, corruption,
deception, and malicious conniving have run amuck. The politics of power have
clouded good, honest sense and judgment while the court formalities restrict
and confine more natural relationships. Brothers such as Duke Fredrick and Duke
Senior turn against one another. Oliver plots against Orlando: “I hope I shall
see an end of him; for my soul (yet I know not why) hates nothing more than he”
(1.1.164-166). Even when reason is acknowledged as absent, Oliver does not
pretend the slightest need of it for motive in getting rid of his brother. Even
when the characters attempt to express love, the court seems to throw up its
barriers. As close as sisters, Celia and Rosalind cannot accurately articulate
their feelings for each other. Celia tries to cheer Rosalind by taking a wrong
approach. Offering Rosalind Celia’s own father to take for her own when he is
the very man that banished Rosalind’s beloved father shows that Celia’s heart
is in the right place but does not actually soothe Rosalind’s sense of loss
(1.2.9-14). Yet, Rosalind still loves Celia, but also cannot communicate her
true affection as Celia notes: “Herein I see thou lov’st me not with the full
weight that I love thee” (1.2.8-9). Romantic love is also confined to the point
that Orlando cannot respond to Rosalind whom he has fallen in love with on
sight. Orlando asks himself, “Can I not say, I thank you?” and “What passion
hangs these weights upon my tongue?” (1.2.249; 257). Contrast these moments to
what happens later in the forest of Arden. Brothers must help one another in
survival, reconciling one another. Friends rely on each other and trust one
another in ways that do not need to rely on speech. Lovers can take the time to
learn about one another and communicate unconstrained. Formal education and
practices of the court seem to fail where informal education teaches within
Christian values and true relationships.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Although the country
rustics are technically uneducated, they demonstrate more knowledge of honest
and sincere living than do the courtiers, initially. As Orlando compares
himself to the rustics, he fits in this category, too (1.1.7-9). His brother
Oliver muses, “Yet he’s gentle, never school’d and yet learned, full of noble
device, or all sorts enchantingly belov’d, and indeed so much in the heart of
the world, and especially of my own people, who best know him, that I am
altogether mispris’d” (1.1.166-171). Still, after neglecting Orlando’s formal
education, Oliver finds him knowledgeable and well-loved by his people. Oliver
shows Orlando to have that sincerer connection with others and a gentle
demeanor even though it was not learned at university. In the forest of Arden,
the court clown Touchstone finds some similar attributes to be true of Corin, a
shepherd. Touchstone asks Corin if he “[h]ast any philosophy” in him to which
Corin answers in a series of observations about living life, concluding with,
“he that hath learn’d no wit by nature, nor art, may complain of good breeding,
or comes of a very dull kindred” (3.2.21; 29-31). Corin’s negatives suggest
that “wit” can be in a man’s nature. Touchstone pushes Corin, saying, “Why, if
thou never wast at court, thou never saw’st good manners, then thy manners must
be wicked, and wickedness is sin, and sin is damnation” (3.2.40-44). What is
more important here is what Touchstone is <i>not
</i>saying. By not being at court, Corin has also never seen the wickedness and
corruption <i>of</i> the court. Corin
relents, saying that Touchstone has “too courtly a wit” for him, but the word
“courtly” brings along the other corrupted aspects of courly life as well;
Touchstone is being tricky and deceptive in his playful argument. Corin instead
proves his own honesty and sincerity as untainted by the power struggles of the
court.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the forest of Arden,
the confines and restrictions of the court are loosened, and the characters
learn a more honest way of living within a fallen world that loves to breed
corruption. The courtiers get to play (or act out in) a space without danger or
threats from one another, in so doing, being educated in the life of the
rustics. The rustics, however, are not without knowledge. Their knowledge of
life has been taught to them more informally, but seems to keep their lives
sincere and relationships genuine. Living in direct contact with nature and the
forest seems to provide the characters with a deeper connection to Truth. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Works Cited<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Shakespeare,
William. <i>As You Like It</i>. <i>The
Riverside Shakespeare</i>. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1997. 403-434. Print. <o:p></o:p></div>
A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-58079027738093157982013-11-13T12:46:00.001-06:002013-11-16T00:09:38.118-06:00The Weight of Contractsˡ in The Merchant of Venice<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Something of a teaser before Friday night's </i>Merchant of Venice <i>reading...</i></div>
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In William Shakespeare’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Merchant of Venice</i>, the bounds of the law are airtight—or so they seem.
Portia’s dead father has stipulated the conditions for Portia’s marriage in his
will. Antonio agrees to Shylock’s terms of a loan for Bassanio, agreeing to a
pound of his own flesh as collateral. Portia and Nerissa make their husbands
promise to keep their rings at all costs. The overarching concept of weight in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Merchant of Venice</i> balances these
precarious contracts on the scales of law.</div>
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<br /></div>
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It is unclear what binds
Portia to her father’s will. Presumably, without fulfilling the stipulations of
the will, Portia will not receive her inheritance. However, who is enforcing
the will? Even Portia suggests a lack of enforcement when she states, “[S]o is
the will of a living daughter curb’d by the will of a dead father” (1.2.24-25).
The very person who wills Portia to adhere to specific terms under which she
may marry is incapable of seeing his will carried out. Perhaps it is due to love
and honor for her father that Portia will not abandon the will’s conditions as
Nerissa seems to say: “Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men at their
death have good inspirations; therefore the lott’ry that he hath devis’d in
these three chests of gold, silver, and lead, whereof who chooses his meaning
chooses you, will no doubt never be chosen by any rightly but on who you shall
rightly love” (1.2.27-33). Nerissa also implies the soundness of Portia’s
father’s reasoning and character. Even so, the weight of the will on Portia’s
“little body” makes her “a-weary of this great world” (1.2.1-2). Contrastingly,
Portia’s adherence to her father’s will still pushes the limits of that will. If
Bassanio would only stay with her a while, Portia “could teach [him] / How to
choose right” (3.2.10-11). However, she still falls back within the will’s
bounds, recognizing that she is “forsworn” not to give away any clues (3.2.11).</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Antonio, unable to pay
Shylock’s loan, believes he must give up his life in order to pay the specified
weight of a pound of his flesh when the promise of triple the sum owed to
Shylock fails to appease him. Shylock in multiple instances demands revenge
through “flesh and blood” even while arguing for the humanness of Jews (3.1.37).<sup>2</sup>
This repetition of the concepts of both “flesh” and “blood” throughout the play
is reversed in the court scene when Portia, in disguise, resorts to the exact
wording of the bond to decree that precisely one pound of flesh is granted
Shylock, but he must find a way to take it without one “jot of blood”
(4.1.306). This loophole threatens the scales of law, but they are able to
remain balanced since it does not overreach law's bounds.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Portia’s and Nerissa’s
tests of their husbands creates a strange test of binding contracts. For some
reason the women feel the need to deceive their husbands in order to see how
faithful they are in their oaths to their wives, even accusing them of cheating
and pretending to have cheated on them. Gratiano exclaims, “Why, this is like
the mending of highways / In summer, where the ways are fair enough. / What, are
we cuckolds ere we have deserv’d it?” (5.1.263-265). And, truly, it does not
seem that the men have deserved this treatment. Indeed, because Bassanio and
Gratiano actually did give the rings to Portia and Nerissa respectively, they
did remain within the bounds of their promises. The “heavy husband” of each
woman is made light of (5.1.130).</div>
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<br /></div>
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Measurements, scales,
and weights define the law and contracts with utmost precision. However, the very
weight of these contracts are made lighter by the ways in which the characters
push against boundaries to find room for love and mercy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span> </div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">
Notes</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
ˡ My thanks to Dr. Allen for raising the question of binding contracts at
Dr. Farabee’s Sept. 29, 2011 playreading.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<sup>2 </sup>These words concern Jessica, Shylock’s daughter, but in the
same scene Shylock goes on to apply similar images of blood and flesh directed
at Antonio and those who would wrong Jews.</div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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Works Cited</div>
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Shakespeare,
William. <i>The Merchant of Venice</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
Riverside Shakespeare</i>. Ed. G. Blakemore Evans. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1997. 288-317. Print. </div>
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<![endif]-->A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-46479228191043536042013-11-10T23:23:00.001-06:002013-11-12T13:52:11.731-06:00The (Humanities) Adjunct Conundrum: It's My Career<i>Or <br /> The Perks of Adjuncting<br /><br /></i>
That's right. I am doomed to have no job security whatsoever while my job is to teach just like any other college faculty member. But, not as like any other faculty member in other ways--this job I must do only "part-time" or, as I would state more accurately, even less so. And, then I must work this less-than-part-time job at multiple campuses simultaneously, which actually adds up to an average full-time teaching schedule without the pay or benefits at any one of them. I can't and won't pretend I am alone in this. I am only describing what I know so many other humanities graduate degrees are also experiencing because, most likely, they are not yet taken seriously in the professional world (despite other positions or part-time work experience along the way) and have been passed up for someone with equal qualifications but more years and experience in the position or its equal that would have provided a much more stable and secure full-time position (or, not to mention, part-time).
<br /><br />
So, that leaves these degrees with the experience they do have--and, consequently, leads them to the one type of job they can get. All that slave-labor as TAs in grad school pays off in one way on CVs where it fails on business resumes since it proves to college department chairs or deans that the grad behind the teaching experience section can survive the 101 classroom gig and help to fill their colleges' ever growing number of sections for a small fee--one that will undoubtedly be accepted as one of their only options because if they don't take it, someone else will (not much to negotiate, there...). And why do they do it? Perhaps there truly are no other options available (or granted to them) for financial income of any sort. Perhaps they hope if they gain more teaching experience it will eventually lead to something full-time, or, more likely, hope that if they teach long enough somewhere, it will have to become permanent sooner or later--even if it's later. Perhaps it's simply pride: if they don't keep up with positions at a level more prestigious professionally than working retail, food service, or nannying, they will never achieve the kinds of jobs they worked and hoped so hard for in grad school, and their degrees will be for naught. But then again, perhaps that slave labor in grad school simply convinced them that the classroom was where they best belonged, and to pass up the opportunity to be there, no matter in what form or for what pay, became unthinkable.
<br /><br />
While I may have arrived at this last conclusion myself (though not without a mix of several of the others), I also can't and won't pretend I wasn't grasping at any other professional- (or even para-) level full-time (or continued part-time) position I could get just to add any kind of stability to my material life possible. In some ways, I still hope that I will come to a point where one of these positions is available to me--or at least that adjuncts will gain some semblance of the slightly longer stability (or simply a smoother hiring process and better foresight for future appointments) that at least two campuses I teach at are in continued negotiations and speculations over. Yet, for all of the uncertainty, I have come to several more realizations.
<br /><br />
For one thing, I love teaching, and I love what I teach. Teaching is the only kind of job I've had that I can't say I dread going to do every day. Even on bad days, once I get into the classroom, I'm "on" and don't have room or time for anything else because my students never deserve it--no matter how much some classes try to push irritable buttons. I have a habit of teaching Yolanda O'Bannon's short essay "Living What You Do Every Day" in my developmental writing courses because it reminds me that "you have to live what you do every day of your life, so better to do what you love." Beyond that, I probably love it because I find it rewarding. It is one of the more directly rewarding and fulfilling types of jobs, and I guess that keeps me reminded of why I like doing it. I also enjoy the fact (yes, I believe it is a fact) that teaching is the best teacher, and find that it improves so many of my own skills each time I get to try it.
<br /><br />
Now, I've basically convinced myself that those reasons mentioned are the only ones I really need to be happy and satisfied with my probable life as a career-adjunct, but the common downsides have still attempted to thwart complacency in my status without wanting to reach for more. I have to admit, I often attempted to convince not only myself, but also others to whom I felt the need to justify my precarious position, by glibly listing all of the "perks" I actually experience as an adjunct that I couldn't in a higher status. Among these are included the seeming lack of authority over me; the random, but scheduled hours, which actually allow me to be home in between most classes and let me get other household tasks done bit by bit--not to forget the relatively few hours I am not able to schedule my own time unlike full-time 8-5s; and all of the meetings and committees I am not expected to be a part of, so I can simply come to campus, teach, and leave!
<br /><br />
Of course, what I don't mention are the opposite sides of each of these. With no real attachment anywhere, I fall into the "adjunct void" in which I truly don't seem to belong anywhere or get to know any colleagues. Nor do I feel I have any real opportunities to try to make a difference in any of the institutions I work at as I might if there were a higher level of commitment to me as an employee of that institution or from me to it. The actual hours I teach classes may be far less than the standard eight-hour day, but every moment in between (even if I'm juggling laundry and dishes at the same time just because I may be at home) must be dedicated to grading and lesson-planning if I am to keep up or have any evenings or weekends free. On a larger scale, if I don't manage to get about seven classes a year, I won't make enough for my budget, and I never have the certainty that I'll be able to get them. Moreover, with only continuing "teaching" for my CV/resume experience list, it seems unlikely I could move into any more stable administrative or other professional type of full-time position that I might enjoy if teaching full-time (in title) never becomes possible.
<br /><br />
Yet, despite everything, my biggest realization of all is how humbling this adjunct conundrum has been for me in teaching me reliance and trust not on myself, but on God. I have always been one to make things happen one way or another, and I've generally learned I can't rely on anyone else to make them happen. I like things stable and predictable. I have always felt that if something didn't work out the way I thought it should, I wasn't doing something well enough or that I went wrong somewhere. I would forget who was really in control. Having come into this direction in life working from semester to semester as an adjunct has obliterated all of my naive notions about my life. I have now begun to rethink everything it means for me.
<br /><br />
In such an unstable, unreliable position with no worldly job security, after submitting my CV, or my name pleading for any opportunities, I can only pray and rely on God to provide. If He chooses that it would be best if I only get two classes to teach one semester instead of three, I trust (although sometimes that's still a work in progress) that he will see me through somehow, by either providing another opportunity or by making up for it in another semester. If nothing else, my lack of control and uncertainty keeps His prayer line on my speed-dial--at work, getting ready, on walks, driving between classes... I know I've been self-reliant for far too long (or so I believed it was I making everything happen as it should), and God made sure to show me that mistake. But, at the same time, he has graciously blessed me with an (unreliable, yet fairly continued) job I enjoy so much, and I praise him for such a rare opportunity. I also believe he has used this situation to show me that worldly wealth is truly only earthly and temporal. Through adjuncting, I've been earning, semester by semester, just enough to feel perfectly content. Due to these things, I remember much more often what is truly important, and I try more and more to direct my thoughts heavenward. I guess adjuncting has been a lesson in being satisfied with what I have and humble about where I am at, without having to constantly strive for more--which would still only be earthly "perks" anyway. A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-40316487535424011442013-11-04T16:38:00.004-06:002013-11-04T16:40:43.040-06:00Lancelot of the Lake: The Burdens of Knighthood<i>Another close reading, this time examining the purpose of the knight...</i> <br />
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There seems to be a problem with the definitions of Christian worth and nobility along with the definitions of knighthood and duty in Lancelot of the Lake. Lancelot has some very selfish ends to be in compliance with these ideals. But, it can also be seen how these ideals do not fit together quite harmoniously, either. Lancelot starts out with a pureness, an innocence, in which he spouts “noble advice” and simply feels it feels right address Lionel as his cousin (44). Lancelot also has a profound definition of what it means to be noble realizing that “all men are descended from one man and one woman” so a “great heart” is all that is necessary to make a nobleman (44). Lancelot is definitely a more spiritually connected being here than he seems to show evidence of later on. This rather inherent spirituality does not contradict what is said to be the original purpose of the knight as a protector of the church.<br />
<br />
As a protector of the Holy Church, the knight is almost more of a symbolic figure as a soldier against evil, sin, and unbelief in the abstract sense. Literally, in Lancelot of the Lake, the whole of the knight and his purpose is a multifaceted metaphor for the Christian believer in general. The knight is the son to his mother the church, standing between her and evil (just as the knight’s shield is between him and the blows), to “protect” and “avenge” her (53). The knight should vigilantly defend the church as his hauberk defends the knight against attack (53). His double-edged sword serves both God and His people and the point signifies obedience to the knight—or perhaps this could be read, too, as obedience to the will of the Holy Church as the knight is a servant of the church? And the people the knight aids should aid him materially where the church should keep him spiritually through prayer and alms (55). This metaphor and the “two hearts” the knight is meant to possess are reminiscent of the Christian putting on the armor of God from Ephesians 6 and the idea of being in the world but not of the world from John (55). Where this separation and balance starts to become hazy is when loyalties, oaths, and the quest for renown and prowess become conflated.<br />
<br />
Lancelot appears to become much more self-serving once he reaches knighthood. Even this he obtains through his own way. After this, we never quite see the same sort of spiritual connection so prominent early in the text. Certainly, Lancelot still seems to be serving the Lady of the Lake above all as he is carrying out her will for him by gaining immediate knighthood and carrying out all types of tests and adventures to gain his fame. However, Lancelot’s knighthood in practice (mainly meaning his carrying out of the Lady of the Lake’s predicted future for him) does not closely follow his expected role as defined in the beginning for knights. Even though part of that role is serving God’s people, which Lancelot would seem to be doing by serving King Arthur, it still looks like he is really serving himself. First, he breaks his promise to Yvain to return and goes off to aid Lady Nohaut first, taking leave of Arthur’s court a bit prematurely. In this, he serves his own desire for Guinevere to be the one to knight him, and the Lady of the Lake’s desire for his future—which in essence is also Lancelot’s wish. His love for Guinevere is then his new driving force, but also a selfish one (not to mention an adulterous, un-Christian one), on top of these others. Most peculiarly of all is Lancelot’s mostly unexplained need “to travel in complete secrecy, so that no one should recognize him, as he wished to win honour and renown (98). This perhaps makes his deeds appear to have a less selfish intent, but the result is truly greater renown as he becomes the mysterious knight—who is, of course, always recognized from his description by the queen, serving his more selfish end.<br />
<br />
When Lancelot’s selfishness seems to have consequences, or at least when this friction between the loyalties, oaths, and quest for renown start to take effect, is in Lancelot’s conquering of the Dolorous Guard. There are some rather disturbing scenes of brutality that are described, and it is hard to distinguish just how Lancelot feels about all of it. The knights of the Dolorous Guard are problematic because they sincerely want Lancelot to succeed and lift the enchantments, yet they serve their lord, King Brandin, and do his bidding. On the other hand, they do his bidding because it seems they must in order for someone to be able to break the enchantments. But, where this is unsettling is in that these knights tell Lancelot this, making it clearly known to Lancelot. And, although Lancelot must understand this, he much more appears to ignore it in order to succeed. Lancelot continues to attack those knights who are being replaced even after their replacements arrive. Although this may be necessary to lift the enchantments, it conflicts with the moral and knightly code of mercy and nobleness. Moreover, the means by which Lancelot goes about defeating some of these knights is excessively brutal:
<br />
<blockquote>
He went over to him, and struck him with his horse’s chest, so that he knocked him back down to the ground, then rode over him until he was quite battered, and unable to get up. Then he looked, and saw the knight lying in the stream, who was already getting up again. He went towards him, sword in hand, and struck him without slowing down, so that he completely stunned him and knocked him down again in a daze, and rode his horse over him also, as much as he had the other, so that he badly injured him and he passed out from the pain. (108) </blockquote>
Lancelot is also “forced” to kill those knights that were unconscious and unable to answer his command for them to become his prisoners calling on God to “never be his witness if he went on feeling sorry about killing them” (115). Necessity or not, these instances feel uncomfortable in terms of serving “God’s people.” What is worse is that there is no immediate gratification or relief for the people of the Dolorous Guard when Lancelot does not complete the lifting of the enchantments right away.
<br />
In the end, with Lancelot’s adulterous love for Guinevere, I am not sure we ever see his original innocence returned. As great a knight as Lancelot becomes, the sometimes questionable (or at least very hazy) things he has to do to get there make him much less admirable. Even when Lancelot weeps for some of the things he has done, it does not last long or hold much weight over him. But, at least these moments might show a troubled conscience—but then if they do, how is what Lancelot does as a knight following the protective order of the Holy Church?<br />
<br />
<center>Works Cited</center><br />
Lancelot of the Lake. Trans. Corin Corley. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1989. Print.
A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-28904479822795321942013-10-31T14:53:00.003-05:002013-10-31T14:58:17.892-05:00Malory’s Le Morte Darthur: Merlin’s Providence<i>Just a little Merlin (close reading) for some Hallowe'en reading...</i><br />
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The first noticeable difference in Sir Thomas Malory’s version of the
Arthurian legends from the previous existing accounts is the pervasive
influence of Merlin. Although Merlin has been given a prominent place in the
modern notions of the Arthurian tradition, Malory’s is the first text to truly
establish Merlin as a crucial player in the accession of Arthur to the throne
as well as a character. Because Merlin only seems necessary in a few points in
earlier texts, he is given little description or attention. In fact, Geoffrey
of Monmouth seems to have spent the most time on Merlin’s character, and then
only in a small anecdote of Merlin as a child and the discovery of him and his
prophecies. However, the prophecies are set apart from the rest of the account
and only a few seem to be truly integrated. Malory, on the other hand, creates
a much more prominent as well as integrated Merlin, undetachable from the rest
of the plot. Malory’s Merlin becomes, in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Le
Morte Darthur</i>, the motion of God’s Providence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
It seems unclear, in the
beginning, why Arthur must not be brought up by his father, Uther, but instead
by the lower Sir Ector aside from the fact that Merlin orders it so. Malory
does not seem to elaborate on this much; however, it is clear that in this way,
Arthur is brought up in such a way that he does not know his royal heritage. Therefore,
Arthur has the opportunity to fill his later inherited role as a good and
righteous king, sympathetic to the common people and naturally kind to his
former equals. This is shown first when Sir Ector witnesses Arthur pull the
sword from the stone and recognizes Arthur as his superior, and not his son.
Arthur, of course, swears to be his foster family’s “good and gracious lord,”
and to have his “foster broder Syre Kay” as “senceall of alle [his] landes”
(9-10). It seems that the peasants also desire one of their closer peers to
take the throne (especially after they see the sign of “Goddes wille”): “[A]lle
the comyns cryed at ones, ‘We wille have Arthur unto our kyng” (11). In this
way, Merlin has created a good and desirable king (even though some see his
youth negatively) by influencing Arthur’s upbringing. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Of course, it is also
Merlin who devises the sign for everyone to see that it is Arthur who should be
king. It is Merlin who advises the Archbishop of Canterbury to make sure all
lords and “gentilmen of armes” go to London to see “somme myracle who shold be
rightwys kynge of this reame” (7). Because this was all “counceilled” and
“devysed” by Merlin, it also seems clear that Merlin is responsible for the
“miracle” supposedly from “Jesu” (7). However, rather than completely
undermining God’s Providence, Merlin seems to almost be enacting it, instead.
Merlin does recognize God’s will as is seen before Uther’s death, but puts
himself alongside the workings of God stating, “God and I shalle make hym to
speke” (7). This is seen also when Merlin acts through the Archbishop of Canterbury,
a representative of God. Malory even describes this as the Archbishop acting
according to “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Merlyns</i> provydence”
(italics mine 11). Yet, Merlin’s providence still seems to be under God’s
Providence</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Merlin’s many
prophecies, though made by Merlin, are still foreseeing what <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will </i>happen. Even though Merlin aids in
the creation of certain ends, his prophecies (and especially the ones that are
seen fulfilled) prove that there is a predestined future, inevitable in one way
or another. For example, Merlin foretells both his and Arthur’s deaths, saying
it is “Goddis wylle” that Arthur “be punysshed for [his] fowle dedis,” but yet
he will have a “worshipfull dethe” while Merlin will only have a “shamefull
dethe, to be putte in the erthe quycke” (31). Even so, knowing his fate, Merlin
cannot change it as it is later fulfilled through his hopeless love for Nenyve,
a damsel of the Lady of the Lake. Even though she only uses Merlin for the
“wondyrs” he can teach her, he continues to follow her anyway, until “by hir
subtyle worchyng she made Merlyon to go undir that stone to latte hir wete of
the mervayles there; but she wrought so there for hym that he come never oute
for all the craufte he coude do” (79). Merlin may help along and help devise
some of the pieces along God’s Providence, but the end is still out of his
control.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
However, Merlin’s end is
not the end of his devices. Merlin plants certain things for the future to let
them play out as they will. One such “device” is set up after the burial of
Balyn and Balan when Merlin puts Balyn’s sword </div>
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into a marbil stone
stondynge upright, as a grete mylstone, and hoved always above the water, and
dud many yeres. (And so by adventure hit swamme downe by the streme unto the
cité of Camelot . . . And that same day Galahad the haute prynce com with Kynge
Arthure; and so Galaad brought with hym the scaberde and encheved the swerde
that was in the marble stone hovynge upon the water. . .) (61)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Merlin also leaves the scabbard “on thys side the ilonde, that Galaad
shole fynde hit” (61). In this way, Merlin both prophecies what will happen and
helps to make it happen without his being there to guide events in that future.
Even though here Merlin is devising God’s Providence, God is left to oversee
that these events happen. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Perhaps the reason for
including Merlin so much more thoroughly is Malory’s way of playing off of what
had become a much more popular figure in the Arthurian legend and creating a
more solidly memorable character. Perhaps Malory meant to attempt a more concrete
explanation for the random and ungrounded supernatural events that must happen
in his encyclopedia according to the previous romances, accounts, or
compilations. Whatever the case, Malory does seem to be mixing the traditional
explanation that sufficed at one time—simply that of “God’s Providence”—with a
more realistic means for the events within Malory’s reinvented Arthurian world.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></div>
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Works Cited</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-indent: -.5in;">
Malory,
Sir Thomas. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Le Morte Darthur</i>. Ed.
Stephen H. A. Shepherd. New York: Norton, 2004. Print.</div>
A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-83610313304813771022013-10-29T19:51:00.003-05:002013-10-29T20:39:28.437-05:00Otherworld Intervention: The Role of the Supernatural in Geoffrey and Chrétien<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;"><i>A little Arthurian magic before Halowe'en... </i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">One of the always-present
tensions in Arthurian legends is the conflicting duties of the chivalric code,
serving both secular and religious ends. Chrétien de Troyes’s romance of the
grail quest is a prime example, but even Geoffrey of Monmouth’s history of
Britain displays some of his conflicting intentions. However, in the middle of
this tension occurs the weird and mystical. The ideas of magic and supernatural
have a very ambiguous role in the medieval Arthurian tradition where the lines
between reality and the otherworld are constantly blurred and confused. Are
these bizarre elements merely included for the excitement or intrigue they
might provide, or do they serve a larger purpose? Examining the effects the
supernatural has on the characters or events in the romantic history of Britain
and the tale of Perceval while taking into account possible medieval reception
and author motivations shows how the supernatural fits within the conflict
between the sacred and secular. The role of the supernatural aspects in
Geoffrey’s <i>The History of the Kings of
Britain</i> and Chrétien’s <i>The Story of
the Grail</i> <i>(Perceval)</i> serves to affirm
a divine destiny and purpose.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;"> The range of medieval ideas of magic extends from the
extremes of the evil power of demons to divine miracle with a kind of milder,
ambiguous variety in between—perhaps not truly good or evil. Geoffrey of
Monmouth appears to be exhibiting the middle realm in his <i>History</i>—or at least trying to make the possible extremes seem safer
or more realistic. The finding of Merlin, a boy born without a father, whose
blood King Vortigern requires to solidify the foundations of his tower fortress
is the start of the more major elements of the supernatural in the history.
Geoffrey, however, does not state it as fact that Merlin was conceived from an
incubus but steps around making the assertion through using the words of the
sage Maugantius (129). Since Geoffrey provides no alternative, the idea is
taken for fact and serves as explanation for Merlin’s ability to make the
subsequent prophecies. The prophecies themselves are then an instance of the
supernatural entering the worldly sphere of reality, seemingly outside of any
religion. <br><br></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;"> However, including this unearthly wise figure and his
prophecies does not necessarily condemn Geoffrey’s credibility with his
audience or church. Julia Crick argues that the inclusion of the prophecies
actually helped give his <i>History</i> its
credibility. Whether or not they truly believed in the prophecies, rulers and
politicians would both use and reject various prophecies if it helped their
cases (Crick 365). In the church, other, non-Christian prophets were already
accepted, which let it see Merlin “as the mouthpiece for divine revelation” (362).
Furthermore, when studied in conjunction with his <i>History</i>, readers were able to identify some of the prophecies
already fulfilled in the historical events (363). In this sense, Merlin’s
supernatural role is moved into the divine realm. Nikolai Tolstoy supports the
ready acceptance of prophecy in the Middle Ages by noting that “prophecy played
a central function in understanding the world and determining courses of action
. . . . after all, several books of the Bible testified to its authority” (8). Again,
the prophecies do not then conflict with a religious world view, but support
divine destiny. This shows Geoffrey’s habit of keeping the history theologically
Christian, but giving into his desire to include the marvelous. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Other instances of the supernatural in Geoffrey’s <i>History</i> continue to show his pattern of
reconciling magic with realism and Christianity. Early in the <i>History</i>, when an Irish Sea creature abruptly
appears and gobbles up the cruel King Morvidus just after he has his prisoners
brutally killed, it is difficult not to interpret as a divine providence that decided
to intervene (Monmouth 80). Taken from folklore or contrived by Geoffrey, the
point he is making about evil kings is clear. Geoffrey also inserts Arthur’s
shield, Pridwen, which bears a depiction of the Virgin Mary, “keeping him
always mindful of her” along with “the greatest of swords,” Caliburn, “which
had been made in the isle of Avalon” (166-167). With these superior weapons
(Pridwen literally depicts spiritual matters and Caliburn comes from the
mystical Avalon), Arthur defeats a staggering 470 Saxons each “with a single
blow” (167). Arthur’s incredible victory eventually allows him to have mercy on
the “holy men” and grant the bishops some land (169). These details keep
Christianity at the center of Arthur’s success thus far in the history, which
is reminiscent of biblical battles in which God is on the side of the
believers, causing their success. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;"> The more
complicated instance of the supernatural is the concoction Merlin creates for Uther
to take on the appearance of Gorlois so Uther can sleep with his wife Igerna
without anyone knowing. Although it sounds like a fantastical, and rather
demonic, potion, Geoffrey smoothes over the issue of black magic by attributing
the “concoction” to advanced science, or “new arts that are unheard of in this
day and age,” putting it into that more middle area of good and bad magic
(158). This allows the king to commit adultery to satisfy a worldly desire.
This is far from religiously acceptable; however, Geoffrey makes it seem not so
sinful by meanwhile killing Gorlois in battle. Unlike what seems to be a mirroring
of the biblical account of the sinful David and Bathsheba, Igerna is ignorant
of what would be her sin (if Gorlois were still alive), and she becomes
pregnant with Uther’s son, Arthur. So, rather than a detrimental act, Merlin’s
concoction actually allows the existence of the famed king, fulfilling Merlin’s
prophecy, and potentially occurs as an act of divine destiny. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Chrétien, writing for the crusader, Count Philip of
Flanders, clearly has a spiritual kind of chivalry in mind, as is seen from the
dedication, for the romance, <i>The Story of
the Grail (Perceval)</i>. Throughout the story, there is a strong sense of destiny
and a divine purpose—especially seen in the mystical and supernatural aspects—even
though destiny may not be fulfilled through to the end.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#_edn1" name="_ednref1" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#1">[1]</a></span></span></span>
There are at least six prophecies made about Perceval’s destiny. Perceval’s
mother admits that he is “destined for knighthood,” and Perceval fulfills this
destiny, although it seems he perhaps takes on knighthood rather than actually
being knighted (386). Dennis D. Martin, in his analysis of Perceval based on
the theological implications of the words <i>give
</i>and <i>take</i>, suggests that
Perceval’s failure arises from his inability to have “the discretion and
discernment needed to know when to give and when to take” (179). Martin defines
chivalry as having this discretion because “chivalry was all about <i>giving </i>and <i>taking</i>” (179). Perceval decides not to make the sign of the cross
to invoke God’s help when he senses danger, deciding to use his own strength,
he takes the maiden’s kisses and ring, and he forcefully takes the red armor.
Even though the prophecies say Perceval will succeed in certain things—that he
is already destined for them—Perceval tries to make his own destiny not trusting,
or perhaps knowing, God. To put first
the spiritual chivalry over the secular, Perceval needs to trust in and
remember God with a humble mind for true success and fulfillment of destiny.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#_edn2" name="_ednref2" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#2">[2]</a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Aside from the prophecies, there are several other
supernatural events in <i>Perceval</i>
pointing to a divine plan. Oaths, in particular, seem to have a magical bind. Perceval
also has no need to lock up his prisoners, as they have sworn “not to attempt
to escape or ever seek to do them harm” (412). Each knight Perceval defeats and
sends back to King Arthur as prisoner obediently goes and follows all of
Perceval’s instructions exactly and perfectly. In this way, Perceval’s destiny
to be the “supreme lord among all knights” by gaining his reputation so no one
would “ever acknowledge” a knight better than he begins to form (Chrétien 394).
It also carries his self-made promises (or perhaps prophecies) to Arthur’s
court. Yet, this prophecy fulfilled seems to elevate the chivalric code of
knights above the spiritual.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">At the mysterious and mystical Grail Castle (which itself
seems to appear out of nowhere), Perceval makes it clear which “higher” purpose
he is aiming to follow. Ann McCullough makes a strong argument for the
influence of the Jewish Passover celebration in the grail procession, meant to
induce the youngest (Perceval, in this case) to ask about the reasons for the
differences in that particular meal. This questioning would then have
“liberated,” as in the Jewish tradition, the Fisher King and his lands (52).
McCullough’s reason for the sin of the failure to ask is that Perceval,
actually trying not to sin, “unknowingly breaks the religious law of the castle
precisely because he is upholding another law: the law of chivalry” (54). The
difference is that “[r]eligious law requires that one question—that is, that
one should want to know; chivalric law requires that one remain mute and not
exhibit the desire to know” (54). Perceval has followed the more secular advice
of Gornemant. At this point, Perceval has become too earthly or secular minded
to understand his role in the spiritual realm and greater divine plan, even
though everything about the Grail Castle, the Fisher King, and the procession
of the glowing grail and bleeding lance are all pointing him in the other
direction. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">The natures of these puzzling relics also have
significant effects on Perceval’s destiny. McCullough interprets Perceval’s
inability to ask about the relics as caused by his aversion to pain and
suffering as well as his “blindness” to them—and the grail and lance “point to
a pain and suffering that must be acknowledged” (54). She believes this is why
Perceval naïvely goes off to discover their secrets through knightly glory and
chivalry, denying the possibilities of emasculation (54). The grail is some
kind of serving vessel, symbolizing the mutual, humble service between
Christians and Christ. That the pure “white lance” bleeding “a red drop”
symbolically refers to Christ’s suffering and crucifixion for the redemption
from sin requires a humble, servile mindset and potential suffering on the
Christian’s part is foreign to Perceval (Chrétien 420). In this way, Perceval
seems fated to fail. However, some critics trace this deficiency back to
Perceval’s mother—whose fatal grief is, ironically, the apparent reason
Perceval did not ask about the grail procession in the first place and sinned.
Ewa Slojka blames Perceval’s mother’s loss of faith through her many sufferings
as the cause of Perceval’s disconnect from the spiritual due to his “upbringing”
from her (66). This dissolves Perceval’s bond with God—the supernatural—and God
intervenes by having Perceval cross paths with Good Friday observers who direct
him back to the “right” path, both literally to the holy hermit, and
figuratively to repentance—inadvertently, to suffering on account of his sins
(Chrétien 458).<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#_edn3" name="_ednref3" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#3">[3]</a></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Even
when the supernatural occurs because of secular reasons in both <i>The History of the Kings of Britain </i>and <i>The Story of the Grail (Perceval)</i>, it
ultimately leads to the greater Christian purpose. Where Geoffrey slyly inserts
instances of the marvelous for reasons of both romantic intrigue and evidence
of a divine destiny in the making, Chrétien boldly places mystical occurrences
at the heart of his romance to point to the path of the superior spiritual
providence over earthly glory. In <i>The
Story of the Grail</i>, even secular preoccupations are turned by a higher
intervention to the sacred in the end—whether or not readers will ever know the
ending Chrétien had in mind! Geoffrey works to prove God’s divine will and
active role within Britain, justifying its existence on a political level. The
predestination emphasized by the supernatural in these works culminates in Perceval’s
return to God, and likewise in the extra line of hope Geoffrey felt the need to
add after Britain’s fallen fortune: “[Arthur] was carried away to healed of his
wounds on the isle of Avalon” (199). Therefore, Arthur’s Christian purpose in
Britain has hope to live on.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Notes</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br clear="all" /></span></span>
<br />
<hr align="left" size="1" width="33%" />
<div id="edn1">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="1">[1]</a></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> Even if Chrétien meant to redeem
Perceval after he fails to question the Fisher King (as seems to be the
direction when Chrétien leaves off), Perceval still does not succeed initially
in his spiritual fulfillment.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn2">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#_ednref2" name="_edn2" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="2">[2]</a></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> Martin states, “What was once the
marvelous acknowledgement of true human dignity—our reception of our very
selves from God in grateful dependence—has become dehumanizing to many”
(185-186). He continues to say that, therefore, love has become replaced
instead with power. This is seen in Perceval’s more forceful, self-fulfilling
moments. </span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088631172743954459#_ednref3" name="_edn3" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 200%;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="3">[3]</a></span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 200%;"> This all still supports the idea
that <i>The Story of the Grail </i>“is one
of spiritual growth” from M. Amelia Klenke’s 1956 article.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;"> </span></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-align: center; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Works Cited</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Chrétien de Troyes. “The Story of the
Grail (Perceval).” <i>Arthurian Romances</i>.
London: Penguin, 2004. 381-494. Print.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Crick, Julia. “Geoffrey of Monmouth:
Prophecy and History.” <i>Journal of
Medieval History</i> 18.4 (1992): 357-71. Print.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Geoffrey of Monmouth. <i>The History of the Kings of Britain</i>.
Trans. and ed. Michael A. Faletra. Peterborough: Broadview, 2008. Print.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Klenke, M. Ameila. “The Spiritual
Ascent of Perceval.” <i>Studies in Philology</i>
53.1 (1956): 1-21. <i>JSTOR</i>. Web. 6 Feb.
2011.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Martin, Dennis D. “Give and Take in
Grail-Quest, Gawain, and Roman Missal: Why Perceval Just Doesn’t Get It.” <i>Logos</i> 4.4 (2001): 169-203. <i>Project Muse</i>. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">McCullough, Ann. “Criminal Naivety:
Blind Resistance and the Pain of Knowing in Chrétien de Troyes’s ‘Conte du
Graal.’” <i>The Modern Language Review</i>
101.1 (2006): 48-61. <i>JSTOR.</i> Web. 13
Feb. 2011.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Slojka, Ewa. “Escape from Paradox:
Perceval’s Upbringing in the <i>Conte du Graal</i>.”
<i>Arthuriana</i> 18.4 (2008): 66-86. <i>Project Muse</i>. Web. 13 Feb. 2011.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; text-indent: -0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small; line-height: 200%;">Tolstoy, Nikolai. “Geoffrey of
Monmouth and the Merlin Legend.” <i>Arthurian
Literature</i> 25.1 (2008): 1-42. Print. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="line-height: 200%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-1587407881014291542013-10-27T13:52:00.000-05:002013-10-27T14:07:06.858-05:00Tiny Gardening for Red-Eyed Crocodile SkinksIt all started when my husband and I decided we would adopt these two vicious little dragons:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nLYa8j82ACo/Um1FOSbqUYI/AAAAAAAAAWM/7_9MhD-xRU4/s1600/IMG_4221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nLYa8j82ACo/Um1FOSbqUYI/AAAAAAAAAWM/7_9MhD-xRU4/s1600/IMG_4221.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
Smaug and Nessie, a male and female red-eyed crocodile skink pair <span class="st">(Triblonotus gracilis). I wasn't as keen on the idea of keeping those of the reptilian sort in my home, but my husband persuaded me by giving me free reign to build the terrarium I've always wanted for them to live in. After many trips to the pet store and florist shops, I came up with this set up:</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZuxUjUZTbE/Um1F0wKTNzI/AAAAAAAAAW8/PrP_z27tGyU/s1600/IMG_4231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hZuxUjUZTbE/Um1F0wKTNzI/AAAAAAAAAW8/PrP_z27tGyU/s1600/IMG_4231.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
The terrarium is a 36" x 18" x 16" Tetrafauna brand reptile habitat with top opening screens and front-opening glass sliding doors. Due to excessive air flow, we partially covered the screen tops with plexiglass panels to keep in moisture and increase humidity levels. For heating and lighting, we chose a 36" Exo Terra hood lamp that has places for four bulbs and two light switches. We put low wattage UVB lights on either end (they go with one switch) and two low wattage heat lamps in the center (on the other light switch), so we can easily turn them off and on for day or night. We added an additional heat pad on the back side of the tank (the substrate layers are too thick to make it effective on the bottom of the terrarium, where it is usually placed) on the left end to help create more of a temperature gradient for our tropical inhabitants. <br />
<br />
The terrarium also has a drainage hole at the bottom right (the side on which we keep the water sources), which we've been allowing to drain continuously. A layer of water always stays in the drainage layer, so only excess water seems to drain out. We used large aquarium pebbles over the bottom for the drainage layer, then added a double layer of outdoor bedding liner to separate the drainage layer from the substrate. We mixed substrates to include bark and added a few pebbles, too (croc skinks are, indeed, burrowers). Lastly, we added a thin layer of sphagnum moss over most of the substrate to vary the "terrain" and finish off the look. The moss also keeps up the moisture levels, as it holds a lot of water. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IJe2mXgF_Ls/Um1FdYd-HvI/AAAAAAAAAWk/MGQ_WC4ZonA/s1600/IMG_4226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IJe2mXgF_Ls/Um1FdYd-HvI/AAAAAAAAAWk/MGQ_WC4ZonA/s1600/IMG_4226.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9ybyPxcssc/Um1Fu_hCuLI/AAAAAAAAAW0/ljlw_-OK8YU/s1600/IMG_4230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O9ybyPxcssc/Um1Fu_hCuLI/AAAAAAAAAW0/ljlw_-OK8YU/s1600/IMG_4230.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BHbiBmJk4RA/Um1FlfHAKjI/AAAAAAAAAWs/E5Pos3kAXoc/s1600/IMG_4228.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BHbiBmJk4RA/Um1FlfHAKjI/AAAAAAAAAWs/E5Pos3kAXoc/s1600/IMG_4228.JPG" height="150" width="200" /> </a> </div>
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As tropical lizards, the "tribbies" provided me with the chance to keep plants normally reluctant to thrive even indoors in the dry winter conditions of Minnesota. I grabbed a variety of terrarium-friendly tropical plants, as tribbies don't seem to disturb them much or attempt to eat them, being insectivorous. After a good initial soak, most of the plants have so far done well with a regular misting. Tribbies also need a lot of hiding places, the shy creatures that they are, so I chose a mix of foliage that would also give them some "cover" when they move about the vivarium.</div>
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For the decor and tribbie playground items, we chose to theme the vivarium on the medieval/fairytale castle tropes after the tribbies' dragon-like looks. For an extra hide, we chose a gray rock-shaped hide (the most different from the more common tans of desert terrarium pieces) that we can move about the vivarium, a half-log turtle hut to give the lizards some cover in the soaking dish and provide another climbing opportunity, and some larger rocks to place randomly. I purchased a large aquarium castle to be the centerpiece. To make it look a natural part of the vivarium, the castle was set directly on the bedding liner before filling it in with substrate. This worked well as the substrate filled in around the various rock formations and protrusions that make up the castle's base. After filling the inside with substrate and moss as well, it has become a favorite hide for Nessie. The castle itself also provides a lot of nooks and crannies, in the base and up inside the turrets where she likes to climb.</div>
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I also employed cork rounds as planters to create different levels and more climbing and hiding opportunities for the lizards. Evidence in my front-most cork round suggests a tribbie tried to burrow into it from the top, but must have decided it was an inadequately hidden nest and has since left it alone. Thankfully, most of my plant in that round survived. I also used a flat log piece of cork bark (after first making the mistake of getting a grapewood log--they mold immediately in a damp environment) across the back left corner to bank up the substrate behind and create another planting level (on top of which is my other cork round planter).</div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Vw7ntiZfjM/Um1FTUq8UgI/AAAAAAAAAWU/Eob8GHrV_nU/s1600/IMG_4224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0Vw7ntiZfjM/Um1FTUq8UgI/AAAAAAAAAWU/Eob8GHrV_nU/s1600/IMG_4224.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a>This has since become the perfect burrowing location for Smaug (as shown on left), who has since renovated and made the gap between the cork bark log and back of the tank his new doorway. (Can you find him?)<br />
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You can also see the sheet of coconut fiber (meant for a hermit crab cage, I believe) I hung across the back of the terrarium to create a more natural-looking background--and functional! The tribbies do like to climb, and they can easily navigate the course fibers with their sharp little claws. To give it a more finished look, I cut slits into the fiber sheet in order to attach sphagnum moss at various intervals. Most of the moss has since been torn down by curious climbing lizards, but the coconut fiber itself still provides a nice background visually, almost looking like a cliff face with the castle for perspective.<br />
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In the pictures, the inescapable mealworm dish is also visible. We chose this method to keep track of the food better than if we left the lizards hunt for it. This way, we can just refill it every time it is empty and let them eat when they want to. So far, they have been emptying it every couple of days, which seems to be normal.<br />
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Lastly, we added two water sources. One is for soaking, the other for drinking and providing humidity. We decided to go with a large reptile soaking dish so that it would have enough surface area. However, it is slightly deeper than it needs to be, so we layered the bottom with pebbles (larger rocks around the outsides) to prevent the lizard from drowning and to help them climb out again. The water needs to be changed and the dish cleaned every few days. For appearances, and for ease of access for the lizards, we sunk the dish in the substrate so that it sits on the bedding liner. In order to disturb the plants and substrate near the dish as little as possible every time we need to remove it for cleaning, we created a sheath for the dish with thick plastic sheeting and duct tape. This holds the substrate back when we take the dish out and helps to hold everything in place.<br />
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We purchased the medium-sized Exo Terra waterfall, which has a space for the optional fogger. The waterfall construction and pump keeps the water clean for the tribbies to drink. We use Aquasafe and Biotize in the water (in both locations) especially to keep a slimy layer from forming on the waterfall. The fogger does help with keeping moisture levels up on a regular basis in the vivarium, since we are not able to spray it down frequently enough; however, I still find that a regular misting seems necessary for the plants and humidity--especially on the opposite side of the terrarium. The fogger is fickle at best, often requires replacement parts, but has so far been the best option for our vivarium setup since we have the waterfall it goes with. The waterfall pump is pretty stable, but occasionally needs to be cleaned out if dirt or substrate goes into the basin and clogs it. So far it has always worked after cleaning. The tribbies appear to like it. We've seen them climbing on the waterfall and once even found them up inside of it! We have since remedied that problem with a little plumbers putty to keep the various pieces of the waterfall sitting securely in place.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPtQipM-r3Y/Um1FVqst50I/AAAAAAAAAWc/KJ0Qz0_eT1M/s1600/IMG_4225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZPtQipM-r3Y/Um1FVqst50I/AAAAAAAAAWc/KJ0Qz0_eT1M/s1600/IMG_4225.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Smaug peeking out of his newly renovated<br />
home dug out behind the log.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
After arranging everything, I found there was still room for a few more plants, had I wanted them, but decided to save the remaining open spaces for the enjoyment of the little dragons--not that they're bold enough to use them much, but after more time, perhaps they will get more comfortable with us!<br />
As it turns out, I have become quite attached to our little dragons and have striven to make the vivarium as comfortable as possible for them.A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-55010810160646551622013-10-26T11:51:00.001-05:002013-10-28T15:55:53.210-05:00A Midsummer Night's Dream: A Theatrical InterpretationAlthough this post comes too late for the reading of <i>A Midsummer Night's Dream</i> in the monthly Shakespeare readings I host, I thought I'd still share this theatrical design I once created years ago for the play:<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A Midsummer
Night’s Dream: Analysis and Justification</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">William Shakespeare’s <i>A Midsummer
Night’s Dream</i> has been a favorite classic to produce for years. It has a very
fairytale-like quality that enchants its audience and performers alike.
Traditionally, the play is rather aesthetic and, in a way, almost pastoral in
nature. These kinds of pieces tug at the imagination and draw viewers in. They
evoke whimsical emotions and something not quite so different from nostalgia.
This play has given many directors room to play and manipulate the concept
within the script’s bounds. Countless interpretations have been given—from the
extremely bizarre to Shakespeare’s traditional. For my concept of William
Shakespeare’s <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>, the whole play is to be in Puck’s
imagination as a work of art.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t4ElykGWkgU/Umvyfe61zlI/AAAAAAAAASg/LiYs9PdDaME/s1600/001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t4ElykGWkgU/Umvyfe61zlI/AAAAAAAAASg/LiYs9PdDaME/s1600/001.JPG" height="234" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Theatre in itself is art, and <i>A
Midsummer Night’s Drea</i>m is one of the most artistic plays. Visually, it is very
involved and generally pleasing to look at. Sets for this play are often
intricate and extensive. The visual aspects for <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> are
the first to grab my attention. Second is the music that can hold powerful
influence over the undertones of the performance. Then the masterful poetry of
the work alone is artistic and is particularly appealing to me because of its
categorization in the fantasy genre. It is, overall, a playful romance with
humorous mischief and satire, which makes it incredibly endearing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Puck’s line in act III scene ii,
“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” essentially defines Shakespeare’s main
reason for writing <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i>. The play confronts the difficulties
of love and dreams that humans face, how they treat it (specifically their
unreasonableness), and their stubbornness with which they determine reality
from fantasy. Shakespeare uses it to bring up a question of the actual nature
of art and fantasy—or of the imagination in general. He is able to do this by
using very bold contrasts and the fickle (if rather realistic) run of human
emotions and actions. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><i>A Midsummer
Night’s Dream</i> takes place in Athens and a nearby wood during an interesting
combination of characteristics from the English Renaissance and Ancient Greece.
Shakespeare did something very remarkable with the characters. He seemed to
bring together a mixture from previous literature such as Greek mythology and
English folktales all to interact in one unique plot. Simply, the play tells
the story of the following characters and their issues of love: Theseus and
Hippolyta of Athens and the Amazons; Oberon and Titania of the Fairies; and the
four Athenians, Lysander, Hermia, Demetrius, and Helena. It deals with a
forbidden love, (and that moves the setting to the forest), Fairies disputes,
the wedding preparations for the Duke of Athens and the Queen of the Amazons,
and how one sprite can make a royal mess of it all. Fascinatingly, this particular
play is successful without the usually necessary plot pyramid. Neither does
there really seem to be a true protagonist or antagonist. It just does not seem
to need any to maintain interest and attention. That, in many ways, is a major
feat of this play and makes it easier to see it as an artwork—or painting. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-35HOPCsj-kE/UmvytAzfL0I/AAAAAAAAASs/P3RMBhjkoP8/s1600/002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-35HOPCsj-kE/UmvytAzfL0I/AAAAAAAAASs/P3RMBhjkoP8/s1600/002.JPG" height="320" width="211" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The idea that is
going to impel every other facet of my production brings in the question of the
nature of art. It makes <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> more than merely a “dream.”
By handing Puck a paintbrush, all manipulation lies with him. It is still a
dream, but, more definitively, Puck’s dream and creation. I imagine it as his
fantasy about these fool mortals and a parody on his own kind. In this way, the
uncertainty of fantasy (or dream) and reality remains intact—as it is crucial
to Shakespeare’s initial underlying incentive. I still want the audience to be
subtly given that question to be able to think on even after the performance is
over. Yet, I still find the traditional motivations and ideas of the play of
great importance so I was inclined to find a way in which the play would not
lose any of its original splendor. The story stays the same; it is now just
changed to have a defined perspective in order to bring out more clearly the
theme of art I wish to emphasize. I envision the set to be in the style of a
Romantic period oil painting, but keeping a sort of muddled and tangled
illusion. The costumes and characters should also be in this style. This
concept may also introduce a few new ideas about human character in relation to
reality. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The audience
should realize from this that though there is a separation of fantasy and
reality, the best choice may not always be to make that distinction in the
context of personal creativity. At the same time on the other end of the
spectrum, they should understand the concept that sometimes humans’ lack of
reason and treatment of events is sometimes as absurd as if a mischievous
sprite were making it up. From the original themes of the play itself, the
audience should still understand the issues it pokes fun at.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Ultimately,
my production of William Shakespeare’s <i>A Midsummer Night’s Dream</i> is to be
Puck’s masterpiece as he is painting it. This concept emphasizes the nature of
art and gives the play a defined perspective without spoiling the genius work
that already exists. It also motivates humans’ common foolishness and gives the
audience something to thoughtfully consider. This idea makes the fuse of
reality and fantasy more obvious and gives it deeper meaning. With this
concept, A Midsummer Night’s Dream should still be just as enthralling and
whimsical as it was originally meant to be while still adding something new.</span>A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-28704474789012251142013-10-16T18:01:00.000-05:002013-10-16T18:01:09.271-05:00Progress, but still in the making...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-16782536207192241502012-05-21T17:33:00.000-05:002012-05-21T17:41:43.367-05:00Steampunk CruiseToo good to be true? Now, if only I have money by next year.... <br />
<a href="http://steampunkcruise.com/#">http://steampunkcruise.com/#</a>A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-68011872182372833942012-05-20T00:30:00.000-05:002012-05-19T23:13:00.638-05:00“Around the World in 30 Days" --In which I quote George R. R. Martin for my spring 2012 intro to lit syllabusDescription of the course theme in the overview:<br />
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“Around the World in 30 Days,” the theme of this course, focuses on texts from all over the world. However, rather than an in-depth cultural studies treatment, we will approach these texts as travelers hoping to gain a little more knowledge of the world through the lives of others. Jojen Reed in George R. R. Martin’s novel <i>A Dance with Dragons </i>says, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies . . . The man who never reads lives only one.” This course will examine how the literature of various countries can help us not only to visit places of the world vicariously, but also to make sense of reality. Therefore, instead of simply holiday travelling, world literature may help us to better understand our own lives through the lives of others—fictional or not. ...<br />
<br />
This introduction to literature course theme is one which I do believe succeeded (although I have not seen official student evaluations, yet). Focusing on world literature in a general education course in the way described above was the most productive method I have discovered. I think it worked for several reasons:<br />
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1. I updated the novel (for the novel unit, since the course is designed around the categories of short stories, drama, poetry, and the novel in fairly equal units) to a much more contemporary one dealing with current world events--Khaled Hosseini's <i>A Thousand Splendid Suns</i>. I find this novel to be the more subtle, better written of Hosseini's bestsellers. (The issue of teaching popular literature or literature perceived to belong to a certain age category was a fight in and of itself--but, again, I think this issue warrants its own post at some point, and I will be sure to address the disagreement on teaching <i>The Hobbit</i>, as well.) Despite Hosseini's popularity, marketability, and mass readability, his novel still contains some very heavy issues which allows even a primarily freshman class to work through intricate issues. Secondarily, the students also saw another view of the situation (present and historical) in Afghanistan. In private reflections on the effects of the novel, many students expressed a much better understanding of the Afghan people--even if the novel was written by an American.<br />
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Similarly, I added fairly contemporary short stories and poems from a diverse range of authors, which represented as many different topics as nationalities. I did go back to the Restoration for the drama unit in assigning Moliere's <i>Tartuffe</i>, but as a ridiculous, rhyming comedy (I only use Richard Wilbur's translation), the students warmed up to it.<br />
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The reading selections ranged right around the difficulty threshold to various degrees, providing enough material to keep the less-interested students included in the course while making sure each student was still challenged at some point.<br />
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2. All students could find relevance in this theme and the texts it occasioned. One area was for students learning more about other areas and peoples of the world (often in that <i>vicarious</i> way mentioned in Martin's novel by seemingly experiencing situations through the characters viewpoints the students read), the other was for international students who could relate to characters feeling displacement or learning to adapt. Consequently, many of my students were introduced to literature they could actually admit <i>enjoying</i> as well as thinking critically about.<br />
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3. The course also lent itself to outside research which the students completed for short "background" presentations to the class, in which they could delve into an aspect of cultural or contextual information of their choice for the reading assignment. This helped to make the sections I taught which both consisted of completely non-majors more perceptively interdisciplinary since students could stay within their own interest/career areas for their presentations.<br />
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4. The theme very directly focused on the larger issues of humanity addressed by literature classes. One aspect we consistently addressed was the nature of people across time, space, and cultures. The final exam essay question was answered in ways that showed nearly all of the students capable of making this broader connection to the world and their own lives that the syllabus's course overview originally set out for them.<br />
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5. Perhaps most importantly, this theme made students question. Of their own accord, they began wondering about things--ethics, morality, people, politics, power... I may have prepared them for this (I do not quite want to use the word "groomed," although it may actually be appropriate) by assigning one online discussion board question and one response to another student's question for each reading assignment to be completed before coming to class, but if that assignment was the origin, the thoughts still came from the students. <br />
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6. I, personally, was able to bring in many alternate art forms displaying similar themes, subjects, or styles to supplement discussion and student comprehension of the texts. For the drama unit, I showed corresponding production photos to the scenes we were reading in <i>Tartuffe. </i>Since Bethany (hats off to my undergrad theatre department) produced the play in period costume (if exaggerated for comedy's sake), my students had a chance to enter more visually into Moliere's otherwise quite foreign world. (I even introduced the play by having my students view Bethany's opening "puppet dance" scene to whet their interests.) Of course, I also made them test out the action of the play themselves by turning the remaining student audience into directors for their peer acting volunteers for a few key scenes. Paintings and music are the obvious choices to add to the poetry unit, but these, too, offered other more nuanced interpretations of the poems while simultaneously creating access points with which to begin poetry analysis. <br />
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Of course, the chemistry of the grouping of students, later time of the classes, and my better preparation and experience for teaching literature also most definitely factored into the success of this year's course over last year's. Yet, this experience also led me to try this theme instead of sticking with the first, which still gained a lot more student enthusiasm and support.<br />
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I do greatly hope that I will get the opportunity to develop these ideas through experience (just as my students could develop their ideas and understanding of the world vicariously through the course readings) again instead of only theoretically...A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-62105260855520166762012-05-19T00:53:00.000-05:002012-05-19T01:08:34.045-05:00As Seen on the Spring 2011 Introduction to Literature Course SyllabusAlthough I personally believe this course theme to have failed overall, I still fantasize about a section of students that would take to it like ducks to water rather than cats...<br />
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Course Overview:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">The
“Element of Otherness,” which is the theme of this course, focuses on texts
that contain the weird, the supernatural, and the fantastic. However, rather
than condemning these texts as escapist literature, this course will examine
how this kind of fictional literature can help us to make sense of reality.
Critic Thomas Howard writes that “there is a story afoot in all worlds, and
that to ‘escape’ from the silence of our own world into the clarity and
luminescence of another may be to find ourselves suddenly face to face with our
own story, only in a clearer light and with starker colors.” Therefore, rather
than only escape, the stranger forms of literature might actually be a
condensed thrust into reality.</span></div>
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Mostly, I enjoy this quotation from Howard and believe it made a great access point for students into this type of literature. It creates a way to relate the "Other" of literature to real life and humanity, even though many of my students never chose to entertain this interpretation. Perhaps this impasse was due to the fact that they found Mary Shelley's <i>Frankenstein </i>"difficult" and "boring," Marlowe's <i>Doctor Faustus</i> to be written in "Old English," and the selection of short stories and poems to all be "depressing" and "tragic." Although I was self-satisfied with this original reading list, I'd be open to trying this theme again with other selections (should I have the freedom of choice) to see if it could still be a successful one. (Along with that, I might also make sure I don't have an 8:00 AM section, first!) </div>
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With non-majors and non-specialists, I have found (mostly) contemporary world literature to work much better, but that discussion is for another post. Yet, something of this sort might still work wonders with this theme in particularly antagonistic sections. Dealing with more popular, or at least recent, fantasy and science fiction works could generate ample discussion (although I can also see it promoting off-topic and unproductive arguments) while still moving towards the goals of the course theme. It may be less challenging in terms of reading, but my hope is then that the work done on these literary choices could be much more substantial and "difficult" (or rather, complex) in argument. Therefore, the purpose of these kinds of courses, getting at the <i>why</i> this all matters, could be moved closer to the forefront rather than being buried underneath student frustration.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Bookman Old Style","serif"; font-size: 10pt;">(And this is all, of course, only a possibility if I have the opportunity to teach literature at the college level again.... *sigh*....someday....) </span></div>
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</div>A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-61085082728914330742012-05-17T20:41:00.002-05:002016-01-03T16:43:45.455-06:00Initial Thoughts on SteampunkMy most initial and general thoughts on steampunk address the genre's appeal. While it's simply appealing for its unique, Victorian-inspired style and nifty gadgets, there has to be something behind the aesthetic. I feel that the genre has a particular appeal in this age. I believe it's been noted (in <i>The Steampunk Bible</i>? perhaps? --double-check) that the genre romanticizes technology, and I wholeheartedly agree. While Marxism (and just plain old common sense) tells us that we are becoming more and more removed from our products and the work being done in production, steampunk gives us a way to re-imagine our technology-based, physically removed (from material production) lives. Certainly steampunk is a re-written past (see Falksen's Steampunk 101: <a href="http://www.gdfalksen.com/post/20357409792/steampunk">http://www.gdfalksen.com/post/20357409792/steampunk</a>), but it is also a way to see anew our own situation. <br />
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The Victorian age was one of industrial advancements in the form of steam technology. Today we continue to advance technologically at an extremely fast rate. The difference is in the closeness to that technology. While the Victorian era may be a kind of parallel to our current situation for some of these aspects, it is the much more romantic component in the parallel--or so we perceive it to be. Many of its aspects are romanticized, but I think one of the most prominent is machines. The commonplace presence of technology in our present lives takes much of the novelty out of it. By (possibly vicariously?) re-imagining our technology in the setting or format of Victorian science fiction, we can regain some of the novelty or romantic notions about the current world.<br />
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Not only does this appeal come from a genre of literature and art but it also stretches into the whole culture identified by the idea of "steampunk." Along with the literature (or other art), the internet and hard copy publications have developed "how-to" articles for making or building everything from gypsy wagons and Victorian-decorated office cubicles to steampunk clothing and jewelry. The steampunk culture infuses back into the current culture a closeness to production. Furthermore, it opens avenues for using more intricate science in these projects, perhaps regenerating a love of making and knowledge that has otherwise become too detached from the "practical" world. We can then put our laptops into gorgeous wooden cases complete with gears and a key and find the material items of mass production and detached creation unique and beautiful again.<br />
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...But I need to ponder this romanticization of machines and the appeal of Victorian science fiction in this age more and pull together some research before I make any more definite conclusions.A Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-19354034759880359742012-05-11T23:09:00.002-05:002012-05-11T23:09:47.295-05:00Into Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Romans 6:4 -Oils on canvasA Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-27047317971354675402012-05-11T23:07:00.000-05:002012-05-11T23:07:32.122-05:00On the Ponte Vecchio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Portrait in Florence, Italy -Oils on canvasA Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-2485366379466101292012-05-11T23:03:00.004-05:002012-05-11T23:04:17.710-05:00Elven Princess<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A very old sketch -CharcoalA Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-25088113782211329142012-05-11T23:02:00.001-05:002012-05-11T23:02:28.874-05:00Fruit and Flowers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My fruit and flowers kitchen still life -Oils on canvasA Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-62108573642450014382012-05-11T23:00:00.003-05:002012-05-11T23:00:48.706-05:00Beach Sister<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Portrait in the Caribbean -Oils on canvasA Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-70489241930428876352012-05-11T22:55:00.002-05:002012-05-11T22:58:41.678-05:00Tea Time Trio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Teacup fairies in polymer clayA Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088631172743954459.post-91595346345632032052012-05-11T22:53:00.000-05:002012-05-11T22:59:14.259-05:00Leeds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Leeds Castle in Kent -Oils on canvasA Different Kind of Ink by Gina L. Kammerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07174966711383651324noreply@blogger.com0