Political Compass and V for Vendetta

In class Tuesday we discussed the power of words and how the terms we apply to political parties become weighted with connotations that may not apply to the political theories themselves. Here is a link to the political compass quiz I was talking about:

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Take a moment to take the quiz and then check out the website and its analysis. What do you think of this expansion of the left vs right political continuum? How does adding the economic and social scale change things? Where on the scale would you put some of the characters in our graphic novel? Where do you fall? If you include your ec and soc scores Iin the comments I will build us a group chart.

Also take a minute to look at their explanation of UK political parties. It will help us parse the British historical and social context:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/ukparties2010

Jacob's Room: "The person is evidently immensely complicated"

First Edition of Jacob's Room, with a cover by Woolf's  sister Vanessa Bell

Last week we discussed World War One and the untimely death of Thoby Stephen as two strong influences on Virginia Woolf's novel Jacob's Room. Woolf’s father Leslie Stephens and close friend Lytton Strachey were two major forces in her life, and both dedicated their careers to biography. Leslie Stephens edited 21 volumes of The Dictionary of National Biography, and Stratchey's book Eminent Victorians became famous for creating a style of "new biography" that incorporated psychological insight and an occasionally irreverent narrative to move beyond the typical idea of biographies that put their subject on an unrealistic and idealized pedestal.  

Many of Woolf’s essays articulate both an ongoing interest in (and curious ambivalence toward) biographical projects.   In "A Sketch of the Past" Woolf wrote, "It is so difficult to give any account of the person to whom things happen. The person is evidently immensely complicated…In spite of all this, people write what they call ‘lives’ of other people; that is, they collect a number of events, and leave the person to whom it happened unknown.” In our discussion last week a number of people expressed frustration at not being able to clearly "see" the plot and characters, particularly Jacob. What do you think the form of the novel has to do with challenging the idea of biography and the knowability of other people?  Use specific moments and textual evidence to back up your arguments. 

Adaptations and Retellings: Frankenstein Films

This week we are finishing up our look at Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Below is a link to a list of some of the most popular, but it is 19 years out of date (and thus incomplete). Take a look at U Penn's list to get a good sampling of the range out there. http://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Pop/filmlist.html

Let's use the blog this week to compile a list of the best/most important/zaniest Frankenstein movies, aiming for a collection of information that can help us make a top ten list of Frankenstein movies in class. Which ones on the list above seem noteworthy? Which one is your favorite? Which ones have you seen? Which one has the most outlandish premise? What do you think the adaptation/retelling brings out of/adds to the original? Everyone should try to investigate/comment on a different film so we can have a strong final list of films, but you should feel free to comment/expand on someone else's post in addition. Good luck and happy Googling!

1960s poster for 1931 Universal Frankenstein

Victor Frankenstein

Still from 1931 Universal film Frankenstein

In class this week we began discussing Victor Frankenstein and his disastrous creation, and our conversation turned toward ethics. Now that you have read more of the novel, what do you make of Frankenstein's motivations and choices? What is the novel saying about education and the pursuit of science? Are there lines that science and human ambition cannot or should not cross? What significance do you give the title in its entirety (Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus)? Be sure to use textual evidence from the novel to back up your position.

1831 Frontispiece of Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus

Byronic Heros: A Pop Culture Trope?

In class last week we discussed Lord Byron, and how hugely popular he was in his day despite (and because of) his behavior. Byron is arguably the first modern celebrity, and his self-promotion rivals that of contemporary rockstar. A Byronic hero is thought to be dark and handsome, magnetically attractive, and is conflicted and complicated. He may have a mysterious (and possibly dangerous past). He could also be melancholy, cynical, charismatic, sophisticated, rebellious, and world-weary. A Byronic hero usually doesn't respect conventional morality and often seems to lack integrity, but does uphold a personal code of conduct.

To what extent do you think this Romantic superstar has influenced the last 200 years of popular culture? Does it sound similar to the hero or protagonist/antagonist from any movies or books? How pervasive has the idea of a Byronic Hero become culturally?  Can you think of any characters from past or present popular culture who shows the influence of a Byronic Hero?

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron by Richard Westall (date unknown) wikiimages

William and Dorothy Wordsworth

Claude Monet, The Thames at Westminster (Westminster Bridge)
1871

 We had a very productive discussion last week about the relationship between Dorothy Wordsworth’s journals and William’s poems. To further that discussion, let’s examine the sonnet “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” (pg 344). What favorite lines and important images did you take note of? How do you see this sonnet about an urban landscape connecting with other poems we have read by Wordsworth that celebrate the pastoral?

Compare the description of the same carriage ride in Dorothy’s journal (pg 413). What connections do you see between Dorothy’s journal and William’s poem?

Romanticism and Neoclassicism: What is Beautiful?

Transept of Tintern Abbey, by JMW Turner, (exhibited 1795)
In the collections of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
 www.tate.org.uk

In class today we discussed ideal landscapes, and what the landscape paintings of the Romantic and Neoclassical periods tell us about the differing views on beauty and nature people held.  What is your ideal landscape?  What about this place and the emotions it inspires make it so special?

Based on what you know about Neoclassical ideal beauty and the Romantic sublime, what aspect of this landscape "fill your mind with agreeable kind of horror" (to borrow Joseph Addison's phrasing) or has "the capacity to instill feelings of intense emotion" (to paraphrase Edmund Burke)?  Pictures please! (If it is not a picture you took yourself, please be sure to responsibly attribute the image.)