2 out of 3.

To explain the title, we have three parts to our Brit Lit Norton Anthology. And I can't believe it, but we've already moved on to the second part: The sixteenth century/Early seventeenth century. I think it was the amazing title that first attracted me, truly. I'm already enjoying the two assignments we've read from this book. First, I discovered my devotion to Sir, St. Thomas More. Yes, it's true that he ascended to sainthood in the early 1900s. Poor soul, he was martyred by King Henry the VIII because he was Catholic. Oops. Oh, well. He left us Utopia. And what a wonderful book it is. If ever you have a sudden need for inspiration or even just a simple social debate, read this treatise. I hate politics economics and debating about such things, but I love talking about society. In fact, our professor handed a basic list of Utopian/Dystopian literature and, as you can probably tell from this blog, some of my favorite books were on it.

We've also read recently some of the poetry of Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder. I must say, the more I read, the more I liked him. Unfortunately, he seems to get rejected a lot. I shall include one of his poems at the end of the post. :)

I also had to read Peace Like a River by Leif Enger for Communications. Although I will hopefully include a longer summary and outline later (I have to give a speech on it anyhow), if you believe in belief, this is the book for you. It is all about faith and miracles and sacrifice and surviving on the edge with really nothing before you. It's a really good book. More on that later. To conclude....

Madam, withouten many words

Madam, withouten many words,

Once, I am sure, ye will or no.

And if ye will, then leave your bordes (jests)

And use your wit and show it so.

And with a beck ye shall me call.

And if of one that burneth alway

Ye have any pity at all,

Answer him fair with yea or nay.

If it be yea, I shall be fain.

If it be nay, friends as before.

Ye shall another man obtain,

And I mine own and yours no more.

Haven't Been Devout, Have I?

I know I haven't been devout. I apologize. Really. :0

But I would just like to say several things about college.

First, relating to a previously posted book: A Brave New World is the favorite book of our communications and critical thinking class. In this class, we basically discuss ideas and philosophies, mostly social. So far, we have discussed libertarianism, utilitarianism, Kant, and a couple other awesome ideas about Justice. But in every class we end up talking about an" ideal" society, like the one in New World. Actually, one of the chapters mentioned "The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas"! I was very excited. Anyhow, as a member in our class once said, it seems like everything we talk about reminds us of New World! Which is definitive proof that A Brave New World is the dystopia to trump all other dystopias. Take that, 1984!!!

Also, I am currently involved (at least as much as I can be with play practice and all) with a little group called Souvenirs. Aka, we sit around drinking tea and reading each other poetry. When someone asks "Is that all you do?" I respond with, "Well, we poetry duel!" Which is totally true. We are the jedis of poetry. Actually, we've covered Shakespeare, Donne, Tennyson, Cummings*, Eliot, and next week is Frost! Sadly, I missed Cummings and Eliot. But I still memorized a Cummings poem just for fun. The Shakespeare week was possibly one of my favorites! We almost disbanded without reading Sonnet 116, but I solved that problem. One of the things that made me very happy, was that in my first 5 minutes, two guys started dueling out "To be or not to be," which I memorized like 2 years ago, and since one of them dropped out, I was able to finish it out in his place! It is a tribute to thinking fast. Souvenirs is so amazing, we are hosting an all day reading of Paradise Lost sometime this "winter" according to Claxton. Amazing group. And also, there are cute boys. Just sayin. :D

Thirdly, I am in Brit Lit, as you know which has turned out just to my expectations, though a little different of course than I imagined. Our teacher is Michael Claxton and he is so funny! If you ever catch the Bison from this month, read his article in the back about Twilight. We move so fast in that class. So far, we've covered general Medieval writings and history, Caedmon, Beowulf, Sir Gawain (my hero!) and the General Prolouge to the Canterbury tales as well as the Prolouge and tales of the Pardoner and the Wife of Bath - and I accidentally read half of the Miller's tale by mistake. I LOVE Sir Gawain and the Wife of Bath. Oh, and, did I mention? We are reading all of the Canterbury Tales in MIDDLE ENGLISH. Ok, it's not completely untranslated middle English, but it gives you what Claxton refers to as 'Footnote Whiplash.' I'm getting pretty good at it. Yep, it's exciting.

Well, that's about it, except for reading oodles for every other class. Currently, I'm also trying to read the Silmarillion, Watchman, and get my fill of Tennyson. Someone should tell me to slow down. Au Revoir!