The Purest Essence

TSS and Classics Bookclub: Jane Eyre

2008-10-05T00:00:00.001-04:00

Teaching keeps me very busy, so I'm doubling up with this post. It is serving for The Sunday Salon and the Classics Bookclub.

I was excited to read Jane Eyre for the Classics Bookclub at 5 Minutes for Books. I've read the book and few times, and much of my honors thesis in college was on this book. I have thought about this book a lot in a lot of different ways. My thesis was on the influence of the Johannine texts in the Bible (the Gospel, epistles, and Revelation) on the works of the three Bronte sisters.

In her Jane Eyre Preview, Jennifer asked us evaluate how feminist Charlotte Bronte is by the standards of her day as well as today. My post is going to kind of be related to this prompt.

When she leaves Rochester after she finds out about Bertha in the attic, I think we can definitely see Jane as an independent woman who stands up for herself. She leaves Rochester when they are about to be married because no matter how much she loves him, she knows she can't be his second living wife. She tells him quite powerfully:

"I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself. I will keep the law given by God; sanctioned by man" (408).

Her belief in following the law enables her to hold her own self-worth higher than her love for Rochester. She does the right thing for herself and Rochester, even though it is impossibly painful for her to have to leave the one man who has made her happy.

Although this action is, for any time period, a heroic and feminist action, Jane's most truely feminist decision happens towards the end of the book, when she refuses St. John's offer of marriage.

A lot is going on in this situation, but here is my general stance. I believe that Jane is feminist in this moment because she holds true to her interpretation of God and God's love, rather than succumbing to St. John's attempt to interpret God's will for her. He dares to assume that he knows what is best for her, but she has her own ideas of what is right for her. She cannot believe that a marriage without love would be something God with command. The following is an excerpt from my thesis directly related to this idea.

"[St. John] assumes that [Jane's] plain outward appearance has marked her for a path different than the one in her heart. He tells her: “It is not personal, but mental endowments [God and nature] have given you: you are formed for labour, not for love” (Bronte 501). St. John does not see, as Rochester does, that Jane’s loving heart is all that she needs to be “formed for love.” Outward externals such as beauty don’t matter at all when it comes to a love derived from God. St. John’s other terrible mistake is assuming that God would condone Jane giving her body to St. John without a pure love between them. Jane sees that to “give [her] heart to God” (Bronte 505) she cannot betray her own feelings in that way. Jane’s refusal of St. John is her refusal to betray her “natural unenslaved feelings” (Bronte 507), but it is above all her refusal to defile her belief in God’s gift of love."

Some people see Jane's choice as selfish. How can it be selfish to follow what you believe is God's will? In my thesis I talk about how the Gospels and epistles written by John are all about love, and how love is the most important aspect of spirituality. Take a quotation from the 1st epistle: “He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love” (1 John 4:8) and you can see that love is at the center of what God wants for us in our spiritual and human relations. Therefore, love is not some selfish thing that humans make up to meet our own desires; love is straight from God. God's will is for us to love. Jane is simply following God's will when she chooses to refuse a loveless marriage. Her bravery in the face of St. John's guilt trips is both feminist and spiritual.

Here's another excerpt from my thesis:

"Unlike Lerner’s suggestion that Jane chooses love rather than duty, Jane actually does not have to make a choice between the two. Jane is in fact choosing the duty that the author of John’s Gospel and epistles lays out, a duty that has love at its center. Barry Qualls suggests that “where [St. John] aligns duty with working towards heaven, Jane aligns it with love of one’s fellowman” (Qualls 64). Jane’s concern with human affection does not change throughout the novel because living and loving on earth is Jane’s spiritual duty, as evidenced by the path of love with Rochester to which Heaven directs her in her deepest moment of need. As long as she keeps God at the center of her moral compass, the choices she makes to live a life full of love are just as noble as Helen Burns’ calm resignation to death. Jane is supremely concerned with making the morally right choice. Some contemporary readers of Jane Eyre found her decision to be a shirking of duty, because it eschewed St. John’s overtly Christian path of martyrdom and mission-work. However, within the context of the Johannine books, Jane’s path is undoubtedly taking the moral and spiritual high road."

When Jane returns and marries Rochester, one might think she has lost her feminist strength. However, the circumstances are different now. Rochester's first wife is dead, so Jane is not committing adultery. Also, Rochester is blind, and his state gives Jane a position of power in their relationship. Jane’s choice to experience earthly love is very Johannine and religious in an important way; she follows Jesus’ instructions to “love one another” and lives in the joy of an earthly union. Yet Jane’s choice to love remains revolutionary in that her duty is empowering rather than limiting.

Many people point out how ironic it is that St. John, who is unable to really love anyone, bears the name of the gospel writer who wrote most about the importance of love: John. If we are to see Jane's story as spiritually feminist, should we be disturbed that St. John gets the last word in the entire book? Does she let him get the last word because she believes her marriage choice was wrong? I don't think so. These are St. John's dying words, and they echo the peniultimate verse in Revelation, the last book in the Bible. I think Charlotte ends with this because she wants to parallel St. John's coming union with Jesus, the bridegroom, and the union that Jane and Rochester have on earth. She wants to show us the different choices we can make to live a life for God.

St. John made a choice, and for him the choice was the right thing. He had his own vision of God and what He wanted for St. John in his own life. But St. John made the mistake of trying to force his own beliefs on Jane. He tried to interpret God's will for Jane, but Jane was able to hear God's will for herself through the supernatural call she hears from Rochester. She doesn't need a man to mediate between her and God. She can interpret God's will for herself.

Bronte's decision to end with St. John's words can actually be seen as feminist and a little shocking. It takes some confidence to end a novel with the almost last words of the Bible, an authoritative religious text! I believe Bronte does this on purpose. Here's the last excerpt from my thesis:

"The ending of the novel is Jane’s contradiction of authorities other than herself and God. St. John Rivers in the final lines speaks from the authoritative text of his namesake, invoking patriarchal Christianity and its imagined demands on humanity. Jane ends with these words, but we can see that she has refused to join St. John in his vision of God’s will and created her own vision of God’s will, one that importantly centers on her truth: the centrality of love to the religious and spiritual experience."

Jane Eyre is not my favorite book. I don't really like how Jane talks like Yoda a lot ("Sure I was") I don't like how Jane, and actually quite a few of the characters in Charlotte's other novels call their men "Master." However, I do love the way Charlotte creates a woman who stands up for herself, stands up for her ability to interpret and follow God's will, and stands up for what I believe is God's strongest call to all of us: to love one another.

The Sunday Salon: Lord of the Flies

2008-09-28T17:26:00.004-04:00

I'm going through Lord of the Flies with my class right now, so I thought I'd write about it a little for this post.

Whenever I teach this novel, I face my students' frustrations with the language. Golding uses very dense, descriptive language throughout most of the book. Students find this confusing and even annoying. I freely admit that I sometimes am tempted to zone out when I'm reading his descriptions too. However, I tell them that Golding does not spend so much time on strong descriptions just for the heck of it. From the beginning of the novel, I ask them to consider why Golding uses imagery the way he does.

This semester, we began the novel with a passage from Chapter 1 that is particularly descriptive. After I read it, I had the students draw whatever they could remember. They then compared their drawings to other group members. Finally, I had them go back to the passage we read and pinpoint the particular lines that were most influential on their drawings. In this way I called attention to the power Golding's description has. There was not one student who said "I don't know what to draw," because Golding's images do stick in your head.

Last week we read the first two pages in Chapter Three out loud. These pages are devoted to describing the character Jack as he is hunting in the jungle. We pointed out the imagery used, including how Jack is likened to a dog and an ape, and then I asked them what the point was. Rather quickly a student responded that Golding was showing that Jack is becoming a little savage, and describing Jack as an animal helps to further that idea.

A little later in the novel, when things started getting particularly nasty on the island, I am going to do an activity where half of the class notes all the imagery describing the island they can find in the 1st chapter. The other half will note all the imagery they see in a later chapter. When we compare the descriptions we will see pretty clearly that in the beginning of the novel the island is described as a beautiful paradise, but by the near end of the novel the presence of the boys and their descent into savage behavior has destroyed this paradise. The island becomes menacing, terrible, and literally destroyed. When I have done this activity before, students have been struck by this.

I think these activities help to get students to understand that authors choose their words carefully. Description is not just pretty; it has a purpose. In the case of Lord of the Flies, the imagery directly correlates with some of the major themes of the book.

All of these activities with my students help me as a reader too. I am much more interested in characters and ideas than setting descriptions. It's just how I am. But by finding a purpose for description I gain a new appreciation of authors and what they are trying to do.

One thing I love about being a teacher is that I learn right along with my students. And what fun to keep learning about one of my greatest passions: reading!

Fall Into Reading 2008

2008-09-23T18:08:00.000-04:00

Katrina at Callapiddler days is starting Fall Into Reading 2008. The great thing about this event is that all you have to do is try to read as many books as you can! There is no pressure, only fun! This is running September 22nd to December 21st. Here is the list of the books I hope to read this fall. Some I have read already, some I have started but never finished, some I have always wanted to start, and some I will be reading with my high school students:

1. Lord of the Flies by William Golding

2. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

3. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot (I'll actually finish it)

4. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (for a book club I'm in and the New Classics Challenge)

5. The Yellow Wallpaper (for Life Books Challenge)

6. Twlight by Stephanie Meyers (I'll finish it, hopefully, for RIP Challenge)

7. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (RIP Challenge)

8. Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (I don't think this one is going to happen, Life Books)

This is it. I hope I can finish them all. Teaching keeps me very busy right now.

The Sunday Salon: Cloud Atlas part 1

2008-09-20T17:34:00.002-04:00

I don't quite know what to think yet, but I'm going to keep reading.

For this Sunday's post I thought I'd write about a book I am reading with my English Teacher book club. I'm also using this book for the New Classics Challenge. The novel is called Cloud Atlas and it is by David Mitchell.

The novel is really six stories of completely different people from completely different times. Yet, the stories of these people are connected.

This novel is definitely unique, and I am quite intrigued as to how it will all end up. I am 153 pages into the novel and I have reached the fourth story in the book. The first story, called "The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing," bored me a little bit. I liked that Adam was a man of good morals, but the writing style in this section was not quite captivating. The vocabulary was almost too complex and varied. I'm a lover of Victorian novels, which are full of big words and sentence structures that many people can't warm up to. So when I say the vocabulary is a little over the top, I definitely mean it. We find out that Adam has a tropical parasite, and his doctor is attempting to cure him of it. All of a sudden Adam's journal ends mid sentence and we are plunged into a very different world.

This world is the world of Robert Frobisher, a wanna-be composer who is desperate for money. His narrative is written through letters to his friend "Sixsmith." We follow him to the home of a retired and ill composer who takes Frobisher on to help him compose again. Meanwhile, Frobisher begins sleeping with this man's wife. Frobisher's tendency to use everyone around him while only caring for himself definitely made me dislike him. However, just as I was about to think I wouldn't like this novel, Frobisher happened to find in the library The Pacific Journal of Adam Ewing! That got me very interested. Funnily enough, Frobisher thinks there is something weird about the journal too. He says: "Something shifty about the journal's authenticity - seems too structured for a genuine diary, and its language doesn't ring true -" (64). So it wasn't just me!

From Frobisher we move to Half-Lives: The First Luisa Rey Mystery. There are even more connections now between the stories. For one thing, Frobisher's friend Sixsmith is a major player in this story. He informs Luisa Rey of a major scientifc project that is being pushed through to completion even though there are serious dangers. Sixsmith has refused to be paid off by the corporate meanies who want the project to go through, and he is eventually killed. However, Luisa ends up in posession of the letters Frobisher wrote to him 30 years ago. After reading the letters, Luisa realizes that both she and Frobisher have an abnormally shaped birthmark on their backs! She also begins searching for some of Frobisher's music, and finds out that he wrote a piece called "Cloud Atlas Sextet." Interesting...

I'm not far enough into the next story to know how it ties into the other stories, but obviously the connections will continue to build. I'm wondering if all of the stories are written by the same author, and the characters are going to find out they are all connected. Or maybe the idea of reincarnation will be involved somehow, since Lusia and Frobisher have the same birthmark. I'm not sure, but now I definitely want to keep reading so that I can see how everything turns out!

Has anyone read this? What did you think of it? (Don't give anything away!!)

Have a great week!

Maw Books: Reading & Blogging for Darfur

2008-09-17T16:28:00.002-04:00

Natasha at Maw Books is doing a very neat thing: Reading & Blogging for Darfur.

Check the above link for more details, but the main idea is that she and others are donating money for blogging and reading and commenting on her posts. This is a great idea. I thought I would post about it so more money can be donated.

Book Crossing

2008-09-17T16:11:00.003-04:00

The website Book Crossing. com is a fabulous place. I have been a member for a year and half, although not a very active one. So much is going on there. People leave books for others to find, people read books and send them on to a new person (it's called a bookring or bookray), and sometimes people just send books to others that they notice are on that person's wishlist. What a great community!

I just received today a book that a BookCrossing member sent me because she saw it on my wishlist. This is called a RABCK "Random Act of Book Crossing Kindness." What a kind thing to do! There are so many generous people in the world. The book I received was The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood. I can't make any promises on when I will read or finish it, but when I do I will send it on to somebody else.

Share the love of books and join BookCrossing!

Life Books Challenge - My TBR's

2008-09-16T18:15:00.002-04:00

I am choosing to read the following 2 books for the Life Books Challenge:

1. Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (thanks to casual dread)
I'm an English teacher, so maybe I can pick up some tips from this one.

2. Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gillman (thanks to washwords)
Hmm...I like the idea of reading a disturbing feminist story!

I hope I will finish these before September 30th. Either way, I loved this idea for a challenge.

Life Books Challenge - My Life Books

2008-09-16T17:54:00.004-04:00

Small World Reads has a fabulous idea for this challenge. It's called the Life Books Challenge. There is no timeline; you just need to pick two books on other people's "Life Books" lists, then read and review them.

Aaaah, I love this idea so much. Books really are such an important part of our lives, and I love the idea of sharing the books that really matter to us with other people. I love it!

Here is a list of the books that have been an important part of my life:

1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betsy Smith
When I read this in 8th Grade, I was stunned to find that the thoughts the lonely and creative main character Francie had were the exact same thoughts I was having at that awkward stage in my life. This book is very special to me.

2. Middlemarch by George Eliot
My favorite novel of all time. Supremely well-written, this book is incredible to me. But more importantly, the last few paragraphs of the book are words I hope people can say about my life when I am gone.

3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
I don't think there is anything that could change the world more than every person taking Atticus' advice to walk in another person's shoes. Tolerance and empathy are qualities I try to cultivate in my life. I cannot read the end of this book without crying, because the main character truly learns to understand another person and how they feel.

4. Persuasion by Jane Austen
I love the respect that is engendered in this book for women who are intelligent, feeling, sensitive to others, and just as capable as men. This type of respect from a man is something I have finally found in my life.

5. Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte
I choose this book mostly because the bird-crushing scene in it made me a vegetarian. That's rather a big impact I guess!

6. Grover and the Everything in the Whole Wide World Musuem
This one is certainly not a novel, but it is the book that my deceased father read to me all the time when I was little. Every time I read it feel connected to him. It's very important to me.

7. Lizard by Banana Yoshimoto
Love is everything to me. I have been searching for a healthy romantic relationship for a long time, and I have it now with my husband. The different romantic relationships in this book were important for me to think about what we really need from another human being.

8. Pale Horse, Pale Rider by Katherine Anne Porter
This short story is heartbreaking. But I could really relate to the main character's intense desire to connect with another person and find lasting love in a world that is sad and scary.

Genre Challenge

2008-09-16T17:36:00.006-04:00

Bookworms and tea lovers is hosting a Genre Challenge.

Since I have a year to do this one I think I can handle it. It's a great idea. Again, I need to expand my horizons!

I am taking Option A and eliminating Historical Fiction (my most commonly read genre) and Western Fiction (I don't like cowboys.)

Here is my list so far. Let me know if any of these are the wrong genre:

1. Fantasy Fiction: His by Philp Pullman (also reading for New Classics Challenge)

2. Romantic Fiction: Bridget Jones' Diary (also reading for New Classics Challenge)

3. Science Fiction: The Road by Cormac McCarthy (also reading for New Classics Challenge)

4. Thriller Fiction: The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (also reading for New Classics Challenge)

5. Mystery Fiction: The 13th Tale by Diana Setterfield

6. Detective Fiction: The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective by Kate Summerscale

I haven't decided the other eight yet! Any recommendations would be appreciated. :)

The challenge runs from November 1st 2008 - November 1st 2009

Teaser Tuesday

2008-09-16T17:31:00.002-04:00

My Teaser Tuesday for Today is from Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It's a graphic novel so maybe I'm cheating. But I think it will work.

pg. 115

"Here, the composition of the picture is joined by the composition of change, the composition of drama, and the composition of memory. If the composition of a single panel is truly "perfect," doesn't that imply that it can - or even should - stand alone?

I hope everyone is having a good week!

New Classics Challenge

2008-09-16T16:33:00.004-04:00

Lost in a good story has been hosting a New Classics Challenge

I'm joining in now. I am such an old classics fiend, but I need to get into the 21st century! Really, just getting into the 20th century would be impressive for me. I've hardly read any of these. I've started a few, like Heartbreaking Work. But hopefully this challenge will help me broaden my horizons.

1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

This is my list of the six books I will read:

1. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman (also reading as Fantasy Fiction for Genre Challenge)
2. The Road by Cormac McCarthy (also reading as Science Fiction for Genre Challenge)
3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (also reading as Thriller Fiction for Genre Challenge)
4. Bridget Jones' Diary by Helen Fielding (also reading as Romance for Genre Challenge)
5. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
6. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

The Sunday Salon - Understanding Comics and a Question about Visualization

2008-09-14T15:19:00.002-04:00

One of the books I'm reading right now is Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. I mentioned it last week, and now I thought I'd say more about it.

The book is really a graphic book technically. It's written with words and pictures, just like a comic book. However, the subject is really quite academic. Scott McCloud is discussing the comics as a serious art and trying to reach some understanding about comics and where they fit as an art form.

One of the concepts he has been talking about that I find interesting is closure. Closure is the idea that our mind can finish an idea that is suggested to us through words and pictures. One example he uses is one frame of a comic strip that has an open eye. In the next frame, the eye is closed. When the reader sees these two frames in sequence, he makes the assumption that the strip showed an eye closing, based on his knowledge of what closing an eye looks like it. He explains that reader's mind does this is much more complex situations as well. He then suggests that even though comics is a visual art, between the frames the rest of a reader's senses are allowed free reign. We use our imagination to fill in the gaps between each frame and understand what is happening in the comic.

I don't know a lot about comics, but this idea made me think of the ways reader's of regular literature use their imagination and mind to "fill in gaps." Good writers certainly appeal to all five of our senses, but as readers we still create visual images of the text we are reading, usually based on our own experience.

This brings me to a question I'd like to ask anyone who wants to answer. My question is: When you are reading, do you ever visualize scenes happening in places that have actually existed in your life?

In other words, as we read we tend to see scenes in our minds. I know I do. And I also know that with some books I actually picture scenes happening in places that I have known. Often these places are from my childhood. For instance, I see all the neighborhood scenes of To Kill a Mockingbird (oh I love that book) happening in the neighborhood I spent most of my childhood in. The Finch house is my old house. When I first read Wuthering Heights, I imagined some of the scenes happening in the the kitchen of my old house. However, once I saw the Ang Lee (I think) movie version that location has changed into a scene more like the movie.

So, when you are reading do you ever visualize scenes happening in places that are actually a part of your life? Why do you think we do that?

Or is it just me?

Teaser Tuesday

2008-09-09T16:52:00.004-04:00

Here are random lines from one of the books I'm reading, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

pg. 317

"Strongly marked horizontal eyebrows must be traced under that brow; then followed, naturally, a well-defined nose, with a straight ridge and full nostrils; then a flexible-looking mouth, by no means narrow; then a firm chin, with a decided cleft down the middle of it: of course, some black whiskers were wanted, and some jetty hair, tufted on the temples, and waved above the forehead. Now for the eyes:"

Man, my "teasers" have not been that good! Chance is landing me on really random quotations. Oh well!

I have a book club meeting tonight with the gals in my English Department. Now I'll be starting another book...uhoh!

Sunday Salon: What I'm Reading Now

2008-09-07T14:35:00.005-04:00

I have no idea how this has happened. I used to be the type of reader who could only read on book at a time. Now, I seem to be reading about 5 books at once. I've got one book for each room, or mood, or something. Here's what I'm reading now:

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell.

I'm an English teacher, so I'm reading this one with my sophomore students. I've read this book quite a few times, and it's always interesting to me to see how my students like it. So far, quite a few students are getting wrapped up in the injustices they are seeing as the farm is progressing. It makes them angry that the animals are letting themselves be taken over, but they wisely point out that when you are caught up in the moment, you sometimes don't realize what's really happening. We have also been talking about the "propaganda" that the pigs use to maintain control of the other animals. I've pointed out that propaganda is used all the time in our own society, and many of the students are responding to that. Their project with this novel is to create their own commerical that uses different types of propaganda.

I think this book is useful because it does challenge citizens of any government to be intelligent and pay attention to what is going on around them. My hope for my students is that they are able to use this awareness of the way people use words to be more intelligent and thoughtful consumers and citizens.

I like this book. Why is it always sadder when animals die in books? I too am horrifed by what happens to this fledgling government. I think a book that scares you can be a very good thing though.

2. Twlight by Stephanie Meyers

This is not the type of book I would choose to read. However, I have been hearing rave reviews from everyone, my students, my co-workers, my friends. So, I figured I'd give it a shot. When I first started reading I was impressed that the book has rather an extensive vocabulary for a bestseller. That's always nice to see. As I've read on I have not been that impressed with the character development or the depth of the relationship between Bella and Edward, the two main characters. Characters are the most important part of books for me, and I'm not thrilled with these characters. Nevertheless, I find no reasons to stop reading this book. I am curious to see where the story goes, and I want to know what everyone is so excited about. I will keep on!

3. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

My husband and I are reading this one out loud to each other. Collins was a contemporary of Charles Dickens, and he wrote some of the most successful sensational novels of that time. The Moonstone is well-lauded by such writers as T.S. Eliot and Dorothy Sayers. It is a mystery/suspense novel about the disappearance of a magnificent diamond, and so far it has kept the interest of both my husband and I. At times I feel the plot is too drawn out; it takes so long to get to certain points. Certainly plenty of dramatic and completely implausible events occur throughout the story. However, I like the narrative structure of different "narratives" by different characters in the book. We are almost finished with this one, so I will have an updated review soon enough.

4. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

George Eliot is, in my opinion, one of the most intelligent writers that has ever lived. Her book Middlemarch is my absolute favorite novel. My high school English teacher recommended The Mill on the Floss to me, and I am finally getting around to reading it. So far I'm not as into the story as I was with Middlemarch, but the characters are interesting and Eliot's writing style is incredibly dense, but incredibly rewarding and fascinating. I can sense the seeds of tragedy being sown already, and I am curious to see how the book develops.

The main storyline so far is about the relationship between a brother and sister, Tom and Maggie Tulliver. Maggie is a very interesting character; she is an intelligent, dreamy, and passionate little girl that doesn't quite fit in the restrained society she lives in. I'm looking forward to seeing how Maggie deals with the world she lives in as she grows up.

5. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud A friend suggested to me, and I'm reading it because I'm interested in reading at least one graphic novel. The genre is growing in popularity. This book is about comics and what their place is in terms of literature and storytelling. I know nothing about comics, so I will be interested to see how this book pans out. I'll be honest; this book is the one I read the least often; it just isn't as high on my interest scale. If anyone has read this book and liked it, I'd love to hear what you thought about it.

So there we have it! I certainly am keeping busy. Of course, reading more than one book means I may never finish any of them... Oh, and I need to start Jane Eyre soon for the Classics Book Club. Maybe I do need to focus on just one...

Sunday Salon

Teaser Tuesday

2008-09-03T20:00:00.003-04:00

Shouldbereading hosts a Teaser Tuesday, where you open your book to a random page and pick two sentences between lines 7 and 12 to share.

My sentences are from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. I like this book so far; although, I don't like it as much as my very favorite book by her, Middlemarch.

I opened to page 353.

Sentences #1 and 2: It was well that there was this interest of narrative to keep under the vague but fierce sense of triumph over Wakem, which would otherwise have been the channel his joy would have rushed into with dangerous force. Even as it was, that feeling from time to time gave threats of its ultimate mastery, in sudden bursts of irrelevant exclamation.

Ok, not the best Teaser, but it was lines 7-12! It definitely gives you a feel for Eliot's writing style though! Not for an easy beach read.

Lit Flicks Challenge

2008-09-02T19:44:00.004-04:00

My last adventure today, I promise!

I think this challenge looks like a lot of fun. Plus, it gives me an excuse to watch movies and read books. I can't lose!

Join the Lit Flicks Challenge Here

I'm thinking of reading/watching the following books/movies:

1. Jane Eyre (also reading for Classics Bookclub)
2. Oliver Twist
3. Lolita
4. Lord of the Flies
5. The Hound of the Baskervilles

The list may change or expand, but I think this is a good start.

Here are my answers to the MeMe questions:

1. Are you more likely to see a movie if it’s based on a book?

I would say no. However, I will seek out movies if they are based on books I like.

2. Do you prefer to read the book first or see the movie first?

Definitely read the book. I like having my own ideas in my head before I see the movie.

3. List one movie that was better than the book it’s based on, and one book that is better than the movie.

No one hate me, but I like the Harry Potter movies better than the books. I find them more entertaining.

Most books are better than the movies for me, but off the top of my head I would say the book Wuthering Heights is better than any of the movie versions I've seen. The movies try to soften the book into a romance when it's really a book about crazy and screwed-up characters that are hard to like. The book is disturbing, and I love it. The movies aren't disturbing enough.

4. In your opinion, what film is the most accurate representation of the book?

I think the the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice is a very accurate representation of the book. Because it is so long, most of the major plot elements and details still remain. I think the characters are very similar to the win Austen portrays them in the book as well.

Pride and Prejudice Review for Classics Bookclub

2008-09-02T18:50:00.004-04:00

OK, I'm cheating. I just stumbled upon this awesome website, 5 Minutes for Books, and found that their book club read Pride and Prejudice for today. Now, I was not reading along with this club. But I LOVE this book, so I'm writing a post anyways. This is my kind of book club!

The first time I read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice I thought it was hilarious. Every other time I have read it I've felt the same way. I am a hardcore Austen fan, and although P and P is not my absolute favorite of hers (I love Persuasion!!), I believe that it is the novel in which her wit is at its absolute finest. Austen's constant gibes at society and at her characters keep the reader entertained throughout.

Speaking of wit, I think part of the reason this novel has stayed so popular is that its heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is one of the most intelligent, independent, and fun female characters ever in print. What makes her so lovable is that she stands up for herself, something we don't always see a lot of female characters do, especially in fiction written before 1850. Readers can't help but enjoy hearing of her exploits.

Yet, Lizzy is not perfect. Her prejudice does mislead her; she is blinded by her "first impressions." It is only after much ado and plot twisting that she is able to look beyond her prior beliefs and see a different side of Mr. Darcy. But imperfection makes her even more lovable. As she begins to appreciate who Darcy really is, we as readers do the same.

Darcy. Yes Darcy. I believe that one of the main reasons this novel has continued popularity is due to this character. Truly, Colin Firth's portrayal of this character in the BBC miniseries of the novel has elevated this fictional character to superstar status. After all, what can a woman find more attractive than that seemingly unavailable and immovable man who ends up worshipping her and letting his tough exterior crack just for her? Sounds like a romance novel. I think many readers and viewers latch on to this attractive character as their reason for loving the book. And I can't blame them.

However, Darcy is not the reason I like this novel. Nor do I think Austen was really attempting to create anything like a romance novel. The characters of Darcy and Lizzy both serve to further Austen's idea that we don't really understand people until we get to know them and that even if we are more capable and intelligent than the people around us, (Austen herself may have been) we must still treat the people around us with civility. They are human, after all. That's not to say we can't poke a little fun at them; Austen is the queen of poking fun! However, we shouldn't poke fun at their expense. Even Austen's most ridiculous characters have some aspects with which we can sympathize. And every human being on this earth has something we can sympathize with too.

With this novel, Jane Austen created a truly entertaining piece of literature. The plot is engaging, the characters are unforgettable, and Austen's spot-on commentary on life and people ties everything together.

To avoid sounding like I don't appreciate Darcy, let me end with saying that my favorite scene from the BBC P and P is the scene where Colin Firth jumps into the lake...

I'm very excited to join the club in reading Jane Eyre for next month! I've read this a couple times, and I have a very mixed opinion of it.

My next Online Reading Adventure - The Sunday Salon

2008-09-02T18:29:00.005-04:00

Why not just jump into this whole book blogging thing full force? I have now joined The Sunday Salon. This group simply reads books and blogs about them on Sundays, then comments on the blogs of other members of the group.

I think this is a fun idea and a great way to build community. Plus, imagine how many book recommendations I will get every week!

I guess that's rather a dangerous thing...

Nonetheless, we will see how I do!

RIP III

2008-08-30T10:22:00.003-04:00

I had no idea there was such an amazing community of book readers on the web! I'm so behind the times. I stumbled across this fun and creative challenge called RIPIII on a blog called Stainless Steel Droppings. I was intrigued right away, and I want to join in the fun.

Because I am a crazy busy high school English teacher, I am going to limit myself to two books and see how I do. So I'm accepting the challenge Peril the Second. If I read more, so be it!

The books I'm choosing to read are:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

and

Twlight by Stephanie Meyers.

All my students have read Twlight, so I figure I have to get in on the action! And I just like Wilkie Collins. My husband and I are reading The Moonstone together.

I'm excited! What fun. I need to make sure I take time to read books for myself!

100 Great Books.

2008-08-29T17:36:00.002-04:00

I got this idea from costlygrace and thought I would make another list. This one is of the Top 100 Books according to Big Read. I think this list is way off, but it's still fun.

The directions are:

Bold those you have read.
Italicize those you intend to read.
Underline the books you LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials trilogy - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (most of them. Othello is my favorite)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot My alltime favorite book.
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (haven't read all)
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Totals:
Read: 38
Favorites: 17
Want to Read: 26

banned books

2005-03-28T13:37:00.001-05:00

Banned books: make bold if you've read it, italicize if you've read parts
#1 The Bible
#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
#9 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
#11 The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
#12 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne
#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#31 Analects by Confucius
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Das Capital by Karl Marx
#37 Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
#38 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 Jungle by Upton Sinclair
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
#57 Color Purple by Alice Walker
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
#60 Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
'#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
#75 A Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius
#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
#91 Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
#98 Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Emile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Emile Zola
#104 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes