Please write a reponse to each student discussion post. Responses must be 150 words. Derrick Wrote: The reading I choose this week is T.S. Eliot " The Waste Land." This piece has a total of five sect

Please write a reponse to each student discussion post. Responses must be 150 words.

Derrick Wrote:

The reading I choose this week is T.S. Eliot " The Waste Land." This piece has a total of five section that addresses; The Burial of the Dead, A Game of Chess, The Fire Sermon, Death By Water and What the Thunder Said which give the appearance of multiple speakers giving the readers a brief perspective of the many themes. This piece covered war, death illusion and the effects of war, but the narrator begins the story by reflecting on some old memories of sledding as a child in German only to find themselves in a landfill with "stony rubbish." "What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow out of this stony rubbish? (T.S. Eliot 20)." Here the narrator finds a true wasteland that offers only broken pieces or images that still provide something new. The sight of devastation was new yet refreshing to know that religion wasn't the only phenomenon on the land.

However, the narrator recollects on his fortune of death by water and so the story jumps to the streets of London as it shifts the readers about the upper society and the lower society of London either by playing a game of chess or visiting a pub. The Post-modernism movement is represented throughout "The Waste Land" as it applied a variety of discipline, attitude, diversity, and skepticism.

About the piece, I think this artwork by Paul Nash's (1917) support majority of T.S. Eliot's masterpiece "The Waste Land." The art addresses the wasteland and the beaming of light that seem to shine without brightness and the changes that war brings. Lastly, let's not forget the sight of death and the start of a new beginning. From death deliver new life to rebuild, you can quickly reference this to the crucifixion of Christ. With the end of Christ sprang life as to say life and death are links and necessary. The art depicts the shadeless trees; body lay lifeless to reflect on the devastation or aftermath of war.

Please click CTRL+enter to access Artwotk:

https://ka-perseus-images.s3.amazonaws.com/053c1d83823169f644e78b33e3491f68608a0a97.jpg

                         Work Cited

Nash, Paul. The Menin Road. Imperial War Museum, London. 20 March 2018. <https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/wwi-dada/art-great-war/a/british-art-and-literature-during-wwi>.

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965).  The Waste Land. 1922. Ebook. 20 March 2018

Jordan Wrote:

Class,

     I have chosen to focus on "Araby". I am not sure why I have such a fondness for the story, but I really enjoyed it! I am one to watch movies and read about love and all of its endeavors. The narrator, who is in awe of Mangan's sister, has quite  a few common tendencies that happen with first love. I can remember my first crush. I would walk certain ways in the hallway, and I would even go to events if I knew the guy would be there. The narrator is the exact same way. For example, the story reads, "I ran to the hall, seized my books and followed her. I kept her brown figure always in my eye and when we came near the point at which our ways diverged, I quickened my pace and passed her. This happened morning after morning." (Joyce). This shows just how the narrator calculated his moves in order to correspond with hers. He even passes her at the end of his trailing. Could it be because he things it will make her notice him? It is obvious he looks at Magan's sister with a huge amount of infatuation. He is mesmerized by her. He takes in every moment he sees her. He has not spoke to her, but he is still entranced. His mornings even consist of him watching her while making sure he can not be seen. The story states, "Every morning I lay on the floor in the front parlour watching her door. The blind was puled down within an inch of the sash so that I could not be seen." (Joyce). I think we can all agree that the narrator has come down with the love bug. 

     Some would probably say that the narrator's 'love' for Magan's sister is creepy. This leads me into the piece that reminded me of the story. For some reason, this song kept playing in the background of my mind as I read. This may be cliche, but I head "Every Breath You Take" by The Police. This song is a prime example for love that takes on more... stalker tendencies. I remember seeing people talk about it on television. They would say the song could be interpreted many ways, but most people just saw it for what it was on the surface. I see a song about a man that is entranced with someone and wants to see and know everything they do. This reminded me of "Araby" due to the fact that the narrator watches Magan's sister every single day. He follows her while walking, he watching while trying to remain unseen, and he is always there. The song reads, "Every step you take / I'll be watching you" (The Police). I am sure we can all see the similarities between James Joyce's story and The Police's song. 

References:

Joyce, James. “Araby.” English Club, www.englishclub.com/reading/story-araby.htm.

The Police. "Every Breath You Take", 1983.

Traci Wrote:

First off, I think this week’s assignment is the most creative assignment we have had in this course.  I was quite excited about it but I think I underestimated the difficulty level.  There were several songs I thought would make a good comparison to the reading selection.  Upon review of the lyrics in detail, I found myself questioning my selection.  I thought this would be a quick and easy assignment but was instead met with a challenge.

I selected the literary work “Eveline” by James Joyce.  This poem is a part of a larger composition by James Joyce called Dublin. I chose to compare “Eveline” with ABBA’s “I Have a Dream.”  “Eveline” is about a young lady in her late teens who has lost her mother and is now dealing with a drunk and abusive father.  She also provides daily care to her two younger siblings. James Joyce wrote it in the view and thoughts of the main character, Eveline.  She has a plan with a man from Argentina who she plans on running away with and marrying. When it comes time for them to leave, Eveline begins reminiscing of home and finds the departure difficult.  She then begins to pray, doesn’t go and watches her fiancée leave.

ABBA’s “I Have a Dream”, a young girl sings about a dream she has of fairytales and clasping the future.  She then describes pushing through a less than favorable situation until she can travel to her dream. “…my destination makes it worth the while, pushing through the darkness still another mile. I believe in angels...when I know the time is right for me I’ll cross the stream.” (CITATION) Towards the end of the story, Joyce writes “…out of a maze of distress, she prayed to God to direct her, to show her what was her duty.” (Joyce 14) In my opinion, these are both depicting a young girl’s transformation and truly becoming an adult.  Eveline was making a conscious decision with the help of God to choose her family and her responsibility over the unknown reality of the life she had been dreaming. ABBA sings of a woman understanding the time may not be right to follow her dreams right now but trusting in angels to help guide her.

            I hope you all enjoyed reading.  Good luck in class!

Traci Sluss

ABBA. “I Have a Dream.” Youtube, uploaded by Domiciano, Paulo, 23 August 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HMjOiHqE18

Joyce, James. “Eveline”. Squid Ink, 2016.