IOP Reflection

After reading the blog responses for the topic “My Reaction to Disgrace”- Wednesday, March 26, 2008- I realized an opinion most of us had in common: that the story starts out fast-paced and interesting when it takes place in the city but slows down and becomes boring when David moves to the country. Reading sirena’s post, which said, “When the setting was at Lucy's farm, everything was so routine and the plot was very slow, I felt as if I was living at the farm too”, made me make the connection between the setting and writing style (thanks sirenaJ). So, I decided to base my IOP on writing style, with the thesis: JM Coetzee’s writing style plays an important role in depicting and creating a fuller perspective of the novel’s setting. I put extracts from most blogs on my powerpoint and asked the writers to read them as a hook because I felt that it would get everyone more engaged. the powerpoint was basically, my only visual aid

Preparing the presentation was not as difficult and time-consuming as I had imagined. It went pretty smoothly. However, going back to look for notes in the novel was frustrating, especially since I hadn’t touched the book in months. However, I kept everything for last minute so I didn’t have enough time to practice and finalize. That’s the main reason my delivery wasn’t very good. . My voice, first of all, was not loud enough. I wasn’t very comfortable during my presentation, I made a few grammatical mistakes, I used a lot of vocal pauses (especially “um”), and I slightly exceeded the allotted time. I noticed all that through the process of reflection, which included watching myself on tape, and writing the actual reflection. So all in all, what I learned from the IOP process as a whole, is that presentations and public speeches are not as hard as they appear, as long as you practice until you’re comfortable with what you’re doing, and don’t leave everything for the last minute.

Oracle Night-- What do you think?

Oracle Night was, in my opinion, the best book we’ve read so far in our IB English course; I did enjoy it a lot. I thought it was very captivating due to Auster’s distinguished writing style in which he experiments with new, unconventional writing techniques by applying post-modern elements such as footnotes, plot within a plot, writing about the process of creating a novel through the eyes of an author, etc. I also found that the simplicity of the language makes the novel much more enjoyable and easier to grasp, especially since the plotline is somewhat complex. All in all, I think that Paul Auster is very skillful and original in his writing, as he is able to explore his characters thoroughly and bring them, very subtly, to life.

Thoughts on Lord Byron's Don Juan

The mock epic poem Don Juan is considered by many scholars to be Lord Byron's greatest work. What are your thoughts as to the literary worth of the first two cantos that we have read? Are they good poetry?

I haven't read any of Byron's other works, and so i cannot judge whether or not Don Juan is his greatest work. But after reading the first two cantos, I can tell that it is really a masterpiece. The language is so rich- it is full of diverse allusions and refernces, which reveal Byron's well-rounded intellectual background. In my opinion, Byron chose to write in simple, straight-forward language that flows easily to keep to readers interested and captivated by the story, despite its length. I thought that he was able to establish a laudable mock-epic by using satyr, which was good-natured at times and cuastic at others, and through the characters. For, contrary to typical "epic heroes", Don Juan is naive and lacks the physical strength. Byron uses this poem as an outlet for expressing his feelings towards certain individauls and aristocratic groups of people. However, his humourous sarcasm makes the poem light and enjoyable rather than offensive. All in all, i think that this poem is worthy of all the praise and recognition it has acquired.

Hours of magic

Eyes that scream with burning lust

for what’s so close yet Out of reach.

Silence.

No one else could hear.

At dusk, the eyes are weary

and will now

retreat,

once more,

to sleep.

Madness in a whisper that echoes only in a dream.

Can you see the colors in the dark?

Do you feel the laughter on your skin?

Release. Live

the trance you’re in.

A life that’s parallel to what is real.

The night is young but Time moves fast.

Live,

Relive the trance you’re in.

Soon, the sun will rise

without a sound.

And who would dare escape the day?

Reactions to Disgrace for J.M.Coetzee

Disgrace was a fair read; it wasn’t as complicated and in-depth as all the previous reads we had this year, yet it wasn’t as interesting. As –almost- every one, I was getting into the novel at first but sort of lost interest by the time I reached the middle. It started out fast-paced, eventful, and captivating but it definitely slowed down and became repetitive after the climax (rape). Now, it wasn’t complete drudgery... I mean I didn’t mind reading it but I wouldn’t have continued it on my own –if I had the choice.

The novel has its ups-and-downs. There are a few things I liked. For example, Coetzee’s choice in introducing Soraya’s character at the very beginning and stressing on her so much but disregarding her after the first chapter was, in my opinion, an interesting twist. I also liked the way Coetzee meticulously revealed the characters, specifically David. For example, we would learn exactly what David is thinking all the time: what he wants to say but doesn’t, what he remembers, what he feels, etc.

However, that doesn’t mean I liked the characters. On the contrary, I thought that David was repulsive, Lucy was too passive submissive, and Petrus was sleazy. I also didn’t like the ending. It seemed unfinished and not satisfying to the reader.

I can’t really tell whether or not the novel deserved the award, as I do not yet fully understand its deeper layers and the authors message.

All in all, it was a quick read; I enjoyed some parts... others, not so much.

Is Shakespeare Overrated??

Almost anyone around the world today has heard about Shakespeare. You have to admit, he’s literally everywhere. I remember knowing his name long before reading any of his works; he, or perhaps his plays and quotes (such as “To be or not to be” from Hamlet), are frequently mentioned in children’s cartoons. Romeo and Juliet has been the play-of-choice in more than a couple of high-school movies or series I have watched. Moreover, there are countless Shakespearean references in other literary works; most recently, we have come across an excerpt from Sonnet 1 in Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee: “From fairest creatures we desire increase that thereby beauty’s rose might never die.”

So with all this publicity, one would question if Shakespeare really deserves all the 400 years of attention- is he overrated? There are many arguments concerning this question. The answer merely depends on the person’s personal preference. One could love Shakespeare’s works, regarding them as masterpieces, whereas another might feel that they are quite mundane and not worthy of all the praise.

Although I have read no more than a couple of Sonnets and two of his plays (Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth), I do think that he deserves a lot of publicity, however not as much he is getting now. His works aren’t my favorites, but they are written in ways unique to him and their executions are outstanding. He did not opt for unique, uncommon topics; he chose everyday issues such as love, betrayal, aging, etc. that any human can relate to. This, in my opinion, was one of the factors that made his name last for so long.

However, I think that his name is overshadowing other great writers of his time who perhaps deserve as much credit as he does.

In conclusion, I think that Shakespeare is slightly overrated. He deserves all the credit he gets. However, he is excessively mentioned, especially in today’s media, probably because he is already so familiar to everyone. It’s all a cycle in the end..

Sonnet 1

The wind, it sighs a gentle tune

A song to make perspective wane

The sun, alight, beside the moon,

Enough to drive the minds insane.

And there they stand. The eternal night,

Seems as brilliant as the day.

With dancing fires, flames unite,

They grow wings and fly away.

Alas, the wind, with time, departs

The wings still flutter, but fail to give.

Silence conquers the throbbing hearts.

The fires, once wild, no longer live.

But the song still echoes; a nostalgic gleam.

A nightmare? No, a dusky dream.

Sonnets

I have read one or two Shakespearean sonnets previously and I remember disliking them as I felt that their language was too complex and their structure was too awkward. So I wasn’t very happy to hear that we will be studying them during the coming few weeks. However, I surprisingly enjoyed reading sonnets 1 and 2 in class and therefore my views towards Shakespearean sonnets have changed... positively, of course.

The structure, in my opinion, is not limited at all... The poet, carefully choosing his/her every word, may express a lot in just 14 lines (however, analyzing and decoding the poet's message will be more difficult for the reader). Shakespeare’s sonnets, for example, are very concise yet packed with themes, imagery, figurative language, symbolism, etc. An example of a metaphor used in his Sonnet 2 is “And dig deep trenches in thy beauty’s field” where “deep trenches” are wrinkles caused by aging.

Question 4: What do you think about JM Coetzee's writing style. What about his style is unique? Does that affect the reading of the novel?

Personally, I like Coetzee’s writing style as it is blunt and rather captivating. He uses many techniques that make his writing unique, some of which are:

-Sentence Structure: Coetzee uses short sentences (e.g. “Melanie is not in class. From his office he telephones a florist. Roses? Perhaps not roses. He orders carnations.” p.20) and a lot of commas and semi-colons (e.g. “Because, he says, a soulless image, a mere imnage on the retina, has encroached upon what has hitherto been a living thought.” p.21). These elements have a significant effect on the reading as they provide pauses and prevent it from being overly fluent.

-Narration/point of view: The novel is written in the 3^rd person limited point of view. The narrator reveals not only David Lurie’s character, but also his inner feeling, opinions and thoughts (e.g. “Your secret is safe with me, he would like to say.” p.6). Thus, the reader would view the story in Lure’s perspective.

-Description: Coetzee provides a lot of description of the physical appearances of all the characters Lurie meets. For example, at every encounter with Melanie Isaac, her clothes are described. This enables the reader to visualize the story as it happens.