Week 5 Blues? No, no.

In Oxford, there is a sort of legend of Fifth Week Blues where students really feel the pains of being a sleepless, tired, worn-out, battered Oxford student. Well, last week, I felt none of the blues, because my Fifth Week was ON FIRE! Oh yeah, I said it--on fire.

First, it started off like any week with my Monday Medieval tutorial. I was actually really enthused about my paper that I submitted to my tutor because I felt I really had a grasp on what the poem "Patience" was trying to do with medieval readership. All of the lectures I had been going to for the past weeks seemed to be preparing me for this one essay. I talked about the problem of Biblical hermeneutics in the Middle Ages (which came from Dr. Kantik Ghosh's brilliant lectures called "Aspects of Medieval Literary Theory") and also about affective piety and its importance in lay worship (thanks to the enthusiastic and enlightening Dr. Annie Sutherland in her lectures on "Belief and the Body in Late Medieval Lit"). So, yeah, maybe I got a little carried away, because my essay ended up being about 3,500 words when the assignment called about 1,500-2,000. My tutor didn't really hold that against me too much, even though on Monday, during our tute, she started off by saying, "Jarred, it is your turn to read your essay out loud, although if you are hoarse by the end, I understand." We spent the entire tute on the points I raised in my essay which she called interesting, but she didn't score me any higher that last week. It was kind of frustrating, but I still wrote a good paper, despite her lack of positive regard.

Then, on Thursday of last week, I had my Oscar Wilde tutorial. Now, can you say, "Publishable?" Well, my tutor certainly can, cause he said it to me. He told me that the argument that I had constructed about Wilde's play, "A Woman of No Importance," could easily be published. So, yeah, I was very very thrilled to hear that. I'm not sayin, I'm just sayin. Furthermore, my tutor suggested that I get in contact with Dr. Sos Eltis, the only other critic who has even touched what I was looking at in Wilde's work. I am so excited! I attended all of her lectures on Wilde, and she is truly an amazing scholar and professor. I would absolutely die to meet with her one-on-one and have an Oscar Wilde love fest. I e-mailed her, and I am still waiting--but I'm optimistic.

Later on that Thursday, to celebrate, I went to a poetry reading. Ok, yeah, I know. Only a complete word nerd goes to a poetry reading to celebrate a great tutorial. Read my blog now, and judge me later, yeah? Anyway, I went to The Big Bang, this restaurant in Jericho (a part of Oxford that was a city and might still be its own city, but I don't think so. It's a thing). Downstairs, the OUPS sponsored a reading by Lemn Sissay, an awe-inspiring poet with a keen perception of human language and how it's spoken. Every word that came from his lips--poetry or just speech in between--was fascinating. In between poems, he said something along the lines of, "Poetry, man--it's dangerous. And it's everywhere." Darn right, Lemn, darn right! I want to share with you one of his poems, which is linked on his blog: http://blog.lemnsissay.com/blog/_archives/2009/11/12/4379536.html
Yeah, go there, and click on the hyperlink "The Waitress" in the fourth stanza. This poem gave me chills and my jaw dropped. It was moving and sickening at the same time. So, brief caveat, if you are uncomfortable with the taboo (sex, death, race, politics), then please do not listen to "The Waitress." Maybe find a safer poet? Maybe find a nice Victorian. But I think "The Waitress" sums up very well what Sissay does with his words, with his audience, and with his life.

Well, that was pretty much the highlights of my last week. I will probably post tomorrow about my this week, 6th Week. You should be on the edge of your seat because, let me just tell you, it ends with a rowing race. Oh yeah, be excited! I raced today, and I'll give you the details tomorrow. I'm going to officially log off the internet and see if I can't write a few more paragraphs on this medieval essay I'm working on. Have a great day!