Saturday night, I went off to London's West End to see a production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. After missing the West End's production of A Streetcar Named Desire earlier this term, I was very excited to finally get my Southern Lit fix in England. This production of Cat did very well on Broadway, so naturally, it made it's way over to London. The cast included James Earl Jones as Big Daddy, Phylicia Rashad as Big Mama, Sanaa Lathan as Maggie, and Adrian Lester as Brick. I thought this was a brilliant move on the director's part. Williams' play centers around a crumbling Southern plantation, which means that historically the cast has been all white, except for the roles of the servants. The director, Debbie Allen, immediately breaks that tradition and opens up Williams' play to another layer of creative opportunity which is not limited by race. I love that concept! For more about the play, the cast, and the director, visit http://www.catwestend.com/
So, with the big stars, the possibility for a deconstruction of racial boundaries, the "Hey, I'm going to the West End" factor, I was really excited to see this show. I was a little disappointed at first. Sanaa Lathan, in her portrayal of Maggie, did not move me at all, which is strange because Maggie is one of my favorite Williams' characters. She has some great lines, but Lathan's "Southern accent" just distracted me from them. Maggie just faded into the background next to the powerful portrayals of Brick and Big Daddy. In fact, Adrian Lester as Brick was phenomenal. He made the show for me, especially when interacting with James Earl Jones. Those scenes where amazing! Brick's "charm of the defeated" (as Maggie calls it) really came through, and I was drawn into Lester's performance. Great job!
Most of the audience, however, did not quite get Lester's performance or Williams' writings as a whole. One of the conflicts in Cat revolves around Brick's excessive drinking as he tries to remove himself from other issues of death and sexuality. Whenever another character called Brick an alcoholic or when Brick went for another drink, the audience laughed and chuckled. Um, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is not a comedy. The other American students I went with found the laughter very disturbing as well, and I'm still not sure why the audience laughed away Brick's drinking. As far as I can tell, the social construction of alcoholism as a vice is lost on a British audience. Coming from an American background, especially Southern, alcohol is kind of a touchy subject; there were Constitutional Amendments about it after all. The British audience, however, didn't come to the show with the same cultural background, and thus, laughed off any drama over alcoholism. It was shocking. I don't want to sound like I'm criticizing the British culture, but since drinking is so common place and an integral part of social life, the term "alcoholic" does not carry the same cultural connotation. There's a discussion we could have here about perceptions of alcohol in the States and in the UK, but that would be another blog's worth. But maybe we should get into it. British students have said to me many times, "What do you feel about the drinking age back home? It's ridiculous. Kids never learn how to handle their alcohol. I think there's more binge drinking in the States because of the higher drinking age." But they say this to me while they are quite intoxicated themselves. Hi, yeah, Pot, meet Kettle. But in all fairness, they are partially right; when some American students enter college, they drink heavily. So, I'm not sure what to make of this cross-cultural disconnect. Regardless, visiting students doing this program should be aware of the cultural differences surrounding alcohol; I know two of the girls with me this year experienced culture shock because they were unaware. So, while the issues of race and sex kind of faded into the background, Allen's production of Cat certainly raised an interesting issue of alcoholism across the ocean. Sorry for maybe getting preachy and taboo! Please stay tuned for upcoming posts concerning...(the ellipses is for suspense) my pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral followed by a review of the West End's production of An Inspector Calls!
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
Mission Accomplished
Just a brief update--I'M DONE WITH MICHAELMAS TERM! Oh yeah, that's right, I survived my first term at Regents Park College, Oxford University! I'm pleased. And overall, it was a very productive term. I think I've engaged a lot with Medieval Lit on a deeper level than I would have at CSU because of the fascinating lectures coupled with the tutorials. Same with Oscar Wilde. It's not often that I can listen to the same critic who literally wrote the book on Wilde! At the end of the term, we get to see our reports of our performance in the tutes. Overall, my tutors had positive feedback, which made me happy. One tutor, however, labeled me as "imprecise" and "sprawling" at times. I laughed. She says that because I once turned in an 11 page paper which somehow upset her. Whatever. It doesn't really matter because I made A's in both tutorials. I am very happy with my marks, but more importantly, I'm happy with how much I've grown as a scholar. My Wilde tutor wants to pick me up next term for Modern Lit, and I already have a reading list for the vacation for both Modern and Renaissance. So, I've got plenty of reading to keep me occupied! Yay!
Trapped in a Chapel--It's a Trappel
OK, since I promised you this story in the last post, and since I finally have some time to spare, here is the tale about me, my friend Beth, and St. Mary the Virgin. Beth and I go to poetry readings most every Thursday nights with the OUPS. Two Thursdays ago (wow, I should really update this blog more often), we went to see a poet read in the upstairs of the Vaults and Garden, a little restaurant attached to the Cathedral of St. Mary the Virgin. Actually, if you look back to September 26th's post, Hayley and I are eating at the Vaults and Garden. Anyway, Beth and I arrived and were directed to take the hallway back and go up the stairs on our right. We start down the hallway with three other students behind us. We reach the end of the hall and there are three doors--one the left is a door to the kitchen, in front is a locked, bolted door, and on our right is an unmarked black door. "Well," I thought, "surely this is the stairs on our right that the people outside mentioned." We all walked through the door and into the dark, empty cathedral. The door slams shut behind us, and of course, it locks. There are no stairs. There is only us and the Lord. So, we start banging on all the doors we could find, and after 15 minutes of knocking and shouting, I decide to call my friend Sam to let us out. After the shock of hearing, "Sam, please, help, I'm trapped in a chapel," he told me he was on his way. After 10 more minutes of banging, a passer-by (not Sam, who arrived too late to save us) heard us and decided we weren't evil spirits haunting the church, and let us out. So, yes, make of this story what you will.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Race Results
OK, well, I think I've kept you in suspense long enough. (Actually, I got distrcted yesterday with this essay on naming and identity in Malory's Le Morte Darthur, but I don't really want to talk about it. Ever.) The Regent's Park novice crew rowed a very impressive 5:29! Um, yeah, that's 5 minutes and 29 seconds with an average stroke rate of something like 28/29? We were very in time with each other, and frankly, it was the best outing we have had thus far! We were quite pleased with ourselves. Overall, in the entire race, we came in 7th out of 17, and in our division, we were 2nd. Go Regent's! (I'll probably fill you guys in about my week a little later on--it involves being trapped inside a closed cathedral. I have this essay looming above my head like the Sword of Damocles. Not a happy camper.)
Friday, November 20, 2009
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!
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!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
A Week of Poetry!
This week has been filled with poetry, which is definitely not a bad thing! First, I've been surprisingly into this poem that I'm reading for my Medieval Lit tutorial. It's called "Patience" from The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript, which is this collection of four poems: "Pearl," "Cleanness (or sometimes called Purity)," "Patience," and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight." These poems are believed to have been written in the late 14th Century, but like with most Medieval manuscripts, it's ambiguity-palooza. Anyway, "Patience" is a retelling of the Jonah story, and because of all of the Medieval lectures I've been going to, I feel like I've got a really good handle on what the poet is doing. One lecture, Aspects of Medieval Literary Theory, is really focused on how the Bible is interpreted and the religious complications that arise when Medieval scholars/clergymen place human interpretations on it. It is a really dense, thick lecture, but it definitely helps here because the Pearl Poet is re-interpreting a Biblical story. Also, I think it can be read as an exploration of affective spirituality--a form of devotional writing that I've been learning about through the Medieval Literary Theory lecture and my favorite Body and Belief in Late Medieval Literature. We'll see what my tutor thinks on Monday when we discuss the poem.
On a less scholastic note, I've joined the Oxford University Poetry Society and attended two OUPS events this week! The first one was a poetry workshop. Three of us from Regent's Park who are interested in writing went, and we met four OUPS members at the Turl Pub and worked on our poems. What happens is that the poet gives out copies of his or her poem to the rest of the group. The poet then reads the poem out loud three times. After that, the poet does not speak until the end; the goal is to keep quiet and listen to what the poem does after it leaves your control--see if it can stand on it's own, you know? The group then takes the poem through three stages of scrutiny. We ask and answer, "What is the poem about?" Then, "What does the poet/poem do well?" And finally we give constructive criticism. I found it incredible illuminating. Since I've only just been branching outside of my Slam Poetry comfort zone, it was really good to see how my more formally constructed page poems were able to exist without performance. By the way, the OUPS workshop group loved my poem. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin.
Also, Thursday night, the OUPS sponsored a reading in Jericho Tavern by the famous poet Simon Armitage. Well, I was at least told that he was famous. He has published many, many books of poetry, written a few novels, plays, and screenplays. Also, a lot of people study his work for this exam in their schools (I don't remember the name of the exam, but I'll post it as soon as I find out). The girl I went with from Regent's, during the exam, she wrote over three pages on the rhythm of his poem "Kid." The reading was amazing, and Armitage has such a striking presence. His poems mix humor and pathos very well, and his style was natural, yet surreal. The last poem that he read (I don't think it's been published yet because it was in a big black book of just typed up poems) was my favorite, and the silence between the end of the poem and the moment that the audience realized that Armitage was finished sent gave me the shivers. It was beautiful. And I want to leave you with one of his poems that stuck with me from Thursday night. It's on the Poetry Archive's website, linked here: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=88
And finally, to complete this highly creative week, last night I auctioned off my poetic (dis)abilities at the annual Regent's Park Charity Promise Auction. The two charities we raised money for were the NDCS (http://www.ndcs.org.uk/) and A4ID (http://www.a4id.org/). Last night's goal was to raise over 400 pounds, so we had a lot of inventive pledges. For example, my friend Omar pledged to read a thirty minute bedtime story, and people bid viciously for that one--he raised about 50 pounds. Well, I pledged a personalized love poem, and just to make sure that Regent's Park knew that I could make an interesting arrangement of love metaphors, I gave a little teaser that whipped up before the auction. Now, I don't like to brag or feed my inherent narcissism, but let me just say that after my little preview, hands were flying into the air for a personalized Jarred Wiehe love poem. I raised 64 pounds. By the end of the night, Regent's Park raised over 1,000 pounds for charity, so I feel both creative and philanthropic. I slept well last night. Well, I have to get to work and be productive today, so I'm off. Have a great day!
On a less scholastic note, I've joined the Oxford University Poetry Society and attended two OUPS events this week! The first one was a poetry workshop. Three of us from Regent's Park who are interested in writing went, and we met four OUPS members at the Turl Pub and worked on our poems. What happens is that the poet gives out copies of his or her poem to the rest of the group. The poet then reads the poem out loud three times. After that, the poet does not speak until the end; the goal is to keep quiet and listen to what the poem does after it leaves your control--see if it can stand on it's own, you know? The group then takes the poem through three stages of scrutiny. We ask and answer, "What is the poem about?" Then, "What does the poet/poem do well?" And finally we give constructive criticism. I found it incredible illuminating. Since I've only just been branching outside of my Slam Poetry comfort zone, it was really good to see how my more formally constructed page poems were able to exist without performance. By the way, the OUPS workshop group loved my poem. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin.
Also, Thursday night, the OUPS sponsored a reading in Jericho Tavern by the famous poet Simon Armitage. Well, I was at least told that he was famous. He has published many, many books of poetry, written a few novels, plays, and screenplays. Also, a lot of people study his work for this exam in their schools (I don't remember the name of the exam, but I'll post it as soon as I find out). The girl I went with from Regent's, during the exam, she wrote over three pages on the rhythm of his poem "Kid." The reading was amazing, and Armitage has such a striking presence. His poems mix humor and pathos very well, and his style was natural, yet surreal. The last poem that he read (I don't think it's been published yet because it was in a big black book of just typed up poems) was my favorite, and the silence between the end of the poem and the moment that the audience realized that Armitage was finished sent gave me the shivers. It was beautiful. And I want to leave you with one of his poems that stuck with me from Thursday night. It's on the Poetry Archive's website, linked here: http://www.poetryarchive.org/poetryarchive/singlePoem.do?poemId=88
And finally, to complete this highly creative week, last night I auctioned off my poetic (dis)abilities at the annual Regent's Park Charity Promise Auction. The two charities we raised money for were the NDCS (http://www.ndcs.org.uk/) and A4ID (http://www.a4id.org/). Last night's goal was to raise over 400 pounds, so we had a lot of inventive pledges. For example, my friend Omar pledged to read a thirty minute bedtime story, and people bid viciously for that one--he raised about 50 pounds. Well, I pledged a personalized love poem, and just to make sure that Regent's Park knew that I could make an interesting arrangement of love metaphors, I gave a little teaser that whipped up before the auction. Now, I don't like to brag or feed my inherent narcissism, but let me just say that after my little preview, hands were flying into the air for a personalized Jarred Wiehe love poem. I raised 64 pounds. By the end of the night, Regent's Park raised over 1,000 pounds for charity, so I feel both creative and philanthropic. I slept well last night. Well, I have to get to work and be productive today, so I'm off. Have a great day!
Monday, November 2, 2009
What a crazy week. I have barely had time to breathe, let alone blog. Rowing has been a major theme in the mornings, as well as in the afternoons, but I really don't want to get into that. I mean, I feel like every session last week did not end with me improving my form or technique. Nope. Instead, I think I got worse and worse. Literally, the rowing coach (Felicity is her name, but she goes by "Flick" because it sounds more hard-core) told me I looked like the hunchback of Notre Dame in the boat. Only, she doesn't address you by name; Flick calls you out by your position in the boat. So, with me, she yells things like, "Bow, you're rowing in a box." Or, "Bow, do you even know what 'backstops' mean?" She's, well, um, intimidating, but she is a really great coach. Every time I learn a body problem of which I have to be hyper-cognizant. For a sport all about repetition--you repeat the movement of the man in front of you, and you repeat the last stroke that you performed--there is a lot of brain strain involved in keeping myself properly functioning.
Now, I feel like I haven't blogged about my academics in forever--it's been a lot of rowing news. Since I am here for higher learning, maybe I should do a little sharing on that front. Actually, I've been terrified to report on the tumultuous relationship between myself and my Medieval tutor. See, she does this thing where no matter what I write, she refuses to truly validate my ideas. The closest she comes to telling me, "Good job," is this really sneaky rhetorical move; she writes and says to me, "Point taken, however..." and follows through with phrases like "you fail to consider" and "making your point extremely limited." Now, let's break this feedback down, shall we? She spends two words to show that she "takes" my idea, and then with one word begins a string of criticism to undercut the previous two word validation. This is hardly an "atta boy." He feedback at the end of my papers are similarly problematic. My first essay (a 66 in Oxford marks, which translates roughly to an B+/A-), she called "well considered," yet "incomplete" as she feels that I did not answer all of her question. It is not a bad grade, yet I was still a little frustrated about it. Anyway, this past essay which she gave back today, she makes use of the same "point taken, however.." move, and used the phrase "competently handled and sufficiently illustrated." But competent and sufficient are some of those ambiguous compliments that aren't really compliments, you know? However, she did score this essay one point higher than the last one, so color me "improved" by her standards. (I'm sorry if the bitter came out in that last sentence; I am trying to keep it in!)
On the happier academic note, I had my second tutorial with John, my Wilde tutor. I'm not sure if I told you this, but he rather emphatically insists that I call him John. He's really young and an American-gone-Brit from California, so he understands where I'm coming from academically. His tutorials are always rather bizarre, and last Thursday was no different. I read my essay looking at the relationship between Wilde's short story, "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," and Wilde's critical essay, "The Soul of Man Under Socialism," looking specifically at his emphasis on individualism and the artist's role in society. John liked it; he thought it was intriguing, although he kept bringing up The Picture of Dorian Gray, and asking how my argument could be applied to that. In my head, I kept thinking, "But I'm not writing on Dorian Gray, now am I?" Anyway, we discussed Dorian Gray and he said he liked my reading of it. At the end of our tute, I asked him how I was doing (since I am now half way done with it as it is a half tutorial). He said, "Definitely A level work. Don't worry." This week, in stead of the questions he suggested I write on, I talked with him about me researching the intersection of Wilde's drama, American Lit, and his perception and portrayal of Americans. He was OK with this idea, so I'm happy.
Besides rowing, I'm really looking forward to doing some drama and creative writing in Oxford. There's the Oxford University Poetry Society, which I'm planning on getting involved in. As for the theatre, there is the university competition called "Cuppers" that I'm going to perform in. It's only open to freshers (but I think I'm eligible since technically I'm like a Regent's Fresher). Basically, Cuppers is like a One-Act Play competition where different colleges can submit 30 minute plays which are then judged in different categories. One of the clever freshers has written a 30 ensemble based comedy show about the history of theatre. I have a part and we are going into competition rehearsal mode ASAP. I cannot wait!
Now, I feel like I haven't blogged about my academics in forever--it's been a lot of rowing news. Since I am here for higher learning, maybe I should do a little sharing on that front. Actually, I've been terrified to report on the tumultuous relationship between myself and my Medieval tutor. See, she does this thing where no matter what I write, she refuses to truly validate my ideas. The closest she comes to telling me, "Good job," is this really sneaky rhetorical move; she writes and says to me, "Point taken, however..." and follows through with phrases like "you fail to consider" and "making your point extremely limited." Now, let's break this feedback down, shall we? She spends two words to show that she "takes" my idea, and then with one word begins a string of criticism to undercut the previous two word validation. This is hardly an "atta boy." He feedback at the end of my papers are similarly problematic. My first essay (a 66 in Oxford marks, which translates roughly to an B+/A-), she called "well considered," yet "incomplete" as she feels that I did not answer all of her question. It is not a bad grade, yet I was still a little frustrated about it. Anyway, this past essay which she gave back today, she makes use of the same "point taken, however.." move, and used the phrase "competently handled and sufficiently illustrated." But competent and sufficient are some of those ambiguous compliments that aren't really compliments, you know? However, she did score this essay one point higher than the last one, so color me "improved" by her standards. (I'm sorry if the bitter came out in that last sentence; I am trying to keep it in!)
On the happier academic note, I had my second tutorial with John, my Wilde tutor. I'm not sure if I told you this, but he rather emphatically insists that I call him John. He's really young and an American-gone-Brit from California, so he understands where I'm coming from academically. His tutorials are always rather bizarre, and last Thursday was no different. I read my essay looking at the relationship between Wilde's short story, "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime," and Wilde's critical essay, "The Soul of Man Under Socialism," looking specifically at his emphasis on individualism and the artist's role in society. John liked it; he thought it was intriguing, although he kept bringing up The Picture of Dorian Gray, and asking how my argument could be applied to that. In my head, I kept thinking, "But I'm not writing on Dorian Gray, now am I?" Anyway, we discussed Dorian Gray and he said he liked my reading of it. At the end of our tute, I asked him how I was doing (since I am now half way done with it as it is a half tutorial). He said, "Definitely A level work. Don't worry." This week, in stead of the questions he suggested I write on, I talked with him about me researching the intersection of Wilde's drama, American Lit, and his perception and portrayal of Americans. He was OK with this idea, so I'm happy.
Besides rowing, I'm really looking forward to doing some drama and creative writing in Oxford. There's the Oxford University Poetry Society, which I'm planning on getting involved in. As for the theatre, there is the university competition called "Cuppers" that I'm going to perform in. It's only open to freshers (but I think I'm eligible since technically I'm like a Regent's Fresher). Basically, Cuppers is like a One-Act Play competition where different colleges can submit 30 minute plays which are then judged in different categories. One of the clever freshers has written a 30 ensemble based comedy show about the history of theatre. I have a part and we are going into competition rehearsal mode ASAP. I cannot wait!
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