The English Miscellany

Immense creative opportunities arise from the adaptation of literary texts to stage productions, but too often they are merely slavish imitations and contribute only to heritage theatre. Fortunately, playwright Evan Placey has chosen to use R. L. Stevenson’s late nineteenth-century source text for inspiration in a way that connects with a range of highly contemporary issues. It’s a brilliantly thought-provoking production that contributes to current debates about science and gender, patriarchy and heteronormativity, women’s liberation, and social media as an outlet for misogyny and as an opportunity for emancipation. On an another level, it is a deeply emotional experience that is embodied in the actors’ ability to communicate issues with an emotional urgency.  The play exposes how performances and scripts create gender roles and suggests how they can be re-written. In particular, the second half of the play provides a stronger emphasis on (post)modern perspectives as...

The poetry of Alexander Pope (1688-1744) is sometimes associated with a cramped 'classical' approach to the imagination. However, rhythmic life and energy are bound up in Pope's rhyming couplets. He has an ear for music and movement. In fact, he often speaks about dance or employs its as a metaphor. Rhythm and dance provide a rich vein of physicality. Like Dryden, Pope perfected his ability to hear the inherent musicality of words and their sinewy rhythmic potential. He is a master of the soft rhapsodic cadences of lyric and elegy as much as the harsh, rough music of snarling satire. Although many of Pope's poems present formidable challenges to modern readers it eill eb apparent that a judicious selection of extracts will repay close reading and recitation. Students should also attempt to write their own couplets as this creative process will enable them to understand the levels of subtlety and complexity that can be achieved. Alexander Pope's Essay on Criti...

Horace Walpole 1717-1797 "The Many Lives of Horace Walpole" Lecture by George E. Haggerty October 26, 5:30 PM Yale Center for British Art Lecture Hall 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, CT 06510 In his charming biography of Horace Walpole, R.W. Ketton-Cremer makes the point that “one of the difficulties which confront a biographer of Walpole is his remarkable versatility.  He was active in many fields—in politics, social life, literature, architecture, antiquarianism, printing, virtù; and it is not easy to include them all in the compass of a single volume.”  George E. Haggerty, Distinguished Professor and Chair Department of English, University of California, Riverside, who is currently writing a new biography of Horace Walpole, will take up this challenge in his lecture with and through Walpole’s letters. Haggerty asserts that Walpole writes himself into his experience by means of his epistolary imagination. Professor Haggerty’s talk wil...

Sir Walter Scott - painted by Sir William Allan On March 24, 1826, Sir Walter Scott wrote in his Journal : ‘ JB clamorous for a motto. Go to. D—n the mot-toe. It is foolish to encourage people to expect mottoes and such-like Decoraments. You have no credit for success in finding them, and there is a disgrace in wanting them’ This is the text that appears in The Journal of Sir Walter Scott. From the Original Manuscript of Abbotsford , ed. W. E. K. Anderson (Oxford, 1972), 119, and in the Canongate 1999 edition, which has a footnote but does not comment on the textual variants. However, the words: 'Go to. D—n the mot-toe.' did not appear in John Gibson Lockhart 's Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott , Volume 4, , p. 36, 1838; nor in 1845: 618;  or 1852: 618 . [Possibly in 1851: 618 , but I've not been able to check that one] Is it to be surmised that D--n was deleted by Lockhart's wife, Sophia, Scott's daughter? Are there any other s...

Logic of Failure - Metaphysics of Success Many universities are concerned about failure rates. It is not uncommon for 25% of students to fail to complete their first year successfully.  Academics are mildy irritated that they are constantly under pressure from the management to improve success rates. Rather cruel responses might run like this: " I'm sorry, it is really beyond my control if you break up with your girlfriend in week 3 and stop attending classes." [But depression is a REAL problem for some students. Check out this article: Yes, you can crawl out of your first-year depression at university  | Nell Frizzell ] "Am I responsible if you lose the power of motion because you've been living on nothing but porridge oats for the last term before the exams, having spent your parents' money on beer." "I can recommend counselling services. Remember ... you are now deemed to be an adult; you will be expected to take responsibi...

Although Will Durant's The Case for India was composed in 1930 it is still a highly readable and provocative account. Ultimately, its reading of history is political and partisan and polemical. As a result, this classic book will stimulate debate in your classroom seminar. William James Durant (5 November 1885 – 7 November 1981) was an American historian, philosopher and writer, most famous for his works The Story of Philosophy (1926), and The Story of Civilization (1935-1975). Crucially, Durant argued for a recognition of the India's contribution to world civilization: "It is true that even across the Himalayan barrier India has sent to the west, such gifts as grammar and logic, philosophy and fables, hypnotism and chess, and above all numerals and the decimal system." An Indian edition from 2006 is also available online. A quotation   from the first page indicates the historical point of view in glaring colours: "But I saw such things ...

LEARNING KEY TERMS:  Students often experience difficulty understanding, learning, and applying the key terms that are essential for the study of English Language and Literature. Even some undergraduates have poor mastery of the most basic terms. Across a range of subjects the need to acquire the technical vocabulary presents a major challenge. Many disciplines are turning to creative play exercises in order to improve motivation, engagement, and ultimately to improve exam results (See Further Reading , below). Most teachers understand that it is worth testing students’ knowledge base by asking them to compile their own glossary (A-Z), with key words, definitions and examples. This is a practical research exercise. It is ideal for small group work, or as a whole-class exercise. In a multi-media environment students might also select their own images to illustrate the key terms. As teachers we spend far too much time creating resources for students, rather than askin...