The english courses I'm taking for my minor aren't that bad... but these pieces make me wonder at times. During the course, I mentioned how I did not prefer this piece at all and the lector gives me this look of complete disapproval. When she asks how many people prefered O'Brien's "The Things They Carried," she then commented "Oh. And they're all men." She mentioned this after half the class established that they didn't think it was a feminist piece as well. Yeesh.
The careful examination of the classics really does put a prospectus towards the reading, but at the same time I wonder if literature like this would have survived if it existed now. These pieces get almost too symbolic to a point where it becomes something like fantasy pieces and even beyond it, to a point where they get blatantly obscure. Graduate students are taught to study these pieces but at the same time I wonder... if I ever wrote something this heavy with the emphasis on hiding everything save through single sentences, then would I still gain appreciation for my work? I can think of writing classes I've taken where they emphasize trying not to make yourself too unclear with your purpose while you're writing and yet I'm taking classes to study unclear pieces. What makes it a classic? Why can't I get it?
Oh well, for now there's always watching MST3k and snickering at witty, offbeat comments.
The careful examination of the classics really does put a prospectus towards the reading, but at the same time I wonder if literature like this would have survived if it existed now. These pieces get almost too symbolic to a point where it becomes something like fantasy pieces and even beyond it, to a point where they get blatantly obscure. Graduate students are taught to study these pieces but at the same time I wonder... if I ever wrote something this heavy with the emphasis on hiding everything save through single sentences, then would I still gain appreciation for my work? I can think of writing classes I've taken where they emphasize trying not to make yourself too unclear with your purpose while you're writing and yet I'm taking classes to study unclear pieces. What makes it a classic? Why can't I get it?
Oh well, for now there's always watching MST3k and snickering at witty, offbeat comments.