Just to re-affirm what I said in lecture about how you can approach the Avison book in the course, particularily insofar as the Final Exam is concerned. Always Now is part of our study of fiction, and so will be treated as fiction. Margaret Avison shows us some aspects of writing and reading which can't be presented better any other way, especially in a Vancouver setting and a blog setting both, and so will be of unique benefit in your acquisition here of an improved reading and writing skill-set.So, read the poetry like fiction: relax, enjoy and look for the broad sweep of ideas and for the images that Avison's writing evokes. I will be lecturing a bit on the elements of poetry, as they relate to improved appreciation & enjoyment of particular poems, but on the Final Exam, you will just be asked a question, say, about the poems as fiction. I certainly hope that I will be able to help you to see & respect the beauty & artistry of this very great member of Canada's family.
Novels and short fiction do have a strong aesthetic element and a strong focus of the meaning, history, rhythm and sound of words: it is just that in the sweep of narrative -- of plot & character, for instance -- these features, although valuable to know and apply, tend to be over-shadowed. Reading Avison allows us to see these invaluable fictional features straight and powerful, and thus understand them better.
Remember, then, to look for Avison's vision of the landscape of Canada and its climate -- at the biggest and the smallest level perceptible to our unaided senses -- and her artistic sense that behind and beneath this beauty & power that is Canada is a larger meaning and value. Avison wants, that is, to let us live our sensory lives more fully and to enlarge our spirit to a greater degree: not a transcendent, 'spooky', level, but simply a natural spirit on a more expansive & richer canvas.
The universal Canadian, I might call it. But remember, enjoy the sweep of the poems and the ideas & images that unify them -- just as you would reading a novel or short story -- as preparation for your Final Exam.
10 comments:
For essay #3, can we use "the innocent traveller," or just the stories by Pauline Johnson, Wayson Choy and Sky Lee?
Instead, probably better to use the DIY option of Topic #4, because this would then become a completely different topic.
Best,
I have a question about essay #3. Wayson Choy and Sky Lee are Asian, so when you say that the authors dont see themselves as European, do you also mean Asian as well?
I'm not sure what you mean by your question: their are European and European-descended authors, and these are being compared to the non-European authors in terms of their (possibly different) representations of "Vancouver." The two authors that you mention are are of Asian descent, but Pauline Johnson identified herself as First Nations, e.g.
They are European, not their are European.
Dear Anonymous: right you are - but blogging means not having to worry overmuch about manually checking all my spelling & gammar! (Automated spelling checkers being a harmful technology.)
Yet as an English professor you should most likely be setting a grammatical standard higher than most and encouraging others to do so as well.
Yet the issue is not grammatical: it is a simple spelling error .... and a spelling error in a blog comment at that.
I like your high regard for the English Professorial profession very much: I will do my best: keep keeping me on my toes!
I still do not understand what you mean by aesthetic element...
Dear Anonymous:
There is a hotlink on the term used in this post, that might be helpful. But I think the easiest way for me to help with understanding is for you to send another comment explaining what you do understand about aesthetics from the lectures, and then what specific points you are unclear on.
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