May 27 Minutes

Today we continued talking about Ethan Brand:

We started off with a continuation of our discussion on what the unpardonable sin was that Ethan Brand was searching for. It was decided that it was intellect taking precedence over morality as well as a preson's decision to expel himslf from the rest of humanity. When Ethan returned to the kiln, he no longer cared about others and is basically no longer human. This is symbolized by his heart turning to marble. 

We also discussed the part in the story in which Ethan sacrafices himself into the fire and becomes high-grade lime. With this, Hawthorne is saying that even though he is dead, he is putting his atoms back to work. Ethan Brand is more useful dead than alive. The concept of death being a return to nature is very romantic.

We talked about why Ethan even bothered to return to the kiln. Brand returns as a sort of closure to his journey. He began his search for unpardonable sin after talking to the devil he saw in the flames of the kiln and he ended his journey in the same place. The fire in the kiln represents a contained version of hell, in which Brand willingly throws himself into. 

We ended our discussion with a debate over whether a person is innately caring or caring is learned through experience.

Feel free to elaborate on the above topics. 

-Julie S

May 19 minutes

After Mr. Laz being absent for a few days we got right back on track with 'The Minister's Black Veil' -- we talked about how the veil not only alters others perceptions of Mr. Hooper, but also taints everything he sees as well. Here are some more bullet points from today's discussion:
-he does a church service, funeral and wedding all in one day (elements of life, daily ritual, beginning and end)
-corpse doesn't actually shudder, everyone wants to look for a reason for wearing the black veil-- however Mr. Hooper never looses his reputation
-this is an indictment of Hawthorn's ancestors -- the Puritans
-people act as if they have no sin -- holding it inside their hearts
-gothic image = Mr. Hooper being buried wearing the black veil
-would it have been honorable to reveal the sin (take away the veil)? -- Possibly, however would not prove Hawthorne's point -- God is the only one who knows
-"earth, too, had on her black veil" -- Romantic perception ~ earth and humanity go hand in hand

HW: Refresh on 'The Birthmark'

-Sammi

Philosophy of Composition contd.

While we stopped talking about Poe's philosophy of composition in class, I felt there might be some potential for further discussion online. One of the things we discussed was how the technique of the writer sets them apart from is. The fact that "nevermore" came to Poe naturally is what separates him from the average writer. I would have to agree. However, I think that it is irrelevant how an artist got to the point of creation. All that matters is what the artist created and how much of his emotions, his person, his soul, if you will, was expressed in the work. I mentioned William S. Burroughs as an example of this. William S. Burroughs' writing, especially his masterpiece "Naked Lunch" is incoherent, disjointed, and generally disregards most rules of the structure of the English language or fiction writing. However, despite its technical faults it is a masterpiece. In fact, the technical faults are largely irrelevant in my opinion. I'd say that the technical faults would even aid the book. What most importantly matters is that the book is an earnest expression of emotion. Even Anthony Burgess, who was well-trained on the so-called "classics" of English literature and was a fan of "Naked Lunch" as well. I would say that an immensely well-trained person, who knows all the tricks of the trade in writing, who can rhyme extraordinary melodically, but writes of nothing emotionally heartfelt or powerful is inferior to one who lacks said training, writes in grammatically incorrect sentences, writes in barely readable scratches, but puts his soul into his writing. (Excerpt of "Naked Lunch")
I've found that emotional expression overrides technical finesse is a belief more common in music criticism. Many musicians have lacked technical finesse, yet created immensely well-respected works. Perhaps the best example of this would be the band "My Bloody Valentine" and their album "Loveless." "Loveless" routinely makes the rounds of best albums of all time list and is considered an unrivaled masterpiece in the shoegaze genre, despite having been made with a low budget and certain technical complications. For instance The guitarist and composer, Kevin Shields, wasn't skilled at guitar playing in the traditional sense and therefore relied on using a few key chords and the whammy bar. As is apparent, however, if one listens to the album, is that it's practically bursting at the seams with emotion. (Song from album)
Film also has similar works. The French New Wave produced very cheaply made films that were immensely emotional. The film "400 Blows" is perhaps the greatest example of this. (Trailer)
So that's my opinion. What's yours? What importance do you feel technique holds on how competent (for lack of a better word) a work of art is.

-Alexander

The Raven and Other Things

This is probably one of the busiest times in our high school academic careers right now, but I thought it'd be prudent to resuscitate the blog for the time being. We've been going over the Poe packet in class the past week or so, and so far we've read the Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, the Fall of the House of Usher, and the Raven. We have discussed that the first three short stories rely heavily on Gothic themes and the human psychological condition. The Raven continues these themes, in a narrative poem format.

In class today, we discussed several aspects of the poem. One, it explores the effect of grief and how people may try to relieve themselves of this. The narrator of the poem finds solace in books of forgotten lore, trying to use rationality and logic to fix an emotional problem. Two, there are two prominent symbols in the poem - the Raven, and the bust of Athena. The Raven sits atop the bust at one point in the poem, showing its dominance over wisdom. Three, we explored the repeating "Nevermore." This one word, quothed by the Raven throughout the poem, is the only thing it can say. The author is aware of this, but nonetheless he continues to ask it questions that can only be answered with "Nevermore." We came to the conclusion that the narrator did this to convince himself of Lenore's fate, since he was in a state of denial.

We will continue to discuss this poem tomorrow. Feel free to discuss anything Raven related here as well.

-Colin