ENGL 348
To the waters and the wild
BIOL 335 has really perplexed me; I’m not quite sure what we’re supposed to know and what we’re not. It seems a little wishy-washy but I suppose that’s because I had BIOL 334 right before this. If you bump into me, feel free to ask me about bacterial gene transfer, the lac operon or recombinant gene technology.
“Children of the Earth” has started airing in Britain so of course I can’t wait for the North American viewings. I’m halfway through the first episode…and wow! It’s incredible. No wonder I love Torchwood. (Unfortunately, Toshiko, my television girlfriend is dead so that’s a bit of a downer.)
I forgot to post my courses here so here is the list!
- ANAT 390 001
- BIOC 302 202
- BIOC 302 T56
- BIOL 240 1D1
- BIOL 300 101
- BIOL 300 L08
- BIOL 304 102
- BIOL 304 L07
- BIOL 337 2W2
- BIOL 360 L01
- BIOL 361 101
- BIOL 362 201
- ENGL 304A
- ENGL 312A 0011
- ENGL 348A 005
- ENGL 357K 002
- ENGL 409A 001
- I’m on the waiting list for this course due to some issues with the SSC not recognizing me as an English Literature major. How unfortunate! But I’ll get in, I know it! ↩
O, reason not the need
Considering how I’m currently in the midst of a course and still working, I thought I’d share my second paper from ENGL 348C entitled “Tainted Blood and Healing Tears: Examining Bodily Fluids in King Lear” with everyone. I don’t think there’s any rules against this and some of you might actually read the whole thing. Let me know what you think!
Ranging from Caesar’s warm blood, in which the conspirators bathe their hands, to Lady MacBeth’s invocation of the murdering ministers to take her milk for gall, bodily fluids, in their myriad forms, appear to have secured an everlasting place within Shakespeare’s works as significant, provocative motifs. King Lear, indeed, contains much evidence of Shakespeare’s continued exploration of the symbolic roles of bodily fluids. While an appreciation for the theory of the four humours contemporaneous to the Early Modern period provides some insight into mentions of bodily fluids, it fails to adequately address deeper meanings that this paper will seek to explore. In particular, this paper will examine the motifs of blood and tears in King Lear in context with issues of gender identity and hegemonic patriarchy in order to gain deeper insight into the roles that bodily fluids fulfill in King Lear and in relation to Shakespeare’s other canonical works.
There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail
Last night, I stayed up until midnight with some classical music and Agatha Christie just to wait for my marks to be released. I’m far from disappointed but I know there’s room for improvement; I’ll just have to work harder! It’s been a great year though – I can really reflect on courses now:
- BIOL 200 – This course was actually quite interesting (considering I’m into cells and all) though it was a little poorly communicated exactly what was needed to do well. My section (Berger) did catastrophically on the section-specific midterm so we were scaled up. I’d advise regular studying for this course – it’s a lot of concepts and processes to understand.
- BIOL 201 – I really disliked this course for the sole reason that what was taught was not directly translated into examinable material; far too much material was expected to be gained by doing the problem sets. It almost seemed like lectures were extraneous.
- CHEM 233 – Difficult but rewarding if appropriate (i.e. lots) time investment is allocated for this course. It’s easy to fall behind so stay ahead by studying early and often.
- CHEM 205 – Straightforward and simple – there aren’t any tricks to this course. Learn the material, and learn all of it. Practice the problem sets, they’re harder than the actual exams.
- CHEM 235 – Fun and easy but deceptively tough on marking. Take the time to watch all the pre-laboratory videos and study hard for your written final.
- ENGL 221 – Easy, peasy and fun elective course. Covers Romantic era to modern-day literature. Should be popular with those who dislike older literature.
- ENGL 348 – Absolutely amazing. This class is by far my best class at UBC – sympathetic instructor, enlightening class and inspiring people. There isn’t a lot of work either, just walk in with an open mind and do attend as many classes as possible.
- ENGL 357 – Enjoyable readings and a great instructor made this one breeze by. I wish it were longer but I’m happy with the fair marking overall.
- PSYC 100 – Biggest mistake ever – this course sucked my soul from my body and left me an empty shell. Entirely rote memorization – the exams test on ridiculously minute trivia. Would not recommend to anyone who has a pulse and a brain unless it was absolutely necessary. UBC Psychology, work on your pedagogical development! Doing those psychology studies was fun though; especially for credits.
I woke up a bit earlier today to have breakfast with my dad and grandma. It’s always nice spending time with them; I find that I’m typically out of the house for most of the time during the school/work year so meals are good family times.
Afterwards, I promptly went to campus to return my boatload of books on collaborative authorship and the Augustan authors (evidently, I received 88 on my paper and 90 on my exam where I wrote two essays – one on the character of the Rake and the other on the character of the Coquette through the Restoration and eighteenth-century). I then met with J where I was a tad on the garrulous side, talking about OpenCourseWare and First Year Seminars. I know he’s still looking for an Associate Vice President Academic and several commissioners so I’d look out for those opportunities. J is driven, smart and diplomatic – I think he’s poised to effect real change this year. I hope he reaches out to S and J for their great ideas though.
Afterwards, I bumped into S at the Minischool office where we’ve got…let’s say…a pickle to sort out regarding bookings for Fall courses. While it will be a physical nightmare (can one of the prerequisites for my assistant be that s/he must be able to lift their own weight in wooden stages?), I’m crossing my fingers and praying that the bookings people can help us out. I found out that she might be heading to Edmonton which saddens me a little, but she’s doing what she’s always wanted to do so more power to her. We joked a bit, had a free lunch courtesy of the AMS (who says there are no free lunches in this world? mine had penne carbonara today!) then parted ways.
I went to go purchase my BIOL 334/335 textbooks which were exorbitant but thankfully K has assured me that I may borrow her set for the summer. I get to return my books and get my money back! Hurray.
All in all, not a bad day at all. I’ll be spending my day with S tomorrow doing Minischool turnover stuff. I’m still waiting on A to finish his turnover so I can begin Director of Finance duties at SUS.
Seems like I never take vacations.
On a happy note, I found a video of “My Boyfriend’s Back.” It brings back memories of ballroom lessons with L. Weren’t those fun, L? See the video after the jump.
the rest is silence
Just had my ENGL 348 final today: the sections were pretty difficult and I felt so drained by the end. I think my Coriolanus and Winter’s Tale sections were strong, The Tempest much weaker and MacBeth up for debate.
I’m really going to miss the class though! Dr. Sirluck was always supportive and it was really great meeting some new people. C and R were really great, I hope they succeed at whatever it is they will embark upon! R was so thoughtful, he even sent around some music he made to cheer people up during studying. Class act!
I really like Usher’s “Will Work for Love” lately. I’m probably over-analyzing but it works! It just makes me think about how there’s so little love in the world sometimes, so he has to work for it – not food, not water, not a safe place to stay, but for love. How respectable. When he says, “got love to spare?” it just makes me think of all the unloved people in this world – the marginalized, the elderly, etc. How very sentimental of me. And how uncharacteristic.
I’ve got to quickly finish studying for ENGL 357 for tomorrow – it’s entirely open-book! I’m going to be making notes on what I want to write about. Unfortunate that we have to write it in Lasserre though, I find the building mildly creepy. And I’ll have to polish my term paper and reading questions to hand in…yikes! 80% of my mark will be submitted to Dr. MacKenzie tomorrow! I better do well…
I’ve been so addicted to Restaurant City lately, it’s ridiculous. K tried to trade me his useless pepperoni for my useful items. I’m unamused. And L is mercenary! Asking for Lobster for a Mango. *sigh* It’s a Prisoner’s Dilemma game…hope people enable each other to succeed!
Had my Minischool interview yesterday on the fly. Wonder how it went?
Oh! And on the spur of the moment, I’ll be watching Les Misérables at the Arts Club Theatre in July with a few friends! Shame on me for getting tickets so late, but it’ll be great! John Mann and Jonathan Winsby will be in there, two of my favourite local actors. They’re so talented! I hope they do “One Day More” justice – if they don’t, I will be severely underwhelmed. I’ll share a few of my thoughts here!
now I run from you
Now that I’ve submitted and received marks for my ENGL 348 paper, I can feel free to post the introduction to it here:
Ranging from Caesar’s warm blood, in which the conspirators bathe their hands, to Lady MacBeth’s invocation of the murdering ministers to take her milk for gall, bodily fluids, in their myriad forms, appear to have secured an everlasting place within Shakespeare’s works as significant, provocative motifs. King Lear, indeed, contains much evidence of Shakespeare’s continued exploration of the symbolic roles of bodily fluids. While an appreciation for the theory of the four humours contemporaneous to the Early Modern period provides some insight into mentions of bodily fluids, it fails to adequately address deeper meanings that this paper will seek to explore. In particular, this paper will examine the motifs of blood and tears in King Lear in context with issues of gender identity and hegemonic patriarchy in order to gain deeper insight into the roles that bodily fluids fulfill in King Lear and in relation to Shakespeare’s other canonical works.
It was really fun to write and I hope I get a chance to explore themes of femininity, masculinity and gender identity in future papers!
It must be C’s influence that I’m a bit of a feminist, I guess.
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