December 05, 2005

The Golden Girl

Okay, so I stretched a little with that title. But was it just me, or did anyone else feel like they'd travelled through time and stepped into a John Wayne western? I for one am very glad that at this painful end of the semester, we have a relatively easy and quick read in the form of a play. Sure, Belasco's melodramatic. Sure, some of the lines sound like they're full of corn and cheese. Sure, he ain't Shakespeare, but bless his soul for giving us accessible material. The language, the style, the stage set-up are all contemporary and invite the reader in to step into another world where gun shots are fired at the drop of a hat and a woman's honor holds some weight, despite the plethora of men surrounding her. Granted this is a southern story, so honor is the beginning and ending of life in this case. Even down to the dirty, rotten, no good Jonathan, who kissed the girl and made her cry.

On a slightly serious note, I think the play is a good reminder of the fact that, melodramatic or not, emotions play an important part in directing the actions of people and can't always be disregarded as overbearing or sappy. On the contrary, ever since reading Gabriel Garcia Marquez for World Lit, I'm convinced that passion drives people to strengthen their bonds with the world around them. Of course, passion and love don't necessarily have to take on a carnal cloak to be rendered in daily life. Passion can arise from compassion and concern for those who are loved the most. For instance:

The Girl: Oh, yes, you would - yes you would - if you seen how hard they got it. When I think of it - I - I nearly cry. You know there's something awful pretty in the way the boys hold out before they strike it - awful pretty - in the face of rocks and clay and alkali (208).

At the end of the day, it's always good to unwind with a good old fashioned love story.

Posted by NehaBawa at 11:03 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Portfolio 3 (and remnants of 2)

I realize that I haven't put up a portfolio for mid-semester time. I don't exactly know what happened, but this my public apology and an amalgammated portfolio, with some posts dating back to (ahem) October. There goes my timeliness grade.

Following the style of the first portfolio, my entries will be presented under one common umbrella because they tend to overlap.

And so, another semester comes to a close. Just like that. It's been a great, fast ride, sometimes so fast that it kept zooming out of focus. We win some, we lose some, we learn a lot, and treasure what we're left behind with. My love and wishes for good fortune to all who move on from here.

Coverage, Depth and Interaction

  • Walden by Thoreau - Thoreau, in the tradition of the Romantics, returns to nature and reminds us that perhaps we might need to think of the "forward" progress that our society has been making. There's something to be said for the pleasure that comes from building with our own two hands.

  • Huck Finn and First Impressions - After The Scarlet Letter, Huck Finn was perhaps my next favorite read in the course. My second Twain read after Innocents Abroad, Huck Finn stole my heart because I haven't read any other book that brought me in such close contact with American culture.

  • Uncle Remus n' Brer Rabbit - Visions of Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, but only in terms of dialect. There's not quite as much disintegration of culture with Brer Rabbit as there is with Faulkner.

  • "A" is for Average - Another in a long line of firsts, this post was a reflection on Booker T. Washington's address. Education is a topic that has always been close to me. I have to admit, I do tend to get charged about it.

  • In the Temple of Knowledge - Knowledge. Education. The good stuff.

  • The Golden Girl - The resurgence of emotion and passion in a play by D. Belasco. It's always a good thing.

    Xenoblogging

    Commenting

  • Meredith Harber's post titled "Two Thousand Miles for What?"

  • Vanessa Kolberg's post titled "Washington."

  • Valerie Masciarelli's post titled "W.E.B DuBois."

  • Jason Pugh's post titled "Girl of the Golden West."

  • Vanessa Kolberg's post titled "Goldigger."

    Wildcard

    My own post titled All Time 100 Novels on my personal web log, Wanderlust. Books are beautiful. That's all I have to say.

    And so another semester comes to a close. Just like that. We win some, we lose some, we learn a lot and we treasure all that we're left behind with. My love and wishes for luck and happiness to all who move on from here.

    Posted by NehaBawa at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)