Following is text of snowflake email (redacted) I received in advance of my Creative HamsterFur Weaving course, where I would be going over TS Eliot's "The Waste Land" in order to talk about symbols, sex, and stone ruins:
I did read Elliot's The Waste Land, and found his fixation with water through out the poem quite interesting: in I, how water is vast and empty (his quote from Wagner's opera Tristan and Isolde) and the king who had a "death by water;" In II, the reference to Ophelia--"Good night, ladies, good night, sweet ladies, good night, good night"-- who also had a "death by water;" then in III, the washing of the feet with soda water (which is slightly odd that he specifies "soda" water, but that might simply be the reference to the Australian song he took it from), the "sailor home from sea," then Elliot takes us to water's complete opposite-- fire--- in the end of section III, through "burning, burning, burning;" in IV, we are given the title "Death by Water," and are given the account of a Phlebas' dead body floating in the water; and finally, in V, we get the burning desire for water amid the rocky, dry terrain.
The melding of these old stories into something new really caught my attention because, in my play writing and the novel I'm starting, I'm taking old stories and giving them a new retelling.
For me, it's the water that ties the story together--from the snow mountains that they're sledding to the rocky terrain--although I'm not sure of it's significance.
Susie Student
"I just wanted to contribute a few thoughts for class today even though I won't be there."
ReplyDeleteSeems a bit pretentious. As though the class will be at a loss unless she shares her epic wisdom.
She should be embarrassed that she needs a "mental health day" and shouldn't be sending an email at all.
As long as it doesn't turn out that she's copied and pasted her ideas from whatever the virtual equivalent of Cliffs Notes is (yes, I'm horribly cynical), I'd be pleased to receive it, too. I'd be more pleased if she showed up in class and talked about her ideas, but at least she seems to have actually read and thought about the poem, which isn't an easy or a short one. I'm not sure why, if she's actually prepared for class, she needs a day off, but maybe that's just a measure of when *I* wish I didn't have to go to class.
ReplyDeleteI hope those who do attend have good things to say about symbols, sex, and stone ruins.
I'm with you on the copy pasting cynicism. My opinion is that her analysis is way too complete for it to be original and "off the cuff" as her closing statement would indicate. Might be a genius, might be a fusion of:
Deletehttp://www.gradesaver.com/the-waste-land/study-guide/major-themes/
and
http://puslit2.petra.ac.id/ejournal/index.php/ing/article/viewFile/17672/17583
Sure, why not? Susie has the choice to show up or not, and if she needs a "mental health day," then so be it. No skin off your nose. And you might as well enjoy the fact that she's done the assigned reading and got something out of it. Kudos for you both. Mark her absent and call today's class a success.
ReplyDeleteWhile missing class and sending an email about it is a bit snowflakey by default, at least she was honest about why and didn't spin you a tale of the mysterious illnesses and family traumas that compose her important and demanding life.
ReplyDeleteAnd she didn't ask for anything, so bonus.
"in my play writing and the novel I'm starting, I'm taking old stories and giving them a new retelling."
ReplyDeleteI'm going to plagiarize some good stuff and put my name on it.
Haha, wow I totally missed that. Good stuff.
Delete"My novel is a retelling of The Hound of the Baskervilles, where Holmes is a brilliant female (edgy!) detective (who is also a college english major), Watson is her assistant and best guy friend (who is hot), and the Hound is a misunderstood werewolf (who is also hot)."
Sadly, there are a thousand and one Holmes pastiches with plots similar to the one you described. I am so tired of the "literary mashup" - how many more faux Jane Austen novels, Shakespeare plays in modern settings, and classics with added zombies do we really need?
DeleteI don't have anything to add RE the email, but kudos on the image of the Pound dedication!
ReplyDeleteWhile flakey, even if the student did get the info from a source other than her head, it's still heartening to see she did research on the poem and made sense of it. The fact that she's not going to class is annoying, as is her claim of needing a mental health day. Perhaps I'm just resentful that she actually took a mental health day when I could sorely use one now.
ReplyDeleteFeels a little superkeener to me. After all, it's not YOU who needs her thoughts, it's her peers. But she wants YOU to give her participation credit even though she's not there. Meh.
ReplyDelete