The Imaginary Invalid

I thought the play An Imaginary Invalid was a very inventive comedy. The scenery was colorful and expressive. I appreciated the superb acting, especially from my friends who played parts. I can see why Professor Corrigan would have us watch this play. In some respect, plays or movies have a literary sense, because they began with a script that someone wrote. Whoever wrote the script had a specific scheme and aspiration. Seeing through the play or between the lines of the script can be an eye-opener to what inspired the writer. I truly enjoyed watching a play with a more analytical mindset. Plays, books, poems, and songs all complement each other. We ask the same questions about for all of these about themes, meaning, stance of the author.

The play was about a man named Argan who acts sick because of a strange fixation with doctors. I thought it was funny to see how a person’s fixation or lie could grow more and more until the separation between reality and fantasy is almost nonexistent. Argan’s maid suggests that he play dead in order to unveil the true loyalty of his second wife and daughter. He follows her advice and discovers that his second wife only wants his money and that his daughter truly loves him. In a humorous scene, Argan revives from the dead in front of his wife first and confronts his wife. Later he revives in front of his daughter, who sincerely loves him, and lets her marry the man she wishes.

Although the play is a comedy, I enjoyed it because, in my opinion, it had quality lessons. First of all, people shouldn’t live a lie because they will only get entangled in it till reality is questionable. Secondly, the true intentions and loyalty of people will be found out. Since this was a class project, I tried to find some theme or meaning within the comedy and hopefully I did.

I attended Southeastern's production of The Imaginary Invalid and watched the entire play.

Where Is God When I Want Him? - A reflection from A Grief Observed

I will quote C.S. Lewis from his book, A Grief Observed. “Meanwhile, where is God? This is one of the most disquieting symptoms. When you are happy, so happy that you have no sense of needing Him, so happy that you are tempted to feel His claims upon you as an interruption” The times when I have felt distant and lacking of God’s presence have not always been the worst stages of my life. This is hard to admit, since I have grown up in a Christian home, where God is everything including oxygen. My mother would probably hit me over the head, merely for thinking it. However, reality and the way a person feels when reality hits them, is never a sin. Can there be a sense of happiness away from God? When I speak of being away from God, I am referring to the conscious acts done against what we believe God disapproves of. When God comes knocking at my door, many times I have not wanted to answer. I do not want to put down everything I am doing and render myself to His will. God is a commitment and many times I’m not ready to make that leap of faith. However, once I find myself lost or in the midst of adversity I find myself running to my knight in shining armor seeking to be rescued. It is the symptom of life sickness. Once we have had our fill of life and all it has to offer, we find ourselves stuffed and sick, wanting a quick fix. There are no quick fixes, however, so why should God be one? It would almost be an injustice if God were always so close and accessible, just when we want or need him. I suppose the best way to look at it is that God is available at just the right time.

Blogging and Class activities

I can see how the blogging and the activities connect what we are reading about so well. Blogging is a great way to be more involved with the material and be able to process the information for better understanding. Relating to the text through personal experience, questions, reflections are great ways to engage in literature. The blogging project and the activities done in class both have the common factor of capturing the meaning of the texts. Some of the activities performed in class are listening to music, theatrical reading, painting, field trips, and group discussions. When I read a piece of literature and try to understand the meaning and theme of the text it brings to memory my own experiences that are similar. Group discussions have allowed me to communicate more appropriately the subjects of literature we are reviewing in class. Literature is not just about reading, but about the capability of telling a story as well. Talking about the texts with a group really enables me to put my thoughts and feelings into words, which is essential for writing. Without fully understanding the material, it would be impossible to do the activities thoroughly and the same goes with the blogging assignments. Blogging allows me to go through the material more than once to make sure that the material makes sense. Writing about it makes the reading more clear and understandable which helps me to remember what I have read. The quality of the blogs shows how much the student has really captured the text. The professor has given us many useful patterns and techniques to understand literature better and the blogs and activities are great resources in the literature class. Literature has truly come alive for me. All though many of the stories are old and the writers may be even dead, their meaning and life experiences continue repeating in my life and in others. Literature can never grow old and it is amazing to be able to relate to all these authors in the present day.

Reading Poetry - from a Singer's perspective

I learned a lot from the article “How to Read a Poem.” It is not about simply putting the letters together and forming audible words with one’s tongue. One must be submerged into the meaning and theme of the poems. The article explained that when reading a poem, it is good to converse with it by asking questions. Every piece of literature is a shared experience that must be told and related to in a special way. I know that studying literature is extremely important for me, because it helps me communicate the important thoughts and experiences in my life to others. Everyone wants to be heard, wants the events in their lives to amount to something. It can, but first one has to learn how to transfer the significance that he or she feels these events have.

I can relate to feeling and understanding poetry because of my singing background. I have sung many songs of other artists and it is of utmost importance to examine the song first. I ask questions like, “What did the author feel when writing this,” “What parts of this song may have had special meaning?” Understanding the song as if it were my own experience is so important, because I can’t sing about something I don’t understand or appreciate. When you mean something and you sing it, the energy that you transfer through the song is incredible. It goes beyond just the words, notes, and instruments. Singing with the heart meets the full purpose of the song. In the same way, I feel literature should be understood and communicated with the full feel of what the author wanted to express.

I enjoyed how this article made reading literature a challenge. Grasping, connecting, and having that “Ahhh” moment were particular things I appreciated in the article. Certainly, it is not the easiest practice to accomplish, but practice makes perfect. Whether or not I continue my studies beyond my BA, literature will be my ongoing educational experience. It’s a challenge and it will keep my mind sharp. I have always thought continuous learning is essential, yet I had never considered it being in the area of literature. What could be better however? As my life progresses, I will have access to the experience and lessons of others through literature. Literature is the experiences we share.

Joel

As I read from the book of Joel while sitting beside the lake, I was able to take in much more of the passage. I enjoyed the contrast of the peaceful ambience that I was surrounded by and the chaos of the passages I was reading. Many of the verses were dark and full of lament. The way nature is described in Joel is beautifully panoramic in a dire sense. I could picture the calm lake turning into something dreadful, but I could not imagine how that would be possible. For all the more reason, it made the passages in Joel more impacting.

My favorite part of the passage is in chapter 2, where the Lord calls to repentance. He says, “And rend your hearts not your garments.” Before, offerings to the Lord were mostly sacrificial/material objects. The Lord, however in this verse is asking for the heart, not the sacrifice. It’s a very poetic and romantic notion. He is not asking for a people that will follow a set of rules or tradition. He is seeking a people that will search Him with a sincere heart. It goes in accordance with what we have been talking about in class: the type of Christian that just walks the walk and the type that asks the hard questions. I think rending our heart is also being honest, real with God, real with our doubts and feelings. He already knows what is in our hearts, but many times we don’t. In chapter 3 of A Grief Observed, Lewis speaks about God putting us through things so that we will know our true character and heart better.

In conclusion, I do believe that the Bible can be literature, and IS the greatest piece of literature ever written. It has so many stories, both good and bad. It gives a realistic view of humanity and its faults. It leaves room for self-examination and helps us with our quality of life. The Bible is not all black and white, we have made it that way. On the contrary, it leaves one with plenty theological ignorance, to which we can rack our brains… like a good book.

The Things They Carried

The Things They Carried was a great story. It portrayed war, death, and the distractions of love in a very real way. The story and theme fitted perfectly with the scenario of Marine grunts, who face the reality of death on a frequent basis. The daydreaming and wandering off that the grunt faced because he was in love gave it a very sentimental touch. The story also talked about the tangible things we carry, like water or clothes and the intangible things, like guilt or a heavy heart. We shared an interesting thought in class Friday; that intangible things are the truly significant ones. When he burnt the pictures of his love, he was getting rid of the tangible, yet he still had her memory, which was intangible. I think that anything tangible, once it has an intangible significance it becomes of worth. That’s why the pictures were only meaningful because the man had feelings of love, desire, and longing for the girl in them. All those are intangible things he carried.

The story hit home with me because my brother is currently a Marine grunt getting ready for war in Afghanistan. A part in the book that reminded me of him was where the grunt is in his foxhole, looking over the pictures and letters. He said he kept on thinking how he could get that moment back with her and touch her knee all night long. The knee wasn’t really what he wanted, but in a moment of such loneliness, even the chance he missed to keep his hand on her knee for a second more, haunted him. My brother says that when you are in a foxhole and it’s cold, lonely, and scary that even the sort of boring things you used to do become so desirable. You wish you were someplace else and you allow your mind to wander off to where it feels safer.

Kind of going with what we’ve been talking about all class- Perhaps although we should be realistic about love, life, and death; we should also leave some room for simple daydreaming. Dare to wander a little bit, in the midst of such real ugliness. Nevertheless, it did the grunt in the story no good.

Chapter 4

A Grief Observed has been such an eye-opening experience. Seeing a man in the frailness of his humanity go through the stages of grief and loss is the truly real. Maybe in death and sadness, reality is better observed.

In chapter 4 C.S. Lewis states some powerful things. My favorite quote was, "Not my idea of God, but God." I have been debating the same issues in my own personal life. I don't want my notion of who, what, how God is to be another myth or rumor passed down. My whole life I lived with two ministers. My mother and father are both wonderful people, but everything they have taught me they want me to take it as the complete truth. The deeper I sought for the complete truth the more lost I felt. I began to ask God, "Show me who you really are. What are you like? Do I even have the right assumptions about you?" As odd or funny as it may sound, I felt relieved to be able to ask Him honestly. Without fancy words to suit my doubtful questions. Like the professor said that Theology isn't a white and black WHAT I KNOW I KNOW about God. I can now say that this book has helped my begin a journey to understand more completely who God is. I don't want to find all the answer to my questions. I just want to ask the right questions. Like I mentioned before, my heart and mind have come to terms. How can we ever solve the mysteries of God and life? How can we prove anything... even the goodness of God? I find myself so comfortable in this theological ignorance.