a. What is advent? It is to light up candles and small lightening bulb before Christmas. It represents the Christians are waiting for second-coming of Christ (reviving).
advent candles>> The use of purple colour or purple decoration is because they think it's royal colour.
* Yeats-- "The Second Coming" (Poem)
"The darkness drops again but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"
>> Falcon means Christ's death.
>> This poem mentions "rough beasts" because Jesus will come down to earth again but no one knows what kinds of forms he will be. This concept is from the Book of Revelation.
>> There is a main idea in this poem that is the lost generation. "The Lost Generation" was said by Gertrude Stein during World War I. World War I was a large strike to Europeans because they had been so strong since 15th century.
>> On the other hand, there is a Beat Generation as well which refers to the defeated generation in the Word War II and relates to sex, poison, and drugs.
b. Anglicise (anglicisation) is the process of converting anything to more "English" norms.
"It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
There'll be much mistletoeing
And hearts will be glowing
When love ones are near
It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
There'll be parties for hosting
Marshmallows for toasting
And caroling out in the snow
There'll be scary ghost stories
And tales of the glories of
Christmases long, long ago"
>> Kissing under the mistletoe would love forever. That's the reason why they would hang the mistletoe on the front door.
>> Marshmallow is a kind food that Christ had prepared for Christians.
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B. Book Discussion
a. Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher
(a) the vacant eye-like windows and black walls-- on P.702
* James Joyce's Araby (Story) "The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces."
>> The windows here are the feeling of indifference, spying, unsureness and barren.
(b) Poe used alliteration to express the sluggish feeling. -- on P.702
(c) Tarn-- There is an important hint here. Because the tarn is deep and dark, Madeline will be bury alive when the tarn falls down on the climax. -- on P.703
(d) Gothic-- There is a kind of literary genre called Gothic Fiction
in the Romantic literature. -- on P.704
* Gothic Fiction is a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror and Romanticism. Its setting would cultivate mysterious feeling in the works such as Dracula and Frankenstein.
Dracula and Frankenstein
(e) Put "sorrow" and "gloom" together would make readers feel sad and dreary. -- on P.707
(f) "Not hear it?"-- This question is talking about something just fell down and someone is knocking. --on P.713
(g) "The Fall of the House of Usher" in the end got two kinds of interpretation. One is the House of Usher means the house itself. The other one refers to the Usher family. -- on P.714
(h) fragment-- shatters into fragments -- on P.714
* George W. Bush made his speech for 911 attacks.
b. Poetry of Emily Dickinson
a. Edgar Allan Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher
(a) the vacant eye-like windows and black walls-- on P.702
* James Joyce's Araby (Story) "The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces."
>> The windows here are the feeling of indifference, spying, unsureness and barren.
(b) Poe used alliteration to express the sluggish feeling. -- on P.702
(c) Tarn-- There is an important hint here. Because the tarn is deep and dark, Madeline will be bury alive when the tarn falls down on the climax. -- on P.703
(d) Gothic-- There is a kind of literary genre called Gothic Fiction
in the Romantic literature. -- on P.704
* Gothic Fiction is a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror and Romanticism. Its setting would cultivate mysterious feeling in the works such as Dracula and Frankenstein.
Dracula and Frankenstein(e) Put "sorrow" and "gloom" together would make readers feel sad and dreary. -- on P.707
(f) "Not hear it?"-- This question is talking about something just fell down and someone is knocking. --on P.713
(g) "The Fall of the House of Usher" in the end got two kinds of interpretation. One is the House of Usher means the house itself. The other one refers to the Usher family. -- on P.714
(h) fragment-- shatters into fragments -- on P.714
* George W. Bush made his speech for 911 attacks.
" I appreciate so very much the members of Congress who have joined me in strongly condemning these attacks. And on behalf of the American people, I thank the many world leaders who have called to offer their condolences and assistance.
America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism. Tonight, I ask for your prayers for all those who grieve, for the children whose worlds have been shattered, for all whose sense of safety and security has been threatened. And I pray they will be comforted by a power greater than any of us, spoken through the ages in Psalm 23(v): "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me."
>> "You" here means God.
b. Poetry of Emily Dickinson
(a) In Dickinson's poetry, he did not use "iambic pentameter" which is a normal rule in British poems and it would show with an ending rhyme scheme.
>> e.g. (Poem) Shall I compare thee to a summer's day
v / v / v / v / v /
* In Edgar Allan Poe's poetry can't see iambic pentameter as well.
(b) Poem 112 [67] -- on P.1193
"Success is counted sweetest
By those who ne'er succeed.
To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need.
Not one of all the purple Host
Who took the Flag today
Can tell the definition
So clear of victory
As he defeated – dying –
On whose forbidden ear
The distant strains of triumph
Burst agonized and clear!"
>> The capitalized noun is originated from German.
>> "The purple Host"-- royal colour (Blue blood is also the royal colour as well.)
>> When we finally achieved what we want, don't forget to let everything stay outside at the moment.
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C. Term Explanation and Vocabulary
a. Free Verse-- It is an open form of poetry. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.
b. Gothic fiction-- It is a genre or mode of literature that combines fiction, horror and Romanticism. The effect of Gothic fiction feeds on a pleasing sort of terror.
c. advent-- "Ad" stands for forward such as advantage, advertisement, and adventure.
d. sharpen my sense
