Finish Line

Overall, it's been a good semester. Going from major Texas summer heat to these brisk fall breezes that carry a hint of a great winter to come. And just as the seasons are so different from each other, I've come to realize that the main aspect of modern Humor and old British Literature are too. Times change and there really is nothing people can do to stop it. It is as a Romantic author once said about literature and poetry, about the era it resides in: "The spirit of the age" they called it. The style and subjects written about flow with how society shifts and influences inspired writers.

Of course, all is not lost. Now that classes are inching towards a closure, I have discovered that difference is only a page deep. Because there can only, truly be one story. May it be a novel, a poem, a short story or a memoir, each one is written for a purpose. And whether it holds a serious turn of events that turn into a tragedy, or a barrel full of laughter, both British Literature and Modern Humor have messages about society and humanity that are trying to reach the reader through purposefully woven words. Have we caught on? Or are we as consistent in our issues and problems as literature is in trying to convey the same persuasions? It never hurts to try and find out, so I shall keep reading. Even after these two amazing discussion based classes. Go Tigers.

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Old Books by cbransto is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

The Ugly Truth

The difference between Satirist and Victorian is the level of reality they present in written work. Satire is a use of sarcasm and wit to twist what is real to exaggerate the faults and weaknesses of it. The stupidity of humanity is a popular subject to satirically write about for a good number of today's authors. The structure and status of government is also heavily poked at. We don't know why we do these things. Many say it is to better our ability to deal with the hardships in life. To be able to experience loss and pain and death without suddenly having the urge to whither away and die.

So, while Jon Stewart and Kurt Vonnegut are turning real life issues we have today into tornadoes of hyperbolic situations that will cause the sky to fall, Victorians, during the era of Queen Victoria, based their creations of poems and stories on a structured truth of reality. The contrast shows such a diversity in the way our generation and theirs processed, and how they saw the world versus how we think we should live in it.

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Queen Victoria by philosophygeek is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Butterfly Effect

There comes a time in every readers life when they must face a dire contradiction between their choice of novels. Sometimes, it really isn't up to them, for the choice is taken and they are required to consume the contents of two different subjects at the same times. Especially if they are college students.                                                                 

But are they completely different? On the surface, the tales woven long ago in British Literature compared to the modernization of Humor and its function in today's literature show no connection whatsoever. However, as a poem leads to enlightenment, or a joke leads to a laugh, so does the first lead to the second. By using the worlds past and our history documented in such works of art by Shakespeare or Wordsworth, we can better know where we have come. And by doing so, we can better know how to face our future. The death and tragedies written about through novels and poems of British Literature have been taken from one culture and transformed to suit the rough times we face today. Instead of a depressing ballad, we can learn to laugh and survive through bad experiences with a brighter outlook on life.

Photo 13 by Storm Navarro is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Austen vs Sedaris

The past two weeks, I have been hustling and driving myself to ignore the lazy pleasures of a teenager to read and lose myself in the complicated verses of a book called Persuasion. Jane Austen, one of the most well known Romanticism author's of her time, is notorious for creating a work of heavy and sometimes satiracle meaning. Meanwhile, I hooked onto my more sly personage and snuck away from the british literature to relax with a witty humorist known as David Sedaris (who is also making an appearance here on our very own Trinity Campus soon). When You Are Engulfed In Flames is filled with whacky and amuseing anecdotes in the first person point of view of Sedaris himself. Some of the things that happen, I found, are hard to believe at times, but at a closer look you find that the narrator's diction is what makes most of the stories inbelieveable and more creative than most.

With both quirky professors leading the classes into discussion with each other, I've rarely found myself wondering "why me? why this class?" What I have found is the astonishing similarity between Sedaris and Austen. Where David uses comedy and witty sarcasm to make a point about society, Austen manipulates the characterization and quality within each point of view to spread her message about marriage and women's value. Yes, opposite tactics, but by looking at the bigger picture you see that even though they two highly intellecutal figures who might be looked down upon by their generation, whether for homosexuality or for simply being female, they've reached for a very successful goal of satiracl ironies and a message that touches everyday life.

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David Sedaris by theNerdPatrol is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

In The Beginning...

It's hard to understand how comedy and literature can possibly have anything in common. Well, at Trinity, they do. They're both offered as lessons in classes here at the university of the Fighting Tigers. I, a loyal Trinity student, am registered for two such classes this 2011 Fall semester. Tuesdays and Thursdays can only be described as both confusing and enlightening. A box of information wrapped in juxtaposition. British Literature: Romanticism & After is filled with high quality discussions and deep thinking over how great Romantic poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge have affected modern society today. Meanwhile, in the Humor in Modern Literature class we seem to be doing the same thing, yet at the same time, doing the exact opposite. I find myself laughing or cringing more often. There is a higher level of emotion and individual opinion about sensitive subjects with Sarah Silverman and Jon Stewart.

I have yet to find exactly how these two subjects could be intertwined and possibly be spoken about in one discussion. Perhaps it takes time. Rome was not built in a day after all.

Besides, fall has only just begun. Patience is a virtue, and these classes, with such witty professors, are more than worth waiting for.

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Empty Classroom by Jayel Aheram is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.