11.09.2011

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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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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