Feminist Criticism-Review

Lyn Pykett's feminist criticism of Wurthering Heights was very interesting to read because Pykett makes connections directly to the text that makes so much sense, that I feel silly for missing these points while actually reading the novel. A good example Pykett points out in the very beginning of her essay is the writing Lockwood finds by Catherine in his sleep quarters, “This writing was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small -- Catherine Earnshaw, here and there varied to Catherine Heathcliff, and then again Catherine Linton. “(p.38). By the names that Catherine scratched into the paint in her room I feel that it shows that even as a young girl Catherine knew how her life would lay out. She was an Earnshaw and was nearly obligated to become a Linton, but she still had an adamant love for Heathcliff. This seems like a lot for a young girl to understand, but this is why Catherine is a strong character in the novel. 

 Without a doubt this essay addresses the relationship of Catherine and Edgar (which kind of relates back to Trista’s Marxists criticism blog). There is a quote on page 469 of Pykett essay that discusses Catherine’s struggle in marring a man she doesn’t love, “Because he is handsome and pleasant to be with...because he loves me...And he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the neighborhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband.” (p.84). Catherine does not marry for romance, she marries for practicality. I find it interesting that Pykett says that Wurthering Heights strays away from traditional social norms by “exploring the consequences of the socially sanctioned choice” (p.469). Marriage is not an answer to Catherine’s problems, it only makes things worse when Heathcliff comes back into the picture. I feel like Emily Bronte displayed Catherine’s choice between two men in a non-romantic way, I feel that she took a very practical approach to forming Catherine’s decision. 

Let me know what you guys think about Catherine’s relationships based on Pykett’s criticisms. Also this was probably my favorite literary criticism that I have read on Wuthering Heights. I feel that Bronte would have considered points made by this criticism when she wrote her novel. 

Marxist Criticism-Review

The Marxists criticisms about Wurthering Heights are very interesting. I found Terry Eagleton's comment on page 396 to be very interesting, "Wurthering Heights, on the other hand, confronts the tragic truth that the passion and society it presents are not fundamentally reconcilable" because these are two factors that Emily Bronte successfully tackles in her novel. I think that the comparison of Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte's writing shortly before the above quotes does a good job of describing the difference in their writing. I believe that there is an "unevenness" (396) out in Charlotte Bronte's writing. I feel that she was trying to write Jane Eyer as a gothic novel but that she decided that she wanted a happy ending. Where as in Wuthering Weights Emily Bronte grasps the concept of a gothic novel though her use of passion and society. Obviously there was some form of passion between Heathcliff and Catherine, but due to societal standards there was no way that they could actually be together. This is where Emily Bronte achieves an evenness that Charlotte Bronte did not have.

Wuthering Heights blog post #2

Emily Bronte's novel was exceptional. I have read a few other gothic novels such as Frankenstein, and I did not particularly appreciate the genre. Even though there was no one specific character that I connected to in Wuthering Heights I still enjoyed the novel because of its many characters and their elaborate relations to each other. There were so many tragic relationships and love triangles, of sorts, I almost felt that I was reading a Shakespeare play versus a gothic novel.

Heathcliff is one of the most powerful characters that I have read about in a long time. The entire novel revolves around him. It begins with his arrival at Wuthering Heights, continues to reveal his devious plan to take control of Wurthering Heights (and subsequently Thrushcross), and then the novel ends with his death. Also as we have perviously discussed, but I feel should be mentioned again, the importance of weather in Wurthering Heights. Heathcliff is surrounded by the presence of bad weather. When Mr. Earnshaw bring him home for the first time it is a stormy night, then when Heathcliff dies he dies in a storm. A possible interpretation of this is Heathcliff's life was turbulent because he came into "the world" of Wurthering Heights and brought anger and confusion to the Earnshaw's (especially Catherine). Also just like the end of a storm Heathcliff was menacing, leaving a trail of debris behind.

George Orwell's "Politics and the English Language"

      I found this article to be very informative because I like reading about things that will help me improve my writing. George Orwell does not waste any time with a lengthy introduction in his article, he jumps straight to the point. Often when I am reading an article that is printed off the internet I have trouble reading it, but this one was an easy read. Orwell makes it clear through example that he wants readers to be informative and concise writers. I feel that Orwell is saying, "this is how you writer, but look, this is how you should write".
      Orwell's explanation of "meaningless words" was very interesting and I felt that it was the main point of the article. In his explanation of meaningless words Orwell writes, "...the person who uses them [words] has his own private definition, but allows his hearer to think he means something quite different" (Orwell 4). This is a classic example of writing and thinking with a political purpose. This also relates directly to using coined terms. For example, if a politician uses a term or phrase that he has coined without providing his constituents a useful definition the term can be deemed a meaningless word.
      Orwell's explanation of the five sample writings is well written because he points out exactly what was wrong with each example without over complication. I thought his explanations were helpful because I often feel that it is easy to over complicate writing. I sometimes think too hard about a topic even before I write about it causing the thought to be over complicated; this is why I find it easier to get my thoughts out then go back and revise.
      Orwell's article is another fine example of the importance of being a wise reader and therefore competent writer.      

A History of Reading

A History of Reading does nothing short of astonish me as a reader. Alberto Manguel explains reading in a way that incorporates his life experiences into the historical aspect of reading. On page 7 Manguel said, "it is the reader who grants or recognizes in an object, place or event a certain possible readability; it is the reader who must attribute meaning to a system of signs, and then decipher it." This interests me because it relates to the idea of who came first, the writer or the reader.

I found the chapter on "The Book of Memory" to be very interesting. The last two pages of the chapter, pages 64 and 65 were particularly interesting. Manguel recalls his teacher in Buenos Aires who taught him to memorize poems. Being the theatre buff that I am I was intrigued by Manguel's mention of memorization and oral tradition in cahoots with discussing the history of reading. The short mention of his teacher's father being immortalized in Fahrenheit 451 as a book-saver was interesting because it is just another of many characters in Manguel's life that greatly effected his own ability to read and write about reading. 

Also on page 64 Manguel discusses how memory of a book can be effected by the "light" in which it is read, " we never return to the same book or even to the same page, because in the varying light we change and the book changes, and our memories grow bright and dim". This is an interesting idea because I know that when I re-read a book its never the same as that first endeavor into the pages. I agree that the "light" in which I read effects my opinion of a book. 

Within each chapter Manguel preposes excellent ideas that resonate in the mind. 

Twilight of the Books by Caleb Crain-Review

While reading "Twilight of the Books" I couldn't help but think about a conversation that I recently had with a friend. She asked me if I was reading anything at the moment because she had a good book that she wanted to throw my way. I told her that I was reading about seven different books at the moment, so I might as well throw that one on the pile as well. Then reading this article caused me to feel shame on behalf of myself and society as a whole. Relating back to the conversation that I had with my friend, I felt like a true intellectual reading so many books at one time and bringing them up in conversations here and there. Then I read Crain's article and realized that my stack of extra curricular reading was not due to my high intelligence level, but due to the copious amounts of t.v. that I watch every afternoon. Those shows and movies that I just can't stand to miss even if I have watch them twelve hundred time before. I found this article very interesting because of all the information it gives the reader, but it definitely evokes an immediate sense of shame and guilt in its readers.
There were facts that Crain presented in his article that I found very interesting. For example, in a quote from Maryanne Wolf's, "Proust and the Squid" she calls reading "not natural", which actually brings about a good point that I had never explored before. Another thought provoking quote from Wolf is that reading is a "fruitful miracle of a communication in the midst of solitude" explaining that reading can speak very strongly to a person without sound or images in a screen. I also found the comparison of literates to illiterates to be very interesting. I thought the answers that illiterate people gave made since based on the little knowledge that they had gathered.
One small thing that did bother me about Crain's article was the amount of statistics and quotations from other sources he used. Crain tired to cover too much information in one article. All of his information was relevant, but he was trying to cover every corner of a very large topic causing his article to lack in structure. This is only my opinion about his article. What did you guys think of the structure and the information that he provided? Or just any comments you may have.

A little bit about me

Hey guys! I'm Billi Jo Spencer and I'm really excited for this semester to finally start! I am a sophomore at Kennesaw State University and majoring in Secondary English Education. When I am not at school I'm usually at work. I have had many different jobs over the years, but the job that I have now is probably the most interesting. I work for the American Girl Bistro, where I serve food to pre-teen girls and their dolls. What could be more rewarding right? (I hope you caught that tad bit of sarcasm there.)
Before I came to Kennesaw State University I lived in Roswell, Ga where I attended Roswell High School. In high school I was in the theatre department and marching band. I still love both and am a big supporter of music and performance arts. This is the first time that I have ever written a blog, so I hope it goes well. Honestly I'm surprised I didn't have one before this assignment because I am always looking for feedback on my writing.