Here's an adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Young Goodman Brown" that I thought you'd enjoy.
I particularly like the actor who plays the devil figure. I think he shows a lot of range, while the one who plays YGB is a bit stiff. The actress who plays Faith is appealing in her own way, though fairly one-dimensional.
Also, please note that the video contains scenes of nudity that might be offensive to some. Or not. Enjoy!
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=4RbgjOa34wI
Monday, September 29, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
New story
By the way, in English 1080, we'll be starting "Young Goodman Brown" by Nathaniel Hawthorne on Monday, Sept. 26. Just a reminder.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Grapes of Wrath
I was talking about John Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums" in class on Friday, reflecting on how, being published in 1938, it really does reflect the social, cultural, political, and economic realities of the Depression era. As I mentioned, the Great Depression really began in 1929, triggered by Black Tuesday, which began a decade of massive unemployment, with millions of jobs lost, people losing their houses and life savings, losing hope, losing everything. That era, more than anything, is a reminder to most of us in the Western World (though the Depression was felt everywhere, not just in the USA and Canada) of just how bad it can get, economically. It's a benchmark of how terrible our social and economic problems can become if we, our governments, and big business don't actually mind our business properly.
The same conditions appear to exist today. Although I'm no economist, it doesn't take one to see that our financial system is built on a house of cards--even more now because we no longer even have paper money and hard cash so much to produce. Most of what we own is a bank machine printout that says how much, or how little we have. It's all just numbers being traded back and forth. Same with Wall Street, as it always has been, I suppose. The U.S. government seems to have no clue to the value of a trillion dollars, buying out huge companies (though arguably, they are also preventing dozens of other companies from filing for bankruptcy in a sort of domino effect), shelling out billions and trillions to pay for wars they can't afford and, arguably, shouldn't even be fighting.
Beyond that, people are losing their houses in record numbers because banks loaned them money they really shouldn't have loaned them. So the banks foreclose, but that's not the same as the bank getting its money back. So the people are in debt, the banks lose money, and the whole thing starts to go up in smoke. The banks are getting bailed out by government, which only means the government goes in debt by trillions more, and the government is actually the people themselves.
Factor in massive layoffs, a global economy that depends on American stability (an oxymoron if I ever heard one), and the impending financial and other catastrophes as a result of global warming, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm. Great Depression II. Will it happen? Maybe there's a solution, or maybe someone's working on one. Let's hope so because it's not just an American problem.
Anyway, I mentioned in class on Friday that, for my money, The Grapes of Wrath by that same John Steinbeck feller is one of the top four American novels of all time. I consider The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird to be the others--though I admit I need to reconsider my list and maybe update it one of these days. But my point, really, in writing this entry is that the movie version of The Grapes of Wrath is actually on CBC television tonight at 1:30 a.m. (Newfoundland time; midnight ET) in case you're interested in taking a peek. It's in black and white (which I love) and stars Henry Fonda, one the greatest actors of all time. You'll get to see his portrayal of the character in Bruce Springsteen's best song of all time (my opinion, anyway) "The Ghost of Tom Joad." That song gives me shivers every time I hear it because it makes me think of the fragility of our social fabric, but the strength of the human spirit at the same time.
The highway is alive tonight,
And where it's headed, everybody knows.
Just sittin' down here in the campfire light,
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad.
If you're interested in seeing the video, I just found it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DEtA5fhk4k
And if you've a mind to watch a clip from the movie, you'll see where Springsteen got his inspiration, from one of the most famous speeches in literary or movie history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wke1RBvcNQ
The same conditions appear to exist today. Although I'm no economist, it doesn't take one to see that our financial system is built on a house of cards--even more now because we no longer even have paper money and hard cash so much to produce. Most of what we own is a bank machine printout that says how much, or how little we have. It's all just numbers being traded back and forth. Same with Wall Street, as it always has been, I suppose. The U.S. government seems to have no clue to the value of a trillion dollars, buying out huge companies (though arguably, they are also preventing dozens of other companies from filing for bankruptcy in a sort of domino effect), shelling out billions and trillions to pay for wars they can't afford and, arguably, shouldn't even be fighting.
Beyond that, people are losing their houses in record numbers because banks loaned them money they really shouldn't have loaned them. So the banks foreclose, but that's not the same as the bank getting its money back. So the people are in debt, the banks lose money, and the whole thing starts to go up in smoke. The banks are getting bailed out by government, which only means the government goes in debt by trillions more, and the government is actually the people themselves.
Factor in massive layoffs, a global economy that depends on American stability (an oxymoron if I ever heard one), and the impending financial and other catastrophes as a result of global warming, and you have the recipe for a perfect storm. Great Depression II. Will it happen? Maybe there's a solution, or maybe someone's working on one. Let's hope so because it's not just an American problem.
Anyway, I mentioned in class on Friday that, for my money, The Grapes of Wrath by that same John Steinbeck feller is one of the top four American novels of all time. I consider The Great Gatsby, The Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird to be the others--though I admit I need to reconsider my list and maybe update it one of these days. But my point, really, in writing this entry is that the movie version of The Grapes of Wrath is actually on CBC television tonight at 1:30 a.m. (Newfoundland time; midnight ET) in case you're interested in taking a peek. It's in black and white (which I love) and stars Henry Fonda, one the greatest actors of all time. You'll get to see his portrayal of the character in Bruce Springsteen's best song of all time (my opinion, anyway) "The Ghost of Tom Joad." That song gives me shivers every time I hear it because it makes me think of the fragility of our social fabric, but the strength of the human spirit at the same time.
The highway is alive tonight,
And where it's headed, everybody knows.
Just sittin' down here in the campfire light,
Waitin' on the ghost of Tom Joad.
If you're interested in seeing the video, I just found it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DEtA5fhk4k
And if you've a mind to watch a clip from the movie, you'll see where Springsteen got his inspiration, from one of the most famous speeches in literary or movie history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wke1RBvcNQ
Sunday, September 7, 2008
A New Chapter
It being September, I've begun teaching English at MUN as of this past Friday. So "Hi!" to all the new readers who'll be checking in over the next few weeks to see what's on the go.
I started this blog a little over a year and a half ago with the intent of keeping students informed about assignments, as well as providing some extra information and inspiration whenever possible, to help them get through my in-class ramblings a little easier. By the end of that semester there were about two thousand posts, telling me the experiment was a success--although most well-meaning people had told me it wouldn't fly. Since then, I've received e-mails, comments and notices from, not only former students, but people all over the world, really, who've been reading the blog and getting something out of it. Some people like the lessons on grammar and essay writing (there'll be more of that); others like my musings on fiction writing (there'll be some of that, though a bit less for a while); others were interested in the accounts of my attempts to publish my own work; while still others just seem to see something they liked in general.
I can't explain it really, but I appreciate that so many people seem to be reading this blog. After a couple of semesters off from teaching, though, I'm back at it again and so this blog will take on more of a collegial tone. I'll be writing more about assignments and essay-writing, while also offering the occasional bit on life in general, just to keep it interesting. So for those of you who've been tuned in all along, there's no need to go anywhere.
For you newbies: welcome. My hope is that you'll get something out of this that will help you on the journey. Feel free to poke around through past entries and comment wherever you'd like. Mostly though, just come visit once in a while and I'll try to have something here for you as often as the need arises.
The nature of blogs, for better or for worse, is that they inevitably become about the person who's writing them. Really, though, this one was never meant for that. It still isn't. And now, at last, we return to regularly scheduled programming.
And so it ends. And so it begins.
I started this blog a little over a year and a half ago with the intent of keeping students informed about assignments, as well as providing some extra information and inspiration whenever possible, to help them get through my in-class ramblings a little easier. By the end of that semester there were about two thousand posts, telling me the experiment was a success--although most well-meaning people had told me it wouldn't fly. Since then, I've received e-mails, comments and notices from, not only former students, but people all over the world, really, who've been reading the blog and getting something out of it. Some people like the lessons on grammar and essay writing (there'll be more of that); others like my musings on fiction writing (there'll be some of that, though a bit less for a while); others were interested in the accounts of my attempts to publish my own work; while still others just seem to see something they liked in general.
I can't explain it really, but I appreciate that so many people seem to be reading this blog. After a couple of semesters off from teaching, though, I'm back at it again and so this blog will take on more of a collegial tone. I'll be writing more about assignments and essay-writing, while also offering the occasional bit on life in general, just to keep it interesting. So for those of you who've been tuned in all along, there's no need to go anywhere.
For you newbies: welcome. My hope is that you'll get something out of this that will help you on the journey. Feel free to poke around through past entries and comment wherever you'd like. Mostly though, just come visit once in a while and I'll try to have something here for you as often as the need arises.
The nature of blogs, for better or for worse, is that they inevitably become about the person who's writing them. Really, though, this one was never meant for that. It still isn't. And now, at last, we return to regularly scheduled programming.
And so it ends. And so it begins.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
The Toughest Fight
"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else, means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting."
e.e. cummings
e.e. cummings
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