To understand to be understood... kind of ...

So i am sitting here in front of my computer typing this post ... no seriously it is not as exciting as you think it is. 

oh by the way i am still laughing at those people taking art,  sigh i guess it was just never meant to be. (I feel your pain... HAH NOT!!!!) 

Anyway, my exams are over... no really... they are gone. FINALLY... the sweet release. 

EMBRACE THE MARCH HOLS. 

Ok apart from that i have something lit to post. 

Hanseldee and Greteldum 

Literature grows out of other Literature. 

Readers (i shall not insult you) are knowledgeable people.

Parallels and plot structure all can be found in (surprise) Kiddy Lit. 

Alice in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Narnia and the greatest of ALL !!! 

Hansel and Gretel !

WHAT?!!!!

yes.. ok follow me on this ... 2 people left in a plight, not trying to create fairy tales but instead to use details patterns to create texture and feel into the story

Fairy tales all belong to the BIG STORY !

It has been ingrained into our consciousness 

there is irony within every fairy tale 

we want strangers in our stones but at the same time we also desire familiarity 

This comes from texts that we already know - fairy tales. 

I know it is confusing... but trust me... i am as lost as you. 

  

yawns :O

I am sleepy sleepy... Really tired. 

one... more... day .... one ... day ... more...... to the end of it all.  (hmmm it rhymes)

argh bloody hell the computer is lagging on me.

anyway... onward onward... to a literature paper... the final lap...zzzzzzzzzzz... damn ! (drool all over keyboard) 

trying to stay awake

Ahhhhh... i will rest here ... come gentle day ...zzzzzzzzzzz

Chinese... 华人讲汉语

So we stereotype... hua ren jiang hua yu... 

If you don't already know, I have failed my Chinese at A levels. Yes this post may seem like a rant but hear me out. 

So we trust in Bilingualism and we decide it through what ? ... our heritage ... our race. Really really absurd. 

I know i am in no position to say much, failing my Chinese. However I trust that my ability to converse, write and perhaps blog in English would be able to cover up for my flaws in Chinese. 

Apart from that there is nothing much to say apart from, I trust that I will do better next time. 

here is another poem which I wrote in response to a book which i am currently reading :Lolita

Dainty, Pure, Eyes

The look of innocence

Behind it all

A cruel, cruel heart.

 

Come out from the grave, you Vamp! You Tramp!

I will seek you.

The rotting waste beneath

The cold hard, hard cover.

 

Rain, a better than you,

The crow cries foul

The sky a blood red.

 

A blossom with

Fangs.

Let the Bitter Waves

Hit you.

 

Your tongue

Strained talk, lies

Untold

Awkward not knowing how to act.

 

Serpent bites.

Eagle flies, flies away, fear.

Obsession,

a poison.

 

Lo, Lo, Lo there passes the name

When in doubt...it is from Shakespeare...or the bible

Here is in the series of literature part 6 and 7 I'm afraid... 

Go on ... if you dare

The period of the 18th to 21st century and probably beyond, 

From Othello to Juliet and Hamlet

several quotations from Our beloved Maestro: Shakespeare: All the world's a stage and its men and women merely players, to thine self be true... 

To be or Not to be that is the question.. .

So, why do writers bother about old Will? off the top of my head ... to make them seem smarter

it is a sort of sacred text and confers a type of authority 

He has been ingrained into our psyche 

Intertextuality - Will and Modern writers 

A reworking of a message-the new author has his/her own agenda 

SHAKESPEAREAN sagas are these great compelling language fluous 

it all depends on our understanding of a prose and poetry

So if you read a work and it sounds TOO GOOD to be true... you probably know where it came from .... 

The rest is silence ..... 

Now onto the Bible - writers do quote scripture 

Genesis to Revelation in all its holiness is used by billions of authors (perhaps All)

The Apocolypse - a biblical parallel

perhaps a little can come from the bible 

These modern and post modern texts give the allusion to biblical sources to show a 

DISPARITY or DISRUPTION

Christ figures ... 

a sort of resonance and meaningful beyond the literal word

It feels heavy but it sparkles with promise 

But is your reading going to truly be enhance if you read the bible ... erm ... not quite 

The stories of the bible NEVER grow old.

So this is my mindless ramblings of a noblemein a noble ranter courtesy of 

Prof Thomas C Foster 

not everything is from me of course ... Botti Thadaeus 

another poem

yes, for those following this blog this is another poem. 

the imagery is screaming !!!!

Intoxicated,

The green fairy

 

In the back the faint strings

Sound, Sparkle

 

Sparkle.

 

A siren calling ships to disaster

A graveyard of infatuation.

 

The chemical bond.

 

Cyanide. Melts bones

Leaving behind a

Red, red

Black

Heart, bone, flesh. Skin

 

Banners raised catch on the wind

White flags fly in the

Stale air. 

 

Cold, cold, cloud

 

Artist, paint a picture.

A portrait of Van Gogh

 

Three to the gut

One to the head.

Pleasant release

 

 

 

 

 

Without I cannot survive. Airs

Fourth of a month

She loves me, she loves me not.

Petals rot, wither away

Pale, pale, white.

 

The boots. Step into, onto a

Life of mine

 

Cur cur!

 

Paintings: dark, white, hate, Fate

Passion made.

Crave the laid open dead. Scarlet

 

Rose.

i speak what i feel not what we ought to say

Butcher !!!

cutting my hair is a CHORE !!! 

That bloody butcher, that surgeon, bearing silver instruments of precision. She might as well use a cleaver. I truly cannot understand the logic of cutting hair. 

Sigh, anyway about my rather mundane life. Just trotting through it if your wondering. 

Now I truly cannot decide which I love more, Austen or Plath. Yes you seldom hear of people complaining about authors they love. But which do i love more....hmmm. 

lets compare two ridiculously brilliant authors, 

Plath - suicidal

Austen-unmarried (rather ironic as she writes on marriage) 

hmmmm both really really hate the world, which I am not a particularly fond of. 

really confused. hah anyway, common test is coming and I am really really not prepared. 

but what do i care. oh yes maybe because A's are coming ...erm i really should take that into consideration. Nah. I'll get through... somehow. 

AHHHHHH!!!! 

oh on a side note.... i am still in an identity crisis... 

P.S this is not really me writing this post

still groaning over the loss of character

i am lost.... seriously... here is where i begin my rant.

I think i have been too attached to my character that by the end of literature night, I have lost my sense of myself. It may take awhile before i regain my former senses. It is as though my heart has been torn out... haiz so drama... 

I think i lost part of myself.... AHHHHHH!!! 

i can't go on anymore... sigh ... why why ... 

It is finally over...a Goodbye to Lysander ...

Being a performer is not easy, especially one who is really emotionally attached to his character. It is like loosing a loved one (hint hint). So Goodbye Lysander farewell noble character. 

Lets get on with business 

Today, the GALA night, it was ... THE day. AHHHHHH the gods must be crazy 

anyway I thought i did a swell job. Remembering lines, cursing, swearing, dancing and all that, splendid. 

But a pity, indeed a pity to say good bye to a friend, a foe, a nemesis, my other half, me, Lysander. good bye Old friend. 

P.S.  I sound like Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde ....  sigh .... 

just a short post ... on the events of my ... rather complicated life. 

now ... let it snow ??

yes i have been away for ages ... Yes the second ice age has approached the humble villages and billions are hiding from this perpetual cold.

Anyway whining aside, here back is the next part of the literature post that I am putting up. 

Now, Where have i seen her before ? 

Literature is something like connect the dots

3 main things to remember, PRACTICE, PATTERN, RECOGNITION 

There is no such thing as a wholly original work of Literature 

History is story as well ( some history is fiction ) 

So now i will make a large sweeping and totally ignoring the works of all previous authors living or dead 

THERE IS ONLY ONE STORY ...EVER !!!!!

Stories grow from other stories

as we read any story, we must be able to achieve the AHA!!! factor as we analyze the text 

Dialogue between old and new texts is always ongoing (intertextuality) 

this will bring in layers into the text, characters, to have their own characters. 

THis is the key ...ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ,,, THE REST IS EASY. 

 

If it is square, It's a sonnet

Well as the brighter of you may perceive, i have been away for awhile. 

so to get over and done with this cruddy thing... Here goes: 

Sonnets , 14 lines 

common ever since the Renaissance 

No other poem is so versatile and ubiquitous and agreeable as the sonnet 

Geometry of the poem, square like 

READ the poem first, BEFORE any stylistic analysis

images, and the musicality of the language, idea, content, wordplay 

Sonnet - merely a form 

2 MAIN TYPES - Pentrachan and Shakespearean 

PENTACHAN 

rhyme scheme that ties the octave (8) together followed by a sestet (6) 

and if you are really poor in maths yes that is 14 lines 

SHAKESPEAREAN 

divided into quatrains and  there is a rhyming couplet at the end 

Count how many sentences there are in the poem

often it follows the basic pattern of 8/6 : leaving us to 2 sentences 

POEMS- Arranged in lines, written in sentences 

Blank Sonnet - unrhyming lines

MAIN POINT : READ FIRST DISSECT LATER !!!!

So... Poetry is rather simple... if your brain is slightly warped like most lit students are. 

Sign off... Botti 

Well here's part 3

being a teacher is rather tiring. 

so I have not been able to post these small snippets here 

but otherwise I hope one need not wait too long for a "decent blog" as such to appear 

Anyway here is chapter 3: Nice to eat you (Acts of Vampires) 

Vampires-Anne Rice, Dracula 

Alluring, Mysterious, dangerous 

Van Helsing- Nemesis of the Count 

Vampires become younger by consuming people's blood    

whilst the victim becomes like him, a vampire

vampirism is not always about vampires 

it is about Selfishness, Exploitation, refusal to accept the anatomy of people 

Hamlet, Ghost of is father, scrooge, Dr Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.

There is a more sublime meaning 

Ghosts and vampires are NEVER just about ghosts and vamps 

it often involves : older figure (corrupt), a virginal female (purity)

older man kills off the younger female... Vampire story 

Vampires can also be represented by seasons (the shifting of seasons from summer to winter)

Vampire stories are often about using a person till he or she is wasted away.

Till the person is consumed and destroyed 

Naturalistic movement- survival of the fittest 

Placing our desire particularly our agenda over and above the need of others (vampiristic)

e.g in order to remain undead - I must steal the life-force of someone's fate that matters less than my own 

Explanation and selfless -the way of Vampires 

Well here comes to the end of my short snippet on Vampire stories. And in the event that you do get affected or attached by Vampires for that matter... remember to eat your garlic  

  

Chapter 2 Literature

So Here is chapter 2. If you being the ignorant sod you are, have not read the previous chapters. Please please return back to the start and red from chapter 1. 

Anyway presenting chapter 2 

Nice to eat with you: Acts of communion 

Sometimes a meal is not just a meal 

However more often than not, it is not 

Whenever people eat or drink together, it is communion 

Communion- an act of charing and peace 

The very act of eating or ingesting is personal 

It is often difficult for a writer to write an interesting meal scene 

For example : Tom Hones by Henry Fielding uses meals to represent sexual union 

communion as you can see does not even need to be holy or decent 

There is bound to be commonalities with the person one eats with 

Smoking can also be a sort of communion 

Something which is ritualistic 

When a dinner turns ugly or does not happen at all

It often means a bad sign 

For example if 2 people eat and a person interrupts them and the 2 stop eating we pretty know what they think towards the intruder 

sharing food with a dog often shows companionship and kinship 

Lets say 2 people are eating but one is planning the demise of the other 

we find this meal scene revolting and also to the act of murder 

Food can also be like armies, drawn up with tension 

The reader can also be part of the communion 

perhaps to understand the feelings of the other characters at the table, Awkwardness etc.

A communion is often about life and very seldom about death. 

Yup that is the end of chapter 2. I guess I am pretty faithful to do this up everyday. 

So Signing off 

Mr Botti 

How to read Literature

Literature is bloody confusing. Many interpretations and way too many views. So to clear all this mambo jumbo up i decided to read 'How to read Literature like a professor' written by Thomas C. Foster. I knew I could definitely NOT go wrong. To think that a book of merely 113 pages could cover the essential aspects of Literature, I was terribly wrong. However I got something out of it, if that's what they call writing notes. 

I will show you what I have got out of it and hopefully it might enlighten the ignorant. 

so i begin. 

Literature has grammar, it has rules, patterns and codes 

Layman readers, respond on an emotional level 

However a Literature student should respond by bringing in connections with other texts and other authors. Where Have I seen this before 

3 Main Keys : Memory, Symbol, Pattern 

Everything is a symbol of something until proven otherwise 

Ask, What are the overarching themes in the novel, play etc.

Chapter 1 :Every trip is a quest (except when it is not) 

Every Quest has 5 main things 

a) a quester

b) a place to go

c) a stated reason to go there 

d) challenges on the road

e) a REAL reason to go there 

b and c are often together, e.g the quest for the holy grail 

e is NEVER the stated reason 

The Quest is always educational 

The reason for the quest is ALWAYS for self Knowledge 

That is why most questers are young and immature 

So, What if it fails ?

Journeys - not every journey is a quest, sometimes it is just a journey

E.g : Crying Lot of 549

Quester - Young woman

Place to go - San Francisco to California 

Reason to go - to be the executor of the will her former lover

Challenges and trials - Meets scary and dangerous people 

Real reason to go there - her name is Oedipa (Sophocles- his character with the same name, does not know himself)  soon she gives up on other men and acquires SELF KNOWLEDGE. 

Done. So this is the Preface and Chapter 1 hopefully i will keep this habit up and post this sort of outline everyday. 

If you find this ignorant and ridiculous ... As an avid follower of Jane Austen :One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other. You are probably in that half

Mr Botti 

bottom dealing ...

well these are the hands of a noble ranter. this is me botom dealing.

Bottom dealing has been used in to gain the Aces and bloody gain an advantage in a game like in this video shown here . Hope you enjoy the video.

Format for an Essay (Introduction)

Well for the past ... forever I have stuck to this main format for an essay, General paper or just a standard argumentative essay. It has got me many A's and B's just by following this format, along with many good points and examples. Here goes:

Introduction

• Hook

The hook is the thing that gets your reader interested in what you have to say. A good hook is informative and interesting.

there are several different type of hooks :

1. Defining of terms - explain BIG WORDS in your sentence. e.g Happiness, Compassion. The problem about these words is that they mean so many things to different people. Therefore to guide your reader to what specific area that you are trying to focus use the definition of these BIG WORDS.

2. Establish relevance - make the reader feel involved. By using this technique, address what the reader may go through in his or her daily life and how this essay can affect their lives by reading it.

3. Quote somebody - if the topic is of great significance, I'm sure someone would definitely poke his nose into it and say something witty about it. make use of these quotations to give your essay a refined quality about it.

4. Forceful comments - a short direct statement on how you feel on that topic then go on to explain what you mean.

Personally I really like to mix between quotations and defining of terms. I feel it gives a more profound feel to your essay. At the same time by quoting someone you ensure that the reader does not see you as just a opinionated writer, but as a writer who is well researched and knowledgeable in the aspect that you are writing on.

• Topic

Tell your reader what the question is. Treat your reader like a bloody idiot. Explain to the reader what your essay is responding to. e.g " The topic I would like to discuss is ..... "

• Point of View

This is the MOST IMPORTANT part of your essay so listen up. tell your reader your stand. e.g Yes i agree, No i disagree or Yes I agree to a limited extent so on and so forth. Without this Point of view your essay is a goner. It is absolutely suicidal not to write this point. Write it and you will be alright.

• Outline of 3 main Argument

Finally, the 3 main arguments. this section is just a brief outline of what your following paragraphs will be like. It gives your reader a brief view of your essay and this is absolutely essential otherwise your reader will be lost.

As you can see this post is rather long and draggy so I'll stop here. The Introduction of your essay is of utmost importance. Without it your essay will be suicidal. Writing a good introduction is one of the skills of a excellent writer. All teachers look forward to a good introduction, believe me. So Master it and you will do just fine.

As someone once said "Let us watch well our beginnings, and results will manage themselves.