Writing Across Cultures

Today, a smorgasbord of Norse culture. For those of you who are not completely exhausted from learning, you may find these resources here helpful in setting your fiction, poetry, plays, and essays in a Norse setting. Since we are running out of time to cover the entire world in this course, we will only briefly glimpse at a very rich and extensive culture. For your benefit (although not our focus) this unit misses Finland , the Netherlands , Belgium , Switzerland , and Iceland . Click on their links and learn about them on your own time. Some of their literature can be found in the packets this week. Our focus today will briefly be on: Swedish Culture Norwegian Culture Danish Culture For those of you interested in Norse mythology (or mythology) and Vikings, here are a few interesting links: The Creation of the World (Norse Mythology) The Vikings Look here to read about some of the following famous authors. Both Lagerlof and Lagerkvist won Nobel Prizes for their work ...

Today, please 1. Work on your portfolio  2. Read and/or complete The History Boys or The Homecoming during class and 3. research British culture (read the blog posts below, take a look at the links, etc.) NOTE: even if you aren't reading the other play, please learn a little history/culture from the posts. You may use any of this material for inspiration for your own writing. As always, you should have a student reflection included in your portfolio. Portfolios are due May 1. HOMEWORK: Portfolio & complete The History Boys or The Homecoming .

Harold Pinter's The Homecoming is one of his best works, having won Tony Awards and various other awards in its day. It is considered an absurdist play. The play deals with the theme of power, and the ironic title is as much Ruth's as it is Teddy's. Follow her as the central character in the play, although the males talk a lot more. What's more normal than sharing with your family? Pinter said of the play: " The Homecoming changed my life. Before the play, I thought words were just vessels of meaning; after it, I saw them as weapons of defense. Before, I thought theatre was about the spoken; after, I understood the eloquence of the unspoken. The position of a chair, the length of a pause, the choice of a gesture, I realized, could convey volumes" The play The Homecoming takes place in London's North End. The neighborhoods of Islington and Highgate. While not completely about North London, here's a 1960 London Landmark Documentary . Very che...

Part of culture is how it is transferred to the next generation. This is usually one of the goals of education. Most of you are familiar with British private education or boarding school education that was popular in the early 20th century. J.K. Rowling, for example, illustrates this quite effectively in her novels. Education in England , similar to our tax supported system, is divided into nursery (ages 3–4), primary (elementary) (ages 4–11), and secondary (ages 11–18)--which is different from our middle school (7-8th grade, ages 11-13). A tertiary education level occurs after secondary school (ages 18+) called the Sixth Form. The boys in the play are currently in this situation. It is similar to our Associates-level degrees received at community colleges. In England this level is called the A-Level (advanced level). Full-time education is compulsory for all children 5-16, although this has just changed to compulsory education until 18, and will take effect in 2013. Highe...

  Jeanette Winterson is a contemporary novelist. She is a lesbian writer, but dabbles in science fiction, literary and poetic prose. She was born in Manchester, England, and adopted by Pentecostal parents who brought her up in the nearby mill-town. She attended Oxford, and currently writes for various UK newspapers (she is a journalist, as well as a literary novelist and poet). Her novels include: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit Sexing the Cherry Lighthousekeeping Weight Gut Symmetries  Art & Lies The Stone Gods and currently Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal Author interview with Jeanette Winterson Jeanette Winterson talks about her favorite books

After our quiz on Absurd Person Singular , we will be selecting one of two plays from contemporary British writers: Alan Bennett and Harold Pinter. Harold Pinter is best known for his creepy, often violent, plays and film scripts. He is best known for plays such as: The Birthday Party (part one) The Birthday Party (part two) The Birthday Party (part three) The Birthday Party (part four ) The Birthday Party (part five) The Birthday Party (part six) The Birthday Party (part seven) The Birthday Party (part eight) The Birthday Party (part nine) The Birthday Party (part ten) The Birthday Party (part eleven) The Dumb Waiter part one The Dumb Waiter part two The Dumb Waiter part three The Dumb Waiter part four The Dumb Waiter part five Scene from the film The Homecoming (1973) with Sir Ian Holm (before he was a knight) Information about Harold Pinter is here. This is an interview with the playwright . This is a documentary about Pinter . Please read about him....

Today, after our warm up and sharing, let's check out Alan Ayckbourn's collection of plays. When we return from the library, we'll begin reading Absurd Person Singular .

Source: Alan Ayckbourn's official website www.alanayckbourn.net. "A s one of Britain’s most performed playwrights, Alan Ayckbourn has, to date, written 75 plays. Almost all received their first performance at the Stephen Joseph, with more than 35 of his works being subsequently staged in the West End, at the National Theatre or by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Major successes include Relatively Speaking , How the Other Half Loves , Absurd Person Singular , Bedroom Farce , A Chorus of Disapproval , A Small Family Business , Henceforward… , Comic Potential , Things We Do For Love and House & Garden . In 2009, Matthew Warchus’ hit in-the-round production of The Norman Conquests first seen at the Old Vic transferred to Broadway, earning a Tony for Best Revival of a Play. Christmas 2010 saw the National Theatre’s staging of his 1980 play Season’s Greetings to great acclaim and in January this year a revival of Absent Friends began at the West End’s Harold P...

Monty Python is a comedy troupe that included Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. Best known for their television show Monty Python's Flying Circus . The sketch show first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series. Since then the group has spawned various films, musicals, stage productions, and a variety of other pop cultural things. The group's influence on comedy has been compared to The Beatles' influence on music. Very impressive. Episode 7, Season one (part 1) Episode 7, Season one (part 2) Episode 7, Season one (part 3) Episode 7, Season one (part 4) Here's a few favorite sketches: Confuse a Cat Cheese Shop Upperclass Twit of the Year Architect Sketch The World's Funniest Joke Sketch Various films made by the troupe: Monty Python & the Holy Grail (1975) The Life of Brian (1979) Monty Python's Meaning of Life (1983) & The Tiger Sequence fro...

After the last presentation(s), we will read Queneau's Exercises in Style and play around with a writing exercise. During 2nd period we will take a brief quiz on The Stranger and discuss the book. Please turn in your homework. See previous posts if you didn't know we had any. With any time remaining (unlikely, but possible) we'll move into our British unit. We will read and discuss (and write an exercise) based on Raymond Queneau 's Exercises in Style . Exercises in Style: 1. Write a short succinct story about "modern" life. This should be nothing more than a short anecdote. In fact, you can title the first entry anecdote. Or Writing Exercise. 2. Rewrite the same short story at least four more times (total of 5, but you can do more if you'd like) using any of the following writing "Styles": Metaphor Simile Personification Alliterative Anagrams Formal Slang Onomatopoeia Past Tense Present Tense Future Tense Passive Sonne...