Monday, September 15, 2014

Week 3

Learning Journal Activity -- Image Expressive

The instructions for this activity are quite brief: post two photos you've taken (or two images you like) and tell us about them. You might want to say where the image is from, what it means to you, or why you wanted to share it. The write-ups do not have to be exhaustive (a paragraph or two will do, though you are welcome to write as much as you like). I have provided an example below to give some sense of how your post might look, but please do not feel limited by this -- feel free to get creative. If you have questions about this activity, send me an email at my mun.ca account or leave a comment on this post.

Photo 1: Be Young B



This is a photo from a walking trail in Niagara Falls. The path leads to (or comes from, depending on your point of view) the Whirlpool, a place few travelers seem to go. It's a bit of a hike from the more touristy parts of the Falls, and even on the busiest days of the summer there's usually no more than a few other people. There's lots of different birds and interesting driftwood and stones along the beach.

The piece of brick you see in the photo above seemed to have been quite purposely planted in the trail by someone, and seemed to have been quite purposely engraved by someone too. I kept my eyes open for others like it, but found only this one. Go figure...

Photo 2: Phoenix 



This is a picture of me spinning fire. It's a kind of performance art or juggling known as poi. There are large wraps of Kevlar soaked in kerosene on the end of chains (about as long as a dog leash) that can be spun in various patterns for different effects. I've been practicing for about a decade now, but still I sometimes whack myself in the back of the head!

It's something I like doing because I find it takes my mind off things. I don't really like to go dancing, but for some reason find the footwork and rhythmic movement of spinning fire to be excellent fun. Some fire spinners who are much braver than me do what is called "sparkle poi" -- check this link if you're interested.

Assigned readings and overview for week 3

On Monday we will be looking at different kinds of sonnets, specifically Shakespearean, Italian, and irregular sonnets, in relation to Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare thee to a Summer's Day," Wordsworth's "The World is too Much with Us" and Shelley's "Ozymandias". The reading for Wednesday is Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn". On Friday we will be discussing Blake's "The Tyger" and Rich's "Aunt Jennifer's Tigers". This week we will also be gearing up for our first essay.