Words.

Life is not like the movies
 and a grand gesture of love
  will not change how you see me.

And irrevocably is fast becoming
          my second favourite word.

Just after you.
    
                       LB.

Life in this house is finished now

Hello. (:

It's been a while since I updated what's going on with my studies or anything of any real value, I still have my Lord of the Rings book review in my drafts that I keep going back to, I still have my travels of China to get to, I just don't ever seem to find time for anything. I'm in week three now and have two assignments due on the 24th. But I have a hit a rut this evening after writing my introductions to both. Tomorrow is a new day and so I will tackle them then but as this section is coming to a close I felt this was needed and I haven't really explained what I'm doing aside from mentioning a book.

Texts books. Two of many.

In 20th Century I've been studying the play The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, who is apparently quite famous in the literary world, I had never heard of him before. Like most of writers of the 20th century he was a pioneer, he broke the mold. His dramas are not really dramas but represent the realism of reality. Today I suppose this doesn't seem that odd, but what came before was stereotypical Shakespearean style comedy of tragedy (important genres as will come to pass) Chekhov's work seemed rather dull some audiences, whilst others praised his work for highlighting 'real life'.

The play is based around the estate of Madam Ranevsky, who is part of the old, aristocratic Russia and how she has no money and must sell her family home. It represents a changing social time in Russia where being born wealthy was no longer sustainable, hard work was what was paying off and the dramas between the different classes of people in the play. Despite the gloomy description, Chekhov intended it to be a comedy which can be seen, especially in some rather odd lines.

Personally I'm quite indifferent about The Cherry Orchard. I didn't find it hilarious, I didn't die of boredom. However the BBC Richard Eyre's production did actually make me fall asleep. Chekhov wanted a quick comedy and in some parts Eyre drags out scenes, on in particular triples in time to what Chekhov intended.

In Children's Literature we are looking at fairy tales and constructions of childhood which I'm quite happy about as my mum is doing her degree in Childhood studies. I remember reading through her essays on Locke and Rousseau last year. In particular we are looking at different versions of Little Red Riding Hood and how these show the constructions, obviously different time periods and cultures affect these.

This is not that Literature orientated, more contextual, which I find I'm enjoying more than Chekhov at the moment and the Russian contexts surrounding him aren't as interesting sadly. I'm comparing Roald Dahl's poem, Charles Perrault's tale and a film based on Angela Carter's 'A Company of Wolves'. It's funny, because we were talking about free indirect speech and someone said they still didn't get it, and I was like, read Carter, The Bloody Chamber it's really good for showing different types and bam here it is. I originally studied Carter at A level and it is probably one of my favourite books.

Everyone should read this. (:

I find I don't have more to say simply because I don't want the plagiarism detection software to pick any sentences I may re use from here, as despite this being my own blog I'd still be penalised. I have so much essay writing to do tomorrow. Waaaa :(

Nunight! Apologies for the long post.

(:

Undecided

As the cold air chills

The leaves refuse to turn red

They miss summer too.

LB

To train them is my cause!

Hello hello..

If you didn't know already today was the exciting day that Pokemon X and Y were released in the UK. I am undoubtedly a poke nerd. I have spent many, many hours acquiring information on match up types, EV's, level up sets etc etc. I've played every generation and read about this beauty when it was still only maybe a 3D game. 

I bought X originally for the legendary Pokemon and then my choice was affirmed when the X mega evolution for Charizard came out. I'm really excited to see the dynamics of these games. All the type match ups have changed too since the introduction of fairy type. Which brings me to another point.

Another Eeveelution! I am a serial collector of them, I really don't know why. It was a sad time when none were released in Black/White and I think everyone is still holding out for the dragon type evolution. 

I started playing it this afternoon. I ways pick fire types, so Fennekin was obviously my choice. I'm not stuck on whether or not I should get Charmander too that would total my team to three fire types already. Decisions decisions.

Anyways. I may or may not keep an account of my travels in Kalos. I'd love to do so but I didn't have any time to begin with. 

LB

Daily Haiku

My biggest mistake

was not letting you go, but

pushing you away

LB

Daily Haiku

As the rust leaves fall,
and dance through the winter air,
so do I for you.

All art is quite useless

There has been an incredible lack of all the posts I wanted to do thanks to my modules starting up this year. I attempted to do a vlog, but all that is audible is laptop noises, so this will need to be fixed. Anywho this is the first free(ish) evening I've had to actually write about studies, rather than study(ish, I should really be writing about The Cherry Orchard). 

Some of my books arrived today prompting this update...

This year I'm taking Children's Literature and 20th Century Literature and figured I'd tell you how I came to pick them. Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos, my camera is still broken from China (and yes I will get to those too...)

Last year my favourite part about my broad lit module was the 20th Century, something that I never thought would be as I've never been interested in modern history. However I discovered I am a BIG lover of colonial and post colonial history and texts and everything that encompasses modernity. So this year, it really was not a hard choice on what to do. The 20th Century is such an exciting time for literature as new techniques are being tested, revolutions are occurring, empires expand and shrink, audiences are changing, classes are changing. EVERY happens in such a short space of time and I know that know a days there are a lot of technological and other discoveries but nothing compared to how it used to be in such a short space of time. It's such a key time period that contributed to us now that there's nothing not to find fascinating. Geek over on that one.

The reason I chose Children's literature was kind of a last minute choice to be honest, it was between that and Advance creative writing which I had also registered interest for. Last year I did the first Creative writing module and it sucked the life out of me. I don't know if it's because I didn't get on with my tutor or because I felt it should have been either a) really structured or b) not at all. Like surely to get a good mark you need to have a structured assignment requirement so you know what you should be writing to get the marks for, rather than a very open, 'Write about one of the following prompts in autobiographical form, of make up your own'. I wrote to them and suggested they do a genre focused assignment, like, write a short horror story, using the conventions you have learnt about. Because then you could use knowledge you have learnt and apply it and it can easily be graded. If you're being asked to just write something I don't see how that can be marked fairly for every individual student. I might sound bitter because I got a low grade, but I didn't, I just think it's a very subjective module that needs to be fine tuned.

Rant over, long story short, I picked Children's lit instead. I still feel like a kid myself, I still read books that are aimed at 'young adult' or children themselves, I'm not ashamed to admit it. If you haven't read The Power of Five series by Anthony Horowitz, you are seriously missing out. I'm actually really looking forward to this module, it's half literature, half childhood studies. I get to look at Locke and Rousseau yet again!

Read this, seriously. I had to wait 5 years for the last one to come out. 

Anyways small update. I am planning on writing about the books I study as I study them and also doing a round up book review. Aside from working and studying I've been sorting out my room, catching up on all the tv online. Patiently waiting for Supernatural to start and getting hooked on Game of Thrones. I guess I should get back to Chekhov/clearing my bed of everything in the world.

PEACEEEEEE

LB