First of all, these response periods are getting really short, which kind of cuts down on the stuff to reflect upon, but oh well...
The elephant in the room these past few weeks has definitely been Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which I have to say is probably my favorite book that we have read all year. Especially after reading and annotating it, the issue of the role of art in life has become apparent and leads into the other issue that has dominated our class discussion: where does reality end and art begin? One of things that I have noticed in my class's discussions is the need to separate the play and reality, but every time we try to do so, I begin to doubt whether that is the idea of the play; it's almost like the circular nature of Absurdism has entered my brain... Anyways, this play really amazes me because it is so short and yet it calls the entire realm of art into question. It reminded me of Oscar Wilde and the aestheticist movement (I read The Picture of Dorian Gray last year), but as opposed to proposing a firm answer to that question of art's role, it simply adds more weight to the question itself.
The Stoppard lecture was also really interesting to read because it touched on a lot of the ideas that we had already proposed. Even more so than with other works, I think outside perspectives are really helpful in my analysis of R & G because the work itself is a little difficult to work with because of Stoppard's clever, but definitely confusing style.
And then there was that Open Prompt practice! I actually liked it because I haven't had that strong, pressurized environment to work in, which is pretty important since that is basically what the AP Exam is. I was able to finish the work (no doubt because of the preparatory tips from previous hours' frustration). With the essays in this class in particular, I am always a bit nervous in putting down my ideas because I feel like my thesis needs to be even more insightful than anything I have ever written. With previous APs, you could get away with restating the prompt, but not so much in APE lit, but I really liked Holmes' structure for a thesis because I like having some sort of format to go off of.
Well, that's all I can think of, so yeah. Bye. Stop reading. If you're still reading, you're probably my peer reviewer. Enjoy!
Abhijit, I agree that this play has been very interesting to read and I also think it may be my favorite of those we’ve read. It blows my mind that while discussing we can come to one conclusion but then someone spontaneously brings up another point and the entire discussion switches and then argues that point. It is somewhat frustrating that we can’t come to an exact conclusion but that is the art of the play, there is not true conclusion. I also think the article was helpful to bring to the table some of the ideas we had not touched on yet or even to conclude those we left unfinished. Ros and Guild is a very confusing play and the style is so unique it is hard to use the techniques we have used on so many other pieces because most of the rules don’t apply anymore. I also agree that the Open Prompt practice has been helpful, and Ms. Holmes’s structure is doing a great job preparing us!
ReplyDeleteAbhijit,
ReplyDeleteDude. You just blew my mind. I think the absurdist (is that right?) has gotten in to my brain as well, and I like how you worded it. I never really made the connection between Oscar Wilde with his aestheticism movement and the art that is mentioned in R and G are dead, but boy was I missing out. I think I need a few minutes to fully process what is happening in this post, but I can tell you one thing, I’m digging it.
For the open prompt thing…. Well, I don’t really like talking about it. It was a dark time. As a first hour student, it always makes me jelious to hear that someone finished something that I hard core struggled on, because 1. Its first hour, who has deep thoughts in the morning (not me) and 2. It’s meant to be stressful to replicate the AP feeling (gross!)
Anyway, I really enjoyed reading you post, and I am probably your peer reviewer….