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Lauren Weimer - Facts About Ireland

Ireland, a democratic nation and the Emerald Isle, the nation that established their constitution in 1937, only eighty-one years ago. Ireland is an interesting place and the facts about it are fascinating. I will be sharing some of the random, but interesting facts that I have found regarding this nation. Such as the nickname it acquired – Emerald Isle. It is often referred to by this name because of the ample amount of rain it receives each year to provide and keep the beautiful, lush greenery and rolling hills that it is known for. Along with this nickname, Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland is actually governed by the United Kingdom, while Southern Ireland is left to be an independent nation.

  Ireland is known for its rich history and many castles that sweep the rolling hills and greenery. Their history is full of wars and battles and their way of protection for families was through the building of multiple castles that are seen spotting the nation. These castles were used for their survival against invaders. Today many of them can be seen, viewed, and even toured if you go and visit this beautiful nation. Along with keeping their history alive through castles, they also go through their native language. Although many Irish speak English, Irish schools teach the children the Irish language. Which is also known as the Gaelic language.

  More interesting things about Ireland is their beliefs in tradition, luck, and fairies. First tradition: this is in regards to children. On a child’s birthday, it is a normal thing to pick the child up and slightly bump their head against their birthday cake. This occurs apparently when the child is still young, and they bump the head on the cake for as many years they have been alive. This tradition is believed to bring the child good luck and good fortune. On the topic of luck, if someone is born on St. Patrick’s Day it is honestly their “lucky day.” If you were born on their celebrated day in Ireland, you are considered a very lucky person. St. Patrick’s Day is one of the most celebrated holidays in Ireland where people will partake in the traditional Irish food, including beer, pink bacon, and savory chicken. Yes, pink bacon. Another tradition that is still carried out in this nation of Ireland is leprechauns. Everyone has seen this little green guy whether in a movie, cartoon, or tv show. Leprechauns are a big part of Irish tradition, and they are said to be tiny men who can fit on top of your shoe. But keep in mind they are completely harmless, so harmless they are believed to have buried many pots of gold throughout Ireland. Then there are the fairies, apparently, in Ireland, the Irish believe in fairies. Just as you suspect, the fairies have magical powers and they bring happiness to great blessings to the Irish families. I think I might move to this nation if things are as grand as they are made out to be.

  Some more interesting facts about Ireland. Sports are competitive and a big part of Ireland. Irish people take soccer, hurling, camogie, and handball very seriously. It is not a joking matter. But on a serious note, this is one of the better countries to look for gender equality. They have had not one, but two female presidents. Still, on the serious notes, there was a peace agreement that was signed in 1998 between Northern Ireland, Ireland, and Britain giving up the control of the island to the United Kingdom – part of the agreement signed in that year. Ireland has also acquired multiple trading partners over the past few decades, and with that, the United States actually accounts for twenty percent of their exports. While the United Kingdom only accounts for thirty-eight percent.

  Furthering into less of the serious and more to the spooky, Dracula is acclaimed to have been inspired by the Irish legend of Abhartach. Abhartach was an Irish vampire who returned from the dead and demanded blood tribute from his people to keep up his energy. Because of his desire for blood tribute, this led the vampire to be killed multiple times only to come back for the same reasons. Abhartach equals the inspiration for Dracula, that is assumed. But then again, every country has their horror story meant to scare the crap out of little children. Otherwise, what fun are bedtime stories? Anyway, Ireland has many more interesting facts and I only touched on a hand full of them.  

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Lauren Weimer - Response to Cameron Thornton “Lecture on Uniforms in School”

Like you, I am undecided on this specific topic of school dress codes. I was homeschooled growing up, so dress codes were not something I had to deal with until I went to high school. Nevertheless, homeschoolers had their own “regulations” or “dress codes” with clothing and expectations that is a whole other conversation. For example, my high school the boys made a petition just too wear shorts. But all of the females had overly strict codes to such an extent we could not wear anything that showed the shoulders or knees, had holes or was skin tight. Similar to other school dress codes in a way, however for the fact it was not through a private school system but was for homeschoolers. However, my brother decided to attend a private school and many of my friends had to deal with the dress codes yearly. Like any situation, it will have its pros and cons regarding whatever is at hand. I believe it is how you decide to look at it or how you react to it that says something about yourself. That applies to all situations though. 

Anyway, I believe the major con regarding school dress codes would be the lack of expression for yourself. It is important to have an outlook and to be able to form your own identity. When this was discussed in class, I believe this was everyone’s primary opinion. It always seemed to revert back to lack of self-expression and having to blend in with everyone around you.  A pro is that it does help with not judging a book by its cover to have set standards and regulations for how to dress for school. You become friends with people who you might never have spoken to or judged because of what they had. You allow yourself to connect over other interests rather than style. 

   Moreover, dress codes in England are very similar to those in the United States and France. Ninety percent of school dress codes is worn in England. Uniforms date back for centuries in England, although it was not exactly required. More or less, people would wear very similar outfits, and everyone went with it – go with the flow moto. Furthermore, the first documented reference was in regard to boys’ uniform in the year 1222. This uniform was called the “cappa clausa,” a robe-like outfit, and was mandated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

   Then in 1552 at the Christ’s Hospital Charity, they had issued an obligatory uniform for students. This obligatory uniform was specifically designed to emphasize the low status of children. They did this by basing the children’s status on the clerical cassock and was russet in color. But after one year, it would be changed to a new color, blue. An interesting thing I found out that was part of the uniforms was that they wore petticoats. The petticoats were yellow, and this color was supposed to deter from breeding with others. But again, the color of the petticoats changed to white in 1865. Men wore petticoats, still sounds strange while writing that. But in 1706 breeches or pants were finally brought into fashion for the young men. It started out as being provided for the sick and weakly, but as time moved on the wealthy began to customize their wardrobe to incorporate the breeches or pants. Goodbye, petticoats. 

   But as centuries past, uniforms and wardrobes gradually changed and adjusted with the times just as they have in other countries. While researching school dress codes in England, I was reading about the politic side of the situation. I learned that the government or head teachers felt so much pressure regarding the educational standards that they advocated for the reintroduction of 1950s school uniforms. Peer pressure continues with every time a school is turned into an academy, those on the board decided to rebrand and this typically involved the change or new direction of school uniforms and dress codes. Typically, the uniforms continue to become more and more formal. Just in 2017, sixty-seven percent of parents of students who in this form of school agreed with the policies and thought they were very beneficial for the students. However, the students do not always have the same perspective as their parents. Just last year there was a group of boys from the Isca Academy who protested the schools dress codes. Their choice of protests was to wear skirts to spite the schools' dress code of not allowing the boys to wear shorts to class.

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Lauren Weimer - Response to Ling Lee “Foxhunters”

This is really interesting how the sport of fox hunting came to be. I would never have thought it would have started just because of a Norfolk farmer’s attempt to catch a fox using farm dogs. Nonetheless, is that not how most things start? A random occurrence of events, that lead on to other random events, that soon catch on, and other people are suddenly involved? But just as things are enjoyed, some things are taken advantage of and lead to being banished or outlawed. Even though fox hunting and other hunting of mammals was banned twelve years ago through the Hunting Act in England, the Prime Minister is considering allowing it to be up for a vote again. There are a lot of different facts about fox hunting that I found interesting and that I was unaware of. Here are a few of the facts that I found most interesting.

The use of scent hounds, as Ling Lee stated in her blog post, dates back to 2000-3000 BC and was started with the Assyrians and Egyptians. This sport has been updated and has been critiqued for centuries. The season for fox hunting typically starts around November 1st and runs until March. As for any form of hunting, there is a season: ducks, deer, rabbit, squirrel, bear. Therefore, foxes would not be any different. Although the hunting of foxes was banned in England and Wales in 2005, it was then followed in 2002 by being banned in Scotland. However, one way to get away with another form of “fox hunting” is to claim them as “pests.” As it is still legal to shoot the mammals if specified as said “pests.” Nevertheless, in Northern Ireland, it is actually still legal to hunt with hounds – although, it must be in the traditional manner. 

However, fox hunting is not the only ‘hunting’ one may partake in England. There are other games people hunt in this region. One, in particular, would be deer. Where other countries may refer to the sport as deer hunting, in England they call it deer stalking. People from Northern Ireland and England partake in this activity, and it is often looked at as a field sport. The meat from the deer, venison, is of high quality in England and sales have quadrupled since 2014. 

Then another form of hunting in the United Kingdom is shooting game birds. There are also different ways into which someone may choose to partake in this activity. There is the driver game shooting, rough shooting, wildfowling, or rook shooting. Driven game shooting is when beaters are required to walk through fields or moors while there is a line of either eight or ten standing guns that are fifty to sixty meters apart. This distance is for safety and to make sure no one is injured during the hunt. Then there is the head game hunting who is in charge of how many birds shot and to make sure they are picked up. The number of those shot can range from ten to four hundred, but this always depends on the budget and how many whoever was hunting paid to shoot. 

Then there is the rough shooting. This is when several hunters choose to walk through the woods, moor, or fields and utilize dogs. These dogs would then scope out or find the birds and the hunters would proceed to shoot. This is a cheaper and more informal way of hunting, one that would be more common in the United States. Except in Louisiana, you would be located in the swamp or pirogue.  This form of bird hunting is becoming increasingly more popular in the United Kingdom because it is less formal this always makes it cheaper. 

Following the other two ways to hunt birds, there is wildfowling. Now, this is considered to be lonely and uncomfortable. This is also very popular in Louisiana and is when you sit by yourself in a boat on the water and go either at dawn or dusk and wait patiently for the fowl to come to you. Typically, if you do at dawn you set up and wait while it is still pitch black, just as the sun is rising when you should be on high alert. Then finally, there is rook shooting. This used to be very popular in rural Britain for pest control and as a food source. People would wait patiently and shoot the pests/future food source before they had a chance to take flight.

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T.S ELLIOT pearse dolan

Eliot’s poetry questions the societal norms of modern life through an analysis of how its consumptive reality creates a destructive experience for individuals. Indeed, through exploring the implications of the empty and flawed rituals of urbanity, Eliot challenges the worth of the industrial reality. Following the all-consuming industrial period of the early 20th century, ‘Preludes’ (1911) explores how the exploitative urban environment fragments the qualities that make an individual human. Likewise, ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’ (1915) emulates this disturbing portrait of modernity, as it portrays the forces of industry as imprisoning individuals in a perpetual state of banality and emptiness. Eliot questions the norms of modern life through portraying its conventions as consuming the qualities that make an individual human. Indeed, this destruction of the individual comes at the expense of the flawed rituals of industrialisation, “Six o’clock. The burnt-out ends of smoky days.” Eliot’s metaphor reduces the work of an individual to that of a cigarette in order to bluntly convey the burnt-out form of the returning worker and their dispensability, as they are worked to ash or rather death, only to be all too easily discarded and replaced. The dehumanising relationship that Eliot presents, challenges the worth of industrialisation as its means of production consumes and breaks the individual for the purpose of profitability. This shattering effect of the modern reality is furthered in the fragmented form that places two incongruent truncated phrases successively. Eliot utilises this notion of fragmentation to explore the remaining artefacts of man following his exposure to the rituals of urbanity, ���His soul stretched tight across the skies / That fade behind a city block”. The sibilance slows and focuses the readers gaze on the metonymic soul that Eliot uses as a representation of human character. Its pliability and elasticity mirrors the ramifications of the urban environment on the individual, as the integrity that forms a human is twisted to fit these unnatural conditions. Thus, it is the exploitative conventions of industry that stretch and consequently consume the qualities of a human to create a subject that instead ‘fades behind’ the city. Furthermore, Eliot portrays the modern world as destructing human characteristics in order to question the social norms of the exploitative industrial reality. Likewise, ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’ challenges the societal norms of the industrial period, through portraying modernity as a torturous experience that leads to the creation of empty and banal individuals. Eliot establishes this pervasive prison that is the urban world through forewarning the suffering that the narrator will endure, “Twelve o’clock.” The anaphoric motif of time continually alludes to the ‘witching hours’ that reinforce the immorality and wicked torture that will soon ensue as a consequence of the individual trying to escape into the night and thus trying to escape the robotic conformity demanded by modernity. These fragmented pieces of time placed throughout the narrator’s recollection as in ‘Preludes’, forewarn the fragmented state of the individual following modernity’s punishment of this ‘transgression’. Modernity punishes this transgression through its physical components forcefully highlighting the morbidity of life, “The street lamp said, “Regard that woman/ Who hesitates towards you in the light of the door/ Which opens on her like a grin”.” Eliot anthropomorphises the lamp which acts as a product of the urban world, to illustrate how the narrator is controlled by modernity or rather ‘colonized by its commands’ as Chakraborty asserts. This constructs the prison of the modern experience, as the industrial world characterized by squalidity and overworking dictates the life of an individual, signifying his lack of individuality and consequently the loss of identity he sufferers in an economically driven industrial environment that prioritises functionality in spite of the emptiness it evokes. It is through this pervasive control held by modernity that Eliot depicts the futility of trying to escape, as despite the narrator’s wondering through the night he finally conforms, “the tooth-brush hangs on the wall, / Put your shoes at the door, sleep, prepare for life/ The last twist of the knife.” The asyndeton of banal conventions typical of modern life emphasises the sheer number of actions that we have become accustomed to and as a result the difficulty associated with breaking out of the ‘shackles’ of modernity. However, in his last attempt to escape the subject tries to sleep, but ends up realising that sleep is a place where recollections are realised in a fuller detail, therefore in fact there is no escape and any attempts to do so are futile. Thus, as Rehman states the Bergsonian theory of sleep serves only to “fortify and reinforce the protagonist’s self-imprisonment”, metaphorically twisting the knife and carving out the existential meaning out of the individual, creating an unbearable almost deathly experience. As such, it is through the omnipresence of modernity that forces the individual to conform to its banal conventions, creating an empty individual controlled by functionality at the expense of personality. Moreover, Eliot question the norms of modern life through portraying it’s flawed rituals and conventions as leading to the creation of an empty and banal human being.To conclude, Eliot’s poetry questions the societal norms of modern life through an analysis of how it creates a destructive experience for individuals. Whilst ‘Preludes’ portrayed urbanity as consuming human characteristics, ‘Rhapsody on a Windy Night’ explored its conventions as leading to an empty and banal individual, with both poems challenged the worth and normality of industry through such disturbing portraits.

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Jared Tonglet: Thoughts on Yeats’s “Easter, 1916”

Yeats’s “Easter, 1916” was a shocking poem when I read it. My last name, Tonglet, may not sound Irish, but that is because it is Belgian. However, that Belgian name has been carried on as generation after generation of Tonglet men married Irish women, and now my family is over half Irish blood. My great grandmother was a Mcconnan, which is a pure Irish name. When Yeats was listing the names of people who died in the uprising, my heart was pounding as I thought I was going to hear Mcconnan. I feel like I should have heard Mcconnan. It felt so real that I really though my ancestors were right there and that if they did not die in the uprising, their friends did. The reality is that I have no idea if my family ever lived in Dublin, but that does not mitigate the fact that I felt like I was right there when it all went down. I never felt like that with a poem before, and I really do believe it was because of the list of names. The imagery felt so real, as if I was there, standing with the child as everything began. I felt like the terrible beauty was born right in front of me. It felt like I witnessed the first shot. I felt like the whole world came crashing down as Ireland began to make a statement to England that Ireland will be its own nation. That this is worth fighting for. Knowing that Ireland is its own nation now, I salute the MacDonaghs, the MacBrides, and the Connollys, and the Pearses, and the possible Mcconnans that died. They did not die in vain, for Ireland is sovereign, just as they had hoped it would be on that Easter day in the year 1916.

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Jared Tonglet: Thoughts on Newman’s “The Idea of University”

I do not know if I have made it clear in the past, but I am going to be blunt: I am a devout Catholic. So, I take what Cardinal Newman has to say seriously because he was a big deal in the Church. I find his views on University interesting, as h says it is important for students to be introduced to every possible idea because it is good for a student to be presented with every side of an argument. I find it interesting, especially since he specifically mentions the idea of morality. The man was a high-ranking official in the Catholic Church, you would think he knows what he is talking about in that regard, but he says not to present information as moral or immoral because it is not the place of the university to decide what is moral or immoral. I found that absolutely fascinating because I find that today’s universities boast that their graduates are moral and upstanding people, when the point of a university is to simply present the information to its students, and not specifically mold them to one view point or another. It can teach ethics in regard to a subject, but it should not claim to be an authority on what is right and wrong. It is obvious that stealing money from a client is wrong when it comes to an accountant, and the university can teach that, but it is not supposed to tell the future accountant what right and wrong outside of that subject. That is for the student to decide for him or her own well being and peace of mind.

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Jared Tonglet: Thoughts on Richard Adams’s Watership Down

In my freshman year of high school, I was assigned to read a book called Watership Down by Richard Adams. It was introduced to us as a book about sentient rabbits with their own culture and society and I will admit that I was very skeptical. Fast-forward a few chapters into my new favorite book of all time, and I am absolutely entrenched into the society that these rabbits have created, and I cannot put the book down (except for when I have to pay attention in class). It is a fantastic book that explores primitive societies and religion while keeping a light and whimsical tone the whole time.

           The book has a simple plot, mostly because it was written by Adams as a bedtime story for his daughters and for long car rides through the country side. It follows the adventures of two brother rabbits named Hazel and Fiver, as they lead a group of rabbits from their home to a new burrow as Fiver (who is like a prophet) foresees something bad happening to their burrow. Hazel and Fiver lead this group on a grand adventure, finding more than one burrow, but ultimately setting one up on a place called, as the book’s tittle would suggest, Watership Down. But what makes the book interesting is that they have their own societies, they go to war with one of the largest burrows in England, and they even have their own religion. It is loosely based on the Egyptian religion, with a sun god as the main god and a lesser moon god. They have a creation story, they have other stories about what these mythological beings did to give the rabbits knowledge of something, and it is just really complex and cool. The whole culture surrounding the novel just swept me off my feet and I could not put the book down.

           I understand that this whole post as been me gushing over a book about rabbits, but it is a really awesome book. Sometimes, you get really caught up in a novel, and when you finish, you feel like there is a void in your life without the book. I felt that feeling hard when I finished Watership Down. We even watched the movie in my English class back then, though the movie was just a rough outline of the book and not nearly as good, but I will admit that the British have an interesting idea of what constitutes as a children’s show, because there was a lot of blood and gore in that movie for kids. It was also adapted into a television show, though I never took the time to watch it. I honestly hoped Adams would come out with a sequel to the book, however, Adams died a couple years ago, and I will admit that I was a bit heartbroken that the author of my favorite book had passed away. Basically, this book was my whole life for the quarter of a semester that we read it. I fell in love with it. I was so into the characters and the culture, I aced every dingle quiz or test we had on it and I was so active in the discussion.

           It was only awhile later, though, that I realized that this story was more than just a book about rabbits. It was literally a story about colonization. These rabbits literally had to get out before their burrow was destroyed, and they had to move out and find a better place. Kind of like the Israelites in the Bible. They found a place that seemed like it would be suitable, and they set out for it in an attempt to start new lives. It really made me think about when my ancestors set out from Ireland and Belgium on their way to America. They did not know what they were going to do once they got there, they just knew that there was a better shot at living a fulfilling life there than where they were. They took everything they had and set off, not knowing what it would be like. That must have been terrifying, but they must have been thinking about the future generations of my family when they did that. I am sure they figured they would end up in New York, and yet they ended up in New Orleans. I a glad, because I would never want to be from anywhere else. In the book, the rabbits are proud of where they came from, just like I am proud to hail from New Orleans.

P.S. This is also a fantastic book that I think everyone should read.

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Ted Hughes Personal revelations through poems/Pearse Dolan

Composers powerfully explore memories of their past despite their conflict with the truth through the implementation of creative and subjective forms. This concept will be discussed in conjunction with Ted Hughes’ collection of introspective poems titled ‘Birthday Letters’ that explore his relationship with Sylvia Plath and in particular “Fulbright Scholars” which analytically recounts his first fatal sighting of Plath delving into the subjectivity of memory and consequently the ability this subjectivity has to condemn and accuse. As well as “Your Paris” which uses the context of their honeymoon to unscrupulously criticise the problems within their marriage drawing our attention to the power literature holds in explaining ones memories. Fulbright Scholars clearly illustrates Hughes attempt to conjure up notions of his memory but in doing so clearly reflects how subjective it can be. This uncertainty and clouded memory is seen when Hughes attempts to recall his first sighting of Plath, “Just arriving-/Or arrived. Or some of them./Were you among them?”. The rhetorical question compounded with the repetition of ‘or’ quickly begins to evoke a sense of uncertainty within the audience in regards to Hughes memory and consequently its reliability. It does so through drawing our attention to the self-reflective form of the poem which ultimately reminds the audience that the poem is introspective, it is analysing his memories and hence can’t be taken as the truth. Towards the end of the poem Hughes clearly illustrates this analytical nature of the piece, “At twenty-five I was dumbfounded afresh/ By my ignorance of the simplest things.” The detached and self-effacing language emphasises how deeply he has examined and critiqued his movements in getting into a relationship with Plath. It is this constant reflection and analysis of the truth that makes Hughes memory and hence the piece so subjective. The subjectivity of memory that has been demonstrated through Fulbright Scholars has the potential to cloud the truths for potential condemnation and accusations. This consequentially leads to Hughes somewhat negative representation of Plath, “Noted your long hair, loose waves-/ Your Veronica Lake bang. Not what it hid.” Hughes uses the metaphor of Plath’s hair described through the Veronica Lake allusion who was an infamous femme fatale icon to emphasise the idea of Plath as a duplicitous character that like Lake used sexual charm to fulfil her evil machinations. And despite the complete subjectivity of this accusation it condemns Plath as an evil and superficial character. Hughes then goes as far as to state, “It was the first fresh peach I had ever tasted. / I could hardly believe how delicious.” The sibilance used in the description of the metaphorical peach acts as a symbol of his sexual initiation through specifically sexually objectifying Plath as this tempting and sensual fruit that he can’t resist. This sexist metaphor was somewhat reflective of the derogatory perspective of women in the 1950’s where in this case Hughes uses the poem to identify Plath as a perpetrator in seducing him. It is specifically poignant that the condemnation of Plath in the relationship is provided through these poems after her death where as stated by R.Ingelbein, there has been a “huge impact by Birthday Letters, to which Sylvia’s death has granted Hughes the status of last will and testament” so as to allow Hughes to provide these perceptions of his marriage without retaliation as a way to silence feminists and critics of their allegedly abusive accusations regarding their marriage. Furthermore, the subjectivity of memory can act as a way to condemn and accuse people in a way that completely neglects the truth. But in another light this subjectivity of memory can act as a way to explore and explain truths as seen in ‘Your Paris’. In analysing memories and in particular their honeymoon Hughes tries to explain the downfall of their relationship, “Your Paris, I thought, was American./ I wanted to humour you.”The consistent use of the possessive noun alongside the conversational form promotes this idea that this is a monologue addressed to the Plath and the world. It illustrates Hughes longing to express the reasoning behind their relationships downfall and he alludes as to why it fell apart by referencing her nationality and ‘her’ Paris with the possessive noun representing Paris as a concept rather than a place for Hughes to criticise Plath’s perspectives in a patronising manner suggesting his assumption of cultural superiority. This idea of Hughes communicating his superiority as reasoning for the failed relationship is somewhat reflective of the egotistical and macho male society of the 1960’s, “I kept my Paris from you. My Paris/ Was only just not German. / The Capital of the Occupation.” The monosyllabic syntax is used to create and clearly differentiate their opposing views and then the deep allusions to the events of WW2 in contrast to Plath’s “humorous” perspective act as a way to patronise Plath and create this air of superiority. In a sense Hughes attempts to subjectively represent himself as a real intellectual unlike Plath with reasoning of natural ability, gender and culture. Furthermore, Hughes subjectively uses the power of memory to explain the downfall of their relationship. To conclude, Hughes has utilised these series of poems to express a variety of memories that convey a subjective truth. ‘Fulbright Scholars’ and ‘Your Paris’ have both illustrated the destructive nature of Plath’s and Hughes’ relationship putting emphasis on the subjectivity of memory, the ability memory has to accuse and condemn as well as the power this subjectivity hold to explain a version of events. Hughes use of these pieces of literature to convey notions of their relationship has ultimately represented the importance of objectivity in attaining truth and how memory can cloud the truth.

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Tim Winton reflecting human psyches through landscape depictions/Pearse Dolan

Composers create depictions of our psyche across distinct landscapes to explore physical and emotional boundaries. Indeed, it is through forming these psychological landscapes that the challenges faced by adolescents in the transition from childhood to adulthood are exposed. Winton’s collection of short stories ‘The Turning’, and in particular ‘Sand’ which utilises the volatile foundation of a beach to explore the boundaries created by expectations set upon adolescents within a family dynamic. As well as ‘Aquifer’ which uses the fluidity and ubiquitous nature of water to frame how these boundaries created in our formative years continue to permeate through our subconscious. Similarly, Stephen King draws on ‘Carrie’ to explore the physical and emotional boundaries faced as a teenager in trying to break free from the liminal state created by her domineering mother within the extremity of its supernatural yet identifiable landscape. Throughout ‘Sand’ Winton draws on the unpredictable and unstable nature of the metaphysical beach landscape to explore the boundaries encountered in the threshold of change from adolescents. From the outset Winton develops this idea of the sand dunes as a metaphoric landscape that both Frank and his brother Max are struggling to face, “They walked over to the steep foredune and clawed up it and on the other side the sandhills rolled on and on forever”. The exaggerated language and polysyndeton used in describing the sand dunes immediately dramatizes the extremity of the psychological landscape. It acts as a way by which the composer is sprawling out the challenges felt by the young boys, where the vast landscape that they are struggling to climb it reflective of the boundaries faced in their adolescents. Then as the boys await the return of their father, the exact pressure and volatility of undergoing this transition from adolescents is illustrated when Frank is the subject of Max’s bullying. Frank is buried in a pit of sand and struggles to set free, “The great heavy crust parted around his neck and he was out, on his feet, running blind and gulping in sobs of air and choking grit until he fell coughing, crying, alone in the sand”. Winton’s consistent reference to the symbol of sand that is consuming Frank is reflective of how the weight of the landscape or rather the weight of expectation in growing up is proving to be demanding. That the physical and emotional boundaries Frank is facing which are preventing his transition out of adolescents are causing this terrible collapse alluded to the extremity of his “choking”, “crying” and “gulps for air”. Furthermore ‘Sand’ utilises the beach as a psychological landscape to convey both the physical and emotional boundaries felt by adolescents on the threshold of change. Winton’s ‘Aquifer’ similarly relies on the physical landscape to explore the boundaries created in the transition out of adolescents, but instead uses water as a motif to illustrate how these boundaries continue to permeate through our subconscious. This boundary faced throughout the story ultimately originates from the death of Alan Mannering in his youth a terrifying scene which continues to haunt the narrator, “When he went down, sliding sideways like a banking air craft out there in the ruffled shimmer of the swamp’s eye, I really didn’t think that my smug feeling… had caused the capsize.” Winton introduces the motif of water through the titular metaphor and in the personification of the swamp as a way to suggest that Mannering’s death is metaphysical. That although he did literally die in the swamp, his demise in such a ubiquitous element is reflective of how the boundaries or trauma created for the narrator are inescapable and pervade through his subconscious just as water would. The reflective tone continues throughout the story where the narrator explicitly states the relationship between this boundary created and how it moves through our subconscious, “When a wave breaks, the water is not moving… only the energy is moving. Perhaps time moves through us and not us through it.” Winton’s direct reference to the aquatic landscape as a reflection of our subconscious is used as a way to convey the narrator’s sense of enlightenment. Where he has learned that the boundaries inherited in his formative years from the trauma and grief gained in Mannering’s death is not something he chooses to dwell on but rather something that he is forced to deal with at given times. Winton has utilised this landscape of an aquifer or swamp with the omnipresence of water to depict the narrator’s psyche, in how a boundary faced in his key stage of adolescent has continued to haunt him. To conclude, composers create depictions of our psyche across distinct landscapes to illustrate both physical and emotional boundaries. Winton’s ‘Aquifer’ and ‘Sand’ each used the beach, the swamp and a school respectively as a metaphorical landscape to sprawl out the psyche of each protagonist that each illustrated the significant boundaries faced by adolescents. It is imperative that composers continue to express the boundaries faced by humans on the threshold of change through psychological landscapes as it acts as an effective and engaging means by which audiences can be educated on the different challenges faced by a diverse range of people.

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Ling Lee: Reply to Jared’s Achebe’s Things Fall Apart

In response to Jared’s Achebe blog, I have to say that coming from a country that was colonized by the British before (Malaysia), there are some positive aspects to it. For instance, introducing the democratic system into my country. The intention is good because I agree that democracy can justify the people’s voices.  Even though colonization will hurt the identity and the culture of the people, it brought my country closer to the modern world and diversified my country. Besides that, reading your blog evoked me to bring up a discussion about the effects of colonization with my father and I found out that even though the British colonized my country for its rich resources for its own economy’s sake, they have opened up opportunities for migrants especially Indians from India and Chinese from mainland China to work in tin mines and rubber plantations. The opportunity was seen as very valuable to migrants because of the harsh life in India and mainland China.

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Ling Lee: Foxhunting

The above is a picture of hunt masters ( on horseback) and hounds exiting Powderham castle, Exeter, Southwest of England for a hunt for foxes. Fox hunting became a traditional sport in England starting in the 16th century. Before it became a sport, it was said that it was originated from a Norfolk farmer’s attempt to catch a fox using farm dogs in 1534. The sport continued to grow in popularity thoughout the 1700-1800 and in 1753 a young man named Hugo Meynell, begin to breed hunting dogs that are keener in speed and scent. Therefore, he got his name as father of modern foxhunting. Dogs with greater speed means that they can start their hunt later in the mornings. Foxes were regarded as vermin by farmers and land owner therefore it give rise to this tradition. However, it has commonly caused controversy in the society, the hunters think it is pest control, the anti-hunting campaigners think its cruel and unnecessary. In December 1999, Lord Burns chaired the enquiry of whether the sport should be banned. It was brought up that the sport really hurt the welfare of the foxes but Burns did not ban the sport all in all. The House of Commons banned the sport but the House of Lords voted for self-regulation. Regardless of varies opinion about the sport, it has a great impact on the popular culture in Great Britain.  Some love the sport so much that the Parliament hire a “Chief Whip” whose role is to inform the Prime Minister about any revolt against the sport. The name “Chief Whip” comes from the role of Hunt Masters to “ Whip In” the hounds, so that they may be in line.

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Jared Tonglet: Reply to Lauren Weimer: The Chunnel:

As a Civil Engineering major, that is freaking incredible. The idea of building something of that nature in that environment is so hard, I honestly thought it could not be done. Then you got them English and French (and apparently the Japanese) doing it. Water and water pressure are nothing to balk at, so to go that deep under the sea bed is even more amazing. To go that deep into the ground while you got so many tons of water above is reason enough not to do it. If you do not support that just right, the whole thing comes crashing down, drowning everyone. That sounds depressing, but it is fact. I immediately looked this thing up, and it is a marvel of Civil Engineering and a masterpiece. Bravo, Brits, but you got a future Civil coming to one up that Chunnel of yours!

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Jared Tonglet: Reply to Cameron’s Thoughts on the Lecture on Uniforms in School:

I see where you are coming from with your ideas about the pros and cons about having a uniform in school, and I agree that it curves creativity. Until college, I had to wear a uniform every day of school, and it got more and more strict as I got older. At Jesuit High School in New Orleans, we had to wear khaki pants, a khaki shirt, a khaki belt, black socks, black military style shoes (which we had to keep polished), a patch on our left sleeve that is 1/8 of an inch from the shoulder seem and centered, as well as a name tag over our right shirt pocket that is also 1/8 of an inch above the pocket and centered. Apart from that, we had to keep our hair cut to where, when extended, did not touch the collar, ears, or eyebrows, and were expected to be clean shaven every day. You get the idea, we had a very strict uniform policy. Despite that, I think it helped me in the long run. In a school of 1400 guys from 8th grade to 12th grade, who all looked exactly the same, we still became different in our own regard. We found different ways to be creative and show off our personalities. For example, being Irish, I pinned a four-leafed clover to my backpack. I also got involved in club after club on campus because so long as we had a group of students interested, we could start one. We had everything from a paintball club to a cheese tasting club to a foosball club (just to name some interesting ones). We found ways to project ourselves even more creatively than just wearing different clothes. I would probably have worn Star Wars, Saints, Pelicans, and Atlanta Braves shirts the whole time and let that be it. Instead, I found out more about myself than I could have imagined, and I think it is because we had to get truly creative. Yes, a uniform may curve the creativity, but it helps teach someone to express it in new ways that create memories that last a lifetime.

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Ling Lee: British Etiquette

Cambridge Dictionary defines etiquette as “a  set of rules or customs that control accepted behavior in particular social groups or social situations.”

Every culture across the ages and races has been defined by the concept of etiquette and accepted social interactions and norms. As far as British etiquette is concerned, it is more of social appropriate behaviors, some of which are practiced the world over. The British in particular has historically placed a great deal of importance in good manners in relation to speech and body language and the key is politeness. British etiquette dictates courteousness at all times.

I first experienced British etiquette when I had a short stint as a student in Edinburgh the UK in 2011. As an international student, a brief and guide to some of the most common codes of British etiquette were given to every international student. This is in addition to some of my experiences while studying there.

I always find that the British are always smartly dressed, especially those with social status like the lecturers and professors, some students dressed rather fashionable. As Asian from a down to earth family of a developing country like Malaysia, such serious, classy and formal attire ( more like the upper class British from the movie “ The Titanic “ ) do give me a sense of respect towards them. On the flip side, sometimes I felt that they are rather snobbish and arrogance, perhaps due to their ignorance about Asian culture. It is not surprising that it took me quite a while to have some British students open up and accept me as a friend.

It is quite common to find that British seems to always over apologized. For example, if I have mistakenly sat on a seat that have previously reserved or taken, the person who reserved that seat would say, I am so sorry but you appeared to be sitting in my seat “. If someone accidentally spill coffee, again it is quite common for the victim to apologize. Again, below is a typical example of over-apologizing short conversation:

Brit 1: Sorry, are you in the queue?

Brit 2: Oh, no I’m not, sorry!

Brit 1: Oh, sorry.

Funny but it is true. To Asian like me, it sounds rather awkward. It appears that apologizing as a victim is a very English thing to do.

One of the best examples of British etiquette, which I truly admire, is punctuality and it is of traditional importance in the British society. It is considered rude to arrive late to a business meeting, medical appointment or social occasion such as wedding. It is advisable to arrive 5 to 10 minutes earlier to appear professional as a mark of respect to the host. Conversely, arriving too early could appear slightly rude and ruin the occasion of the host if the host is still in the midst of preparing for the event. Similarly, an unannounced house call is often frowned upon as it may inconvenience the host. I would like to embarrassingly add here that Chinese Malaysian has a habit of being late at marriage dinner. If an invitation card states that dinner will be served at 8pm, it is not surprised that many come late and the punctual guests are forced to wait before dinner can start. As such, I did attend wedding dinner before that end past midnight!

An invited guest to a British dinner party, it is customary to bring along a gift to the host or hostess, such as a bottle of wine, a bouquet of flowers or chocolates. Good table manners are essential, particularly when you are attending a formal dinner or buffet. It is deemed inappropriate to use fingers rather than cutlery to eat. The cutlery should be held correctly, the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left. At a formal dinner party when there are numerous utensils at your place settings, it is customary to begin with the utensils on the outside and work your ways with each course. Keep elbows off the table and keep phones out of sight at the dining table, and avoid text while speaking to people. Wine glass should not be filled more than halfway to allow a wine space to breath when you swirl the glass. Never lift the bowl to drink or eat. Wait until every one is served before you start eating. While eating. It is frowned upon making noise, chewing with mouth open or talk while the food is still in your mouth Place the cutlery in the middle of the plate to signal that you have finished eating. It is all a question of how a person, indirectly his or her family, was brought up to adhere to the etiquette or good manners.

On the same note, it is interesting to learn that in many private high school in Japan, students in their junior year would go on a ‘fields trip ‘ to a fine restaurant, usually a large hotel, and are taught‘ table manners ‘ by the restaurant staff. Nevertheless, imposing Western or Japanese etiquette on other nations may not be appropriate due to different cultures, customs or even religious beliefs.

Good manners form a major part of British etiquette, I just can’t help but draw parallels to Muslim Malaysians who would always greet their elders, especially family members, by bowing and gently kiss the elder’s right hand. For the Japanese, they normally greet by bowing to each other and will never stop until the counterpart stop bowing! Japanese athletes would also give a customary bow before and after a game.

Whilst we find orderly of queuing is common in Britain, we also find that saying ‘please‘ and ‘thank you‘ is equally common. It is considered polite and well mannered and is a regularity of British speech. In Britain, every social transaction is eased by reiteration of these phrases from both parties.

Unlike many countries, in Britain it would consider rather rude to ask or discuss how much you earn and how old you are (especially asking about women’s age). It is strictly a taboo subject according to British Etiquette and can be embarrassing just to discuss it.

Chivalry is seen as British trait and a distinguished feature of a gentleman. In old English Literature, women swoon chivalrous men. Some common examples of modern chivalry for the 21st century include opening the door for ladies, offering jacket if she is cold, and offering a lady your seat if she is standing. Nevertheless, young ladies having good manners and etiquette is an attribute particularly crucial in securing husband.

Women in Britain are entitled to equal respect and status as man, both at work and daily life. The British has the habit to use affectionate names when addressing someone, so do not take any offence if they call you love, dearie or darling. These are commonly used and considered rude.

When a teacher or anyone in a position of authority ask you to do something, you must respect them and do it. It is very disrespect people in authority. From the Asian perspective, the same respect is also given to those in authority. It is the emergence of multiculturism and the advent of internet is posing as a challenge to the traditional etiquette in general, regardless of social group or ethnicity.

In the UK, tea is an integral part of everyday life. It is part of many British people’s daily routine and serves many social functions. The novel “A Passage To India” by E.M. Foster, tea party was commonly described as an important British social functions. Tea has a long history in Britain. It was over the course of several hundred years that tea gained its place as Britain’s national drink and only recently its health properties are recognized.

You will be offered a cup of tea anywhere you go in the UK. Many tea shops and cafes are common. Afternoon tea is a big tradition in the UK. Here are some polite ways to drink tea in the UK:

-          Tea should be poured first and milk or sugar added afterwards.

-          Never slurp tea.

-          If in a group and if tea is served in a pot and is placed near you, it is polite to pour tea for the rest of the group.

In today’s society, the recent rise in multiculturism, etiquette in Britain has evolved and has become less formal due to changing economy, lifestyle, social and gender equality laws. Britain has shifted from household etiquette to emphasis of business etiquette. The rise of online business and social media sites has seen the creation of online society with its own rules of network etiquette involving communications such as emails, blogs and WhatsApp. It is not surprising that traditional accepted behaviors of the old may not have the influence they once did.

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Reply to Jared’s post on thoughts on Oryx and Crake / Cameron Thornton

I decided to reply to this post because this was one of my favorite works that we did throughout this course. I listened to a lot of what you said in the discussion and your post and I agree with most of it. Society is making so many technological advances so quickly and it is hard to believe that this novel is too far off from the truth of what our future holds. I completely agree with what you said about how we should definitely think about how impulsive we are as humans. Should we always do something just because we can? Genetic engineering is something that also sparks my interest because it is so complex and so scary to think about. This story is so interesting and complex that I feel as though there are so many different topics of discussion. It is hard to not get into a discussion about the events that take place in this novel. There is obviously a degree of free will that humans have as you stated, but we have to live with our consequences. As human beings we can do anything that we please but there will always be consequences to our actions (good and bad). This is something to think about because everything in life has a domino effect and if the events in Oryx and Crake were to happen in real life, the world would probably end. We are supposed to have morals and follow rules, and in this book there seems to be none of that. We can technically breed people out. I liked the example that you used about the Nazis that killed the Jews because this was something that I would have never thought about comparing. When I really think about it, the human race is not much better than the people in this novel, which really scares me. It was so crazy to me when I first read this story and I saw that this was basically what Crake was trying to do, but when I just read your comparison it seemed so real to me because this is something that has actually happened in out history. Crake was basically just trying to create another Holocost. He was killing off everyone that was bad, which is exactly what Hitler was trying to achieve. Although Hitler did a lot more damage and Crake did not nearly succeed, there was still damage done. I liked the comparison that you did to him not being able to completely hit the “reset” button. This is so true because he hardly achieved anything that he wanted to which basically left him exactly where he was before. So what now? This again was another question about how far is too far for humanity? How far can people really go? Obviously really far. This is a big sign that humans need to take a step back and reevaluate everything that we are doing genetically. There is clearly nothing good that will come out of it.

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Lecture on Uniforms in School/ Cameron Thornton

Something that really sparked my interest in this class was when we talked about wearing uniforms to school. This was something that I have struggled with since I was in kindergarten. From a young age I remember always wearing different colored clips in my hair because it was the only thing that would allow me to express myself. I have a lot of different opinions on wearing uniforms to school. I think that it is good in some ways so that everyone looks nice and professional. In other ways I think that it prevents kids from expressing who they truly are. But this is where a lot of problems come up. Kids are bullied all of the time in schools for various reasons. I think personally that wearing whatever you want to school can spark more problems. Some kids may be judged because of what they wear and this can potentially cause more self esteem problems than the uniforms would. Being forced to look like everyone else on a daily basis for your whole school life can take away a students creativity. You feel the best when you are able to be yourself and express who you want to be. When you are forced to be just like everyone else you lose a sense of identity. There are good and bad things that go along with uniforms so I feel like it would be hard to weigh these out and make a final decision. Some kids may not have as much money as others which can cause self esteem to go down if they do not have the coolest clothing. I know that in private schools some people can be at these schools for free due to sports or grades. Having uniforms can be very helpful for them because they never stand out from the other students and they do not have to worry about looking “less” than the other students. This will cause a lot of problems because these students may not be able to look as nice as some of their other classmates which can make them feel like they are not good enough. Now I am going to talk about some of the pros. This can be so fun because you learn a lot about people based on your first impression of them. Seeing how someone dresses can already give you somewhat of an insight of who they are. This allows for creativity and can also help with the friend making process. You tend to hang around the people who look, act, and dress like you. You may be able to find your circle and who you fit in with easier. This can be good and bad though. You may be missing out on some great friendships, but you also may find the people who fit perfectly with you. The uniform topic was one of my favorite things that I talked about this class because I do not have one set opinion and I was open to hearing everyone else’s outlook on these things. There are always more things you can learn and more ways of looking at different topics. I am undecided on my opinion on this topic.

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Reply to Lauren’s post on the Beatles / Cameron Thornton

Your post sparked my interest because my grandfather used to work with the Beatles and their music production. I was interested to find out that their original name was in fact not the Beatles and it was “Beatlemania”. I also did not know that there were more drummers before the final band was formed. I learned through reading your post that they performed multiple different styles of music. I completely agree with you in that they will always be remembered and their music is timeless.