they call it hump day

I don't know..."hump day" always sounded a bit crude to me...maybe there were camels...

Today was a bit weird, since I did not actually arrive at school until moments before third period ended. Therefore, seventh period received the benefit of a lesson on Portrait that third period has not had.

Here is the gist:

Stephen's aesthetic theories (yesterday's basket case) may seem utterly esoteric and probably myopic and insane--and maybe they are--but they lead him to his understanding of the nature of writing and his breakdown of all artistic writing into three categories:

Lyrical (poetry): writing done by the author for himself as the main and only audience, and therefore highly personal

Epical (stories): writing done by the author with the intention of sharing with an outside audience; i.e. to tell a story to someone else in the author's own voice

Dramatic (plays): writing done by the author knowing full well that, in order for an audience to perceive his words, he will have to give up authority over them entirely to a third party (actors) who will interpret them for that audience...therefore the kind of writing that must be the least personal of all forms

From this discussion we talked about Stephen's relationship with women, specifically Emma. He notes that he has been thinking about that day on the tram for ten years; it has haunted him. And he is more than a bit peeved at the attentions she is showing to the young priest who is her professor. At last we see the poem "Are You Not Weary of Ardent Ways?" This villanelle seems to be written to Emma, but it might as well be written directly to himself; by his own previously stated theories, he should be the audience of his poem, and besides, he is clearly the one obsessed, not Emma. With the poem he seems finally able to shake her (though not entirely, as we see in the diary/journal section later).

After that, the movement of the chapter shows us three more examples of the religious imagery we saw at the start (though more serious this time), and that seems to bookend that concept and bring it to a close. Stephen's statement that he "will not serve" the Catholic faith slams the door shut on his relationship with the church, and then we have a very poignant final scene between him and Cranly, in which he tells his friend that he does not fear to be alone in the world, but we can see that Cranly plainly does.

OK, third period: that's what you missed.

Now, all of you E3H-ers... one more time to the boards! This is the last board posting assignment before the final Portrait essays, so it's probably time to bring up any last issues. Tomorrow we're talking about registration and senior electives.

E2H: We're back to DOAS tomorrow; if you did not post yesterday (and even if you did), do so tonight!

Drama: Monologues! Bring 'em in half-memorized and marked up with ideas for performance. You'll be working on them with partners tomorrow.

random thought of the day: Whether you think you can or think you can't, you are right.