tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post9186515174075499278..comments2023-10-08T05:00:23.559-04:00Comments on Clarissa's Blog: Appreciation of LiteratureClarissahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-77823710144072021122011-04-05T12:35:26.846-04:002011-04-05T12:35:26.846-04:00Come to think of it, that's true! Thank you! :...Come to think of it, that's true! Thank you! :-)Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-60818325972824201432011-04-05T12:32:25.431-04:002011-04-05T12:32:25.431-04:00Clarissa, you are good teacher, after all your stu...Clarissa, you are good teacher, after all your students all to one have read up the book up to the endNatasha from Russianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-75442574344953482212011-04-04T15:23:24.876-04:002011-04-04T15:23:24.876-04:00Simple example: If it is false that a student is a...Simple example: If it is false that a student is absent, then that student is present. Of course, as to the specific mathematical terms I used, only a few hundred people in the world understand them.Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-90701292784602014862011-04-04T14:29:00.860-04:002011-04-04T14:29:00.860-04:00In Spanish, you are supposed to use as many negati...In Spanish, you are supposed to use as many negatives as you can fit into a sentence. It is a mistake not to do that. My students, who are first told to avoid several negatives in English and then required to use them in Spanish, are very confused by all that. :-)<br /><br />I didn't understand the math part of your comment at all. :-) I still have nightmares about having to take a course in math, so you can guess how hopeless I am in that area. :-)Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-37172604439677469342011-04-04T14:25:30.051-04:002011-04-04T14:25:30.051-04:00Double negatives cancelling each other out is a ma...Double negatives cancelling each other out is a mathematical logic nicety. In my field, a continuum is <i>indecomposable</i> if it is not the union of two of its proper subcontinua (Latin plural, of course!) A continuum then is <i>not</i> indecomposable if it is a union of two of its proper subcontinua. <br /><br />Of course, continua which are not indecomposable are sometimes called <i>decomposable</i>, a usage which I do not like. <br /><br />I do understand that the linguistic custom is different in Slavic languages from what it is in English; the English usage is more strictly mathematical while the usage in Polish (the only Slavic language I am familiar with) is certainly more colorful. But I still think that "I don't have no money." means that I do have some money, since it is false that I have none.Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-28547658329700114722011-04-04T12:43:45.706-04:002011-04-04T12:43:45.706-04:00I'm sorry, I meant double and triple negatives...I'm sorry, I meant double and triple negatives, of course. This is what happens when you respond to comments at a bus stop.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-6305074136182648002011-04-04T12:40:24.333-04:002011-04-04T12:40:24.333-04:00I do not know what a double or triple infinitive i...I do not know what a double or triple infinitive is. <br /><br />I have been told since I was an adult that a split infinitive ("To boldly go...") was wrong, but I was never taught that in school.Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-36228611197627288002011-04-04T12:21:18.517-04:002011-04-04T12:21:18.517-04:00I'm glad you told me that this is the traditio...I'm glad you told me that this is the traditional usage. I prefer to follow the traditional rules of grammar to accepting these new-fangled rules of usage that have led some people to argue that double and triple infinitives in English are now acceptable. Brrrr!!Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-35251756466660364382011-04-04T12:15:59.314-04:002011-04-04T12:15:59.314-04:00That is how we were taught when I was in school in...That is how we were taught when I was in school in the 1950's. Usage may have changed, of course, but it bothers me when I see it otherwise. After all, a gerund is a participle used as a noun. I can say "My eating potatoes could cause me to have health problems; your eating them would not."Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-48667999950642174772011-04-04T11:59:47.838-04:002011-04-04T11:59:47.838-04:00Really? You need an ' there? In case of "...Really? You need an ' there? In case of "my friends' frequent recommendations" you definitely do need it. But you say it's also needed with "friends' recommending"? <br /><br />Interesting.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-42713627247324589432011-04-04T11:56:15.567-04:002011-04-04T11:56:15.567-04:00And, I made another (much more common, sadly) gram...And, I made another (much more common, sadly) grammatical error in the above post: friends should have instead been friends', since in English a gerund needs a possessive/genitive modifier, NOT a subject!Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-63698685614791489432011-04-04T11:07:05.133-04:002011-04-04T11:07:05.133-04:00OOPS!! Make that 'English.'OOPS!! Make that 'English.'Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-20190659147827515712011-04-04T10:59:13.721-04:002011-04-04T10:59:13.721-04:00After reading a Thomas Hardy novel in high school,...After reading a Thomas Hardy novel in high school, I was so depressed that I did not read any more nineteenth century novels until I took a Victorian Novel class in college. I have not read any more nineteenth century novels except for some Mark Twain since I was an undergrad, I think, in spite of my friends frequently recommending assorted Russian, Engglish, and other authors.Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-34680035199168385292011-04-04T08:25:12.040-04:002011-04-04T08:25:12.040-04:00Ok, it didn't let me post the first time, sorr...Ok, it didn't let me post the first time, sorry if it's repeated:<br /><br />I don't know exactly what texts you are teaching (or are required to teach, not the same thing), but sometimes I've found out that happy vs. depressing is a false dichotomy. It happens to me when I teach my Latin American civilization courses. A colleague of mine teaches similar courses, and all the students complain that it's a succession of depressing events after depressing events. For my colleague, the course is a compilation of how Latin Americans have been oppressed, tortured and have suffered over the centuries: the Spaniards, the United States, the military dictatorships, etc, etc, etc. As one student said to me, "After a while, I lost all empathy, I felt desensitize, and I just didn't care what is happening". I don't brainwash history, make a point of teaching them about structures of power in place in Latin America, abuses, etc. But somehow, students enjoy the course more. Of course, in a civilization course, I mix sociological and historical texts, essays, movies, documentaries, short fiction stories, etc. You can't do that in a Literature course, at least not to that extent. But a good balance is always good.<br /><br />That being said, I love XIXth century Spanish Literature (Galdos, Clarin), and I really suffered through my grad course "Spanish Literature in Franco's Spain". It was a question of personal preference, style, topics, etc.Spanish profhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04248530328973177920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-76235110652425310962011-04-04T05:50:39.526-04:002011-04-04T05:50:39.526-04:00Yours words "which one did you like the most&...Yours words "which one did you like the most" are adressed to the feels, they don`t appeal to brain. <br />Happy ending gives a positive and, therefore, likes.<br />Imho if you will ask "which one is more interessting (affect, topical etc.) you`ll get another answers.Kiranoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-82766650550020332142011-04-04T00:15:08.821-04:002011-04-04T00:15:08.821-04:00Pen: I agree completely. "And they lived happ...Pen: I agree completely. "And they lived happily ever after" type of ending isn't likely to provoke powerful emotions in readers. But this is precisely what my students chose.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-1723673526263320602011-04-03T23:42:21.474-04:002011-04-03T23:42:21.474-04:00I've never actually said I liked a book that d...I've never actually said I liked a book that didn't provide some enjoyment. But I have said that I loved books that don't necessarily produce warm fuzzy feelings. It's the power that goes with the emotions, and the ability to compel me to read more, that counts.<br /><br />My definition of like is especially positive, though. Maybe I might like something silly like Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Trilogy. It's light and silly, and sometimes I need that. But I never love it unless it resounds, and to do that a book has no need to portray a happy ending. I think <i>The Devil's Arithmetic</i> did that for me, and (a much more recent example) <i>The Things They Carry</i> (of which I read an excerpt). Neither ends happily--quite the contrary. But they are both very powerful.<br /><br />I hope that made sense, and was even remotely connected to the topic at hand.Penhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02258514554021130617noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-48972166826136475402011-04-03T22:08:23.386-04:002011-04-03T22:08:23.386-04:00I don't think we read anything as bad as all t...I don't think we read anything as bad as all that in class. :-)Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-33613763963309331532011-04-03T22:05:31.844-04:002011-04-03T22:05:31.844-04:00I confess that I do not like literature that leave...I confess that I do not like literature that leaves me depressed and unable to function for days or weeks after I finish it. Intellectual detachment is not readily possible for me when it comes to literature. I identify too strongly with what is happening.Pagan Topologisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01611788563582362688noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-61611805956037338082011-04-03T21:35:22.109-04:002011-04-03T21:35:22.109-04:00I wanted to teach my students to appreciate art be...I wanted to teach my students to appreciate art beyond the silly concepts they have been brainwashed with by Hollywood. No luck so far, apparently.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-80297286467976205692011-04-03T20:58:37.266-04:002011-04-03T20:58:37.266-04:00If every other text was gloomy and depressing, the...If every other text was gloomy and depressing, they might have been relieved to have one bright spot in the semester.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-88399935808978490102011-04-03T18:36:31.997-04:002011-04-03T18:36:31.997-04:00Still, even as a reason for enjoyment that one sou...Still, even as a reason for enjoyment that one sounds kind of sad.Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-76568377487933770812011-04-03T17:37:51.759-04:002011-04-03T17:37:51.759-04:00Liking isn't the same as appreciating though--...Liking isn't the same as appreciating though-- maybe you were asking the wrong question for them? When someone asks me if I liked a book, I answer based on my enjoyment. When they ask me if it's a good books, my answer might be totally different.Amandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00040966100796641603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-68175441836026713712011-04-03T17:31:52.245-04:002011-04-03T17:31:52.245-04:00Sure enough. But then what's the point of my e...Sure enough. But then what's the point of my entire course?Clarissahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11027134365260069910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164556861454970487.post-27844021942546045362011-04-03T17:22:50.223-04:002011-04-03T17:22:50.223-04:00Maybe they answered as ordinary readers not as res...Maybe they answered as ordinary readers not as researchers.Kiranoreply@blogger.com