What are some examples of these "incitements" in Rambler 191?
"Boredom, however, includes as a component the "need for intense mental activity," a need that in the bored person cannot find gratification by generating its own impulse but seeks "incitements" from the outside world as a means of decreasing tension" (Reading, Writing, and Bored, 4).
"Those vacancies of time which are to be filled with books, I have never yet obtained; for, consider, Mr. Rambler, I got to bed late, and therefore cannot rise early; as soon as I am up, I dress for the gardens; then walk in the park; then always go to some sale or show, or entertainment at the little theatre; then must be dressed for dinner; then must pay my visits; then walk in the park; then hurry to the play; and from thence to the card-table..." (Rambler 191, 2)
When reading Boredom Chapter 1, I was especially struck by the fact that the word "bored" didn't exist until much later, and that it is a modern construct used to describe this state of mind. I was particularly interested in the descriptions of boredom in Chapter 1; I know what the word bored means -- I have been bored before -- so when I see it written in texts I don't need a further explanation of how the person is acting. The descriptions Spack includes in the chapter came before the word existed, though, so it's not written anywhere in the texts, which leaves one to figure out the tell-tale signs of boredom.
For example, in the description of the Medieval Monk, he "look about anxiously," "sigh," "goes in and out of his cell" and "frequently gazes up at the sun, as if it was too slow in setting." In other words, he keeps looking around to find something to do, sighs because he can't find anything to occupy his mind, starts pacing to pass the time, and frequently looks at the sun to see if time has passed.
In Rambler 191, we see similar "incitements" as those above. The girl has been confined to the house for three months and is not allowed to pass her time in the ways that she used to (mentioned above in the quote). Bellaria feels the need to constantly be busy ('the "need for intense mental activity") but she cannot occupy her mind on her own, and must look to the outside world to occupy her mind, hence all that she does in her day -- it keeps her away from boredom.
Monday, October 28, 2013
Monday, October 21, 2013
Memory in Tristram Shandy
In what ways do we (or don't we) see memory at work in Tristram Shandy?
"We can manipulate such information in ways that make it possible to bring it together or separate it in a variety of ways, to collate, classify, compose, and sort it in order to create new ideas or deconstruct old ones."
"Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine;----they are the life, the soul of reading;----take them out of this book for instance,-----you might as well take the book along with them..." (52, Shandy)
When reading Tristram Shandy, it becomes hard to always follow along with what Tristram is discussing, because he goes from one idea to the other so fast. There will be moments when I'm reading that I'll be following along with, like when he's talking about his father and uncle Toby, and then the next thing I know he's on a totally different train of thought, and I don't even realize that it's happened. We did that exercise in class on Thursday where we wrote down all the thoughts that came to our mind, and that's what the quote from The Book of Memory reminds me off.
As Tristram says, "digressions...are the sunshine;----they are the life, the soul of reading;----take them out of this book for instance,-----you might as well take the book along with them." This is true; if we were to take out all of his distractions from the book, there would be little left, but I think this novel functions like his memory. One minute he'll be writing his story, and then something he's written will make him thing of something else, and he'll go off on this tangent about that thing, and then something else will come about from what he just said, and so on. Then he'll realize he got way off topic and he'll go back to the idea, only to complete the process again. It's a pain to read, and at times a little excessive, but I think it does make it a bit more realistic when looking into his head.
"We can manipulate such information in ways that make it possible to bring it together or separate it in a variety of ways, to collate, classify, compose, and sort it in order to create new ideas or deconstruct old ones."
"Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine;----they are the life, the soul of reading;----take them out of this book for instance,-----you might as well take the book along with them..." (52, Shandy)
When reading Tristram Shandy, it becomes hard to always follow along with what Tristram is discussing, because he goes from one idea to the other so fast. There will be moments when I'm reading that I'll be following along with, like when he's talking about his father and uncle Toby, and then the next thing I know he's on a totally different train of thought, and I don't even realize that it's happened. We did that exercise in class on Thursday where we wrote down all the thoughts that came to our mind, and that's what the quote from The Book of Memory reminds me off.
As Tristram says, "digressions...are the sunshine;----they are the life, the soul of reading;----take them out of this book for instance,-----you might as well take the book along with them." This is true; if we were to take out all of his distractions from the book, there would be little left, but I think this novel functions like his memory. One minute he'll be writing his story, and then something he's written will make him thing of something else, and he'll go off on this tangent about that thing, and then something else will come about from what he just said, and so on. Then he'll realize he got way off topic and he'll go back to the idea, only to complete the process again. It's a pain to read, and at times a little excessive, but I think it does make it a bit more realistic when looking into his head.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Senses & "A Description of the Morning"
How does Swift use the five senses in "A Description of the Morning" to turn away from romanticizing London?
"The five senses act as the mediators between the outside world and the mind. The senses help people navigate around their environment, and gain a sense of others. However, urban life impacted on the senses of different citizens in diverse ways... Sensing is not only highly individualistic, it is also historically constituted" (The City in Hubbub, 15-6)
"Swift applies a rural descriptive style to matters modern and unpoetic. Sir Richard Steele, the Tatler's editor, heralded the poem as a new experiment in urban realism... He never forms Fields, or Nymphs, or Groves, where they are not, but makes the Incidents just as they really appear" (A Description of the Morning, 74).
As the title suggests, Swift aims to describe the typical morning in London in his poem. Instead of idealizing it or romanticizing it, Swift turns to "urban realism." That is, he describes things as they really are, while relying on the senses. Although he doesn't explicitly spell out the senses within his poem, his use of sensory helps to show how people navigate around their environment.
In the first two lines of the poem, Swift addresses the over-crowdedness of London with his use of "Hackney-Coach." This coach is meant to represent the sun-god Apollo's chariot, while the "Ruddy Morn's Approach" is the sunrise. A chariot is drawn by two horses and is usually meant for one person, while a coach is drawn by two to four horses and is meant to fit six people. The use of "Ruddy Morn" suggests that the sunrise is dull, or gloom. By using these specific words, Swift shows that the typical day in London isn't romantic; there is no sun-god to bring the day about, only the Hackney-coach, and the morning isn't bright, but gloomy. He also suggests it is crowded.
He also goes on to describe the various tasks that workers are doing. For example, "The Slipshod 'Prentice from his Master's Dore / Had par'd the Street, and sprinkl'd round the Floor" (lines 5-6) and "Duns at his Lordship's Gate began to meet" (line 13). These examples not only show the gap between social classes, but also work as 'good' and 'bad' characters within the poem. The "Slipshod 'Prentice" has already scraped dirt from the street and sprinkled sawdust by the time the sun rises. He acts as the moral, hardworking character, as opposed to the Lord. The Lord could be seen as morally corrupt, because he is in debt, but also acts as the higher class within the poem. The melding of these bad characters with the good suggests that the city overlooks the behavior because it is needed for the functioning of it. By being in debt, the Lord creates jobs for the Duns.
"The five senses act as the mediators between the outside world and the mind. The senses help people navigate around their environment, and gain a sense of others. However, urban life impacted on the senses of different citizens in diverse ways... Sensing is not only highly individualistic, it is also historically constituted" (The City in Hubbub, 15-6)
"Swift applies a rural descriptive style to matters modern and unpoetic. Sir Richard Steele, the Tatler's editor, heralded the poem as a new experiment in urban realism... He never forms Fields, or Nymphs, or Groves, where they are not, but makes the Incidents just as they really appear" (A Description of the Morning, 74).
As the title suggests, Swift aims to describe the typical morning in London in his poem. Instead of idealizing it or romanticizing it, Swift turns to "urban realism." That is, he describes things as they really are, while relying on the senses. Although he doesn't explicitly spell out the senses within his poem, his use of sensory helps to show how people navigate around their environment.
In the first two lines of the poem, Swift addresses the over-crowdedness of London with his use of "Hackney-Coach." This coach is meant to represent the sun-god Apollo's chariot, while the "Ruddy Morn's Approach" is the sunrise. A chariot is drawn by two horses and is usually meant for one person, while a coach is drawn by two to four horses and is meant to fit six people. The use of "Ruddy Morn" suggests that the sunrise is dull, or gloom. By using these specific words, Swift shows that the typical day in London isn't romantic; there is no sun-god to bring the day about, only the Hackney-coach, and the morning isn't bright, but gloomy. He also suggests it is crowded.
He also goes on to describe the various tasks that workers are doing. For example, "The Slipshod 'Prentice from his Master's Dore / Had par'd the Street, and sprinkl'd round the Floor" (lines 5-6) and "Duns at his Lordship's Gate began to meet" (line 13). These examples not only show the gap between social classes, but also work as 'good' and 'bad' characters within the poem. The "Slipshod 'Prentice" has already scraped dirt from the street and sprinkled sawdust by the time the sun rises. He acts as the moral, hardworking character, as opposed to the Lord. The Lord could be seen as morally corrupt, because he is in debt, but also acts as the higher class within the poem. The melding of these bad characters with the good suggests that the city overlooks the behavior because it is needed for the functioning of it. By being in debt, the Lord creates jobs for the Duns.
Monday, October 7, 2013
In what way does this quote from Samuel Johnson's The Rambler apply to Arabella?
"These books are written chiefly to the young, the ignorant, and the idle, to whom they serve as lectures of conduct, and introductions into life. They are the entertainments of minds unfurnished with ideas, and therefore easily susceptible of impressions; not fixed by principles, and therefore easily following the current of fancy; not informed by experience, and consequently open to every false suggestion and partial account" (The Rambler, 2).
"Yet Fortune was so kind, as to give him the Means of repairing his Fault, and restoring him to some Part of her good Opinion; for, covered with Wounds as he was, and fatigued with fighting, before, yet he undertook, in that Condition, to prevent her Ravishers from carrying her off; and, for several Hours, continued fighting alone with near Two hundred Men, who were not able to overcome him, notwithstanding his extreme Weariness, and the Multitude of Blows which they aimed at him... I can only, like her, wish you may find some Occasion of justifying yourself, from the Crime laid to your Charge" (115).
In Samuel Johnson's The Rambler, he discusses how the novel's role and how authors construct their characters. As seen in the quote above, Johnson believes that author's aim these novels towards the young, uneducated because they are unexperienced in life and are thus susceptible to the displays of characters. While Johnson is speaking about readers of these novels in real life, we too see how this applies to characters in novels that are reading novels, such as Arabella.
Although we never actually see Arabella reading these romantic novels she is so wholly absorbed and obsessed with, we gather from her notions about life and interactions with other characters that she has read them; that is, we see the consequences of her readings. These books act as her "lectures of conduct, and introductions into life." She does not have any ideas of her own, and draws all of her ideas from these books. As seen in the quote above from The Female Quixote, Arabella is speaking to Glanville about the crime he committed against her. She compares him to "the valiant Coriolanus" who, even though he was wounded and tired, continues to fight for Cleopatra. She believes that because Coriolanus does this for Cleopatra, Glanville should do the same for her.
According to Johnson's passage, Arabella is so easily susceptible to these novels and the characters in them because she is so uninformed. She lives in a secluded area, and prior to reading these novels, she only had rare interactions with people outside of her father's service, and any of these interactions were not romantic, so when reading these novels, this was her first impression of what men would and should be like.
"These books are written chiefly to the young, the ignorant, and the idle, to whom they serve as lectures of conduct, and introductions into life. They are the entertainments of minds unfurnished with ideas, and therefore easily susceptible of impressions; not fixed by principles, and therefore easily following the current of fancy; not informed by experience, and consequently open to every false suggestion and partial account" (The Rambler, 2).
"Yet Fortune was so kind, as to give him the Means of repairing his Fault, and restoring him to some Part of her good Opinion; for, covered with Wounds as he was, and fatigued with fighting, before, yet he undertook, in that Condition, to prevent her Ravishers from carrying her off; and, for several Hours, continued fighting alone with near Two hundred Men, who were not able to overcome him, notwithstanding his extreme Weariness, and the Multitude of Blows which they aimed at him... I can only, like her, wish you may find some Occasion of justifying yourself, from the Crime laid to your Charge" (115).
In Samuel Johnson's The Rambler, he discusses how the novel's role and how authors construct their characters. As seen in the quote above, Johnson believes that author's aim these novels towards the young, uneducated because they are unexperienced in life and are thus susceptible to the displays of characters. While Johnson is speaking about readers of these novels in real life, we too see how this applies to characters in novels that are reading novels, such as Arabella.
Although we never actually see Arabella reading these romantic novels she is so wholly absorbed and obsessed with, we gather from her notions about life and interactions with other characters that she has read them; that is, we see the consequences of her readings. These books act as her "lectures of conduct, and introductions into life." She does not have any ideas of her own, and draws all of her ideas from these books. As seen in the quote above from The Female Quixote, Arabella is speaking to Glanville about the crime he committed against her. She compares him to "the valiant Coriolanus" who, even though he was wounded and tired, continues to fight for Cleopatra. She believes that because Coriolanus does this for Cleopatra, Glanville should do the same for her.
According to Johnson's passage, Arabella is so easily susceptible to these novels and the characters in them because she is so uninformed. She lives in a secluded area, and prior to reading these novels, she only had rare interactions with people outside of her father's service, and any of these interactions were not romantic, so when reading these novels, this was her first impression of what men would and should be like.
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