English Literary Works Research Articles

Figuratively Speaking: A Study of the Cantonese-Speaking Undergraduate's Response to Figures of Speech in Shakespeare

English literature is a fairly popular option in the Arts Faculty of the University of Hong Kong, where over ninety percent of the student population is Chinese. It is a cliche to state that the study of a literature written in a second language is no easy matter. Not the least of the average student's difficulties is the problem of understanding the finer shades of meaning and nuances of literary language. We shall not presume to tackle the entire problem of the understanding of various English writers by the average educated person in Hong Kong. The subject would be far too enormous and would involve too many sociological considerations. Instead, we wish to confine ourselves to the problems of understanding figurative language which confront students reading English Literature in the University of Hong Kong. In the following discussion emphasis is placed on the works of Shakespeare, although our observations may apply equally to other English writers. All metaphors suggest a resemblance or analogy between two objects, concepts or events. People with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds may view the 'real world' differently, and a comparison which may strike one group of speakers as 'apt' may not seem so to others. A person with a barely adequate ability in the use of a foreign language may well be troubled by meanings which are not strictly 'literal', and figurative extensions of meaning are frequently beyond his comprehension. However, when the metaphor in the foreign language is based on some concept familiar to him in his own language, it is much more easily understood and appreciated. Our undergraduates are mostly native speakers of Cantonese and are familiar with a whole stock of metaphorical expressions in colloquial Cantonese as well as some found in literary Chinese. They come to the study of English Literature, then, with a whole set-of associations learned through their own language, and although we would not like to minimize the difficulties of understanding figurative expressions in Shakespeare and other English literary works, it does seem that the cultural 'barrier' is not as impregnable as it is sometimes claimed to be. It is found that many figurative expressions in Shakespeare and

The Pattern of Conversion in Sartor Resartus

It is no longer possible to complain that Carlyle's Sartor, Resartus is unjustly neglected. It was in its time a popular book, particularly among young men in search of self-understanding and reassurance. Froude has testified eloquently to the appeal of Carlyle to the young of his generation,' in a way that suggests the popularity of Hesse, Camus, or Vonnegut today. Such immediate appeal has long since faded, as with so many things Victorian, but recent academic criticism has shown a renewal of interest in Carlyle's first major work. Sartor seems to be benefiting from a general revaluation of Victorian literature, a tendency among critics to take seriously the aesthetic, as well as the moral and religious achievements of Victorian writers. While the precise genre of the book is still not clear (it can hardly be called a novel), its imaginative coherence and literary value have been argued for convincingly by a number of books and articles in the last several years. My own interpretation of Carlyle's work continues a process of critical exploration begun by men like G. B. Tennyson, Albert LaValley, and George Levine.2 My thesis is that there is a unifying pattern in Sartor Resartus, a pattern which is important in other works of English literature of the nineteenth century as well. The central pattern, or rather the main symbolic action, of Sartor Resartus is a process

David Starr Jordan and His Interest in Birds

I first met Doctor Jordan in the spring of 1877. During the previous winter my wife and I had been teachers in the Camden, Indiana, public schools, and I had arranged to spend the summer vacation in Indianapolis as agent for Wilson, Hinkle & Co., school-book publishers of Cincinnati. As our vacation would be a rather long one-from March to September-Mrs. Evermann suggested that we live in Irvington, four miles east of Indianapolis, and that she enter Butler University, located there, as a student. We both agreed that that would be a fine thing to do, so we went out to Butler to look the situation over. WVe called at the President's office. The President was out of town, and we were advised to see Professor Jordan who was acting president for the time being. When we entered the room to which we were directed, we saw a tall young man seated, writing, at a small narrow table facing the door. Hie had light colored hair, equally light, sparse beard, and was wearing a light gray suit. He was seated well down in the chair, with his legs well under the table. He looked up as we approached and, in his efforts to get his feet and legs from under the table, almost upset it! Mrs. Evermann explained to him that she wished to register as a student, and that she wished especially to get work in English literature and botany. When she mentioned botany he seemed pleased; he said that botany was one of his subjects, and that she might enter his class at once. When we asked where we could get room and board he suggested that his friends, Dr. and Mrs. A. W. Brayton, were living at Mrs. Beadle's and he thought Mrs. Beadle had an extra room we might get. He remarked that the Braytons were both enthusiastic botanists and, withal, very charming people, which we found them to be; that he and Mrs. Jordan and a young special student of his, Charley Gilbert, lived next door to the Beadles, and that they all, including the Braytons, took their meals there.

XVIII.—Notes on the form of The Dynasts

Whether or not The Dynasts is the greatest work in English literature of the last generation it is undoubtedly the most engrossing for the student of literary forms. English literature does not on the whole raise questions of form; we have been content to leave that to the Germans. But with The Dynasts we have for once out of our own native workshop a poem which drives the mind back to all the old problems that have dogged epic and dramatic literature through the centuries. And besides the old problems it raises a score of new ones which will stimulate enterprise and innovation in many a writer of to-day and to-morrow. If at the present moment the necessity of analyzing The Dynasts, complicated as the task may be, is not apparent to the reader of English literature at large, it will be apparent at no distant date.

English Literature and the College Freshman

Until recently we have accepted with little hesitation the assumption that a man with a college education might boast of particular intellectual attainments; probably he would have a good, usable knowledge of some definite line of work, but undoubtedly he must have acquired a background of general culture from which would emerge a wealth of facts and associated ideas to enrich the experience of the passing years. Of late, however, we have been forced to question both clauses of this assumption. On no one point, for example, has there been more open and irate criticism of collegiate education than in regard to the knowledge of the English language and literature possessed by the average college graduate of today. A partial explanation of this condition is to be found in recent changes in college policies, but a portion of the blame must undoubtedly be laid at the door of the preparatory school. In breaking away from the rigid requirements of the old college curriculum there has evidently been difficulty in avoiding the opposite extreme; the university that now requires no Latin beyond Cicero, and no mathematics beyond plane geometry, has tended also to eliminate all required work in English literature, on the ground that the secondary schools have given to that subject a sufficient proportion of their time. The results of this policy have been unsatisfactory to many, both within and without the college classroom. There are indications, however, that the pendulum is beginning to swing back: the murmured protests are continually growing stronger against the commercialization of education, overspecialization, and carrying into the university the limitations of the trade school. Old alumni are realizing that their sons come back from Alma Mater, glib and self-sufficient, but lacking some of those invaluable acquirements which the college had made possible for the older generation. And in many cases 583

The Undergraduate Curriculum in English Literature

To propose to consider the construction of an ideal or standard undergraduate curriculum, even to the extent only of tentative approach, must seem, at first thought, rather rash and even a bit foolish; the attainment of any satisfactory result seems extremely difficult, and the result promises to be useless when attained. Yet when we consider in connection with the undergraduate years the vast number of the works of English literature and the great body of knowledge concerning them, the question must inevitably arise, What out of all this great mass of material should be presented to the undergraduate? in what order, and by what methods should it be presented? Again, when we consider that the undergraduate years are but a single stage in the educational life, with distinct limitations, with other stages before and after, and that the curricula of these other stages, especially the secondary school period, have recently been the subject of much discussion having for its aim the construction of a standard or ideal curriculum, it does not seem impossible that some profit may come from such a discussion as that proposed. If it be true that that which has not been treated ought to be treated, then there is ample justification for the choice of this subject. If one may trust the evidence of pedagogical literature this particular subject has not been treated to any great extent. A somewhat careful examination of pedagogical bibliography has failed to disclose a single title bearing directly upon it, and my pedagogical colleagues are unable to refer me to any. To rush in where even pedagogic angels fear to tread surely gives promise of folly; the rashness of the attempt may pardon the folly. With a full appreciation, then, of the difficulties in the way, but with confidence that there are among us idealists to maintain that what is theoretically true must be practicable, provided the means can be found, I venture upon some consideration of the question, What material out of the great field of English literature, including works of literature, history of literature, and criticism, can best be given to the college student in the several years of his undergraduate life?

The Teacher's Equipment for Work in English Literature

Next article FreeThe Teacher's Equipment for Work in English LiteratureS. ThurberS. Thurber Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Volume 2, Number 2Feb., 1894 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/433386 Views: 45 Journal History This article was published in The School Review (1893-1979), which is continued by the American Journal of Education (1979-present). PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.