Week 3 Literature and Blog Topics

Hello all,

read on to find out what this image is and what the Yellow House is. The semester has finally gained momentum and we are all opening our eyes to the literary and artistic feasts before us!

In Aust Lit this week we delved into Early Colonial literature:

Charles Harpur,

Anne Meredith

Henry Kendall

In Twentieth Century we looked at the work of Franz Kafka (“The Metamorphosis”) alongside the graphic poetry of the First World War (Brooke, Owen, Sassoon)

In Visionary Imagination we explored Blake’s poetry of social action and his quest for love rather than war. Blake’s spirit –we discovered- is still alive and well in the action art of George Gittoes  

This coming week we will be expanding our sense of Blake’s reach into modern times by looking at the Blake Job prints in the NSW Art Gallery and following this with a visit to the Brett Whiteley Studios. Here Whiteley’s Blake-inspired painting Alchemy  is on display

Here we are also going to hear one of Australia’s greatest contemporary poets Robert Adamson reading some of his own Blake-inspired poems- what a gig!

Here are some questions you might like to feast your appetites on for the coming week.

 Oz Lit

Creative–  take a single line from one of the authors studied in tutorials this week and write your own poem or paragraph of prose in the style of the chosen author.

Critical– take any poem or prose passage discussed in class (or chose a different passage) and present an analysis saying how the writing gives a real insight into early 19^th Century experience

20^th C

Creative- Write a paragraph imagining yourself waking up as some strange creature. What do you think? How do you cope?

Critical- closely analyze a section from one of the war poems. Try to explain how (what combinations of words, sounds, figures etc) the poem gains its force.

 Visionary Imagination

Creative Write a letter to George Gittoes, Brett Whiteley or Robert Adamson saying what you understand of their work and how much you appreciated their carrying William Blake’s concerns into the 21^st Century.

Critical

Present a short digital kit that will help readers/ viewers understand the meaning of the word Golgonooza.