KARLSTAD three-seat sofa

ENGL W3950x Satire and Sensibility 4 pts.

(Seminar). Seminar. British verse, novels, and critical prose from early and mid-18th century, with a view to the satirical and the sentimental as related and complementary dispositions, variously nuanced in the elicitation of scorn and pathos, but reflecting in the main a tragicomic outlook of literary consequence. Our reading, then, of poetry and fiction diversely savage, good-natured, hilarious, and exquisite in derision of vice and folly, shall inquire into the gamut of satiric modalities, from invective to irony, which, bristling at the social frontiers of liberty and faith, ambition and learning, commerce and luxury, sex and marriage, wit and imagination, also targets, and often with charming self-deprecation, the literary disposition itself. In that vein we shall examine aesthetic, religious, and philosophical perspectives that came to bear in the satirist's skillful tacking of blame and praise; likewise, we shall examine stylistic and formal innovations that emerged in adaptations of classical and biblical models to contemporary circumstances. Further, we shall observe, in some novels, an aspect of the satirical and the sentimental combined, which obtains not only in the rhetorical artistry and excess of characters' speeches, but in the way that lyric is incorporated into the fiction, and where characters themselves compose, recite, or criticize poetry. Critical and philosophical writings of the period include, among others, essays by Dryden, Shaftesbury, and Addison. Verse genres include ode, epistle, georgic, elegy, hybrids and mock emulations: Finch, Swift, Pope, Gay, Montagu, Gray, Goldsmith, and others. Our novels and fictional prose include Swift's Gulliver's Travels, Fielding's Tom Jones, Johnson's Rasselas, Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield, and Sterne's Tristram Shandy.

!!! intellectual orgasm !!!

where are you planning to study and what course are you thinking of taking after A's?

I'm still in the process of narrowing-down my choices:

Where: If I have to stay in Singapore, then it's NUS FASS. However, I really want to study in the US. I'm thinking of Columbia, Brown, Williams or Vassar.

What: English (literature, not linguistics), Comp. lit, Philosophy or Political Science. However, I want to try out something different too, like film studies, art history or museum studies. Or chemical engineering. >:D

Ask me anything

empowerment

Best. Period. EVAR.

with all the fur of time

OK: so my IS "doesn't work" and I'm starting to agree, and thank you for asking how my ISes are but as of now there's no way of describing them politely, and I want a lobotomy because my cognitive faculties suck and my language sucks, my vocabulary is imprecise and I can't write like I used to after forcing every fucking thing into topic sentences like they're the secret to eternal life, I can't even do poetry like before now, I can't even enjoy reading, the world is controlled by text, I am stuck in this language game, nothing has meaning, especially all these stupid clumsy words.

justification

in a borrowed bedroom

Also, B & S was great fun! Takeaways: happy memories and a blue enamel badge.

dear singapore

While your birthday candles went out flooding the night with psychedelic peonies, chrysanthemums and willows, the nationalist in me went again into deep slumber, refusing to awaken until August rears its fervid head next year. But, as the last of sparks disappear into the darkened waters pooled in the barrage, I am kept awake by the resounding echo of armoured tanks and steel amphibians parading proud into our collective national consciousness. Our military entertains and astonishes like a conjurer in an Enid Blyton tale; meanwhile, military might on the Korean Peninsula fires artillery rounds into the sea and reignites age-old tensions. The war machine charms, but also provokes.

As the recent spate of flash flooding subsides, and we all heave a collective sigh of relief while hanging up our damp laundry, floodwaters continue rising in Pakistan, affecting the health, sanitation and housing of more than 15 million people and positioning it as the worst disaster to hit Asia, eclipsing the 2004 tsunami and 2005 Pakistani earthquake. With massive amounts of aid needed for recovery alone, it'll be nice to share some birthday money with those who need it the most. It's not throwing a wet blanket on national day — it's reminding yourself that you share this day with the rest of the world too. August 9 belongs as much to the kid who lost his sister in the mudslides, or the teacher who watched his school disappear while the currents caved its walls in. (I also made them up, but you can't rule out personal tragedies so quickly.)

Dear Singapore, happy 45th and I hope you loved the party. I'm sad I missed most of it, but Jimmy Corrigan The Smartest Kid On Earth was completely unputdownable. It's nice to sing and be "thankful for my Singapore," but is that all we can really do? My thoughts are still fuzzy.

parked in front of little screens

Things I did today:

1) Watched the drama club's national day production, which was hilarious (esp. the parodying of the national day parade and the obvious overdetermination of racial harmony)
2) Gave frank responses during the QSE survey. (Not always a bad thing - but also not always a good thing.) How I love the veil of anonymity and privacy!
3) Burned 3 hours and $45 at Kinokuniya, but purchases were so worthwhile.
4) Watched Precious with Andrea and Mingting, followed by lots of catching up (and a heart-to-heart-to-heart) over Gelare! I feel grossed out by the giant vat of popcorn I consumed, but at least it's high in dietary fibre. (Also, our seats were taken up by some kids who were in for the wrong show, so we had to scoot them away. I'm not so annoyed - at least they chose a good movie.)

star light on the ceiling

SLEEP OVER :: OUTER LIMITS from salad fork on Vimeo.

I'm battling a virus that's eating away my cognitive abilities. This afternoon I found myself flipping mindlessly through pages on recipe books, not quite knowing what I was reading.

Tomorrow I celebrate the sense of nation.

Consuming the Nation: National Day Parades in Singapore



I like this particular cover of Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities. Check out their 'staches.

autumn sweater

Today, my sister and I decided to pretend that we weren't taking O/A levels this year: we hopped from shop to shop along Ann Siang Hill and indulged in all that is painfully hip and beautiful. Booksactually brought in Made-In-China toy pianos! I am very tempted to get one. (After its period of novelty expires, I will use it to prop my laptop up on the desk.) I've bought a Barthes reader and a collection of Susan Sontag's last essays. Did I mention I have a geeky crush on Sontag? It's a pity she's no longer alive.

In other news, drafts for Lit and KI ISes are done! (Perhaps not so for lit - but hey at least I have 3000 words in there. We all need to start somewhere, I guess.) Unfortunately, I now think that On The Road is a tad overrated. The last thing I want on the cover of my book is Bono/Bob Dylan/another other folk/rock icon saying how "reading On The Road will change your life". It did not change my life. Images of dysentery are also most un-charming.

Anyway, the weather today is amazing: perpetual light rain, cold breezes and cajun chicken in the oven. I ascended the stairway to xiaolongbao heaven for lunch and was left in a state of rapture that lasted for about two hours. Additionally, I am also wearing the most amazing pair of slacks, but that's purely incidental.