Last day of class - Monday 7/25

Well, Monday was the last day of regular class meetings for my class. We discussed the field trip to Oxford. Most of the students seemed to have really enjoyed it. We also talked about the upcoming final exam so they could start to prepare for it properly. Then we turned our attentions to the readings for the day. I had assigned three poems, or selections from poems, written by a contemporary English author, Geoffrey Hill. I want to give credit where it's due, so I want to thank Dr. Jeff Newberry for introducing me to his writing. The three poems I assigned were "Requiem for Plantagenet Kings," selections "from Mercian Hymns," and "Tenebrae."

These are different poems from what we had worked with previously. Hill's writing is very difficult to read. He intends it to be though. His syntax is very complex, and he uses a variety of traditional forms with modernist methods. One of his stylistic choices is to mingle English and European historical events with modern elements to create his intended effects. The class was focused on seeing how to "unpack" his syntax in several cases in order to understand what the poem was saying. In other cases, we had to review the historical events that he alludes to in order to understand the context of the ideas that the poem addresses on a larger scale. It was an interesting class, essentially a workshop.

After class, we had a meeting with all of the students to give information about our departure plans. We also took a group picture.

After the meeting, several of us went to dinner on Brick Lane. I love Indian food, and I had a wonderful meal. This trip's dining has convinced me to learn how to make some for myself.