Quality

"Quality" by John Galsworthy is one of those stories that cannot work in another setting. Perfectly positioned at the cusp of the industrial revolution, it pits pre-industrial age work ethics against the more practical idea of mass production + advertising, resulting in a meditation on the meaning of quality.

The climax happens off camera because, perhaps, there really is no anguish regarding the decision. Gessler just dropped dead without even wondering if he was doing the right thing: choosing leather and his craft over food.

Next meeting: "Dead Stars" by Paz Marquez Benitez

Midterms

Tulay, Hindi Pader
Lamberto Antonio

Tulay, hindi pader ang gusto
mong ilagay para sa komunidad
pabayukin man ng trapiko ang tulay na ito.
Kubkob na tayo ng pader;
ang lansanga'y kinakain ng pribadong lote,
sinasarhan ang kanto, nagiging garahe ang alley.
Kahit isang dipa muna, sabi mo,
basta mapagsalubong at mapagdugtong
ang samutsaring plano, pangarap at opinyon.

Kakatig ang marami sa malambing
na pasubali mo sa pagiging makasarili.
Aasa rin siguro ang lahat:

Patuloy kang mananawagan, nakayapak,
at nakatindig sa ibabaw ng pader
na natatamnan ng masinsing boteng basag.

* * * * *

Instructions: Interpret the poem. By that I mean paraphrase (write each stanza in simpler terms) and explain what the poem is about. Remember that there is a literal and a figurative meaning. Also include other observations and comments you may have on specific passages (check out the last line).

Submission is on February 19, 2008 class time. I need a print out. This will count as the midterm exam. You may discuss it with your classmates but please don't submit the exact same thing. I will entertain questions re: this in class.

PHILLIT Session 8: Fiction

Three things: plot, characters, theme. What happens, to whom, and why. The last is a bit meta, since the direction of the plot and the development of the characters is decided upon by the author based on how he wants to reinforce his theme.

Plot is not the story itself, but how the story is told. It can be (and is nowadays often) non-linear, beginning in medias res. This gives the author the advantage of starting the narrative from the most important (or striking) scene.

Characters are the actors in the story, meaning the ones who commit the action in order to get the thing going. In plot-driven stories (like murder mysteries) the characters are there to move the plot along. In character-driven stories, the plot is written to foster character growth. When done badly, characterization and plotting give rise to plot holes and melodrama -- contrived situations in order to move the story along.

Deus ex machina is a common contrivance in bad fiction where an improbable solution comes out of nowhere to untangle the plot. In the "Matrix" series of films the main character unleashes a literal deus ex machina (a god from a machine) that is also a literary deus ex machina.

Theme is what the story is about. It is not necessarily the lesson of the story (because good stories need not teach anything) but rather what the story wants to tackle. It can be as broad as "fame" or "redemption" or "justice."

* * * * *

Next meeting: short quiz and discussion on "Quality" by John Galsworthy. Pay attention to the theme and how the setting contributes to this.

PHILLIT Session 7: Songs as Poetry

Songs are our most regular exposure to poetry, which is why I assign some variant of song interpretation in poetry classes. They're usually simple enough to understand and have the added benefit of being familiar to the audience. At the very least the class comes out with a better understanding of the songs they listen to.

Ted Sturgeon is credited with saying "90% of everything is crud," applicable, too, to pop songs. But the 10% make it worth while.

We have to remember, though, that song lyrics need not be poetic in order to be good. Some inane words are saved by great music. "We Will Rock You" isn't exactly thought-provoking but that beat simply blows any poetic analysis to irrelevance.

Announcement

I will not be around on Tuesday, February 5, 2008. I will announce the schedule of the make up class next meeting. Most probably I'll have you watch something. Please inform your classmates.

PHILLIT Session 6: Love Poetry

The thing that amazes me about Shakespearean sonnets is their sheer number. I find it difficult to write even a decent verse in iambic pentameter so 14 lines that rhyme and make sense (with multiple meanings) just boggles me. Multiply that by 154.

Next meeting: your chosen songs.

PHILLIT Session 5: Various Poems

The first step in understanding poetry is paraphrasing, which most of us learned in basic writing. As mentioned in class, poetry is supposed to be packed with meaning, and this package is fit into a specific meter and incorporates a rhyme scheme. Which means this is not ordinary language. Paraphrasing is needed to unravel the poem's most basic meaning. Double that for Shakespeare and other older material.

Cirilo Bautista used to have us bring dictionaries every session to help with difficult words (which is the idea behind dictionaries). I'm not that demanding although having references handy helps. A tagalog dictionary would be nice, too. I still need to explain isperma whenever I discuss Tinio's "Payo sa Bumabasa ng Tula." It means wax candle.

Paraphrasing helps us understand the first level of interpretation. Some poems (and most songs) stop there, but the really good ones (like "Payo...") have a second level. In fact, "Payo..." tells you exactly what it is in the first line. An extended metaphor.

In Langston Hughes's "Mother to Son," the first level of meaning is obvious.

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

The stairs are a metaphor for life itself, which can be difficult but needs to be climbed anyway.

But what's cooler is the other interpretation, which involves the American civil rights movement. I leave that up to you to find out (if you weren't in class).


Reminder: Email me your choice of good and bad song lyrics. And label which is which. Seriously, I can't tell some of them apart.