It's raining outside, hard, and the leaves are tumbling down from the trees and people are running from building to building with hoods or umbrellas. With the gray clouds that have fringed the sky for the past couple of days, I really feel that winter is slowly approaching. However, the temperature has stayed around the sixties, which is nice and warm if you stand still under the sun. The leaves are all orange and absolutely beautiful--every time I look out the window I find myself thinking, Wow, it's so beautiful outside! And then I step outside and inhale autumn, the smell of leaves and dirt and cool air; I always think, Hmm, some apple cider would be so inviting and excellent! I love autumn.
So the past couple weeks have been delightful simply because of the weather--even now with the rain I feel an overwhelming desire to take pictures in the vain hope that perhaps I can capture the perfection. Besides enjoying the outdoors however, I have been studying and socializing, as usual.
How One, Namely Me, Devoted Time to Her Comp Lit Class, Took A Hard Test, and Experienced Success
I love my Comp Lit class, as may be inferred from my previous posts. I have loved learning about the Hebrews, for several reasons. One is that they are very different from the Greeks and Romans, which allows for interesting comparisons. Second, they have influenced western civilization in so many ways, despite their small size. And finally, by studying them, I have been able to understand and appreciate aspects of Christian religion, in particular my religion, much more. I finished reading Psalms and Proverbs, which are very interesting texts. Literary devices abound--metaphors, similes, personification, parallelism... the imagery is beautiful. Psalms in particular, had passages that were incredibly uplifting and comforting. I had an ah-ha moment when, in a moment of feeling down, I opened up Psalms thinking, Well, here I go again, slogging through this great work. To my surprise, I felt such peace and comfort reading about trusting in the Lord. I feel that through reading Psalms I learned not only about how the work is effective (amazing literary devices), but that it truly is effective, by which I mean that I myself was able to feel what the author intended--a desire to trust God and have faith, gratitude towards God for his mercy, and greater commitment to keep the commandments. I felt I was also able to make more connections between the Old Testament, New Testament, and the Book of Mormon. I'm so glad I had a chance to read such important literary works! Oh, and on a side note, apparently Edgar Allen Poe said that the book of Ruth was the most perfect short story ever written, and based all his short stories (yes, A Tell-Tale Heart, The Fall of the House of Usher, etc) after its structure. That is to say, Ruth is divided into six parts, three crescendo-ing to the climax, three of resolution, and each of Poe's stories are structured similarly, with three ascending, three descending, or maybe two-two, or four-four. Anyways, we finally had our test, and I felt rather concerned. Brother Peer is a rather unpredictable teacher, in that all you can count on is his tests making you think. I reviewed all my notes, and figured, well, what more can I do? I've gone to class, paid attention, studied my notes, and done the reading. I guess I'm as prepared as possible. When I sat down to take the test, Brother Peer handed out yellow half-sheets of paper and said, "Two essays. I'll be back in an hour and a half."
I looked down at my half-sheet: "By reference to detailed specifics describe the similarities between the structures of Bereshith and Job" read the first questions.
First I felt a sense of elation that I knew what "Bereshith" means--Bereshith is Hebrew for "In the beginning," by which I could assume that Brother Peer meant Genesis. Then I felt a sudden emptiness as I realized I had no idea how to compare similarities between them. After all, Genesis is an epic, written in episodes, and Job is a philosophical tale, written in dialogues. After fifteen minutes of thought (and prayer), I discovered I could write about the structure of the stories themselves--the unfolding of events. So I started writing. I wrote three pages, explaining how both have an initial set-up in which the main characters are proved to be righteous people. This is followed by trials, such as Abraham being told to sacrifice his only son, Job's suffering, and Joseph's slavery in Egypt. The point of this structure is to show that righteous people become more like Christ through their trials, and become heroes, as in Hebraic literature heroes are those who are a type of Christ or savior.
I felt fairly pleased with my essay, and anxious as to whether or not my explanation would be sufficient. In this mostly contented frame of mind, I looked at the clock and realized I had a half hour to write my last essay. This was followed by the question itself: "The garden and the storm are two prominent symbols in Hebraic literature. Show in detail how any other two major symbols work in the Hebraic works we have read." I felt completely at a loss. Symbols? We hadn't discussed symbols in class...I hadn't even looked for symbols in my own reading. I struggled for a good five minutes and then figured I'd better start writing. So I talked about women, how they are used all throughout Psalms and Proverbs to compare virtue and iniquity. Then I briefly discussed the real women--Esther, Ruth, Potiphar's wife, and Rebecca. However, as I reflected on my paragraph I felt I could have said so much more--I could have been clearer in my analysis, in my reference to the text, but I didn't have time. So I moved on and decided to discuss idols as my second symbol. I talked about how they show Israel's falling away from the covenant and their devotion to the world over God. Even though I felt these were legitimate symbols, I felt frustrated by my inability to discuss in more detail and worried that my thoughts would not be clear enough. I left feeling rather discouraged and concerned.
Fortunately, I met Becca and told her about how the test went as we dropped off her violin. To our extreme delight, as we walked upstairs in the HFAC (the arts building), we passed the KBYU TV broadcasting station and saw a TV playing....Arthur! We got so excited we just ran into the room to sit before the television and enjoy. A man who we had not noticed was sitting at the receptionist desk. Although we were a little intimidated by his presence, the thought of watching Arthur was too exciting, and so we asked him, "...Can we stay here...and watch Arthur please?"
His response was wonderfully enthusiastic. "Absolutetly!" He said, and he turned up the volume for us, telling us that many people stop by to watch Arthur or WordGirl. It was very soothing to sit and watch a childhood favorite after a difficult test.
Well, the next Comp Lit class, I figured Brother Peer would hand back the tests. After talking about Nordic traditions, with five minutes of class left, he pulled out the bundle of papers and said, "Now, these were all very solid responses. But don't feel too bad about your grades. Even though I was happy, it was a difficult test to get many points on, so the highest grades were in the 80s."
We found out later that three years early he had given the same test and the highest grades were in the 60s. Despite feeling very concerned about my responses, I was overjoyed to discover that I had received an 84, and that Brother Peer was extremely pleased with my answers. I felt so happy, and so blessed because I was able to understand what I read and then apply it to his questions. Ah...I basically skipped home and wanted to sing I was so happy. I don't even care that my grade was a B because I know that I learned so much and was able to show what I had understood. Happiness!
How One, Namely Me, Annoyed Her Roommate Rebecca by Constantly Referring to the Hebrews and Nordics
Well, I just wanted to put in a brief paragraph here about how Comp Lit is, like any good class, infiltrating my daily thoughts. Becca is very patient as I constantly say, "Did you know that idea came from the Greeks?" or "You know what the essence of heroism is? Righteousness. But more importantly, righteousness without--"
"Without blessings," she'll finish for me.
"Exactly!" I'll say.
Two incidents of this come to mind in particular, both during Halloween. As we were walking through the library on Halloween, many people were dressed up. One person had something that looked like sheets as a costume and Becca whispered, "Look, it's Princess Leia!"
"Princess Leia?" I said in confusion. "I thought she was dressed up as a Greek!"
"You would, Anna," was Becca's reply.
Secondly, the day before Halloween we talked about Nordic tradition. Brother Peer explained that one of the ways Nordic influence can be seen in our culture today is in our fascination with the grotesque or weird. They are essentially the reason we have Halloween. I quite enjoyed walking around campus, noticing people's costumes and saying to Becca, "This is all Nordic tradition! That guy with fake blood dripping from his mouth, the fact that everyone wants to see a scary movie tonight, ax murderers chasing people through haunted houses...it's all Nordic!"
I had a lot of fun; I'm not sure how Becca felt about my commentary.
The Spirit of Halloween (Or should I say, The Nordics?)
My Halloween was quite fun on the whole. For our ward party I dressed up as a superhero. Not a particular superhero, just me, as a superhero. I had an awesome cape and really cool socks up to my knees with red white and blue stripes. Becca was a gangsta' --and a really good one, I might add--and everywhere we saw clever costumes. One of my favorites was the Joker. As I'm sure occurred across the nation, we had several people who dressed up as the joker. But THE Joker was on our campus. Someone had taken a great deal of time using clay prosthetics, putting on make-up and a wig, and memorizing lines. Becca and I were at the Wilk with friends and Becca decided she wanted a picture with him. She went up to him and said, "How did you get your scars?"
"Well," he said, licking his lips and stepping forward, "I had a wife. Beautiful. Like you..."
He proceeded to recite the monologue with appropriate actions, reaching towards Becca like in the movie, at which point, laughing, she stumbled backwards in mild alarm. I was definitely impressed by his acting abilities, and I'm sure he had fun. He was with Batman, who eventually said, "Okay, Joker, time to go to class," and escorted him away.
Other cool outfits I saw included one of those white clones from Star Wars, Spiderman, Jabberwockeez, Tetris, and the girls from our hall who dressed up as unicorns with a horn in their forehead and all.
To celebrate, Becca and I spent most of our evening at a dance, with an excursion to the haunted house and to get hot chocolate (which was really delicious). Though not my favorite holiday, I had a good time.
The Movies: Vertigo, Sixth Sense, and Bleakhouse
On Saturday morning, Becca and I went to see Hitchcock's Vertigo for my writing class. It was a very strange movie, but the acting was good. I thought I would fall asleep in the beginning, but once everyone started acting like they were losing their mind, I was able to stay awake better. I realized eventually that I had already seen the last twenty or so minutes, but fortunately I didn't actually remember the very end. I don't feel a great inclination to see it again, but I can see why it's considered a great film--good angles, camera shots, acting, dialogue, and freaky music.
Later in the evening, Becca, Josh, Josh's friend Rick, and I went to see Sixth Sense. I sat next to Becca, who I knew, from previous experience with Vertigo, would be the reliable sort of friend who's arm I could hold onto in moments of suspense. Josh, on the other hand, was sitting on the other side, and enjoyed doing anything to make me jump at particularly frightening moments. It was a very fun movie to watch--not really truly scary, just surprising.
Finally, that evening Becca and I watched some more Bleakhouse. While I tried to figure out the mystery of Esther Somerson and keep track of the many characters, Becca laughed at the creepier characters (the "Shake me up, Judy!" guy, and the guy who died of spontaneous combustion after drinking too much alcohol). I quite enjoyed the installment.
Kite-Flying
On one of the extraordinarily beautiful days within the past week and a half, I was walking back from class, feeling pretty happy, and enjoying the strong gusts of cool wind. I thought to myself, "Wouldn't today be a great day to fly a kite? I wish I had a kite."
But I didn't, so I consigned myself to taking a book outside to enjoy the fresh air. When I returned to my room, I checked Facebook, which would be laughable on any other occasion, but what should I see but Thomas Graham's status set at "Flying a kite in the quad. Come join me."
Maybe I will, I thought. And feeling determined to participate in flying a kite, I decided to go outside. Thomas had created a kite from a BYU bookstore bag and some thin sticks of wood. He had attached shreds of a washcloth as a kite, but this changed into a tie later. We tried to get the kite to fly for a good hour, hour and a half, and we like to think that Edgar, the kite, wanted to fly, and did actually remain air-born for a few moments of glory.
Even though Edgar did not soar like a bird, exactly, I really enjoyed being outside.
In Conclusion...
I don't have much to add. It's been a good couple of weeks, and I've had a lot of fun. There were many smaller incidents, two of which I will take a moment to elaborate on:
Karaoke: Becca, Ashley, Josh, Bethany, Mindy, Kelsey and I went to the karaoke night in one of the nearby halls, drank hot chocolate, ate cinnamon rolls, and sang...
Leave it to Psmith: Every night Becca says, "Anna. Guess what time it is." And I say, "Leave it to Psmith time!" And then she proceeds to read me a chapter from this delightful book of mishaps and misunderstandings, written in true British fashion. Becca does wonderful accents, so I always enjoy hearing her read. In addition, the characters are quirky and fun, so I look forward to this time every day.
Well, I believe it is time for me to end this narration. I wish you all a happy late Nordic tradition as we prepare for the American tradition of Thanksgiving. Happy fall!
Jacob 4:6