This semester in our English unit with Michael Griffith we explored the Twentieth Century. We were able to delve into many different writers, poets and authors. When exploring the aspects of the Twentieth Century, I was able to develop real insights into a variety of human and social issues that are still current in the Twenty-First Century.
At the beginning of the semester were introduces to the Twentieth Century and the famous Tom Stoppard. In week two, we explored Gerard Manley Hopkins. We were able to understand Hopkins works by writing our own poem with the first line of one of his poems that celebrates the arrival of spring in my part of the world. We were able to experiment with language textures and sounds that were known to Hopkins works. I took the line of The Starlight Night “Look at the stars! look, look up at the skies!”.
In Week Three, we explored British Poetry of World War 1. We were asked to write a letter to one of these poets telling them that their vision, their ideas are still valid in our world today. I chose Wilfred Owen and discussed the pain and suffering of the pandemic in this day and age. This making relevance to Owens poetry as he expressed the pain and anger of World War 1. In Week Four, we explored Literary Modernism and poets involved with literary modernism, such as T.S. Eliot. I wrote a short poem in the style of an Imagist and explained my views on them trying to make new approaches to language.
In weeks Five and Six, we explored W.B. Yeats and had a Digital Art Gallery Visit. I was able to connect my own personal experiences with Yeats and discussed his poem A prayer for my daughter and how this related to our present generational issues. This opened my eyes to how relevant Yeat’s poetry was as this is how I feel about many women trying to be feminists although their beauty is seen as self-destruction. In weeks nine, ten and eleven, we discussed James Joyce as well as our interpretation of Nation, Race and Language. I was asked to write a paragraph that continues the sentence by James ““I will try to express myself in some mode of life or art as freely as I can and as wholly as I can…..” and express my hopes for my own life. This really hit an emotional spot as I’m a hopeless romantic, so being able to express my thoughts on romance allowed me to see how I view romance in the Twenty-First Century.
I am a creative individual that likes to learn through creative writing and concepts. By being able to express my thoughts and views of many authors, poets and writers of the Twentieth Century I was able to understand how this intertwined with our generation at hand. The human and social issues of today’ day and age play a big part in the Twentieth Century view, which makes me wonder if we are repeating past generations without us becoming aware of it. My appreciation for Literature expanded through this unit. Thank you, Michael Griffith, for allowing us to understand the Twentieth Century on a deeper level as you do.
Photo taken from google images.
A world inside literature 