We live, love and lament.
Through our lives we meet people and become affectionate to them. Inevitably, things fall apart, affection wanes and the fire of passion grows cold. Somehow, regardless of the outcome of such relationships, these people will always be with us. They linger in our minds, filling the confident with fear and the proud with regret.
Poe's Ligeia exemplifies this. Our narrator truly loved Ligeia but her brilliance, beauty and their passion, was transient. She dies, crushing the protagonist. Yet he learns to love again and even claims to be content. But we cannot believe this assertion. The lingering remorse and regret concerning his lost love physically materialise and haunt him.
Ligeia will never die. Her piercing black eyes refuse to close. The one that we cherished, idolised, even loved and what we did to lose them, will not be forgotten in this life...
"nor unto death utterly..."
-The English Student
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Winter Exams
Why do college's insist on examinations?
As winter closes in there's more than the dubious shelter of beer gardens and River Island's new "warm but expensive" clothing line on the mind of the average student. Now is the time when the joke of the previous semester stops being funny and starts becoming serious as the winter exams approach. So why are we obligated to put down our pint glasses and force every little morsel of information pertaining to our course into our already bewildered brains?
Surely if our course material was completely relevant to future life the proof of our knowledge would be apparent when we emerge as "functional members of society". The real result of our respective courses should be practical knowledge in the field that we've chosen. It seems like our lecturers realise the uselessness of 90% of their programs and as such, try to impose some worth by making them part of our final grade.
Is there an alternative? Maybe if our society didn't put such a huge emphasis on meaningless GPA numbers and pointless pieces of paper we wouldn't have to break our necks learning impractical facts. Judge our merit in the workplace first, then delegate those futile honours.
Well, I don't believe I can procrastinate any longer with this short essay. Time to learn the past tense of Old English verbs. You never know when it could come in handy...
-The English Student
As winter closes in there's more than the dubious shelter of beer gardens and River Island's new "warm but expensive" clothing line on the mind of the average student. Now is the time when the joke of the previous semester stops being funny and starts becoming serious as the winter exams approach. So why are we obligated to put down our pint glasses and force every little morsel of information pertaining to our course into our already bewildered brains?
Surely if our course material was completely relevant to future life the proof of our knowledge would be apparent when we emerge as "functional members of society". The real result of our respective courses should be practical knowledge in the field that we've chosen. It seems like our lecturers realise the uselessness of 90% of their programs and as such, try to impose some worth by making them part of our final grade.
Is there an alternative? Maybe if our society didn't put such a huge emphasis on meaningless GPA numbers and pointless pieces of paper we wouldn't have to break our necks learning impractical facts. Judge our merit in the workplace first, then delegate those futile honours.
Well, I don't believe I can procrastinate any longer with this short essay. Time to learn the past tense of Old English verbs. You never know when it could come in handy...
-The English Student
Saturday, November 10, 2007
This is the First
A student should be vocal.
Without the chains of responsibility, coupled with an obscene amount of free time, it is completely natural for one to question, enquire and probe public opinion. Consequently, students are seen as a loud, outspoken group that revels in perpetually forcing opinions, often to the point of obnoxiousness.
I am a student, enrolled with the English Department of a fair institution of a fair country. Yet with this forthright behaviour expected of students, I have found myself at odds. A grey malaise has crept into my mind, preventing me from articulating, or sometimes even forming such definite views. So I desperately turn to this blog, not hoping to cultivate a beautiful garden of eloquence like my associates, but at least, to slay the weeds of apathy that have taken hold.
I will force myself, once a week, to compose short passages on various subjects that present themselves. The English Student holds no pretensions of an audience, or of followers, but welcomes any reader that may take an interest in this frantic attempt to enliven a lethargic mind.
This is the first. For the sake of my education, my livelyhood, my soul, it must not be the last.
-The English Student
Without the chains of responsibility, coupled with an obscene amount of free time, it is completely natural for one to question, enquire and probe public opinion. Consequently, students are seen as a loud, outspoken group that revels in perpetually forcing opinions, often to the point of obnoxiousness.
I am a student, enrolled with the English Department of a fair institution of a fair country. Yet with this forthright behaviour expected of students, I have found myself at odds. A grey malaise has crept into my mind, preventing me from articulating, or sometimes even forming such definite views. So I desperately turn to this blog, not hoping to cultivate a beautiful garden of eloquence like my associates, but at least, to slay the weeds of apathy that have taken hold.
I will force myself, once a week, to compose short passages on various subjects that present themselves. The English Student holds no pretensions of an audience, or of followers, but welcomes any reader that may take an interest in this frantic attempt to enliven a lethargic mind.
This is the first. For the sake of my education, my livelyhood, my soul, it must not be the last.
-The English Student
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