Settle thy studies (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’ve written before about using circle games in my teaching. Since students are wrestling with midterm projects and other major assignments, and since I’m teaching a large number of freshmen in 200-level courses this year, I’m seeing lots of worn-down students. In my Drama as Lit course, up to now…
User interface agents are increasingly used in software products; perhaps the best-known user interface agent is the Microsoft Office Assistant (“Clippy the Paperclip”). This thesis explores why many people have a negative response to the Office Assistant, using a combination of theoretical, qualitative, and quantitative studies. Among the findings were that labels–whether internal cognitive labels…
He was as rabidly hostile to conventional family life as Marx or Engels, but he was a much more effective and powerful critic, because his criticism did not remain on the level of philosophical abstraction. On the contrary, he laid bare the factions and revolutions of family life, its lies and miseries, in compelling and…
The entire concept of cyborgs or automated labor of any kind is inseparable from the contexts of economic production, and R.U.R. emphasizes this context much more than the first cyborg text, Shelley’s Frankenstein. Some of the basic concepts of Marxist analysis involve recognizing the social and economic structure as consisting of a base and a…
Working on ”Drama as Literature” Syllabus (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) I’m working on my goals statement for a 200-level “Major Writers and Genres” course. I’m still working it out — the final version will be less chatty and more infused with academicspeak. The primary research method I teach in a survey course is close reading – the…
At the grave yard Hamlet does not manifest any feelings towards his late father who according to the traditional interpretation, must have been buried there only a couple of months before that. Hamlet’s behavior remains the same even when the grave-digger mentions king Hamlet. There appears an impression as if Hamlet had two different fathers:…
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend The brightest heaven of invention, A kingdom for a stage, princes to act And monarchs to behold the swelling scene! Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels, Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire Crouch…
In interviews, Margaret Edson has expressed mild surprise that critics have not paid more attention to the religious aspect of her play. “The play is about redemption, and I’m surprised no one mentions it. Grace is the opportunity to experience God in spite of yourself, which is what Dr. Bearing ultimately achieves” (Martini 24). Despite…
Pick Up Ax Link-O-Rama (Jerz’s Literacy Weblog) This year, I’ve taught Anthony Clarvoe’s play Pick Up Ax in two of my courses — Intro to Literary Study and Media Aesthetics. If you’re just itching to find out what my students had to say about this play about geeks who listened to rock music that was recorded…
Tradition has it that William Shakespeare was born on 23rd April, three days prior to his baptism recorded at Holy Trinity Church in 1564. The 23rd April is also the date of his death in Stratford aged 52. Shakespeare�s birthday was first celebrated in 1824 with a procession through the streets to Holy Trinity Church,…
Years and years ago, there was a production of The Tempest, out of doors, at an Oxford college on a lawn, which was the stage, and the lawn went back towards the lake in the grounds of the college, and the play began in natural light. But as it developed, and as it became time…
Playwright Arthur Miller, the creator of The Crucible and Death of a Salesman, has died at the age of 89. —American playwright [Arthur] Miller dies (BBC) Thanks for sending me the sad news, Rosemary. I wrote on All My Sons and Death of a Salesman in my dissertation-turned-book. Similar:The Rage of Virginia Woolf”The passion, if not…
–Daniel Radosh —The Powerpoint Anthology of Literature Via KairosNews. Similar:Interface changes make it a little harder to work with Google's image searchWhen I’m looking for a picture I’m going…BusinessMore Evidence that Choosing a Typeface Is ImportantAestheticsEvery Post-Game Press Conference (Weird Al)https://youtu.be/oXAW2qd65nAAmusingA Christmas Carol (WAOB Audio Theatre)Marley was dead. (I voice the narrato…BooksGiving Obsolete Books an…
Brando revolutionized American acting with his Method performances in “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “On the Waterfront” and went on to create the iconic character of Don Vito Corleone in “The Godfather.” —Marlon Brando Dies at 80AP|MyWay) Similar:“Let It Go,” Idina Menzel’s Frozen ballad: It sends the wrong message.This author is probably overthinking thi…CultureLysistrata live.Current_EventsHappily…
With the media opera R.U.R., we want to appreciate the Czech author Karel Capek (Czechia’s Goethe) and his importance for the European cultural expression. It is he who in R.U.R. used for the first time the expression robot, derivated of the Russian word “robota” = work. R.U.R. is a classic of science fiction literature and…
Technology in American Drama NewsE-Mail) I recently received this announcement from my publisher: “I’m pleased to let you know that your book, Technology in American Drama, 1920-1950, has been named a Choice Outstanding Academic Title.” A little googling reveals that this award is given to about 3% of the 20,000 or so academic works submitted…