ZZZs at last! - An A-Z post

So today is the last day of the 2013 A-Z Blogging Challenge. I certainly have found it to be a challenge this year.

Even though I had my topics outlined for each day, it was still a lot of effort at times to actually sit down and get the posts written. Once again the challenge has shown me how much I could improve with my organisation.

I've been having some very odd dreams this month, hence the title of this post, and there are some nights I've woken up in a panic because I think I've missed the correct letter and post for that day. When I've finally woken up properly I realise all is well, but in the middle of the night these things feel like the end of the world if it's not been done.

I'm definitely looking forward to some more restful nights sleep now, and to next years challenge too. I promise I'll try and be more organised for the next one!




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This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. To get involved and check out other blogs taking part just click here. You won't be disappointed!


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Yippee! Nearly there - An A-Z post

Ok, so I realise how lame my 'Y' topic is but after days trying to come up with something this is the best that I've got.

We're nearly there people, just two more days! Once again I've enjoyed doing the Challenge and a massive thanks to all the organisers.
As with last year, I've learnt the advantage of forward planning and organisation. I improved on last years Challenge with a list of topics for each letter (well, except this one, obviously!), now I need to start writing my posts way ahead of the schedule, and not just with the Challenge either.

It's great to get around the blogosphere and see what others are up to, and I hope to still visit more even when the Challenge is over. It's got me thinking (again) about the layout of my own blog and what I'd like to do with it.

I hope you've all enjoyed the Challenge and enjoyed some of my posts, for the most part I've enjoyed writing them.

Now, to get ahead for next year, I might just start thinking of a topic ...




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This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. To get involved and check out other blogs taking part just click here. You won't be disappointed!


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eXam fever! - An A-Z post

Picture from rdulal.blogspot.com

OK, so I know I'm cheating a little here, but X really can be a hard letter to find a topic for. Plus, my life is revolving around and gearing up for my exam in *gulp* 46 days.

I've sat exams before, the last one was in 2010, but they've always been for more straightforward subjects. With anything mathematical or scientific it was usually a case of learning particular processes and equations and symbols and things.

I'm finding that revising for literature though is a whole different kettle of fish. I don't even know where to begin with revision. Do I just sit and re-read the set texts over and over? Look through the associated course material, learning the background and context for each of them?

One advantage is that we've been given advanced notification of what is being assessed in the actual exam. There are three parts, each consisting of three questions and we have one hour to answer one question from each part.
Having looked through what the questions cover I've narrowed down my choices to five of the eleven set texts.

This in itself goes a long way to improving my prospects, all I need to do now is come up with a suitable strategy for covering as much of the topics as I can in preparation.

I'm hoping that the tutorial today is going to point me in the right direction for some active revision and reassure me that all will go well!




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This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. To get involved and check out other blogs taking part just click here. You won't be disappointed!


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William Wordsworth - An A-Z post

Picture from www.bbc.co.uk

William Wordsworth is the first poet to be studied in this course. His name is synonymous with the Lake District, and Dove Cottage in particular is where he spent much of his writing career. This little cottage near Grasmere is now a museum, along with Rydal Mount where Wordsworth lived until his death in 1850.

A poet of the Romantic period, Wordsworth's style included dramatising the figure of the poet in his work, and using the solace of memory as the foundation of identity.

One of his most famous pieces is the 'Daffodils' poem, which at first glance would appear to be a spontaneous recollection of a singular experience. Background reading around this subject however reveals that this may not be wholly the case, and his sister Dorothy kept meticulous journals of their walks and journeys together. It is thought these journals were used to inspire and refresh Wordsworths own memories of experiences so that he could turn them into something poetic.

Dorothy's journals were kept private for many years, at the time a womans writing wouldn't have had anywhere near the recognition that William received for his poetry. Some of her journals have now been published though and it is clear that she must have had some influence on her brothers work.


Daffodils

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils. 

Poem taken from http://www.poemhunter.com




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This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. To get involved and check out other blogs taking part just click here. You won't be disappointed!


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It's Friday Time!

       
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This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

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 This week I'm celebrating:

• The sun has been shining all week! I've broken out my summer jacket and I've even worn the first of my summery dresses. Happy times!
• I managed to submit my latest assignment on time. It's the first one out of five so far that I haven't needed to get an extension on the deadline. I just hope my mark reflects the extra effort put in.
• It was my birthday last week (30 again!) and I enjoyed a lovely day off all to myself. No work, no children, just me in the house all by myself. Nice.
• I also have an extra celebration this week about some stories I've had selected for publication. That's all I'm going to say for now, but I'll let you know more soon.

What are you celebrating this week?


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Voltaire, Candide - An A-Z post

Picture from au.fil.des.livres.over-blog...

Voltaire was born as Francois-Marie Arouet in 1694. To please his father he became a law student but his mania for writing meant that from 1715 he decided to work exclusively on his writing.

Once settled into his chosen vocation he spent much of his life swinging back and forth with regards to popularity.
He spent his first term in prison in 1717-18 for writing a satire against the Regent, but found favour again in 1725 when three of his plays were chosen to be performed at the wedding of King Louis XV.

The following year he fled to England, where he met King George I as well as many others in the literary and scientific elite. He was in disfavour in his home country and lived in exile through much of the 1730s.

The 1740s saw him rise in popularity again as he became a major figure on the European stage, but by 1754 he'd quarreled with his former friend Frederick of Prussia and was refused entry into France.
Finally he settled in Switzerland and his publishing began to take off from there.

In 1759, Candide was published, with three simultaneous editions in Paris, Geneva and Amsterdam. The idea behind this was to sell as many copies as possible before it became pirated or censored. The authorities tried their best to suppress it and it went through many editions in its life.

The story centres on Candide, whose philosophy teacher has always taught him that whatever happens 'all is for the best'. After being cast out from his home, he embarks on a journey that will take him all over the world to encounter all manner of things - earthquakes, syphilis, murder. All of these test him to the limits when trying to stick to his old teachers philosophy.





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This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. To get involved and check out other blogs taking part just click here. You won't be disappointed!


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Understanding Literature - An A-Z post

To me, literature is one of those things that you presume you must know something about, but when you actually stop to think about what it actually means I come up a little short.

When I think of literature, my mind wanders to period dramas based on Jane Austen or Charles Dickens, and I've often thought it applied to works written before the 20th Century.

Studying my current module has changed my views, particularly as we have been reading texts from this century. It's not necessarily the era that determines whether something is considered to be literature or not.

It's more about what the text has to say, the message it's trying to get across. The story or theme may be meant as a statement about the times and places the author is living in, or an optimistic look into the future.

I'm still relatively new to this way of thinking about books and what I'm reading, and I love how my ideas are evolving as I learn more about styles, authors and eras.

What are your thoughts on what literature is?





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This post is part of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. To get involved and check out other blogs taking part just click here. You won't be disappointed!


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