Category: Literature
-
The Makings of a Good Character- Individuation and the Art of Change
While there many paradigms through which you might view character arc change, the one that appeals most to me is based on the concept of Jungian ‘individuation’.
-
The Makings of a Good Character – Motivation
Motivation = that ‘something’ (or bundle of ‘something’s’) that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviour – that which your character wants, needs, or fears that drives the action. Astrologically, I believe motivation is primarily symbolised by the placement and connections of three natal planets:
-
Jane Austen and the Enlightenment
Underlying Enlightenment ideals was Locke’s assertion that the mind is a blank slate receiving and ordering worldly sensations for the benefit of the individual. With this, the focus shifts forward: the individual is valorised and self- interest legitimized- no longer is he encouraged to blindly follow established teachings (i.e. church, government, aristocracy). Instead he’s to…
-
Feminism and Jane Austen
However if we look to the basic premise underlying Enlightenment feminism – that women, not having been denied powers of reason, must have the moral status appropriate to ‘rational beings’, formed in the image of a rational God – we must reach a different conclusion. At least two of the three of Austen’s heroines examined…
-
Literary Criticism / passage from Winterson’s ‘The Passion’ – how did I do?
With this example of intertextuality, our spiritual selves are challenged to rise above the negativity of the material world to be fully realised in the bosom of God. By referencing the Bible (Matthew 14:22-33), Winterson cleverly triggers brand awareness. God is a powerful spin-doctor.
-
Literary Criticism/ in practice for a test
St Kevin and the Black Bird / by Seamus Heaney (1996) – And then there was St Kevin and the blackbird. The saint is kneeling, arms stretched out, inside His cell, but the cell is narrow, so _ One turned-up palm is out the window, stiff As a crossbeam, when a blackbird lands And lays…
-
Lightness of Being/ Nietzsche’s idea of ‘eternal return’
What if the mistakes we make in the here and now were never going to be made ‘right’ on some dim, distant redemption day?
-
When is Fiction Art and Why Does it Matter?
Art commands special status and support from states, corporations, and the public at large. Art is not just a matter of profits – indeed some art is extremely unprofitable. Art is of enduring cultural esteem and concern. Yet given its importance, surprisingly there is no accepted definition of art. Most philosophers believe that simply being…