Help With Gwennys Critisms (1 Viewer)

[dusty_rose]

Uh oh....

Mate, if you are unaware that we need readings for this then you are so so stuffed... Look I'll make it easier for you... A dominant reading of Prizegiving would tell the reader the story of Prof. Eisenbart unwillingly attending a prizegiving ceremony at an all girls' high school. There, he notices a titian-haired girl who entrances him with her nature and her impeccible talent for playing the piano. He then feels like a fool for not wanting to go. A feminist reading may suggest that the poem highlights the feelings of superiority in males over females and that it will only bring them down because men only think with their penises or whatever (you're going to have to be more sophisticated about it, of course), this can be seen when he "indifferently shakes a host of virgin hands", when he "forged his rose-hot dream" and when he becomes "a sage fool trapped in a copper net of hair".
Good luck!

 

[Paroissien]

Hahah, crude, but I like it.
But what have you been doing all year timrie?

 

[dusty_rose]

Hehe I suppose that was a little crude but what can you do?? I am SO not looking forward to tomorrow's paper... I did well yesterday but I'm am just so scared that I won't make the UAI cutoff for my thingy... do you reckon the SAM is any good?

 

[rainonmay]

i dont have a dominant reading of the poems... is a dominant reading juz textual analysis??

 

[Tim_Shady]

i just finished reading a book i borrowed from the library - Gwen Harwood by Top Notes - it is a top book, and explains all the info about the different readings.

It recommended for the readings that for prizegiving you do a marxist view and a feminist view - marxist being that society is equal, with one person at the top... this being eisenbart who saw the girls in the school as a "mosaic" - (something that is made of lots of small pieces that come together to make something - in this case a society) and that he is academically superior to the rest of the group, the head teacher included. ("The head...flapped around and steered / her guest ... with pride / to the best seat beneath half hearted blooms" - apparently shows this lol)

The other reading is the feminist reading, which was described above.. that pretty much sums it up - this reading is saying that men sometimes think they're the shit simply because their men, and in this case, the raw sexuality of the titian-haired girl made Eisenbart realise he ain't as great as he thought... basically she is teasing him through her looks. However this view still maintains that men are dominant.

Anyone else read this book? Did ya'll get the same out of it i did? hopefully you did, cuz today was the first time i actually understood this module (yeh, great time to start ay!)

 

[Paroissien]

Yep, and I agree with you for Prize-Giving

 

[todaysonfire]

im a bit confused about gwen harwood to be honest.
is the different readings ALL we have to talk about, as in we dont retell the dominant readings just get straight into it? i would also reccomend staying away from the religious readings, except for glass jar because its fairly obvious and if u do talk very little on it. i heard they dont really like it much.
and do the poems have to link?
if they nominate the violets for the poem that we have to do im completely screwed. i dont even have any notes on it. ha.

 

[CrashOveride]

Anyone got ideas about what makes Harwood's poetry significant?

Also anything on form?